Oswald Chambers Today

November 30th.
BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM
"His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inability is an insult to the Creator. The deploring of our own incompetence is a slander against God for having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining in the sight of God the things that sound humble before men, and you will be amazed at how staggeringly impertinent they are. "Oh, I shouldn't like to say I am sanctified; I'm not a saint." Say that before God; and it means - "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are chances I have not had; so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn't possible." That may sound wonderfully humble before men, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Again, the things that sound humble before God may sound the opposite before men. To say Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified is in the sight of God the acme of humility, it means you have so completely abandoned yourself to God that you know He is true. Never bother your head as to whether what you say sounds humble before men or not, but always be humble before God, and let Him be all in all.
There is only one relationship that matters, and that is your personal relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord. Let everything else go, but maintain that at all costs, and God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God's purposes, and
yours may be that life.

I love this devotional. I try and read it everyday. Today stuck out to me. It usually takes reading a few times before I can grasp the point it. The language isn't current, so it takes a few times of reading before I can thoroughly understand. But when I have got it understood it is always applicable. even if it was written a while ago. This particular day rang true. How often do we look for the approval man. All the time. We measure ourselves against others and compare what we have with what another has and measure ourselves. We think we are better or worse and through that we end up judging ourselves or another person. We need to measure ourselves against the Godly example and we will see that no one measures up. We are all sinners and not one is righteous. That is why we all are in such a desperate need of a saviour. With Christmas coming up it will be that much more apparent. At this time of year everyone that has heard of Jesus will think of Jesus. We will hear about Him on the radio with Christmas songs and some may go to Church at this time of year, who don't ever go at another time of year. We see that Jesus came and was born in the lowliest place. A stable with animals in the cold. Jesus can identify with anyone because He came to earth as a baby. Babies are helpless little humans in need of care. We are helpless because there is no way that we can avoid sinning. It is in our nature as humans. It is unavoidable. Once we can realize that, we can see that without the forgiveness of Jesus and His death and bloodshed on the cross... there is no way that we can be forgiven. We can't turn one hair on our head grey... let alone forgive our own sin. Jesus was the perfect sinless man and he died with our sin in mind. When God in Heaven looks down to earth at his sons and daughters... he doesn't see our sin. What he sees is the blood of Jesus covering our sin. And through the death of Jesus we can live with the rest and peace that goes along with knowing that we are forgiven and that nothing will seperate us from the love of Christ.

1 Kings 17

We start our new study home group tonight. Mr. D and I are the "guides" and we chose the free downloadable study about The Elijah Chronicles. I found this website online and I can make up to 1000 copies after the file is downloaded. This one was a free download. That made the decision for me right there. We can try this study to know if any of the other studies that we would have to pay for will be worth while. I just got done preparing. I used a website that my M.I.L likes to use called BlueLetterBible. It helped me get the Hebrew and Greek meaning of words to further the study. Our childcare helper is sick... so pray that we all can concentrate amoungst our precious little girls!
(Thanks to all the ideas for studies...)

Green vs Flocked?

I left my camera at the Turkey Day Festivities...
It is in the mail... so I can't post pictures of my Christmas Tree!!!
We went on Saturday to get a 7 foot Green Noble Fir. I wanted a Flocked Tree, but beggars can't be choosy. There were none there that were dry. The Head Flocker had only flocked a few trees and they were not dry yet. I could have risked the tag and bag all the way home... to open the tree to find all the branches glooped together because the pretty white flock wasn't dry yet. Not very fun. So we opted for a green tree. When we got married we had to figure out a 3 year rotation of green trees vs. flocked trees. I grew up with flocked trees and perhaps even a small tree in my room on occasion. Mr. D grew up with green trees. The rotation was flocked tree, lightly flocked tree, green tree. The years that were lightly flocked and green we had to go out and cut down the tree. The year that was flocked we got to go down to the family business and pick out a nicely shaped and manicured tree. We have pretty much stuck to the rotation.. give and take. Two years ago I was VERY prego with Miss D and we went out to the woods with friends to cut down the tree and it was a emotional disaster. We set out to have a great day with friends in the snow cutting down out tree. With great intentions the clan was on our way. We reached a point of trucks loosing 4 wheel drive, getting stuck in the snow and almost going off the cliff before I was ready to end this horrible trip.(although it was fun to be out with great friends in the snow). At one point I burst into the ugly cry because I was sure that my life was very close to sliding off a snowy cliff... my hubby and unborn child included. It was very uncool and I bailed from the truck ( with the emotional support of a close girly). We all came home without trees...save one family, because they were determined to cut "something"down. We came home and went to the family business to get a tree. That year the rotation went out the window. SO..... last year we skipped venturing out among the wilderness and just went down to the family business to get a tree. The same goes for this year. And as the years pass I'm growing to appreciate green trees. I've actually came across people who don't even know what a flocked tree is...? What a sad sad thing!!!

all jumbled up!

I'm feeling festive early this year...
Is it to early to go and get our Christmas tree?
I'm working on rearranging the great room to get ready for the tree...
I got rid of all the Harvest decorations last night and I'm thinking of bringing out the Christmas boxes today...?
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Also, To all of you out there who are married... please take a minute to tell your spouse that you are thankful for them. Tell them you love them. Take a minute to evaluate your heart and if there is anything that you hold against your spouse...deal with it now! Before it turns into a mountain! We have had some friends with marital unrest and I pray that we and they will be continually reminded that what God has brought together let no man seperate. The Devil is so good at deception and I hope that our friends will be reminded of the love and forgiveness that Christ has imparted on us and I pray that they can see that it is ours to share with others.

turkey for you and turkey for me

Turkey for me

Turkey for you

Let's eat the turkey

In my big brown shoe

Love to eat the turkey

At the table

I once saw a movie

With Betty Grable

Eat that turkey

All night long

Fifty million Elvis fans

Can't be wrong

Turkey lurkey doo

and Turkey lurkey dap

I eat that turkey

Then I take a nap

Thanksgiving is a special night

Jimmy Walker used to say Dynomite

That's right

Turkey with gravy and cranberry

Can't believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry

Turkey for you and

Turkey for me

Can't believe Tyson

Gave that girl V.D.

White meat, dark meat

You just can't lose

I fell off my moped

And I got a bruise

Turkey in the oven

And the buns in the toaster

I'll never take down

My Cheryl Tiegs poster

Turkey and sweet potato pie

Sammy Davis Jr.

Only had one eye

Turkey for the girls and

Turkey for the boys

My favorite kind of pants

Are corduroys

Gobble gobble goo and

Gobble gobble gickel

I wish turkey

Only cost a nickel

Oh I love turkey on Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

(part of the song by adam sandler)

hurry up to just wait.

If anyone out there would like to contribute to the...

"get me something else...other than dial-up...keep my sanity...need some visine for my eyes fund"

please do so.
I've been online for almost 2 hours trying to download some pictures to view of a friends site... up and down the stairs about 10 times checking to see how far the download had gotten.
10%................................25%.......................................41%.............................................................50%
(enter the lose patience level and close out the screen!)
Meanwhile, I'm baking Pumpkin Chocolate cookies. Mr. D isn't home from work yet... yes the time is 11pm. Long day today, but day after Turkey day off and no weekend work. So worth it, as I sit here eating a fruit of my labor while he is actually laboring... laying tile at the jobsite.

I won't even tell you all how long it took to download iTunes. Well, since I'm sure you are hanging on every word, I will tell you. 6 hours. There is something SO wrong with that as you all sit at your cable hooked up computers, brezzing through websites like they are going out of style. I have to chose what is more important to me... checking my email and posting a blog entry or sitting here for another 2 hours trying to view a youtube video?
Cherish the fast hook-up you all have and just know that I'm sitting here out in the country watching the blue line inching across the bottom of my screen...ever so slowly...losing patience in the end and closing out the window... making it not worth my time anyways because I didn't even get to see what I was waiting for.
I'm sure when I go brush my teeth, I will have lots of little red veins in my eyes and it will look like I've been doing something illegal.

This girl can put away the oatmeal... she will eat all of this and sometimes want more.

Such a lovely face to wake up to. She always needs a few extra minutes with niney in the am.

This was on Saturday... perhaps the last "nice" day we will have in November. Pickin' flowers with her friends from next door.

Miss D and her friend Todd from next door... when she sees him... she says "pat Todd, See him."

Found It

Anyone notice the pictures have been lacking lately? Well, I "thought" I had lost the battery charger for my camera. I had looked everywhere for it. I have been losing things lately. I think I keep finding these "awesome"spots to store things and then when I go to look for them again... I can't remember where I put them (ie. toilet brush, old pillows). I was at the grocery store on Wed after BSF and I saw a charger on the battery display for $10.00. I didn't think that was to bad... I threw it in the cart and went to grab the AA batteries to go with it. They were all out. So I put the charger back and told myself I would look one more time for my charger at home. Either it was there or I had left it at the beach cabin and it was lost forever.
Thursday I was taking out a carseat out of my car and set it down to pick up Miss D and while I was bent down I saw the charger... under the passenger seat of my car! Whoo hoo!
Now I just have to charge up the dead batteries that are in my camera now and get back to picture taking... tune in for some updated pics.

2 races left

So love me or not... I like NASCAR. I got a call tonight from one of my girlies and she said that she was learning a bit about NASCAR from watching the movie "CARS".... not a bad way to learn. I use to think that it was so dumb... a bunch of cars driving around in a circle. BORING! Let me tell you... that is so not the case. Here are a few tidbits of info about this fun sport.


#1- pit strategy... when during the race to pit... getting 2 tires vs. all 4 tires replaced? Questions that the pit crew boss has to answer.

#2- short track vs long track... I'm a fan of the short track races... more chance of a good wreck.


#3- great wrecks... (these NASCAR cars have such high safety regulations that the chance of getting hurt seems to be pretty low) not that I would wish a wreck on any of the drivers... especially my favs.


#4- pole position ( in the practice the day before the race each driver as the chance to run a few laps on the track that they will be racing on the next day. they are trying to get the best time and that leads to starting out in 1st place and getting the 1st pit spot.)


#5- the drivers... some are so down to earth and just love to race... (i speak as i even know any of them)


#6- Mr. D and I watch the race on Sunday pm after church. Miss D takes her nap and she wakes up in time to catch the end of the race.


#7- Perfect time to catch an afternoon nap.. after the race gets started and is close to about 1/2 over a snooze is just perfect... then you wake up in time to catch the last bit of the race.

Our favs...

#99 Carl Edwards

#17 Matt Kenseth

#16 Greg Biffle

Opinions Needed

Anyone out there have any small group studies that you enjoyed? Our community group is getting ready to start for the year and we need to decide on a study.
~Marriage
~Finance
~Books of the Bible
~Raising Children
We could do the 40 days of purpose...that is always a great one.
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Hmmmm, not so good.

Mr. D is downstairs playing Playstation 2 right now. I had to step away, I started to not feel to well. I get motion sickness from watching him play those games. I like to play... but figuring out the two joysticks in addition to the 6 buttons to push is hard to do. We brought it out the the depths tonight. I cleaned out the closet of the playroom today and decided to plug it in. We have a poker game too... now that I can play. No zooming and camera angle changes to put up with. I'm starting to feel better now. It is such a yucky feeling. I just feel WEIRD. I start to think that food will make me feel better... I had two pieces of plain toast with butter and went away from the tv. I think that I got off the motioning boat ride. Yes, I'm feeling better.

?'s answered

In the precious name of Jesus I rest knowing that he is the sovereign God and that he wishes not one perish. For he loves all of mankind. He came to earth and suffered the same trials we suffer. He has been in our shoes and was sinless. He died for us and took the sins of the world upon his blameless shoulders. All I can do is worship him and continue to live my life for him. I hope for the future for all the non-believers that they don't wait until it is to late and they are left behind.

BSF Lesson today

The First day of my BSF lesson.
Matt 7: 1-5
Do Not Judge
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

What other words can be used for judging?
I came up with measure and comparison. One of the questions touched a bit on Galatians 1:8 and 2 John 8-11.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
8 Look to yourselves, that we[b] do not lose those things we worked for, but that we[c] may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses[d] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.


This passage is explained to me in the BSF lecture and here is what I got out of it...
We need to have spiritual discernment to determine our word and our actions towards non-believers. The only way we can attain that is through prayer.

Then the teaching leader touched a bit on world teaching vs. biblical teaching. The world seeks for tolerance and we need to measure everything against the bible. How do you know if it is truth teaching? Does it agree with the bible?

Lastly in my notes I wrote a bit about the end of Matt 7. Jesus is teaching about building your house on a solid foundation... not the shifting foundation of sand. I was able to attest to this with the death of my second born. I was able to rest in Jesus and know that God is good all the time. I was able to turn to the only thing left that I had to grasp to and that was the bible and the truth in those pages. I had nothing else. In my time of need...God met me and has been much more of a reality ever since then.

Jesus
Shepard
Narrow Gate
Truth
Good Fruit Producer
Counselor

I am so fascinated by how God is always layering my life and how lessons from Him through BSF always fit just perfect to my daily questions .

Ode to the fuzzy feller

Miss D has been crying before bedtime last night and today before naptime. I was confused. Why all the sudden out of the blue... this behavior. Tonight I was told maybe why? TWO YEAR OLD MOLARS! Now I can see that her behavior matchs right up with her normal teething times. Needing momma at sleepy time and unable to relax and sleep well. Tonight she was given medicine about an hour before bed... and low and behold no fits before bed. Just peaceful snuggles and stories and songs.

Also... on my way home tonight I hit a bunny!

Little bunny foo foo
I didn't see you
running under my tire
wasn't so good.

Now you are road kill
I'm really sorry
You made a bad choice of
going out at night.

The fog was so thick
you didn't give a lick
what were you after
that looked so good?

Now it doesn't matter
because you are a splatter
in the middle of the road
GROSS GROSS GROSS!

Early Riser

This year Miss D has not adjusted to daylight savings time very well. She was up today at 6am! Not Cool! She is down for her morning nap right now. I guess over the course of the next few days she will get use to it. Getting up that early has always seemed wrong to me... but to be honest I'm starting to kinda like it. If I get to bed at a decent time, I'm not tired when I wake up...getting up that early isn't hard. Miss D goes down for her morning nappy around 9:30am or 10 am and she is up for lunchtime around noon. Getting up that early and starting my day makes for a very productive day. This morning I fed her breakfast... which was two huge bowls of brown sugar and milk oatmeal (which she calls "meal") and while she was eating I made my vanilla, ice and banana protein shake. Then I loaded the dishwasher from the night before. I copied some recipes onto index cards and put away our suitcase clothes from the weekend along with a 2 loads of laundry. I cleaned out the shower and got us dressed and ready for the day. Shared 2 kiwis with Miss D while she watched Little Einsteins....then she was ready for her nap... and here I am. Hmmm what should I do while she is asleep?
I should finish my BSF study from this week. I need to devote the 1st time of my day to reading my Bible and starting my day out with God first. A few weeks ago we talked about that in my BSF group. Many ladies shared their routine. I want Miss D to grow up seeing me be dedicated to the things that are most important in life. I want her to see that I have my priorities set right so that she will grow up doing the same thing. The last few morning she has been up early and I've felt the Holy Spririt nudging me to stop what I'm doing and give my first time of the day to God. The BSF lecture leader gave a few ideas on how to do that. She suggested to go through the Psalms and Proverbs and match the number with the day of the month. Their are 91 Psalms so I would go through the whole book in 3 months. Their are 31 Proverbs so I would go through the book of Proverbs in one month. I think I will start. Enough of this finding other things to do... there are always going to be other things to do... Jesus could come back at any moment and I want my heart and mind to be meditating on God's word all day. What better time to fill my head with His word than the morning.

Psalm 143:8

8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
I am trusting you. Show me where to walk,
I give myself to you.

Crabbin' Cabin Fun

Our weekend away at the Crabbin' Cabin was fun. It was a wonderful view from the deck of the bay and the ocean. It was a 6 room, 3 story cabin and it had so much room for all 3 couples and 7 kids to run around and play. The guys caught us 3 dungeonus crab and then alot of the native crab to. I had a good time learning how to de-meat a crab. We had enough meat for me to make about 8 crab cakes and then all take home a bag of crab meat and 2 crabs each. The crab cakes were our late night snack because it took so long for them to get the meat out. Fresh crab meat tastes like lobster... i think. My crab cakes were so yummy! I googled "crab cakes" and got the recipe off a link. This is the one that I made. They had a bit of bite to them and they were just as good the next day. I would use a bit less Worcestershire sauce... because it was a bit overpowering.

INGREDIENTS:
2 6-1/2 oz. cans back fin lump crab meat or 3/4 lb. fresh crab (about 2-1/2 cups)
2 tbsp. reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Several drops hot pepper sauce
4 green onions, chopped
2 Tbsps. dry mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper, or to taste
2 egg whites
1 cup cracker crumbs
Olive oil spray
PREPARATION:
Drain crab meat and flake with a fork, picking out any shell or cartilage. Put crab meat in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper, green onions, dry mustard, pepper and salt. Blend in the egg whites. Shape into 4 cakes about 4 inches across. Place cracker crumbs on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll crab cakes in crumbs, making sure both sides are coated. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add crab cakes and cook 5 minutes. Turn and cook 5 more minutes. Shared by Coweyes Brown.

We went to see how the local chesse factory made their cheese. We got to sample some special flavors and bought some small bricks of cheese to take home. Then we had lunch there at the cafe. We shared some grilled cheese sandwichs... YUM. They were drippy with cheese and made on sourdough bread. Miss D was loving it. She loves herself a "cheese sammich".

She is also smiling for the camera now. It is nice because I can ask her to smile and she "usually" will do it. This is of her sitting at the table and eating with the "boys doin" at the table. She was always wondering the whole weekend what the boys were doing. So she kept saying "boys doin". It was so cute to see her wondering what she was missing out on having to stay with the mommies and babies.

Much fun was had by all!

See Ya Sunday

Crabbin' Cabin here we come!

Chew Chew Chew

In the past few weeks my little Miss D has had an teeny weeny appetite . After trying to get her to eat... she will say yes.... no...hungreen. We figured out the problem. She wasn't' chewing her food. She ate a pickle the other day and then she threw it up and there wasn't any chewing marks on it. She was swallowing the pieces whole! That is enough to upset a stomach! So now that I watch her eat very closely I can see that she barely chews her food. Well, that has to stop! So we are not watching her eat and making sure that she is chewing. Her appetite is improving. I think that she was nervous about eating because of the reaction that she was having after she ate a big meal. PUKE! So now I say to her "chew chew chew" and "i want to hear it". She puts her little mouth while she is chewing mouth up to my ear so I can "hear it". Good thing she had a little chunck to spare. She looks like a toddler now... no more tummy or chubby cheeks. Last night she had a big plate of meat loaf and this morning she had a big bowl of oatmeal and followed it up with a whole large navel orange at snack-time. She just asked me for a nap. So I went and put her in her bed. Is it weird that she asks me to go to bed? That just isn't something that a 20 month old little person does, is it? Maybe she is growing? Maybe she just requires a lot of sleep? Her whole little life she has slept a lot. But when I think about me and Mr D we sure love to sleep to.

She talks so well. She is speaking in 3-4 word sentances. This mornign she was laying in bed with us. I told her that "it was to dark to wake up" So she was talking to her self. "Matthew" over and over about 100 times. She also had her blanket over her face and was making a noise like blowing out a candle. Silly little girl. We were lame and didn't do anything for Halloween. I'm still on the fence about dressing up and trick-or-treat. I'm not to into identifying myself to evil spirits and saying "hey look at me"or "want to come and hang out". I'm sure some of you will think that is weird... but if you look at an old post of mine... you may agree.

yes, i'm not wearing mascara in this picture..i'm sure you are wondering why i look weird. god blessed me with blonde eyelashes OK.