Friday Photos

Just this and that from around here.... Spring has finally sprung, I hope! I love the view from my laundry room door, this is our neighbor's shed and the grass is very tall as you can see. All was mowed this week.

I received these beautiful tulips for Mother's Day.

These geese seem to have taken up permanent residence in the field next to our house.

These clouds were pretty.

Have a great weekend!

An Editorial

From one of my students:

He spelled it correctly! YAY!

Encourage One Another

And let us continue to consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds,(Hebrews 10:24)




Kansas Bob posted yesterday on how we could show grace in our everyday lives. It's a wonderful idea that we need to remember, so simple yet so elusive as he says.


Here was my comment:


I would (add) remaining silent when it would be so satisfying to zing someone or to give in and start arguing when someone is trying to pick a fight. 

I'm working on those two today. 




Okay, I thought, got it. That was what was really pressing on me yesterday. And then I went out and acted ungracefully anyway.....sigh.



The flesh is clingly people!  But there is GRACE. And I thank God for it. No matter how badly I act, I know that I am in Him and there is Grace. I don't beat myself up, I ask for another chance and start new every day.

Thank you Father that YOU are that good. Seventy times Seven.




Now go on over here and add your thoughts for Everyday Grace that we can encourage one another.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am giving thanks for a little guy in a suit jacket and rain boots.

A teen who took the time to teach her little sister to ride a bike.

This old tape deck given to my boys by my wonderful step-dad. They have been raiding my tapes.

I've been trying for years to find ( or make) something to effectively get the hard water stains off the shower. I had a coupon for Bar Keeper's Friend, so I finally broke down and bought it. I highly recommend it.

What are you thankful for today?

Sin and the Hot Stove

I was discussing in my Sunday school class yesterday the idea that sin in itself carries it's own punishment.  I used an analogy that a friend of mine used on me once. It's a lot like touching a hot stove. Your mom can tell you over and over and over again not to touch the hot stove, but it's not until you do that you understand.


That's HOT

Ouch!


And you don't do it again.




One of the kids picked right up on this idea and said that a lie you told at age 20 you could still feel the pain of at 86. I don't know why he picked those numbers, but what truth. THAT is it's own punishment.



So we talked about how God forgives and forgets our sins for His own sake, but for some reason we can or will not forgive ourselves most of the time. We talked about how annoying it would be if they forgave a friend for something and that friend continued to apologize endlessly about it. I also mentioned how we are usually harder on ourselves than on everyone else combined and I got an amen from another kid in the class.






So why did God let Eve eat? He could have certainly stopped it. 




So we would KNOW.


?



You can't know how sin hurts until you touch the stove.
And you don't forget the burn so that you don't do it again.





God doesn't want to hurt us, but we have to learn. The hard way.







And there in is love that we can take comfort in the God who IS love that doesn't remember our stove touching, but is there to meet us on our way home.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:







A steal on very ripe red peppers. I flash froze them to use in stir fry and on pizza.

 

 

 

 

 

Small gifts that make little boys happy.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything bagels....yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, I keep forgetting to buy bandages, but they still keep showing up when we need them. I found these in the cabinet and I didn't even know they were there.

 

 

 

 

The fact that we're one day closer to summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you thankful for today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Things New

I  saw this last night:

It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans about the Law being dead and now we can be married to another. Christ is the end of the OLD way, the Old system of judgement, eye for an eyeness, retribution for every little infringement of the letter.


It seems as though as hard as we try as Christians, we can't seem to let the old stay dead.   The Old Covenant sneaks it's way into most every flavor of Christendom in some sense. But that's not really the point of this post, I guess.


It's what the picture says.






He makes all things new.