"the sweetness of honey"

O LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:9

This was so good for me today. How beautiful is the living God!

ah, sweet spring

THOU GOD OF ALL GRACE
          Thou hast given me a savior,
          produce in me a faith to live by Him
          to make Him all my desire
                                all my hope
                                 all my glory.
                   From The Saviour, The Valley of Vision


Today is warm and the breeze carries the glorious scents of spring...jasmine, orange blossom, dewy grass, freesias and roses in bloom. What a gift is this life. On this day, amidst the daily ups and downs, I want to fully wonder and marvel at all the beauty surrounding me. Our Savior is so unbelievably good.

xoxo

A Prayer

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

--St Patrick's Breastplate

 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Photos from my grandparents ranch,CA June 2012

May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: “Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and he heard their voice, and looked on their adversity, etc.” Let them therefore praise the Lord, because he is good, and his mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how he hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry, and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord his loving kindness, and his wonderful works before the sons of men.”

-William Bradford

Thoughts for Sunday

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.
John 14:27

















There are times when our peace is based upon ignorance, but when we awaken to the facts of life, inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus.When Our Lord speaks peace, He makes peace; His words are ever "spirit and life.'' Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? ''My peace I give unto you''-it is a peace that comes from looking into His face and realizing His undisturbedness.
--Oswald Chambers

This was so what I needed to read this morning. How faithful is our Lord!

Have a beautiful Sunday.

xo
Emily

of adventure and lovely, simple things

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while...

We've been on an adventure!

Because of our family business, my parents went up to Portland, Oregon, (beloved city!) for the SCAA convention last weekend. They had not flown together, just the two of them, in almost ten years! So, we were thrilled for them to have this opportunity! My sister Hannah was the captain for our first time running the ship on our own! Although we missed our dear parents so much, we had a lovely, exciting,wonderful, adventurous time!
The high points:

• starting each morning gathered round the piano, praising our Creator by singing hymns along with my sister's piano accompaniment. 
• early morning snuggles with the baby girl. Nothing like cuddling a cozy, sleepy two year old. 
• scrumptious food! We're talkin' raw saurkraut and organic uncured hotdogs, quesadillas with homemade guacamole, mangoes and kiwis, root beer floats, smoothies, and my sister's aaaahhhmazing lemon pudding cake...yumsters. Hungry?
• watching Tintin for the fourth time. ( =
• Long talks with my sister and brother.
• cleaning the house while listening to music (have you heard this?), laughing and talking.
• stories! Elizabeth favored those of the Curious George variety.
• Hannah reading puritan devotions aloud from Voices from the Past. Praise God for the Word!
• laughing! My siblings and I can laugh! Cue inside joke: Minkey!
• neighborhood walks.
• breakfast out with dear grandparents.
• swimming!
• our home beach.
• picking flowers from the garden and arranging the blooms in vintage glass milk bottle.
• painting! Baby Elizabeth is a talented little artist. We all contributed to a Welcome Home! sign for our parents, and that was a lovely time.
• playing at the park.
• thanking God for each precious second I have with my siblings.

We had a marvelous time, but it is beyond wonderful to have mama and papa with us again.

Life is either a great adventure or nothing.

Helen Keller 

c.Emily/the song of the sea

infinitely wonderful

c. Emily/the song of the sea

The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend.
A.W. Tozer

Amen! That quote is so true of my life right now...no matter what happens, God's goodness is always there. I just want to praise Him for His love and mercy!

my baby sister and our dear camera

                                      

My darling baby sister. 

I'm finally posting a photo taken with our new, beloved camera. For those of you who don't know, we've been wanting a D-SLR for ages...and for Christmas, my dad surprised us with a Canon Rebel T2i! This camera is amazing! We love it so much! Can you tell?

xo,

Em

O CHRIST,

All, thy ways of mercy tend to and end in my delight.

Thou didst weep, sorrow, suffer that I may rejoice.

For my joy thou hast sent me the Comforter,

multiplied thy promises,

shown me my future happiness,

given me a living fountain.

 --The Valley of Vision, Joy

Our God is so good.

"Ah! what a mercy it is that it is not your hold of Christ that saves you, but his hold of you! What a sweet fact that it is not how you grasp his hand, but his grasp of yours, that saves you.''

~Charles Spurgeon

this is amazing

“When we say that Christ died for God and when we say that Christ died for His own glory, that does not extinguish His real love for His redeemed. This is amazing! He loved His people! And He loved them when they were vile and hated Him. He loved them when His holiness would not even allow him to look upon them. He loved them! He really, reallyloves you. This is amazing. This is not some God coldly manipulating things in order to show how great He is. This is not God just coldly wanting to show something to creation about who He truly is. He loves you! This is the thing that is the most amazing to me. He loves me.”

“From where does zeal come? From where does courage come? It doesn’t come from some sort of John Wayne “power within us”. It does not come from some natural steel in our backbones. It comes from this: What Christ paid changes everything! A man or a woman grabs ahold of this truth and they will be imprisoned for the rest of their lives within the confines of the love of God. It will be these truths that guide them. This is the mystery of all true piety and godliness! That Christ has come and that He has taken our sins upon Himself and that He has died. This is what must drive you. Not even the desire to change culture or fix this world should drive you. If that is your guiding strength it’s idolatry. The thing that must drive you is what God has done for you in Christ!”

  ~Paul Washer

( I just got this from the NCFIC blog)

cheerful beams

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully 
into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected
dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
~St. Augustine

a beautiful thought

Faith goes up the stairs that love has built

and looks out the window which hope has opened.

Charles Spurgeon

courage quote

''Courage is what it takes to

stand up and speak; courage

is also what it takes to sit down

and listen.''

--Winston Churchill