My Cherry Pie!

We have a couple in our church that has as a cherry tree. This is the second year that they have invited us over to pick cherries. Last year I went, not knowing what I would do with the cherries because I didn't really like them. I convinced myself to make a pie and I am so glad that I did. It was the best pie ever! Well, I did it again this year. It was the best pie ever and I ate half of it. Kirk ate the other half. If I could have invited my dad over for a piece, I would have shared with him. Sorry, but no one else is invited to my pie party. That reminds me of an old Sesame Street song. "You can't have any of mine, oh you can't have any of mine." How does that song go? What is the name of that song? Maybe my family members can help me out.

More Blessings

Two years ago, after having my youngest child, I got really sick. I was laid up for about 4 months. My husband, in a burst of sweetness and help from his mother, planted beautiful flowers all around the pool. I could just lay on the couch and look at the flowers. I enjoyed that very much. Well, one of the pots didn't get planted - a lily. By the time I got around to it, the lily had died. I was in the process of taking the dead plant to the garbage when I remembered the lilies that I had in Iowa. They are bulbs, even when their blooms are gone the bulbs stay in the ground and reproduce. Each year I always had more lilies. I decided to plant this dead looking flower anyway. I am so glad that I did, 2 years later look at the beauty that I get to enjoy when I look out my back window.

Every time I see those flowers, I think of 2 things. One, how close I came to throwing them away. I am so glad that our Heavenly Father doesn't do that with us. No matter how messed up we look on the outside, He knows our heart and He won't throw us away, as long as we live. Now when when we die and meet Him face to face and if we don't have Jesus as our Savior because we didn't believe in Him, than we are in trouble. Two, Matthew 6:28-34 says, 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Some other blessings that I have to mention are that it has been rainy and cool here. We needed the rain. AND our friends, Kim and Lance Marshall came up and visited for Memorial Day. It is nice to have special friends to spend holidays with. I hope that you have a great week and are enjoying your blessings too.

Weekly Bible Reading Update

I am still behind on the days in my One Year Bible . Today I read the May 25th Bible reading. My prayer is this, "Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money. Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me a life through your word." Psalm 119:36, 37 I am becoming a lover of the Psalms.

We Have Been Busy

May has been a busy month. I know it isn't over yet, but I wanted to share what has been going on with us. First of all, my daughter was student of the week at school the week of the 5th. Monday she took baby pictures of herself and her favorite snack to share - ice cream. Tuesday she took her favorite toy, a baby doll, and she had to use 5 adjectives to describe it. (The baby doll was her favorite toy that week, it isn't her favorite anymore.) Wednesday was free dress so she didn't have to wear her uniform. Thursday she took her favorite book for the teacher to read - a butterfly alphabet book. Friday, she got to take a family member to introduce to the class. She chose to take her brothers and dad. Of course I went along to take pictures. It didn't go too well because the brothers started showing off and the class started giggling, along with my daughter. I don't know if much was accomplished.
That same Friday that my daughter introduced her brothers and daddy, it was also Mommy and Muffins Day. I went back to her class later that day and they had a Mother's Day party for us. They sang a song and served us muffins. She made a book describing me, my favorite color, my birthday, etc. She didn't get much of that right. They also took us out for recess.
The next day, I took her to a Mother's Day Tea. It was fun, but it did get a bit long. We focused on 14 Women of the Bible. I had to stand up and talk about Rebekah. Don't you like my hat? It is the hat that I wore for my high school graduation party. I don't know where the dress is, but I still have my hat.

The pool is open and ready for guests! We went swimming on Mother's Day - it was very hot! My youngest son is not too sure of the water, but he loves to put his feet in and splash. Kirk made Mother's Day Supper. Some things didn't turn out as well - but the salmon that he put on the grill was very good.

We adopted! I want to introduce you to our new family member - Biscuit. The day after Mother's Day, Kirk brought home this 3 month old puppy from the pound. She is a Lab/Mix. The first week we couldn't agree on a name. My husband wanted to call her Snickers. My daughter wanted to call her Diamond, and my 3 year old son wanted to call her Thomas (for the train). Daddy thought of Biscuit with the help of some friends and I think we all are NOW settled with the name. She was sick when we got her, I was afraid that it was PARVO - a sickness that kills puppies. It isn't, but we have to give her medicine 2 times a day. So far she is a real good dog and the kids love her.Saturday was a jog-a-thon at my daughter's school. She went a round a few times and was done. I didn't care because it was such a hot day and Kirk wasn't with me to help with the boys. I'll have to work with her for next year.

Last, but not least, my daughter's class went on a field trip yesterday to the San Francisco Zoo. Her class has been doing a unit on farm animals, so the objective was to go to their petting zoo. We had a good time, even though we were a bit rushed. I got to chaperon and was in charge of my daughter and 2 of her friends. She spent most of the time taking pictures of all of the animals.

Thorn In My Heart

My Sister-in-Law, Suzi, sent me some books to read. Three of them are a series by Liz Curtis Higgs. Thorn In My Heart, Fair is the Rose, and Whence Came a Prince is a story from 1789 Scotland. It is a story that parallels the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel from the Old Testament. I have to tell you the truth, I didn't know if I was going to like this story, because I don't like the Biblical story. I have put myself in Rachel and Leah's shoes and it makes me heart-sick. It took me awhile to get started with this story, but I have to tell you, that it is an amazingly written story. It is a story about weakness, sin, humility, and love. Of course it doesn't mirror the Biblical story, it is cleverly written to tie the two stories together. It gives you a new perspective in reading the Biblical account. I do recommend reading this series. Thank you Suzi!

One funny thing that I found while reading these books was that I started talking like they did - dearie, bairn, lad, lassie, etc. I think that it is because I have roots that are Scottish. I hope that you are as blessed as I was after reading these books!

Weekly Bible Reading Update

I am behind a few days this week. I have been reading a series of book that my sister-in-law sent me. I lose track of the time and forget that I haven't read my scripture reading. Today I read May 16th.

John 8:34-36 says, Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free."

Proverbs 15:12-14 says, Mockers hate to be corrected, so they stay away from the wise. A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.

I hope that you aren't a "slave to sin." I hope that you aren't "staying away from the wise." I hope that you have a "happy face". Finally, I hope that you aren't "feeding on trash." God bless you this week.

A Child's Need For Love

My husband took us out for ice cream at Dairy Queen. On the trip there, my middle child, started making a noise - "Ahh." My oldest child said, "Stop it." So it started back and forth: "ahh," "stop it," "ahh," "stop it," "ahh," "stop it" until my oldest hurls her baby doll across the van toward her brother to show him that she meant business. Needless to say that her father was so angry at her that he told her that she was in so much trouble and she probably wouldn't be getting any ice cream. Of course that led to many tears and sobs. After we were parked in the Dairy Queen parking lot, Daddy talked to her about what happened and why it was wrong. He told her that she could have ice cream, but she would have to apologize to her brother for hurling her baby doll at him. Her brother's response? - "Don't worry I still love you." That got me, I can still hear him saying that, I wish I could hold on to that forever. BUT that is not what my story is about. What I can't get over is how my daughter clung to her daddy after being reprimanded. She insisted that he sit next to her at the table while we ate our ice cream. She had a need to be reassured that she was loved and back in her daddy's good graces.

I should be going to bed, but I wonder if that is how I am with my Heavenly Father. Doing wrong, having to bear the consequence, and then running to my Heavenly Father for his grace. I think I understand love and grace more because I have an earthly father to show me and I am so grateful that my children also have a model in their father of love and grace.

Weekly Bible Reading Update

May 12th:The One Year Bible NLT, Proverbs selection/ Proverbs 15:4
"Gentle words are a tree of life, a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit." Be gentle today, that is the goal for myself.

I also wanted to share that I read the story of Ruth the other day. I have never really cared too much about the story myself - always liking the story of Queen Esther so much better, but I have changed my mind. The story of Ruth is very romantic, don't you think? I also read a story that I don't ever remember reading before, although I have read the Bible through before. It was the story of King Nahash of Ammon gouging out people's right eyes. Interesting. Have a Blessed Week and I hope that you are reading your Bible too!

Communion Devotion for Mother's Day

(I have the Communion Devotion for Sunday and I got it finished ahead of time so I thought I would post it. Hopefully I won't make any changes.)

Recently, I heard a story of a mom who has a red plate that says, “It’s Your Special Day.” On special occasions such as birthdays, promotions, first day of school, etc, this plate is used for this very special person’s meal. After every special occasion, the mom writes on the back of the plate with a permanent marker the occasion and a personal note. There were several years of memories already dedicated on the back of this very special plate. The kids felt so special getting to eat off of it and the mother probably felt so much pride to be reminded of all the memories when using “The Plate.” Pretty Sweet, right? What a great idea. After one of the children’s birthdays, this special plate was sitting dirty in the sink with the other dinner dishes. The husband, being the very thoughtful guy that he is, decided to load the dishwasher with those dirty dishes and wash them. I can just imagine the scene in my head – a husband so proud of himself for helping his wife out, patting himself on the back for all the points that he was scoring for doing such a great act of service for his wife. The next thing that this mom realizes is that this special plate is spotless – of all the food and all of the written memories. I guess permanent marker isn’t always so permanent because the dishwasher washed it all away. Can you guess the shock and horror as the mom stares at her plate. All the work gone, she could never redo the moments in the same way again and the poor husband’s points washed down the drain with all of those memories. If I understand most men, he will probably never wash another dish again. The truth is that this woman really didn’t wash memories down the drain, in fact, she will think of them and her husband every meal that she uses this plate.

There is meal for Christians that is supposed to be filled with memories as well. Jesus asks us to remember him at communion time. In the Bible, this time is also called the Lord’s Supper. When I was a little girl, the men would march down the aisles of church at communion time. They would gather around the table and pray, serve each other communion and then pass the plates to everyone. I remember it being all really solemn and quiet. During this time I would just stare at the communion table and look at the carvings on the table. I longed to run my fingers in those carvings. As I grew older, I realized that those carvings said, “This Do In Remembrance Of Me.” I didn’t get it then and even now the importance of those words can be forgotten in this hectic life.

I Corinthians 11:23-26 says, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you: do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Pampers and Cheerios commercial

My kids and I love this commercial. The first time we saw it we all giggled. That was when my youngest still was not saying any words. Every time we watched it the two other kids would say "dadda" just like the baby would say it. Shortly after that, my youngest was saying "dadda" and "mamma." Was this a coincidence? He still just says those two words, besides "ugh?" when he is questioning something, "Oww" when he head- butts you, some car noise that I can't spell out when he is playing with cars, and a growl when he pretending or not pretending to be mad. What a kid.

Weekly Scripture Reading Update

I am a day behind. I'm to May 4th. The Scripture reading in John on May 3rd is the scripture I am using for today. I memorized John 3:16 when I was a child, but I find the verses following it very meaningful.

John 3:16-21 (New Living Translation)

16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.

Kirky's Turkeys

I have a private blog called Kirky's Turkeys. You have to have permission to see it. I just wanted to notify the ones that do that I just posted some new stuff. If you need me to invite you or re-invite you, let me know. Love to you all - Rebecca