A Pair of Bartletts

Packing Up The Moving Van

Well, dear readers....moving day is here.  I have been praying about a new direction in the blog world and the moving van has finally arrived.  I have packed up the suitcases and a headed down a new path.  I pray that you will join me for some coffee, some scripture and some new insights that I've gained in my walk with the Lord.  I have enjoyed EVERY minute of my time at A Pair of Bartletts.  I've met (so to speak) some incredible ladies over the years and have gained some lifetime (and eternal) relationships with them.  The Lord has been good and I'm excited about the whole "fresh blog" experience.  

For convenience, and because a girl just can't travel light, I decided to take "all of my luggage" with me, so you'll see that I imported all of my old posts from this site (incuding the recipes y'all!).  With that said, please join me when you can...I'd love to reconnect and catch up!  I'll be located at my new blog called "1st Praying Wives Club" and I can't wait to see you there!

In His Forever Grip,

Grandma's Vegetable Beef Soup

I made this incredibly warming, comforting and downright yummy soup today, and it was all thanks to Rob's late Grandmother Crabtree. Y'all know by now that I don't measure much of anything, but I think I can get this pretty close for those who need to stick to the step by step.

Here is what you will need:

GRANDMA CRABTREE'S VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP

2 pounds of good beef stew meat

2-3 beef boulion cubes (or more to taste)

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 large ribs of celery, chopped bite sized

5 large carrots, peeled & sliced into 1/4 rounds

1 cup heaping frozen mixed vegetables

1 heaping cup frozen mixed okra

1 cup heaping frozen butter beans

1 medium russet potato, cubed (small) (optional)

1 large can of whole tomatoes in sauce

Water

Coarse kosher salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

In a large 5 quart Dutch oven, heat a few teaspoons of olive oil and brown stew meat, enough to get color but not cooked through. Cover meat with about 4-5 cups of water (halfway up the pot) and drop in at least 2 boulion cubes and add two good pinches of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, cover and let meat cook about 15-20 minutes. Add chopped onion, carrots and celery and cook 15 more minutes at a rapid simmer. Add frozen veggies, then add whole tomatoes one at the time, squishing each one before you drop it in. Add all residual tomato sauce from the can. Add enough water (if necessary) to fill the pot almost to the top. Allow to cook at a very rapid simmer, stirring off and on for a good hour. Adjust seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper. If you want a thicker "stoup" (Rachel Ray's term for a cross between a stew and a soup), add the chopped potato in the last 15 minutes of cooking. If you don't use the potato, consistency will remain that of soup. Adding the potato will definitely thicken it a bit.

Serve with crackers, cornbread or some hot homemade crusty bread. Enjoy!!!

The Waiting Game--A Marriage Monday Article

Wow....I think I had to sweep 4 inches of dust off of my Typepad account just to write this post!  I know that it's been a while, but i'm SLOWLY getting back into the blog.  There has been SO much going on and I've been busier than any bee could imagine being, but nonetheless, I'm writing again.  And I can think of no better blog post to write than one for my precious friend and sweet, sweet sister in the lord, "E-Mom" over at Chrysalis.  If you have never paid E-Mom a visit, then you must.  Her wisdom and insight, and especially her friendship, are priceless to me.  She is not only a hero in the faith but a hero in her testimony of Christian marriage.  She is a Proverbs 31 woman....have no doubt about that.

Today's topic was one that I could deeply identify with.  When I got the blast reminder from E-Mom the other day, I think I almost fell off my seat when I read the topic.  Where do I even begin?  I just hope if you are reading this that you have poured yourself about a gallon of coffee and have a while to sit and read.  I'll try and condense, but I can't make you any promises!

They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’      II Chronicles 20:8-9

E-mom encouraged us in writing about moving past the pain of infertility.  Well...I can definitely give you some insight into this topic, because Rob and I have walked through this valley for the last 5 years.   I have known many who have faced the same...some who have been able to receive a deliverance and some who have not.  My post today is not to discuss great theological reasons why each individual goes through certain trials and tribulations.  My post is only to give you insight on where we have walked.  I can only pray that the Lord would use our situation to help someone else who may need encouragement while in the valley.

Dear Lord...not my words, but Yours.  Amen. 

Rob and I have been married for five years next month and I thank God every day for our marriage. It has definitely not been a textbook five years, if there is such a thing.  We married and then began a roller coaster ride through the trial of osteo arthritis (a direct result of Rob's struggle from childhood with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis), which lead to Rob having to have not one but two major surgeries to replace both of his hips.  All of this and he was barely over 40. All of this and I was barely over 35.  It was not what I had prayed for all of my life, but God will never give us more than we can handle....I can honestly tell you that.  You may not have gotten that answer from me at the time, but I can tell you that now.  God's promises are true my friend.  God's promises are true (Jeremiah 29:11-14).  

In the midst of the surgeries, we had still had no success with getting pregnant.  Surgeries came and went....therapy and recuperation came and went, still, no pregnancy.  I'm not sure if you've ever seen the movie "Back To The Future", but the opening scene is filled with clocks....all ticking very loudly, and all ticking at one time.  Well, my friend, that's pretty much what has been resounding in my ears as I painfully got up each day over these days, months, weeks and years....listening to the deafening "tick-tock" of my biological clock piercing my ears.  

"For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” II Chronicles 20:12

Flash forward to the last 365 days.  Rob and I (in addition to his healing after hip surgeries) have both managed to lose a drastic amount of weight.  We had both become more unhealthy as we struggled through his hip surgeries and as I struggled  with severe endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome, which had both plagued me for many years, also attributing to infertility.  (I encourage you to stop here and read the transcript {or listen to the podcast} of a sermon by Stephen Davie, Senior Pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, Carey, NC entitled Mrs. Job--A Lesson On Second Hand Suffering.  I had become a "second hand sufferer", which lead to further sickness in my own body.) At any rate, (the very long story, short) we have been freed of all of those medications (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetic meds, etc.) and are both the picture of health.  The weight loss has been tremendous for us in more ways to count.  And I'm happy to report, as of 3 weeks ago, my OBGYN advised that she believes I should {prayerfully} be pregnant within the next six months.  I'll be 39 in December and would love to be pregnant before I'm 40.  This was AMAZING news to me and a sheer answer to many prayers.  It was such a total turn around from what had always felt like despair at my many prior appointments with her over the years.  

God is a good God.  He wants us to pray His promises back to Him...which I do on a daily basis.  I have no problem reminding God that I KNOW that if I delight myself in HIM that HE will give me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).  I know the plans that He has for me and that they are to prosper me and not to harm me...they are to bring me a future and a hope and if I will call on Him and pray to Him, He will listen and He will answer me (Jeremiah 29:11-14).  I KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT I KNOW that I need to be anxious for NOTHING but in ALL THINGS, by prayer and supplication, WITH THANKSGIVING, I can make my requests known to God and HIS PEACE, which surpasses all of my {pitiful} understanding will guard my heart AND my mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).  I recite these (and other) verses back to Him every day.  These words are all embossed on my heart.  And they are true.  And God wrote them.  And God meant them.  And He will not go back on them.  

Please don't misunderstand....God didn't tell me "how" He was going to give us the desires of our hearts.  He didn't say that the fulfilment of motherhood for me would automatically be through me becoming pregnant.  He very well may choose to bring us a child through an adoption...or He may do both....He may decide for me to be pregnant and also send a child to us through adoption.  We don't know....if we did, then what need would we have had for God and His soveriegnty?  All we can do is trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding and in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I can't tell you that we are there yet.  But I can tell you that we serve a living and RISEN Lord who if faithful, who is just and who will never leave me or Rob....he will never forsake us, and on that promise, we stand.  Take heart sister....don't believe the lies of the Enemy.  I'm not telling you that I've never fallen victim to them myself, but I have CHOSEN to run the other way.  I have chosen to run into the arms of my Jesus, who will protect me with His wings.  He is the shielder of my heart....of Rob's heart.  I have not always been at this place, but I'm thankful for the long, excrutiating road that got me to this place.  God never promised that It would be easy....He just promised...He just promised.  My God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).  That's all I need to know.  Trust HIM with your whole heart and He will make a way when there seems to be no way.

 

Be Blessed in the Lord,

From A Stump To Butterfly Paradise

 

 

This beauty in the picture is quite deceiving. It is hard to look at something that is thriving and green and flowering and really see what had become of it. This beautiful varigated lantana bush had become nothing more than an ugly brown twiggy stump that was sticking out of the corner of a flower bed. Rob and I moved to this house a year ago. The flower beds had become terribly overgrown after the previous owner passed away. The sad part was that 40 years of beautifully cultivated flowers and plants had become buried and covered up by overgrown ugliness. One Saturday afternoon about 2 months ago I began to dig in and focus on uncovering and saving what I could in the beds. That is when I encountered a stump. Honestly, I almost yanked it up by the root. The only thing that kept me from totally destroying it was that it had one tiny green leaf peeking out at the base. When I saw the leaf, I saw a glimmer of hope for the stump. Fortunately I have grown up around plants and gardens and knew that this stump had to have been a bush, due to the size of it. The leaf also looked incredibly familiar. So, I decided that the right thing to do would be to coddle and protect it and water it and feed it, in order to uncover whatever loveliness might lie beneath the ugliness.

So, I started with trimming part of the stump that was obviously burnt.  I clipped off the unhealthiest parts and left what I thought would be the most viable.  Every day, I've watered the stump, until finally, a few more green leaves started peeking out...then another, and then another.  I was so excited!  We were getting somewhere!  I finally had enough leaves on it that I could do some further "testing" of the future "fruit" and not destroy it totally.  So, I plucked off a leaf, crumpled it and smashed it between my fingers and then gave it a deep sniff....just what I thought!  I had lantana on my hands.  I knew down deep what was really under that stump, but I had to be sure.  I had been around enough lantana over the years to know what fragrance it "should" give off when put to the test.  I knew that lantana was really a beautiful plant and not an ugly stump.  I also knew that not only would there be a beautiful lantana bush in my garden, but that just its presence would attract other things to my garden, like beautiful butterflies and some great pollenating bumble bees.  I knew that this would bring an overall benefit to the rest of the garden and not just to that one plant.

At any rate, as you can see from the picture, all of those months of deadness and ugliness and pruning paid off.  The beauty underneath is nothing that I could have produced on my own...it was only because of the pruning and nurturing that had to be done to the plant.  It had to become nothing, only to become bigger, better and more beautiful than ever.  

This beautiful plant is only likened to the pruning that the Lord has to do the stumps of our lives.  We become burnt, ugly and nothing more than a stump, but God looks beyond the ugliness.  He can see that one little green leaf peeking out and He can also see the finished product that is on the other side.  My lantana plant didn't have a choice as to whether I would prune it or not.  It could do nothing more than sit there, dormant, stagnant and ugly.  It was totally reliant on me, the vinedresser, to come and rescue it, love it, see beyond its ugliness and cultivate its beauty.  

I am thankful for the reminders that the Lord provides to me, even in something as simple as going out this morning to water flowers.  He is constantly giving me life lessons and life reminders through His word.  I am thankful for His reminder of the words in John 15 today.  I pray that they will be as meaningful to you today as they were to me.  He always has perfect timing and He always provides gentle reminders right when I need them.  I just have to resign and allow Him to continue to prune me so that I can bring forth the best fruit in my life and that I can be an example to others.  Thank you Lord for your lessons!  I'll leave you with the words that He gives us in John 15 about he Vinedresser....

John 15 (NKJV)

 

The True Vine

 ¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;^[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will^[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Blessings to you on this Lord's day,

 

Prayer For Evening

A quiet prayer of reflection after a very long day. I still need reminding that my cup truly does run over.

~~Wife of Rob

A Very Special Tea With Very Special Ladies

I am reposting this piece that I wrote in 2009. Please be in prayer for these precious women....different set of women this Thursday, 6/23/2011, but at the same facility. We will covet your prayers on their behalf! God has a special work to do in these ladies' lives!

This is a very humbling post to write. I would like to open this post by giving you the words from Romans 3:23-24, which state, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus".

I have been sitting here on the bed reading the word and praying that God would prepare my heart for what will hopefully and prayerfully be a very special day tomorrow. You see, tomorrow, I have been given the most humbling opportunity of serving a real English style, highly lady-like tea to a VERY special group of unlikely tea party attendants. I do not use the words "highly unlikely" as a derogatory statement about these very special women. In fact, I use it quite positively. I will be joining a group of other women tomorrow at 2:00 in the afternoon to hostess a group of about 60+ ladies at a local residential treatment program. By "treatment program", I mean exactly that. These ladies are being treated for drug abuse and alcohol abuse and are residents at a local facility especially for women (I am withholding the name of the facility in order to protect their privacy and anonymity) The ladies ministry at my church is heavily involved with ministering to these very special ladies. So, tomorrow, we will be serving them. As I said before, they are probably ladies who may not necessaily have ever attended a real tea party or even entertained the idea of attending such. But tomorrow, they are the highly honored guests-God's highly honored guests. These are ladies who may not have ever considered themselves "highly honored" by anyone. But the Lord sees them as highly honored and He has called us to treat them as he would treat them--as the royal guests of HIS table. Tomorrow, as we set the tables with our fine china and linens, clotted cream, lemon curd and all of the dainties that you would expect at a proper tea, please remember these EXTREMELY special ladies in your hearts and your prayers. Please pray that they will be sensitive and receptive to the word of God and that they will be receptive to those of us who are serving them. We are not going to this tea for ourselves, but for them. We are there to love on them and show them that they are just as equally deserving of being treated like a true lady, just as any of us are. We are there to show them God's perfect love. I'm sure that many of these women have experienced many rock bottom times in their lives, maybe even as recent as the last few weeks. They are not necessarily from any really different places from which some of us came.  God still shows grace and mercy and He still meets people where they are.  I pray that they will be overwhelmed tomorrow, not with those of us who serve but that they will be overwhelmed with the love of God. I thank you in advance for your prayers for them. I know that you may not know their names, but I assure you, God knows them one by one.

I will leave you with this parable from Luke 7:

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[i] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Labels: NoMo Women's Ministry

Memory Monday --Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance. produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

ROMANS 5:1-11 (ESV)

Milk And Honey

It's amazing where the Lord will sometime lead us in our study of scripture. For whatever reason, I was lead to Deuteronomy 11 while in another scripture. I landed there through a cross reference. At any rate, when I got into the chapter, the Lord just made this passage jump off of the page for me. Isn't it amazing how He speaks? And I don't know about you, but there is no sweeter place to be than dwelling with the Lord in a land of milk and honey. Now please don't think that I am so naive to think that as a Christian, everything is going to spring up roses with Mary Poppins singing in the background. BUT, I do believe that obeying His statutes and walking upright is HIS word will bring forth fruit in our lives and we will dwell in a much better place than if we were wandering as aimless as those in the world who do not know Him.

Dear friend, seek HIS face. Take possession of the land and live long in that land. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul. I can't speak for you, but only for me....and I want to cross over Jordan and take possession of everything that the Lord has in store!

What scriptures are speaking to you in your study and quiet times?

Deuteronomy 11

1 "You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. 2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, 4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, 5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7 For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.

8 "You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, 9 and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 "And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15 And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

18 "You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. 25 No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.

26 "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. 29 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh? 31 For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, 32 you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today. 

 

Be so blessed!

Our Prize

The hydrangea in this post is from my yard. I consider it one of the "prizes" from my yard. As prized as it is, there is something on this earth that I (we) prize even more. To say that my brother Paul and I are blessed with the Mother that God gave us, would be an extreme understatement. To say the very least, our Mom is the epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman. Now, in her humble way, she would probably try and think of a million reasons why she was "not" this woman. But trust me, she is every bit this woman, and then some.

Thank you Mom....for putting up with us as ratty kids, for helping us cross the border into adulthood and for encouraging us as married adults. Thank you for loving both of our spouses as if you had birthed them yourself. As the verses say, we do rise up and call you blessed. 

 

     ¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous wife?
      For her worth is far above rubies.
       ¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
      So he will have no lack of gain.
       ¹² She does him good and not evil
      All the days of her life.
       ¹³ She seeks wool and flax,
      And willingly works with her hands.
       ¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
      She brings her food from afar.
       ¹⁵ She also rises while it is yet night,
      And provides food for her household,
      And a portion for her maidservants.
       ¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
      From her profits she plants a vineyard.
       ¹⁷ She girds herself with strength,
      And strengthens her arms.
       ¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is good,
      And her lamp does not go out by night.
       ¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
      And her hand holds the spindle.
       ²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor,
      Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
       ²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household,
      For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
       ²² She makes tapestry for herself;
      Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
       ²³ Her husband is known in the gates,
      When he sits among the elders of the land.
       ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
      And supplies sashes for the merchants.
       ²⁵ Strength and honor are her clothing;
      She shall rejoice in time to come.
       ²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,
      And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
       ²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household,
      And does not eat the bread of idleness.
       ²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
      Her husband also, and he praises her:
       ²⁹ “ Many daughters have done well,
      But you excel them all.”
       ³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
      But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
       ³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,
      And let her own works praise her in the gates.

(Proverbs 31:10-31, New King James Version)

 

Much love to all of my family and friends who are Moms....enjoy this day of honor!

Marriage Monday--He Holds Us Together

 

Is it Monday already? Wow....it was here before I could turn around! As always, I would like to thank our gracious hostess, E-Mom from Chrysalis for inviting us to "her house" today for another installment of Marriage Monday. If you haven't already been by, you can find her at http://www.chrysaliscafe.com (please forgive the typed out link...I was determined to use the Typepad app on my new iPad tonight...and....well, there is not a way to create hyperlinks, that I have found anyway!)

The topic that E-Mom has so carefully chosen for us is the subject of faith in our marriage. Let me just tell you now.....I LOVE THIS TOPIC! I was so glad to see it, just because that is the one thing that I believe our marriage cannot and would not survive without. In a world where faith in the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be in the minority, I believe that Rob and I would experience sudden death in our marriage without Jesus as the third strand in the cord that IS our marriage.

I have actually tried before to sit very still, close my eyes and try to imagine what our lives would be like without Jesus, our faith or even just each other. My friend....I CAN'T DO IT! It's that same panicked feeling that you get when you awaken from a hideous bad dream and sit straight up in bed. I can't stand it. I can't do it.....it hurts my heart to try. But, on the flip side, it's that hideous feeling in the attempt that is what makes me snap back to reality and know that I cannot live one breath on this earth without Jesus and that my marriage would suffocate without Him.

Our faith in Him is most definitely the common thread...the life blood of our marriage. It is also what draws us together as a couple. We love to pray together....especially lying in bed at night, just before going to sleep. There is just something about those prayers with the Lord....lying in the pitch black dark holding hands. For me, it's the closest thing to having the Lord almost incarnate....right there with us. And our faith doesn't just show up in those prayers, but just in our regular every day conversations. A lot of the time that we spend together talking is about our faith....what we believe in....what we hold the closest to our hearts. It's what we thrive on.

I thank God every day for my husband and for salvation in both of our lives. I thank Him for bringing us together and for helping us to build a household of faith so that we can serve Him in a covenant marriage for the rest of our days on this earth. Thank you Lord....and to GOD be the glory, for GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!!!

Blessings,

 

 

Think Pink

I pray that this blog post find everyone doing well.  I can't exactly say that the great State of Alabama has been doing so well.  Some of you may not know, but a tornado of epic proportions, along with many other tornados, ripped through certain parts of our beautiful state and destroyed or utterly leveled everything in it's (their) path(s).  Many people lost their lives....many people are still nowhere to be found.  We do not understand, but what we do know is that God is Sovereign and He is still on His throne.  Although it's hard for our fleshly minds to grasp, none of this caught our great God by surprise.  And in the wake of the destruction of 4/27/2011, God's people have banded together and exhibited the true spirit of brotherly love that the Bible teaches.  This incredible storm hit a little too close to home for me, as I have immediate family members that were in its vicious path.  Praise God alone, my family members were unharmed.  However, there are many in their lives who were not so fortunate to go without total devastation.  

Please continue to keep the great state of Alabama (and the surrounding great states of Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee) in your prayers.  They were also greatly affected by off shooting storms from the massive system that went through Alabama.  I can't help but think of the words that Jesus spoke when the disciples woke Him up in the bottom of the boat in a panic over a storm...."Peace Be Still".  Our Father is still the Peace Speaker.  

Isaiah 41:10 (New King James Version)

¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you; 
      Be not dismayed, for I am your God. 
      I will strengthen you, 
      Yes, I will help you, 
      I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 

 

On a final note, I'm sure that you might be wondering why I included a picture of a hydrangea (of all things) in a post that is about the destruction of a tornado.  Well, I'll tell you why.  The reason that I chose this picture was simply as a reminder.  Hydrangeas can be grown in many places in the United States, but there is something unique about Alabama hydrangeas.  They're almost impossible to kill...and they come back bigger and stronger every single year for decades...for probably centuries.  There is not really anything that you can do to them to destroy them.  You might even cut it back to a nub, but guess what...it's still probably going to come back even better.  This hydrangea happens to be in my yard.  It's a "Penny Mac" pink hydrangea.  And to me, it represents the strength of the great state of Alabama in the face of utter death and destruction....God has seen us through incredibly tough times on the Gulf Coast and all over Alabama.  We are totally vulnerable to hurricanes and now this system of tornadoes in the middle and northern parts of our state.  But God is still on the throne and we will give Him the glory for the great things that HE is going to do as a result of the devastation that has occurred.  And, rest assured, Alabama will be back...and we will be bigger and stronger and even more beautiful than before.  I think our state will need to renamed from "Alabama the Beautiful" to "Alabama the INCREDIBLY Beautiful"!

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.  If you are interested in helping with or donating towards Tornado disaster relief, please contact The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions Tornado Relief or Samaritan's Purse.  Both of these organizations are reputable and both are directly involved with providing immediate relief to victims.  Our great state appreciates every prayer offered up on our behalf. 

To God Be The Glory!