Don't Sweat the Small Stuff



Received a note from Matt tonight, via his favorite social networking site...

"Look mom, I know how much you just luvvvv little crawly things so I'll bring you one ;)"

At least he's thinking about me. 
    He left with a friend today to help out at their ranch in GA for a few days.  

    Thanks, Matt, for loving me.  I love you too, but we have all the pets we need. 
    No more, please, thank you!

Channels Only



Matthew leading worship at a Wednesday night Life Group meeting

How I praise Thee, precious Savior,
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me
That I might Thy channel be.

Refrain

Channels only, blessèd Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.

 

Just a channel full of blessing,
To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation
All Thy loving message sound.

Refrain

 

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,
A clean vessel in Thy hand;
With no power but as Thou givest
Graciously with each command.

Refrain

 

Witnessing Thy power to save me,
Setting free from self and sin;
Thou who boughtest to possess me,
In Thy fullness, Lord, come in.

Refrain

 

Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit
Hearts that full surrender know;
That the streams of living water
From our inner self may flow.

 

Refrain

Words: Mary E. Max­well

Photo Credit: Shane Waters

Setting Sun

It doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant, when life is over, we all feel a void, and even shed some tears. 
SunRay was full of life yesterday.  We called him Sunny, because everywhere he flew in the aviary, he made it bright.  His shrill and impatient cries for food every morning gave us much to laugh about.  He was always the first to attack the food dish.  He loved to eat! 
He reminded us of the little puppy in 101 Dalmations that cried, "I'm hungry mother, I really am". 

Sunny had been sick in recent months, off and on, but evidently, his illness returned very quickly without obvious warning.  We woke up to find Sunny in distress this morning at the bottom of our aviary. I'm thankful we found him in time to hold him and love him during his last moments of life. 

We will miss his loud, happy chirps every morning, but I'm confident his 7 'siblings' will continue his joy for life and song...

 

I am mindful that even a sparrow does not fall without His notice/permission. 

Mudding Again

Today, the second layer of mud went up... It's a slow and tedious process, but it is PROGRESS. I am thankful!
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Betty's Burrow

We are now only one week away from having Betty spayed and Klondike neutered. 
It's a good thing, because Betty's hormonal nesting behavior is giving us reason for DEEP concern. 
John measured her burrow today, and it is approximately 4+ feet long, and runs under our back porch!  Ooops! 
Our first two rabbits didn't dig up the back yard. 
Surely we'll refill the hole, pack it firm, and after thirty days of recovery from her spay surgery, she'll forget it was there...

 

A Mother’s Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I talk to my children about what is right and what is wrong, but have not love, I am like a ringing doorbell or pots banging in the kitchen. 

And though I know what stages they will go through, and understand their growing pains, and can answer all their questions about life, and believe myself to be a devoted mother, but have not love, I am nothing. 

If I give up the fulfillment of a career to make my children’s lives better, and stay up all night sewing costumes or baking cookies on short notice, but grumble about lack of sleep, I have not love and accomplish nothing. 

A loving mother is patient with her children’s immaturity and kind even when they are not;

A loving mother is not jealous of their youth nor does she hold it over their heads whenever she has sacrificed for them. 

A loving mother does not push her children into doing things her way.

She is not irritable, when the chicken pox have kept her confined with [four] whining  children for two weeks, and does not resent the child who brought the affliction home in the first place.

A loving mother is not relieved when her disagreeable child finally disobeys her directly and she can punish him, but rather rejoices with him when he is being more cooperative. 

A loving mother bears much of the responsibility for her children; she believes in them; she hopes in each one’s individual ability to stand out as a light in a dark world; she endures every backache and heartache to accomplish that. 

A loving mother never really dies. 

As for home baked bread, it will be consumed and forgotten; as for spotless floors, they will soon gather dust and heel marks. 

And as for children, well, right now toys, friends, and food, are all-important to them. 

But when they grow up it will have been how their mother loved them that will determine how they love others.  In that way she will love. 

So care, training, and a loving mother reside in a home, these three, but the greatest of these is a loving mother. 

Written by: Dianne Lorang, Keep the Fire Glowing

(Revel Company, 1986, pp. 152-153)

Count the Dust?

"The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted."
Genesis 13:14-16

I was encouraged to read this yesterday. Mark stayed home from work on Thursday to progress in the kitchen with cutting a trench(?) in the slab for running an electrical line to the new island we'll have installed soon.
We knew this job would stir a lot of dust. Ha!! That's an understatement!!
We taped up plastic and thought we'd manage and contain it!!
Little did we realize how futile our efforts would be, and how far reaching and unstoppable dust is!!

Not that i don't appreciate this Covenant Truth and encouragement, but being that today is our third day of vacuuming, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed: mudding and sanding the drywall is next. Please pray for me.