Great is His Faithfulness...

DIY Car Mechanic

2011-03-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

So I couldn't fix the transmission on the car...that went a little beyond my ability, but after we had the car repaired and returned to us the radio/CD was the next thing that gave out. Last year I had replaced a bulb on the back taillight with help from the internet and Youtube, so I thought I'm sure someone has put information on the internet about fuses ( as I thought that was probably what it was). So I 'googled',

"where is the fuse for the radio of a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan". Lo and behold it was there...in answers.com. Under the hood labelled RDO/input.

A few months back I had bought a little fuse indicator for Lois's car and so after finding the box, removing the delinquent fuse and testing it I discovered that it was indeed the culprit. I simply replaced with another one from the same kit I had bought for Lois and 'voila' the radio is back working again.

So I thought I'm sure in this day and age with the economy the way it is and car repairs the price they are, someone may benefit from this information. It was an easy fix that a dealership/mechanic may have charged a lot of money to just find out what was wrong. I hope this benefits someone and ladies don't even leave all these things for your husband/dad, uncle whoever to fix you can manage these yourself. You young single ladies with cars, learn how to do these things it could save you a fortune.

Pear Tart....my style

2011-02-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

For Sunday I always like to make a dessert. I didn't want to have to buy some more ingredients so looked in the cupboard and found puff pastry and pears. (Mine were canned pears these work great just drain them and dry them with kitchen paper before you put them in the tart.) I remembered I had this recipe and always wanted to try this one. I made individual ones as my pastry was little shells I had bought a while ago....but it worked out great.

It is from this blog which is full of great recipes....try some and enjoy!!.

Pear Tart

1 package rolled out frozen puff pastry thawed for 2 hours on the counter

4 ripe Bartlett pears peeled, cored and sliced as shown above

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup melted butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1.Roll out the puff pastry to fit the tart pan .. . even if the puff pastry is the right size to begin with roll it a bit thinner . . . .

2.Lay the puff pastry in the tart pan and roughly cut the edges and sort of twist them a bit. . .to hold some almonds. .

3.Then. . .lay your pears in the crust. . .nice and symmetrical. .

4.In the blender put the rest of the ingredients. . .and pour on top of the pears.

5.Brush the edge of the pastry with some egg white or milk and sprinkle sliced almonds around the edge.

6.Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes. . .or until golden brown.The result is a light tender pastry that holds the pear custard.

7.Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Redeemed Living

2011-01-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Immanuel Baptist Church hosted a Ladies teaching morning for Veritas Church of Roseville.

Mrs Kristin Meyers was the speaker and her topic was

The Preeminence of Christ in all of Life

We began by considering what our lives may be like when Christ is not preeminent. The different things that take His place things, people that we worship instead of Him. No matter whether it is our spouse, our kids, our health, money, success we can put all these things in the place of Christ. Giving all our attention, all our love, all our devotion to them and not to Christ.

After a break for some coffee and wonderful brunch snacks we came back for our second session.

We were called in Session 2 to look at Christ as the supplanter of idols.

There were two phrases Kristin used that spoke to me the most.

The first was....

"Christ has no peers."

It is not so much that I have people or things I put above Christ but that I put Him on the same level as my housework or the kids or my love for Robert. These were his 'peers' and just as bad as putting things in His place. The more I considered this the more I realized I think about Christ the same way I think about going for the groceries, or getting the chores done. Just something else I need to do...love Christ, read His word, etc,.

The second phrase was....

"We need to re-treasure Christ."

I saw afresh that this is what I needed to do. I need to have Him in His proper place - first and above all in my life. Christ needs to be above my love for Robert and the children, above my need to do housework, or run or teach the kids or anything else that I might think is just as important.

I need to treasure Christ again.

God through John in Revelation puts it this way when he speaks to the church at Ephesus....

'I know your works, your labor, your patience and that you cannot bear those who are evil....you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my names sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Rev 2:1-4

All the things I put on the same level as Christ are legitimate, necessary and good things but I need to love Christ more, adore Him most of all and be devoted to Him first.

Yesterday was an excellent day. I thank God for my friends in Veritas and for their commitment to Christ and the gospel. Thank you ladies for all the work and effort you put into yesterday, may Christ be praised and God have all the glory.

You can get a little taster here

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1559328468890&oid=101644366577204&comments

A Fearful Thought...

2010-12-27T12:21:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 7:13

"As I called, and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear." says the Lord of hosts.

The children of Israel have come back from exile to rebuild the temple.They sent messengers to ask the priests if they should continue with fasting and mourning traditions they had been keeping while in Babylon. The Lord of Hosts replies by

asking them why they were keeping these traditions, was it for themselves or for His glory?

He was questioning their motives. He was concerned that they were not primarily concerned for His glory, and I must ask myself the same question. Why do I do the things I do? What is my motivation?

Paul tells us "...Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Christ says " Seek first the kingdom of God."

Do I seek the praise of men or am I doing all to the glory of God?

The children of Israel were told to be generous, hospitable and benevolent this is how genuine faith is shown. Sadly they refused to listen making their hearts diamond hard

v11-12.

So the Lord of Hosts makes this fearful statement....

" As I called and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear."

I must give serious heed to the Word of God. However, being a hearer is not enough I must also be a doer of it. My works should emanate from the faith I profess.

James tells us in 2:20 "...faith apart from works is dead."

In 2011 may I seek not only to exercise my faith in God but also let that faith be seen by my works, and all done to the Glory of God.

My Christmas card to you all....

2010-12-20T22:20:00.001-08:00

Please take to time to open this and read it, have a little fun and enjoy!!

This was sent to me and I would like to pass it on....

Christmas Holidays...

2010-12-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

First day off school and enjoying the rest. All my cards are written and sent, the shopping is all but finished and I will plan the Christmas dinner this evening. So I can kick back read, watch a few movies, spend time with the kids and have a good relaxing time.

Saturday and yesterday we had Philip Young stay with us from Northern Ireland.He is studying law at Harvard and took a little vacation over to Cailfornia to see us. Sorry it was raining the whole weekend but the fellowship and 'craic' was good.

Beginning to read 'Age of Opportunity' by Paul Tripp.

Have been meaning to read it for a long time so now is that time. Looking forward to some good teaching on this subject. With 3 teenagers in the house I need to learn a lot. God has been very gracious to us. Our girls are no problem and other than the usual butt of ideas at times we have good relationships with all of them, but I know I can do better.

So I will sign in from time to time these next two weeks, enjoy!!

Glossing over the Truth....

2010-12-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

Well, my hubby is on holiday this week. He took the time off with the purpose of helping me to get some painting jobs done that I could not do on my own.

We have had a very successful two days with the living room totally completed and the hallway all done but a wall that I can finish on my own.

Up the mountain...

brush or roller?....brush, roller, roller, brush????

The title I gave this post is referring to a couple of things that happened today.

The first was when someone passed comment on Robert's Facebook page after he uploaded these pictures of our work...

and I quote....

Looks like a "coverup" to me!

If this pun fell "flat" I hope you'll just "gloss" over it. Maybe I just need to "brush up" a bit if I'm ever to get "on a roll." I hope you'll bear with my "off the wall" remarks.

This made me smile I don't think I could have strung all these together in one sentence where they would have made sense!

The second was rather quite sadder.

After we had finished our work for the day and had eaten dinner, the kids decided they would put up the Christmas tree for me while Robert and I went out and did some Christmas shopping and hung out together. So we got the shopping done and decided to go to Starbucks for a wee treat. (By the way if you haven't tried their 'sweet and salty hot chocolate then please do ...it is so good).

So we ordered our drinks and went to sit down to wait when we passed a table where two girls were obviously studying. Rob noticed one of the books was a Bible and made a comment about how encouraging it was to see two young ladies studying their Bible.

When asked what church they went to they told us they were Jehovah Witnesses.

Robert went on to have a discussion with them but they 'glossed over' the truth time and time again. Telling us that you are saved by your works. I had never heard it propagated in such a forthright manner before. It was sad to hear them talk about God and what they thought he was like yet denying Christ as God the Son....I was challenged in my own heart because I was fighting my own selfishness wanting to just chat to Rob...it's not often we get out on our own just to spend time alone...yet I eventually saw that these girls were so in need of hearing the truth of the true gospel. May God help me to have a burden for the lost and have a greater burden for them.

God is still faithful....

2010-12-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

God still remains faithful to me and my family, sadly I have not been so faithful on my blog!

Well, over the last week I have spoken to a couple of people who told me they had looked at my blog recently and although I had not posted anything for over a year they had enjoyed reading my past posts. So this prompted me to come back to it and take up where I left off. I think I will make my posts shorter and a bit more bits and bobsy rather than anything structured and formal. Life is too busy to take up too much time here...I sill hope it will be stimulating, encouraging and glorifying to God.

2009-10-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth of Brandenburg

The Elector of Brandenburg was one of the Catholic Princes of Germany who in 1502 married Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Denmark. She was only 16 years. She had 4 children. Sadly, after 10 years of happiness her husband began to wander into the arms of other women and a sad, forsaken Elizabeth retreated to her private quarters.

During the religious agitations that arose soon after, a German New Testament as translated by Luther came into Elizabeth's hands. Alone in her private room this 'wife forsaken' read comfort in the blessed words. Her heart was opened, she believed what she read and from that time she became a secret believer. The more trying her lot the more precious did the word of God become to her. She was given much prudence, and although her children were, of course, brought up under Catholic teachers she skilfully instilled the oil of the Gospel into their receptive minds.

Her husband was an enemy of the Reformation and indeed had been at the Diet of Worms advising the Emperor to have the 'heretic' ie. Luther, thrown to the flames. Unknown to her husband Elizabeth had given refuge to her brother, King Christian of Denmark after he been deposed and had fled to Berlin.

In the Elector's absence one year they had celebrated communion together and held private services, but she was betrayed to her husband by none other than her 18 year old daughter. Like her father she was an ardent romanist who regarded to Reformers as the enemies of religion.When the Elector heard what had happened he ordered Elizabeth to her room and demanded a recantation. His passion choked him and he was carried to his bed as dead! Days went by and Elizabeth held stedfastly against recantation. She decided to flee to Saxony to her Uncle John, (Frederick, John's elder brother who was Luther's patron was now dead.) The Prince was very kind to her and granted her the castle of Lichtenburg on the Elbe, near Wittenburg. She frequently sent for Luther whose instructions she greatly valued.

In her later years Elizabeth enjoyed much comfort in her children, all of whom, some earlier, some later, made an open profession of the Protestant faith. She would assemble her household daily for worship. She loved and studied Luther's translation of the Bible, 'God be forever praised above that these words are thus recorded,' she said 'for more than a thousand times I have felt in my heart that they are true.'

She lived to be 69 years old.

Encouragements and the Reformation...

2009-10-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone who takes the time to read through my blog and also apologies for not being so diligent at posting articles.

Life gets too busy at times and certain areas seem to take a back seat.

I want to thank those of you who read the posts I have made in the past and pass comment on them. This is such an encouragement to my soul. Please keep them coming.

On October 30th we hold Reformation Night in our church to celebrate and remember those who took a stand for God at a time when things were very dark. Some paying the ultimate price with their lives. Over the next few weeks I am going to post some articles that pay tribute to the Ladies of that Reformation.

Each of the ladies that I will mention were born into the 'old faith' (Roman Catholicism) and each was brought out of it. It was not loyalty to a few new ideas that sustained them but the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ whom they loved and who made each a useful instrument for his work.

I trust you will enjoy these as much as I have.

Our faithful pastors...

2009-09-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

"I also saw in my dream that when the shepherds realised that the men were travellers, they questioned the pilgrims about where they were from, how they had gotten into the way, and how they had perservered this far. For only a few who begin on the Way are ever seen in these mountains. When the shepherds heard their answers they were very pleased, and they looked upon the pilgrims with love and favour, saying, 'Welcome to the Delectable Mountains.'

The Shepherds, whose names were Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and sincere, took them by the hand, led them to their tents, and served them a meal. Then they said,'We would like to stay here for a while that we might get better acquainted and also to allow you to gain more solace here on these Delectable Mountains.' So the pilgrims agreed to stay, and then they went to bed because by this time it was quite late."

These shepherd are pastors. In the New Testament, the greek word for shepherd , poimen, is used metaphorically of Christian Pastors. Like all shepherds, these four not only feed their flocks, but tend then, too. Their names - Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere - describe vital characteristicsof a spiritual pastor.
When evaluating pastoral leaders, often the tendency is to focus more on charisma, eloquence, or credentials. Though these are important assets, a pastor proves sadly deficient without knowledge, experience, watchfulness and sincerity.
Knowledge: Do our pastors know God and His Word in a way that glorifies him and saves and nurtures souls?
Experience: Have they experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and applied the faithful promises of God's word to their lives?Do they demonstrate a maturity in Christ that grows out of walking closely with him over anuber of years?
Watchful: Are they diligent to caution their flock against errors and snares that might defile and deceive them?Do they keep awake spiritually to guide and guard the flock from attack when others might slumber?
Sincerity: Do they truly know that Christ has called them? Do they look out for Christs interests, not their own? Do they sincerely love the flock God has given them?Will they care for the sick and wounded sheep and seek to find and recover the lost or trapped ones? Do they 'practice what they preach' or do they simply enjoy preaching?"
- The Pilgrims Progress Devotional
I thank God that He has been gracious to us in Immanuel Baptist Church, Sacramento to give us pastors who seek to do these things by God's grace.
Thank You Pastors Ernie King, Robert Briggs and our intern - Jeremy Twombly

It's official....

2009-09-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Fall officially begins today...

I love this season of mists and melow fruitfulness...

Pumpkin, squash, Thanksgiving, cooler weather,

piles of fallen leaves with their majestic golden colours.

Soccer games in the rain.

I love it all....

Being able to bake in my kitchen again without being cooked myself with the heat!! Enjoying all those wonderful comfort foods that make the house smell wonderful.

Visiting Apple Hill...

" To everything there is a season..."

May you enjoy this season with all that God has in it for you.

First Day of School...

2009-08-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

August 17th 2009 God has given us a restful and productive summer holiday.

The kids and I are both glad to get back to the school routine with a few games of soccer thrown in for good measure.

Today is a simple and easy day covering books, reading over handbooks, checking supplies, etc.

We are looking forward to another school year packed full of new things to learn, new challenges to overcome, faith deepening experiences and growing in love and grace, as we work together in God's goodness. We pray God will work in us all to will and to do according to His good purpose.

Barcelona v LA Galaxy 2-1

2009-08-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday evening we had tickets to go see Barcelona FC- the European Champions, play LA Galaxy. It was held at the Rosebowl in Pasadena, CA. There were 93,000 people at the game. It was the biggest crowd at a soccer game since the World Cup in 1984

We met our friends the Granados's at the ground...

and sat by them for the game
This will give you a little of the atmosphere...

The end result was Barcelona 2 LA Galaxy 1

Legoland!!....

2009-08-11T09:52:00.001-07:00

The day had finally dawned....

We arrived with different emotions. Some were unenthusiastic, but there was one who couldn't believe the day had finally arrived...

The only question was what do we do first?.....
...a visit to New York perhaps?
...or Paris?

what about the Sydney Opera House?...

...or even go as far as the Taj Mahal?...

We even saw the inauguration of President Obama...

...yes all made out of Lego!!

There were a few famous people/robots we had to meet...

One of them even challenged Andrew!!

There were rides that the girls enjoyed....

This is what happens when you don't eat your dinner in Legoland!!!!

...at the end the day we left with one very happy and contented little boy...
Legoland was a great day out...

Here is my honest assessment of it...

It is definitely geared towards little boys up to 12 years of age (who are into Lego). There a few things girls will enjoy also, princesses, pink bricks etc,. I felt it was over priced for what was in there. We had some coupons which kept our prices down, buy online they are $10 cheaper than gate prices. There are a some good rides for the whole family and 1 or 2 that Andrew didn't even face. If you are wanting thrill rides don't go here. The food inside the park was like anywhere else...good but overpriced, budget for it and share a 'feast' lunch at the Castle part of the park.

On the whole our family enjoyed the day. It is not like Disneyland where you will save up and every 4-5 years perhaps return. It is definitely a 'once in a lifetime' trip, so make the most of it while you are there. My suggestion would be get together with any other family that has boys and plan have a dad and lads days out, let the mums and daughters go shopping or whatever else they fancy. It saves money and everyone is happy!!
especially those little boys!!

Travelling south...

2009-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 29th July

We started on the long haul to SoCal.

We planned to stay overnight with our good friends The Elliotts in Riverside,CA.

It is always an adventure there with all their wild life. Andrew had a great time chasing lizards, watching hummingbirds, catching june bugs, seeing wasps catch terantullas...seriously, this did happen..sorry I didn't get it on camera. So here is what I did catch on camera of our adventures there.

Chilling on the patio...

renewing fellowship with friends....Alistair and Lizette Winters... I spy with my little eyes...Lizards...this one just came out for a few seconds before retreating back under the umbrella stand...

Old Ben, he came with them from Scotland... The Hummingbirds were hard to capture on camera..they are fast

Even though it was July, Pastor Elliott was able to catch a june bug and put a string on his leg..watch the video below and you will see what happened...

What a safari we had just in the back yard and our holiday had only begun!

I almost forgot to let you see the glorious sunsets at the Elliotts resort.Spectacular or what?You would think it was some faraway tropical paradise...well I suppose it is!!

Truly the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places...

A day at 'Wackford'.......

2009-08-05T13:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, so Dad had been to Kentucky and returned, I had finished decorating our bedroom and a big promise was to be fulfilled to the kids...a day at the Wackford Aquatic Centre.
It was to be a day of relaxation and fun.

...and it was. Rob and I chatted some, read some, swam some and watched the kids dive..This is Deborah it was about her 10th time.. no fear

...it was Andrew's first time, he was a little cautious

...as for Esther she doesn't just jump in...she decides to do a forward flip!! ...oh and Andrew did find the courage to take that BIG step!!! It was a great day by the pool, sadly Lois missed some of it, she had to work and could only make the last couple of hours. I'll be posting the rest of our holiday time over the next few days...stay tuned!!

We're all gone on a summer holiday.....

2009-07-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody.

Sorry I have not been around for a while.

Summer routine,

for some reason does not give me so much time to blog!!

We did have a week of VBS which was great. Over 50 kids both from the church and from the neighbourhood.

Too much decorating to be done!!

Now, however we have managed to get away for a few days. We are heading to Oceanside near Legoland for a couple of days.

Today we are spending time with our good friends and fellow expats the Elliotts in Riverside.

I forgot to bring the cord for my camera so I can't upload my photos, something to look forward to when I get home.

Hope everyone is having a good summer and praising God for His grace and favour.

Learning from a Little Letter....Part II

2009-07-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had started to pass on the lessons from the little letter to Philemon we were studying in our midweek prayer meeting.

Here is the second part....

Paul's Commendation of Philemon's Christianity

A. His Gratitude:v4-5

Philemon's love and faith toward the Lord Jesus was seen to be genuine, what we might call his love vertically, and his love was also seen horizontally, for all the saints. v5 In other words Philemon's relationship with the Lord Jesus translated into a relationship with his church.

If Paul knew us would he be able to say the same about our Christianity?

B.His Desire:v6

In Greek 'sharing the faith' is the word 'koinonia' which means fellowship which includes serving, giving, sharing, partnering for the sake of Christ. Paul's desire is that Philemon's engagement in 'koinonia' will result in him growing in his experience of all good things Christ gives. What Paul challenges Philemon and us with is this...'it's great what you are doing - do more!' There's always more that can be done in the work of Christ. We can always love more, be more hospitable, pray more, read more, we must never think we have arrived.

C. His Delight:v7

Paul testifies of receiving much joy and comfort from Philemon's faithfulness and the fact that the church has benefitted from it. He was the kind of man you would want to be around, you would be refreshed by his presence.

Application:

So this leaves us with the a few questions...

What kind of testimony do I have..with my Pastors, with the church?

Is it clearly marked by the graces of love and faith?

Does it translate into ministering to the saints in the church?

In what ways does it manifest itself?

We serve a great omnipotent God who has sent his Holy Spirit. By His help we can open our mouths, our arms, our homes, and our bank accounts all to the Glory of God.

Philemon - 'the blessing of a good testimony'

2009-07-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone....

Final Anniversary Installment....

2009-07-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

Elephant seals, Cambria and Sunsets.....

These seals were all over this small beach. They made a real strange noise but were very relaxed and happy soaking up the rays.

Cambria.... This little town took me by surprise, I had not expected such quaint English charm in the architecture.

neither had I expected such glorious sunsets....

We left this part of California with wonderful memories and a determination to return....

A Testimony to Opulence...

2009-07-01T10:15:00.001-07:00

Hearst Castle

So, if you can imagine the great halls of Edinburgh castle, breakfast room from the Spanish, ceilings of the Cysteine Chapel, a few Greek statues, the baths from a Roman villa, throw in a dining room from a French Castille, and there you have Hearst Castle. Everything is finished in the finest marble, granite and gold. I have to say I wasn't greatly impressed as we looked at it from afar but when we arrived up at the house it truly was impressive and had all the mod cons of the day. You certainly could imagine all the stars from Hollywood strolling around the grounds, going for a horseback ride, cooling off in the Grecian pools, or having a game of tennis.

Originally known as "Camp Hill," its wilderness offered a place for family members and friends to "rough it" on camping trips. Despite elaborate arrangements with separate sleeping and dining tents, Hearst envisioned more comfortable accommodations. His simple instructions to famed San Francisco architect Julia Morgan in 1919: "Miss Morgan, we are tired of camping out in the open at the ranch in San Simeon and I would like to build a little something"

And this is what he came up with......

Having said that, the view of the Central California coast is hard to beat.

There is tremendous story behind the building of this home. It took a lot of patience and endurance to complete this magnificent home. However, we were reminded of the words of Christ, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul."

Playing Catch-up....

2009-06-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Finally I have managed to get a few spare minutes to catch my breath!

These last two weeks have been hectic but really blessed. I will make a few posts rather than try to put it all on this one....so follow along....

I will start where I left off....

On June 13th Robert and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary.

Robert took me out for a wonderful evening in Sacramento.... and then we headed down to the coast to San Simeon,CA on Monday 15th for a few days

The scenery was breathtaking...

The company....the best!!!(and the timer on the camera worked perfectly)

we saw where God's creation met man's ingenuity....

We stayed in a regular, but very comfortable hotel...
..and enjoyed breakfast on the patio...

God has been very good to us over these last few weeks, He doesn't have to be since we were once such wretched creatures and still struggle with our sin, but He lavishes His love and bounty upon us, how can we not love and serve Him with all our hearts souls and minds....

Next we will visit Hearst Castle.....

If you go out to the beach today.....

2009-06-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

If you go out to the beach today....

You're sure of a big surprise!

If you go out to the beach today

You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was

Will gather there for certain, because

Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

Picnic time for teddy bears,

The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.

Watch them, catch them unawares,

And see them picnic on their holiday.

See them gaily dance about

They love to play and shout.

And never have any cares.

At six o'clock their mommies and daddies

Will take them home to bed

Because they're tired little teddy bears.

~~~~~~~

We were having some fun today making cupcakes for fellowship night at the church tomorrow. The girls had a great time making these little teddy bear decorations.

You simply make whatever flavour of cupcakes you like. Ice them with vanilla flavoured frosting coloured blue. Sprinkle them with blue sugar. Make little beds/mats/towels out of fruit foot long candy. You can also use fruit flavoured lifesavers as floaty rings to put the teddys into. We also put some brown sugar on some as sand. Then place on little teddy Graham crackers and some umbrellas.

Have fun and use your imagination!!

~~~~~~~

Learning from a little letter....

2009-06-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Since we are finished schooling for the Summer, I get to go to Prayer Meeting regularly on a Wednesday night at church.Robert is leading them at the minute and started a series on the book of Philemon. It has been very helpful and I don't think I had ever heard it preached on before. It is one of those little books you read through and pass on. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you what I have benefitted from tonight and through the summer.

We could say that this book shows us the grace of the gospel in the lives of men.

Introduction: This first installment covered the basics of the book, who wrote it?, when?, and what are the main themes of the book.

So....

I. Author: Paul, we can take this from v1"Paul, a prisoner of Christ and Timothy our brother."

II. Date: c AD 60-62 during Paul's imprisonment for the sake of the gospel, at the same time he wrote Colossians and Ephesians, cf Colossians:4 v 7-9

III. Theme: The reconciling power of the gospel.

IV. Outline:
a) Purpose and Greetings v1-3
b) Thankfulness and Prayer v4-7
c) Persuasive Appeal v8-20
d) Closing Remarks v21-25

V. Context of the Letter: Philemon lived in Colosse, was converted as a result of Paul's ministry ( most likely during his third missionary journey and his work in esus) and was a personal friend of the apostle. He was well known for his christian love; observe v1,2,5,7,19.

First, we will briefly consider

a) The Purpose and Greeting ....

Philemon was obviously a beloved friend and brother. The church met in his house v2. At some point, Onesimus, one of Philemon's slaves had fled as a fugitive to Rome. In God's sovereignty he had come into contact with Paul and become a Christian. Although Paul would have liked him to stay, Paul knew he had to return to sort out the wrongdoing with his Master, Philemon. Therefore, Paul writes this letter as an appeal to Philemon to appreciate the transformation that has occurred in Onesimus's life and to recieve him back not merely as a slave but as a "beloved brother" v16.
The beginning of this letter follows Pauls typical style, but it is addressed to a person, namely Philemon rather than a community.

v2 Apphia may have been Philemon's wife; Archippus may have been Philemon's son and may have had a significant ministry in Colosse (see Col 4:17) the church in your house...

Next week we will get into the letter proper and look at b) Thankfulness and Prayer v4-7

....And Great Was It's Fall...

2009-06-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had all settled down for our 'Knowing God' study at church tonight, we were looking forward to understanding the 'Jealousy of God'. Suddenly, there was a great crash and mighty rumbling, we looked up at the top windows of the sanctuary to see a great bough from one of the trees outside come crashing to earth!!

Sorry this is not a great picture it was taken on the phone...but you get the idea...

it had fallen from a great height...

so the city was called and duely arrived.....

This video shows it a bit better....

Thankfully, there was not much damage to the church building and a mercy that no one was walking by when it fell. Had it been 24 hrs earlier as everyone fellowshipped after church outside it may have been a different story I was posting.....

Isn't God good and merciful, even his hand is on the tree limb....

...a little added benefit was that I got firewood for our firepit over the summer nights!!

First Day at Work.....

2009-06-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Big day today in the Briggs Household......

Our oldest daughter, Lois started her job at 'Chick-fil-a'..... She works from 11am to 2pm......
I can't believe I have a daughter going out to work already.....
even though I also worked part-time at the same age....

God bless you Lois, we love you and are proud of you achievements....

~~~~~

I also thought this morning I haven't put many recipes on recently so I decided to make some blueberry muffins....

and would you believe I even remembered to take pictures!

My egg/yogurt mixture turned out pink as I only had a cherry/vanilla yogurt, it didn't affect the flavour and they turned out fine.....

This mixture is very thick and lumpy, do not worry it is supposed to be like that.

If you like blueberries, these muffins are bursting full of them.

Let me know if you give them a try and how they turn out.

Stormy, Stormy Night......

2009-06-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last night was the lightning storm of all lightning storms....

I have never seen anything like it.....

It began around 8:45pm Wednesday and I was still watching it at 3:30am Thursday.....

I tried to video some of it but all I got was a few small flashes at the end....

As usual I didn't think about the video until it was finishing....

However here is some video I got off You Tube it gives a feel for the intensity of it...

This is quite long ...you don't have to watch it all .....

This reminded me of God's power over creation, His anger with sin and yet His mercy in withholding from us that which we deserve...

Psalm 77:17-18

"The clouds poured out water;

The skies sent out a sound;

Your arrows also flashed about

The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lit up the world;"

"O tell of His might, O sing of His grace

Whose robe is the light and canopy space

His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm."

"God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm."

~William Cowper

"When we worship the Lord, let’s remember that He is in control.

Nothing alarms Him, or takes Him by surprise.

Nothing is too big for Him to handle, or so small it escapes His attention.

When the winds of my world begin to blow, He remains seated.

When raging waves surround me,

He governs their temper…I need not be moved …

Because the Lord is seated and sovereign…

He alone is sovereign."

~Ronald James

'No news is good news'.....

2009-05-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Mum....
I don't know if it's a familiar saying here in America but back home its very common.

"No news is good news!"

i.e. if you haven't heard from someone it means everything is probably OK. Well this is the case with my mum. Sorry I haven't been very faithful to update my blog about her, but I have been in touch every other day with my dad.

She has been moved to another Hospital in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim.(Here pictured) She is here for physiotherapy and recuperation. I actually spoke to her today for the first time in 3 weeks! She was in good form, even though we had a bad connection. She is just waiting patiently to be sent home. Her hands are still in bandages and she cannot use them very well. She heads back to Londonderry on Tuesday for some more work on her elbow and hands. She is hopeful that she might get sent home after that.

Graduation.....

On Tuesday our second eldest, Esther graduated from Middle School to High School. There was a ceremony at her school, Horizon Charter, that we all attended. She has worked hard this year even though math tried to get the better of her a few times, we are very proud of her achievements and look forward to a restful summer. Here she is pictured with the Principal, Mrs Rosalee Hagstrom.

So concludes my update about things in the Briggs' Household. I am so glad to be finished school for the summer. I have a list of things the length of your arm to achieve over the holidays. (Don't tell the kids!!:) So I am going to rest a couple of days and then get stuck in. I'll try to keep up to date with things as I go along.

I do want to do a post on "What's on your Nightstand?" that Mrs Elaine Wallace has mentioned on her blog. My books may be scattered all over the place rather than on my nightstand, but you get the idea....

We have 16 new members giving testimony both this and next week in Sunday School. It will be a good time in God's House. May you also have a blessed day in the House of God tomorrow.

"I was glad when they said to me:We will go, into the house of the Lord."

Psalm 121

Memorial Weekend Project.....

2009-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

For any of you who have visited with us since we moved house, you would know that our back yard had a lot to be desired. It was a preverbial jungle of weeds, left over 'rubbish and generally untidy.

I am bad at remembering to take the before pictures but I do have some after ones.....

We have tackled different areas over the past year and are getting closer to the end. Last year we set up our pool and put stones around it, but the other part lay as waste ground. Two weeks ago a friend, who is a gardener, came over, prepared the ground and helped us lay the turf.

It hasn't been cut yet, but is looking good. Not quite Wembly or Wimbledon but we are thankful.

Then this week I decided to build a little wall on the opposite side. Nothing very intricate or difficult but efficient and pretty (I think!) So with the help of Jen, who is staying with us at the minute and more than one trip to Home Depot, we put it together. Here it is......I have so enjoyed building, planting, watering and generally enjoying God's wonderful creation. The dirt you can still see is going to have more stones put on it, but that's for another day.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a Happy Memorial Day, whatever you found to do.

This is our last week of school...YEAH!! I have plenty more projects up my sleeve for the days ahead. In the meantime I can sit in my back garden and enjoy the ones already completed.

Malatya, Turkey...Martyrs for Christ

2009-05-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last night Robert brought a movie/documentary home which we proceeded to watch. It was on the lives and deaths of 3 christian workers in Turkey in 2007.

Tilmann Geske, Necati Aydin,(Pastor of the church) Ugur Yuksel

The following is from a little booklet that came with the dvd....

The Martyrs
Necati, Uğur, and Tilmann are not larger-than-life icons. They are three real men with very different stories, backgrounds, and personalities, united by the bond of Jesus Christ and the courage to die for His Name’s sake.

The Church
Before the killings in Malatya, Turkish Muslim background Christians had faced constant pressure, media slander, and even torture, but no one had paid the ultimate price. Since the martyrdom, attacks and attempted murders have increased all over the country, strengthening the resolve of some and compelling others to flee. These killings mark the beginning of a new age of persecution and purification for the Turkish Church.

The Enduring Faithfulness of God
The Malatya martyrdom has challenged the most fundamental assumption in Turkey (to be Turk is to be Muslim) and has forced the public to acknowledge the presence of the indigenous Turkish Church. In the midst of much grief and suffering, God has brought great opportunity, as the lives of just 3000 Christians are put on display before a country of 72 million. Those we spoke with testify with a unified voice that God is working for His glory and their good and this fact has brought the Church great joy in the midst of persecution.

This movie is truly moving and compelling. It leaves you admiring these men and those they left behind, praising God that they were 'faithful unto death' and asking yourself, "Do I have the spirit of Paul when he said "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain"?

We are very comfortable in our middle class society here in the US. We have no fear, yet, of being arrested or tortured for our faith. All we have to worry about is, what will I make for dinner? What color of paint will I use? Will I find a husband/wife? What college will I go to? What doctrinal book will I read next? Not that these are not important and necessary things to think about but in the big picture of the Kingdom of God they are momentary and passing.

I realise that for mothers at home we have priorities and God glorifying ones at that. Our children and our home are what God has called us to first and foremost. Our hearts and our prayers, however, can be for those who face the powers of darkness daily. We can instill into our children, hearts for God that put Him first, hearts that "Seek first the Kingdom of God".

I am reminded of the words of Jim Elliot, another missionary martyr, who died at the end of an Auca Indian spear.....

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

A Modest Heart....

2009-05-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

On the 'Girl Talk' blog I mentioned a few posts ago I came across 2 very interesting articles.

The first is the testimony of a girl called Rachel Barkley. Rachel is a wife, a mother of two children, and she is not expected to live to see her 38th birthday. She has cancer. In the video "Death is not dying, a faith that saves." you can hear how she loves the Lord and is looking to Him. This is a very real and moving testimony I would recommend you watch it. Have a Kleenex handy......

The second thing is a talk on 'A Modest Heart' by Janelle Bradshaw. You can listen to it here.

Praise God he continues to teach us through many different means but ultimately His Word is the light to our feet and the guide to our paths.

Spring Fling

2009-05-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

Mrs Yvonne Reddig a dear lady in our church, opened her home and ranch for the whole church to go up and enjoy a day of fun, fellowship and food near Marysville last Saturday. What a blessed time we had. There was horse riding, B B gun shooting, boating on the pond, obstacle races and the balloon toss. What a great day it was , the weather was perfect, the fellowship, sweet and the food delicious.

Our girls had great fun on the horses ,this is Esther.....

Here is Lois......

And last but not least, Deborah.....

Andrew decided to try his hand at Bee Bee gun shooting.....

Thanks Yvonne for a great day, hope it becomes a tradition!!

My Mum and Dad....

2009-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is my mum....

Please pray for her as she is in hospital following a car accident last Sunday......

She has a fractured elbow and some broken bones in her hands.....

They cannot move her to the hospital for her surgery until her breathing has regularised....

My Dad is at home nursing some fractured ribs....

Thank you

As Mother's Day Approach's...

2009-05-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day I thought I would post something thought-provoking and inspiring...but why re invent the wheel.

Head on over to Girl Talk and read a great series of 'different' mother's day messages.

I wish all you mums, mums-in-law, grandma's, and mums to be

a very

Happy Mother's Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!

2009-05-08T21:58:00.001-07:00

Its Andrew's birthday he is 9 today, May 8th and we are so excited!....

I can't wait..."Where's my presents! Where's my presents!".....

OK, someone better get the presents...QUICK!!

Thanks everyone...these are great, I wasn't really going to hurt anyone...you knew that!!

Love the shirt...LEGO my favourite,

....the animals

and wait for it....Lego, now there's a surprise!!!

Now for breakfast.... I get to pick,

now that's what I call pancakes!! Thanks Mum.

Just in case anyone doesn't know....Andrew loves LEGO, so I decided to make him a Lego brick for his cake this year. Lois decorated it. Thanks, Lois.

In the evening we went out to Red Robin for a birthday meal with the family...

We had a tower of onion rings to share.

I enjoyed being with my family....

Last but not least I got a special ice cream treat as a gift from the restaurant.

I even got a special song....

After we went home Andrew got to blow out his candles and have some cake....

It was a great day!! We love you son.
We pray you will "..seek, serve and follow Christ"

End of School Electives....

2009-05-05T08:16:00.001-07:00

3D Sculpting and FUNdamental Engineering. (Emphasis on the FUN!!)

These were the elective classes the kids took this semester through the charter school we are involved with. They had their last class yesterday followed by an Open House.

Esther and Deborah were our artists sculpting shells from papier mache and bikes from wire.

Esther's bowl

Deborah's Bowl

Open Day..... Deborah and Esther at their displays

Deborah's bowl, mask and dolphin...which is now painted bluish grey.

Andrew's Class...every little Lego guys dream...and they call it school!!!

Andrew with his hydraulically powered aeroplane. Below is a video of the his 'Bug Crawler!!'

We've had a good year at school and we're looking forward to our summer holidays. Just 20 days to go...YEAH!!!

A couple of good blogs...

2009-05-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I became familiar with the blog that CJ Mahaney's wife, Carolyn writes in along with her grown up children. It is well worth a read, there are many good posts that we can benefit from as christian women. It is called Girl Talk.

The second one is called Radical Womanhood. It is written by a lady called Carolyn Mc Culley. She has written 2 books called Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World (Moody Publishers, 2008) and Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? Trusting God with a Hope Deferred (Crossway, 2004). Both these ladies are members of Covenant Life Church, MD

New Camera...

2009-05-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well about a month ago my camera decided it didn't want to take any more photos. I was really miffed as it had cost us a lot and would have cost a lot more to send it away to get fixed. So I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not have a camera for a long time again. Lois was very kind to lend hers to me for a few occasions. However today Rob was off and had taken me to lunch ( very nice indeed) and on the way home I suggested we go see the Ritz Camera Shop that was closing down. I never manage to get any bargains at these kind of things but I thought we'd go and see what kind of cost would be involved. Long story short it paid off!! We got a little Olympus camera for 1/2 price!!!YEAH!! So it did not take me long to go and shoot a few pictures to try it out. Here are a few of my amateur shots....
This little bird lives in the eaves of the house next door. The zoom is pretty good!!

One of the beautiful roses in the front yard...strange how it looks even more pretty after a rain shower....

OK "Why did she take a picture of the number of her house?" I hear you ask. Well here is a little tip for all you DIY ladies who also want to save a little bit of cash. We moved to our house a year ago and the lamps and numbers outside were a terrible brass colour ( sorry if yours are brass its just not my taste.) I priced some new ones and they were too expensive for us at the minute to change so I went to Walmart and bought a can of black satin spray paint $3.47. I took as much of the light down as I could and taped newspaper behind it. I removed the numbers completely. I then proceeded to spray all that was brass. I have to say I was so pleased with the finish the kids were fed up with me admiring it every time we left the house. It really only took me about 1 1/2 hrs to finish the whole job. My next project is the brass light fitting inside the house.

It also takes video...enjoy!

Holiness of God

2009-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

God is Holy!

While reading 'The Attributes of God this morning I was struck by something A.W.Pink said...

"Adam and Eve were punished for their ONE sin of eating the forbidden fruit, for ONE sin Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, for ONE sin Elisha's servant was struck with leprosy and for ONE sin Annaias and Sapphira were killed!"

When I think of my life and the many sins I commit everyday, when I number them I cannot stand. Rather I must fall before my God in thanks for His wonderful grace and mercy in taking the punishment I deserved and putting it on Christ, then giving me His righteousness. How can words express the thankfulness necessary? My life must show his love, goodness, forgiveness as I live for Him and try by His grace to "Be holy as HE is Holy"

"Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so Divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Pampered Chef

2009-04-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Elaine Wallace is my good friend in Ireland, (you can read her blog here)and she had mentioned Pampered chef to me several times but I had never seen any of their things and had never been to a party.

So I put that right last night
I had my first Pampered Chef Party. I invited some ladies from the church and we had a great night of fellowship and fun together. I had never seen any of their items before, so it was good to see good kitchen tools and little gadgets to help our lives in the kitchen. I had heard a lot about the stoneware they sell and so I purchased one of their cookie trays. Have a look at their website and its worth it.

What does your God resemble?

2009-04-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I am reading at the minute from our Reading Roundabout...

The Attributes of God by Arthur W. Pink

I was truly made to praise God as my Maker and Giver of eternal life as I read this. Man thinks he is so clever, so in control, so in charge of things and yet I must pray that his eyes will be opened to see how small he is and how great God is. How lost he is and how he needs God to reach down in mercy and save him. I can encourage everyone to read this book to get a true perpective on the Great God of heaven and earth.

"Men imagine that the Most High is moved by sentiment, rather than actuated by principle. They suppose that His omnipotency is such an idle fiction that Satan is thwarting His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power He possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man’s "free will" and reduce him to a "machine." They lower the all efficacious Atonement, which has actually redeemed everyone for whom it was made, to a mere "remedy," which sin-sick souls may use if they feel disposed to; and they enervate the invincible work of the Holy Spirit to an "offer" of the Gospel which sinners may accept or reject as they please.... "

How foolish we are to think we know better than Him!

"The "god" of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The "god" who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form "gods" out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a "god" out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A "god" whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt."

Praise God He does know all things and is in control imagine what the alternative would be like!!!

"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory and the majesty: for all in the heaven and all in the earth is Yours; Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as Head above all. . . .And You reign over all" (1 Chron. 29:11, 12)

"O Lord God of our fathers, are You not, God in heaven? and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that none (not even the Devil himself) is able to withstand You?" (2 Chron. 20:6).

Make 'em laugh!....

2009-04-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. " ~Irish Proverb

So go ahead have a laugh and feel better at the same time!!!

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, 'Why is the bride dressed in white?'' The mother replied, 'because white is the colour of happiness and today is the happiest day of her life.' The child thought about this for a moment then said, 'So why is the groom wearing black?'

-------------------------

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, 'My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.' The second boy says, 'That's nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.' The third boy says, 'I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper; he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!'

--------------------------

An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, 'They wouldn't take me out while I was alive, I don't want them to take me out when I'm dead.'

--------------------------

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to 'Honour thy father and thy mother,' she asked, 'is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'

-----------------------------

At Sunday school they were teaching how God created everything including human beings. Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs. Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he was ill, and she said, 'Johnny, what is the matter?' Little Johnny responded, 'I have pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife.'

------------------------------

You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing! Take heed and pass these along to people who need a laugh.. I thought you would enjoy this....times are tough right now...for all of us...so we need something to make us laugh. "They" haven't found a way to tax you for laughing yet.

Mini Meatloaves

2009-04-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

This is a great little recipe for a number of reasons. It is quicker to cook than 1 big loaf. My daughter is allergic to eggs, which are in nearly every meatloaf recipe, so this allows me to make the same recipe that suits the whole family. It is really moist and tasty with the little bit of sauce added to it. You have 3 recipes for the price of one, so with the different add-ins and sauces it allows you to change it up. It is economical and goes a long way. Try it and let me know how you get on.

Mini Meatloaves

Ingredients:

1lb extra lean beef

1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix

1 cup water

3/4 cup shredded cheese

Method:

1.Heat oven to 375degrees

2.Mix meat, stuffing mix, mix and add in (see below).

3. Press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.

4. Make an indentation in center of each meatloaf: fill with sauce(see options below)

5. Bake for 30minutes or until cooked.

6. Top with cheese; continue baking for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Option 1. American style: add-in 1tsp garlic powder

sauce, 3/4 cup barbecue sauce

Option 2. Italian Style: add-in 1tsp Italian seasoning

sauce, 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce

Option 3. Mexican Style: add-in 2tsp chili powder

sauce, 3/4 cup thick 'n chunky salsa

I serve it with mash and simple steamed peas, but you could serve them with salad, fries, green beans or your favorite veg.

Spring Break....

2009-04-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

We are having a week off school for Spring Break. It has been a most relaxing week being able to spend time with Robert and the children and catch up on some jobs that have been put off until this week.

So what have we done....

Well at the beginning of the week we finished off all the little tasks that were needing to be done in the kids bathroom that was just finished being being remodeled.

Tuesday night was spent out 10-Pin Bowling with the family...who won??

Dad won the first game and Lois won the second...we had pizza, fries and pink lemonade..well that's what you do when you're on holiday!!

Wednesday, Andrew and I tackled the pool.....a big job that will take us another day to get completely ready for Summer. He also helped get rid of the last of the fallen leaves and generally spruce up the back yard. In the evening we headed out for ice cream...well Frozen Yogurt actually.

It's now Saturday and I am gearing up for a week of Star Testing for the kids at school.
I wish Everyone a Happy Easter and please remember...

We serve a risen Saviour,
He's in the world today;
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy,
I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him
He's always near.

He lives, He lives
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and He talks with me
Along life's narrow way.
He lives, He live, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart

A Great Weekend...

2009-04-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

What a busy but wonderful past few days...

David and Suzanne's Wedding went off without a hitch on Saturday...(sorry no pictures my camera is broken and noone has uploaded any yet that I can copy. Soon as I get some I'll post them)

Then Sunday, we had Missionary/Pastor Wayne Andersen from Mexico City, Mexico speaking at all our services.

The church there has around 17 members with about 40 in attendance on a Sunday....he is a single elder with one deacon.

Wayne has worked in Mexico City since 1989-90. His work involves his pastoral ministry, literature ministy and Conferences to aid and encourage other pastors. He and his wife Marty hope to return in late August to take up the work again after a furlough of several months in the USA. Wayne then hopes to see leaders raised up and to concentrate on training men for ministry with the help of Reformed Baptist Seminary and the 'Marrow of Theology' that is now fully in Spanish. You can see a selection of his work here.

This was a very challenging first-hand presentation of the work of spreading the gospel in a country where Roman Catholiscism is the main religion and seeing the tremendous hold it has on the people there.

It certainly made me a lot more thankfiul for clean, fresh, running water, and clean air to breathe since he and his family live near a volcano and have had showers of ash, rain down them much in the same way we would experience rain showers. "The water that we receive into our home is brown..."

Please pray for this family as they continue in their work for the Lord. For their safety, health, for the salvation of many lost souls and the building up of Christ's church in this dark part of the world.

Looking Forward....

2009-04-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

A busy weekend ahead....

A Wedding.....

Suzanne Covert to David Somers, two members of our church who love the Lord and will covenant together on Saturday.

It always reminds me of our wedding day and causes me to rejoice in God's goodness and mercy to me in giving me a good man.

"The most ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God....Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to the church. And therefore the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married.

Christ Will Never Leave His Wife

Staying married, therefore, is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant. “Till death do us part,” or, “As long as we both shall live” is sacred covenant promise—the same kind Jesus made with his bride when he died for her. Christ will never leave his wife. Ever. There may be times of painful distance and tragic backsliding on our part. But Christ keeps his covenant forever. Marriage is a display of that! That is the most ultimate thing we can say about it. "

- John Piper

May God have all the glory in our marriages.

April Fool's Day

2009-04-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the

beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to

that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1.

With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.

Today in France, people who are fooled on April 1 are called Poisson d'Avril, which literally means the "April Fish." One common joke is to hook a cardboard fish to the back of a person. It is thought that it represents the easiness of catching a young naive fish.

Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.

April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!

Take it easy on those jokes guys!!

Our St Patrick's Day 09....

2009-03-31T08:00:00.001-07:00

We're off to see the Parade...do we all really want to go?

The Irish Colleens were there....

The Italian and Portuguese wannabees were there.....

They had all arrived for a good night's crack and a ceili!

They came by whatever mode of transport they could find...

Some were even privileged to have a mounted escort!....

They marched to the tune of the pipes......

Mammies and their weins were in fine fettle!!!!.....

Everyone was having a grand time...

and yet there was someone missing......

it even drove some to madness......

others were just quietly concerned that there was something not right....

then all of a sudden out of the blue he appeared, sailing in on the crest of a rainbow clicking his heels as he walked by.....

A Genuine Irish Leprechaun......

The night was a success...we all went home happy.....

after drinking our Starbucks !!!

(no it wasn't green!!)

Ireland Rugby and Northern Ireland Football winners!!

2009-03-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS to the Northern Ireland football team!!!

Northern Ireland 3 - Poland 2

This was a great result for the Northern Ireland football team on Saturday. Well done guys!!

CONGRATULATIONS

also go to the Ireland Rugby Team who won the 6 Nations Tournament the week before .

John Harper - Titanic Hero and Man of God

2009-03-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

I found this article when I was looking for a picture of John Harper.

(click each page to read the article)

When my husband, Robert was born his parents attended Harper Memorial Baptist Church, Glasgow, his father was a deacon there.

John Harper was the first Pastor of that church. He eventually left to take up a charge in London but after he died the church decided to remember this man of God.

Such was the affection and esteem in which he was held by the church members, that, when the present stone building was opened in 1922, the church was named

“Harper Memorial Baptist Church”.

I was going to write some excerpts from a book by Moody Adams called 'The Titanic's Last Hero' before I found this article. It is an account of John Harper's life from comments of acquaintances and converts that his brother, Pastor George Harper requested be written. I would recommend the book as it covers more of his life than the last few tragic hours. I will finish with a quote from it.

"When the flames of other ambitions flickered and died,

John Harper's burned even brighter

as he sank to a watery grave.

When death forced others to face

the folly of their life's pursuits,

John Harper's goal of winning men to

Jesus Christ became more vital as he

breathed his final breaths"

Titanic Heroes

2009-03-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Good Morning everyone,

Here is a story that was reported on the BBC news today. There were many heroes that fateful night, tomorrow I will put up a post about John Harper who was a Pastor from Scotland and also a passenger on the Titanic.

Have a good Wednesday.

Titanic City - Belfast

2009-03-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn't let the month about Ireland go by without mentioning its most famous creation...or is it 'infamous'? We are approaching the 100th anniversary of the beginning of its construction.

The Titanic.

No other ship in the history of ocean travel has demanded as much interest as the Titanic. Volumes of books and reels of film have been produced regarding the most infamous ship in history.

The idea of the luxury liner was first conceived of in 1907, but the Titanic construction did not actually begin until March 31, 1909 in Belfast (Ireland). The construction of the Titanic was handled by Harland and Wolff, who are still there today.

It took 3 years for building of the Titanic to be completed and in the end it cost $7.5 million dollars for the ship to be finished. More than 3000 men were employed in building the Titanic during that time span. In the months, and even years, leading up to the maiden voyage of the Titanic; the White Star Line published numerous marketing materials claiming that the ship was 'designed to be unsinkable'.

Sadly, this seemed to be shaking a fist in the face of God, with claims that even He could not sink it!

On the night of 14 April 1912, during her maiden voyage, Titanic hit an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on 15 April 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people, making it one of the most deadly peacetime maritime disasters in history. The high casualty rate was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. The ship had a total lifeboat capacity of 1,178 persons even though her maximum capacity was 3,547 people. A disproportionate number of men died also, due to the women-and-children-first protocol that was followed.

Belfast is proud of the work her men did in building this great ship. Sadly, however, those in charge were only thinking of their own selfish ambition and had no thought for God or the souls of the passengers they carried to their death.

Never think your sin doesn't have consequences....

Irish Dance

2009-03-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ireland has a strong dance tradition dating as far back as the 15th Century. It, together with native music was the focal point of community gatherings down through the ages. The most popular of the Irish dances are the Jig and the Reel with many involving both solo and group dancing.

From 1829 the 'Dance Master' came into existence. He was a wondering dancing teacher, who travelled from village to village teaching dances to children. These Dance Masters existed in rural Ireland right up to the early 20th Century, but gradually were replaced by the dance schools that we have today.

Soft shoes were worn for jigs and reels and then hard tap shoes were used for Set Dances and 'heavy jigs' etc.

The costumes worn by the dancers are as important as the dance itself. Each Irish Dance school has its own distinct costume and most of the dresses are adorned by embroidery designs inspired by the Book of Kells

One of my earliest childhood memories was going to dancing lessons. I was part of Mrs Tennants Dance Class in Ballymoney. We wore blue dresses for team dancing and I had a white one for solos.

Here is a great sample of solo, group, light and heavy jigs, reels and the very modern.

2009-03-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a good Monday. I thought I would take a minute today to review a book I just finished yesterday. It is in our Reading Roundabout and I had looked forward to reading it and was not disappointed. It is called

'Coronation Glory' - The story of Lady Jane Grey.

This was a book that was easy to read but hard to put down. It follows the true life experiences of Lady Jane Grey who is 4th in line to the throne of England. The story is told from her point of view and gives insights into life in the royal court. Jane is a girl who is modest in all the areas of her life, she loves the Lord and wants to serve Him where He has put her. We also see the struggles of her heart both within and without her family.

The emphasis in the storyline changes toward the end of the book where she is forced to stand up for her Lord and the convictions that she has about the Bible. This shows us the true character of this brave young woman who is an example to us all.

I think Deborah Meroff has done a good job in keeping this book from being too complicated with all the intricasses of court life in England at the time.

I would definitely recommend this book for ages 15 and up.

You can purchase it here

St Patrick's 'Breastplate'

2009-03-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Breastplate is contained in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early ninth century. Along with Patrick's authentic "Confession." St. Patrick is said to have written this prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, high king of Ireland. There are some similarities to Paul's exhortation to "put on the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:10-18), except that it is much more detailed.

Here are some excerpts from it...

I arise today

Through a mighty strength,

the invocation of the Trinity,

through the belief in the threeness,

Through the confession of the oneness

Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,

Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,

Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,

Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me:

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak to me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's host to save me

From snares of demons,

From temptations of vices,

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in multitude.

Christ be with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ be in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.
Have a great Lord's Day and may this be the prayer of our hearts today and everyday we walk on this earth.

Fadge?

2009-03-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks yesterday seem to pass and I never got to my blog once. To tell the truth Esther(13) was given a family history project to do for school and I got caught up in the Scottish records trying to trace Rob's mother's side of his family. We managed to get back to 1762!! but that's for another post.

However getting back to the post at hand....

The first ingredient that comes to mind when most people think of Irish cuisine is the potato. The potato was brought back to Ireland from the western world. It immediately became a staple of the Irish diet. It is safe to say that no meal is complete without the inclusion of the potato in some shape or form.

'Fadge' - Potato Bread.

INGREDIENTS
4 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tablespoon melted butter

DIRECTIONS
1.In a pot, cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer on medium-high heat until the center of the potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork, about 20 minutes.

2.Turn off heat. Drain, return potatoes to pot and allow to completely dry out over remaining heat. Mash with a potato masher until smooth.

3.Place warm mashed potato in medium bowl. Stir in flour, salt and melted butter. Mix lightly until dough forms.

4.On a well floured surface, knead the dough lightly. The dough will be sticky. Use a floured rolling pin to flatten into a 9 inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. I would encourage you to use the back of your hand before you use the rolling pin to flatten it until it is near the required thickness.Cut into quarters using a floured knife.

5.Sprinkle a little flour into the base of the skillet and cook the farls for 3 minutes on each side or until evenly browned. Season with a little salt and serve straight away.

Again this bread is traditionally served as part of an Ulster Fry(see yesterday's post).

Have a good weekend,

Oh and happy belated first day of Spring.

A Flavour of Home....

2009-03-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

If you went to visit Ireland and were told you were going to have Soda Bread you might think you were going to have a piece of this...

We would call this a 'Fruit Farl'

The word 'farl' is derived from the Gaelic word 'fardel' which literally means 'four part' and this refers to the way that these griddle breads are typically cut and served in quarters.

This is what would actually be served to you...

Irish Soda Bread

3.5 cup flour

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 to 2 1/2 (see note below) cup buttermilk

1. Lightly grease a heavy skillet.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl; make sure the soda is evenly distributed.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add about half the buttermilk. Stir until you have a raggy dough that is very squashy but which looks more or less dry. Add more liquid sparingly until you achieve this texture.

4. Blend until all the flour has achieved this consistency; then turn out immediately onto a lightly floured board and knead for no more than a minute or a minute and a half. Overkneading makes this bread very tough, and it's very easy to overdo it.

5. Shape the dough into a circle about 9 inches by one inch thick and cut into four wedges or "farls." Place in the preheated skillet, with cut edges about half an inch apart. Cook slowly on the stovetop over low-to-medium heat; it should take about 20 minutes for the farls to puff up and turn a light brown on the pan side. Turn them and cook for another 20 minutes.

6. For a softer crust, wrap in a dishtowel after baking.

7. Notes: You will need somewhere between 1 1/4 and 2 1/2 cups of buttermilk, depending on how much liquid your flour tends to absorb. Try to avoid using regular milk. If you must, use baking powder instead of baking soda. Serves 8.

This can be served 2 different ways -

1. You can split them and spread with butter and your favourite flavour of jam, along with a good cup of hot tea this goes over a treat.

2. You can split it and fry it along with 'Fadge'(recipe will be posted tomorrow) bacon, sausage, mushrooms, black pudding, eggs, tomato, and you will have for yourself an 'Ulster Fry'. Typically eaten for breakfast but many also have it traditionally on a Saturday night for 'tea', again you need a big mug of hot tea to swill it all down!

If you would like more history on the Irish Soda Bread you can take time to read all about it here.

Have you ever seen Riverdance?

2009-03-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

I decided this morning to have a little reprieve from St Patrick and inject a little humour to my blog but remain with the theme of Ireland.At the St Patrick's Day Parade yeasterday we saw lots of Irish dancing(pictures will follow in a day or two) but we didn't see any quite like this......

This is a take off of 'Riverdance' it is from a wonderful movie called First Snow of Winter. Our kids still love to watch it. (Pause the playlist before playing)

Enjoy!

Here is the real thing....

I used to be able to do something similar....thankfully there is no video of that!!

of course you may prefer this version!......

Have a good day!

Chapter 7 - Patrick's Faith

2009-03-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy St Patrick's Day.

I think it is fitting that we are looking at the foundation of the Patrick's life and why he was committed to preaching the good news of the gospel to the Irish people.May I also challenge you not to dwell too much on green popcorn, parades, music and superstition but rather on the real Patrick. Think about what he really stands for and on, the Word of God, and ask yourselves 'Is this what I am building my life on or am I building it on the imagination and superstitions of men?

Be like the wise man and Patrick, who built his house on the rock so that when the storms of life crash around you, you have a solid foundation of Christ and His word to stand on...

Patrick was a man of one book. The foundation of his faith was the Bible. His writings are full of scripture quotations and are his sole authority and inspiration for his life.

He does quote from one other source apart from the scriptures near the beginning of his 'Confession'. He sets out a simple scriptural statement of belief, from a creed probably adopted by the British church and thus is of considerable historical interest. Here is part of it...

"....every tongue should confess...that Jesus Christ is Lord and God;and we believe in Him and await his coming which will happen soon, as judge of the living and the dead...the Holy Spirit....makes those who believe and obey to be the sons of God and co-heirs with Christ and we confess and adore Him, one God in the Trinity of sacred name."

He taught the resurrection of the body and emphasized the return of Christ. He also had deep conviction regarding a coming day of Judgement from which said he, "...no one will be able to escape or hide."

Patrick never separated his doctrine from his lifestlye and mission. He believed that Christians were a 'letter of Christ' and he said, in effect, I cannot keep silent, I want to tell the world about His goodness and grace.

Chapter 6 - His Writings

2009-03-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, there are two writings that we have of Patrick. One, a 'Letter' and the other his 'Confession'. The 'Letter' is by far the shorter of the two. It was written to a tyrant king and his soldiers condemning attacks on recently baptized believers and calling for others who had been taken captive to be released.

The other work, his 'Confession' was so named by himself in the very last line - "this is my confession before I die".It was not in any way a confession of sin but rather a record of God's dealings with him and a statement of his faith.

Patrick could have added a great deal more to our knowledge of pre-christian Ireland than he did,but that was not the reason why he wrote. He wrote to glorify God. He wrote about spritual matters. they were composed, as he says himself, in the knowledge that one day he would stand in judgement for any false or idle words that he might use.

Tomorrow - Patrick's Faith

Chapter 5 - Ireland Again

2009-03-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Ireland Patrick came back to was inhabited

by barbaric Celtic tribes.

There were no proper roads, no towns,

and no structured form of central government.

The population would have been less than half a million.

The roof of his meeting house was the sky.

He came with his Latin bible(or part of it), some form of financial support, and the backing of a few Christians. He determined he would never leave again. It became his adopted country and for some 30 years he spread the gospel far and wide, believing he was fulfilling the 'Great Comission'. Bear in mind the great continent of America had not yet been discovered and so when he looked across the waters of the Atlantic he believed he was in those uttermost parts of the earth!!

Patrick marvelled at the fact he had returned to bring the gospel to those who had dealt so treacherously with him and his family...."Who compelled me?" he asked and then gave credit to the Spirit of God. "...it was not my doing, this holy compassion that I have towards that nation which once took me captive and dealt havoc among the men and women servants of my father's house."

Chapter 4-Back in Britain

2009-03-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia...

begging him, "come over to Macedonia and help us"

...we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia

concluding that God had called us

to preach the gospel to them.' - Acts 16:9,10

Shortly after his conversion he deserted his master, travelled 200

miles across country and found a ship about to sail.A slave on the run would have been exposed to considerable dangers and hardship but Patrick gives us few details except to say that he journeyed without fear and that the Lord guided him. After a 3 day sea crossing and a series of fascinating adventures he eventualy made it back to his parents' residence in Britain.

For 6 years he was denied all those things which we would regard as vital to any real quality of life, but speaking of that period he would later testify that the Lord "guarded me and comforted me as a father would his son." His association with Ireland , however, had not ended - it was only the beginning.

One night he says he had a vision in which he saw a man called Victoricus coming to him with a great number of letters. He read the title of one which said " THE CRY OF THE IRISH" and at that moment he seemed to hear the voice of the people who lived by the *Wood of Voclut*.Unitedly they said "Holy youth come and walk among us." Patrick was so moved that he could read no more. *See below

A return to Ireland was hardly in his plans but this changed everything. It would seem that from that moment there was born in his heart a burden to bring the gospel to that nation from which he says. pointedly, "I was only just able to escape."

Some years of preparation now followed. He became a 'deacon' in the local church and then was appointed an 'overseer'- typically he remarks "...I was not worthy." Some friends tried to persuade him to call off his mission to Ireland but he refused to be moved. Again typically, he says "...no thanks to me, it was God who prevailed in me."

*This area has been fairly positively identified as being in the north of Co.Mayo near the present day town of Killala in the west.This would strongly suggest that it was here and not Slemish in Co.Antrim that Patrick spent his years of captivity and would also explain why he had to travel 200 miles to get passage to Britain. Slemish is only approx 30-50 miles from the north and east coast.

Chapter 3-His Conversion

2009-03-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Slemish Mountain, Co. Antrim where St Patrick was said to look after his sheep. However,it is more likely to be Co.Mayo in the west of Ireland where Patrick was taken as a slave.

Chapter 3

"The experience of those captured for the slave market would be anything but humane:Patrick recalls that he experienced "hunger", "nakedness", and "being near the point of collapse."He was sold and eventually found himself working for a sheep farmer where conditions, initially at least, may not have been much better.Whatever religion he had was of the nominal sort, but now his hopeless and desparate plight moved him to earnestly seek God. Alone in Ireland, with no help but the Holy Spirit and his memory of the gospel, he was wonderfully converted.

Up to that time he confessed "...I did not know the true God...," but "...lay in death and unbelief,"and "...took no thought for my salvation..." Then he said "The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart that I might recall my sins and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God."

After his "faith began to grow" one immediate result for this new born believer was an urge to pray. He records that he lifted his heart to God while at his work "out in woods" or "on the mountainside" as many as "one hundred times a day." He would rise before dawn for prayer "...in snow and frost and rain, and felt no ill effect." Looking back, he attributes his health and energy at the time to "...the Spirit glowing in him."

The reality of that experience was woven into the remainder of his life. Near the end of his career, casting an eye back, he could say that from that time on "...the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me and up to this day by the favour of God I have kept the faith." He never lost a sense of thankfulness to the Lord for what he often referred to as the "gift of God."

The Real St. Patrick-(cont'd)

2009-03-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2

"Patrick was a Briton. In fact, he is the only ancient Briton of the Roman occupation that we really know anything about. To give a date for his birth is impossible but it was probably near the end of the fourth century - 390AD has been suggested.

He was of an aristocratic, well-to-do, religious family.His father Calpurnius, in addition to being a 'deacon' in the church held an official position associated with the Roman administration and owned a villa and estate near to the village called Bannavem Taberniae (there is some doubt about the exact name).Thought to lie somewhere near the west coast of Britain. Patrick's native tongue was an old Celtic language of which the present Welsh is a modified form, he was also familiar with Latin.

One fateful day a party of fierce Irish raiders descended on the estate; some of the servants were murdered and sixteen year old Patrick, along with many others, was overpowered, dragged to the boats and shipped across the sea to a life of slavery in Ireland. It was a frightening , traumatic experience, the memory of which remained with him the rest of his life.

As they headed home the pagan raiders could not have had the faintest notion that their brutal activities tht day would change the history of their island nor that, sixteen centuries later, the name of one of the captives huddled in the bottom of the vessel would be a household word, better known than that of St. Augustine or even Constantine the Great."

Tomorrow - His Conversion

Will the real St Patrick please stand up?...

2009-03-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

I own a little book called 'The Real St. Patrick' by John Holmes of Northern Ireland. I have decided that as we draw nearer to celebrating the holiday set aside to the life of this man, I will write some excerpts from it to give you some myths, legends and throw in some truth also, about this character.

He says...

" It has been said that Patrick received much of his education and his religious training on the continent, (Europe) was sent to Ireland by the Bishop of Rome, landed initially at Wicklow, built his first Church near Saul, established his headquarters at Armagh, illustrated the doctrine of the Trinity by using a shamrock, was enormously successful, confounded his enemies through miraculous powers, overcame the opposition of the High King at Tara, climbed to the top of Croagh Patrick to commune with God, died on the 17th march and was buried at Downpatrick in Co.Down, N.I.

The truth is that not a single word of these 'facts' has any historical credibility at all.

...during those dark years after his decease, in the providence of God, somehow, somewhere in Ireland, two works of Patrick himself were reverently preserved and copied. These two writings, a 'letter' to the soldiers of a ruler called Coroticus and the 'Confession' (or testimony) are judged to be absolutely authentic-they are historical documents of incredible value. Scholars almost weep that Patrick has not told us more about his work and of the life and times in which he lived.

These two works are Ireland's oldest literature and are about the only known Latin writings of that age to have come out of a country of the Barbarians, that is outside of the Roman Empire.

We cannot emphasis too strongly that any real assessment of Patrick's character and work must depend only on his own words.
So who was St Patrick?....."

In chapter 2 tomorrow I will focus on his 'Early Days'....

PS. Happy Birthday to my Beloved....

Two nations divided by one common language....

2009-03-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

I always knew there would be different everyday words I use, that when we moved to America I would have to change to be understood. Here are a few of them, have a laugh and if there are any more you know let me know and I'll post them ( subject to screening.) I do still use some of them.

Is that you? - If you're asked this, please don't answer with "Of course it's me". They only want to know if you've finished whatever you're doing.

Are you away? - Again, no stupid sarcastic answers. They're asking if you are going out / leaving.

What about ye? What's up - How are you?

tee, te & till -Different ways of saying 'To', depending on which area of N.I. you come from.

Catch yourself on! Wise up.

Dead on! Great. Perfect, Really nice. (Often used to describe people.)

Wet the tea - Make some tea.

sound - Also a word of praise generally used for describing people.

Wait till I tell ye -This is difficult to translate. It's a way of starting a conversation or introducing something important or interesting into the conversation.

Do you think I came up the Bann in a bubble?- Do you think I was born yesterday? (The Bann is the river that runs through N.I.) This phrase varies depending on which river you were brought up by.)

class, cracker, grand, stickin' out, magic, smashing, brilliant - Just a few more ways to say something's great.

ta, ta-ta, cheers, thankin' you - And a few ways to say thanks.

steady/steady on -Similar to saying 'behave' or 'that's enough'

eejit - Local pronunciation of the word idiot.

boggin', mingin', mankin' -Messy and horrible.

crack-craic - Fun.

dummy -Pacifier.

pram. -Stroller.

nappy -Diaper.

biscuit. -Cookie.

lolly/Ice lolly -Popsicle.

scone - A sweet biscuit...of sorts.

bun/ wee bun - Sweet roll, danish.

gravy ring - Sugar Ring doughnut.

bap-A bun or roll. Used mainly for sandwiches.

Ulster Fry -A fried meal with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, soda bread, potato bread, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. ALL FRIED. Soda. Soda bread.

sweets -Candy.

cheerio - Good-bye. All the best! Good-bye, wishing you all the best.

boot- trunk

bonnet - hood

crisps - chips

chips - french fries

trousers - pants

plaster - band aid

trolley - shopping cart

nurse - when a child sits on your lap

pictures - cinema/theatre

So if you hear someone use these words/phrases this will help you interpret what they say!

Have a great day!

'Be Thou My Vision'

2009-03-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

In the Fifth century A.D. Saint Patrick came to the Hill of Slane in County Meath in an early on attempt to convert pagan Ireland to Christianity. On the eve of the Christian feast of Easter, 433 A.D. which coincides with the Druid feast of Bealtine (Beal's fire) and the Spring Equinox, St. Patrick lit a bonfire upon the Hill of Slane. There was a law that no fire should be lit in the vicinity when the great festival fire of Bealtine blazed at the Royal seat of power on the visibly nearby Hill of Tara. ....

The lighting of a fire seems trivial to us but at the time it was equivalent to declaring war on the Druids and their pagan beliefs and war against the King of Ireland. That small act of starting a fire was a turning point in St. Patrick's life and in the history of Ireland. The Hill of Slane is where Saint Patrick confronted Laoghaire (pronounced Leary) , the High King of Tara and all Ireland. Patrick lit the Easter fire contrary to the Druidic law, and changed the spiritual landscape of Ireland forever.

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me save that thou art

Thou my best thought by day or by night

Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word

I ever with thee, thou with me,

LordThou my great Father,I thy true Son

Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my battleshield, sword for the fight

Be thou my dignity, thou my delight

Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower

Raise thou me heavenward, O power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Thou and thou only, first in my heart

High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, after victory won

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

You can listen to this hymn by clicking it on my playlist at the bottom of my blog.

Want to drop over for a visit?....

2009-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

The Emerald Isle...

I grew up in the province of Ulster, in the northern part of the island. Here are some famous land marks ...

The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

The Historic Walls of Londonderry , Co Londonderry

The Mountains of Mourn, Co.Down

Armagh Cathedral, Co.Armagh

Devinish Round Tower, Co.Fermanagh

Beaghmore Stone Circles, Co Tyrone

Here is where you'll find information for planning a trip to the Ireland. This is a Scottish site but it has Irish packages too.

It truly is a beautiful country...but then I'm biased !!

If you have any pictures of past trips I would love to see them or if you have any connections to family in Ireland I would be interested to hear

your stories. I'll post any interesting ones!!

How well do you know Ireland?

2009-03-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

Follow this link and you will find a 'wee'quiz to test your knowledge of Ireland.

How did you do? I got 7/10 !! Not bad.

Have a good Thursday, God Bless.

As a little side note....my hubby comes home from the Shepherd's Conference today YEAH!!( John MacArthur's church, L.A.) So we are looking forward to that and see all the books he got!!

March Is For The Irish !!

2009-03-04T23:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not really Irish you know!!

I'm actually Ulster Scots and if you have any knowledge of British or Irish history you will know this is a very BIG difference!!

However, growing up I took part in Irish dancing, I played the penny whistle and fiddle (not at the same time!) in a Ceili band, sang traditional Irish songs and enjoyed a lot of things that would be culturally Irish! When I travelled away from home ( to another country ) and people asked me where I was from, it seemed a lot easier to say Ireland than try to explain I live in Ireland but it is actually the United Kingdom..."Now how is that?" they would ask ...and so it would go on....

Since coming to the United States I have started to become even more 'Irish'.

We go and see the St Patrick's Day parade, the kids wear silly Irish hats and we sing 'The Fields of Athenry' !!!

I can hear some of you gasp who know us :o :)

And then to top it all off President Obama has gone and declared March as Irish Heritage Month.

This is his proclamation....

So in light of this I thought I would have a 'bit of blarney with ye all' and I am going to try and post something connected with Ireland every day during the month of March. If you have anything you would like to contribute just email it to me and I will post it. (Subject to screening by me!!) There is a recipe for Potato Soup just below or here if you miss the post..

I look forward to having some 'craic' (pronounced crack) with you...

Potato Soup

2009-03-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2ozs butter

2 onions, chopped finely

1 leek, chopped finely

2lbs potato, diced

1.5pts stock

15 fl.ozs milk

5 fl ozs cream

S&P

Method:

Saute onions, leeks an potatoes in melted butter.

Stir in the stock and season.

Cover and simmer until potatoes are cooked.

Cool slightly and liquidize.

Add milk and cream.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

N.B. Youcan use cubed hash browns instead if real potatoes, use pound for pound.

This can be made a day ahead. Follow the recipe up to No.4 then refrigerate and finish off the next day.

Works-for-me-Wednesday

2009-03-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, This is a blog carnival that has oodles and oodles of quick tips and info. You can leave your tip for meal planning here.

Here is mine....

I find it really helpful to always have a bag of cubed hash browns in the freezer. I use it at lunch time for a quick Potato Soup
or saute it off with some cubed ham and onions for a quick side dish with dinner. You can even just boil them and mash them..no need to stand and peel. Yeah!!

Go check it out...

Why do we attend church?

2009-02-28T23:01:00.000-08:00

Provoked to thought by Mrs Ledding's question last week I thought I would 'jump on the band wagon' and see what happened! I too have a question...

(actually there are about 5!!)

As I have been wandering through cyberspace from blog to blog I have been enjoying the fact that many are created by Christians. However, I also noticed that although many profess Christ, few ever mention what they believe about Him, His great salvation or His church. I would like to focus on the latter.

The Church of Christ.

Do we attend church? Why do we attend church?

Should it make me a church member?

And then, what kind of church member should I be?

I have been getting ready today to attend

Immanuel Baptist Church, Sacramento tomorrow.

As I was doing this it caused me to think about these questions.

I wondered what others were doing today?

Having fellowship with friends?

Are they cooking a meal to take with them tomorrow?

Are they preparing for a Sunday school lesson?

Are they out with their families?

Have they even thought about tomorrow yet?

(For some of you it is already tomorrow:)!)

Have you prepared your heart to worship Him,

to listen to what He may have to teach you, have I?

I look forward to your feed back on these questions, your Lord's Day or any other comments you have on the topic in general. I hope you have a blessed day in His courts.

Maple Twist Rolls

2009-02-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

This recipe looked so good....I am going to try it with ready made bread dough, as yeast and I do not seem to get on very well. You can find this and many other mouth - watering recipes at the blog called 'What Matters Most', see my blog list on the side.

Heat . . .3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter

until very warm.

Blend with ...

1 cup flour,
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 egg

Beat this with an electric beater on low for 2 minutes.
Add remaining 1 3/4 cups to 2 cups of flour and knead to a soft dough.
It will become smooth and elastic in about 5 minutes...

Let rise for about 45 minutes in a bowl covered in plastic wrap.

In the meantime, make your maple streusel
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple extract
Combine this together and let sit...

Divide the dough into 3 balls.
Take out a pizza pan, and butter it.(I used parchment paper but I still buttered it)
Roll out the 3 balls of dough to about 12 inches.
Put 1/3 of the streusel on the first layer of dough, put another layer of dough on top of this and put the second amount of streusel on.

Finish with the third layer of dough and again the 1/3 amount of streusel.
Put a 2 inch cup on the center of the dough and cut 16 wedges with scissors. (use the glass as a guide as to how far to cut. They'll stay even all around . .in the picture below you can see the faint outline of the glass rim in the center...

Twist each wedge 5 times. Remove the glass.
Cover with a light Tea Towel and let rise for 30 - 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I used a convection oven at 350 degrees.
Bake the twists until golden brown about 18 - 22 minutes
Cool for about 5 minutes on the pan and remove to a cooling rack.

Make a glaze of
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 -2 tablespoons of milk
1/2 teaspoon of maple extract
Drizzle this over the warm rolls.

Doesn't this look yummy!

Give Thanks....?

2009-02-26T23:21:00.000-08:00

" ....how often do we stop to give thanks to Him?

At the end of a work day in your profession or job, do you ever take time to say,"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me the skill, ability, and health to do my work today"? Do you ever physically or mentally go through your house, look at your furnishings or various items of home decoration, and say to God, "Everything in the house and the food in the cupboard and the car (or cars) in the driveway are gifts from You. Thank you for your gracious and generous provision"? And if you are still a student, do you ever give thanks to God for the intellectual ability and financial provision that enables you to prepare yourself for your future vocation? When you give thanks at mealtimes is it routine and perfunctory, or is it a heartfelt expression of your gratitude to God for His continual provision of all your physical needs?

Ephesians 5:20 " Give thanks always for all things to God the Father....."

There is question though that may have entered your mind.

Are we to give God thanks when the circumstances do not turn out as we had hoped?

Romans 8:28 tells us that for those who love God, all things work together for good; for "things" - that is circumstances - do not work together for good themselves. Rather God directs the outcome of those crcumstances for our good. Paul is telling us that God intends all our circumstances, both good and bad to be instruments of sanctification, of growing us more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

So in situations that do not turn out the way we had hoped we are to give God thanks that He will use the situation in some way to develop our Christian character.

The giving of thanks is to be done by faith in the promises of God not by sheer willpower. If we do that we are giving thanks with our lips but not with our hearts. But as we cling to the promises of God we can say, " Father, the circumsatnces I am in now is difficult and painful.I would not have chosen it, but You in Your love and wisdom chose it for me. You intend it for my good, and so by faith I thank you for the good You are going to do in my life through it. Help me to genuinely believe this and be able to thank You from my heart.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

- an excerpt from Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

Amish Baked Oatmeal

2009-02-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe I found on another blog. The blog on the whole was not great but this recipe was.

There are a few reasons why I think you should try it:-

1. You can prepare it the night before. Pop it in the oven the next morning and have your devotions, go for a walk, get the kids dressed....
2. It tastes like a warm cookie for breakfast...yeah I know if you're watching your wasteline its not the best, but good for a wee treat.
3. You can double or triple the recipe easily. The original said you got 9 portions out of it. I found that we only got about 3-4. Maybe we ate too much!!! It really is that good. I doubled it for the six of us.

It really does taste good with the yogurt. I used a cherry yoghurt instead of plain, yummy!!

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

2009-02-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

Last week my husband started a series of sermons entitled Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. You can find them both on Sermon Audio . Week one was the introduction and this week we looked at the 'Glorious equality of Men and Women.'

I was challenged today to look at every human being as an imagebearer of God. Whether in the church or not, professing Christ or not, I ought to look at people as a reflection of God. This will effect how I look at people, treat people and pray for people.

I would encourage you to follow the link and listen. It has been both challenging and encouraging to my soul. I pray you will benefit as I have.

Lois is 15!

2009-02-20T13:52:00.001-08:00

Lois is 15...

Lois was 15 on Wednesday but she is having her party tonight. She is having a few friends over for dinner. She requested her favorite...Shepherd's Pie! ( Alison Richard's, previously Alderton, recipe ) So...the cake is in the freezer, Ice Cream Cake as she is allergic to eggs, the Shepherd's Pie is half way done and all the favors are completed. I'll take a picture of the cake later and post it . It is an easy and simple idea yet special if anyone has kids with allergies.

Well I'll finish this post off later when I have some pictures of the big event.

However, I would like to add that her Dad and I are very thankful to God and feel very blessed to have a daughter that at this age shows no signs of rebellion in her heart either towards God or her parents. She is a joy to be with and is very conscientious in everything she does. ( Apart from maybe keeping her room clean!!)

Lois, we love you very much and hope you will enjoy your party.

Love Mum and Dad

XXOO

A Completed Project....

2009-02-18T19:33:00.001-08:00

When I got back into knitting again the girls thought it would be a good idea for mum to knit them something. Good idea in theory!! So you will notice that there are no pictures of the item Lois chose. ( maybe she would have needed an arm extension to fit it!? ) However, Esther 13, chose something with short sleeves which worked out better. This little bolero jacket was easy to knit once you got into the pattern. The longest part was the band around the sleeves and edge of the jacket. Knitting 6 stitches for 25 inches got a bit tedious, but we got there in the end.

This is the original pattern .....I didn't use the exact same wool so it dosn't have the exact same texture and look but its near enough. Esther likes it and it fits!!

.....Here is the pattern if you would like to try it yourself.

It is straight forward enough. If you know the basics

you'll have no problems.

Sorry it is a bit crumpled after I finished with it but

still legible.

John Piper encouraging President Obama to be courageous

2009-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

Pork and Apricot Casserole

2009-02-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

Pork and Apricot Casserole
1lb of pork pieces
2 tablepns flour (plain-UK, all purpose - USA )
oil
1 can of apricots with juice
2 tablspns worcester sauce
2 tablespns demerara sugar ( light brown - USA)
2 teaspns vinegar
2 teaspns lemon juice
8 tablespns water
Method:
1. Toss meat in seasoned flour and fry off in small batches. You watch it to fry not boil!
2. Place meat into the dish you have chosen ( This can also be made in a regular casserole dish.)
3. Mix together all other ingredients except the apricots. Add to the meat.
4. Slow cooker 4-6 hours. Casserole 1hr @ 350 degrees.
I realise that USA measures are slightly different from UK but this is the kind of dish that it doesn’t make a lot of difference. You can make as much gravy as you wish.
Have a go and let m know what how you get on what you think.

The History of 'APRONS'

2009-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

I don't think our kids know what an apron is!

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the windowsill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the windowsill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Thanks for the great memories Granny

A little recipe from my daughter Deborah...

2009-02-16T23:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple yet delicious recipe that my daughter Deborah (aged 10 )has mastered.

1 1/2 lbs storebought pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1-2 tablespoons salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray a 13x18" baking tray. Add the store bought dough and push, strech or roll it in to a rectangle shape about 10x15 " .
2. Brush generously with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary.
3. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 mins, or until lightly brown on both top and bottom.
4. Remove from the oven and brush on more olive oile and sprinkle with salt. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes.
Eat and enjoy! We like it with a little dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixed to dip it into.
PS. We don't use pizza dough, we get bread dough in our supermarket ready made.

2009-01-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

This my mum, Margaret, my niece, Suzanne on the left and my nephew's wife Lindsay on the right

2009-01-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

This is my sister Hilary and her family, husband Trevor, son, Philip, and daughter Naomi. They live in Omagh Northern Ireland.

2009-01-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

Born in Ballymoney,Northern Ireland in 1967. I have 2 sisters and brother. My parents are still alive and still live in the house I grew up in most of my life. I went to a small country Primary school and then to Dalriada. I eventually ended up at Portrush Catering college and qualified in Catering and Food Prep. After working for a few years I felt God challenge my life of double standards and I went to the Faith Mission Bible in Edinburgh, Scotland for 2 years. Here I came to a deeper knowledge of God and of the faith I professed. Sometimes I think this is where God drew me to himself for the first time, even though for years I had testified to becoming a christian when I was 11 years old. Whenever the exact time was I am not totally sure but this one thing I know he has brought me to Himself and though I fail Him many times I never cease going back to the verse in Romans that says, "..for its your goodness that leads me to repentance."
I also met Robert there and we married on June 13th 1992. What a blessing he is in my life. He really does keep me on the straight and narrow way. God has given me someone who loves me enough to correct me when I sin and encourage me when I am faithful. I love him dearly and pray that God will continue to use him for His glory.
In 1995 after an unhappy departing from the Baptist church in Magherafelt, a Reformed Baptist church was started and it was constituted in 1997. Robert became the pastor and we had a blessed time working with the dear people there for 8 and a half years. We love these dear sheep and still enjoy good fellowship with many of them.
Things changed forever in 2003 when God's call came upon our lives. Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, California called Robert to be one of the pastors. After much prayer and consideration we decided this was the right thing to do. So in November 2003 we packed all our belongings and said our goodbyes.
Five years later we are rejoicing in God's continued goodness and faithfulness to us as a family ( hence the name of this blog) We love living in California and serving God's people here. May we continue to be faithful to Him who has called us.