Grandsons Are Among Life's Best Blessings

A slice of life from the cottage today...


I don't really need to say more, do I?

Nah. I didn't think so.

Morning and Evening

...sounds like a CH Spurgeon devotional, but it's not. Well, it is - there is a devotional by that title - but this is my blog post, "Morning and Evening", and my post is way less interesting and epically less inspiring than the devotional. Do get the devotional. It'll ground you in grace. Definitely not the writings of a dead moralist.


This is morning, here at my cottage...

Timothy, making a "time to help Poppy and Mimi wake up" potta coffee with Poppy...


::waves hand:: "You only see cute baby and precious grandaddy...you do not see popcorn ceilings. You do not see popcorn ceilings."

The jammies slay me. They juuuuust slay me.

And now...evening, here at my cottage...

Tonight's dinner...recipe here...added zucchini to it this evening, for obvious reasons. (Doesn't everyone have zucchini right about now?)

I love this cast iron enamel dutch oven so much...he's an eight-quart big guy.

He is orange, and the color orange and I are good friends these days. Mr. Cast Iron Enamel Dutch Oven and I might even be something more like "more than friends". He's so hot.

::boo::

It was an Acker Bilk kind of evening...old, old record, from the 50's. In your imagination, hear that fun, scratchy sound of the vintage record player and it's equally vintage record...soft saxophone music, wafting in the air.

Love this perspective. Something about this shot brings you right into my kitchen, looking into the dining room. Do you mind setting the table for us? Cloth napkins are in the drawer, behind you.

Keep Reading!

For heaven's sake, just keep reading. Taking a verse or two by itself is the equivelant of the spiritual "sound bite". It gets taken out of context more often than not. The real meaning is missed.

Philippians 2:12 is a good example. The last portion of it reads, "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

First of all, read evvvvvverything that comes before (Paul declaring the utter awesomeness of Jesus, "Christ Alone". Then, Paul speaks to the fact that these Philippians had eagerly received Paul's gospel of Christ Alone, while in his presence, and he hopes all the more in his absence... )

and now, for heaven's sake, keep reading.

"For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

Could it be that to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" means that you dare not touch the Glory? That you enter more and more and more and more into the realization that it is all Him, nothing of yourself?

Um, the correct answer here would be "Yes".

Keep reading. Always, keep reading. Resist the siren song of the Spiritual Sound Bite. Legalists tend to read whole passages of the Old Testament, and then they sound bite the New Testament. Just a heads up.

Books I Want

I've decided to start a new blog post category: "Books I Want"

Because there are so many. So many books, so little time. Which means this topic will supply me with an endless variety of blog posts.

This one is available on Kindle, but...ahem...I've already bought one Kindle book this week, a Seth Godin classic, and that is all I allow myself. Oh wait. Make that two, but one was only $2, so it doesn't count, really, in the budget.

"Letting Go of the Try Hard Life". Me, too, Emily. Me too. You might be the BFF I haven't met yet. I let go too...and the funny thing is, I am accomplishing more than ever.

A quote from this book, as supplied by the lovely Ann Voskamp, who made me aware of this book on her blog...

“It was important for me to get to a place where I saw myself as a prodigal, because the weak recognize their need so much more quickly than the strong….

We already have the love and acceptance of our Father, so why do we try so hard to earn it?”

Oh. If ever a sentence or two succinctly expresses the grace journey that evolved in my life, about three years ago, the above words express it. I was brought so gloriously, painfully to the end of myself. Some, very dear to me, didn't understand. At all. Why?

This is a place most women are afraid to linger, this "end of myself". When you get to that place, aren't you supposed to pull yourself out?

Well...I lingered. I lingered with tenacity. Tears. Developing a passion for Christ Alone.

And was forever changed.

This author sounds like a kindred spirit.

Happy Fall

Ministry That Mends - Angelic Ministries of Knoxville Tennessee

It started out a rainy, dreary Wednesday today. I awoke to a crick in my neck, and a steady drizzle outside my window, and got my day started as best I could under such trying circumstances. At about 9 o'clock, I picked up my cell phone for the first time. (I turn my cell phone off at night, and don't turn it on the next day until I am good and ready...if I remember to at all. Don't judge. It's how I roll.)

I saw I had a message waiting for me from my friend Lynne B, so I listened. She was proposing that we meet up in...uh...thirty minutes.


Actually, she left the message last night, but my phone was already off by then. Don't judge her either...it's how she rolls. Do you sense a theme here? Let folks roll how they roll.

My rainy Wednesday was about to get a major infusion of Spiritual Sunshine. The planets must be lining up today, because all systems were actually "go" for me to run right out my front door and drive to Angelic Ministries of Knoxville, to help do some volunteer work. I couldn't believe it. I'm usually never that available on that short a notice...we're talkin' less than half an hour.

About twenty minutes and twelve seconds later, I was there. And I even had time to ingest a steaming hot cup of legal stimulant on the way. I know, right? You have one plan for your morning, and BOOM, you find yourself driving through a bad part of town, to a worse part of town, before you can even say "What The Heck?"


Well. If you're me.

So. I spent some time helping to mend broken people today...it wasn't hard to do. Two or three hours of my time was all it took, going to the building that houses Angelic Ministries of Knoxville, shadowing and assisting my friend Lynne B, who volunteers there regularly.

As I drove up to the building - again I tell you - in a part of town that isn't exactly upscale, I passed a man who was...ah..."relieving himself", right there in a little nook area of the outer brick wall, his back turned towards the highway.

Somehow, I knew right away that if helping people who actually need it is good for the soul, I was about to get a really happy soul today.

I parked my car, hid my purse, locked up, and headed inside. I was introduced briefly, and within five minutes, I had my first "client". That is what Angelic calls the people they minister to. Actually, Lynne ended up with two clients, sisters who came together, and I pretended one client was hers, and one was mine.

I was there to look and learn and help wherever needed...and bring all of you with me, via pictures. (Please do pour yourself a tall cuppa something - there's more than one or two pictures here...)


Angelic takes people in crisis situations, people who have been referred to them by other reputable agencies or churches, not off the street, and volunteers take them with a shopping buggy through the huge warehouse of donated items, and help them pick out what they need to get re-established. And I do mean whatever they need.


If Angelic Ministries has it to give. Which brings me to the first sight I was confronted with...

The toiletry shelves. Empty. Do you even know how expensive toiletries are? Very little along those lines could be given out by Angelic Ministries today, because toiletry donations are down. It just wasn't there to give.

If the next picture does not hurt your heart, not much will move you, ever...



What about this one:



The weather turned cooler recently. So for fun last weekend,I went out and got my grandbaby a new pair of shoes to keep his sweet feet warm (and to make him weep violently, but that's another story...home boy don't like shoes.)

What about the sweet feet of the babies who come here? With many, if not most, of the families that are helped through Angelic Ministries, there are babies and children involved. The sisters we helped this morning had two or three at home. Babies. They also have school aged children.

Here is a sign from God, if anyone needs a sign:

...and when they say they need men's pants...

...they really mean it. There were no men's pants at all...only shorts. If you were a man, who came to Angelic Ministries today, and you needed a pair of pants for your new job, the job that will help get you back on your feet - you better be a size 40 waist, because if you were anything less, there was nothing there.

Speaking of being back on your feet...


Almost nothing for you in that department, either. Angelic Ministries needs donations, friends!

We took our two sisters to pick out some linens. Towels, anyone?

It's a good thing there are a (very) few, (very) thin towels on these shelves. The two women we worked with were able to get some for each family member.

I'll leave you with just a few more images...

Those toiletry shelves haunt me to this moment...

Nope. Nothing on this shelf either. Such a basic, human-female need.

The school supplies.

The image that most lingers most with me, though, is that of two clients I saw who weren't even "my" clients. I saw a young Hispanic couple there with their baby, scanning those toiletry shelves. I'm a good judge of character, and the faces I saw were open. This was the sweetest, cleanest looking little family you'd ever want to see. They simply were in serious need.

And they had a baby. What growing baby couldn't use a pair of shoes this autumn?

And the man might could have used an extra pair of decent pants.

And they were standing in front of those darn toiletry shelves.

You might think that in the light of the stark needs, and those empty shelves, that I left feeling depressed. Nah. Our two sisters went home with a literal truck load of blessing - a twin bed, a queen sized bed, all bed linens, dishes, pots and pans, food for the whole family, baby clothes, baby food, a baby car seat, and I think even a small desk.

Needs are being met, and there are more needs that need to be met. (Say that ten times fast!) And I serve a God who is the Need Meeter. I'm praying that He'll use this small blog post to do something Big...a loaves and fishes kind of thing. God can take my small contribution, bless and break it, and do Amazing Things.

If you can help, and you live here in Knoxville, I have a name and number to hook you up with. If you want to help, and you live far, far away (I have tons of blog readers who live in other countries!) please email me, and let's see what creative brilliance we can come up with.

If you own or know of a business that could donate toiletries, email me right now. Don't wait.

Those empty toiletry shelves bug me.

Grandson's Nine Month Photos

You can't keep him still. Can you see how his eyes glow with interest, as he systematically pulls all my yarn out?

This is "our boy"...our grandson, saying, "GO VOLS! TOUCHDOWN, TENNESSEE!" Or, he might be saying, "Praise the Lord." He gets the two confused.

Thinking Right About People

(image from Tiffany Kirchner Dixon's blog)

I really, really want to enjoy the journey of life. For the love of chocolate and red wine, I just want to take joy.

I have a low tolerance for negativity. I have an even lower tolerance for negative talk about people. Ask my family. We aren't perfect, but on the average day, we just don't do it. We don't speak negatively of others. Once in awhile, this is because I can't take it, and after about two minutes of it I have to change the subject or interject something positive and redeeming. And I mean it. Let's not even think about picking up where we left off, and go back to criticizing. I'll get mad.

That. ain't. pretty.

This isn't because I am virtuous. I tend to push the limits of virtue in some areas of my life. I hate gossip simply because I have had a belly-full-enough of negative yah-yah to last a lifetime, and I am totally sick of it, I do not care how true it is, or how important it is that I should know this or that about so-and-so.

This might not be a virtue at all. This might be a survival mechanism I have developed. But for pity's sake, why say something bad about someone else?

Think about it. Ask yourself the same question I ask myself: What good can this possibly do? Truly. What good at all does it do to mentally or verbally criticize? Of what redeeming value is gossip?

That's all gossip is...a negative little chat about something or someone's shortcomings. Sometimes the chat takes place between your ears, between you, yourself, and you. Or it might take place between you and another person. In person or in writing. (We forget that a private Facebook message is still gossip, even though we didn't SAY it!) It might be veiled, it might be blatant, but the intention is always the same: to point out a perceived fault. Or a church's perceived faults. Or the short comings of the Adult Sunday School program, which always by implication leads to someONE'S failures, as you see it.

And sometimes you are exactly right.

Oh, yes, you might be right about precisely where the falling short line lies...and you do us all a smelly pile of good by talking about it. You rocket scientist, you! It takes a keen mind to decipher what is wrong with this world, doesn't it? You better not die, because we need you around forever and ever, amen, because all us mortals? Why, we'd never know there was a problem without your astute observations. At the very least, we'd miss out on all the petty fun of listening to you talk.

There. Now that you understand where I am coming from...


Seriously. How do we shift from negative yah-yah, to positive speech, seasoned with salt? By thinking right thoughts about others.

Because pointing out all the dings and scratches in your neighbor's car does not improve the innate quality of your car.

His car? Your car?

It is what it is, friend. Put your mind on higher things, why don't you? All this car-speak is metaphor, of course.

Do not let your mind dwell on such trivial matters as the shortcomings of others. The plans and purposes of God for your life transcend such things. Grasp this!

When you think negatively about someone, you end up speaking negatively about them. When you speak negatively about them, you diminish yourself and them. But when you speak only what is good for the use of building others up, you and they are increased.

Their faults? Your faults?

They are what they are. The real question is how much do you value relationships?

Your brain is a filing cabinet. You can't help but notice things you don't like, and you can't help but file that away.

But you don't have to pull it back out and refer to it constantly. You really can let the negative files gather dust, and choose to pull out what is good, and refer only to that.

You can, you can! Yes, you can!

And when others pull out their negative files on someone else, and hand them to you...you can do what I typically do...toss it in the circular file labeled T-R-A-S-H/C-A-N, and treat it accordingly. Mark the person who tends to pull only the negative files, and politely refuse the next one.

I understand there are instances where none of this applies. Sometimes we do have the unpleasant task of bringing to someone's attention something that is significant and of negative implication. But only...only...when this is for the greater good. The far. far. far. greater good.

And I understand that the actions of others can create a teachable moment...brief objective and private discussion is necessary, and so you try to keep it as redeeming as possible. I get that.

I understand that ideas must be examined and critiqued.

But people? Co-workers? Fellow church members? Someone you call "friend" to their face?

Come on. We are all smarter than that.

Cut the negativity. It does no good. It adds no joy to the journey.

Are You Teachable?

There is a big difference between being a woman who is eager to learn...

...and a woman willing to be taught.

You can be eager to learn, because your ears prefer customized teaching that suits your strained sensibilities. The Bible calls it "itching ears", and we usually associate itching ears with the craving for teaching that promotes sin or some sort of ungodly ease.

I'm here to tell you, that is a no brainer. I get so weary of Christian women who have a firm grasp of little other than the obvious. Of course, teaching that encourages sin or laziness is so not cool. But I find most Christians instinctively know this. Or maybe I just run in the best circles, and there is a whole world out there, eager to sin and sit around and accumulate stuff instead of reach their generation for Christ. Um...I guess that would be a world that I am not intimately associated with.

What about the teachers who promote performance-based Christianity? The itchiest ears of all are found on those who prefer teachers of law-based, Christian-ized behavior modification. The itchiest ears of all are found on those who love to perform.

Exhibit A: the shelves and shelves of self-help books in bookstores both sacred and secular.

These people heap to themselves teachers, and you can find them on their bookshelves. Every book can be tossed into one of three heaps: the "fiction" heap, or the "writings of dead moralists" heap, or the "Christianized DIY" heap. You don't find much else on the shelves of a legalist.

Itching ears.

Paul told Timothy, "Preach the Word". The whole Bible, Old Testament and New, is given by inspiration of God, to make us mature and equipped for the work we are uniquely called to do.

So I'm asking: What is the central focus of "The Word"? And why does it need to be "rightly divided"? What is the application?

Christ. Everything from Genesis to Revelation and all points between is about Christ. When you read the Pentateuch, look for Jesus. When you read the Psalms and the Wisdom Books, look for the Gospel, for it is there. The very looking for it forces you to rightly divide this Word of Truth. The very effort of looking for the Gospel in all of the Old Testament forces you into a more accurate hermeneutic. When you read prophets major and minor, look for the wisdom hidden from the ages, now revealed: Jesus. He is there.

Paul was exhorting Timothy to preach the word of Christ. You aren't persecuted for living godly. A devout Morman or Muslim can manage that. You are persecuted for living godly in Christ Jesus. When the cross is the only way to salvation, when your godly living is because of His Finished Work, when your good works flow as a direct result of the revelation of your being made righteous...well, that is just weird. And very uncool. And out of step with the current thought in much of mainstream Christianity.

Again - Exhibit A. And the shelves of itchy-eared legalistas.

Which brings me back to the question: are you willing to be taught, or just eager to learn?

Knitting Machine

Have I told you I now own a knitting machine? I do. Own a knitting machine. It is used, but no matter...it is a Mac Momma Machine. A Singer 700 (older model) with SPN60 ribber, with every doo-dad and attachment known to machine knit-dom. I have no idea how to use it yet, but I am armed with an instructional video. And tons of moxie.

I plan to get me down to some bidness heah in dis hood, and teach myself yet another skill...and machine knitting is its own skillset, please lemme tell you! It is not...I repeat, not..."cheating". It is as big a learning curve as learning to knit with your hands, maybe moreso. It is not easy, but it is not ridiculously hard, either, I'm told. It just takes a different approach, and (from what I have read) it takes approaching knitting projects in a completely different way than hand-knitting.

For one thing, it takes thinking big. Expanding my knit-and-purl-a-scarf horizons. As in...knitting a cozy for the earth, bay-bee! Or maybe just Tim's truck. Or maybe just designing and executing beautiful king-sized blankets. Or a blue-million intarsia scarves.

A machine is more for someone who wants to branch out into designing. And yes, once you surf the learning curve, the knitting part goes fast.

Here is a picture of a stripped-down model:


You can't buy my knitting machine at Hobby Lobby. This ain't no plastic toy, neither. Oh, and by the way, the one you see (above) isn't my new baby. This one is a picture I found on the internet of a basic machine. This machine does not have the SPN60 rib-knit-bed attached to it. That SPN60 doubles the capacity of what you see above, and opens all sorts of creative doors.

Mine is so big, it gets its own work-table, and came with its own upholstered bench. And I am going to learn this thing. Eventually.

I'm blessed.

Can complete world domination be far behind?

New Covenant Gospel - Immense Implications

In a culture urgently in need of reformation, believers have to bear in mind that we are the change agents. We are the kindling for the fire...

...a thorough study of Western history will reveal that periods of renaissance and reformation follow on the heels of the church's return to first things. Great periods of Renaissance and Revival and Reformation come when the church perseveres in its return to the first things of New Covenant grace (versus any emphasis on the law as our means of righteousness), a Christocentric gospel (versus a program-centered, selfcentric message), and radical love for the community they fellowship with, otherwise known as their very own local church (versus floating from church to church).

When a believer puts all her emphasis on second things, she ends up losing first and second things. When she places all her emphasis on first things, trusting God for the second things, God gives and includes secondary things freely.

Stay with the New Covenant message, preach the Finished Work of Christ, plus nothing. Live a love that is tough...a far different lifestyle than attempting "tough love".

Don't think "tough love". Rather, think "Love is tough." And then get your rear-end out there and love those who are a bit unloveable...the ones that most resemble you. The love of God is rugged. Love is patient. It isn't easily offended. It does not leave. It believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It never fails. You can't wear it out. You can't make it quit, because it always wins. Love wins because it is tough. Strong. Weathered. With relentlessly kind eyes, and ever open hands, ready to bless. It rejoices in the truth of the fact that all sin has, at the cross, been forgiven - past, present, and future.

Build your life around these first things: New Covenant Message, the Finished Work of Christ - plus nothing; and showing your community a love that is tough...love them relentlessly, delight in them without fail, and you will be used of God to bring Reformation to your church, your family, your business community.

History proves it.

Standard of Living

I realized today that I am an odd bird. I know I can lean to the "tad bit eccentric" side of the personality scale. What I mean is, I realized I am odder than even I first thought. (Okay, most of you already knew that, but I am just now catching on.)

I am listening to a business book from Audible.com (a site I can't recommend highly enough...a bibliophile's symphony of words!), and I heard the phrase "standard of living". My mind instantly thought of Shalom. Not the word "Shalom", but the whole thing...the whole idea of the word...the whole lifestyle of that word as it applies to relationships.

Yes. When I heard the phrase "standard of living", from a book on business, I naturally thought first of my relationships, not of how big my house is, or the level of our income. Weird, I know.

The relationship that is the most strained in our lives might be our relationship with our oldest son, the Marine. The relationship we have with him is better than it has been in recent years - we call it "strained" based on our standard of living. We are accustomed to lots of unity and joy in our relationships. We are accustomed to being close with friends and family.

He came all the way home from Camp Le Jeune, of his own volition, to surprise us over the past Labor Day weekend. He just wanted to be home. We weren't expecting him, and sometime after midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning, there he was, standing in our hallway. Sort of a Hallmark moment, only I was on Ambien. Think of the Waltons, only the momma is on drugs come bedtime, and John Boy chews tobacco and can be mean as a snake.

We were happy to see him, and we enjoyed a great weekend together, the whole family. Most families would take that in a heartbeat. We consider the relationship "strained" based on the depth of relationship and unity we are accustomed to having in our family. We are used to a higher standard of living. Because of past hurts and a few as-yet unresolved issues, things aren't quite Shalom....yet.

But dang. We are so rich. Honestly? We are a stinking well-off couple, my preacher and I. Our standard of living is high.

We are so in love. I'm talkin' the sort of love that cheers each others heart significantly, secretly squeezes each others glutes, goes out for walks and ice cream, and a gaze that still meets across a crowded room. Eyes that light up when we see each other...that kind of love. High, high standard of living. Lotsa Shalom.

And we like each one of our kids, and their spouses. In his sweet, funny, open, dinner-table moments, I take such great delight even in that "strained" relationship with my oldest son. I know it won't be strained forever. Strained...not estranged. That's the grace of God, in action.

And we have friends. Such friends, we have! Men and women who serve God with passion and purpose, and who love well, and who lavish grace on one another. My friends show me Jesus, all the time. We have friends new, and friends old. Friends young, and friends old. Friends who are mentors, and friends who are mentees.

Standard of living? Ours is off the charts. We don't eat ribeye steak very often, but we do have lots of grilled chicken - sometimes a bit dry, granted - but we live in good, healthy relationship, even though we had to wage a little war to make the peace.

Almost Undisturbed Shalom.

"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife." Proverbs 17:1

A Change of Mind - A Daily Reality

These are my actual notes from this past Sunday. As I was taking them, I suddenly was inspired to make it a blog post, so I whipped out my smart phone and snapped the picture. In front of God and all my rowdy friends.

They are so used to me. No one blinked, no one thought it odd at all. I think they all know that anything and everything can and will become Blog Fodder for the Preacher's Wife.

The Finished Work of the Cross? Utter perfection.

My attitude and belief structure? In need of change. Every day.

Repentance simply means to change your mind. When you first came to Christ, you changed your mind in regards to either 1) Your need to be right, or 2) Your need to be wrong. In coming to Christ, you chose to think differently. Through the foolishness of preaching, you were made to realize that to think less of yourself was not enough...you realized you weren't to think of yourself at all. You were led to believe that salvation was all about Jesus and not what you did or could do, right or wrong.

You were led to believe that, right? Because that would be the effect of the preaching of the cross. True belief, and true repentance - a change of mindset.

As you received Him, in the same way, you walk with Him. Twenty, thirty, forty years later, if you are a spiritual person, if you are maturing, you will be changing your mind. Your actions will always follow suit.

Another term for all this? "The Renewing of the Mind".

An Impromptu Trip to the Mountains...and an Impromptu Shooting Competition - Pictures, not Animals

Tim gets credit for this one. ::sigh:: He saw this, and locked down on the brakes of his Ford truck. He jumped out the driver's side door with my camera, composed the shot (manual mode, all the way...shutter speed, apperture, zoom, and focus...he set it all!) and shot it. Darn him. The dappled sun was hitting the base of this tree like a spotlight.

...a Flycatcher...I got this shot, but nevermind. It pales in comparison to Tim's moss-on-the-base-of-the-tree shot. I feel a competition coming on. And I will win. He has no right to get better shots with my Nikon and new 55-200 mm lens than I get with my Nikon and 55-200 mm lens.

...fungus...again, spotlighted by dappled sunlight. Again, Tim. Incredible shot. This is exactly how it appeared - glowing. This shot is "SOOC"...that means "straight out of camera", no retouching, no photoshopping. In fact, not a single photo has been Photoshopped.

My mountains...

My beloved Smokies...can you see why they are called the "Smokey" mountains?

Side-lit splendor...golden autumn sun...no other time of year has this quality of light.

I got it! I got the shot! When you slllllllow down the shutter speed, you get that lovely sheeting action, when you shoot moving water. Fast shutter speed = seeing water more like the naked eye sees it, sometimes even freezing individual droplets in the picture. Slow shutter speed = that flow-ey, sheeting action. Love!

(Slowing your shutter speed, plus shooting in overcast conditions is not for the faint of heart, however. This shot best not attempted without a tripod...not without tears and swearing. Just kidding about the swearing. And the tears. But I was frustrated. I didn't bring my tripod. I asked Tim to bend over, and I planted my elbows in his back and shot for several minutes. Not kidding. He is so good to me. That man patiently watched me shoot scenes around the Smokey Mountains for three hours, until past dark.

In this shot above, notice how the surrounding, stationary non-water parts of this photo are not tack-sharp. No tripod. Tim's back helped, but next time, I am bringing my tripod.)

So proud of this shot. No tripod. No Tim's back, either. But I managed it. I set the camera to shutter mode, set the speed for a slow shutter, and compensated with apperture. ISO was 800.

Quotable Quote

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."

~Mark Twain

What do you want your husband, children, close friends, and other family members to be able to say about you when you die?

Live that way. Get to it. Now.

You never know...you know?

Fall Decorating

I began the process of putting away most of my summer kitchen today. I plan to pack away the turquoise blue mugs, all the blue glass, and the particularly summer-ish turquoise blue tea towels. Then, I got out my packed-away spice-orange things.

Here is a sneak peek:



The weather here has been a bit fall-ish this week. This makes me feel poignant. I still love September, but I dislike seeing summer go away. So, to cheer myself, I've begun the switch-out to autumn...getting out the harvest wheat sheaves, the pottery and glass in varying shades of ivory and spice pumpkin.

Last year, the palette was white, orange, and brown...with shades of each between. This year, I am sticking with the same palette, but adding a small touch of turquoise, too. I've left out a few of my turquoise summer things, only now instead of there being a strong note of turquoise, it is just the barest of accent color.

I'll post more photos when I'm done. I hope your September is Blessed and Highly Favored...

...in Christ, there is no such thing as not Blessed and Highly Favored.

How God loves us!

Obvious and Simple

"Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3: 19-20, NLT

Simply. "The law simply shows us". We human beings love to complicate the Gospel in an effort to justify our own existence. We want to make our good works the thing that the Gospel is all about, when the Gospel is way more scandalous than that. The Gospel is about blood sacrifice that speaks of a shouted grace, freely given, and vigorously appropriated by those who can see simple things clearly.

Our good works are the cosmetics...the adornment...the accessorizing, if you will, of the One Work that Matters...the finished work of Christ. Look up your Greek in Titus 2, where it says that we are to adorn the Gospel with our good behavior.

Kosmeo. Yeah...we get our English word "cosmetics" from that Greek word. I need nothing else, in the way of proof text, but there is a lot more than that...however, it is September, it is Labor Day, and I am feeling mellow.

So if you wanna keep believin' that your works are anything more than (beautiful, significant, because all that is truly beautiful is significant) adornments to beautify the message of Scandalous Grace...go right ahead. One of us is wrong, and it isn't me.

Obviously. How about that word? "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given..." (um, and that would be Old Covenant Hebrew People...)

Unfortunately, that darn veil obscures the obvious for many believers. What should be obvious....ain't. It is satan's Grand Scheme. To obscure the obvious. He's very, very good at it. Every day, I uncover some small (or large) truth he has managed to minimize, distort, or obscure in my understanding. And I get to happily repent and change my mind.

"After all, repentance is a gift...an opportunity...an invitation to The Good Life." And, by the way, that is a quote from The Preacher's message in church yesterday. It was - no bull - the best message on repentance I have ever, ever heard. Foundational. In the context of the Gospel. You do not want to miss it. And "obviously", repentance is part of the Gospel, and has always been preached at Harvest Church.

(I know, right? We are so "imbalanced"...)

But it's September. It's Labor Day, and I am feeling really mellow, so I'll save the fullness of all the past weeks and months of Romans study for another post.

Summer's last gasp. I am enjoying it. I am loving these days of simple dinners and detailed desserts, and the four or so pounds I've gained be hanged, I truly do not care...

...of waiting for the green beans I planted late to come in...of grandsons and first football games of the season. Of breakfasts at Burger King with the goal if discipleship and the attainment of so much more. Days of ridin' with my baby in his Ford pickup, listening to a Kenny Chesney tune. Days of takin' the back roads. The long way home. Puttin' a little gravel in our travel.

All my ducklings are in the nest, for today. It is Labor Day, friends. Let us rock it together, shall we? Some things really are so simple and obvious.

Simply Rock This Day. With Obvious Grace.

Worship Gone Wrong

Octavius Winslow

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

"Let us inquire what is that which Satan desires to assault? It is the work of God in the soul. Against his own kingdom not a weapon is raised. It is his aim and his policy to keep all there undisturbed and peaceful. But against the work of the Holy Spirit in the renewed mind, his artillery is brought to bear; not a part of this work escapes him.

Every grace comes in for its share of malignant attack; but especially the grace of faith. When, for example, a repentant and believing soul approaches Christ with lowliness and hesitancy, and with the tremulous hand of faith attempts to touch the border of His garment, or with a tearful eye looks up to His cross, then comes the assault upon faith in the form of a suggestive doubt of Christ’s power and willingness to save. “Is Jesus able to save me? Has He power to rescue my soul from hell? Can He blot out my transgressions, and redeem my life from destruction? Will He receive a sinner, so vile, so unworthy, so poor as I? Has He compassion, has He love, has He mercy sufficient to meet my case?”

In this way Satan assails the earliest and the feeblest exercises of faith in the soul. Does this page address itself to any such? It is Satan’s great effort to keep you from Jesus. By holding up to your view a false picture of His character, from which everything loving, winning, inviting, and attractive is excluded, by suggesting wrong views of His work, in which everything gloomy, contracted, and repulsive is foisted upon the mind; by assailing the atonement, questioning the compassion, and limiting the grace of Christ, he would persuade you that in that heart which bled on Calvary there is no room for you, and that upon that work which received the Father’s seal there is not breadth sufficient for you to stand.

All his endeavors are directed, and all his assaults are shaped, with a view to keep your soul back from Christ. It is thus he seeks to vent his wrath upon the Savior, and his malignity upon you.

Nor does he less assail the more matured faith of the believer. Not infrequently the sharpest attacks and the fiercest onsets are made, and made successfully, upon the strongest believers. Seizing upon powerful corruptions, taking advantage of dark providences, and sometimes of bright ones, and never allowing any position of influence, any usefulness, gift, or grace, that would give force, success, and brilliance to his exploit, to escape his notice, he is perpetually on the alert to sift and winnow God’s precious wheat.

His implacable hatred of God, the deep revenge he cherishes against Jesus, his malignant opposition to the Holy Spirit, fit him for any dark design and work implicating the holiness and happiness of the believer. Therefore we find that the histories of the most eminent saints of God, as written by the faithful pen of the Holy Spirit, are histories of the severest temptations of faith, in the most of which there was a temporary triumph of the enemy; the giant oak bending before the storm. And even in instances where there was no defeat of faith, there yet was the sharp trial of faith.

The case of Joseph, and that of his illustrious antitype, the Lord Jesus, present examples of this. Fearful was the assault upon the faith of both, sharp the conflict through which both passed, yet both left the battlefield victorious. But still faith was not the less really or severely sifted."

~Octavius Winslow.org

Harvesting the Seeds of the Gospel

Our entire church is beginning to experience a great harvest, on the seeds of the Gospel that have been faithfully sown from the pulpit for over two years running now.

Does that sound like I am giving the credit to my Preacher? If you think so, you still don't get how grace works...nor the apostolic gift. That isn't what I am doing at all.

Paul said, in a teaching about the apostolic gifting, that some plant, and some water. There is a "planting" apostolic man...and there is a "watering" apostolic man.

God alone gives the increase.

However, this is where you get into the concept of the believer's cooperation with grace. Had The Preacher not planted the Gospel seed courageously, in the face of much (and very personal) opposition, there would be no increase today. And had he not faithfully watered, lo' these two years straight, there would be no increase.

Someone else would have had to be brought in to re-plant, plow and re-plant, plow and re-plant...you get the idea. Without the watering, the planting has to be done over and over and over, because seeds die without water.

They just do.

So now...ask me again why my Preacher has stuck with the grace-Gospel like a dog on a bone. Or like a water hose on grace-seed. And heck yes, I am proud of him.

And without the saints eagerly receiving, being good Bereans, and tending the gospel-seed sown and watered in their hearts, there would be no increase.

But God alone gives the increase. Grace, grace.

And if one word could describe what is happening in Harvest Families, it is I-N-C-R-E-A-S-E.

Physically. (better health for many, and out-and-out supernatural healing for some!)

Financially. (Oh. Mah. Weeeeerd. Some serious increase going on. With more on the way.)

Um....."gynecologically". Need I say more? Harvest Church is the proud haven to seven new babies. Count 'em.

Spiritually. Harvest has increased and advanced spiritually by light-years. This means more to me than all the others put together. Because when people are increased, fat and flourishing in spirit, the rest comes in time, and when it comes, it usually stays. Because the roots run so deep into the love of God, you see. The blessing that comes with revelation comes to stay.

To stay.

Do you hear me Baileys? Kears? Howes? Buycks? McConnells? Cooks? Ewings? Jernecjics? Cantrells? Fanchers? Damrons?...and all the many others who have experienced great increase and miraculous blessing recently, some even just this week?

Your God establishes you. He makes your steps sure. He keeps you from falling. Which means you move forward, not backward. Forward, not backward. (Remember that word?)

Your blessings aren't going anywhere. Because you didn't earn them. Be glad you didn't earn them. What you earn, you have to maintain. Your blessings? They came by the grace of God, and remain by the same Power.

But you already know that.

Which brings me back to this post's very first sentence.

Preserving the Harvest - Drying Tomatoes

Put some parchment paper on the bottom of a rimmed cookie sheet. Slice your tomatoes, about a half inch slices. Spread them in one layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt, some fresh ground pepper, and add some basil from the garden. (Basil not necessary, but it sure looks pretty and tastes amazing...)


Set your oven to a low temp...I did these tomatoes at 200 degrees.


200 degrees for "up to" twelve hours. It is the "up to" that will get you, if you aren't careful. This particular day, the humidity was very, very low for my area for this time of year. So this batch of tomatoes only took about three hours! But it can take up to twelve.


All the moisture will dry out, and the tomatoes will shrink and darken. By the time they are done, they will be akin to tomato "chips"...almost crispy. Their flavor is intense, but delicious. You want them to be quite dry, but not burnt. They should peel off the parchment paper pretty easily.


Store these dried tomatoes in a freezer bag, and put them in your freezer. They are great for pizza, for homemade herb breads like foccacia, and soups. They retain their intense flavor and all their vitamins for about six months.


And now, for your viewing delight, I toss in yet another totally unrelated, cute grandson picture:

Be. Still. My. Heart.

Words...Worn

Most of you know - I am all about words. I decorate my home and I garnish my inner world with the best of them.

And now...I decorate myself and others with words!

This is my demo - my very first bracelet. Hannah has already claimed it as her own, and she says she'd buy more. I trust her fashion sixth sense. If Hannah loves it, others will too.

I will be designing different widths of bracelets, different words, different colorways, some with embellishment, some not.

This very first demo is a hand sewn bracelet, with antiqued metal closures on the other side (OOPS! I'll get a picture of the pretty clasp, when I put one like this up in my shop. When I finally get my shop up and running, that is.) The "Grace" bracelet is hand embroidered (by me) on burlap (burlap won't fray, because of the special sewing treatment I gave it) , and the embroidered burlap is attached securely to the fabric bracelet. The fabric for this bracelet is in a mustard yellow/teal blue colorway.

More ideas and designs are on the way....even a few collections are in the works - a "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter" collection of four, a Christmas holiday collection, a Good Word collection(based on a Scripture), a French collection, a Romantic collection, perfect for Valentines, and a colorway collection.

I am having such fun designing and creating these. I'll let you know when I have hand- sewn enough of these bracelets (and other things!) to put up a little online shop. I already own the domain I've chosen - I just wish very much that I had the computer skills to design a nice, marketable website...if anyone knows of a web designer who charges reasonable prices, do let me know!