Candle Beauty

Sunrise on ice on glass

How to wear flip-flops in the middle of winter 101 ...

This is what I saw when I got to the J.'s house the other day.

Intercessory Introspecion

"And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless."
~1 Thessalonians 5:23

"Your whole spirit ..." The great mystical work of the holy Spirit is in the dim regions of our personality which we cannot get at. Read the 139th Psalm; the Psalmist implies, "Thou are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late at nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea; but, my God, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, great depths than any see in nature -- Thou who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot trace, dreams I cannot get at -- my God, search me out."

Do we believe that God can garrison the imagination far beyond where we can go? "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin" -- if that means in conscious experience only, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been made obtuse by sin will say he is not conscious of sin. Cleansing from sin is to the very heights and depths of our spirit if we will keep in the light as God is in the light, and the very Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are garrisoned by God with the stupendous sanctity of the Holy Spirit, that spirit, soul and body are preserved in unspoted integrity, underseving of censure in God's sight, until Jesus comes.

We do not allow our minds to dwell as they should on these great massive truths of God.

~Oswald Chamers ~~ My Utmost for His Highest ~~ Januray 9th.

::~::The Lord's Mercy::~::

22~Through (it is of~KJV) the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23~They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24~"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
25~The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26~It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.
27~It is good for a man to bear
The yoke (suffering) in his youth.
28~Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him.

32~Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.

~Lamentations 3:22-28 & 32 (NKJV) ~

Waaaaay too comfy

Tagged

Rules:
* Post the six to ten things that you do on a daily basis.
*Link to the person who tagged you.
*Tag five other people.
*Leave a comment on the blog of the person that tagged you letting them know you posted this on your blog.

Melanie tagged me for this one. And I'm going to tell you right off that I'm not selecting five people to tag, I'm going to leave this one open. If you stumble across this post and want to do your own tag, please do. Maybe leave me a comment to I can see your tag. :)

Six to ten things I do each day ...

1. Wake up
2. Get dressed
3. Drive to work
4. Hold M.
5. Love my job!
6. Come home
7. Love my family and home!
   
8. Check the blog
9. Check other people's blogs
10. Teach piano

So there you go! Random, I know. But still, the rules never said anything about making any kind of sense with your ten things.

Merry Christmas all ye peeps

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I did. We were in SD and the weather was beautiful there, compared to the weather here (negative numbers and even more negative numbered wind chills, lots of snow and such). It was a good day of just spending time with family, eating too much, enjoying time of just sitting around and not having to worry about being anywhere on time. Drinking lots of hot drinks. Spending time by the corn burner. Eating turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, etc., etc., and lots of Christmas cookies!

But even though it is fun to lazy around and do nothing, remember what Christmas is about. It's not about gifts, family, friends, food, etc. ... it's about honoring and glorifying God. And it's about God's gift to us. His Son. His sinless, perfect, precious Son. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy in giving us a way for us to come to Him! May Christ be the center of your thoughts and conversations, not just around Christmas time, but all year 'round. Merry Christmas, God's grace and mercy be rich upon you.

My Christmas letter to you ...

I've seen that my father has blogged a Christmas letter and my sister has blogged a Christmas letter (check them out) so I thought, to keep it going, that I should blog a Christmas letter for all of you peeps as well. So, here goes!

W

Merry Christmas all ye peeps.

a cold walk

The snow crunches beneath your feet, the temperature is 7 degrees above zero. The snow falls softly and gets stuck to your hat, scarf, gloves, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. The wind makes it even colder. Little ice crystals form on your eyelashes and in your hair as the snow melts because of your breath coming up from your scarf-covered mouth. The trees sport very few leaves but are starting to get wrapped with white beauty. Every thing is starting to get covered with inches of whiteness. All is quiet as you walk. A few tracks here and there tell you that some other brave soul ventured out in the cold weather. You curl your fingers up into the palm of your hand and are very thankful for the very warm mittens that you've borrowed from your father. Your toes, legs and nose start to get cold and you quicken your pace so that you can reach your destination quickly then turn around and go home.

When you get back to the warmth of your house your legs start to tingle because of the cold. Your first thought is of warm tea and blog hopping. You unlace your boots that faithfully kept your feet warm. As you pull them off you realize that your pants (which are roll up because they are too long) have filled with snow and it's starting to melt. You pull off your hat and the snow that collected there is cold on your hand. You unwrap your scarf which leaves coldness on your neck as the snow stuck on the scarf brushes up against your neck. You wiggle out of your coat and put it away. It's good to be home ... safe, cozy and warm.

Insight from the roses

Yes ... this post is called "Insight from the roses." Strange? You'll understand soon enough. :)

No doubt you've heard that God "prunes" those He loves. That He "clips" away things in our lives that are unnecessary, unhelpful, sinful, wrong, etc.. And, as I'm sure you know, it's painful. It hurts to watch those things being taken from our lives, and sometimes our hearts. We don't want to change, we don't want to let go. We don't want the pain and hurt. I'm also assuming that you've heard that God prunes and clips and purges in love, because He loves us, because He's growing us, because it's best for us ... even if it doesn't seem like it.

Since the weather is turning cold (the snow on the ground is a sure sign) it's time to trim back the flowers and cover the ones that need covering. If you've read my posts about my roses you know I love them. Their beauty, their smell, their everything. God makes my roses grow so wonderfully and they bring joy and happiness to my heart when I see them and tend them.

If you know anything about roses you know (at least in Minnesota) you clip them back and cover them well so they can make it through the winter.

So the other day, out I went, clippers in hand, to the roses. So tall and once beautiful, but untended, as my work schedule is busy. I realized that in order for them to have continued to bloom and grow, cutting must have been done. As I stood looking at my roses my trials came to mind. God was cutting, I need to change, I need to let go.

I knelt and started clipping the green stems. Some of them were thin and easily let go of the other part of the stem. Others were thick, and I had a hard time clipping them off, reluctant as they were to be separated from the other part of the stem. *Clip* I realized that struggles in life were kind of that way, too. Some things are easy to let go, they don't mean so much to me. I trust that God's doing what's right and I let go. And then there's the other kind ... the things that are so dear, "thick" like the rose stems, which are hard to let go of. I start to question why they must be taken. Is it really in love that He cuts away? But as I looked at my roses, I knew the answer. I loved my roses, and even though it was hard to clip the back, and see the things taken away, I knew it was best, that in order for them to grow properly they must be cut back. I didn't do it to "hurt" the roses, but I knew next year they would bloom and grow. And I also knew that next year I wouldn't be able to tell that I'd cut them back. That the cuts wouldn't show. New growth would cover what is now bare.

Today I covered my roses with leaves and rocks to keep them from growing too soon in the spring.

As I covered them, I could see where I'd cut them back just a few weeks before. I couldn't help but think that God does the same thing. When we're hurt and in pain, He covers us with His grace, His mercy, His love, His care ... His hand. To guide, direct, protect, help, comfort and sustain us.

Maybe God is taking, cutting things out of your life (maybe from your heart). I can now say, with new understanding, that it's all in love. He only purges and cuts in love, because He knows it's best and couldn't possibly be anything else! Remember, He doesn't just cut and purge and then leave, He's there, sustaining, comforting, helping ... loving.

Rose pictures found at www.allposters.com.

Decorated room

I put up the lights in my bedroom again (actually, Leah and I did ... actually, Leah did most of it :)). They make me so happy that I just had to share them with you!! Be warned, there are a lot of pictures. :) (Sorry they are rather "grainy".)

Tagged ...

Natalie tagged me. The rules are:

Go to your Picture file, go to the 5th folder, open up the 5th picture, post it, and then tag 5 people.
I tag ... Charity, Lady Heather, and Tiffany (I know it's suppose to be five, but I could only think of three people who haven't been tagged yet. :))

*~Snowdrift beauties~*

The wind was blowing pretty hard the other day when I arrived at the J's. As their driveway area is gravel the gravel mixed with the snow as it formed the drifts. It was beautiful! Or ... at least I thought it was beautiful ... I do understand that it's dirt ...er gravel ... on snow, yes ... but hey. :)

*~Below picture courtesy of J. Thank you J you captured it perfectly!~*

*~Below picture courtesy of J. Thank you again J for capturing it just right. :)~*

Joy and thankfulness ... right now

Do you ever have those times in life when a certain trial or hardship threatens to undo you and you feel like you just want to shut the world out? You too? *Whew* Actually, it is (I should actually say was) all to familiar in my life. Too often I give in to the flesh, thinking, "I can't do this. Oh Jesus, I can't do this! Why are You asking me to let go? Why are You asking me to give You this dear and precious thing?" Tears flow, sobs come. Sorrow is becoming a constant companion.

Now before you think I need help for depression, let me tell you what the Lord has been teaching me!

It was one of those "said times" when I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to try to explain why the tears were so near, why the ache in my heart was almost more then I could bear. So I went shopping ... or rather, just went walking around stores, I didn't really have a destination in mind. I walked around for a few hours before returning home. Once back at home mom pulled me aside and asked me what was wrong. Of course I told her ... I tell my mom everything. I told her I couldn't let go. I needed this thing which I was clinging so tightly to.

I could just imagine the pain, the sorrow, the hurt if I did let go ... forever to be single.

But Mom, in her gentle motherly way, spoke the words which God knew I needed to hear.

(I'm kind of paraphrasing because I can't remember word for word what she said. :)) "Ana, joy and happiness doesn't just come when you get married. God wants to give you joy and happiness right now, as you let go, as you give up. Giving up and letting go doesn't mean that is has to be a sad, painful thing. God gives joy ... right now, in this time of surrendering."

Of course I knew that, but I was shocked ... really?

She went on. "I know you think that you can't do this. That you can't go through this trial." (How is it that Mom's always know stuff, even if you don't tell them?) "But God never gives you anything you can't do. He'll give you the victory, He wants you to have victory. You can do this, but only with God's help and strength. And not only can you do this, but you can have joy as you do this!"

As her words sank in and I really thought them over the tears came and my heart cried out to Jesus.

Then Wednesday night Pastor went through some verses to help us with giving thanks. He took us to Ephesians 5:20 ~ "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (emphasis mine) and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~ "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (emphasis mine).

In everything give thanks? Even in trials, in pain, in hardships? Give thanks? Like to be thankful for them? ... Yes! And only through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, can I do that!

All of this ramble-i-ness to say. Don't loose heart you singles who desire beyond almost anything to be married. God will give you joy, right now ... in this time of longing and unfulfilled desire. He will give you the strength and grace to endure until the time He has planned for you. And be thankful, God always does everything for a purpose. For our good and for His glory.

So pray, dear unmarried ones, pray, ask the Lord to make you truly thankful and give you the joy and strength that only He can give! (Although this post was written to encourage the unmarried, anyone can have joy in Christ ... right now, anyone can fly to Christ for strength and grace to have victory and thankfulness in the trails and situations in your life! Praise the Lord.)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope and pray that you all will have a wonderful Thanksgiving ... doing whatever you will be doing. :) I'm spending time with family. Eating turkey (and probably ham), enjoying a day of sitting and doing nothing! Hoping that there will be hot drinks after dinner sometime (preferably hot apple cider!!).

What about you? What did you do (or what will you be doing)? What are your favorite things about Thanksgiving? I've already mentioned some of my things ...

• Turkey
• Hot apple cider
• Cuddling up on the couch with said drink in hand
• Chatting with family
• Thanking Christ for the many, many blessings that He's given that I so often overlook
• Just being with family
• Not working (at J.'s or teaching piano ... although I truly love both!!)

I'm sure my rather petty list could go on but it won't. :) So, here's wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving, with family, friends and in the Lord, our Salvation!

Check it out!!!

The ladies over at the IDD blog are giving away a basket of tea goodies!!! Do stop over and leave them a comment. Also, check out their old posts. They are such a wonderful encouragement to me in the Lord and I'm sure they will be to you as well.

Log cabin cozy

I picked up this blanket at Wal-mart the other day. It's so soft and warm and it reminds me of log cabins and Christmas time! :) I just had to share ... slightly awkward, I know, but I still had to.

Unexpected gift of beauty!

*~I told you the family I work for totally spoils me! Thank you, so very, very much Mrs. J.~*

In which we learn the proper process for adding large numbers

Good evening ... er ... morning ... ahhh ... very early morning (happy for me, I haven't figured out how to make the "posted at ..." clock on my blog accurate, so you don't really know what time it is). All you smart peeps out there should have been asleep awhile ago. Me, well, things happen, they run in your mind, they keep you up, you can't sleep, so what do you do ... post and tell people about it. :) So now you all get to read my late-night-should-be-sleeping-way-to-crazy-for-normal-people post. Such lucky peeps you are.

On a different subject, during church tonight a little six-year-old girl sat next to me. As she comes from an artistic family she asked if she could draw, so I handed her my notebook. She drew actual pictures of things for a little while before, when I looked down, much to my surprise, I saw this ... (note: pictures were not taken during church, but after I'd arrived home with said notebook :) )
























She was, as you can tell, practicing her math. :) How cute is that!? But as I observed, I watched her try new things such as adding "large" numbers. It greatly amused me how she came up with the "hard" answers. Observe ...




In picture #1 we see the easy problems (thus the texts and lines (please click on the pictures to get a better view)) but the hard problem is what we're looking at ... 6+8=? We see in neon greenish circle the first number is 8. The next line shows that 8 can become two 4's + 6. :) Or thus ... 44 6. (I'm not quite sure what the other 6 is doing down by the ones, but it's there because it needs to be, I'm sure.) We then see that because it is still to hard to add them up that we write the correct number of ones (backward mind you) that equal the two parts of the problem. She wrote out eight ones, then she wrote out six ones and then she counted them all. :) Thus ... 6+8=14. Got that? Good, moving on ...
In picture #2 we see much the same thing, only the problem is now 7+6=? But instead of trying to figure out how to break down the different numbers as before (ex. 8 is two 4's.) we just start writing ones (also, they continue to be written backward, it's easier that way). First seven ones, then six ones. And then we add them all together. Yup, you guessed it 7 backward ones + 6 backward ones = 13 backward ones! And then we discover that if we make one number change (ex. 6 to a 7, figure it out, then change the newly changed 7 to a 8 for the next problem and figure it out) we can easily figure these problems out as well! How fancy is that?!Well, I hope you've all learned as much as I did. But, seriously, I loved watching how she figured it out. I could see her mouthing different things, see her counting, "see" the wheels in her head turning. It was great joy!