“Number thirty-five: ‘conservation’."I read Elijah’s spelling words to him while sitting at the table supervising the other children so Mom could take care of some other business. Emily was making lunch. “Micah, eat your carrot. Elijah, the next word is ‘dutiful’.”“Mary, do not color with that marker! That is only for Mommy. Number thirty-seven, Elijah, is ‘gymnasium’.”                                                      Back and forth I spoke from one of the seven children in the room to the other. “‘Exhibition’, Elijah. Please stop shouting, Mercy. Micah, keep eating your carrot. Elijah: ‘nuisance’... now, remember- that’s the word you had a hard time with yesterday, so think about how it’s spelled.” “Tremendous... alcohol... professional... privilege.... David, what are you doing?!”“Yes, Mary; I love you, too.... accumula- Elijah...? Are you paying attention to me? ‘Accumulate’. [pause] Next? Okay; ‘thermometer’. Is the lunch ready yet, Em?”“Please get off of the table, Mary-Louise. Micah, shhh. You...

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HopeGod is teaching me about hope. He is so merciful with me. Through the trials recently with my continued health problems, he continues to show me more of His truth. He has assured me that He will be with me through the fire. And He has faithfully been with me. His presence is my grace. He has given me peace when there could have been fear and confusion.He is teaching me to “count it all joy when I go through these trials."I will hope in Him, not my current circumstances.Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” I was recently touched by a pastor’s message on Hope. I am going to share some of it with you:“Many have a critical deficiency in our understanding of how vital this hope is to our faith.  Without it, we are like ships in a storm that have no anchor; this is why many have shipwrecked their faith.  During the storms and trials they find themselves in, they have no hold upon the solid rock.  Without hope as our anchor we become “the victim”...

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   I know- I haven't written in a while. I won't bother with excuses.... but here I am again, finally. (Becca Jayne, this one's for you because you've been waiting *so* patiently)

I thought I should give little update on the family and some of the recent happenings around here;

Last month we went up St. Louis and visited the Zoo with some friends of ours from Southwest Missouri whom we hadn't seen in a couple years. We had a great time. We'd been planning this trip all month to celebrate Mary-Louise's third birthday. (I don't think I'd be exagerating to say that she either asked about or mentioned "the zoo" every single night before bed until we finally got to go.)

I've decided to add more pictures to my blog from now on. I hope you enjoy that. There may be more pictures than words sometimes.... but then again, there will still be times when there are far more words than pictures at all. Please bear with me, and thanks for waiting so patiently for me to get around to writing.

Anyway-...

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I have recently stumbled upon a most amazing discovery growing right in my very own front yard (and back yard, and side yard, and everyone else's yards, too...).

It's called Plantain.



   Although many people nowadays have not so much as heard of it, for centuries this plant has been used to cure a number of ailments. Being used as a "panacea" (medicinal for everything) in some cultures, one American Indian name for the plant translates to "life medicine." A story is told of an African slave in North Carolina during the colonial era who was granted freedom and a handsom reward for teaching the assembly how to use Plantain to remedy the bites of rattlesnakes. Ancients used this plant to heal the bites of "mad dogs, snakes, and venomous creatures." The most common remedy this plant is used for in modern times is for Poison Ivy. Plantain stops itching and/or bleeding, reduces inflammation, kills infection, and draws out poisons.

Mercy with two large and very round Plantain leaves!

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In reference to my last entry, here is one of the songs that has been greatly ministering to me lately. I was glad to see that Joe and Angela finally got it recorded!

Click here to listen.

May you be blessed!

For more free godly Christian music, visit www.godlychristianmusic.com

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:6-11

The Lord wants to be glorified in His children's everyday lives. Many times throughout our lives we encounter hardships and difficulties of all kinds. There's nothing we can do to change this- we live in a dying, hurting world. But we can decide how we will respond when trouble hits.

We can let Jesus be magnified through our response, or we can dishonor Him by succumbing to our trials; not letting Him prove His power through us. To succumb means...

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The whole passage in Psalm18:16-20 is such a blessing, but the verse that struck me today was verse 18. They confronted me in the day of calamity, but the Lord was my stay.

 

The Lord is my stay.

 

This encourages my heart and I have been so blessed with His peace in the recent trying times with my health issues. As my body is falling apart...He is my stay. He is my only hope and He is my peace.

 



 

      Praise be to His name!



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While reading this morning in Psalms I was so blessed. 

Psalm 16:7-9 says “I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.  I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely.”

 

Wow! What promises we have when we put our whole life in His hands. Even “my flesh” will dwell securely!



Continuing in verse 10 and 11...."For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol (hell); nor will You allow your Holy one to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."

 

I must KNOW Him intimately and walk with Him daily and I may experience His “fullness of joy” -and what about the pleasure forever?! Wow! God is so good and faithful.

 



Mama with Mary-Louise by Lake Apsy in Canada, 2006

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   I found this poem very encouraging this morning and wanted to share it with you-It is taken from the devotional for May 15 in Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.

“I cannot know why suddenly the storm

Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath;

But this I know- God watches all my path,

And I can trust."

 

“I may not draw aside the mystic veil

That hides the unknown future from my sight,

Nor can I know if for me waits dark or light;

            But I can trust."

 

“I have no power to look across the tide,

To see while here the land beyond the river;

But this I know- I shall be God’s forever;

            So I can trust.”

My dear reader, if you find yourself in a place of uncertainty or fear or worry- look up! The Father is there! He wants to guide you in the right way and fill you with His peace that passes all understanding. You can trust Him. He loves you with a passionate and unfailing love.

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