'Tis the Season...To Be Thankful

When my dear friend D'Ann (at Five Bazillion and One) began blogging on a daily basis about thankfulness I thought to myself, "I'll do that too!"

I didn't.

What with an unbelievably quick house sale (five days) and a closing of twenty-five days, I haven't been blogging at all.

I have instead been up to my eyeballs in boxes, bags and furniture.

I even did a Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 1 so that we could have a real dinner with my entire family without the added stress of getting everything unpacked and settled.

Even so, I am thankful.

I'm thankful for the closing of one season and the beginning of another.

I'm thankful for friends who love me even when I'm too sensitive and stressed out.

I'm thankful for family that doesn't blast me for starting a new adventure out here in the country.

I'm thankful for children who are so willing to embrace new challenges and hard work.

I'm even thankful for the boxes, bags and furniture that have to be put away somewhere (although I wish there weren't quite so many).

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I Thessalonians 5:18

I Will Love Them Freely

"I will love them freely."
Hosea 14:4

Surprising, isn't it?

With all my sin, with all my foibles, that the LORD God could love me "freely."

Without restrictions or interference...

Nothing can come between me and the Lord. No power is able to keep Him from me. Not even me. When I hesitate to come, when I think that I have pushed Him away I am only fooling myself.

In copious or generous amounts...

He lavishes his love upon me. There is no stinginess in His love, no favoritism, no special children. He does not worry that another one of His children will feel slighted because of the attention that He give to me because they in turn have all His notice.

He (unlike me) can give undivided attention to all His children equally and at the same time.

Opening and honestly...

His love does not leave me in my sin. He turns His attention to me and draws me back to Himself, changing my heart and my desire to do what is right.

Willingly and readily...

Without reserve, without holding it over my head until He feels that I have "paid enough," He forgives me. Forgiveness flows over me without hesitation and I am clean.




To read someone who can say it infinitely better than I, click HERE.

I Thought That I Knew Pain

I have fibromyalgia.

I absolutely hate putting that into words. It makes it so real.

I also have quite a bit of pain.

I absolutely hate admitting that to anyone outside my family.

But, before I let myself focus on my disabilities let me introduce you to someone.

Becky Black.

I have no pictures, no bio, nothing to tell you about this God-fearing, beautifully righteous woman except her own writing.

Please read what she has to say about PAIN. When you are finished, come back here.


I have nothing to fear, rail against or complain about.

But, I have so much for which to be thankful.

¹⁵ For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:15-16

Losing Confidence

In my younger days, (wow, I am getting older when I can actually say that and not feel silly), there was nothing that I would not attempt.

Any new idea or project that struck my fancy was fair game!

One dear friend certainly dreaded the continual chant, "You know what we could do"?

I'm feeling a lot less confident these days.

"Though a host should encamp against me..."

Actually, I'm just about worn down completely.

"my heart shall not fear..."

Where has the joy in living gone?

Each critique, each criticism, each helpful hint has begun to feel more like brick blows on my soul.

"though war should rise against me..."

Why?

I believe that I have been listening to too many voices.

Yes, much wise counsel is a wise, advisable, much needed blessing.

That isn't what I'm talking about...

I'm desiring to regain Godly confidence.

"in this will I be confident..."

Hmmm, perhaps my confidence is so easily shaken because I'm relying on man's approval instead of seeking this ONE thing.

"that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon the rock."

Where do I seek this joy?

"this ONE thing"

How does the strength return?

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Where is my confidence found?

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ..."

Thank you, Lord.

Psalm 27:3-4;14
Philipians 1:6

What If I Were THAT Honest!

For all of you wondering about my pledge, let me say that I have NOT purchased anything new and that I have made the following:

a pillowcase dress

a "cow" print apron

an apron for a friend's birthday

a skirt for Lydia

and a jumper dress

all from fabric out of my stash or from recycled items! Don't ask me for any patterns because I just made them up....(when I can get some pictures taken, I will share them with you)!


BUT, for today, I am wondering if I have the real courage, even the audacity to be completely honest.

As I read other ladies blogs (perhaps even a few gentlemen on occasion) it often occurs to me that I don't share my life quite as openly or vulnerably as many.

Sometimes I even read articles that I could easily have written myself.
My life experiences.

So similar. So exactly where I have been.

I even enjoy and agree with the fearlessness of many of these writers.

Why do not write those same things?

Perhaps, it is because they so often involve other people. These stories are not just MY story, but the story of others' pain, fears, or foibles.

I was reading one of my favorite books today. As the author shared testimony of things that had occurred to women at conferences where she had spoken, she never shared names, but she did reveal things that they had said.

I wondered if they liked seeing their ugliness, comments or problems "hung out on the line."

I wouldn't.

I guess, for now, I just can't be THAT honest!

"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."
I Peter 4:8

The Pledge

I've taken a pledge!

Boy, this one is really scary to me!

I've made a promise not to buy anything new to wear for two months.

Is this scary because I love to go clothes shopping?

No.

This is scary to me because I'm taking a pledge to allow myself to be creative and to even make a bunch of mistakes.

Oh, how I hate making mistakes.

Oh, my pride!

I'm going to strike it a (hopefully) fatal blow.

I will be posting the things that I try to make. You may get to see some really ridiculous things here for a while, but here I go.

My husband has been hoping for this for a long time. He thinks that I may have a creative streak in me.

I surely hope he's right....

I __________________ pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed__________________.

(Disclaimer: I have not personally viewed every entry on this site. Please view with discretion.)

I Agree with Elizabeth

On Motherhood and Profanity

I completely agree!

I Shall Not Want

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Lately, my eyes have been completely on my circumstances.


Nothing has a finished, completed sense about it, leaving me with a gnawing, churning lack of peace.


And that, is sin...

Why is this sin?

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The other day, a friend of mine mentioned that she had never understood what the phrase, "I shall not want" meant. She had thought that she was perhaps in sin because there were things that she did want. She was glad to know the true meaning of the word want.

The funny thing was that I did understand that phrase, but I was not living like I understood it.

Want doesn't mean to simply desire something.

lack: to be without, have need of, be devoid of, be bereft of, be missing, deficiency, shortage, unavailability

It means that whatever my needs are, they will be met.

What do I need?

Perhaps, the better question is what do I not need.

I do not need to know the future. I do not need to "have it all together". I do not need to be everything to all people.


I do not need to be afraid.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Is there anything you want?

Starting Again

Well, no new pictures of the garden right now. It is playing out.

The squash is finished.

The cucumbers are finished.

The figs are finished.

The pears are finished.

BUT...

I'm not finished!

Here, in hot as blue blazes Texas, I get another growing season chance and I'm taking it!

Today I Choose Thankfulness

I'm thankful for....


a dear husband with unlimited patience who watches tenderly with bated breathe to see if I will embrace becoming conformed to His image.

loving friends who believe the best of me even when I simply don't deserve it.

sweet, sweet children who rush to serve our family especially when my husband and I are too tired to move.

a beautiful daughter-in-love who desires to be my friend.

a "bit of earth" on which to "dig and delve".

a Holy God and Savior who simply won't let me stay in my present sinful state, but loves me enough to move me from glory to glory.


Thank you everyone. You know who you are....

Garden Update #2

I know that I have not posted in quite a while, but truly, circumstances have prevented me!

My first born got married this past Saturday!!

I will post some pictures when I get them from the photographer. Needless to say, we are just thrilled with our new daughter-in-love. She is beautiful inside and out.

We have had some disappointments in the garden. First, a rabbit kept getting in at night and eating my yellow and zucchini squash! I used to love the Tale of Peter Rabbit. Now, though, I believe I identify with Farmer McGreggor more than Peter!



Recipe Tip: With the squash that we have gotten so far, I used a nifty little gadget called a Spiralizer to cut them in thin ringlets. (Actually, sweetie pie, Lydia, cut them and then proceeded to eat them! Yes, Miss Picky!) By marinading them in olive oil and soy sauce, they could be eaten raw, but tasted as though they had been sauteed. Mmmmmm!

The green beans have just about played out and I am going to replant them this weekend. I got about 12 pounds of beans from these plants. I don't know if that is remarkable or just average, but they were delicious. I don't know the price of organic fresh green beans, but the local grocery store had them priced at $2.99 yesterday so those yummy beans would have cost me around $35! We had some seed from last year, but my husband wanted to try a different variety this year so I did buy the seed, but that cost is minimal.



Recipe Tip: Take a jelly roll pan and brush it lightly with coconut oil. Spread out about a pound of green beans with ends snapped. Thinly slice an onion and top the beans. Add about 10 (yes, I said 10) cloves of garlic and place over the top. Once roasted the garlic will be deliciously mild. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 400 until beans are to your liking! I love them as they are, but my husband and sons like to sprinkle them with balsamic vinegar!

I have had about a dozen tomatoes to ripen so far, but about 75-80 have not ripened yet. I'm sure, with my luck, that they will all ripen on the same day! :)

Sun-dried tomatoes will definitely be on the menu.




Our fruit trees have totally shocked me! We just planted them along with our Spring garden and lo and behold, all the fig trees are bearing fruit along with several pears. I believe a delicious pear crisp is in order! I thought that you could not expect to have fruit for at least three years from when you planted.





Did you know that pears actually need to be picked before they are ripe? Bill was reading about them in one of our organic gardening books and that was the advice given.



I have already harvested and made pesto with my basil and am going to havest and make more today. Companion gardeners say to plant basil alongside tomatoes. I tried that this year and I seem to be having a "bumper" crop! I will also dry some of the basil for use this winter, but I really prefer it fresh.



My only regret so far with this years garden is that we did not plant even more!

Hmmmm...

I think I said the same thing last year!

Garden Update #1

Just wanted to update my garden news!

What is it about putting a seed or plant into the ground and watching it grow that is so exciting!

Especially when you begin to see it produce something.








Does the Lord feel that same excitement when we begin to sprout, to grow and then to produce fruit that glorifies Him?

My first pepper and tomato!
My squash is blossoming!




We put more mulch on the beds and more compost tea. The rain has been more than abundant and the humidity is fierce.


We have also reached 217 in our egg count.

Any customers?

Don't forget to check out From Seeds to Harvest to see what everyone else is doing in their gardens!

Don't Miss This Article

I'm telling you now, don't miss this article by Lygia Lovelace.

http://www.kenlovelaceministries.com/lovelace_menu.html

The Lovelace family is very special and dear to my heart. They have a heartfelt call to orphans and, in addition to their five biological children, have adopted five beautiful children from Thailand, Romania and Liberia. You can see some of their pictures here.

Lygia is a gifted writer and I never fail to be touched and convicted by her words. The Lord is using her in my life and I know that He will use her in yours.


I'm telling you now, don't miss these articles!!!

Thou Art My Hope in the Day of Evil

I'm letting Spurgeon do my speaking for me today.

I am beginning to get emails and phone calls from very hurting, frightened people.

Jobs are being terminated. Illness is haunting. The world at large is simply in a turmoil.

You've heard me say it in prior posts, but I'll say it again, and again, an once again....


BUT GOD

"Thou art my hope in the day of evil."
-- Jeremiah 17:17

The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has
his seasons of darkness and of storm.

True, it is written in God's Word, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be "As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," yet sometimes that light is eclipsed.

At certain periods clouds cover the believer's sun, and he walks in
darkness and sees no light.

There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the "green pastures" by the side of the "still waters," but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, "Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen." Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness.

The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross.

No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows.

Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and
unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind
to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life,
you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's
full-grown children.

We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith,
to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more
firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our
glorious hope.

God has not changed. He never will.

Blessings,
Robin

From Seeds to Harvest

I am taking part in a challenge! Those of you who know me very well will also know that I love trying something new! Experimenting!

My oldest son (whom I'm afraid takes after me, poor thing) would often get in trouble and say,

"I just wanted to see what would happen!"

My dear friends have often been seen cringing in fear when they hear these words come out of my mouth:

"You know what we could do?"

Well, our entire family has taken to gardening. Of course, it is now cool to garden because of our present economy, but I must say that this is not our first garden.

I must also confess, that I hope at the end of the season to be able to say that this was our first successful garden! :)

I have decided to take a challenge with a few other adventuresome folks to share what we are doing (successes and failures) in our garden this year. I will post about it from time to time.

I may even wax poetic occasionally. Isn't that supposed to happen to people who spend time with nature!

If you, too would like to 'take the challenge' just click on the images of Seeds to Harvest at the top of this post to find out how you can join with others on this season's GREAT ADVENTURE.

Here are some pictures of my humble beginnings. The garden has been trying to survive since March 20. Two weeks later we had a freeze :( and lost our first cucumbers. The other plants survived, but because of the continued cold began to turn a sickly shade of yellow. We continued to put worm castings on them in hopes that they would rally.



Note: Do not plant cucumbers until the ground has warmed to at least 65-70 degrees. They cannot bear the cold. (Of course, we did not know this until after the freeze and I then checked my gardening books. Hmmmm. Is there a lesson in this?)

We decided not to try cucumber plants, but started them the second time from seed. Aren't they the cutest things?


We have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, squash (crooked neck and zucchini), bell peppers, chili peppers, onion sets, beans, and several kinds of herbs.

Note: Here in Texas, we have been informed that our onion sets should have been out the first of January! I don't know how they will do. The farmers who let us know showed us their onions that are almost ready to harvest. Huge! Beautiful! I wish that we had known. sigh....


Pear, plum, and fig trees have also come to reside here at the farm. (I'll post pictures of these at another time.) We had a tiny black insect that tried to devour the plum trees, but I believe that we have overwhelmed him with organic pepper sprays. I know that I could not have lived through the onslaught of torture through which we put those bugs! :)

Compost tea is also another great way to feed your plants. Here is a link to making your own!

I Can't Believe It!

I can't believe it! We are actually getting eggs! We've had 30 total so far. Every hen has justified her existence!

These in the picture are our first two and yes, they were delicious!

Psalm 45:10

"Listen, O daughter,"

Am I listening?

When the still, small voice of my Lord is speaking, am I listening?

When He speaks through my husband, my children, you, my dear friend, am I listening?

"Consider and incline your ear"

Am I leaning forward, eagerly hoping to hear something that will turn me away from my present path?

Am I thankful, grateful, happy to hear the words that sometimes grate, jar, sting?

It has always been the duty and privilege of the church to be listening and attentive to the Lord.

Eagerly leaning forward, as we do sometimes when we go to hear a famous speaker or when we attend a wonderful production and we don't want to miss a word.

Today I want to listen.


Are you listening, O daughter?

Thank You Friend

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort, of feeling safe with a person
—having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right
out, just as they are—chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take
and sift them, keep what is worth keeping and then with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away."

Isn't that just beautiful.

That is how I feel when I have been with my true friend.

Thank you, friend.

Change is Inevitable

Luke 21:33 (King James Version)

³³Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Has the truth of this verse ever touched your heart?

Sometimes, I pride myself on loving change. I do love change when it involves me or my family trying something new, different, strange or exciting.



But I have to admit....

when change involves letting my friends try something new, different, strange or exciting....

when it means I have to let them go....



I don't like change.



Nothing stays the same. Everything changes.



Only the Word of the Lord remains completely constant. Someone might say that the stars stay constant, but only as long as the Lord tarries. When he returns everything here will change.

...heaven and earth shall pass away...

It's so easy to move on myself. Why is it so hard to allow others to move on?


I'm sure that there are many people out there who grew up in one spot, always attending the same church in the same place with the same people and are raising their children the same way.

I envy you sometimes. That has not been our lot.

Sure, we could have made some choices that might have caused those circumstances to happen in our lives, but I think that if I am truly honest I have to say that when you really want to follow Jesus, He has to be able to decide what is best for you.



If His best is to be settled in one spot, then rejoice in that!

If His best is to be flexible, then rejoice in that!



Pray for me to rejoice in that. Pray for me to rejoice in what the Lord is doing in my sweet friends' lives.

Philippians 4:11-12 (New King James Version)

¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Lord, help me to be content...

Home Sweet Home

Well, again, my apologies for not having posted sooner, but the Galvan family have been through many trials that I have not felt I could share on a public forum.

Carlos has come home (as of Wednesday) and physically is doing extremely well. For those of you would like to continue to pray for this beautiful and Godly household, there is a very specific prayer need that I would like to share.

Carlos has two forms of aphasia. To put it as simply as possible, this is a confusion of speech, spoken as well as in understanding. For example, he will speak a lengthy sentence in which he believes that he has communicated his need or want, but in reality, the sentence is completely garbled. This also happens when you speak to him. This causes much frustration an anxiety.

He will be covered for three weeks of intense speech therapy and then it will be their responsibility to seek private therapy.

The needs, of course, are obvious. Pray that the Lord will continue to do the mighty work that He has been doing, and pray for wisdom to discern the next step.

I will not post concerning these dear friends unless I have an update on Carlos' speech. There are many needs, but, as I said before, their privacy in family matters must be maintained. If you would like to send a message of hope to this family please leave your comments and I will forward them. If the Lord gives you the grace to continue to pray for them, it would be much appreciated by us all.

With much love and blessings,
Robin