Hello my friends ~

The Domain will be inactive for a while. Many changes taking place in our lives have already required my attention elsewhere, leaving a very meager supply of posts published in the last six months. If you would like me to contact you when I reactivate the blog, feel free to leave a comment or email me.

August marked my four year anniversary in blogging, and over these years you ladies have created a special place in my heart.

Please keep our family in your prayers ... as you will be in mine.

Our family sends you the very warmest Christmas Greetings because ~ and only because ~

. . . we have seen and do testify that

the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world . . .

1 John 4:14

May you find peace and joy at this time and always because you rest in the promise of who He is.

Comfort in Winter

Thou hast made summer and winter. Psalm 74:17.

My soul, begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that He keeps His covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that He will also keep that glorious covenant which He has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation: He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant meadows of our joy: He casteth forth His ice like morsels freezing the streams of our delight. He does it all, He is the great Winter King, and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord's sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! How pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.

~ Charles Spurgeon

Morning by Morning

Pie Crust

(We interrupt this unplanned blogging hiatus in order to post our family's pie crust recipe that is forever being misplaced in this house!)

Mix dry ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 TB sugar
2 tsp salt

Cut in . . .

1 cup cold butter
3/4 cup cold shortening

Toss lightly with

1 beaten egg
1/2 cup ice water

Add additional ice water by the tablespoon
only as needed (up to 1/2 cup).

Makes 4 single crusts or 2 double crusts.

[For anyone curious, in the photo Brittany used 1/2 of the above recipe (2 single crusts), lined a 9 x 13 pan and doubled my quiche recipe to fill it. It was as yummy as it looks. :o)]

I hope everyone's summer
is goingwent well. Ours became busier than initially planned. I have a few pictures to post if I ever get enough time to actually sit at the computer for more than five minutes on the fly.

The Greatest Knife Store in the Whole World

We took a one-day trip to the Smokies in mid-April. A certain young man informed us that the greatest knife store in the whole world was having a sale that included a free pocket knife with purchase. This young man, having studied said store's sale flier, pointed out that the free knife would be perfect for his little brother, and he could purchase his knife on sale. After staring into big, pleading, brown eyes, Daddy, being the old softy that he is, promised that we would visit the week he was on vacation. And so we did.

In addition to some very interesting knife displays, there were lots of hunting trophies (i.e. dead animals) on exhibit.

It's impossible to capture on camera the size of this place - a building big enough for the deer and the antelope to roam ... in a manner of speaking.

Somehow we missed taking photos of the elephant head and polar bear, but we did get the giraffe head and the moose.

The greatest knife store in the whole world has three, full-sized water falls scattered about the store. It's built on many different levels with lots of twists and turns. If you decide to visit, wear comfortable shoes and take a cell phone in case you get split up from your party. (I'm just saying . . .it happens).

One area of the store has several benches lined up back to back. It seems to be the place where the wives and daughters congregate. It's that kind of store ~ manly.

Everyone really did have a good time, but when we got back into the van Daddy commented that he thought that had been a great way to spend an hour. An hour?? We females politely informed him that we'd been there over t.h.r.e.e hours.

Of course, we left well-armed. Daddy, Brian, and a certain young man, all picked up new pocket knives -- not to mention the freebies, one with each purchase.  Bridget and Jon left all the richer for velvet, drawstring bags brimming with brilliant, smooth stones; sling-shot ammo, perhaps?  But what else would one expect? It is the greatest knife store in the whole world.

Being, Not Seeming

Mother Helps Her Daughter Stir the Pudding
by Maynard Brown

True worth is in being, not seeming;
In doing each day that goes by
Some little good; not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
For whatever men say in their blindness,
And in spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.

~ True Worth by Alice Cary

Thank you all so much for your comments on the post about submission. Some of you shared a bit about your journey as a Godly wife, and I thank you for that. Each one of you is a blessing to me.

My days of late have been quite full of living that life of wife and mother. We have had some serious matters that are requiring a pouring out of our hearts in prayer; we have had joyful things that have made us laugh in delight. Hubby has been loved and encouraged, and the children have been hugged and listened to. I have baked bread, bread and more bread ... by myself and with little helpers making miniature loaves. We have fried donuts (yum!), rolled cinnamon buns, frosted cakes, baked cookies and devoured all of it! With my gals' help, we have washed and folded daily loads of laundry, ran at least two loads of dishes a day, and cooked three meals a day. Furniture has been dusted ... or not! ... and carpets have been vacuumed.

Noah has landed, the people have babbled, promises were made, birthrights stolen, and 96-year-old Jacob has returned with his lovely brides to the land of Canaan. Place value has been studied at a first, fourth and seventh grade level. History from around the world and these United States has been pondered. The Ingall's have made their way to the prairie, a home has been built and a well dug. Barbar is still losing his crown, and Harold will continue to draw on the walls with his purple crayon. Five weeks have been completed in the blink of an eye! Where does the time go?

Praying everyone finds the blessing of fulfillment as each of us tackle the tasks God has placed near to our own hand. He has something for us to do every day. He created us in Christ Jesus to do good works. Isn't it wonderful that we don't have to wait to discover God's ministry for us? It's right at our fingertips, and it's called our family.

For we are his (God's) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Absolute Truth

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Most of society today does not believe in absolute truth. Our government schools teach there is no such thing. The world rejects absolute truth today because if something is absolutely true, something else is absolutely wrong! And no one wants to be wrong; sinful pride will not allow it.

The Bible teaches that there is no way unto the Father except by Jesus Christ. Jesus is Truth ~ Absolute Truth. Only by knowing Jesus does one know God the Father. We are called children of God through Christ; only believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are children of God. This is what Jesus taught; these are His words.

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. John 8:42

He that hateth Me hateth My Father also. John 15:23

Those who reject Christ reject God.

If anyone seeks additional clarification on this issue, I encourage reading all of the book of John or at least John 8 and John 15. Galatians 4 may also be helpful.

Only the Truth will set someone free. It is no favor to call someone a child of God when they are not. Sometimes the truth hurts.