Merry Christmas

Just wanting to take time to wish all my blogger friends a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. "Great is the Lord our God and greatly to be praised."

Freedom or Bondage

"For I have told him that will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows,
because his sons made themselves wile, and he did not restrain them.: 1 Samuel 3:13

I read a story about a boy who stole something small and his mother didn't punish him. When he stole something bigger she just praised him. As the boy became a man he just kept on stealing until one day he got caught. Just before his sentence was carried out he turned and looked at his mother and shouted angrily at her and said "If you had punished me when I first stole something it would not have come to this." This man's life was ruined because his mother did not love him enough to punish him nor did she give him boundaries. And he ended up hating his mother. Children can live without new toys, better clothes and trips to Disney World but they can not thrive without boundaries.
A study was done on two groups of school children. The one group was sent out to recess. The playground had no fence around it so the children ran free where ever they pleased. When the bell rang and they had to come in from recess they had a hard time settling down. But the other group went out for recess and this playground had a fence around it. The children knew that was their boundary and they couldn't play beyond it. When they were called in they had no problem settling down in the classroom. And there were less behavior problems in the classroom.

It may seem strange but limits are an important part of our freedom.


And if there are no boundaries there will be bondage.

Christmas Tree

Hello my fellow bloggers...
"He came into the world...."Hebrews 10:5 Did you know in ancient Scandinavia, the evergreen tree was a symbol of life in the middle of a cold dark winter? They cut down evergreens and brought them to their homes as a source of encouragement. And it was Martin Luther who made it popular as a Christmas symbol of new life given to us by God, wrapped up in the form of a baby. I am delighted to tell you that we have put up our Christmas tree. To tell you the truth, I wanted to put it up much sooner. I have been feeling the spirit of the season for a few weeks now. We usually put it up on December 1st but we decided to do it a week early. We listened to Christmas music and put our nativity scene on the piano. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men! "Luke 2:14

Chocolate anyone......

With Christmas right around the corner I know I'll be eating my share of chocolate (more than my share) . Its one of life's little pleasures. The Bible tells us that He opens His hand and satisfies His children with good things (Ps. 104:28). I think that includes chocolate. After all, He made the cocoa trees and beans, the sunshine and rain. He causes it to grow.
So if you love chocolate I hope you will enjoy it this Christmas season.

This is what I'm for...

I'm for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
I'm for my husband and he for me.
I'm for my kids, of course.
I'm for family.
I'm definitely for friends.
I'm for soup, any soup.
I'm for snickers.
I'm for full moons, so pretty.
I'm for shopping at Value Village.
I'm for reading.
I'm for the art of homemaking.
I'm for the art cardmaking.
I'm so for pretty books with glossy pages.
I'm for blogging , of course...
and reading my friends blogs.
I'm for tear jerker movies.
I'm for sweaters...not necessarily on me.
I'm for home....
I'm am Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
I'm for being a stay at home mom....I'll never regret a minute of it.
I'm for Chai Tea...thanks to Marianne
I'm still for coffee too.
I'm for homeschool....thanks for inspiring me Tina. You told me I could do it. You remind me why I do it.
I'm for dates with my honey even if its to Canadian Tire.
I'm for small women's Bible study.
I'm for spur of the moment field trips.
I'm for cheap fuel prices.
I'm for Olive Garden...my favorite.
I'm for playing piano although I have a looong way to go.
I'm for learning new songs and singing alto.
I'm for grapes...please don't get me anymore.
I'm for pretty journals (getting back into journaling again)
I'm for Settlers of Catan.
I'm for Knack Zuut.
I'm for tomato juice with a little lime.
I'm for getting to bed early...hardly ever happens.
I'm for snow ...lots of it.
I'm for holding a soft ,warm,sleeping baby.
I'm for making my husbands favorite dish....Japanise stir-fry.
I'm for going on walks.
I'm for new shoes that don't hurt my feet.
I'm for bookstores.
I'm for warm apple pie with ice cream.
I'm for coming home from a trip.
I'm for remembering my dad.
I'm for canning with Aggie Heide...our meema thanks to Moomer.
I'm for watching the kids toboggan.
I'm for coloring...really I am.
I'm for a good massage.
I'm for meal planning... I'm starting that again.
I'm for visiting my mom. She won't always be there.
I'm for Jaffa walks.
I'm for Marianne's phone calls and her good idea's.
I'm for doing something I thought I couldn't do.
I'm for the colors yellow, green, blue, purple, red and pink.
I'm for fresh cinnamon buns.
I'm for the scent of lavender pine-sol.
I'm for camping....not unpacking from camping.
I'm for looking through our albums.
I'm for 25 degree temperature days.
I'm for Aquafina water.
I'm for good deals at No Frills.
I'm for getting a new spiral bound notebook.
I'm for scented candles...not necessarily burning them.
I'm for snickers...did I already say that.
I'm for anything with nuts.
I'm for brown paper packages tied up with string.....I got one today.

I just know I'm forgetting something.

Ladies, I simply must share a recipe with you all. I love the Olive Garden. When I get a chance to go there I always order the "all you can eat" soup,salad and breadsticks. The soup I order is the Pasta e Fagioli. Soooo good. I'm a soup kind of girl. Well, the other day I came across the recipe. I was thrilled. And I want to share it with you.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 can Great Northern beans, drained
3 cans beef stock (or 4 1/2 cups homemade)
3 tspn. oregano (I substitute Italian Seasoning)
2 tspn. pepper
5 tspn. parsley
1 tspn. Tobasco sauce (I omit this)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 c. pasta

Brown beef in a skillet. Drain fat and place meat in a crock pot or large stock pot. Add everything but the pasta. Crockpot: cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. Stovetop: Simmer on low for about 3 hours. Just before serving, cook pasta and add to soup.

I chose yellow font today because its a bright and cheerful color and that 's how I feel today. But let me tell you about yesterday first. I woke up with a headache....now you know the rest of the story but let me tell you the details. So my headache progressed to a migrane. I tried taking a walk because sometimes the cold air helps. Didn't help... I took Excedrin and took a nap....no go. I finally was able to vomit....sorry girls......and that usually takes care of it. But that didn't do it this time. So my last resort was to call a certain friend of mine and she gave a massage that was torturous but that totally took care of my migraine.
Thanks Maria!
And then a very special friend came over and brought me homemade noodle soup for my birthday. That was a very wonderful way to end the day. Plus she brought me a large coffee.
Thanks Marianne!
And today is a beautiful sunny day. The world seems brighter and things are not as bad as they seemed yesterday.

Shepherd of Love

I was reading a message by Charles Spurgeon on The Lost Sheep. He said that if a dog gets lost he finds his way back home. Even a horse might find his way back to his master's stable. But if a sheep gets lost ..... he is lost. A camel can scent water and a vulture can spy food from a great distance but a sheep would starve to death before it would find food. A sheep is defenseless against danger. Thats why we need a shepherd. We have a Great Shepherd!!!!! One that would lay down His life for even one lost sheep!!!!!!
I'm always looking for new songs. I found this one this morning so I decided to blog it. Maybe it will bless someone today.

Shepherd of Love
Words and music by John W. Peterson

John 10:11
"I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."

Shepherd of Love, You knew I had lost my way:
Shepherd of Love, You cared that I'd gone astray.
You sought and found me, placed around me
Strong arms that carried me home;
No foe can harm me or alarm me, never again will I roam!

Shepherd of love, contentment at last is mine;
Deep in my heart, there's peace and a joy divine.
The future's brighter, burden's lighter,
My cup runs over each day;
Your grace supplied me, now provides me all that I need for the way.

Shepherd of Love, my Savior and Lord and Guide;
Shepherd of Love, forever I'll stay by Your side.
You sought and found me, placed around me
Strong arms that carried me home;
No foe can harm me, or alarm me, never again will I roam!

Shepherd of Love, my Savior and Lord and Guide,
Shepherd of Love, forever I'll stay by Your side.

Wow...God is speaking to me today....Today is a cold, dark, dreary day. So inwardly I was struggling with feeling that way too. And I just had to scold myself that I would so easily forget the work God is doing in my heart.
Two times at different times of the day God was pointing out verses to me.(This was not during my morning devotions time.) It was exciting to me because I really felt like He had something to say to me about something specific.
I was a another lady's blog and she was writing about this......

Hosea 10:12 ...break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Fallow ground is ground that has been plowed but nothing has been planted for several seasons, or land that is not in use.

And then later on my daily calender page I read...

Isaiah 44:3

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants.

God is at work in my life and in our family. I am excited about what God is doing.

Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.



One of the speakers that we heard from was Fern Nichols. She is the founder of Moms In Touch, and the author if a book called "Every Child Needs A Praying Parent." I have that book and have read it several times so I was thrilled to meet the author. Her message was very good. She spoke about praying for your children. (of course) She said that our prayers for our children are going into a bowl in heaven. We are to claim our children for Christ and reclaim the ground from satan. And sometimes we don't know how to pray. Sometimes just our tears are silent prayers. Sometimes we just need to say, "Oh God, help." We need to pray that satan would not have one of our children. And realize that satan is defeated through prayer. Better yet, we have a defeated enemy. When Christ died on the cross satan was defeated. Praise God! If we pray with that in mind then we could pray with more confidence. When we read Joshua chapter 1 God told him over and over to "be strong and very courageous". We can take that and apply it to our prayers especially in regard to praying for our children. When we look at certain situations with our children we get discouraged and we're tempted to think that our prayers aren't making a difference but if we take God at is Word, know that satan is defeated and if we are strong and very courageous than satan will shrink back and we will gain ground in the lives of our children. Praise God!
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Just a short blog to share with you tonight. I wanted to share some quotes from True Women 08 that really stood out to me.
"God saved me from the life I desired and gave me the life HE desired."
"Treat your children as if you won't have them next year. Train your children as if they won't have you next year."
"Janet Parshall said that "for years the kitchen was her classroom. The things God taught her there were the exact things God was using her for today."
"Pray that satan would not have one of your children. Know that satan is defeated by prayer. Prayer is our greatest weapon."
"The quest for happiness is not found in any man or any woman but in Christ alone."

In the summer I registered for the True Women 08 conference but I had a battle inside of me about going. Especially as the conference drew closer. I had so many worries about how this and that would work out. I even tried to get someone else to take my place. But the day before the day we left everything was in place and I was excited. So excited that I didn't even sleep a wink.(neither did some of the others)So off we went at 5:00am Thursday Morning. It was a time that I'll never forget and never be the some. And telling about it doesn't do it justice but I do want to share some.....
In the 1950's Betty Friedan started a movement among women which lead to a revolution. There was a feeling of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. It was a problem without a name. There was a "Concienceness Raising" This was to promote women to talk about their unhappiness about being just a wife and mother. Some didn't even know that they were unhappy until this movement. In the 60's they named it "Patriarchy" Pater means Father and archy means rule. So it means breaking apart from the rule of men. So the thinking started "we don't need men",we can do anything without them". So women rebelled, became demanding and a revolution was fanned into flame. Forty years ago in Chicago there was a feminist movement conference. The women there were told to go home and tell 2 women the things that they heard at the feminist conference. It spread like wild fire. So there we were 40 years later hearing the truth being unveiled. There were 200 women at that conference. And there were more than 6000 women at this True Women Conference. So what would happen if we would go home and tell 2 other women. The truth about the true role of a women as is clearly seen in the Bible. So we need to change our course completely and swim up stream like a salmon the rest of our days. So some might say that the feminists of that day were obviously non-believers. So it didn't effect us. We have all been influenced by the colors of feminism. That's why women are so unhappy just being a wife and mother. They pursue other goals to find real fulfillment. Some even completely switch roles with their husband. He stays home and wife goes to works. They say it works... There are many other ways in which the feminist view point has effected even Christians. If you go to True Women 08 website and listen to a message by Mary Kassian you will find way more then I can mention here... And there was so much more that we seen and heard that has impacted my life for the better.

These are the other hulagens who went on a nature walk with us.

Yesterday we went on an adventure. We paused our school day and went for a walk on the beautiful trails in Jaffa woods. What an awesome God we have. "The Autumn of life is a great time to focus on God's wonderful blessings to us." (David Jerimiah) Walking through the woods caused me to reflect on the God we serve. Autumn is beautiful but it also brings with it a little sadness because winter is ahead. And yet when winter comes, we know that springtime is not far .

Hello Blog World

Hello out there.... This is Margaret here...on an adventure. May this blog spot always glorify my Lord and Savior and never me. May the thoughts I share be HIS thoughts. Amy Carmichael said once "Holy Spirit, think through me till your ideas are my ideas..
So with that in mind may the thoughts I write reflect only God. Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethern, whatsoever things are true..noble...just...pure...lovely...of good report...meditate on these things"