The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4

Morning by morning I sit in my rocking chair.  The same 3 houses and the same 6 trees stand unchanged across the street.  But through the frame of the spindles, every day looks and feels different.  Just as is true in our lives so go the skies.  Morning by morning, new mercies are seen.  Pink bursts of a rising sun some days, rain and peals of  lightning on others.  Gray and cloudy or crystal clear, His hand paints the canvas as He sees fit.  Though the place is the same day after day, it always feels different.  The skies lift my mind to heaven.  They testify to the glory of God. They proclaim the work of His hands and pour forth wisdom. Morning or night–nowhere is beyond the reach of the skies and their voice goes out into all the earth–giving Him his due praise!

After 15 years of marriage and 7.5 kids our way of celebrating was putting the kids to be early, getting take-out Carabas, and falling asleep on the couch. Guess more than anything else, we just needed a quiet night in.

I dream of someday living on a little farm.  With chickens and a cow and a garden that can sprawl.  I’d love a porch swing and a swimming hole, with fruit trees, grape vines, and raspberries.  We’re not now looking, and I’m very content with the home God has blessed us with.

Besides when it gets right down to it, I know that I’m a little faint-hearted when it comes to critters and creatures.  I’m timid even handling our guinea pigs.  Still when we move onto wilder critters such as toads and mice, raccoons and foxes….Yuck!! and Squeal!!  I’m pretty sure that’s part of the farm-life package on this fallen earth.  On top of that, I can’t expect my kids will do all the chicken corralling and cow-milking while their own mother stands squeamishly in the background.  That kinda seems like a “lead by example” kind of thing!  At any rate, I would hope I could adapt and buck-up should we ever find such a plot of land.  This spring I was encouraged that I gained a little in that area.

My favorite place in this whole house is my front porch, early in the morning.  I love watching the fresh-risen sun with my hot cup of coffee back-dropped by the sound of birds and the sweet, heavy waft of flowers.  It’s where I like to sneak away and be still with the Lord.

This is my special little place, my enclave of quiet.  Yet to my dismay someone, or something else, has discovered this too…a mama robin! For the past two springs now the same bird has made roost in my honeysuckle tree.  Me being the squeamish one that I am, and her being a fierce mama not about to let anyone come near her babies, I could not even bring myself to sit out there last year for fear of being dive-bombed.  As soon as her babies left the nest I had Kevin take it down.  I put a yellow Nerf football there to let her know there would be no more nest-building that year and that I was taking my turf back.

This spring after all the rain cleared, I was anxious to get on my porch, only to find that faithful mama had returned.  For some reason I had a bit more courage this year.  She seemed a tad more friendly.  Afterall I’m a mama too.  I understand protecting the nest and guarding your young.  I’d never touch her babies.  The kids enjoyed watching their amazing transformation from day to day.  So as I ventured onto the porch one morning, she was away gathering breakfast.  She returned and perched on the railing a mere two feet from my face as I sat perfectly still.  When she suddenly a caught glimpse of me, her squawking and darting began.  She peered over the roof at me as if to say, “are you STILL there?”  Those were MY thoughts exactly!  I sat there a bit longer, then finally left so she could feed her babies in peace.

She had two more babes still in the nest that morning.  They had flown by the weekend. Once they did, I boldly dislodge the remains of their home and set it as a trophy on the front of the tree.  It’s a beautiful nest–well built, and strong.  It’s there for her to know that the deal in the future will be one spring hatching and then she is evicted.  The rest of the summer, the porch is mine.  That seems reasonable to me.  And by her lack of squawking and dive-bombing, I’ll take it to mean she can live with it too.

It may include a little sleeping in, sewing-I hope! and the most fun of all is that daddy will be able to enjoy some of it with us since Easter comes after tax day this year. Praising God for these good things!

We worked on some “crack me” eggs by Not Martha which was also featured in this month’s issue of Family Fun. The color of these alone has brightened us all a little today.

That and the little ones were enjoying decorating Hot Rocks with crayons.  If we weren’t short on found rocks today, I would have liked that one too.

We have made yogurt successfully in the past thanks to the help of my mom’s yogurt maker. There are many fascinating ways to cure it…heating pads, pilot lights and boiling water in coolers. We tried the latter method a few weeks ago, but had awful results. Pretty sure it had to do with the temps at which we warmed the milk.

While placing a book order recently, the Homestead Blessings DVD series was on sale. The West Ladies youtube promos are so enjoyable, they are sure to be good resources to have on hand. Their family lives “off the grid” and they show sweetly and competently how to grow in homesteading skills-which I confess I am completely drawn to! Their Dairy Delights DVD was most appealing, so I did get that. The rest, I requested from our library.  After implementing a bit of their advice today,  we’ll see if the yogurt yields better results.

Another homesteading resource a friend has shared is the magazine Mary Jane’s Farm.   I’ve read the copies she passed along cover to cover.  While I don’t plan to don a cowgirl hat anytime soon, the idea of using the space you have-whatever that space may be, to be productive and sustaining to you and your family is both inspiring and useful.  I have found the practice of maximizing what you have, to also hold many lessons in godly contentment!

I have another post brewing along these lines.  But for today, we are forcing spring in-doors while we know it’s bound to come any day on the out.

I thank God for promises from his word which have guided my learning.   My learning is not finished, but Ecclesiastes 11 has instructed time and again:

Cast your bread upon the waters,
for after many days you will find it again.
Give portions to seven, yes to eight,
for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain upon the earth.

Whatever I have, do I have it to hoard or to give? Do I hold it tightly or do I give it away?  God says to cast your bread upon the waters.  Your precious bread which feeds and nourishes you and yours!  Hold it lightly (not tightly) in your hand and let it go.  For when you do, it will return to you.  You will find it again!

Last fall we knew of a nearby family going through some struggles, though we weren’t certain they were financial ones too.  We had a sizable gift card we had purchased for another purpose, but hadn’t used yet.

At that same time were planning several gatherings, one for our seventh child’s baptism.  We wanted to celebrate these good gifts with friends and family.  That gift card would have been so helpful as it was a lean time for us financially.  I asked Kevin what  I could spend and his answer was “very little”.  I suggested the gift card.

As we discussed it, we felt compelled to give the card to this family in crisis and trust that just using what we had and making  minimal purchases would cover our needs.

I tell testimony of this, not because I fancy myself set apart to receive God’s special gifts, but because this is the kind of God we serve:  a God who delights to give his children good gifts if we will only trust him.

I mailed the gift card with a note early in the week.  Her return thank you weeks later proved her need was real and she had gratefully accepted the gift. We thankfully praised God who helped us to give from our place of need.

I went to my own mailbox the day after I sent out the card. I was confounded.  Inside our box was a card of equal value, to a different store, which someone had anonymously given to us.  My head shook in amazement and my lips uttered thank you.

We could have kept that first card and used it ourselves.  No foul, no harm….No faith, no blessing!  In God’s leading us to give it away, this family was blessed and we were able to do it in the name of Jesus.  We were able to trust him to supply all of our needs as we cast our precious bread on the waters.  But in his fashion, he brought it back to us with full hearts and firmer faith.  We found it again!

Psalm 50:10 reminds us,

for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

Do we believe He owns the cattle on a thousand hills?  The earth is his and all that is in it belongs to him.  He does not need our currency or our possessions.  He wants our faith and our whole hearts.

I thank Jehovah Jireh that he has shown us his provision time and again.  From specific items of clothing the kids have requested to bikes and toys that have been generously shared with us.  Just this weekend, we gave from our need.  When we returned home Sunday evening we were met with a  box packed full with pantry and personal items anonymously given to us.  Toothbrushes for all of the kids…on my list of things to get soon.  Noodles…the same kind we used days earlier to feed a crowd.  Treats and useful things.  My lips utter thank you again.

They came from someone giving to us…perhaps from their own need.  And we pass the blessings around in the name of Christ.

Though sometimes things look bleak, we must know our God whom we serve.  He is no man’s beggar and he is our Father.  He shall supply all of our needs.  He is good indeed!

Psalm 37:25
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

Over the summer we went to the Henry Ford museum with Kevin’s family for a day trip. I scurried out the door without my camera thinking I would find it when I got home. We drove home in a steady downpour which camped over our region for the rest of the night.

The next morning, one of the kids called from the back yard “Mom….” They didn’t have to say another word, I suddenly knew where I left my camera! …on a lawn chair…in the backyard…in the pouring rain.

After 3 months of drying out in a fitful and temperamental fashion, it did begin working. Like the little mouse in Flowers for Algernon, my diluted Nikon CoolPix took better pictures in that one week than it had taken in months. I got our church groundbreaking on file during that time which I’m very glad for. It felt like an old glove in a familiar hand. But alas, all too soon it would die a permanent death.

Quite a dramatic story for a camera, no? Still, I am sick and sad about it. Not grand on the scheme of life, but it matters to me.
I sent it back to the manufacturer only to find it will cost half of the original amount to replace the camera in order to get it fixed. I can’t justify that kind of money to fix a stupid mistake. So in the mean time I use my phone with thanks (it has better resolution than my point and click camera).
I did just enter Simple Mom’s Rebel giveaway and said several prayers. I happen to know women from our church who have won no less than one car and a one week vacation for a family of 12. It could definitely happen!

Lincoln log forts help pass long winter days. I can overlook the days spent finding stray pieces with my feet afterward compared to the hours of good play.

Homemade play dough and paper mache on snow days.

A good long puzzle for anyone to stop in and contribute. Anyone but the baby, that is!

Doing his best on a book report.

and finally, the winner of our annual polar bear run was Jack! He stayed out the longest in 4 degrees (which mind you, truly wasn’t THAT long). Hooray for the zest of a 5 year old.

In finishing “A Call to Prayer” this week,  Ryle instructs on the vitalness of prayer to the believer. At one point, he contrasts the lives of two saints: the “good ole’ glory days” Christian with the filled-with-glory Christian as quoted below:

There are some of the Lord’s people who seem never able to get on from the time of their conversion.  They are born again, but they remain babes all their lives.  You hear from them the same old experience.  You remark in them the same want of spiritual appetite, the same want of interest in anything beyond their own little circle, which you remarked ten years ago.  They are pilgrims, indeed, but pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old; their bread is always dry and mouldy, their shoes always old, their garments always rent and torn.  I say this with sorrow and grief; but I ask any real Christian, Is it not true?

There are others of the Lord’s people who seem to be always advancing.  They grow like the grass after rain; they increase like Israel in Egypt; they press on like Gideon, though sometimes faint, yet always pursuing.  They are ever adding grace to grace, and faith to faith, and strength to strength.  Every time you meet them their hearts seem larger, and their spiritual stature taller and stronger.  Every year they appear to see more, and know more and believe more, and feel more in their religion.  They not only have good works to prove the reality of their faith, but they are zealous of them.  They not only do well, but they are unwearied in well-doing.  They attempt great things, and they do great things.  When they fail they try again, and when they fall they are soon up again.  And all this time they think themselves poor, unprofitable servants, and fancy they do nothing at all.  These are those who make religion lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all.  They wrest praise even from the unconverted, and win golden opinions even from the selfish men of the world.  It does one good to see, to be with, and to hear them.  When you meet them, you could believe that like Moses, they had just come out from the presence of God.  When you part with them you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a fire.  I know such people are rare  I only ask, Are there not many such?

Now how can we account for the difference which I have just described?  What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others?  I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer.  I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little and those who are eminently holy pray much….I believe that spiritual as well as natural greatness depends in a high degree on the faithful use of means within everybody’s reach….And I assert confidently that the principal means by which most believers have become great in the Church of Christ is the habit of diligent private prayer.

This calls to mind:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for his righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthew 5:6

To be hungry.  To be thirsty.  Not for the crusty molded bread cast off by the world, but to be full-up with manna and living water that quenches a soul.  And this promise says, they will be filled.  We seek it through disciplined, spirit-filled, private prayer.  Longer than a sentence on the way into the grocery store and more needy than a few wandering requests as I drift off to sleep.

But to hunger and to go hungry in prayer.  To be driven to my knees because I know where my needs are met.  Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you.

We seek it not for our own glory–not for the favor of man, but to know God’s glory.  Because He is the essence of a life, and he sustains eternally.

I started reading the first chapter on Ann’s blog one night and ordered the book right then.  Her writing is exquisite, and though some people may be put off by her lyricism, her command of language, history, and scripture combined are a treasure.  And her theology is every bit in place to undergird her poetry.  It is clear from the pages that she has wrestled with God on many matters and He has been victorious in her.

I recently asked for prayer from dear sisters that God would restore joy to me.  All I do can be for glory or vainity on account of one little word…joy.  Without joy, I am a clanging gong in my home, a resounding cymbal.  With joy, the hardest pressures a day can dish out shine their refining value and worth.  Abiding joy comes from Him, but soon departs when my selfish ambitions and vain conceits muscle Him aside. He is long suffering and abounding in love.

Ann weaves fine threads of understanding into what is true communion, or as she defines it, eucharisteo: receiving all He gives as grace, giving thanks in every situation, and then giving His gifts away to others.  The effect of eucharisteo (grace, thanks, giving) is joy.  Who can contain anything but joy when one sees all that comes from the Father to his children as his loving, refining grace.

So in chronicling  one thousand thanks, she finds God is met through gratitude and service which all brings joy.  This sounds textbook-easy, but it is in the actual living and walking out obedience that its true effects are found.

Ann’s gifts are abundant, and she excels in many ways.  I have followed her blog for some time now and thought, how does she do that?! on many occasions.  She is careful to give God all of the glory and praise.  And this too is commendable.

It is important to remember that  God is a giver of gifts to all who surrender their lives to Him.  His love song is to you and me just as much as it is to the most gifted of men.  He endows as he sees fit.  But in so much as it depends on us, I am challenged to find thanks in the details of my life and to praise him through the hard, refining thanks as much as the cup-to-overflowing thanks.  It spurs me on to “live my one life well”, fully surrendered to him.

This book was an answer to prayers.  Thank you God, for restoring joy!