It's Not about Hymns...but about Heart!

The kids and I are learning about and singing "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" during our hymn study in school. The hymn was written by Isaac Watts in 1715. At the time that he was writing hymns, Isaac was considered to be very controversial because he was introducing a "new" way of worshiping in church. Hymns were beginning to take the place of singing the Psalms. Churches all over England were having troubles over this and many churches divided over it, including the church once pastored by John Bunyan. By the way, Watts also wrote "Joy to the World"! It's not about style, but substance. And it's not about preference, but hearts bowed before him with undying gratitude for what He has done. If we truly understood worship- we wouldn't be able to get off of our faces. Oh to have that kind of heart of worship!

Psalm 33

The Steadfast Love of the LORD

¹ Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
²Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
³Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

⁴For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
⁵He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
⁷He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
⁹For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

¹³The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
¹⁴from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
¹⁶ The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
¹⁷ The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
¹⁹that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
²²Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

ESV

Summers End

Good Advice!

Read this the other day:

Become a very good listener, your ears will never get you into trouble!

That made me think of James 1:19: "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger..." ESV

Where has the summer gone...

So, we have been missing from my blog, but now that summer is over- here are some pictures to show what we have been up to! (in no particular order! :)

My family at Pawley's Island SC

Boys and cousins at Edisto with Roger's family.

Isaiah is 8 months!

The only perfect omelet I have ever made! Especially for Cindy Chingo who visited with us on her way home from Chicago!



Rainbow off of our porch the first night in our new house.

Dyess' and us at the Greenville SC zoo

Dyess' and us at the really cool Castle playground near our house in Illinois

Sunset on the way home from the Lake of Egypt Church Plant
core group meeting- late May.

Fourth of July on the Lake of Egypt with friends.


Sam and Isaiah chillin.

Moving!

Isaiah 6 months

Treasures...

So, the people that we bought the farm from (when I say that, I always think I should reassure you that we are alive and kicking and that we didn't really "buy the farm" :)
Anywho- they left a bunch of stuff. I mean a bunch. It's like they took what they needed and walked out. I am reminded a little of Connemara, Carl Sandburg's home, that's a museum now. When Mrs. Sandburg left, she only took what she needed (she even left her purse on the chair) and it is all still in place! We are daily finding new treasures. Here's a few:

• a piano!!!!! I mean a beautiful Kawai piano. Nicer than any we have every had.
• a truck!! I kid you not! They did not want to move the truck. We did pay them $500 but a quick search of Kelley Blue Book shows that it's worth $3100!!!! YeeHaw!!
• a container of handmade quilts and quilt tops! (pictures to come)
• oodles of tools
• tables and chairs
• beach chairs
• some kind of grinder thing- hopefully for grain?
• books and more books
• pots and pans
• canning jars
• rugs
• a fooseball table
• hangers in every closet
• fencing
• 3 desks
• 2 desk chairs
• art work
• 2 refrigerators
• a HUGE wardrobe (perfect for pretending Narnia! minus the furs of course!)
• shelving
• a chipper
• a tiller
• loads of batteries
• a pantry full of organic groceries
• a fridge full of organic groceries (almond breeze "milk" anyone?)
• plants
• mirrors
• lamps
  
• LOTS of birdseed
• all kinds of other seed
  
• and Much more!

We are discovering new wonders every day. I will post pictures soon and keep you up to date on anything new we find!

It's a BIG week...

This past week, I turned 40, Roger and I had our 19th wedding anniversary AND we closed on the farm of our dreams! BIG doin's!!

First, I thought I would be old when I turned 40, but 40 feels great! I am really looking forward to this decade. I have 4 great kids and a wonderful Godly husband! Life is good and I praise God for his blessings in my life.

Second, 19 years! YeeHaw! Now that's something to celebrate! I am still as much in love with him today as on our wedding day, AND I know that I love him more. Time has given us a deep and abiding understanding of each other and who God made us to be. I am so thankful that we get to be that with each other! Praise Him again!

Lastly- we finally closed on our farm!! YAY! We are so excited about moving in next week. (The folks that we bought it from needed a couple of weeks to go to Virginia to buy another house, so we are in SC spending the week with Roger's folks)

Here are some pictures of the property:



I have my chicken order in the queue at Murray McMurray hatchery ( I think 25 will do)! Can't wait to host small group bible studies, church planting team meetings, families that don't know Jesus for dinner, friends that do for fellowship and worship. If you are in our neck of the woods, please plan on stopping by. We would love to see you!!

Out and about...