Sunday, June 30, 2013

Living with Guilt and Fear



Ever notice how many people see God as a vulture, just waiting for you to fall on your face so he can swoop down and devour the carcass?  It's all too common a belief.

Scripture, however, shows us a totally different God. So if you're living with guilt and fear, you might want to read on to see what the Bible says about how God really feels about us.

***

'...If God is for us, who can be against us? 

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? 

It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? 

Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' 

                                                                                                                   - Romans 8:31-39 ESV

***

In my dad's last months, the hospice staff were convinced that he was in denial about death. They said it was very unusual for people not to be stressed out about it. I tried to help them understand that he in no way was in denial about death, but that Dad had an unshakable faith in Jesus to take care of his future, whatever it might bring. So, he had no fear of death. He also had no guilt, for he knew that Jesus had paid IN FULL for my dad's sin. Dad was free of fear and free of guilt. Therefore, he had no reason to fret about death. He looked forward to seeing his Savior and had absolute confidence in Him. 

Jesus had given him FREEDOM.



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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Good Humor

His mama hears that little voice calling,
'RING RING, Henry's Coming!'

Got this photo in a text message from our daughter. 
At almost 3 years old, doesn't he look official! 

All he needs is a box of ice cream bars 
and some hungry neighbor kids with cash. :-)




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Thursday, June 27, 2013

England Fences, Part I - Anglophile Friday


Herefordshire


Arthur's Stone, Herefordshire


Behind Richmond Castle, Yorkshire Dales


Yorkshire


In the Golden Valley of Herefordshire


On Pitt Road Nr. Dorstone


Not surprisingly, at Ironbridge


Sheep with an Attitude
Barbed Wire - at Embsay

Woven wire, barbed wire, wrought iron, board fence, split rail, drystone wall, etc. - the many fences of England. Next week's post, predictably, contains a lot of drystone wall fencing.


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Have a great weekend, everyone!

 
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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Snailing, Snailing - And Snail Haiku



This week I managed to convince a few friends that it would be a great idea to go with me to the lake and help collect sufficient snails to keep my garden pond clean. Sometimes we have a fairly mild winter and the snails winter over in the bottom of the pond, among the decayed leaves. Sometimes we have a very harsh winter. The past winter proved to be the latter.

And in case anyone's worried, I checked the Wisconsin DNR website to determine which snails could not be collected. None of the forbidden snails reside in the lakes in our area, so armed with a bucket for snails and fortified with a lunch from a local restaurant, the four of us trekked along to the lake.


Intrepid Snail-Collecting Assistants

At first, it seemed to be pretty slim pickins, but when we ventured to another spot, we found several snails just begging to be noticed. Without soliciting help, we also gained a good number of snails from a group of kids who wondered what on earth we were doing - and then joined in the exciting hunt with us.


'Pick me! Pick me!'
Kate's lovely hand adorned with happy snail


Snails in bucket
along with some sand and a reflection of the  trees overhead


The snaily shoreline
And actually, they were in slightly deeper water this year.


New Home Away From Home
Our garden pond, where the snails will enjoy keeping the algae off the rubber liner

Thank you to my friends for accompanying me to the lake. I don't know about them, but I had a great time - and our pond will be very happy and healthy because of their efforts. A few pond plants and some snails keep our pond clean all summer and fall. 

Now I just need to get a few fish.

P.S. If you're interested in building your own garden pond, here's the post I wrote on the making of our garden pond.



Snail Haiku:

Living in the lake
Woke up in a big bucket

Mom and dad you there?


C'mon, you know  you want to add your own Snail Haiku!  Feel free to put it in a comment below. :-)

(I never claimed to be good at this.)

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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

VBS June 2013 - Kingdom Chronicles

Praising our KING.
The kids loved the active song time!

Yes, we did have VBS (Vacation Bible School) earlier this month, and it's just now that I'm getting around to posting about it! The curriculum this year was spectacular - and from Answers in Genesis. The theme: Kingdom Chronicles. VBS consisted of praise time, Bible lesson, memory verses, craft time, drama. (That's drama from our amazing teen drama team!  In fact, I meant to get a photo of one of the 5 daily drama segments, but I became so engrossed in the drama itself that I sat there with my camera and totally forgot to take a picture!)



The kids' VBS offering went to 'My Father's House,' a Haitian orphanage partly supported by our church.

 The drama stage


"Lower the drawbridge! Open the gates! Get ready to charge into a time filled with kings, kingdoms, and majestic castles! Amidst the pages of The Kingdom Chronicles, your knights and fair maidens will
  • Discover that we’re involved in a battle between two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Enemy;
  • Understand how they can become citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom;
  • Learn to prepare for battle by wearing the full armor of God daily;
  • Be equipped to serve and obey our heavenly Commander—the King of kings;
  • Determine to train their brains to know, memorize, and obey God’s Word!"

 The Eye
My grandson (in the middle) keeping an eye on his grandma :-)

Our 5 year old grandson and his 14 year old sister stayed with us the week of VBS. He attended VBS and loved it. Our granddaughter was a huge help in the craft department, always willing and ready to do any task I assigned to her. 


 The Village
One of the crafts the kids made in VBS
I posted the tutorial on Cranberry Morning HERE

Washing Tie-Dye Shirts
The kids enjoyed Tie-Dye Thursday

VBS is sometimes exhausting but always fun - and a wonderful ministry and blessing to not only the children of Providence Reformed Baptist Church, but to all who attend - including the teachers and helpers!


Kingdom Chronicles is based on Ephesians 6:10-18:

'Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.'



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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and  Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special


Monday, June 24, 2013

Honey Almond Oatmeal Handcrafted Vegan Soap - and THE MOON


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What could be more natural than oatmeal and honey! This handcrafted bar soap is simply down-home, all-natural, country goodness. Finely ground oatmeal joins the other ingredients to make this a natural, fine bar of soap for shower or bath.

Honey Almond Oatmeal is great as a complexion soap or a hand soap. As with all our handcrafted soaps, Honey Almond Oatmeal has a generous lather, and this one feels particularly like a silky pudding on your skin. It's gentle and mild with a lovely natural fragrance.

Each of our soaps is 4.5-5.0 oz. and comes with its own attractive label and protective cello bag with seal - a ready gift for any occasion!

Read more about Honey Almond Oatmeal...

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 Did you see it?
The MOON, June 23, 2013

 
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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Barns in the Neighborhood - Africa


Barn at Africa

This old barn and silo sit at an intersection on Highway O, across from Africa.  For those of you who didn't know that Africa was located in Barron County, WI, that may come as a surprise. But back in the 1940s and 1950s, when the landscape was dotted with country schools, Africa was among them. It was probably similar to the old country school I attended as a first and second grader (amazing how I survived all these years without kindergarten, isn't it!). Since that time, during the great consolidation of c. 1956 when the country schools were merged with the town schools, the small country schools and acre of land they sat on were sold off to private individuals. The school I had attended was moved a couple miles from its location onto a farm, to be used as a granary. Africa stayed right where it was, and was remodeled into living quarters. There it sits to this day. And of course, I always think of this barn as 'the barn at Africa.'


***

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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Friday, June 21, 2013

Travel Journal Tutorial - Anglophile Friday

 You can see that it's been a while...
I'm hoping for next spring

I posted this in 2010, but thought it might be helpful to bring it around again - especially now that it's travel time for many. Along with planning an itinerary and making a packing list, this is one of my favorite things about preparing for a vacation.

***

I have found a great way to come home from a trip with a keepsake that I will enjoy for years to come.

BEFORE LEAVING ON VACATION:

I like to purchase a Cambridge 6"x9" spiral bound drawing tablet, for it has good, heavy paper. For this particular one, I found some pictures of England and made a collage for the front cover, then laminated it.



The inside of the drawing tablet has a pocket which is nice for storing adhesive mailing labels which I pre-print and take along, so that it's easy to address postcards to mail home. On the inside front cover, I glue the print out of our flight and itineraries. I also use adhesive labels to keep important contacts  and phone numbers close at hand.



The only other items I need to take along on my trip to make my keepsake, then, are a gluestick and camera. The gluestick has to go into that one TSA-allowed quart-size Ziploc baggie of toiletries, such as shampoo, toothpaste, and soap. When I once packed a bar of soap separately, I found out that  even bar soap scans as a liquid, so I make sure to pack my gluestick in that baggie as well.




WHILE VACATIONING:

Wherever we go, I collect ephemera, and when we're back at our hotel in the evening, I tear our pictures from brochures, postcards, etc. and glue them here and there on the page. Then I start journaling around them. If I've taken a certain photo that day that I'll later want to include, I make a note of it in the journal so that when I print out the photo after arriving home, I'll make sure to place it in the journal.



I think it was about the time of the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms that I realized I need to make better use of my journal space. That's when I started overlaying, as you can see in the photo above. The two WWII posters are hinged at the top, so that I could lift them up and write under them. Same thing with the photo of Winston Churchill. He's hinged on the side. You don't want to see Churchill unhinged.



Tickets, receipts from the grocery store, ale labels, and business cards all went into making my journal a fun keepsake to read and re-read (if you're like me). :-)



Occasionally, I'd even sketch in my journal. This is supposed to represent the holiday cottage we rented with our daughter and son-in-law in Sutton on the Forest, near York. Okay, the illustrators of the world have nothing to fear from me.  By the way, I was fascinated by the many chimney flues that poked out of the tops of the houses.



If you're ever in London, it's definitely worth the small cost to take a London Walks walk. They're greatly entertaining and we learned so much from them! It just so happens that the man who owns London Walks and writes the fun brochure (see link), is from Wisconsin! Who would have thought!



More 'layering,' allowing me to lift up the photo and write in the journal underneath.



I'm trying to visually scan these pages and see if I'm giving away any family secrets. I hope not. But you can see by this page, above, that we paid $110 per room per night in downtown London, near Victoria Station. (That's US Dollars, not British pounds.I think the exchange rate at the time was 2:1, USD:GBP. It's not that bad now, although airfare has gone up dramatically.) For someone who generally stays at Super 8, (like we do) that may seem like a lot, until you compare it with other hotels in London - or even Duluth, MN!! It was really quite a find, and our hotel room, though microscopic, was very clean, and our hosts very friendly and accommodating!



UPON RETURNING HOME:

By the time we returned home, I already had most of my journal done - all except for the occasional photo I would add later. Above, the beefeater is 'hinged' on the edge so it can be moved to reveal more text.

In summary, this is a great way to remember a trip. It's so easy and inexpensive, and unlike the huge project of making a scrapbook after you return, it's almost done by the time you get home! I happened to have enough space leftover from the 2007 trip, that I decided to take it along on the 2008 London adventure with Joe and Anna. Now my journal sits on the bookshelf next to our England guide books. :-) It occasionally comes down so I can enjoy it all again, and will continue to do so until airfare comes down!



***

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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Irises in my Backyard

 Rust-colored bearded iris in late afternoon light


 I have four types of irises in my backyard - a rust-colored iris (shown above and in the next two photos), a blue iris, a purple and white iris, and a black iris (which is budding, but not quite open).


 This reminds me of a kaleidoscope!


 I love the delicate, veined petals


 Blue iris among the hostas


 
 This purple and white bearded iris came from my mom.








***

I cannot look at these flowers without thinking of the design, not random chance, that went into making them. And I can't help thinking of the Designer - the amazing, loving, and merciful Creator, who put us in this world full of design and purpose.



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