Autumn wardrobe

I love this whole outfit especially the shoes... but I'm hopelessly too tall for them.

Into black

She is so tickled to join the ranks of the bigger girls and wear black to ballet.

Come, come, come

To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, "Come to me and rest". But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, "Go, labour on," as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, "Come to me and rest." Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, "Come, come, come."

~ James Hudson Taylor

The crown of the garden year

"All the world seemed bathed in golden light.  Yellow sunflowers and golden rod in the cottage gardens added to this mellow warmth

There were plums everywhere.  Baskets of plums were carried to neighbours.  Bowls stood on kitchen dressers.  It was a lovely time when Fairacre enjoyed the fruits of its labour... runner beans... great bronze onions hung in ropes, bunches of drying herbs... marrows swayed in their nets, potatoes in sacks, apples were carefully wrapped in quarter sheets of the Caxley Chronicle and put to bed in rows of slatted boxes.

This for country dwellers, was the crown of the year.  We rejoiced in this plenty, and faced the coming winter with serenity, secure in the knowledge of our squirrels' hoards."

~ The White Robin by Miss Read


This past weekend my mother was telling us of their small cellar where their family stored food for winter and the many loaves of bread baked each week - a time when seasonal changes were carefully noted in order to know when to plant, pull, repair, feed in the garden that sustained them.

Egger

 

I didn't even know this word existed... This is what I am in the morning and evening... the noun not the verb.  Not that attractive, but there you go. 

egger

Definitions of egger
n. - One who gathers eggs; an eggler. ²
v. t. - One who eggs or incites. ²

My attendants

Wayne and Rebecca have been spoiling me this week while I've been recovering...

Pretty sliced apple and yoghurt for breakfast

One of the lovely lunches

Becca prepping veg for dinner

This is the way it works

Yesterday I was reading the paper and Ozzy Osbourne was apologising for being in a dark place... he had been involved with drugs and drink again and was free for 40 days.

It's so easy to judge because our lives and weaknesses are not spread out for all the world to see but if our inner thoughts were posted on billboards... our empathy would rise. 
We all have battles and we all need mercy.  The only way through is in Him. 

'If you don't have the staying power and perseverance to go nose to nose with your flesh until you defeat lust, you can forget about pulling down strongholds over your city (other issues)... subject yourself to the Word and to the Holy Spirit... willpower is not enough... The greatest battle in your life is going to be the soul realm: the mind, the emotions and the will.  The key is to stay focused on the Word of God; then you can be led by the Holy Spirit.'  ~ R. Godwin

The flesh and will struggle to rule the flesh and will.  That's why we need a Greater Helper... this is the way it works.  And it's because it's true, that the Word is living and active and stronger than any willpower.

There is no condemnation in Jesus.  When you have been in a dark place there is condemnation enough from yourself.
That's why He said, I didn't come for the healthy but for the sick (Mark 2.17)

Sometimes we can carry ourselves and sometimes we need to be carried.  Knowing that willpower alone is often not enough.

How beautiful would it be if we would hold up and support through speaking the Word, just opening to a Psalm and saying it as a prayer ... how would families and loved ones and strangers (and ourselves) be impacted if they were supported by these invisible powerful cords...

I know that those words wouldn't return void but would wash and build strength... real strength.

A fretting woman and the love that holds on

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
~ 1st Corinthians 11. 23-26

Wayne remembered while I worried.

I read Psalm 91 about abiding and I knew that often times I don't abide. I wander and worry and I fret and I cry.

But I did remember Israel, whom throughout the old testament God kept calling their wayward hearts back, He wooed and He loved and He persisted.  I thought about that.  About how He really is and not what I make Him... What kind of a God is this.  That always gives, always loves. Who thought it would be better to be broken, just on the chance possibility that we might reciprocate that love... and poorly at that.

I remembered His faithfulness to them because He loved them not because they were perfect. Not perfect by far.  He still seeks and saves that which is lost.

Last Wednesday I laid on a cold surface looking up at the surgeon.

Today I sat across from him, waiting...

"Take your human feelings, multiply them exponentially into infinity, and you will have a hint of the love of God revealed by and in Jesus Christ... God is loving us -you and me- this moment, just as we are and not as we should be."
~ Brennan Manning

I walked out and gave thanks. Eucharist.
EUCHARIST (εὐχαριστέω) - Literally means to be grateful and give thanks.
This verb began to be used in ancient times at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper because of the GIVING OF THANKS that Jesus Himself did at the last supper. 

Irenaeus, an early church leader and apologist wrote, “it is no longer common bread but eucharist”

Yes, it isn't common.  Uncommon bread and uncommon grace.  We feed on this uncommon gift and faithfulness and the love of God compels us.  'Thank You dearest Lord', for I have no better way of remembering and reciprocating. 

What has Becca been up to?

I am so glad she isn't yet too old for an Easter hunt.  We all shared her loot.

She had her first visit to the hairdresser... and loved the pampering. 

Much nicer than mom's quick snip.

Went on a Cookery Course with a friend.

Lapped up the last sunny days of her school break! Autumn has begun to set in and she is

planning a veggie patch.  Normally she begins in a flourish and then I need to tend it especially on

very cold days when the thought of leaving her book and snug blanket fill her with some gloom.

Easter all year long

I took a bit of a blogging break over Easter and if you look at how I put on my watch during that very week you will see why it was necessary... this says 'take a wee break'

I usually have things planned for this season.  Well I did this time too, but much was left by the wayside... sometimes it goes that way and instead of fighting it... do a go slow. 
Easter isn't about a few weeks of Lent but about everyday.  Every Day.

Do you see when I noticed the watch drama... not exactly first thing after putting it on?