Hello y’all … and Happy Fall!  I hope you’ve all had a blessed week!  Yes, I’ve been absent, but I have good reason!  We’ve been pretty busy around here this week … counting and packing bars of soap, and getting ready for a fall festival at the apple orchard this weekend … a Scottish-Highlander Festival.  The weather is going to be beautiful for it … for that, I am very grateful … it’s an outdoor show!  We’ve also been hoping to get our car fixed … I was headed out to an appointment last Friday, and it started alright, but only for a few seconds … then all the lights on the dash flickered and everything just went dead!  It wouldn’t start again … wouldn’t even make a sound.  Well, we called to get it towed on Monday, and wouldn’t ya know it, the tow truck got here, and she started right up!  We took it to the mechanics anyway, in hopes that they could fix it, but alas, she still starts up, and runs!  They aren’t able to figure out the problem, which, they tell us, is most likely electrical, unless it is ‘messing’ up!  So … we wait.  They’ve had it all week, trying to see if it messes up again, but no … it still hasn’t … yet!  Sounds funny, but we’re praying that it doesn’t start right now!  They will have it until the end of the day, so, quick, say a prayer!!  Anyway, Mom Betty and Pop were so sweet, and loaned us their car … that’s been a blessing this week with everything we’ve had to do!  We did get a couple of games of Putt-Putt in this week, which was fun.  I may try those go-carts next time, too!  )  Pretty soon, it’ll be to cold to enjoy those outdoor activities!  I am hoping things will slow down a little bit this next week … I’d like to do more visiting to catch up, and also make it look a little more like Autumn around here!  It can be a little hard to choose between rolling waves, and falling leaves, though!  ) 

Last Sunday, after church, we took a pot of soup, along with some other goodies, and went to visit Elizabeth, and her family.  We had a wonderful time together, and she is doing better.  Her treatments have been changed back to twice a week again, instead of every day!  Things are moving along pretty well, but please, do keep her in your prayers.  I spoke to Ian this week … he is moving to a house with some friends from church … and he said he doesn’t know when he’ll be back home here again.  That’s been hard for me, but I know God has a plan and a purpose for his life … just listening to him, I can tell he is growing in the Lord, and is very happy … but he does miss us.  I’m glad he’s in a good place with good friends!  He is going to be coming for a visit for possibly both Thanksgiving, and Christmas … we can’t wait!  We also want to go out there to visit and meet all his new friends … he’d like that very much. I also found out, this week, that a dear friend of mine has breast cancer.  Information on her tests are still coming in, and I’ll share more later, but if you would, please remember her in prayer!  It’s been a difficult week in many ways, but God is so full of grace and kindness towards us.  How can I ever thank Him enough! 

Well, that is what my week has been about, so I’ll end for now.  I pray you all have a blessed Friday … we’ll be heading out to do some last minute errands, and stop in at a flea market, then head down to the orchard to set up for the festival.  It’s going to be a busy three days for us here, but I’ll be back Monday to catch up with you all!  Say a prayer for energy for me … that, I’ve been sorely lacking in this week!  In the meantime, enjoy your Friday, and have a wonderful weekend!  Oh, and if you get bored … here’s a little game to keep you occupied … after all, it is apple season, you know!  Enjoy! 

Hugs,
                ~ Deborah <><  

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.  ~ Anonymous

God has a way of loving us and blessing us that is so much better than fair.  Think of the ways God has blessed us that transcend what we deserve.  Every good thing that has ever come to us is a gift of God’s grace.  If you and I could ever stop being self-centered long enough to be honest, we would have to say that we are not entitled to any good thing.  We have no right to demand anything.  And the last thing we really want is for God to just be fair with us.  What we want and what we need is grace, the love that is better than fair.  And grace is exactly what we ultimately receive from the God who is better than fair, even when life is less than fair.  ~ Charles E. Poole

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,
A clean vessel in Thy hand;
With no power but as Thou givest
Graciously with each command.

Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit
Hearts that full surrender know;
That the streams of living water
From our inner man may flow.

Channels only, blessèd Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.

—Mary E. Max­well, alt.

To have real joy and be used by Him … 
surrender is not simply an option.

~~~~

If there be anything that is capable of setting the soul in a large place it is absolute abandonment to God.
It diffuses in the soul a peace that flows like a river and the righteousness which is as the waves of the sea.
~ Francois Fenelon ~

Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly
to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mould them accordingly.
~ Ignatius ~

The will of God for your life is simply that you submit yourself to Him each day and say, “Father, Your will for today is mine.
Your pleasure for today is mine. Your work for today is mine. I trust You to be God. You lead me today and I will follow.”
~ Kay Arthur ~

My your day be ever so blessed
as you abide there in His sweeet presence, 
my dear friends!
Hugs <><

COUNTING SPARROWS
~ Darnelle

After the recent hurricane, Gustav, my husband and I attempted to drive through town to our home to check out any damage.  (We stayed with my parents during the storm.)  We weren’t prepared for much of what we saw.  Hurricane force winds can do unbelievable damage.  Every street and yard was littered with trees and sheets of metal roofing that came from who knows where.  Huge oak trees were laying on their sides as if a giant child had simply pushed them over.  Power lines were mangled and hanging in every direction.  A short while later, back at Mom’s house, I was walking around the area when I discovered a bird’s nest.

Before that day, I had not noticed it.  It had probably been hidden by a few more leaves before the storm.  It was unbelievable to me that it was still intact after enduring 90 mph winds the previous day.  And … it wasn’t even in a tree! The nest had been built in a single grape vine that was clinging to a small arbor.  I walked around it, looking at it from every angle, trying to figure out how in the world the nest had managed to stay in one piece and remain in its very fragile environment.

Earlier, during our drive, I saw once-massive pine trees laying in splinters and huge oaks resting on crashed roof tops and one street after the other, blocked by fallen power lines with trees on top of them.  And yet, here was this bird’s nest ~ untouched ~ in a tiny grape vine.  In the midst of my amazement, while gawking at the nest and trying to discover its secret, I suddenly noticed – in the background, beyond the nest – a large fallen tree.  It had been broken at its trunk as if it had been a twig.

“God, what in the world was going on during that storm?”

Suddenly, the nest and the tree were a picture to me of life on this planet ~ a picture that represents all of those questions we’re saving up for God ~ a picture of “those days” when we are ready to throw in the towel because 2 + 2 never quite equals 4.

Those days leave us all struggling to catch our breath.  Way too often . . . life doesn’t make sense.  Good people – who love God – struggle under the weight of heavy loss.  Selfish people – who live lives of total disregard for any person or any god but themselves – seem to enjoy lives of abundance and ease.  And every now and then, in the midst of it, almost involuntarily, we hear ourselves whisper . . .

“God, what in the world is going on?”

Why does God allow the loss, the confusion, the lack, the wait?  Why does a 100 year old oak fall, and a bird’s nest remain untouched?  Why do saintly people sometimes suffer and at the same time, professional sinners seem to cruise through life unscathed?  I suspect that even if Father God chose to explain a few details – we’d scarcely grasp them.

The truth is that He alone is able to see the entire mosaic that He has been building since before time began, whereas we can barely comprehend the single tile that we’ve been placed on.  These are the days when we must choose to trust an ever faithful God whose actions (or inactions) we may not understand.  He loves us.  He only has our ultimate, eternal good in mind.  He is faithful.  And He is glorified when we trust Him during the confusion.

Deep down, of course, we know these things about our God.  We really do.  We know that we can’t comprehend His immeasurable love for us.  We know that He has plans for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11)  We know that He promises … ”never to leave us nor forsake us.” (Joshua 1:5)  We know that He has … “engraved our names on the palms of His hands”. (Isaiah 49:16)  We know that He is holy and awesome and good and truly a perfect parent.  We know . . . in our heads.  Our hearts, however, sometimes need reminders.

Soooooo ….. I am asking the Father to use the picture of the bird’s nest and the fallen tree to remind me that in the midst of powerful, destructive, fear-inducing storms in life, that He is not only capable of holding my life – my nest – together, but He desires to do so!  I am asking Him to whisper in my ear a reminder of an intact bird’s nest after 90 mph winds.  I am asking Him to use the storms of life – not to bring fear – but to remind me of a God whose hand and whose love is mightier than ANY storm.

If He saw fit to save a bird’s nest … if He’s still counting sparrows …

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? 
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
~ Matthew 10:29 …

And if He’s still counting the hairs on our heads …

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
~ Matthew 10:30 …

Then He is STILL waiting for us to trust that His arms are long enough to reach into our lives and hold us through our present storms … He is enough!

“As for God His way is perfect”
Psalm 18:30

Take a moment today and ask God to show you O*N*E area where trusting Him has been difficult. 
Ask Him to show you the first step in releasing that burden to Him.  He loves you AND He is enough!

Father … teach us, show us, lead us to that place where we stop running from the storms
and start running toward you. Thank you for your absolute faithfulness!  We love you!

HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE GOD THIS WEEK?

In a worship song?

In an answer to prayer?

In a particular Scripture (sudden understanding or insight)?

In hunger for Him and His Word?

In grace for a spiritual discipline?

In seeing yourself as different from the world?

In an encounter with someone?

In God bringing Scriptures to your mind throughout your day?

In your daily devotional time – anything specific?

In a change of an attitude?

In victory over an area of sin?

In seeing a shift in priorities in your heart?

In grace to obey in a certain area?




Let the first act on waking be to place yourself,
your heart, mind, faculties, your whole being, in God’s hands.
Ask Him to take entire possession of you, to be the Guide of your soul,
your Life, your Wisdom, your Strength.

He wills that we seek him in all our needs,
that we may both know Him truly,
and draw closer and closer to Him;
and in prayer we gain an invisible force
which will triumph over seemingly hopeless difficulties.

~ Sidney Lear ~





Help!! I’ve just lost all my e-mail folders and all that I had saved on Juno!  If anyone has any tips,
as to how to get them back, I’d sure love to hear them! 
All my business and personal folders just disappeared when I logged on!
Has that ever happened to any of you?  It saved all my Inbox mail,
but all my other folders are all gone … and I had quite a few!! 
Pray that I can get them back!

Other than that major heart stopping problem … how are you all doing?!  I hope you’ve had a good week!
Now that it’s come to a close, here’s a quick rundown of my upcoming weekend …
Besides trying to retrieve all my folders …
Saturday, the weather is going to be nice, and hubby and I are headed to the
church garage sale, to see what we might have missed, since we weren’t able to actually be there this year,
due to hubby’s work schedule.  Maybe there’ll be some treasures left! 

After that, we’re going to head south to the Heartnut Heritage Festival.  They have craft booths, reenactments,
and other demonstrations. We also may head north to make a stop at Trader’s Point Creamery, and check that out,
as well.  They also have a farmer’s market, and other booths there to stroll through. 
It’s a dairy farm, and I hear there are a couple of new baby calves.  Of course, where I go, so goes the camera!
Which reminds me … I need to charge up those batteries! 

Our craft shows are gearing up, and it’ll be nice walking around and just enjoying the booths at both places,
instead of having to work in one!  It gets pretty busy this time of year, and we’re enjoying the down time right now. 

On Sunday, we’ll, of course, be at church, then we’ll be visiting Miss Elizabeth …
they did get moved, and are now settled in their new apartment … together again! 
Thank you all, so much, for your prayers for her.  I’ll have an update when I post again. 

I hope you have a great weekend, with some fun things planned.  It’s seems like it’s been a while since we’ve done
something fun like this, so we are looking forward to the day!  It’s late, so I’ll say goodnight for now … 
and I’ll be back later this weekend, or on Monday, to start catching up with all of you!  Until then … 
  
Blessings on your weekend!
Hugs ~ Deborah <><

PROTECTED
Gayle Rodgers ~

The little family of geese waddled across the road.  One adult led the way and the four small goslings followed along.  The second adult protectively brought up the rear.  It was a heart-warming sight seeing the little ones encased in their parents hovering care. “There’s a devotional there, Mom,” Dan said to me with a smile.

He was right.  Immediately the verse came to my mind from Isaiah 52:12b … 

“For the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

What a great reminder of the care of our Heavenly Father!  He not only goes before us, He also comes behind us.  We are encased in His presence as we walk through the joys and the challenges of our days.

What does today hold for you?  What is ahead of you this week?  Be reminded that the same God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites, and came behind them with protection from their enemies, is the same God who surrounds you today.

* His love will encase you.
* His strength will empower you.
* His wisdom will guide you.
* His arms will enfold you.

Wherever your journey takes you this week …

* to the hospital,
* to the office,
* to the playground,
* to the classroom,
* through treatment,
* into situations of joy… or challenge,

He goes before you AND He comes behind you.  Embrace His care for you today, rest in the knowledge of it.  Moment by moment and situation by situation you can trust God with your life.

Father God,
Thank You that You know everything that concerns me today. I place my trust in You to go before me and to come behind me.  Remind me, as I walk, that I am encased in Your presence.  Help me to choose to rest there and leave my anxious cares in Your hands.  I give You my praise and thanksgiving.  In Jesus’ strong name I pray, amen.

Well, I trust you all had a great weekend!  We had a busy one … a highlight being that we were able to pick up Elizabeth’s brother, Johnny, and sister, Hannah, and take them with us to the picnic on Monday.  They had so much fun with all their friends who were there.  I took a tator tot casserole, and brownies.  There was so much food, and all of it was delicious!  It was a good day, and the weather was perfect.  Lots of volleyball, football, and basketball, along with a frisbee toss.  Hubby played volleyball most of the day!  I thought I’d sit it out this time … didn’t want to take a chance on re-injuring my back, because it is starting to feel better now!  I also want to thank all of you who responded to the message, and are praying for Elizabeth!  Please do keep her in your prayers … along with her family! 

We also went to the apple orchard, and got our first bag of apples for the season … very good.  They are Jonagold’s, but this coming weekend, my favorite apple, the Fuji, will be ready!  I like a crunchy, semi-sweet apple, and not too tart.  Their fresh peaches were in as well, and they are beautiful.  They have their mums out now … and the white ones are so pretty.  I also signed up for the Scottish-Highlander Festival for the last weekend there, this month.  It’s always a fun show to go to, and to sell our soap at … you may remember the photos I posted last year.  We always pray for good weather, as it is an outdoor show … we’ve only been rained out once.

We may not be taking our yard sale items to the church tomorrow, for the big sale through Saturday … my husband’s work load got a bit heavier for the rest of the week, so we may be having our own yard sale here in the next month, or so.  I can’t get all of our things over there in the car, so he thought it best to wait … although, I may go hang out with the ladies there sometime during the sale.  Maybe I could take a few items to unload, if they have any room left!  Never did sell that ‘Flo-Bee’ … maybe someone could use it!  Lol!!  Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday … I’ll be visiting around today to see what is happening in the lives of my dear Xanga friends! 

Be blessed! 
Hugs ~ Deborah <><