A Favorite Service

New Year's Eve has always been my favorite 'special' service of the year. 

There is something just so amazingly comforting about being in the house of the Lord with your fellow believers at the end of another year.  We do not fear the passing of time.  We do not shrink away from our weakening and aging bodies.  We recognize our frailty.  And we know our God is everlasting.  He was there before we were born--yes, before the mountains were made.  He will still be upholding all things after we die.  We are safely held by this God all the days of our short lives.  He called us into existence, preserves us on our perilous journey on this earth, and calls us home to Himself at last.

Time is always the great consideration at New Year's Eve--the end of another day, the end of another year, the consideration of the end of our lives.  Let the world enjoy their festivities.  Give me a quiet evening with the saints as we sing and pray together; as we read the Scriptures and hear them expounded.  Give me a quiet evening with my precious family of believers whom I will also meet in the air as we are gathered together on that Final Day.

I do not face the future in fear.  I am filled with great, great comfort as I consider the everlastingness of my God.  If I should die tomorrow, so be it.  I am safe in Christ.  If I should live to be 90, so be it.  I shall remain safe for I am bought and sealed by Christ.  He will uphold me.  He will preserve me.  And He will bring me home at the appointed time.

Reflections

The last couple days I've been thinking of what words of reflection I could share as 2013 draws to a close.  I sit here, still not knowing what to say. I looked at last year's post and realized that I could whole heartedly say the same thing. 

I could say, 2013 is the first odd year in the last 10 years that a new baby has NOT been born in this household.  (our children were born in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011).

I could comment how the winter finally subsided by the end of May, the spring was rainy, the summer cold, and the fall short but beautiful.

I could mention how and why my homeschooling journey ended.

I could talk about the books I've read and the impact they have made on me this past year.

But this last day of 2013 I think I'd just like to say Ebenezer!  Thus far has the Lord brought me.  He is faithful.  He is good; full of love and compassion.  He has preserved the meek most tenderly.  He has bound up my wounds.  He has led me to green pastures.  He preached good tidings to me.  He has comforted me in days of mourning.  He has traded my ashes for beauty.  He has given me the oil of joy in place of my mourning.  He has clothed me with the garment of praise and planted me like a tree next to the river's side.   

I can look back and say with confidence, "My God walked with me.  He upheld me.  He set His mind upon me with His everlasting love.  He filled my open, hungering soul with manna sweet.  He is my refuge and my strength.  He is my hiding place.  He is my wisdom and my counsel."

Who am I without the Lord?  Indeed, life is not worth living apart from such a God.  I love Him even more now than I did last year.  Oh I long to see him!  Right now my flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, is in heaven, preparing a place for me.  That is my home and as the year closes, I am yet another year nearer eternity--to be with my Lord forever.

Rage on Satan.  Ye have but little time remaining.  As tempests continue to swell, as temptations assault and trials overwhelm, ye cannot, nay, ye WILL NOT have my soul.  My Keeper will guard against all evil that would destroy me.  All troubles He will turn to my good.  I am safe, safe in the arms of sovereign love.

"Speed along then years and ages
With your gladness and your pain.
E'en when deepest sorrow rages
Faithful will our God remain."

Come, Lord.  Come quickly.

The Post Wedding Crash

It is Sunday afternoon--2 days after the wedding and we all finally gave in to the exhaustion.

 

 

A Most Joyous Occasion

Yesterday we were so blessed to see the answer to many years of prayers.  Our James, amazing brother, brother-in-law, uncle, and son got married.  He had to wait many long years for his bride.  It was hard to see him struggle against the pain of loneliness, and as we prayed, year after year, it became evident that the Lord, indeed, had a plan and an amazing woman intended for him.

 

James, I cannot properly put into words the immense joy I felt for both you and Amey yesterday.  You desired a godly wife.  You were willing to wait for the Lord's good provision.  And the Lord has blessed you so abundantly.  I love your wife dearly.  She is an amazing person.  She will care for you.  She will love you.  She shares your faith and she has won the hearts of those nieces and nephews that you hold so dear to your own heart.

 

It was the greatest honour for Dan and I to stand beside you and Amey yesterday.  You are both so dear to us.  We have shared in your sorrows and joys as you have done with us.  We have laughed and wept together many times.  The fact that both of you live relatively close to us thrills me to no end. 

 

May this day, Lord willing, be a continuation of a lifelong journey that we may make together--brothers along with their wives; travelling as pilgrims together on the path that leads to everlasting life; upholding one another and encouraging one another, weeping and laughing, praying and glorifying the Lord as we go. 

 

 

Snowpants and the Flu

Check out my new bright pink snow pants that I got from grandpa and grandma!  And it's going to be nice weather all week!  :-)

 

 

Poor Eric, laying on the couch, sick to his stomach.  His furry pal patiently keeps vigil over his little master.  Every now and then he'll get up and lick Eric's face and settle down again on the floor.

Christmas with the Gordons

I wrapped the presents this morning.  I placed them under the tree just before lunch.  It was our intent to open them right after lunch.

 

What is present opening day without tears?  Impossible!  Not 30 seconds after placing the gifts under the tree, Coutney grabbed Lindsay's gift and started to open it.  Apparently no one explained to the 2 year old that not ALL the gifts belonged to her.

This year, each kid got 1 present.  Then we also bought some 'group' gifts.  Here is a picture of the group gifts: A box of puzzles, The entire Mr. Bean collection, 3 Jamie Soles' Cd's, Mario Party 9, and a pack of batteries.

Courtney opened her present first.  Bubble Guppy board books, Little People and some Bubble Guppies.

Seth got tractors and the skid steer he's been begging to have for awhile now.

Paul got the K-NEX roller coaster he wanted.

Lindsay got the Friends Lego Vet Clinic that she wanted.

And Eric loved the Lego Kingdoms set we got for him.  It has a dragon and a wizard so he was SUPER happy.

The afternoon was spent putting the sets together.  It makes me laugh to see how the kids were playing their games.  Here Eric is bringing his dragon to the Vet Clinic because his dragon has a cough.  "Dragons are rare," he explained, "and you have to take good care of one if you get one!"  Later he brought his rat who had the flu and his spider who broke his leg.  Lindsay patched them all up.  Later the dragon accumulated lung problems--probably had something to do with all that second hand smoke he was inhaling.

Typical, Seth is playing on his own with his tractors.

The spider's visit to the vet clinic.

Paul's roller coaster was not the funnest thing to put together.  But Dan persevered and Paul LOVES it!

 

It has a small motor and track that pulls the car up the track and then gravity does the rest.

 

OVERLOAD!

 

 Christmas carnage.  Sigh.

I Want One!

Courtney, being my youngest, has never had the experience of having a little sibling to care for herself.  My brother and his wife came over this afternoon bringing their 2 girls with them.  Courtney was SMITTEN with the baby.  She wants one now-- obviously because they're so easy to obtain.....

 

Randomness

So I failed the December challenge because I haven't posted in 2 days.  That's ok.  Here's a few tidbits from the last few days.

 

I went to check on the kids before I hit the sack.  I noticed Paul had fallen asleep on the couch, Bible still open.

 

 

 

Here Seth was telling me that I am the ONLY one who gets his 4 year old kisses.  "Daddy doesn't get them anymore because he has too many beards.  Mommy doesn't have beards."

When it's -35 degrees Celsius, you have to keep your keester warm somehow.

Courtney and Seth had a bath.  The fact that toilet paper disintegrates so well in warm water has saved me a pile of work.

Blackwing

Every now and then we find a rather neat looking bird in the latest batch of chickens.  Dan has been talking about a bird with a black-feathered wing in Barn #1.  Today I asked him to take a picture of 'Blackwing' as he has been lovingly called, should Dan find him while he's roaming about.    And well, he did!

 

Real Prayer

I have been reading "Praying Successfully" by Spurgeon.  Yes, I am still on my Spurgeon kick.  I really appreciated this particular chapter in the book where he expounds Psalm 50:15.  It resonated so strongly with me.

"Call upon me in the day of trouble..."  I have certainly offered many prayers in a recent time of great distress.

"I will deliver thee..."  The Lord has brought relief in ways I never imagined.  He has heard my prayer!

"And thou shalt glorify me."  That is precisely where I am at right now.  I am glorifying my Father in heaven as He has answered my prayer for deliverance.  He has given me this command/promise and fully and completely fulfilled it as well.  Blessed be His name!

I want to add some quotes from the particular chapter if I may;

"Real prayer is better than mere ritual because there is meaning in it.  The glorious God cares nothing for pomp and show.  But when you call upon Him in the day of trouble and ask Him to deliver you, there is meaning in your groan of anguish.  This is no empty formality.  There is heart in it , is there not?  There is meaning in the sorrowful appeal.  Therefore, God prefers the prayer of a broken heart to the finest service that was ever performed by priests or choirs."

"When a poor soul gets away into his bedroom and bows his knees and cries, 'God be merciful to me!  God save me!  God, help me in this day of trouble!'  There is spiritual life in such a cry.  Therefore God approves it and answers it."

"Furthermore, the Lord loves the cry of the broken heart because it distinctly recognizes Him as the living God, truly sought after in prayer."

"I have sometimes wished that very comfortable Christians, who seem to treat religion as if it were a bed of roses, could have just a little time of 'roughing it' and really come into actual difficulties.  many a man has been converted to God by hunger, weariness and loneliness."

"When you are in adversity, then call upon God, and you will experience a deliverance that will be a richer and sweeter experience for your soul that if you had never known trouble."

"Furthermore, turn your adversity into advantage by pleading God's command.  You can go to the Lord now, at this precise instant, and say, "Lord, do you hear me, for you have commanded me to pray!  I, though I am evil, would not tell someone to ask me for something if I intended to deny him.  I would not urge him to ask for help if I meant to refuse it."

"When God tells you to call upon Him, He does not mock you.  He means He will deal kindly with you."

"Moreover, notice that this "I will"  includes all the power that may be required for deliverance.  It rests with the Lord to find suitable ways and means.  God says, "I will."  Let Him do it in His own way.  If He says, "I will," you can be sure that He will keep His word.  If it is necessary to shake heaven and earth, He will do it."

"It means, 'If I do not deliver you now, I will deliver you at a time that is better than now.  You would prefer to be delivered at this future time rather than now if you were as wise as I am."

"Oh this blessed text!  But unfortunately, I cannot carry it to those of you who need it most.  Spirit of the living God, come, apply these rich consolations to those hearts that are bleeding and ready to die!"

Especially ponder the word 'thee.'  The text says, "I will deliver thee."  It is the person who calls who will get the answer.  If you call upon God, he will answer you.  To you He will give the blessing, even to your own heart and spirit, in your own experience.  Oh, for grace to take that personal pronoun and apply it personally to our own souls!"

" 'I will deliver thee' --that is your share to receive.  But, "Thou shalt glorify Me" --that is God's share, and His only.  He must have all the honour from first to last." 

"STOP you thief!  Where are you going?  Running away with a portion of God's glory?  A person who would steal God's glory must me quite a villain!"

"Go out you saved ones, and proclaim what the Lord has done for you!  Truly, my soul vows that my delivering Lord will never hear the last of my praise."

Dying Pointsettas

When Dan and I got married, we made an arrangement.  He would give me a plant.  If I could keep it alive, we would get a dog.  If I could keep the dog alive, we would have children.

 

Well, we got a few plants.  The plants died.  We got more plants, and they died.  Once again we got plants.....and they died. 

 

We threw our initial plan out the window and with crossed fingers, we got a dog.  The dog lived!  In fact after 10 years he is STILL alive!

 

So we decided to have the kids.  1,2,3,4,5.....and they are all still alive too!

 

My plants, however, are still dying.

 

 

A Man's Best Friend

Every now and then, the Husky dog gets inside to say hello to us.  I'm sure he thinks he just the same size as the little Yorkie. With a huge groan of protest from our poor bodies as he leaps upon us, he will attempt to sit on our laps or join us on the couch licking us and nuzzling us and covering us with all the sloppy, wet, love only a big silly, Husky puppy can give.

 

A Sticky Situation

My youngest daughter has discovered stickers.  She found several sheets of tiny little star stickers.  They have been appearing everywhere. 

 

See, she got the Husky dog.....

 

Purple, blue and green stars for him!

The Yorkie gets a yellow star.

The stool leg had to settle for the boring circle stickers.

My window got a green star.

And the master bedroom door.....well that's just a special place.  A plethora of color....accented by some blue crayon.  Lovely.

Have I mentioned how much Dan and I HATE stickers???!!!

By the way, the newest punishment in this house is to seek out and pull off all the latest stickers that Courtney has lovingly plastered all over the house.

Going Grey at 30!

Two hairs from my head.  The one on the right is my original hair color.  The other is one of several grey hairs I have acquired.

 

This afternoon, as I was getting my hair done for a trial run for the upcoming wedding, I was informed that I had grey hairs.  Normally such an announcement would make any woman run for the hair dye in horror.  Not me.  I was ecstatic!  It TOTALLY made my day!  I have always looked forward to being old.  Grey hairs often resemble wisdom.  I crave wisdom.  Grey heads also represent time gone by, and are usually walking testimonies of people who have experienced much, lived much and learned much about life.  Someone told me that I earned every one of them.  I believe that.  Not that I'm allowed to boast in past difficulties based on the changing color of my hair.  I have often felt very, very old.  Worn out, weary.  Tired of this life and knowing I've seen much, experienced much, and spent a lot of time on my knees, pleading for blessed deliverance.  I've also received another comment that grey hairs are certainly a testimony that God has been with me for a long time.  I really appreciated that statement.  My whole life is a testimony to that.  He holds my life, my breath.  I am His.  All I can say is EBENEZER!  Thus far has the Lord brought me.  He will bring me safely home too.

A New Tradition

Every year at Christmas we've decided to pull out the gourmet set and have a special supper.  It was a BIG hit tonight!

 

 

 

 

The meat is grilled on the top.  Tonight I kept it simple.  I marinated some pieces of steak in teriyaki sauce and made up some meatballs.  On other occasions chicken and shrimp are added as well.  Dan made 5 different sauces to dip the cooked meat into (A honey mustard, a sweet mustard, a plum sauce, spicy tomato and a BBQ.)  Underneath the hot plate rests 8 little triangular pans.  I whipped up some eggs which each person could cook up in their own little pan.  Mushrooms, cheese, and onions could be added for flavour.  

 

And this little stinker snuck away from the table during the meal to go gnaw on an eraser.  Sigh.

 

Perhaps a little irreverent, but I snapped this picture while Dan was reading the Bible after supper.  I love how attentive the little 4 year old is being.  It's not usually like that.  But Dan was reading about Samson, and let's face it, every kid likes the story of Samson!

Dan explaining the story to the kids after the reading.  He is very diligent in teaching them the Scriptures.  I am very thankful for that!

Icy Windows

A picture of some of our basement windows after being stuck in -35degree Celsius weather for 4 days.