Daybook

FOR TODAY, Friday, August 21st…

Outside My Window…Roses, fading in the summer heat, swinging garden gate, bird feeder needing  to be re-hung after a marauding squirrel knocked it down, apple tree heavily laden with fruit

I am thinking…that I want to bottle this lazy summer day feeling in order to revisit it when burnout from homeschooling threatens to overwhelm me

I am thankful for…this home, this cool morning, fresh coffee in the morning courtesy of Dear Knight, long, languid day stretching before me

From the kitchen…BLT’s with juicy, fresh from the garden tomatoes, on country french bread

I am wearing…blue t-shirt, denim skirt–worn-in and soft like butter

I am creating…lesson plans, daily schedules, and messes everywhere I go!

I am going…nowhere today…this is a lazy day

I am reading… All Jane Austen’s novels: up next, Persuasion

I am hoping…My Dearest friend will enjoy the satisfaction of seeing  Jesus  grab hold of the hearts of her wayward son and daughter-in-law

I am hearing…The lulling hum of the dishwasher and the soothing sound of the fountain.

Around the house…quiet…a rare thing in this house

One of my favorite things…Sweet kisses from 3 year olds!!

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

late summer tomatoes

If you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into my day and you’d like to join in, Please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman

Coram Deo, Lola

 

Hallelujah! He has found me!

This chorus has been running through  my head since I woke this morning at 4:55am.  I think God is trying to get my attention.  I am not an especially musical person–I can’t play any instruments and I can barely carry a tune in a bucket, yet, I wake many mornings literally singing to My God.  The songs are usually something from Sunday worship, sometimes they are something that I’ve heard on the radio (thank you KLOVE), but they are all worship songs.  Today I think God is trying to remind me that HE found me…not the other way around as I sometime like to think.  The refrain goes on to say that Jesus satisfies all my longings.  I struggle with that. Not the fact that Jesus satisfies but the actual reality of it.  I keep trying to find satisfaction in my life; through my children and  my marriage and  books and food and a clean house–the list goes on.  Yet, none of that really, truly satisfies.  Only Jesus satisfies. Daily. And I believe that the sooner I honestly take that to heart the more joy and peace I’ll experience  throughout my day.  So for today I’ll keep singing “Hallelujah! He has found me!…Jesus satisfies all my longings”   and maybe just maybe it will sink in.

Here is the hymn in its entirety (original version):

Satisfied(1875)

Words by Clara T. Williams, music by Ralph E. Hudson.

1.
All my life I had a longing
For a drink from some clear spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.

Refrain
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.

2.
Feeding on the husks around me,
Till my strength was almost gone,
Longed my soul for something better,
Only still to hunger on.

Refrain

3.
Poor I was, and sought for riches,
Something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered round me
Only mocked my soul’s sad cry.

Refrain

4.
Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.

Refrain

Coram Deo,

Lola

 

A New Day

Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

That  question is the linch-pin question for Focus on the Family’s The Truth Project; it is also a question I’ve been pondering these last two weeks.  It is almost too much for me to get my mind around.  I mean, what DO I really, honestly believe with my whole heart down to the very core of my being?  And if I really believe what I believe, does my life reflect that belief?

Well, I hope so.  Yet, I know I am not perfect.  I mess up…daily.   Good thing God is not expecting me to be perfect.  Good thing he offered me salvation through His son, Jesus Christ.  Good thing I answered His knock.

Have you ever thought about how  much we are bombarded on a daily basis with a humanistic world view? From the T.V. shows we watch to the books we read there is a general view that this life is all there is…nothing more, nothing less. That being  “good” is good enough  and as that long as what one does doesn’t bother anyone else then “Go For It!”.   How utterly self-centered, how uterly hopeless.   Good thing I have hope.

Just somethings that I’ve been thinking about.

Coram Deo, Lola

 

Advent Conspiracy

Please take a few minutes to watch this video…Special thanks to my dear friend Ann of Holy Experience.  She continually inspires, challenges and encourages me in my walk.

Watch. Think. Be inspired. ACT!   It is never too late.

Coram Deo,

Lola

 

Amos 5:8

I have a habit of walking out my front door and down my driveway and gazing up at the night skies pondering what wonders the Lord has wrought. I am fascinated by the skies and the constellations. I try to discern from amidst the light pollution that floods my community as many celestial bodies as I can. I know Mars when I see it and Venus, too. I can point out the Pleiades and Orion and Cassiopeia. And I can easily spot the Big Dipper, although I have NEVER been able to find the Little Dipper.
I am not sure when this habit of mine formed. Most likely during those many nights of walking and cradling restless wee chicks in my arms; “Look…can you see the moon? When the moon is out it is night time. Do you want to go night, night? Say ‘night, night, Mr. Moon’.” And even now as those restless nights are getting fewer and farther between I sometimes find myself alone, gazing at the moon and the stars. Tonight was different though…I had company. Not the wakeful babe-in-arms kind of company. No, tonight my two eldest daughters joined me…and we searched the heavens together, my arms encircling their shoulders as I pointed out to them Saggitarius and Scorpius–two constellations I only just “found” this evening. My excitement apparently rubbed off on them for they ran inside to consult “Find the Constellations” and “The Stars” (both by H.A. Rey of Curious George fame) to see what else they could find.
It was one of those moments that makes my heart sing…surely if they attended school elsewhere this would not have happened–what reason would I have for owning the books I do on constellations and the night skies–they were all purchased our first year of home-schooling when the Boy was just a 1st grader and we decided to followthe recommendations from “The Well Trained Mind”. We’ve only briefly looked through them on occasion all these years…but tonight there was a connection made between my daughters and those books; they will be “friends” for life. And a connection was made between my daughters and me; something a bit different from mom the teacher and daughters the students. Something special and full of wonderment…and for that I am eternally grateful.

originally posted 9/1/07