Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Psalm 46: 1-11

Cookie Baking Night 10/24/11

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. We decided to try our hand at a box kit of Whoopie Pies.

Hmmm. The end product didn't come out quite like the picture on the box, but this is the version you get when you "add real kids". It was a fun process for us, though. Sprinkles = fun. Can't beat a good treat with sprinkles!

This project took up most of our evening (between preparing, baking, cooling, frosting, and sprinkling) but we did manage to squeeze in a fall-evening walk (lovely), and we read from Leading Little Ones to Godby Marian Schoolland.

Our lesson this evening was titled "God's Children Obey". I really liked the way this lesson was laid out. It provoked the children to deeper thoughts about God and led to much conversation on the subject. Emily read John 15:8-12 from the Bible for us.

It was a good evening and, as usual, a fun time was had by all.

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

God's Purposes

"In the infinite wisdom of the Lord of all the earth, each event falls with exact precision into its proper place in the unfolding of His divine plan. Nothing, however small, however strange, occurs without His ordering, or without its particular fitness for its place in the working out of His purpose; and the end of all shall be the manifestation of His glory, and the accumulation of His praise.

--Benjamin Warfield


"In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 1:7-10 (ESV)

God Is His Own Interpreter

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

--William Cowper

Cookie Baking Night 10/10/11

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. Tonight we made rice crispy bar/pops. It was an interesting experiment that I'm not sure we'll try again. It was fun while it lasted, though. The kids particularly enjoyed buttering their hands and pressing down the rice crispy mixture. Then we cut them up, put them on sticks (much harder to do than I anticipated), dipped them in white candy coating, and rolled them in sprinkles.

We also managed to squeeze in a couple games of air hockey (a favorite game at the moment), and we read lesson 56 from Leading Little Ones to God, titled "God's Children Give". Ethan read Matthew 10:42 from the Bible.

We ended the evening with a rousing game of Uno.

As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Evangelism Focus 10/07/11

This evangelism focus post, I'd like to share with you a video of a pilot who was scheduled to fly on September 11, 2001. It's a bit on the long side but worth the time.

Prone to Wander

I was listening to Revive Our Hearts Radio program the other day, to a show titled “Prone to Wander”. I transcribed a small part of the program (that I felt was worthy of quoting) so I could share it with you on the blog today. It is as follows:

In commenting on the evil of idolatry, Nancy Leigh DeMoss said: This is no small matter to God. We need to see our sin as evil in the sight of the Lord. How does He view it compared to the standard of His awesome holiness? Every sin is evil in the sight of the Lord.

I received an e-mail from a woman this week stating: “My husband and I have just gone through some major transitions with our finances, which were holding our whole family in bondage. As God freed us from the bondage in the financial area, it became apparent to me that I have switched bondages from money to food. I think about it constantly. I shop for food whether we need it or not under the pretense of it being on sale. I hide food in my bedroom drawers. When you said that we should have nothing in our lives that holds us back from God, I realized how wrong I have been.”

We will never get freedom from bondage and idolatry if we do not come to see it as evil in the sight of the Lord. The Apostle John says in 1 John 5:21 “Little children [covenant people] keep yourselves from idols.” Keep yourselves from idols.

Detecting Sin

This is one way I detect sin in my life:

Sometimes when my conscience is pricked that a particular action might be a sin, yet I am determined to brush over it and convince myself it’s “not that bad”. I ask myself, “Am I in anyway trying to hide this particular action from someone else?” (i.e., I turn off the computer when a family member comes in the door so they don’t know how long I've been sitting there; I cover up the contents of my garbage can at work so no one knows how many candy bars I've eaten that day, etc.). I have found, in my life, when the answer to that question is “yes”, then I know it’s sin, thus my desire to hide it.

It is a practice going back to the first sin in the Garden of Eden.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Genesis 3:8-11 (emphasis added)

Cookie Baking Stories

Here are a couple of stories from past Cookie Baking Nights that I found amusing. Maybe you will too.

Story #1:

Back Story: Each Cookie Baking Night, the kids eat supper with us at the beginning of the evening. Right before supper, I ask them what they would like to drink. The choices usually consist of water or milk, juice or water, or a variation thereof. I give the choices, and then (inevitably) Emily says, "I'll take Mountain Dew." To which I usually reply, "Nice try, but not one of the choices." We all giggle, she makes a real choice, and we sit down to dinner.

Story #1: A few weeks ago, Emily was sick and didn't make it to Cookie Baking Night. When Carissa arrived, she asked when Emily would be arriving. I then broke the news to her that Emily wasn't going to make it that night.

She said, "Oh. I wanted to tell Emily that yesterday, me, Ethan, and Mommy had Mountain Dew at the church picnic. Then Emily would say, Awww. No Fair." (which in front-toothless 6-year-old speak came out more like "awww, no fay-a"). Then she giggled at the thought, and I followed suit.

Story #2

Back Story: About a month ago, my sister-in-law was showing me some decorative crockware/cookware that she had just purchased. It was unusual and pretty, and I expressed how much I liked it.

Story #2: It was my birthday in the beginning of September. One Cookie Baking Night in September, Emily came in with a large birthday bag that her mom instructed her to give to me. Later in the evening she watched me open it as she was unaware of its contents as well. As I recognized what it was I let out an "Ohhh" of delight, and Emily was all the more intrigued to see what this great gift could be. It was a piece of the crockware that Mary (Emily's mom) had showed me a few weeks earlier. Emily was dismayed and disappointed when she saw what it was. She said, "It's a pan." Then she said, "Is this what's going to happen when I turn like-30. I'm going to pull out a gift and say, Ohhh, looook it's a frying pan."

I said, "Yes. Yes, you will."

A Night With A Niece 10/01/11

Emily spent this weekend at our house. Greg was out of town, so we had a Girl's Night/Beauty Night. Emily found several homemade beauty concoctions to make from my recipe book. Here she's making homemade bath salts. You don't even want to know what we put in our hair (which is now shiny and soft).

Here's Emily letting the "conditioner" sit in her hair before she takes her "oatmeal cookie bath".

Here's the recipe for the bath salts in case you're inclined to try this at home. We made two batches of Orange/Lavender bath salts in the colors of blue/purple and apricot.

Colored Bath Salts:

1 cup Epsom salts

1/4 cup kosher salt or sea salt, coarsely ground

Food coloring

Essential oils (optional)

Mix together the Epsom salts and kosher salt. Add a few drops of your favorite color and stir well to blend. If you would like to scent your bath salts, add a few drops of the essential oils, mix well.

We divided ours into 1/2-cup portions and placed in small plastic baggies to be used in baths later. Makes nice gifts too.