out of the miry clay

Saturday, September 18, 2010

When the Saviour Came My Way

Look what I found when I searched "praising the Lord God for his goodness" =)

...Poems and hymns of praise at Wholesome Words...

You ask me why I love the Lord.

Well, friend, just let me say

Life was not worth living

'Till the Saviour came my way.

You say I lose so much in life.

Yes, friend, PRAISE GOD, I do.

I lose the sin and sorrow

Which was all I ever knew.

I lose the days spent seeking joy,

The long nights full of tears;

I lose the heavy burdens,

Which I carried through the years.

But friend, I would not have them back

For all that you could pay.

My life was not worth living

'Till the Saviour came my way.

--Author unknown

I am come that they might have life,

and that they might have it more abundantly.

John 10:10b

And this one is perfect for today as I purpose to seek God's peace...

O Christ, in Thee My Soul Hath Found

O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.

I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not Thee;
But while I passed my Saviour by,
His love laid hold of me.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There's love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.
--Author unknown

(Copied from the back of the title page of James Gilmour of Mongolia: his diaries, letters, and reports / edited by Richard Lovett. 1893 ed.)

O LORD our Lord,

how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:9

I will bless the LORD at all times:

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 34:1

some days are just like that

Thursday, September 16, 2010

update from Prague

Tim & Kate have had today off for touring Prague on foot. They found a pay phone and gave us a call =)

First three days of campaign (Mon-Wed) they have distributed ~45,000 John & Romans. Tim says it's a huge rush of people when the buses/trams arrive, but many refuse the scriptures. The Czech church members tell him it is good he cannot understand what those people say to him as they refuse.
As of Thursday morning, Sept 16, the complete Czech Bibles that were ordered from Korea are still in GERMANY. They are hoping to see them arrive yet today ~ don't know if they will have to go and get them instead. Please Pray!
Kate is rooming with a 16yo girl from Colorado. She is on Mrs. Rettig's distribution team ~ Emilie says that Kate is working hard! It is quite cool there ~ they are thankful for the couple sweaters they took along.
This coming Sunday they will visit a death camp. They haven't made it to the Jewish Quarter of Prague yet. They did see a museum with medieval tools of torture today. Sunday they saw a cathedral and castle with parts dating from the time of Wenceslas. They have eaten at a Chinese restaurant twice already ~ Tim is looking for something a bit more native ;-)
We have had issues with gmail ~ please pray that they will be able to have contact with us that way. Today's phone call was $$expensive$$!
The big evangelistic meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 22. I'm guessing at ~7pm, which is Noon here. Please pray for many to attend and hear the gospel clearly presented!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

the power of gratitude

Could you therefore, work miracles,

you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit;

for it heals with a word speaking,

and turns all that it touches into happiness.

~William Law (1686-1761)

As I am reading Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, I am marking favorite passages to re-read... and to share with you...

My favorite way to 'take notes' as an adult has been to record the exact words of a favorite book, etc. However, as I sit down to type some of these my conscience is pricked that this would be precisely what is forbidden with the copyright. (It's one thing in my private notebook, but quite another to copy to my blog ~ Go ahead and say it: Duh, Melanie!). Soooo, bear with me as I attempt to offer a summary in my own words (which will require much more brain power than I'm aware of at this hour, and I probably won't get past chapter one...)

From the Introduction...

It is essential that we are purposeful and intentional (Is that more than just a popular buzzword?) about choosing to be grateful to God since it is much easier to yield to the ways of the world and our flesh, which is to murmur and complain.

...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15

...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Matthew 12:34

Ingratitude bears its fruit in discouragement and bitterness, but a heart filled with gratitude to God will overflow with joy. I want the latter, don't you?

Chapter One: The Power of Gratitude...

Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense

of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.

~Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910)

Gratitude is not an optional extra for the virtuous Christian. But we don't usually think a lack of gratitude is the root cause of our troubles.

Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed

and limps along the spiritual road.
~John Henry Jowett (1864-1923)

Each day we have a choice: We can choose to whine (Why me?) about our circumstances, or we can worship the One who is worthy!

Giving thanks

always

for all things

unto God and the Father

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 5:20

Read again this quote from the calendar (and book)!

And here's one more...

Gratitude is a lifestyle.

A hard-fought,

grace-infused,

biblical lifestyle.

Revive Our Hearts dot com

Monday, September 13, 2010

daybook September 13, 2010

I'm coming back to Peggy's meme... The Simple Woman's Daybook

A Fresh September Daybook Page...What Are You Waiting For?

(I guess I've been waiting for life to seem normal again... but it's just a New Normal for us.)

FOR TODAY

Monday, September 13, 2010

Outside my window...
the moths and other bugs are fluttering around ~ Yes, it's dark!
The storm clouds were coming and going last I saw in the twilight ~ we will likely have a thunderstorm sometime tonight

I am thinking...
that it's bedtime at our house
(so I'd better hurry up with this post)

I am thankful for...
Tim & Kate's safe arrival in Prague, the good reports and photos from Mrs. Rettig, and my one/only e-mail from Tim ;-) (so far)
...working out some banking issues again today
...phone calls from a friend and family today on our LANDline ~ yeah!
(connected on Friday before Tim had to leave for the airport)

I am praying for...

Kate (Miss Music Box) and Tim as they hit the streets of Prague today with the rest of the Couriers for Christ team ~ They should be sleeping soundly I hope (unless Tim wants to send another 3am email)

From the learning rooms...
We took the plunge into new books today ~ whole lot of different math classes going on here! :-)

with colorful (color-coded) new assignment sheets

Together we read lots of different things relating to history...
Greenleaf Guide to OT History: we read Gen. 7-8 today
Genesis: Finding Our Roots: we started in Unit I today ~ God's Book of Creation (Genesis 1-2:4)
Adam and His Kin: chapter 1
The Story of the Ancient World: ch. 1-2
plus lots of Prefaces in these new books

God created [bara = to create something out of nothing] ...

matter and energy (Gen. 1:1)
animal life (Gen. 1:21)
human life (Gen. 1:27)

The other verses in Gen. 1 use a different verb (translated "made" in my KJV) that means to create something out of existing matter and energy) Interesting! (Am I explaining this well enough?)

From the kitchen...
Monday ~ leftover taco soup for lunch; pancakes for supper
Tuesday ~ chickens are thawing to roast tomorrow
(hopefully this will still be appetizing to me after listening to discussion of "spent hens" on the radio today)
Wednesday ~ wraps?
Thursday ~ spaghetti
Friday ~ pizza
Saturday ~ grill burgers
Sunday ~ beef roast

I am creating...
Well, I just filled in the gaps on the week's menu ~ Does that count?
I need to spend more time getting this house in order while Tim is gone ~ It would be nice to impress him when he returns!

I am going...
to stay home tomorrow I hope. I was out on errands twice today.
I can now call my insurance agent on our landline instead of visiting his office to save the cell phone minutes ;-)

I am reading...
See the list above relating to school!
Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (but it's been several days)
I finished Guns of the Lion Friday night with the kids instead of turning on a video ~ which kept us all up past 11pm! :o

I am hoping...
for another e-mail or a phone call from Prague

I am hearing...
kids are quieting down ~ my clue to go to bed too
ceiling fan
the furnace fan just shut off
(Not running the furnace ~ the fan has a "circulate" option which is nice)

Around the house...
...laundry to switch before I shut out the lights
(with plenty more to wash tomorrow)
...Miss Artist set the table for breakfast before she went to bed
...too many boxes still waiting to be unloaded

One of my favorite things...
the excellent preaching and teaching so often provided at our church ~
Yesterday was a great day to be in church!
Pastor is still preaching through Mark,
but this favorite verse was also part of his sermon ~
You can read the rest of Isaiah 55 here!

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

A few plans for the rest of the week:
schoolwork, housework, piano lessons??
Wednesday night prayer meeting/youth group
baking bread to sell at the antique mall Friday-Saturday?

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

The Popper and her flowers ... a year ago!

These great verses are from yesterday's Sunday school lesson...

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

⁷That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ...

I Peter 1:3-7

Prague pics

Mrs. Rettig is keeping up a blog as well as working with the Couriers for Christ team :-)

And she's sweet enough to email me some photos too! I believe these are from Sunday (day 2).

"A few snap shots...the Czechs singing, our meeting in the morning, and
Chinese food."