What Child is This?

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."         ~Luke 1:46-47

I have often sat and pondered what it must have been like to be Mary.  She was given the most awesome role that any woman could have ever had!  Yet at the same time, what was it really like, to have a perfect child, THE Son of God?  She goes on to say in verse 48 that "...all generations shall call me blessed."  She was blessed indeed!  As a mother, to have all the emotions and affections coursing through you that you have for your baby, yet at the same time be in awe that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords!  She was chosen by God to be the mother of our Saviour!  No other woman will ever be chosen for that role again.  It was for Mary and Mary alone.  But each of us mothers are given a special calling as well, and no, our children don't even get the title of "angels"...some may even be little devils!!  But we are called none the less, to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord...the King of kings and Lord of lords!  We aren't to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone and their neighbor bring up our children according to their agenda...it is our (mothers and fathers) responsibility.  How come everyone wants the responsibility to bring up the children, EXCEPT the ones that God intended to do it in the first place?  The world is indoctrinating our children with it's philosophies and religion, yet God's people still make excuses!  Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever....is that what we are seeing in our day?  Absolutely Not!  As it was in the days of Noah, and since the beginning of time, every one is doing that which is right in his own eyes, not taking heed what shall be reaped!  God's Word should be so ingrained into our children that it is what fills their thoughts when they are tempted to do wrong, it is what gives them comfort in time of sorrow, it gives them joy in the morning!  Instead of His Word being our very last resort, when all else fails, it should be our guide, our road map, our instruction manual.  Yes we have a great responsibility and we may look at Mary and think, "Wow!  To have had a perfect child, wouldn't that be grand?"  But God has given us this great responsibility and He has chosen us to bring these "depraved little devils" up for His honor and His glory!  It is ALL about Him and Him alone!  HE is the reason we exist, He has called us for such a time as this to bring Him glory!  So, this Christmas, while we sing "What Child is This", let us ask ourselves what children are these that He has given to us, are we raising them to bring HIM glory, or are we living for the moment, not caring what becomes of our children?  Do you like being embarrassed when someone asks, "Whose child is this"?  Then purpose today to bring your children up for the glory of God! 

Busy, busy....Busy!

Like most others in the world this week, I definitely am going to be busy!  But I love this time of year!  Christmas brings back a lot of good memories as a kid.....Mom and Dad always made sure us young'uns had a good Christmas, (even though we were poor in today's standards of living).

God has been so good to our family, we have nothing for which to complain.  I love watching the excitement on the kids faces as they anticipate Christmas and excitedly talk about it.  I will be the first to admit that my children are NOT angels!  They are fallen sinners just like the rest of us depraved people....they love to give though, and that brings joy to my heart!  Each one of them have made Christmas gifts for every member of our family...and then some!  That's a lot of gifts!  I pray that their giving attitudes continue throughout their lives.  I wish more of us oldies had the giving heart of a child!!

 "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

9 More Days…

Today I decided to take a little break from all my sewing projects…(I know, I know…with only 9 more days, how am I going to get it all done?) and I made some homemade, old-fashioned, chocolate fudge!  OOOh, it turned out delicious!  Thanks so much to Gretchen for the wonderful recipe!  The only ingredient I did not have was vanilla, (who doesn’t have vanilla on hand?…) and so I substituted caramel extract instead, but it definitely didn’t hurt it any!!   (I used Watkin's Caramel Extract)  Click on picture for larger view...

We Are Blessed Indeed!

God is so good to us, in so many ways...many times in ways that we don't even see or realize.  We should always give Him the thanks and honor that He deserves, for He alone is worthy!  You know, it was a blessing that we woke up this morning, however early that may have been, He granted us life for one more day!  If you have been reading my blog you will remember the post about washing our clothes out by hand..."loads" of fun...pardon the pun!!  But God had pity on us and we now have a washer!!  I won't name names....but they know who they are....I love them so much!  That has just been one of our "material" blessings this week, but God knows our every need, even the hairs of our head are numbered!  Isn't it wonderful that He knows our needs before we know that we need them?!  Yet we worry and fret, and wonder "where is God?" but He is right there all the time, watching our lack of faith and trust in Him, the giver and sustain-er of life!  Oh, how much simpler life would be if we put our trust completely in Him!

      "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." ~ Matthew 6:25-34 

S.O.S Conference CDs ...get them before their gone!

If you didn't go to the Sufficiency of Scripture conference, (it was no doubt a great meeting with speakers like Voddie Baucham and Doug Phillips...I wish we could have went...) then you can order the cds from NCFIC.  Don't miss this great opportunity!!  The kind, generous Coghlan family :) is giving away 3 FREE sets if you follow the guidelines on their web page Inashoe .  So whether you order them or get them free, it will definitely be a blessing! 

Rub-a-dub dub....

I now have a new found appreciation and respect for the pioneer woman....The task of washing clothes out by hand, oh what joy!  Our washing machine quit earlier this week, and it doesn't look to be fixable, so until we can get another one we've started washing them out by hand, a good lesson for my girls to learn, let them get a feel of what it was like to be back in the "olden" days as they say.  After this hopefully short lesson, I don't ever plan on taking my washing machine for granted....washing for 10 people is a chore!

Monday Madness!

Just like the title says... Monday Madness!!  I am in the process of making Christmas gifts (about 15 to be exact) and with only 2 1/2 weeks left... I hope I get them finished in time!  Some of them are going out of state, so I have even less time for those.  Okay....don't panic!  Anyway, I have about 4 projects completed and I am dying to put pictures of them on my blog, BUT I have to wait so that anyone reading my blog who may be receiving a gift from me doesn't see them! (you know who you are...)  So I will give just a glimpse...I'm sorry, I can't resist!! 

I just love these pretty little flowers, and they are so fun and easy to make!

 

Scripture for the Sabbath

 "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." ~ Psalm 27:1-5

Saturday Funnies

My husband came across this photo and I thought it was quite funny...these ladies probably never had a kiss put to their dear ole lips!

Cloth or Disposable?...

That is the question, but for me it is a matter of trying to save money.  I have used disposable diapers with all my babies, only dabbling in cloth here and there.  So, I decided to try my hand at making some, and behold....they turned out okay!  I used fleece for the inside and flannel for the outside.  I still need to use the vinyl covers, because I didn't make them waterproof.  I would show you a picture of Liberty wearing them, but she may not like that in a few years!!  Over all, it was a productive day... I made 11 diapers.

Week in Review...

Well, we had a great Thanksgiving...our first in Barnesville, and our first with the Maddox's.  I am so thankful beyond words for what God has done in our lives.  In so many ways...as the song says, "Thank You LORD, for Your Blessings on Me."

Wondering what to do with your leftover turkey?  Here is what we did for our Sunday dinner... Turkey Stew.  I also added sausage for a uniquely different flavor!

We started Advent on Sunday as well.  (I ask again...where has the time gone?)   We had a good service.  I am glad we can place our hope in the Good Shepherd, our Savior Jesus Christ!

Monday we put up the Christmas Tree.  That is always a delight to the children.  James has them line up and they each take turns putting ornaments on the tree.  (I only had to rearrange a couple of them this year...LOL)  It looks pretty....I love a Christmas Trees!

Over all it has been a busy week, but what week isn't!!