October 17, Today’s thought – I Have Called You Friends

oct 16 fall lightThis is how the sky looked from my front door last evening.

Good Morning
Jesus said to him, ’Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?’ —John 14:9

These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: “. . . I have called you friends . . .” (John 15:15). True friendship is rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit. The whole experience of life is designed to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we really know Him?

Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away . . .” (John 16:7). He left that relationship to lead them even closer. It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to walk more intimately with Him. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (see John 15:1-4).

Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.
from My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

Learn to know Him . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 17, 2013 at 10:06 am  Comments (2)  
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October 16, Today’s thought – The Secret

oct 11 018Mexican Sage from Grandma Crain.

Good Morning

“Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).

Anxiety can tear you apart, because it pulls you in many different directions at the same time. Once anxiety seizes your mind, you’re not good for anything else until you break free from its grip. Here’s how you do it.

Cast your cares upon the Lord.

The word cares means anxiety. The word cast mean ‘to hurl.” In other words, the moment anxiety starts putting it squeeze on your mind, grab a hold of it and HURL it onto the Lord. Don’t pitch it; don’t toss it; don’t lob it — HURL IT. Remove it as far as possible away from you.

In other words, you have to let go of it. By holding onto anxiety you form a partnership that trumps your friendship with God. And you empower anxiety to be even stronger than it actually is. Let it go — hurl it upon the Lord.
And here’s the secret of why you can do this — HE CARES FOR YOU!

How odd that we would think our care for ourselves exceeds the care which the Lord has for us. And how absurd when we conclude that our ability to take care of things is greater than God’s power to do so. Yet that is exactly what anxiety cause us to do, over and over again.

So cast your anxieties upon the Lord BY CHANGING YOUR FOCUS from caring about yourself to realizing HE CARES FOR YOU. And He can do a much better job of it than you can.

Say it out loud to yourself and watch the cords begin to break away from your mind — “He cares for me!” Say it over and over, in any anxious moment, and God will bless you with a care free mind and a liberated life.  Rylie

Practice casting . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 16, 2013 at 5:54 am  Comments (2)  
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Chatting on the Porch — Randomness

chatsonthefarmhouseporch
“Chats on the Farmhouse Porch” is a group of friends
gathering to visit,
sip their favorite beverages,
nibble delicious treats
and share their likes and dislikes.

Patrice and Wendell have invited me to join the chatting.
Patrice provides the questions,
we answer.

How many animals do you have?
jan 13 cozy hair ballTwo fur balls, Grey – Busterford Jones, male and female Grissabel.
My daughter named them from the musical ‘Cats’.

Have you begun Christmas plans, travel, decorations, crafts, menu, etc.?

My side of the family will get together the Saturday after Christmas at my son’s home for a traditional turkey dinner. Our family’s Christmas date is not decided. We drew names for gifts last month.

Do you celebrate Harvest Season or Halloween?

Harvest Season if any celebrating goes on.

How do you heat your house?

‘Catalytic safety heater’ is the name on the front of the heater in our RV. We turned it on for the first time last night. I sit in front of it (that is where there is room for my chair), the Farmer sits at the table, I cook – he freezes. We have to use a fan to circulate the heat.  🙂

Do you like dishes with white centers or centers with patterns?

I love dishes! When I was young I wanted all white federalist dinnerware, I never got it. I still like a simpler pattern for dinner, but fun stuff for the rest of the time.

Are you interested in reading more answers? Click here.

Published in: on October 15, 2013 at 5:43 pm  Comments (2)  

Ten on Tuesday – This Weekend

ToT-Button

On Tuesday’s Carole hosts ‘Ten on Tuesdays’.
She chooses a topic – we list ten items.

10 Things You Did This Weekend.

My weekend started on Friday at 7:50, when we left for Medford, Oregon to join in the celebration of the life of our sister-in-law, Elsie.

Friday, 10:30, stopping in Redding CA to visit the Farmer’s mother in a nursing home.
Meeting us were 2 of the Farmer’s sisters and their husbands, a brother and his wife, a cousin and his wife and our adopted uncle. This picture shows Grandma at 100 years 9 months singing hymns along with us.
oct 11 grandma crain 004

The whole gang had lunch at Hometown Buffet hosted by Shirley and William, the Farmer’s sister and husband.

Next stop, Ashland, Oregon, can you guess where?
The Web-sters, a yarn shop.
I found yarn for a shawl, but they had only 7 skeins and I need 8,  I’ll order it on line.

In Medford, we had supper at the Farmer’s brother, Darrel with his family, yummy nachos for me.

We stayed overnight at a Senior facility that rents rooms/apartments (as advertising).  A complimentary breakfast is included, I had Eggs Benedict at about 10:00, my favorite time for breakfast.

Elsie’s life celebration was warm, full of laughter and tears.

We left Medford about 3:00pm, driving through intermittent rain (not a lot of fun, but not too bad), stopping again in Redding at the Black Bear, and arriving home about 10:00pm.

Sweet rest in my own bed.

Sunday morning and evening, we attended worship services gaining strength and encouragement from the songs and God’s word.

Sunday afternoon, two of our grandsons spent the afternoon with us, lunch at Garcia’s, a trip to Barnes and Noble and Coldstone ice cream shop (one of the grandson’s had a gift card that was crying ‘use me’.

After evening service, I played a couple games of ‘May I’ with friends.

Oh, and I started a new shawl, My Wish, by Laura Linneman

Not our normal weekend activities, but one filled with love, laughter, memories and comfort.

Other weekends are here

Published in: on October 15, 2013 at 11:34 am  Comments (4)  

October 15, Today’s thought – Chronos vs Kairos

my stuff 001My clock

Good Morning,

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1

from Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy,
by Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Once upon a time.
Up until this time.
For the time being.
Time and time again.
Time’s up!

time’s mystery is difficult for most women to appreciate because we’ve so little of it. Although we’ve all been allotted twenty-four hours each day, it doesn’t seem to go very far. So if we experience anything a all, it’s dread, because we keep running out of time. Again and again. And it doesn’t matter what kind of time it is —Greenwich, daylight saving, standard, eastern, mountain, central or pacific. All that matters is we never seem to have enough of it.Which is why all women I know constantly feel time worn.
. . .
In order to know a semblance of serenity during the days of our lives, we also need to discover Time’s twin mature, which the ancient Greeks called chronos and kairos.

Chronos is clocks, deadlines, watches, calendars, agendas, planners, schedules, beepers. Chronos is time at here worst. Chronos keeps track. Chronos is a delusion of grandeur. Chronos is running the Marine Corps marathon in heels. In chronos we think only of ourselves. Chronos is the world’s time.

Kairos is transcendence, infinity, reverence, joy, passion, loev, the Sacred. Kairos is intimacy with the Real. Kairos is time at her best. Kairos lets go. In kairos we escape the dungeon of self. Kairos is a Schubert waltz in nineteenth-century Vienna with your soul mate. Kairos is Spirit’s time.

We exist in chronos. We long for kairos. That’s our duality. Chronos requires speed so that it won’t be wasted. Kairos requires space so that it might be savored. We do in chronos. In kairos we’re allowed to be.

So how do we exchange chronos for kairos?

By slowing down.
By concentrating on one thing at a time.
By going about whatever we are doing as if it were the only thing worth doing at that moment.
By pretending we have all the time in the world, so that our subconscious will kick in and make it so.
By making time.
By taking time.

It only takes a moment to cross over from chronos into kairos, but it does take a moment. All that kairos asks in our willingness to stop running long enough to hear the music of the spheres.

Today, be willing to join in the dance.
Now you’re in kairos.”

With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 15, 2013 at 11:16 am  Leave a Comment  
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October 14, Today’s thought – At the Cross

oct 11 007Pink Japanese Anemone from Grandma Crain 

Good Morning

Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Four memorial services in one month are too many:
a 50 year old niece, and three 80+ year olds.
What spaces unfillable!

I don’t understand God’s timing but I do know His way is perfect.
The song At The Cross of Jesus Bowing brought comfort.

1 At the cross of Jesus bowing,
Here I find a safe retreat
From a world of care and trouble,
In His presence calm and sweet.

Refrain:
Sweet stillness of heaven around me I feel,
While low at the cross of my Jesus I kneel.

2 At the cross of Jesus bowing,
Here I count my blessings o’er;
Here I drink from life’s pure fountain,
Drink until I thirst no more. [Refrain]

3 At the cross of Jesus bowing,
Here I spend life’s sweetest hour;
Here I taste the joys of heaven,
Fill my heart with conq’ring pow’r. [Refrain]

4 At the cross of Jesus bowing,
Let me never from it part;
For His dying love has conquered
My rebellious, roving heart. [Refrain]

5 At the cross of Jesus bowing,
Here I own His way is best;
In the shelter of Mount Calv’ry,
Let me die in peace at last. [Refrain]
D.O. Teasley

a link to the song

Bowing . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 14, 2013 at 11:11 am  Leave a Comment  
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October 7, Today’s thought – Waiting?

oct6 008I’m thankful for my new mouse.

Good Morning

Psalms 138:6-8 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

We don’t like to wait.
We’re the giddy-up generation.
We frown at the person who takes eleven items
to the ten-item express checkout.
We drum our fingers while the microwave heats our coffee.
“Come on, come on.”
We really don’t like to wait!

Look around you.
Do you realize where we sit?
This planet is God’s waiting room.
The young couple? Waiting to get pregnant.
The guy with the briefcase? Waiting for work.
Waiting on God to give or to help.
Waiting on God to come.
The land of waiting.
And you?
Are you in God’s waiting room?

You may be infertile or inactive,
in limbo, in between jobs
or in search of a house, spouse, health, or help.
Here’s what you need to know.
While you wait,
God works!
God never twiddles His thumbs.
He never stops.
Just because you’re idle, don’t assume God is.
Trust Him.
In the right time, you’ll get through this.

From You’ll Get Through This ~~~Max Lucado

Wait . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 7, 2013 at 5:17 am  Comments (1)  
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Sunday Bible Reading – Matthew 27:57-61

october 21 dead zinnas & sunflowers 006An Autumn Sunflower

Good Morning

Matthew 27:57-61
When the even was come,
there came a rich man of Arimathaea,
named Joseph,
who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:
He went to Pilate,
and begged the body of Jesus.
Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
And when Joseph had taken the body,
he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
And laid it in his own new tomb,
which he had hewn out in the rock:
and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre,
and departed.
And there was Mary Magdalene,
and the other Mary,
sitting over against the sepulchre.

Were they . . .
waiting
in shock
grieving
weeping
trying to hold on to hope
like Mary and Martha sure Jesus would ‘rise again in the resurrection at the last day’ (John 11:24)
numb?

Jesus knew all about those feelings and fears,
remember He wept with the grieving.

Have compassion with the grieving  . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 6, 2013 at 9:46 am  Comments (1)  

Ocotber 5, Today’s thought – Hope is a Promise

oct4 004Coleus

Good Morning

Hope is a Promise

“And this hope is what saves us.
But if we already have what we hope for,
there is no need to keep on hoping.”
Romans 8:24

Faith is a power, and Hope is a promise.
For Hope is always about that which is yet to come;
never about what we currently possess.
Faith reaches into the future
and brings into the present
a borrowed power that enables us
to live today in the strength of tomorrow;
to posses this earth with heaven in mind;
to live in the presence of the “not yet.”
But Hope differs in this regard:
it knows what is promised,
even though it cannot see it,
and though it will never lay hold of it
until the day it actually arrives —
Hope holds firm without wavering.
Faith is for this world;
Hope is for the next.
There will be no need for Faith
in Heaven once we are there,
so we should spend all that we have while we are here.
But our Hope will pay off huge on That Day
when we cross the threshold of Time into Eternity
and see what our hearts have only imagined.
Hope is a promise
that holds our hearts forward to a better day,
that lifts us above the present darkness of a bad stretch
and keeps us buoyant in the midst of turbulence and trouble.
But sometimes Hope flags in the face of delays;
and Hope deferred can make the heart sick.
Thus weakened with soul-sickness,
our hearts may lose their grip on what is promised;
our Hope may fade
and our passion to keep a forward view
can diminish in the dusk of uncertain turns.
That’s when Love steps in to lift Hope back on its feet
— for Love never fails.
Love is a Person.
We’ll meet this Person tomorrow.

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Romans 8:24-25

Hope . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 5, 2013 at 5:00 am  Leave a Comment  
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October 4, Today’s thought – Come Ye Aside

july7 shoting 018Fall’s Beauty

Good Morning

Luke 9:10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone.
It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously.
In one single quiet hour of prayer
it will often make more progress
than in days of company with others.
It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.
~~Andrew Bonar

“Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile,
Weary, I know it , of the press and throng,
Wipe from your brow the seat and dust of toil,
And in My quiet strength again be strong.

“Come ye aside from all the world holds dear,
For converse which the world has never known,
Alone with Me, and with My Father here,
With Me and with My Father not alone.

“Come, tell Me all that ye have said and done,
Your victories and failures, hopes and fears,
I know how hardly souls are wooed and won;
My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears.

“Come ye and rest; the journey is too great.
And ye will faint beside the way and sink;
The bread of life is here for you to eat,
And here for you the wine of love to drink.

“Then fresh from converse with your Lord return
And work till daylight softens into even;
The brief hours are not lost in which ye learn
More of your Master and His rest in Heaven.”

Rest . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 4, 2013 at 11:29 am  Leave a Comment  
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October 1, Today’s thought – Your Mess

IMG_5297Grandma Crain made this star from seeds and cones and berries she found in the yard and along the road.

Good Morning

Deuteronomy 11:1-7
Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day; And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

Your Mess Can Be Your Message

I like the conversation Bob Benson recounts in his book, See You at the House,
about his friend who’d had a heart attack.
For a while it seemed his friend wouldn’t make it. But he recovered.

Months later Bob asked him, “How did you like your heart attack?”

“It scared me to death, almost.”
“Would you do it again?”
“No!”
“Would you recommend it?” Bob asked.
“Definitely not.”
Then Bob asked him, “Does your life mean more to you now than it did before?”
“Well, yes.”
“You and your wife always had a beautiful marriage, but are you closer now than ever?” “Yes.”
“Do you have a new compassion for people—a deeper understanding and sympathy?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you know the Lord in a richer fellowship than you’d ever realized?”
“Yes.”

Then Bob said, “So, how’d you like your heart attack?”

Deuteronomy 11:2 reminds us to remember what you’ve learned about the Lord through your experience with Him. Do that, my friend, and your mess will become your message!

From You’ll Get Through This~~Max Lucado

Learning . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 1, 2013 at 5:27 am  Comments (1)  
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September 30, Today’s thought – Uplift

Good Morning

they shall mount up with wings as eagles; Isaiah 40:31

A young minister in our town asked some of us to describe the role we’d like to have God play in our lives. “In just one word,” he said.
An interesting collection of words came forth:
Protector, Redeemer, Guide, Comforter, Friend and so on.
But there was one unexpected reply, “I’d like Him,” this man said, “to be my Chauffeur.”
All of us were taken aback until he explained his choice. “When hot-air ballooning was invented some two hundred yeas ago in France, ” he said, “the man in charge of the fire underneath the balloon that produced the hot air was known as the chauffeur, from the French word, chauffer, meaning to heat. Without the work of the chauffeur, the balloon couldn’t soar I couldn’t even rise.
“I like the thought of God breathing His life=giving Spirit into me every single day so that I can rise above trials and difficulties and preoccupation with w material things. Without the life that God supplies I can do nothing.”
~~~Arthur Gordon

Isaiah 40:28-31
Hast thou not known?
hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God, the LORD,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint;
and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall:
But they that wait upon the LORD
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.

Rise above . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 30, 2013 at 5:05 am  Comments (1)  
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Sunday Bible Reading – Romans 8:35-39

sept 27 001Cactus in the Farmer’s cactus garden in bloom.
Cactus is a start from my mother.

Good Afternoon

Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written,
For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay,
in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am persuaded my God is more powerful than any of these things.
Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 29, 2013 at 2:04 pm  Leave a Comment  
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September 27, Today’s thought – Mourning?

may13 005Take things one step at a time. . . Today

Good Morning

Psalm 42:3-5
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Psalm 42:8
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
Psalm 42:11
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Canst thou answer this, believer?
Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing?
Why yield to gloomy anticipations?
Who told thee the night would never end in day?
Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow , and yet more heavy tempest of despair?
Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?
Hope thou then!
Hope thou ever! for God fails thee not.
~~~~Charles Spurgeon

Hopeful . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on September 27, 2013 at 11:04 am  Leave a Comment  
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Yarn Along – Grandmother’s Favorite

yarnalong_gsheller_gray

On Wednesday’s knitters go to Ginny’s to share all the wonderful projects being worked on, finished, frogged, cried over, and learned from. They also tell what they are reading and a little of the storyline or provoking thoughts. I think it is great. So many books, knitting ideas and hints on how to make knitting more enjoyable.

I don’t have much exciting knitting this week,
but I wanted to link up with Ginny and her friends.

I have a large lace shawl and 2 afghans on the needles,
but I seem to need to see something done.
So I have been knitting Grandmother’s Favorite dishcloths.
sept 27 003
These are this Grannie’s favorite, too.
I knit with a size 4.
I love using the signature points to make
that K2tog with the unyielding cotton.
Thanks to the Farmer’s gift a few Christmases ago.

The white one has a swan knitted in, for my Mom,
she and dad used to have swans living on their section of Nelder Heights creek

I saw this yarn in Joann’s and knew it had to me another blanket
for a friend due late fall.
sept 27 002
What pattern to use??????
sept 27 001Grandmother’s favorite, of course.

Hmmmmmmmmm……..uh oh look at all those ends to weave in!
I better start soon.

Published in: on September 27, 2013 at 10:24 am  Comments (3)  
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