Happy Reformation Day!

On this day that we remember the brave men and women in history who mightily changed the church to serve our God better let us also remember this great hymn that urges us to fight just as they did.
This battle hymn is one of my favorites and it never fails to remind me of the power of God to win this war. I may lose hope some days, but our great General Jesus is still leading us to a sure victory.
All praise to our Mighty Fortress!

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

To My Parents

"To Dad who only reared twelve children and to Mother who reared twelve only children."

That is the dedication for the book "Cheaper By The Dozen." When I first read that several years back I thought that was a rather odd way of putting it, but only recently I realized that I understood it perfectly.

In my family, though, it was reversed. My mom only raised five children. We would always be hearing other people exclaiming at the size of our family, but I never once heard Mom say that we were a handful or that our house was chaotic because of the kids that lived there. She didn't seem to realize that she had a larger than typical family- she just raised us, clothed us, fed us and, most of all, loved us like it was no big deal.

My dad raised five only children. I think I can speak for each of my siblings when I say we all know that we're Dad's favorite kid. Whether he's talking on the phone or enjoying a meal with us or if he's helping out by watching the kids or sending gifts to grandkids, he has a way of making whomever he's interacting with feel like the most important person in the world.

Maybe I'm a bit biased here, but I know that my parents are the best parents I could ever wish for. And I say that fully aware of their imperfections and sin.

So many times I wish I could say thank you once again to my mommy. She sacrificed so much to love me. But I'm so very grateful that I still have many oppotunities to say this to my dad:
"Thank you, Dad, thank you. I love you."

Beautiful- Simply Beautiful

I've been listening to this song often of late. I suppose that's because I like to surround myself with beauty. It's strange to think I used to not like this style of music or more "classical" voices. I'm so glad my tastes changed! To think what I could have missed.

Sarah Brightman- Time to Say Goodbye
(An announcer is speaking in some foreign language for the first 20 seconds or so.)

A Praise For the Little Things

Today I ate a banana with peanut butter on it and it was so scrumptious! It was such a small thing, but it sure put a smile on my face. Do you believe that one reason God made bananas and peanuts all those thousands of years ago was so I could enjoy my banana with peanut butter today? I do.


"Praise to the Lord...
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him."

Good Blog Post from Fritz

Once again, Fritz has written something profound that I felt I should share with you all (though I realize that most of you who read this blog also reads his.)

When it Doesn't Feel Like We are Winning

"A thing of great comfort to me is that we do not serve a lofty God who commands from the rear and is distant. Our God isn't the king who has become great on the backs of his slaves, rather He became lowly to make us great. There is not a tragedy or pain that He has not already felt for us. There is not a sorrow or test that He has not overcome. But even our great Savior understands the feeling of sorrow and loss."

These are truths that we've all heard before, but sometimes it's so good to be reminded of them. Thanks, Jonathan.

Sabbath Quote

"It is a great act of eternal love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner, and puts him into the family of God; but what condescending patience there is when the Saviour with much long-suffering bears the oft recurring follies of His wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, washing away the multiplied transgressions of His erring but yet beloved child! To dry up a flood of rebellion is something marvelous, but to endure the constant dropping of repeated offenses--to bear with a perpetual trying of patience, this is divine indeed!"

----C.H. Spurgeon

Motherhood Quote

"No job on earth takes more physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual strength than being a good wife and mother. If a woman is looking for the easy life she might try teaching tennis, cutting diamonds , or joining a roller derby team. There is nothing easy about good mothering. It can be back breaking, heart wrenching and anxiety producing. And that's just the morning."

---from Stephen and Janet Bly's How to Be a Good Mom.

Oh, And Did I Mention...

Evangeline is walking now. That's right, I now have three little two-footed critters to wreak havoc in my house ( I know Evangeline always was two-footed, but it's different now that's she's figured out how to use them.)

She's quite an early walker- I'll let you all know when she's ready to race in the Olympics, but that probably won't be until she's a year old.

Just thought I'd brag a little- again.

dying leaves
turning crimson hues
making death seem beautiful

The Unity of Mother and Child

The beauty of the bond between a mother's heart and those of her children is well known. Many a songwriter and poet have filled pages writing on this unique unity. But what is not as well known is the bond between the bladders of mother and child. Yes, it's true, as soon as the mother feels she can no longer go on ignoring the longings and urgings for relief, one, or all, of her children also feel those same urgings of their own.

Such is the timeless tale of the mother: Quietly does she make her move toward the bathroom and silently does she close the door, hoping only to relieve the strain of her poor bladder- the same organ, we must remember, that was so cruelly abused by bearing these children in the first place- when, in that same instant she hears from the other side of the door a sweet little voice chiming: "Mommy, I have to go potty."

Ah, the beauty of the mother- child bond.

Malachi's Birthday

We had Malachi's Spider-Man birthday party on Saturday. My little three-year-old adds such- er, pizazz to my life. Between his love of pushing buttons of any kind, his imaginary motorcycles and his just plain boyishness, life with Malachi is never boring. And I wouldn't have it any other way. (Though someone may need to remind me of that the next time I'm cleaning up something else that he's broken.)

Now I ask you: have you ever seen such a cute Spider-man and Spider-girl?




This is Malachi with his new roller-skating gear. Or maybe I should have him wear this all the time. You know, for the next time he falls down, jumps down the stairs, does a Spider-man jump off the furniture, crashes with his "motorcycle", tackles Lily, falls of his swing, runs into the wall....