::*~God All-Sufficient~*::

King of Glory, Divine Majesty,
Every perfection adorns Thy nature
and sustains Thy throne;
The heavens and earth are Thine,
The world is Thine and its fullness.
Thy power created the universe from nothing;
Thy wisdom has managed all its multiple concerns,
presiding over nations, families, individuals.
Thy goodness is boundless;
all creatures wait on Thee
are supplied by Thee
are satisfied in Thee.
How precious are the thoughts of Thy mercy and grace!
How excellent Thy lovingkindness that draws men to Thee!
Teach us to place our happiness in Thee,
the blessed God,
never seeking life among the dead things of earth,
or asking for that which satisfies the deluded;
But may we prize the light of Thy smile,
implore the joy of Thy salvation,
find our heaven in Thee.
Thou has attended to our happiness more than we can do;
Though we are fallen creatures Thou has not neglected us.
In love and pity Thou hast provided us a Saviour;
Apply His redemption to our hearts,
by justifying our persons,
and sanctifying our natures.
We confess our transgressions, have mercy on us.
We are weary, give us rest,
ignorant, make us wise unto salvation,
helpless, let Thy strength be made perfect in our weakness,
poor and needy, bless us with Christ's unsearchable riches,
perplexed and tempted, let us travel on unchecked, undismayed,
knowing that Thou has said,
'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'
Blessed be Thy name!

Found in

"The Valley of Vision ~

A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions"

~::Sister Time::~

My feet ::~*

My cool new shirt ... please ignore the death stare that I'm apparently giving ... was just trying to get my shirt. :) ::~*

The bottom half of my shirt ::~*

Then I decided to try to take a picture of myself in the mirror ... never done that before ...

... it was great fun.  ::~*

STARBUCKS!!!! ... need I say more? ::~*

Posing with the Starbucks! ::~*

The Only Ultimate Love

"God's loving us is a means for our joyfully glorifying Him. ... The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centered sin so that we can enjoy making much of Him forever.  And our love to others is not our making much of them, but our helping them to find eternal satisfaction in making much of God.  The only ultimate love is a love that aims at satisfying people in the glory of God.  Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive.  It does not lead a person to the only lasting joy, namely God.  Love must be God-centered or it is not the greatest love; it leaves people without their deepest need and only hope." 

~ John Piper ~ Taste and See

Meet Josiah

Josiah was born June 25th about 9:00pm in the middle of tornado weather.  Sirens were going off and I believe there were a couple funnel clouds and maybe actual tornadoes spotted outside of town.  God brought him safely into this world and he's a beautiful healthy baby boy! Note: pictures in this post are all from the next morning 6-26) To see Katie's pictures click here.

 Josiah and Grandma

Josiah and Grandpa

  This was his, "Don't look at the camera, don't look at the camera.  Well, maybe I'll just sneak a peek," look.  And then I snapped the picture. *giggles* Go me!

 

~Contentment~

Heavenly Father~

If I should suffer need, and go unclothed,

and be in poverty,

make my heart prize thy love,

know it, be constrained by it,

though I be denied all blessings.

It is thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants,

for by these trials I see my sins,

and desire severance from them.

Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,

if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,

and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,

acknowledging this as the highest testimony of thy love.

When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul,

instead of sin, he became more dear to me

than sin had formerly been;

his kindly rule replaced sin's tyranny.

Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued

I must not only labour to overcome it,

but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it,

and he must become to me more than vile lust had been;

that his sweetness, power, life may be there.

Thus I must seek a grace from him contrary to sin,

but must not claim it apart from himself.

When I am afraid of evils to come,

comfort me by showing me

that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,

but in Christ I am reconciled and live;

that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest,

but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace;

that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good,

but in Christ I have ability to do all things.

Though now I have his graces in part,

I shall shortly have them perfectly

in that state where thou wilt show thyself fully reconciled,

and alone sufficient, efficient,

loving me completely,

with sin abolished.

O Lord, hasten that day.

Found in

"The Valley of Vision ~

A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions"

Chapter 2

For those of you who read Chapter 1, I just wanted to let you know that I've posted Chapter 2.  It's been probably about a week, since I posted it, I just kept forgetting to link it.  Sorry. :)

Bike Ride with E

Soooooo ... Ethan asked me to go for a bike ride with him this evening.  I wasn't going to at first because I'd been up since 6:50am and had been gone all day (until around 6:30-ish).  I was tired, but I thought I should go with him.  Plus he got a new bike this year and I thought it would be fun to try it out with him.  So, the first time I ride bike, at all, this year, and we decide to go around the lake trail.  Which isn't all that bad, but it's 3 miles around.  Which also isn't so bad, but right as we got to the tail it started to rain, and then rain some more, and then it rained pretty good for a while.  E and I decided to tough it out and ride in the rain, which wasn't bad (okay, I realized just now that I've said that phrase or something like it three or four times now) but the wind after the short rain shower was a killer.  It blew very hard for a while.  So hard that I almost turned back.  But we didn't, we stuck it out. :) Go us!  And I snapped a few shots with my phone (yes, with my phone) to show you all what it was like.  Thankfully it only rained for a few minutes, and although it was windy most of the time, the ride was very nice once the clouds cleared up and the sun came out.

This is a picture of the rain, the shiny things in the air are the raindrops.

 I'd taken my contacts out before the ride ... now you all must suffer my glasses look.

Country speed-bump ... or just tractor mud tracks. :)

~Abundant~

"Oh, how abundant is Your goodness,

which You have stored up for those who fear You."

~Ps. 31:19

"The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

~Ps. 103:8

"They shall pour forth the fame of Your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of Your righteousness."

~Ps. 145:7

"The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

~Ps. 145:8

"Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

His understanding is beyond measure."

~Ps. 147:5

Pslam 103 ~ Which I call the Mercy Pslam

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Chapter 1

Check it out. I posted the first chapter of my new book on my Scribbles blog.  Click here.

I Spy ...

... Loads of cuteness! These are from last year, but they are so cute that I just had to share them.

Trying to be an "Old man."

 

 

"Peek!"

Then we went out side and played I Spy.  Little A, pictured below, kept saying "I'm spy-ing on somping ..." He's so cute!

 

 

*~... Lavender ... *~

They're piling up

Do you ever do something and then think, "This would be a good post for my blog"?  Yeah?  You, too?  Well, good.  I'm glad I'm not the only one. ... Wait, you mean you actually post your blog ideas?  Well ... ahem ... I do ... sometimes ... too. *weak smile*

The truth is, I have a sticky note on the top of my computer so every time I open my computer and turn it on, I see the list of "things to blog" and, well, the list is long, and growing.  So yes, there is a post (many actually) in this blog's future, but I don't know how soon it will be ... hopefully sooner rather then later. :)  So, stick around, I'm hoping to post again soon.

400th Post!

Wa-hooo.  Just wanted to let you know, this post is my 400th post!!!! :) For me, that's a lot!!

Time with Momita and Ethan

 Mom, Ethan and I went out to eat on Friday night because Leah and Dad went to the Twins' game (so jealous).  Then after we ate we went bowling! (LOVE bowling)  Or at least Ethan and I bowled, Mom just watched and talked to us.  Just a note, these pictures were taken on my phone, so if they are grainy and dark that's why.