It took Ben a little while to figure out that he was in the wrong swim class.
He’s quite good at the 25 yard lap now.
Coram Deo! Grace
Archive for August, 2005
Keep On Swimming
Wednesday, August 31st, 2005Be Still My Soul (The Lord is on Your Side)
Monday, August 29th, 2005Words in my mind at this moment: tiredness, anxiety, disappointment, loneliness (is this even possible in a big family?) apprehensiveness, a feeling of being weighed down. Yeah, life is busy right now.
Here is a comforting hymn:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.
Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.
Coram Deo! Grace
Katie’s Destruction
Monday, August 29th, 2005I’m just going to be writing a short little post on the Hurricane Katrina.
First of all we need to remember why is the Hurricane happening? Would God really allow something like this to happen? I think that in times like these, people tend to think that God isn’t sovereign. Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Thank you to Mark for reminding us of a greater providence than we are even aware of.
As Katrina prepares to perhaps destroy New Orleans, we also need to keep these people in our prayers. Thank you to Janna for reminding us of this.
And lastly if you wish to keep up with the Hurricane, go over to The Delta Institute to read much of the news about it. A thank you to Charles J.
Coram Deo! Grace
Knights in Shining Armor
Saturday, August 27th, 2005Let me tell you about all the requirements that I have for my future husband. He has to be tall, he has to be strong, he has to like Mozart, he has to hate broccoli, he has to have an annual income of blah, blah blah, blah, blah, etc…
Fortunately, this sort of dream man exists only in my mind. Unfortunately, many girls have come to expect that their future husband must be the stuff that dreams are made of, or a knight in shining armor, when in reality the Christian men out there today for us girls are full of flaws and sin, just like we are. But, we want a guy who is so perfect that he is perfection itself.
I hope that the Lord doesn’t send me the “perfect guy.” I kind of doubt that it would be good for me. I believe that perfection only comes after years and years of marriage. Of course, I want a Godly man. Of course, I want him to believe in starting a Godly family. And, I wouldn’t even mind if he enjoyed some of the same things that I do. But, I cannot set my standard so high, that no man on earth can reach it.
I hope that this is a reminder to all the girls out there, waiting at home for their future husband to come knock on their door.
Coram Deo! Grace
Heaven
Friday, August 26th, 2005Probably one of the most interesting things you can do is ask a kid, any kid, about heaven. Try it sometime, enjoy the results.
Coram Deo! Gracie
The Pain Of Growing Up
Friday, August 26th, 2005I’m a terrible poet. I don’t rhyme and I feel like cramped and unable to do much when I’m writing a poem. But, I have a website and periodically I put a poem up. Don’t laugh, or if you do, laugh behind my back.
The Pain of Growing Up
Oft I recall those long past days
of busy hours and weary toil.
Sun kissed children in dirty raiment
climbed those now forsaken trees.
Deep steeped thoughts now replace
those wandering words
that once uncovered chasms,
hidden in a child’s mind.
We long ago accepted that bright blue
over ill-fitting camo,
from when we hunted each other in the woods,
those were daring expeditions!
Shifting, changing, growing, leaving.
Sobs, crys tears, pleading.
Praying now for those who now are gone.
Is this the pain of growing up?
Bitter sweet are those plans now made.
We know how oft they come undone,
yet we applaud lofty ambitions, dreams.
While secretly despising growing up.
The God of all things made it so,
yet a Mother’s heart cries it is unjust
Still sigh we, the pain of growing up!
Coram Deo! Gracie
Modesty Revisited
Friday, August 26th, 2005Alright, time for a little bit of fun around here. It’s not as though I’m a black wearing, gloomy, dour Presbyterian (well, I am a Presbyterian… 
)
Any one of you notice that over at her weblog Mom has some fashion tips? I bet that many of you didn’t know that we Prairie Muffins (I’m actually a muffin mix) do like to dress like girls! Amazing revelation! And what’s more, we don’t only wear denim. Though modest Christian womanhood is usually sterotyped as denim jumper wearing, frumpy looking and unkempt, this is just not so. Modest does not equal frumpy.
Coram Deo! Graciebird
Oft in The Stilly Night
Friday, August 26th, 2005I just found this poem by Thomas Moore. It is a Scotch Air. I have one of his other poems Evening Bells copied and hanging on a wall in my room.
Oft, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me;
The smiles, the tears,
Of boyhood’s years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone,
Now dimm’d and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken!
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain hath bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
When I remember all
The friends, so link’d together,
I’ve seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather;
I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed!
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
Coram Deo! Gracie
Changes? (I Think Not)
Wednesday, August 24th, 2005I do not write for the sheer joy of writing. I do not write to develop or build up my writing skills. I do not write to share my personal opinions or uneducated shots into the darkness of a dark world. Heaven knows that these things do spur me on, but my greatest object of writing is to bring Honor and Glory to Christ.
These past few days have brought many new ideas dancing in and out of my head. Writing plots are brewing on the back burner of my mind, simmering till right for the tasting. Short stories, poems, essays and descriptions that float apart from any general body of writing. My wealth of writing yet to come is great and the hammers and anvils of mine intellect are stoking the coals; my arm is ready to shape out my newest untried word paintings.
Life is moving by quickly. Is this because I am now 16? Or is it like falling? You pick up speed as you fall, just as life quickens it fast changing, ever shifting pace as you grow old. One hardly has time to graduate childhood, leave behind a good name to be carried on through the ages and then make an exit stage right. Our lives are like dust in the wind. Withering flowers. But, one must not forget however, that no matter how short or long a time that the Lord gave us to live out on this earth, whatever it is, it is long enough for us to give Christ His rightful dues and humble ourselves before Him in repentance. Our rock is Christ.
Our family has of late started having a regular morning time together, reading and talking. Sometimes, the little children astound me with their astute observations and thoughts. Is this really the product of spent time, reading and discussion, careful explanation and patient teaching? From the faltering word-steps of the youngest reader to the fine tones of a well versed mother, our bible reading rings sweet on the ear. Twill only be years from now that we really realize the true worth of these hours.
Here stop I to go refresh myself while partaking dinner with my siblings.
Coram Deo! Gracie
Remembering a Hero
Wednesday, August 24th, 2005>>Breaking News!< <
Yesterday was the 700th anniversary of William Wallace's death.
Scotland's hero, who fought over 700 years ago against the English, defeated them, and actually invaded England, was executed after his betrayal and capture on August 23 1305.
You can read more about William Wallace here.
Coram Deo!