Julia's Hope by Leisha Kelly

Julia's Hope
A Novel by Leisha Kelly

If we gave out "best books" awards this one would be in the running. The story is very moving and the plot travels along at just the right pace.

This is the story of a family struggling to survive the Great Depression. It is also the story of an old woman's yearning to remain free to choose how her life will be lived. The author does a fantastic job of writing in the first person of the three main characters. The father, the mother, and the older women share their experiences and thoughts throughout this heartwarming novel.

We are so happy to have found another good Christian writer. Plans are to read more of her works. We highly recommend this easy to read book.

Christmas Message 2008

One of the Christmas ornaments received in our family ornament exchange this year.

This year our extended family celebrated Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. Now you may think that is rushing things a bit, but this was a blessing in disguise. Because of this early celebration we now have time to set back and really enjoy all of what our country has to offer at Christmas time. We unintentionally are avoiding the rush.

We really enjoy driving around anytime close to Christmas eve and view all the beautiful light displays in our area. Some are pretty gaudy, while others are tastefully done. Those that use a theme in their decoration we find especially interesting. Our small town even has a contest for both residential and business to see who can be the most decorative.

We often load up our Cd player with discs that have Christmas music. Then we set it on continuous play and let it run through the whole batch. We never get tired of listening to these sounds, as some do.

One year our local radio station was playing traditional Christmas hymns in July. We recommend that you try this for yourself sometime. You may find, as we did, that it helps in realizing afresh the real meaning of Christmas. The wonderful words of life that we normally associate with this busy season have a profound affect when heard at a less stressful time of year.

These hymns sung out of season are a reminder that Christmas is:

Not an old man in whiskers.

Not parties and family gatherings.

Not presents under a tree.

Not snow and starry nights.

Not crowded malls and parking lots.

Not ringing bells and red buckets.

Not the holly and the ivy.

Not tinsel and bright lights.

But rather, Christmas is God's answer to a world of sin.

God loves us so much that he sent His only Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.

May you and yours be blessed by this answer always.

Low fat Christmas

This year we have made some adjustments in our favorite Christmas treats that will save us some fat intake that needs to be reduced.

Our fudge is made with Smart Balance instead of butter. And we also use non-fat evaporated milk instead of the normal evaporated milk. That reduces the fat grams to about 1/3 of the usual amount.

Then we love making Treasure Cookies. This year we replaced the butter with Smart Balance and are using non-fat sweetened condensed milk instead of the regular sweetened condensed milk. Again that reduces the fat content substantially.

Now, if only we could do something about the sugar. We don't feel that any of the sugar substitutes on the market today are any healthier than sugar itself. So we continue to use good old fashioned sugar.

All of our changes still produce the best fudge and cookies around. So these changes will remain.

We will be experimenting with our favorite sugar cookie recipe that calls for almond extract. We will be substituting the 2 cups of butter with smart balance and save at least a third of the fats normally used. If you use the lite version you could probably save half again as much.

Rerouting Project

Update on our transition time at our church

Our transition focus has taken a decidedly different direction. At our transition meeting in Oct our transition pastor announced unexpectedly that he was removing himself from the leading position and changing to an adviser position since he felt it was time the church take full responsibility for the direction of the church in the future.

As a result our Congregational Leadership Team has decided to form a group of 5 members to explore and investigate how other churches have turned a declining attendance around so that the church would experience growth.

All active participants can nominate up to 5 persons to be on this "Research Team". Then the transitional pastor along with two other members from the CLT will use the submitted names to select the 5 member Research Team.

All of us are to be involved in this scouting out process. We can submit our findings to this research team using any and all resources available.

In June the team will present a report. Then the congregation will begin meeting again to implement needed changes.

After thinking about this idea and proposal, it brings back to the surface older questions such as why do people leave our church and why do persons stay at our church? What does God want us to be doing? Do we feel we are faithfully following His Word now?

It will also be interesting to see how the Lord's timing is concerning this effort and the arrival of a new pastor. If he arrives soon enough then he can help us sort through this process too.

The pastoral search committee is still looking at names but have made no plans at this point to interview any one.

We are on an interesting journey! Please continue to pray for our church!

Thank you.

Peace on Earth

This quarter our memory work contains passages from the New Testament about peace. Each child that wishes to participate was given a list of the passages and a magnetized dove. They can post their list on their refrigerator.

Each Sunday we will all be learning the same short passage. A volunteer student shakes the dove shaped tambourine whenever the passage is recited. (This dove gets excited whenever peace is mentioned.) Another volunteer hands out a dove sticker for keeping track on the list. A treat is also received for each recitation.
At the end of the quarter a reward will be given for each recitation of all ten passages together.
The congregation was encouraged to join us in our learning.

Plans are to give each child a dove cookie ornament for a small Christmas treat.

Can you tell how much fun this church work is?

Walking fitness

We are both using these walking DVDs to try and stay in shape during the cold wintry days. One of us goes 4 miles every day and the other is working up to that by doing about 1 mile each day so far. It is a very easy way to get the aerobic exercise that one needs. Surprisingly going through the same program every day is not hard. As a matter of fact, one can "zone out" pretty easily and think about other things as the body exercises. We have not seen much results yet as far as weight loss goes or energy increase. But we will be patient and keep on until we do.

The Good and The Bad

Note: this post was written originally back in March of this year. To date we still hold to what it is saying.

Our transitional transparency meetings are beginning to have two effects on us as members of our congregation. On the one hand, we are learning much about our fellow members, and this is good. But on the other hand, we are discovering great discrepancies between our beliefs, a very bad thing. Most of the issues we have been looking at are clearly spoken to in the Holy Scriptures, and yet many within our congregation have another view. They site the working of the Holy Spirit as the testimony that what they want is a ligament course of action. If we only strive to come to consensus on the issues we face, we will surely be less than what God had in mind. If all we strive to do is arrive at something we can all agree with, this in no guarantee that God's will is done. We must use another standard than consensus. Our understanding is that we must use the scriptures in testing whenever there is disagreement. Consensus is not what Christ had in mind when he prayed for unity within the brotherhood. Our unity must be under Christ the Lord as head of the church. Scripture is the source of arriving at understanding what that unity should be...not our own experiences. We must use a standard, and we feel that standard must and should be the Holy scriptures. Our understanding of the workings of the Holy Spirit are as a guide in understanding scriptures and as a source of strength in living out what Christ calls us to do. The working of the Holy Spirit was never meant to be a substitute for an understanding of that call. We are to serve Christ through the church body. God has a plan for how we are to go about doing that. The Holy scriptures clearly define that plan. Some within our congregation want to bypass certain scriptures and follow what they feel the Holy Spirit is calling them to do instead. We firmly disagree with this position. We both believe as our confession of faith decrees: "We acknowledge the Scripture as the authoritative source and standard for preaching and teaching about faith and life, for distinguishing truth from error, for discerning between good and evil, and for guiding prayer and worship. Other claims on our understanding of Christian faith and life, such as tradition, culture, experience, reason, and political powers, need to be tested and corrected by the light of Holy Scripture.

We know from Scripture that the Holy Spirit continues to reveal God's will to us (1 Cor. 14:26-33). The Spirit of God is not silent in the present. However, this new revelation will not contradict what we know of Christ's way in Scripture (John 14:26). So we can open ourselves to revelation and prophecy, provided we test them in the community of faith by the norm provided in Christ through the Scriptures."

What about Sunday school follow up

According to the list of Sunday school classes we have to offer there is no class for persons from 18-20 years old. We suppose since ages are approximate that they would be welcomed into the 20-35 group class, but we are wondering if they would feel comfortable there. Our high school class has only a handful attending, and they are uncommunicative most of the time. Perhaps all those 18-20 years are attending higher learning institutions? But no, we know of at least one that is not. And what is happening when those away at school do make it home on a weekend or during summer? We think we might be on to something here. This could very well be why we are a dying congregation. Could we be loosing our young people because we don't offer support during this time of their lives? We sometimes wonder if we are the only ones concerned about this.

We are now attending our age group Sunday school class. Again it is mostly just discussion, with little actual learning taken place. But it is a good time of fellowship anyway and a good way to keep up with what is going on in others lives.

Ode to old age

Pray for revival

Peony from public garden

One blessing from all our transitional work is the formation of a Spiritual Vitality group meeting. It meets every Wednesday evening. This is a time of meditation, prayer, singing and sharing. It follows very closely to what in times past was called "Prayer Meeting". One of us has been attending for the past two weeks. This has been a real blessing. Time is spent in sharing burdens and in prayer. Singing is also a time of inspiration. Often scripture is read and thoughts are expressed. For not being planned, it is amazing how this all fits together and hearts are blessed. We are of the opinion that what our church needs is a time of revival. Perhaps this meeting might lead to just that.

Our transitional pastor has been sharing sermons on "Spiritual Vitality" also.

We are also of the opinion that our congregation needs the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about revival. Please pray with us.

The Heart of Thornton Creek by Bonnie Leon

It is always a pleasure to discover another good Christian writer. We both truly liked the writing in this first installment of The Queensland Chronicles by Bonnie Leon. It is set in the 1800s and follows the life of Rebecca Williams from her beloved Boston home of wealth and previlege to the arid Australian backcountry. Rebecca is a fiercely independent woman dealing with the constraints of societal expectations. That independence causes many heartaches. But, in the end, Rebecca learns to have faith and love. These lead her to forgiveness for others.

Surprise Ending

Surprising end to Sunday's Transitional Meeting

Last Sunday evening the T-meeting was held for the month of October. As usual our T- pastor led in a devotion time and then launched into his presentation.

We reviewed the 5 steps of transition that were laid out 18 months ago when our T-pastor first came to our church. He suggested that we were stuck on "where to go from here" and "what will our identity be for the future. " Our T-pastor said that he was not going to force his agenda on us and would drop plans for additional meetings. Also he would now let the leadership of the church take over to find out what the church will decide on how it wants to die. The T-pastor said based on all of his numbers review and other factors the church will die either by attendance declining or by re birthing into something new.

Picking up the ball from the T-pastor must be somewhat of a load for the leadership to experience since his removing himself as a leader in this journey has happened very suddenly. The T-pastor is making himself available for consulting to the church leadership for the rest of this journey

We believe though, with many prayers, we the church can come through this process and find some type of a new identity while maintaining and keeping the gospel central in our services.

Wahington's Lady by Nancy Moser

Here is another book by Nancy Moser worth reading. It is the story of Martha Washington before her husband became the first president of the United States. It is a history lesson that will interest even those not into studying history. Of course it is fiction, but it is based on many facts. One thing that prevented much personal knowledge of Martha was her act of burning all letters between her and her husband. So it was necessary to surmise much of the personal nature of their relationship. This is a book that will open your eyes to the founding of our great nation in a way that speaks of miracles. It is written again in the first person as Nancy does so well.

There is another novel entitled Mozart's Sister by this same author. It, too, would be worth your while to read.

Just Jane by Nancy Moser

Whether or not you are a Jane Austen fan, this book is a very interesting chronicle of an author.

It is written in the first person style and also in a similar style of that found in Austen's books.

Most of the story is true with some imaginings by Moser about things that have no written proof.

Jane had a short and fascinating life.

There are some life lessons to be learned with this reading.

Church in the Wildwood by Dooly, Dykes, Griffin & Mayne

This book, written by four authors, is a fictional account of a little stone church that was first built in 1869. Each story covers a generation of members as they worship through the years until the present.

This is light reading and very interesting.

Vision 2014

Last night our first fall Transitional Transparency Meeting was held which lasted 2 hours. The first hour was used to review summaries of the morning Sunday School discussions. There were five or six classes that reported. The morning sermon by our transitional pastor was the basis for the discussions. The sermon included a summary of a number of our previous meetings and then he left us with the question: What are we going to do about it? This referred back to one of the core questions of why the church is losing so many members.

The five sessions titled in the next paragraph are an attempt to work at the answer from the transitional pastor's point of view.

The second hour we had to choose to be a part of one of five groups. The five group or vision steps named were: "Healing of Congregational Wounds and Brokenness," "Creating A Pastor-Congregation Partnership," "Finding a Way to Attract and Hold People," "Find a Way to Renew Our Spiritual Vitality" and "Find an Answer to the Incredible Conundrum of Worship and Music Styles." The pastor had also included additional questions and sub thoughts for discussion well beyond the title of the group session.

Since only one of us was participating that evening, the vision step chosen was "Finding a Way to Attract and Hold People." The sub thought included the need for evangelism and that is what was shared from this point of view.

There were many other ideas of how to go about attracting and holding persons such as: building relationships with people outside the church, the need for community outreach activities and getting the churches name out and creating ways for establishing contacts.

A few in the group volunteered to get together again in several weeks to cement some of the ideas and thoughts to bring to the October TTM. The other 4 groups will also be reporting to the larger group.

It will be interesting to hear and see where the church is headed after the next meeting.

Please keep our church in your prayers

What we do from here...

This next Sunday evening we will be resuming our transitional transparency meetings. One of us is thinking of dropping out because of the perception that these meetings are fruitless.

This Sunday we will need to choose between the following:

1. Healing of Congregational Wounds and Brokenness

2. Creating a Pastor-Congregation Partnership

3. Finding a Way to Attract and Hold People

4. Find a Way to Renew Our Spiritual Vitality

5. Find an Answer to the Incredible Conundrum of Worship and Music Styles.

We are asked to choose which one of these five categories we wish to address. We can only address one of them because all five groups will be meeting at the same time.

Choosing one can be a problem. Will those interested in addressing our congregation's wounds be wounded further when perhaps not much interest by others is shown? Will the tastes and desires of only those present in the worship and music style group perhaps get their way in our services? Some may feel that their greatest concern expressed is missing within these five topics. But we need to go somewhere and this is where our transitional pastor has chosen to go. Apparently these subjects were the top categories picked by our congregation to achieve our vision for the future.

We wonder what God may have in store for our congregation? Will it be what we want?

Quilt set-up committee

Close up of top.

Baby Magic

One of us is a member of the quilt set-up committee for our ladies sewing. This project is finally completed.

The instructions were found on the internet and the name of the pattern is "Baby Magic". That's one down and two more baby quilt tops to go. These will probably be knotted. Then they are presented to new mothers in our congregation.

Bible Memory

One of us has been hard at work preparing as the new Bible Memory Coordinator of our congregation. Since this one is the same one that does most of the writing for our blog, there hasn't been an entry lately.

The original idea for the new year of Bible memory for our primary department has been entitled "Keys to the Kingdom." Each child will receive a keyring with 10 verses appropriate to their ages. The verses are laminated so the children can handle them without damage. When all 10 verses are memorized they receive a special reward. They get a small treat for each verse learned, and these are kept in a "Treat Treasure Chest."

If this quarter goes well, we will continue this theme. If not, some other ideas will be implemented. One problem has been the lack of involvement for the adolescent boys in our Bible Memory program. A solution may be to peak their interest with a friendly competition against the girl's class of the same age range. The class that has all students complete the memorization will win another special reward of their own choosing (within limits).

It will be an interesting year!

Two books by Carrie Bender

Johanna's Journal #1

This story is set in Johnstown, PA just before and during the devastation that came as a result of the breaking of the dam holding back Lake Conemaugh. Although the facts about the Johnstown flood are true, this story is fiction. Johanna and her sister have been taught God's hand is in everything. Johanna's Journal isn't only about the Johnstown flood, it's about a young woman's hopes and dreams.

Willowcreek Valley Farm 2

Annie and Steven Petersheim live on their farm in a young Amish settlement in Tennessee. Annie's friend loans them several books, one about Mennonites migrating from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Upper Canada (now Ontario) two hundred years ago. This story is shared by the young Amish couple as they read together the trials and hardships of this journey. The epic story captures their interest and it will capture yours as well.

Carrie Bender is the pen name of a woman from the Amish Church who has authored numerous books, mostly about Amish life. These two selections are the exception. Readers say her writings are "like a breath of fresh air," promoting "loyalty, caring and love of family and neighbors." They share "a comforting sense of peace and purpose" and help us savor the close relationship between people and the rest of God's creation.

Two books by Lori Wick

Sophie comes from Czechoslovakia and finds a job working for a widower with two children. Though highly educated, (she speaks four other languages) she finds fulfillment in caring for this hurting family. This book sheds some insight into how God can work in the midst of sorrow. This is a contemporary story of God's tender mercies and loving intervention in the life of one family.

Tucker Mills, Massachusetts, 1839

Bound as an indentured servant, Reese finds comfort in her faith and her friends. Can Reese see beyond her place as a servant to accept God's larger plan for her future--and her heart?


You just can't go wrong when you pick up one of Lori's books to read. She is a very prolific author. Many of her works are set in olden times but she also has some stories that are contemporary as well. Every one is a gem. So if you like good Christian fiction, find a cozy spot and get into one of her stories. You will be blessed for it.

Annie by Mary Christner Bortrager

This book completes the Ellie's People series of ten popular volumes by Mary Christner Brontrager.

Mary grew up Amish and has drawn from her memories in creating these tales of Amish life.

This story is about how an Amish family opens their hearts and home to a deserted child.

Practical Peace or Shalom 101

Hibiscus not from our gardens

If you asked the average man on the street if he would like peace on earth you probably would never hear the answer as "no." And yet our world is anything but peaceful in many places. How is this possible? Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that many people do not have an understanding of what it takes to have peace in the world.

Love your neighbor as yourself. This is one of the hardest things to do in our modern world. Our neighbor definition encompasses the entire globe due to communication technology. But just treating our next door neighbor as we do ourselves is hard enough. You often hear of neighborhood disputes that seem rather petty to most of us. When was the last time you gave sacrificially to your next door neighbor...that is by giving without expecting anything in return? This is an excellent step toward a peaceful world.

Forgive as you have been forgiven. This statement presupposes that you have made the step of asking forgiveness of God and that you have accepted His Son's death as your atonement for your sins. Even those who claim Christ as their leader by calling themselves Christians often do not reflect Him in their daily lives by refusing to forgive. Jesus gave us the ultimate example of forgiveness when he said as he was dying on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." When was the last time you offered forgiveness? This is the best step toward peace.

Take care of widows and orphans. We have a number of widows in our congregation but any orphans are unknown to us. Why is it so important to take care of these? Because they are the most defenseless members of our society. Our hearts can be softened toward peace if we live our lives being sensitive to the needs around us. We are not just talking financially here. When was the last time you spent some time with a lonely person? Doing this is an act of peace.


The peace that passes understanding. So probably the mythical man on the street who yearns for peace on earth just doesn't understand that it's presence here on this earth is more in his own control than he suspects. Following a few simple steps, once he knows the Savior, is all it takes to have this Peace on Earth.

Dianthus

Bright Eye Dianthus

Royal Crown Devon

Royal Crown Devon c. 1880-1895

Above is an example of the treasures we like to find when we go "garage saling", as we like to call it. One of us has a particularly astute ability to find these treasures. It must be in the blood, because a sister processes this very same ability.

This latest treasure comes from England and was produced between the 1880s through the mid 1890s. It is in remarkably good condition, considering that it is well over 100 years old.

Would you believe that it was purchased for only one dollar? That's why we call this hobby "Treasure Hunting."

White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick

A Contemporary Story of Reconciliation,
Family, and True Love

This book follows the fictional life of a daughter of wealth. Author Lori Wick uses her literary talent to weave a tale that gives an example of "a camel going through the eye of the needle." Through tragedy and loss the story makes clear the need of a Savior no matter what circumstances are faced. Wealth does not eliminate that need.

Arcineh Bryant lives with her grandfather after a devastating loss. But as the years pass, something comes between them. Feeling hurt and betrayed, Arcineh leaves to build a life for herself, without the privilege of wealth.

Meantime, her grandfather experiences a change in his life. This change is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

As the Lord finally brings these two souls back together the grandfather carefully shares his experience with Arcineh. The conclusion to this story will lift your spirit and feed your soul.

Lori Wick is one of those authors that you can count on to be a good read. This is one of many stories she has authored. We highly recommend her books for light reading that brings inspiration, humor, and goodness to your mind.

Scallops of creeping Phlox

Scallops of creeping Phlox on top of wall

The weather has been warm, windy and dry of late. So we need to keep weeding and watering. We have also put some of are flower gardens back into grass. Our health is demanding that we curtail some of our lovely gardens. So each year we will shrink the gardens until just the front contains flowers so close together that weeding won't hardly be necessary. The lower terrace on this retaining wall is almost like that now.

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon

For the past several years we have been having trouble with Japanese Beetles attacking our Rose of Sharon bushes/trees. But this year we noticed that the worst of the damage is being done to this white variety. The purple flowered plants don't have near the activity from these veracious pests. And this year we have noticed that both varieties don't have this problem as bad as other years. We have been just going around and knocking off the bugs into a solution of sudsy water. Other years they have been so bad that we needed to put up beetle traps. But so far that has not been necessary this year.

Lillies

Petite Grapette

Lillies

Orchid Fancy

Lilies

Burgandy & Gold

Lillies

Peace

Sunday School

Sweet Diminutive

You may recall that we have taken the summer off from our transitional transparency meetings. In that spirit we have decided to visit other churches in our area and we are really enjoying the experience. Every other Sunday or so we continue to attend our own church. When we do, we make it a point to visit a different Sunday school class.

For the past several years we had not been attending Sunday school. We were dissatisfied with the way these classes were functioning. Mostly they were a time of fellowship and discussion, with not much in the way of learning taking place. In other words, it was a time of everyone giving their own opinion and not much in the way of really studying God's word. So we thought it might be the time to go around and visit each of the adult classes that our church has to offer to see if anything has changed.

First we visited, what for the lack of a better term, is considered to be our Senior Citizen class. The Sunday we visited a substitute teacher was in charge. The material being used was from a uniform lesson. We were warmly welcomed to the class and we were asked to come back. The discussion centered on the lesson somewhat. The title of the lesson was "Trustworthy leadership." Much affirmation was given to our current leaders, although one person asked the question about why so many are leaving our congregation. There was no discussion about that question. Usually the same people spoke and we felt we didn't learn much in this class.

Our next visit took us to a small class consisting of older couples, some about our age and some were leaders within our congregation. The title for our lesson was "Teaching that transforms" and it also was from the same uniform lesson series. This class was taught on a rotating basis and for that Sunday a women was in charge. She did a good job of walking us through the lesson and leading our discussion. Again, we were warmly welcomed. We noted that due to the size of the room this class had a limit to the number able to attend. And again, mostly the same people shared during the discussion. This class reminded us as to why we stopped attending Sunday school in the first place. Much discussion, not much learning.

Now this past Sunday was a unique experience and an "eye-opener" of sorts. Our post-high class has been asking for volunteers to share with there class. So we had decided that we would be willing to do that. We also requested an opportunity to ask our own questions of the group. All this was arranged by one of their own, the person in charge of this class. For us to prepare, this person sent a list of questions that we could answer, either one, any or all. When we arrived at the class there was only one other person present. Even though we waited no one else showed up. Not even the person who had made the arrangement. We went ahead as best we could and had a nice time of getting to know the lone young person there. We shared our experience as requested and the person seemed grateful for our being there.

This experience has shed some light on what is going wrong with our congregation. We currently have a program of financial aid for college students who attend our affiliated institutions. According to the records we have distributed funds to 11 qualified candidates. Besides this number, there would be others of this age group who are not attending school or not attending qualified institutions. Where are all these people? Are they just not attending Sunday school? And, if not, why? Over the next few weeks we will investigate this matter and report to you. This is a real mystery for us and we want to get to the bottom of it.

Lillies

Large Sunny yellow

Lilies

Happy Double Orange

Lilies

Elegant Orange

Lilies

Oro'gold

The Celebration Hymnal

The Celebration Hymnal

Songs and Hymns for Worship

This is simply the best hymnal. It has a wonderful mix of the old and contemporary, hymns and gospel songs. We came across it when we visited our local community church. What a treasure!

We purchased the looseleaf addition and had it spiral bound at Staples. The actual hymnal can be obtained from Amazon in a myriad of colors.

What we like the most about the hymnal is that each hymn has a Bible verse right under the title. All the suggested readings are from Scripture. Our edition uses the KJV but they also offer another edition that uses three more contemporary translations, NASB, NIV and NKJV.

It was published by Word/Integrity in 1997. If your church is thinking about new hymnals be sure to check out this one!

Whisper of Love by Jewel Miller

Whisper of Love by Jewel Miller

Jewel was inspired to write this book by her grandmother, an avid and skilled storyteller. It is set at the beginning of the 20th century on the plains of Kansas and the arid land of New Mexico. The heroine, Mattie, finds life full of work and love as she grows up and moves away from her loving Amish family. Eventually her dreams of a home of her own are realized.

This book is reminiscent of the Little House series, only it is set among the Amish. Jewel is a gifted writer. This book may be hard for you to find, but the search will be well worth the effort. It was published by Herald Press in 1991.

Diathus

Diathus

Stonecrop ground cover

Stonecrop ground cover

Spirea

Spirea

Visit to local community church

Scottish Bluebells

Last Sunday we visited a local community church that is known for it's traditional worship style. We were not disappointed. All the songs selections were familiar to us and very inspirational.

The preaching was not the best we have heard, but also not the worst. It was biblically based and the style was easy listening. But we must say that the pastor had some nervous habits that were distracting at times. He often rubbed his hands together and waved them around and gestured almost to the distraction of what he was trying to say.

The song leader and the pastor made comments of a personal nature (sort of inside jokes) that made us feel like outsiders at times.

The facilities were wonderful and very comfortable. Though we did have trouble locating the main entrance and ended up coming in the door at the front of the sanctuary. Fortunately we weren't the only ones entering that way.

The congregation was neither overly friendly nor cold. We thought perhaps they were accustomed to visitors so we weren't an oddity. All in all it was a pleasant experience and we may visit again soon.

We are encouraged by the depths of worship we are encountering in our area. Makes our hearts soar to know that our Lord is praised in many ways around here. We recommend that you also take the time to visit around where you live and see what God is doing in your midst.

The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness by John MacArthur

The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness by John MacArthur

One of the most profound statements made in this book is that forgiving is one of the most God like things we can do. We are commanded to forgive. Why? Mostly for our own sakes. Where there is forgiveness, there is a heart that God has touched--and a life that God can bless.

John is the pastor teacher at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He is a prolific writer and thoroughly grounded in the Scriptures. His writing style is very readable. His ability to communicate is very powerful.

Pair of Daylilies

This lovely pair reminds me of the Peace Rose. The light pink outer petals gradually turn to a bright yellow inside. Daylilies are one of our favorite flowers. They are very easy to grow and come in numerous shapes, colors and sizes. We will feature some that we have growing in our gardens for the next few days.