Baby Cacti
These were started as seeds last summer! 15 started and now we're looking at 9. For a while I thought all had died. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but they sure grow slow!
Only One Life by C.T. Studd
Only One Life
C.T. Studd
Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
The Sting of Death and Remembering
Technology is such a blessing and a curse. I'm torn at the moment on which it is. I've just finished reading an email exchange between my dear old friend and myself from Aug 2015. My friend has been with the Lord for 8 years now, so this was not terribly long before the end of her life. The end was so unexpected and tragic. Out of it was born another wonderful friendship for me between her mom and me. That sweet friendship lasted until 2024 when she, at 93, said her final farewell. Two great losses from the same family. Both caring listeners with comforting advice. Reading my friend's words just makes me cry. I hear her voice in those words and am flooded with memories on what a comfort she was during some lonely years. The narrow road of raising conservative Christian children was often one where I wished for friends. I had this one friend who understood my concerns and why we just didn't fit with most people.
God knows what we need when we need it. He knows who we need when we need them.
I'm not sure how I went from being 41 to 51 so fast. How I went from having a very close friend to being someone who tragically lost my closest friend. We all live with loss and we move forward. God shows us blessings and those do ease the pain of loss. I'd never want to trade the friendship with my friend's mom for anything. She was such a dear lady to me. My first widowed friend as a matter of fact. How I loved that English girl!
It is amazing how we can be so sure we need something only to look back and see that we don't need it presently at all. God is so faithful. He has carried me along and now so many things I recall struggling with, are barely a thing in my world. There's still hints here and there at times, but He has filled gaps, given purpose, and given friends to walk this road of life. I don't have the same needs now as I had as a younger woman.
He gives a greater grace, and He gives it when we need it. My church family has become so important to me. Moreso than I would have ever thought possible. And God has used the tragedy of my friend's loss to always keep the flame burning of truth in mental health issues and how many of the struggles in that category are not dealt with rightly by the world. My faith in psychology couldn't be lower. My faith in mental hospitals couldn't be lower. My belief that mind altering drugs help people is nearly zero, and when they do, it is a needle in a haystack situation. People struggle with real problems and respect for human life and dignity demands real answers, which come from God and His word and those who know how to use it to help. Hormonal changes from cancer and surgery need a very careful handling. Mind altering drugs are not the answer. We have to have a solution to the crisis a woman's body goes through before we remove all her hormones.
God's timing is perfect, always. And He knows the end from the beginning, yet somewhere in there is human responsibility and consequences to actions. A lot of things do not add up, and I'm thankful I can take comfort that my friend is with the Lord. That is the only way I can relax and leave it in His hands to have the final justice.
Signing off tonight, remembering Terri and Rita, with love. ♥
Productive Days
Some people make lists and work off them for weeks and weeks, sometimes even months. I've certainly made lists when there are specific tasks I'm knocking out and need to prioritize, but often there are long tasks in my mind that only I can do, and which only really matter to me. They are the hard things that aren't going to happen incidentally or bit by bit. Multiple rooms in the house will be impacted simultaneously while I clean out, organize and restructure spaces.
Today was such a day of productivity.
Epic things have happened in this house since May with kitchen cleaning out and reorganization, armoires being reorganized and items consolidated or tossed, and we're using one desk in the living room that finally has all my stuff in or near it, organized. I've done a major culling of my clothing and have seriously tackled my husband's clothes, piling up categories for him to go through when he gets the mind to do it.
The impetus was packing up my daughter's items from college and then packing all of her items for moving out. Suddenly the volume of what one person can have hit me hard, and I needed to take a solid look at my own clothes hoarding. No longer do my drawers have clothes crammed in them, and I've taken lots out that I simply never wore. It is so freeing. Shoes that didn't work are gone. Why hold on to them?
This is just the start, and I hope to free up more space in this house before 2026, but at least we're off to a good start.
The garage needs work yet again, but that can't happen until the desk we removed from the house sells and my daughter's stuff is in her apartment. Meanwhile, I've got more than a few old computers to deal with. That is a project I can't wait to be done with! ♥
Critical Issues in Biblical Counseling
Here are some trustworthy resources if you want to learn more about this important topic. 🌺
https://www.shepherdpress.com/store/critical-issues/
Child Rearing Tip
I was reminded of something today.
If a child is old enough to defy a parent in a certain way, they are able to understand enough why you are correcting them. Waiting until they have the understanding you have is a recipe for a very sinful, rebellious child. Don't be deceived by resources that tell you kids need to understand before you discipline them. The rod of correction drives sin far from a child. When sin is committed, it is the parent's job to correct it as God instructs. As with the Israelites in the time of the Judges, partial obedience will bring God's hand of correction and consequences that are serious. The Lord has called parents to train up their children in the way they should go. Doesn't mean they will go that way, but we have to do the hard work of driving sin far from them while they are still young and under our control. First time obedience with a good attitude is critical. No talking back, no defiantly questioning before obeying, and it should be very rare that there's questioning at all before obeying, unless you somehow were not clear in your instructions. Kids can bring a biblical appeal if they think you've forgotten something, but if they question you and your authority in their lives, it is rebellion against God and needs to be treated seriously, right away. It isn't a matter of offending you, making you angry, or inconveniencing you as their parent. Are they obeying the authority God has put over them? If they aren't responding as they should to the Lord, then you need to step in and make sure they do not do it that same way again.
Remember with firstborns, the younger are watching and the stakes are high. Satan wants your firstborn because he knows the others are more likely to follow and it will cause marital strife. It is like bowling pins. Knock down the one in front, chances of it hitting the rest are great.
United Healthcare Denies UC
It's incredible to see that United Healthcare still denies college kids with Ulcerative Colitis.
I'm working with my son's roommate, who is alone in this country, fighting with his insurance who refuses him the medication he desperately needs. I can't help but wonder how it would be if this young man had a mom who was living, how this would be going, or a father that lived in this country. An insurance company that cared would sure be nice though.
Inside UnitedHealth’s Effort to Deny Coverage for a Patient’s Care — ProPublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis
I'm very interested in seeing this young man get the help he needs.
Reality: Cholesterol
Here's a hard truth. God doesn't make disciples so they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. This includes eating. At no time in civilization has eating been as abundant and as focused on as it is now. I don't feel this statement needs any qualifiers to convince the reader of it's veracity. It is an opinion I think easily proven. The ingredients available, TV shows about cooking, books, and the internet, have made food move to a place of near idolatry in some cases.
I'd like to encourage the young readers, meaning under 40, to pay attention to foods you'll need to really moderate so you don't end up with health issues later in life that cause doctors to want you to go on medication and have tests done regularly. Developing a taste for something and then having to cut it out is a lot harder than never developing the taste. We see this in plenty of areas as Christians: music, books, movies, clothing, scrolling the internet...we do not encourage living fast and loose and then reigning it in before it is "too late" in any area but eating I'd say.
Lowering Cholesterol
The issue of lowering cholesterol and it being a positive or negative is interesting when you start looking it up. It seems inflammation is usually the thing to concern ourselves with. Sugar is something my body just doesn't like. It is low numbers-wise, but day in and day out, my system wants VERY low. I can feel it, and with how it keeps me awake, think it is just my lot in life to avoid it as much as I can. It's a bummer because I've just recently gotten good with making layered cakes look nicer.
I'm trying Milk Thistle and Niacinamide, alternating daily, plus losing 10 lbs to see if that will lower my cholesterol enough...meaning get it below 200. Even though I strive to eat little dairy most of the time, I'm going even lower again with it but adding in whey protein for it's cholesterol benefits. We will see how the sinuses do and if it is causing too much inflammation, it'll go by the wayside of course. The other thing is exercise that gets my heart rate up, which is not enjoyable and is a little difficult given my hip issue (labrum). Working slower the past 2 yrs and cutting my daytime hours is surely part of the culprit for the sudden spike in my LDL. Working 4 days/week two years ago made a difference! But I could feel the strain physically so started to reduce and then my leg issue started, and we cut my daytime work in half. Working by the job instead of by the hour allows me to do this work but I'm no longer getting the physical workout the same way. It is hard to balance learning to sit more and rest with getting enough activity to be healthy!!
Looking forward to testing all of this out and seeing where things are in 3 months.
Stay tuned!
Chiropractic
It's been about 10 years since I've seen a chiropractor, and have been quickly reminded of why it is a good thing for me to continue with for my life's duration. Everyone's body is different. Mine gets out of whack, especially my neck. It is likely due to my vision that causes me to tilt my head to see straight, but also just the way things are. My low back needs adjusting, neck, and mid back, and it has been this way for a long, long time. My first venture to the chiropractor was when I was 19 and had a skiing accident. It helped a lot! When we were first married I would drive an hour to a good chiropractor in Ohio. It was during one of those trips our first dog was found at a pound. What a time! We enjoyed Jakey for over 16 years.
This doctor was a Divine appointment and like a doctor I saw 15 yrs ago, did some Active Release Therapy on my hip to break up scar tissue that is not helping my torn labrum (what we assume is). Just a note to my kids that if you start having physical pain in various places, remember ART has been a huge help to me, after spending countless hours and thousands of dollars. Massage, chiropractic, PT, ART...it is what it is with my pain and body. Add to it needing to be limited with sugar and dairy because inflammation hits me hard, plus my metabolism is sensitive to sugar. Maybe there's a catch-all condition title to how I am. I don't know. I'm just eager to stay off medication, be strong, and have no pain if possible.
Johann Sebastian Bach | Matthäus - Passion / St Matthew Passion (BWV 244)
This is pretty amazing, from 1727 Bach. You can follow along with the translation to get the meaning!
Good Friday Services
For over 10 years I've posted churches where you can find a Good Friday service. This year, I'm mixing it up and sharing links to two great messages.
One is from Grace Fellowship Church in downtown Fredericksburg, and the other is CityLight Baptist Church in Culpeper, VA.
Grace does their service at 6:30 pm and CityLight's is at 7 pm and it is a Communion service. If you missed worshipping at a church with some of the best preaching around FXBG, head to one of these next year!
Holy Week Focusing
I've been enjoying a Holy Week reading from Desiring God each day this week. Just trying to keep focus and get my mind more on Jesus and drawing closer to God through Him this week.
Here is a link to Tuesdays: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/he-loved-us-through-loneliness?utm_campaign=Holy+Week&utm_content=Day+3+%28Holy+Tuesday%29&utm_medium=cio&utm_source=email
I'm not sure it will come through because I signed up to receive them in my inbox.
Using my phone often isn't something that's enjoyable. Last week I had to use it a ton because of a texting pampered chef party. It was great to earn a ton of free products again this year which I'm very excited about getting, but being on my phone for 4 more hours per day or something insane nearly pushed me to the brink. Even so, I signed up for YouVersion's Easter week readings as well so I'm sure to get more time in the Word than I would otherwise. Running to appointments and such, extra time can be found so I try to read.
I hope you are reading and thinking this week about what God did for you in having His One and only begotten Son come to earth about 2000 yrs ago to live a sinless life and then be crucified as one guilty, yet innocent, so He could be the payment for your sin (and mine). Trust Him today and ask Him to forgive you and put a new song in your mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Good Friday Timeline
The times are approximate, but I find it helpful to know generally what was happening, when, on this day where we remember the crucifixion of the Son of God.
**I do not endorse this website for any other material as I have not looked at it closely.
Precept Austin-Sermon Transcript on Ephesians
The other night I was looking at posts on this blog that have been visited recently, and came upon a post which contained some links. I hadn't looked at those links in over 10 years. Well, one I deleted without looking further at it, and the other I perused reading a few articles that piqued my interest because they were slamming a doctrine I adhere to. It was interesting how I felt a bit nervous reading them, but in striving to be an honest student of the Word (albeit, very very weak) I didn't want to shy away. As I read what seemed like a scathing rebuke of what I consider truth, I was more convinced that how I see things is accurate. A terrible argument full of confusion, which lacks logic and accuracy, does nothing to substantiate a claim, for the record. I deleted that link also.
There was another link and in looking at that site the last couple of days, I'm finding it is scholarly, thoughtful, and thus far, accurate from my vantage point. This sermon transcript is very good and contains some favorite verses of Scripture. Verses that have given me great comfort and made many things seem to fall into place once I gave them an honest reading. Let's not be afraid to believe God and take Him at His word. Don't let people try to label you or put you in a box, equating all sorts of things to you because you think "X"...they can think you also think "Y"...let them. I'm not worried about it and will not let the way others act cause me to change course or spend tons of energy trying to defend myself.
God is so wonderful...you know a conversation I had recently prompted me to spend a little time on my blog. I found that old post, looked at the links, and then came upon this sermon to read. It literally says exactly what I believe and things I just said to this friend, in a very general way so as to not promote disunity, which I am careful about in live conversations. How great is our God to give me this comfort and assurance!! I've found no greater comfort than Ephesians 1, and to see this pastor explain it just how I see it is amazing.
Sermon from Robert Morgan on Ephesians
Mark 1:5
Wisdom should lead us to not overload those in another place than we are with information they are not ready to consider. I'm certain my husband is careful with the information he gives me, and he always has been. He carries the load he's carrying as our protector and provider, and is good at weighing what everyone can take on. The comparison isn't exact, but the same general principle applies with our brothers and sisters in the faith. We need to be careful to perceive when we're not doing someone a favor by making them think about something in a way that is going to strain them or cause them to struggle.
The Holy Spirit is the One to reveal the truth He wants to reveal in the minds of a believer reading the Word of God or hearing sound preaching. I am not equipped to debate many things, nor do I wish to, particularly with fellow church members. Unity is extremely important to God, so I generally side-step areas of disagreement that are not fundamental matters of faith and belief. I will discuss differences much more openly with people who attend other Christian churches, but even then, unity is more important than changing minds on secondary and tertiary issues.
That said:
Mark 1:5. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Question: Did ALL of the people, every single one, go out to Jesus to be baptized? When we approach scripture with a preconceived idea that a word always has to mean X because otherwise it doesn't lead to the conclusion we want, we're not giving an honest reading. "All" does not mean ALL, as in every single one, every time the word is used. We must look at the context and not be afraid of what the Bible says or is teaching. I contend that not every single person went and I do not think the verse implies it. Figures of speech; they exist now and I believe they existed when scripture was penned. It likely means MANY, maybe even MOST, but not EVERY SINGLE person living in each country.
John 6:37-39
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
Question: Does every single person that the Father gives to Jesus go to Him? Yes, this statement gives the limiting factor. The people God gives to Jesus, all of THEM, will COME to Jesus. (side note: All that He GIVES will COME to Jesus. Isn't that interesting? On God's side, He is GIVING them to Jesus but on the side of people, they are COMING.) Does this say the Father gives ALL people to Him? Every single person that the Father GIVES to Jesus WILL come to Jesus. And of ALL that God has given Jesus, NONE will be lost, they will be found in Him (saved) until the end and will be with Him in eternity.
Just to make a statement, it is OUR OWN SIN that sends us to Hell, so to say God sends people to Hell is incorrect. God is good all the time, and He would be just if we all spent eternity in Hell. The way I see it, He is just to choose some to not spend eternity in Hell. Praise God for His mercy! The mind of God is much higher than mine, and many men have minds much deeper than mine, but that is just how I see it. I think we need to be careful to not throw stones at Christians who believe we're all saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves, but realize it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man boast. We need to believe in Jesus Christ as the only payment for our sin. If we agree on that, we're among the brethren, so why try to portray one another as wicked if we disagree on finer points?
Can You Hear?
Seven Steps to Spiritual Stability
When free time is available, we often want to relax...but does that really build us up as we need? Sometimes it does, but sometimes the time is just wasted looking at useless things, or engaging in fruitless ventures. Here's a rich series to listen to, or you can read the transcript :).
The great pastor and teacher, John MacArthur, brings Seven Steps to Spiritual Stability.
Pray for John MacArthur and his dear wife. Here is an aged man who has been committed to truth for decades. He's encouraged thousands and thousands to follow closer to the Lord. He has such a clear, organized method of communicating--I have learned a lot from him over the past 28 years or so. Teaching and preaching, and demonstrating his profound love for the church, he is an inspiration. When I heard him preach on his profound love for the church, it really got in my mind and I've thought about it many times throughout the years since. Do I love the church?? Really love it? So that I'm all-in even if there are problems? Because there always will be problems. Do I guard the church, build it up, serve in it, keep it undefiled by who I am and what I do? I think that lesson from John is one that will stick with me and help me through hard times more than anything else he's said that I've heard.
Here's some good teaching, friends....
No Refined Sugar Sourdough Discard Blueberry Bread
With all the baking, I'm working toward less sugar in the recipes.
These are this week's Sunday bake.
Finishing Well: Quotes
"The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying." - Unknown
"It's not how you start, but how you finish that matters." - Michael Phelps
"Finishing strong is the only respectable way to finish." - Gary Ryan Blair
"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." - William Feather
"The last mile is always the hardest." - Joseph Chamberlain
"It's not how you start, but how you finish that matters." - Michael Phelps
"Finishing strong is the only respectable way to finish." - Gary Ryan Blair
"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." - William Feather
"The last mile is always the hardest." - Joseph Chamberlain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)