These chilly, wintry nights …

 

… make me SO grateful for a snug, warm home, fuzzy green-and-silver-sparkly striped pajama pants, hoodies, and steaming cups of tea!

Bright Lights discipleship group

:: My sister and I have a group for young ladies in our home called Bright Lights (www.radiantpurity.org), to encourage girls to be strong for the Lord in their youth. This is our group (minus me, I took the picture) holding up letters we wrote to Christians who are in prison for their faith in other countries. ::

Superbowl musings

Anyone care to share who they’ll be cheering for this evening in the Superbowl?

I’m not planning on watching it, and I don’t have any particular inclinations either way, so I won’t be cheering for either team. I might watch the beginning … maybe … if I feel like it. [grin]
Because I do not understand football, ahem, at all, it’s not something I enjoy watching very much. Yes, you’re right, I would probably get to understand it more if I watched it more, however, it’s the getting to understanding something that bugs me. I don’t like to not understand things. :)

Anyone more decided than me? WHO will you be cheering for and WHY?

Isaiah 55

As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are My ways higher than your ways
       and My thoughts than your thoughts.

 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
       and do not return to it without watering the earth
       and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

 so is My word that goes out from My mouth:
       It will not return to me empty, but

will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it…

This will be for the [My] renown.

Pleasing God

 

Doing the will of God from the heart – that’s as deep as it gets.  More than pleasing people, more than staying comfortable and safe, you want to please God. You want to follow His will with all of your being.

The Mystery of God’s Will – Chuck Swindoll

 

Happy first day of February!

Recent projects

 

:: the humble beginnings of a baby quilt ::

 

 

 

 

Knowing Him

Let us be those who know the Lord best, and love Him most.

JM

Never too old for a little dress-up …

:: sun + lovely music = happiness ::

I’m sitting here listening to some of my favorite music in the world ( including the lovely song The Portrait from Titanic.  No, I’ve never seen the movie, but I love the soundtrack ), and the sun is shining, and I’m so happy! I haven’t seen the sun in over a week. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come out again. But it did. And I’m happy! [grin]

Well, that’s really all I have to say. I just thought I would share that! :)

My playlist

- Because I don’t know what to call this post -

Life has been pretty normal for me in the last few weeks. Reading, practicing music, cleaning out dirty fridges for friends :), teaching piano, giving hair cuts, getting hair cuts … pretty normal stuff. :)

In recent news, I’m going to be studying the harp under a new teacher. I had my last lesson with my old teacher yesterday. The Lord really worked out for us to take from this new teacher, and we’re very excited at the opportunity!

It’s kind of funny, I don’t know if anyone else notices it, but after the whirlwind of the holidays, with tons of parties, events, services, and such fun activities, January seems SO quiet and uneventful, almost boring! :) I get tired of the cold, and just long for excitement and warm weather.

I have two banquets that I will be providing harp music for in the next few weeks, so needless to say, I’ve been practicing the harp a lot in recent days.

To close, this picture is for Aunt Patty, of my braces-less sister. We’re working on getting a nice family picture taken. It’s been a … how shall I put it … a long time since the last one!

If you’re feeling chatty, leave a comment to let me know something exciting that’s been happening in your life … okay, it can be just normal, it doesn’t have to be exciting! :)

Have a great day!

By faith, Abraham

I looked out our back door this morning to see a thick fog enveloping everything. It was so dense, I could barely make out the trees a scant 150 feet away. And beyond that, nothing. I couldn’t see the neighbor’s house, or the trees behind it, or the fields surrounding them. I knew they were there amidst all the fog, behind it, in it, but for the moment, they were completely obscured from my sight.

Faith is often like that.

:: Some days the sun is fairly shining in our hearts, and everything around us is bright and clear. We just can’t help but sing and rejoice.

:: But some days, things aren’t quite so clear. We can’t quite understand what’s going on. We don’t know what God is doing. As we try to peer into the future, it all seems bleak and mysterious. We wonder what’s ahead. We wonder what in the world God is up to. We reach out for Him, but He always seems just beyond our grasp.

And that’s when we choose to have faith. We’ve seen God work in the past, and we have to believe that He’s there, in and behind all that fog. We decide to trust Him. We choose to believe that He’s still working, even when we can’t seem to find Him. Even when we can’t see Him. Even when the fog keeps us from tracing His hand.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I’ve been reading about faith in Hebrews 11 and Romans 4. Two beautiful chapters, that have quickly become some of my favorites.

To close, a few verses I recently memorized on the topic of faith, Romans 4:20-21:

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Carol Ann – Michael W. Smith

Of Gratefulness and Haiti

I looked at some pictures of wounded people and horribly demolished buildings and homes in Haiti this morning.

People, just like me, who each have hopes, dreams, and plans; forever changed by something they cannot control. They will never be the same again.

Some will never be able walk, some never move at all, some will never see their loved ones again, at least not on this earth.

People, just like me.

And I think I have problems. I complain. I’m ungrateful. Father, forgive me.

CNN – Faces of Haiti

Inside Report from Only A Servant Ministries

Memory Lane

I was just browsing through some pictures from our trip in July to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where we lived until ‘99. We stopped by the dear old house that we used to call home – the yellow one, with the sweet little brown fence, on Manila Street.

:: standing right by the faucet where Micah Noel fell and chipped her front tooth when she was six ::

And in almost the very same spot…

in 1994…

:: when I was little, it was my deepest longing to be as tall as my sister, Micah Noel. She has always been at least a good six inches taller than me, and it made my blood fairly boil when people would comment, “Oh, Micah Noel is so much taller than Bryant!” Just one way to make me, ahem, very upset. That, or call me a “Ditto Head” … :) ::

and 2009…

:: yup, she’s still taller! ::

This adorable little puppy (which, by the way, still lives next door with her owner) is a poor, crippled, old dog now. When we stopped by the house this summer, our old neighbor Greg came out of his house with Sadie, and said, “Hey, you all are the Sorensens, right?” So we chatted over the back fence with him, like we used to ten years ago, only this time, I could actually SEE over the fence, instead of having to stand on a chair!  :)

:: sadie ::