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!’
This past Lord’s Day we sang Psalm 100 as part of the worship service, and it hit me afresh what a wonderful psalm this is. It reveals so much of the character of our good God.
All people that on earth do dwell. That means everyone. No exceptions. He wants us all.
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. No mumbling. We are singing to the Lord!
Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell. Let’s hear some laughter, let’s serve the Lord with merriment. Let’s toast His attributes and clink our glasses in His name!
Come ye before Him and rejoice. Here’s a little repetition, and we need it. No kidding: God wants merry worshipers, happy singing, glad hearts, and jolly rejoicing in His presence by every last person on the planet. Continue reading ‘Old Hundredth’
Things are quiet at my house! My son’s family is visiting my daughter’s family at Oxford, and that makes a grand total of nine children and five adults all under one roof (my niece Brooke is visiting the Merkles as well). They will be celebrating Thanksgiving together and have invited a family from Australia to join them.
They were surprised last year to find out that the British (at least some of them) view our Thanksgiving as an anti-British holiday. That surprised us all. My daughter explained that it had nothing really to do with the British, but all to do with thanking God for His provision. But because the first to celebrate were English people who were leaving town for higher ground, I can see why it could be misunderstood. At any rate, my transplanted kids will be roasting a turkey and serving it up with all the trimmings, some of them carried over in a suitcase.
But here on this side of the ocean we are awaiting the arrival of our twin grandbabies. We will gather today around our table to celebrate the arrival of yet another Sabbath, and who knows? Maybe next Sabbath our twins will be here! Or, perhaps by the first Sabbath in December. Either way, the anticipation is growing. Continue reading ‘Happy Sabbath’
Gearing up for the Sabbath feast is vital if you are going to pull if off. By gearing up, I mean figuring out what’s cookin’ sometime during the week, and then gathering all your ingredients and safely tucking them into your house before Saturday morning. Saturday morning, as we all know, is going to fill up with lots of other things.
This week I am making beef burgundy, one of my faves. We are planning on serving it at the Church Feast this January, so a group of ladies on the planning committee are doing some sample runs at it, checking ingredients, measuring exactly for the recipe we’ll be handing out to all our volunteer cooks.
So I got all my stuff ready yesterday so I could dive in today. Doesn’t seem to matter what kinds of time-saving tips I use, it still takes a couple hours for me to prepare. But it is well worth it. Nevertheless, I have to start early, avoiding the rush, so everything is in the pot and the mess is cleaned up. Doug puts on some jazzy music for me, and I have a Continue reading ‘Sabbath Prep’
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