As creatures, we are designed to be thankful. It should be our native tongue because thanksgiving is the natural response of a grateful heart to God for His manifold blessings to us. It is not something we should do occasionally, but it should be a characteristic of our lives, an attribute we are known for as a people.
Romans chapter one describes the downhill slide of the unrighteous. They have willfully suppressed what God has plainly displayed to them (even His eternal power and Godhead) and so they are without excuse. “They did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened”(vs. 21). In the remaining verses of chapter one we see that “God gave them up” and “God gave them over to a debased mind.” In other words, God does not withhold His righteous judgment until after they have died. The unrighteous begin to experience the wrath of God while they live, for what else is God’s wrath if it isn’t being given up and given over? We Christians ought to recognize God’s judgment when we see it, and this chapter of Continue reading ‘Our Native Tongue’
Now that October is here we can really begin to feel that Fall has arrived! The fall colors in Moscow are famous for being beautiful, and I confess it’s my favorite time of year. The ladies’ fellowship hosted our first ever Fall Jolly last Saturday which was a combination food, craft fair, and tag sale. I think we can safely call it a big success, and we are hoping it can become an annual event. Here are a few pics. Not only was the craft fair a hit, but we sold lots of used furniture and household items at the tag sale, and the hot dogs and sausages went like hot cakes. We also invited private vendors to sell their wares and we had several booths selling things like artwork, books, homemade bread, and flowering bulbs. It really was a jolly event!
So, although July is not the best time for working with pastry, it must be done. What else would we put all the homemade ice cream on?
I think sometimes women feel the need to justify their desire to make beautiful things with their hands. So I have a perfect couple of verses for you! Here it is in Exodus 35:25-26: “And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.”
The NKJ renders wise hearted as gifted artisans, and I am certainly not able to explain why. But in Exodus 28:3, where it speaks of the gifted artisans also, God refers to them as “whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.” So I don’t feel I am taking a wild leap to say that women whose hearts have been filled with wisdom (wise-hearted women) are stirred up to make things. And though we no longer are making things for the tabernacle like the women in Exodus, we are making things for our homes, our children, our friends and family. And this is wise and good. Continue reading ‘Wise-Hearted Crafting’
Just when we thought we were hitting our stride, my daughter came across a blog post demonstrating that there are Easter parties out there that are way ahead of ours. One family has an wind-up Easter toy race every year, and it sounds like Mom saves the toys from year to year, so she has quite a collection. Now that is fantastic, don’t you think? I looked for some today, but all I found was a big hen that lays jelly-bean eggs as she moves along, which I’m betting will slow her down. Still, I bought a couple to get my collection started.
Let’s go girls!
My husband exhorted us this morning in his sermon that it is time for Christians to rev up the Easter celebrations because at His resurrection, Christ recreated the world. Therefore, Easter is the greatest, most cosmic-shaking event ever. So he suggested we make our Easter celebration even BIGGER than Christmas. You’ll have to listen to the sermon yourself if you want to follow his argument. But immediately after church many of us ladies were thinking about what we could do to make Easter more of a celebration in our families.
I have great childhood memories of Easter. My mother always made (or bought) us girls a whole new Easter outfit. We had new shoes and a matching purse (usually white patent leather), lacy socks, a pretty new spring dress with a slip to go with it, and a hat. We were filled with anticipation. My dad always bought us girls (and Mom of course) a corsage. We colored eggs a few days before, and Easter morning we hunted down our Easter baskets and had a big Easter breakfast.
After church Mom prepared a big dinner and the table was set with the crystal, china, and sterling. The candles were lit. And we were not by any means the only people doing this. Everybody got a new Easter outfit. My brothers wore suits and ties, even at age three. Everyone was feasting after church. And Dad presided at our table, praying and carving the meat.
Sometime in the sixties or seventies we had a pietistic revolt against such things. I don’t know exactly where it came from, but it seemed more “holy” to ditch the Easter finery Continue reading ‘Chocolate Eggs and Jesus Risen!’
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