I found this neat meme, and though I might be a little late for today, but its still Saturday here. I grew up singing hymns in an old country church. I have a hymnal collection that I often look through. Though I can't play the piano, I can sing alone with the tune in my head. I also learned praise choruses at a summer camp. However, its often the old hymns and those 'early' contemporary choruses that really uplift me.

One of my favorites that I'm thinking about this week is the hymn, Blessed Assurance. Click here for words, picture/biography and music. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/l/e/blesseda.htm

Busy...but a question for you

Thanks ladies for praying for me today. Briefly in one sentence: I survived the dentist okay. :) Some suspicious teeth, but no immediate action is required. Ok, that was more than one sentence but thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

I have a quick question for you all...

Would you buy this Bible for either yourself or another person or even an unsaved friend or relative? Please see the sample pages, the video and please read the whole page that contains more of the 'interview' information, that contains the motives behind the Bible, and also read the customer reviews. Then come back and share your feelings. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Illuminated-Book-New-Testament/dp/919766944X#

Fearless Friday June 5

Note: I will continue the discussion (after this post) of persecuted Christians. Good points have been raised in the comment section, and I want to continue the discussion.


My prayer requests/praises:

1. Unsaved or backslidden family members
2. Details for move
3. Dentist cleanings today (I've had bad experiences; but today is a new day, and with my new freedom in Christ, I woke up with the verse from Romans 8 in my mind; the verse about nothing will separate us from God's love (not even dental visits and problem teeth)
4. Praise for the new joy and freedom I have with my Lord, its been an amazing week. Joy that many bondages have been loosed. Pray that I become strengthed in this new walk and able to resist put downs by family members.
5. Thankful for all my readers/commenters...and I pray for each one of you.

Are we persecuted as Christians?

In my blogger reader I came across this blog post entitled, "Blessed are the Persecuted" http://acroamaticus.blogspot.com/ It is in reference to a news article about Christians in the UK and the persecution they are facing. I was wondering are we as Christians persecuted? I was going to ask are we persecuted here in the US, then realized that some of you may be living/or have lived elsewhere in the world. I know that some areas are totally against Christianity. But what about the 'free' countries? Are we as Christians really persecuted? What are your experiences, feelings, knowledge about this topic?

Thankful Thursday, June 4

This Thursday I am thankful that I am free!!!! As a dear online friend reminded me this week of these words, I want to put them here. Then scroll down a couple of posts to see the post entitled, "My search is over" for the full story.

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. from John 8 NKJV


Note: for more Thankful Thursday posts for this week see: http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com/

A neat contest

Visit ~Brenda at http://prairiebren.blogspot.com/ for a great "Phrase that Photo Contest."

Misc stuff

~~ First, thank you SOOO much for the lovely comments about my post below, "My search is over". I really appreciate them. The Lord has really been working wonderfully in my life the last day or so. It's amazing.

~~ Secondly, I will be including some more posts about favorite books, book reviews, in the future. The month of June and maybe the first part of July may be very crazy. There will be days that I can be on the computer for extended times, and there will be days that I will have limited access or none at all, due to the move related details. From now through Monday, its a 'limited access' time. After that I'll be on for a good bit, then later in the month, I'll be offline for a couple days, then back on limited. I'll keep you posted.

Current Status: through Monday, June 8, Limited access/sporadic and may not be for extended times. Just possibly quick email checks, blog comment moderation, and some posting. Thanks for understanding. I promise, I'm not giving up on blogging, I love it too much. I'm just heading into some bumpy time schedule waters. I'll keep you posted.

~~ I have set up an email account for contact from my blog readers it is pastorswife505 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

~~How do you all find such lovely pictures to include in your blog posts? I don't have a digital camera. Are there places on the Internet where you can have pictures for your blog? Is there a fee? What are your experiences with pics for your blogs...are they mostly your personal pics from a digital camera?

Okay, gotta go. Have a blessed day. Looking forward to hearing from you.

My search is over.

For those of you who have been following me on the past three previous blogs, I have been treading some treacherous waters as I search for what I believe. Your thoughts and prayers and words have meant much. I really have found Jesus, again!!! It is a return to Him that I needed. It doesn't really matter what denomination holds my paper of membership...because that won't matter when I die. God is not looking for a membership paper from a church, He's looking for a heart that is trusting Him as Saviour and as Lord!

And today, I declare, that I DO! I trust in Jesus as Lord, and Saviour. I do not have that icky feeling of finding where I belong. Because I belong in Jesus' arms!! That icky feeling of trying to find myself is over. I have returned to the faith, in my heart, that I grew up with.

I believe in the Bible, as I have since I was a child. It is God's Holy, inerrant, authorative, and powerful word, not just for salvation, but for all things!

I am a Child of God, King, and Lord!

Someone say amen!!

Lighthouse steps

This series is inspired by ~Brenda over at Prairie Tales...as a way of occasionally giving little glimpses into little known facts about me. I know this whole blog is a way of me finding my way out of my turtle shell that I have put myself in the last couple of years for various reasons. But as I progress and discuss different things, like vacuums, (see my previous post), I'll stop and give some hints about me.

Some tidbits

~~I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter, and many combinations of the two, (another post will include the various ways to use peanut butter!)
~~soon I'll be moving into my 16th house since I was born
~~I love to read!!
~~I have tried to crochet and knit, and embroidery. Note the word try!!
~~I have quilted. Quilting was much more successful than the above needlework attempts!!!
~~I have been whitewater rafting, (as a non-swimmer)
~~ my first above ground experience was not on an airplane, but on a ski lift on a mountain in Arizona with a view of the Grand Canyon
~~I DON"T like to fly! I have tried it. Never again. I know they say never to say never, but seriously, never.
~~I do love to travel my train and have seen much of the US by train.
~~I have been to the Grand Canyon, and even sat near the edge at sundown waiting for my brother to come back from hiking down it.
~~I better quit, or I'll write everything in one post, more later. lol

Vacuum question

We are in the need of a new vacuum. What do you recommend, canister style or upright. We've had uprights for a while, but are considering a canister. This will be for carpet, some rooms with thinner carpet than others, but none will be shag. Would love to hear your opinions and experiences. Do canisters last longer then uprights? Do they have better suction? What brands? We know we can't afford the top of the line, but do not want the bottom of the line. We are figuring at least a couple hundred dollars???????

We are finding that our uprights last only about 3-5 years. Our wheels are shot on this one, totally. We just had it repaired for other reasons earlier this year. sigh.

thanks

Monday, Wash day how it has evolved in my years

Now the old line is that Monday is wash day. But around here nearly any day of the week is, except Sunday. We even wash towels always on Wednesday, and sheets on Thursday. As I re posted the gardening history posts below, memories came back and I started to think about how washing has evolved in my life time. Now I'm not that old, but times have changed. But as I did Internet research, I noticed more and more, the old style washers are coming back in style and use because of the economy.

I first learned how to do laundry on a wringer washer. Now according to the Internet, Maytag was one of the major producers of wringer washers and the last ones rolled off their assembly lines in 1983. We had the wringer washer set up down the cellar. The washer was next to 2 metal 'rinse' tubs set on cinder blocks.

For photos see: http://www.maytagclub.com/page-16.htm

For explanation of how to use it: http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2009/05/14/wringer-washer/

In the second article when they link to show you a picture of rinse tubs...my how far they have come! Those they linked to are Amish made, and plastic. Oh my! We used the old style metal 'tub's you could find in most any hardware store. Once the clothes went through the wringer the last time they were hung up outside. Or if in winter, downstairs in the cellar on clothes lines.

One thing with wringer washers, you had to be very careful about using the wringers, and the placement of your hands!!!!!!!!

Eventually we did get a washer upstairs in the kitchen. It was the type with a unique feature. Again we had the rinse tubs nearby. We recycled the wash and rinse water. The machine would drain the wash water out and we'd collect it in a tub. Then it would do the same for the rinse water, and we'd collect that in another tub.

Now for the following load(s)...we'd turn the dial to where the machine would suck up the water through a long hose that went from the machine and to the tubs. We would have to place the hose in the right tub, and as the water level dwindled, even tilt the tub so it could suck up all the water. Eventually, when it couldn't suck it up anymore, we'd lift the tub and dump the little remaining water into the machine.

Yup, that was wash days as I was growing up. We had well water so water conversation was important.

That was the house with the huge gardens I wrote about below. When we moved out of that house, I think we had a 'regular' washer and that didn't use the hose/recycling water feature.

Oh the days of washing with a wringer washer, and the hose/recycle washer. I do think that more of those machines may make a comeback in today's economy.

My gardening history, (pt. 4 of 4)

After my time on the reservation was finished I decided to go to seminary back East. There I met and married my husband. Soon after graduation we headed west, and soon our family grew.

Now in this current church, I was privileged to have the opportunity to garden again. The yard is not able to support a veggie garden in ground. There is not enough sunny space, etc. We live in an area where homegrown fruits and veggies are plentiful, so its cost effective to buy local.I decided to do container gardening. I wanted to do flowers...something new for me.

The first year, I started with one geranium and an ivy plant from a big box store. I borrowed tons of library books and bought a couple of books as well. In addition, I visited about 10 or so plant nurseries around the area. I asked questions, I observed their plant stock, and just got a ton of information. I quickly learned that sometimes the salesclerks knew a lot...and sometimes they didn't. I found one good salesclerk in a big box store in the garden section that had formerly owned a plant nursery so she's been a big help. I also found a plant nursery where the workers, not the salesclerks, but the actual workers...knew a lot. In just a few sentences they could give such a book full of information.

So the second year, I tried more flowerpots. My hubby liked the look of the flowers and encouraged I get more. I ended up with 17 that year. I learned a LOT that first full year, made a lot of mistakes and re-evaluated during that winter. I spent a ton of time that following winter researching and finding out what I did wrong, and what I wanted to try again.

The next year, I ended up with 28 flower pots and had a great time!!!! SO glad that I stuck with it. I had several kinds of annual geraniums, impatiens, diamond frost, begonias, ivy, million bells, petunias, pansies, and double impatiens.

This past winter, I have acquired, a "Christmas? cactus", a jade plant, and an African Violet for indoors....and now as I have written about a couple of posts ago on this blog I have a pot of Violas outside.

I will continue to write about my experiences with the various annual geraniums especially the Wilhelm Langguth zonal geranium, which really loved the environment where it was placed and grew to a small shrub size. More on the individual plants I have worked with in future posts. I'll also keep you up-to-date with my gardening adventures this year. :)

My Gardening History, (pt. 3 of 4) re-post

It wasn't many years after we moved from that special house with the BIG veggie garden plots that soon I was on my own in the world. I had graduated college and was working for the summer in the Midwest. Then from there I moved to AZ and lived on an Indian reservation working as a mission worker. I lived with other single teachers on the school grounds, and we had the desert as our backyard, nestled on the valley floor between two mesas.

The backyard desert beckoned me to get my fingernails dirty. SOOOO...I learned how to garden like my friends and neighbors whose land I lived on. They had been tilling this sand for a good thousand years or so and were struggling to eek out a living....so I tried too. Growing a garden in the desert is MUCH different than growing one back East. The semi-aridness, and the sand called for a change of planting depths, and other changes in gardening. So I acquired some seeds and tried. And though the winds mixed with the sand blew hard that spring, and many of my seeds never took root, some did. I grew corn!! Corn in the Desert is SOOOOO different than corn in PA. But I grew it! With advice from the locals, I had such a small harvest, but a harvest I did!! I was excited. I came to have a much different appreciation for the local people once I planted my first seed, and struggled all summer for a crop. I only planted a couple of hills of corn, but it grew!
And I learned a LOT.There's something about being in a different culture and learning to grow their way.

My Gardening History (pt. 2 of 4) Re-post

Looking back on my childhood/youth years at that one house, I realize I learned a LOT about gardening, just by watching my dad, and helping out in the family gardens each year. I learned how to plant with seeds, onion sets, seedlings and other young plants. I also learned how to put milk jugs over vulnerable transplants until the danger of frost was past and they were bigger. I also learned how to hoe weeds, and more weeds, etc. ;). I also learned how to harvest carefully. Some plants would yield another 'picking(s)' if you harvested carefully and didn't pull on the plant too hard when picking the beans or peas, lol. It was hard work, with the big garden plots, but our stomachs sure appreciated it!!

I also learned to LOVE the feel of dirt on my fingers and yes even under my fingernails. It was something I never really thought about until years later...it was my way of life.

Also, when you talk about gardens and love of soil, you gotta talk about other plants too besides veggies. Looking back I was very blessed by the 'boondocks' where we lived. We were WAY out in the country. Besides the veggie gardens we also had a peach tree, grapevines, a pear tree, apple tree, walnut trees, berries on our property, in addition to the woods that surrounded our house.

I will always remember the walks that Dad and I, and usually my brother would take through the woods, just enjoying the creations that the Lord has made. Wildflowers grew in abundance, along with weeds, vines, and berries. We even found a swinging vine in our woods.

As the years passed, and we moved from that house, things began to go downhill in more ways than one...but one thing for sure remained the same, Dad would always take a walk with my brother and I as his health permitted, and we'd always have a garden, albeit much smaller as the years passed and the houses that we lived in had much smaller lots.

My Gardening History Pt. 1 of 4 (Reposting from other blog)

Speaking of gardening, :).....I thought I'd repost some of my older posts from my other blog. Here's part 1 of my gardening history...how I came to love 'dirt underneath my fingernails'.

I think, I was almost born with dirt under my fingernails. I realize that now. For a period of several recent years, without dirt to be in and garden, I felt something missing. Now that I'm gardening again, I know the feeling that I was lacking........These memories of my recently dearly departed Dad are sweet. It all began as a child in a house where I lived in another state. Back then our focus was on survival. We grew what we ate, (prettynear') and we ate what we grew!! We had two BIG plots of garden for a veggie garden. Each spring my parents would have our landlord or someone else 'disc' the gardens. They'd bring in their tractor and turn over the soil. It created huge playing mounds, if the dirt was the right texture. Then soon Dad would bring out his tiller and start the several day job of tilling the ground. Then he'd rake it and then we'd start to plant. Little bit at a time, veggies that would take the cold first....then eventually the warmer weather ones. He'd either hoe rows or dig holes and we'd plant, and plant and plant...lol, the seeds or sets, or transplants.
We had: onions, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, red peppers, yellow peppers, potatos, tomatoes, peas, green beans, corn, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, sunflowers, cabbage, celery, wax beans, and probably a couple of others I have forgotten.

oh my!!

We'd also receive seeds from our local elementary school to plant and then bring the harvest in the fall for some sort of harvest festival. Fun. One year I brought in a HUGE pumpkin that ended up being a chair in the reading group circle area until it outlasted its prime. Then the school cooks, took the pumpkin and returned with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Those were the days...planting, picking, harvesting, shelling, snapping, watering (by hauling water in huge pots in our little red wagon), hoeing, weeding.

What sweet but sad memories. But the gardening love instilled by my Dad lingers. :)

Pentecost Sunday

Today is Pentecost Sunday for many of us. For more info read Acts 1 & 2. It would have been too long for me to post here. Have a great day.