Terribly Interesting

 I saw this out of my window the other day. These people must have come to "town" to get some groceries. I thought it was interesting. I was longing a bit for the simplicity. The picture is grainy because of the screen on the window. It's hard to be vulnerable. Sometimes I just sit and have myself a good cry. It's hard to practice death to self in the face of criticism, but Christ has called us to be vulnerable. It's hard letting people come and see the inner-workings of your home. It's hard to show your art. It's hard be vulnerable enough to share your music. It hurts when people repeatedly never show up to support you, but always want things from you. Christ calls us to carry on anyway. He asks us to continue to make ourselves vulnerable and expose ourselves to the harsh temperatures of this world. Our next act of grace might be the very one to help open blind eyes. Sometimes you simply wonder if anyone sees you at all. The fact is that it doesn't ma...

My husband put together a short video giving some highlights of the past few years here. We put all the pictures that we could in a short five minute song, but it doesn't barely touch on what has been accomplished here. God is doing a refining work in our midst. I hope you enjoy the video.

Keep your eyes on Me, sweet child.  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:33   NIV For more on this segment, see this post .

We don't buy a lot of mainstream children's literature because we don't find it to be God honoring and it dumbs down things to bright children. Several of the books we have been given have met their demise in the trash can. We do love Charlie though. Laomai has been asking me to blog about him. If you know anything about Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, you know Charlie is a character. He has more personality than a herd of other dogs. In this book you can follow him all over the ranch and with his friend Suzi. It is neat for children to see what all goes on at a ranch. It's a great book to help get children interested in animals. I asked Laomai why she liked it and she said because Charlie is so very cute. He thinks he is fast but he isn't. He thinks he does a lot but he doesn't. They still love him."  Sounds good to me. A portion of all purchases made through this Amazon link support Gomer's House.

I took the basic popper recipe and took away the bbq sauce and added some things I like. Turkey bacon is a must. I also thought to myself that these would be sublime in the sauce you dip your lettuce wraps in at P.F. Changs. Sublime indeed. Buon Appetito.

You might be wondering who on earth these people are and what they are doing. Well, I don't know. Yesterday, my husband and our live-in college student, Aaron were building exterior storm windows for our house. I had just spent two hours at the dentist getting my teeth pounded by implements and I did not venture into the carriage house turned work shop to photograph any of it. I found these ladies on the world wide web and thought it looked pretty close to what they made.  Windows in modern day homes have energy efficient double pane windows.You see, our windows are single pane. Some of them are no pane. We are trying to remedy this by building exterior windows for all of our windows. This will greatly help our heating and cooling. We have done two years of research into the best way to build windows and here we are building. Next week, I will try to get you and actual picture of the windows we are making. This will of course be an ongoing project since we have about 48 windows....

Do you have songs that have spoken things unspeakable to you? They have resonated in deep emotional places that you have no name for. Most of my favorite songs that I have kept with me my entire life are not the songs that were popular to my generation. They are hymns. I love just sitting and reading hymns during my quiet time. The rich theology always ministers to me. I have fallen in love with Amazing Grace and the entire hymn of Jesus Loves Me . The one I love most is Just As I Am.  I love Just As I Am for a myriad of reasons. I had a rough childhood. By the time I entered elementary school, I had survived some very devastating things. When I first heard this song, it gave me such a clear picture of God's grace. It didn't matter where I had been or what had happened to me. I got to God by no other means than the blood of Jesus. God wanted me to come to Him. The tender Lamb of God bid me come. I still cling to that grace. It's not who or what I am. It is Who and What Chr...

I know of the wounds you have. I know of the wounded and desolate places all around you. I can clearly see the places long devastated in your midst. My heart is to give beauty instead of ashes. I want to see My people planted in righteousness. My people will rebuild the ancient ruins. They will repair ruined cities. They will raise up the former devastations. I will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before the nations. I am working on your wounds. "Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,  They will raise up the former devastations;  And they will repair the ruined cities,  The desolations of many generations." -Isaiah 61:4

None of us deserves what God offers, a life free from sin and hope for a glorious future, but unbelievably it's ours for the taking. Why? Because of God's grace. The unmerited favor, the lavish love and kindness he pours out on us, and has, since Creation. But if it's so available then why do we live a graceless life? Why are our churches filled with disillusioned Christians, weary of religion's demands, struggling with personal defeat because of issues or behaviors? Join pastor Andy Stanley as he traces grace through the Old and New Testaments, observing God's grace at work in the lives of some of the best—and worst—characters. He also uses personal stories from his own life to reveal how grace is not a natural response but is the most essential one. Together these stories unravel the mystery of grace and tell of its transforming power to set us free. I don't usually read such a high quantity of books by the same author in a year, but the words of Andy Stanl...

<p><p><p><p><p>Visit Seven Days in Utopia - <a href="http://sevendaysinutopia.com">Official Site</a>.</p></p>&am...

The more I read about the chemicals in store bought bread items, the less I want to buy them. Growing up, I loved making bread with my grandmother and I wanted to revive the tradition for my family. I am no fan of the bread maker because I think it steals some of the romance. I wanted to see it done the old fashioned way. I loved how my grandmother set her bread out in the sun to rise.  I thought this was such a great tutorial on old fashioned bread making. It wasn't an overproduced show. I felt like I was in the kitchen with some sweet friends making bread. It was wholesome and family friendly. It was so family friendly that my four year old and I watched it together. She then spent the rest of the day making pretend breads.   There were several yummy things included in the dvd that I am excited to make. Hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, and skillet cornbread to name a few. You will see my creations emerge over the next few weeks. Great dvd. The only thing I would do differen...

 One of the things we hear when we tell people that we are restoring a one hundred year old house is, "I always wanted to do something like that." I once thought that we could live our whole lives in suburbia discussing the latest sitcoms and miss living our lives. We could all miss living them for the glory of God. Here we are, living. Let me tell you, it is not as romantic as it seems in The Notebook . Most days I hate my kitchen. It needs a sledgehammer taken to it. I get so tired of dark walls and dusting every other day. I catch myself and I must say that I am thankful for the journey. Let me tell you why. When you have lived with every creature comfort and have never lacked any physical nicety in your life, you become pretty entitled. Really, you become a greedy jerk. Most of us are. We hide it behind our Christian speak and throw money at a few things here and there to feel good about ourselves, but deep down, we love our stuff. God sent me into the middle of nowhere...