Musings on Ephesians 1:7,8

      

I had an epiphany of sorts this week, on the day it became easier to remember all of the verses together.  Each verse so far in Ephesians 1 talks about some facet of God's relationship to His children (us) and vice versa.  Must be important then. :O) 

7.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

The emphasis on Jesus' blood has always made me a little squeamish, but it's one of those things that have to happen the way they do.  I mean, I would have liked to avoid some of the bad experiences in my life, but if it meant not having my family today ... I'd go through it all again.

It reminds me of a story I read about a man who worked in a big train yard, who had to choose between saving his son or saving a trainload of people.  It was an allegory to the relationship between God, Jesus and us.  How important must we be to God that He would sacrifice His Son for us?  It makes one thing.

8.  Wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence;

God wants to pour out blessings on us.  But He doesn't want to throw us in the deep end of the pool when we're just learning to walk.  It is not wise to get all the good things we will ever have in our lives all at once.  We would not be able to handle it.  Like the lottery jackpot winners who are broke a year or two later.  We learn, we grow day by day, just like plants in a garden.  Our abilities to handle both good and bad grow the same way.

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The October Daily prompt for today, Sunday, October 13, 2013 is:

Comment on the following:  If you cannot find a way out, look up.

That is like a story I heard at church:  we spend so much time looking around at our neighbors and comparing ourselves to them.  We need to be looking up ... to God.

#31Days - Memory Garden Daily

      

There is a lot to cover today, so let's get started! :O)

5.  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

This verse gives me a lot of hope.  God loves everybody.  Even sinners.  Even people we don't particularly like.  Even us, in our 'less shining' moments.  He wanted and wants everyone on Earth to return to him when their life here is over.  But He doesn't control our actions.  He gives us the opportunity, like any loving parent, to make their own choices and mistakes.

6.  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

And then, like a caring parent, gives their children grace, mercy and forgiveness when we make choices that are not in our best interests for growth.  When we sin, we must repent; that is, to show remorse and to redouble our efforts to not make the same bad choice in the future.  And we are so blessed to have His grace, that when we atone for our sin, we are welcomed back with open arms.

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#31 Days

As I go through making my plans for next year's garden, I wanted to 'bring more God' into every phase than I have done previously.  To begin, I found the following Bible verse:

Jeremiah 29:5 - Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

I want God to be in the planning, the planting, the tending, and the harvesting of the garden; He should also be on our minds when we prepare meals to nourish ourselves from the 'fruit of the Earth'.  Sure, that's easy to say, but how to do I do it?

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The October Daily prompt for October 6th is:

"Dig out a childhood photo and share something you remembering happening during that the photo was taken.   You can post as many photos and describe as many events as you like." 

Well, all of the photos of my own childhood are in storage with the rest of the things from my mother's house out in Utah.  But I think I can 'dig up' some pictures of my kids as young'uns.

This is my oldest at 7 months of age.  He was a rock star at the photographers.  And as the first grandchild on either side of our family, everybody wanted pictures.  He was born in December of 1996 in a big snowstorm in Utah.  My mother-in-law flew in from San Francisco and rented a car to get to the hospital the day he was born.  No 'little snowstorm' was going to keep her away.  She actually got to see (and hold) 'Sir B' before I did, which made me wistful for years.  My own mother came to the hospital Sunday afternoon after church.  

Close to the time this picture was taken, he was crawling in our apartment living room, and crawled over the phone, which had a long cord so we could carry the phone into any room.  (Remember those days, before cell phones or even cordless phones?)  We hung it up and were playing on the floor with him, when we got a call.  It was Emergency Services asking if there was a problem.  I kid you not.  When our son had crawled over the phone, somehow he dialed "911".  (He's talented that way.  When he was a few months older, he deleted Windows from our computer.)

Here is DS2, also at about 7 months.  He's 15 now.  The late spring and summer of 1998 in Texas was STIFLING.  More 100-degree days of any year there since 1980.  I remember looking at an outdoor thermometer at our duplex at midnight one night and it was 98 degrees.  Thank goodness 'Squire B' decided to show up two weeks early (May)!  He was the only one of my children I got to hold right after he was born.  For most of his life, people have said he is the spitting image of his paternal grandfather at the same age.  His first year was really uneventful.  Again, his paternal grandmother flew in from San Francisco, arriving the day he was born.  

When he was born, his little ankle ID matched my wrist ID, and they both had some kind of chip in them so if either one of us crossed the electronic barrier of the maternity wing, and alarm would go off.  I don't remember anything like that the first time around.  I remember a nurse at the hospital going over hearing tests with me and said his hearing was very sharp, so if it seemed in the future that he had not heard something we said, he was really just ignoring us!  Mamaw used to say, "That boy don't care which way the wind blows!"  He is very laid back.

Here is my miracle baby (at 4 months); today she is 10.  I was 41 when she was born, and had had blood pressure and gestational diabetes with all three pregnancies.  She was born at 32 weeks, weighing 3 lbs .4 oz and was 13.5" long (or is that tall).  I got to see her 1-2 days after she was born.  At 2-3 days old, some elders from my church came in and gave her a blessing.  She was able to come home at 22 days (still 5 weeks from her original due date), and she did not even weigh 4 lbs yet.  But the doctors said she was healthy enough and they needed the space!  

She's the first daughter in several generations in my husband's family.  My mother and brother came down to visit about the time this picture was taken.  Mom was almost 81 and when we brought Tea out to show her off, my mother started crying so much, we had to help her to a chair and bring her a glass of water.  I was working graveyards at the FWPD at the time and my department threw her a wonderful baby shower, which is where the bunny hoodie towel came from.  Her brothers (4 and 6 at the time) adored her.  Both normally very active, they would sit stock still and 'coo' at their sister when it was their turn to hold her.

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So what is your best gardening tip?  This ole novice farmer-wannabe needs all the help she can get!

Musings on Ephesians 1:3,4

  

This is the 2nd week we have been memorizing Ephesians 1.  This week we covered Ephesians 1:3,4.

I probably should say at this point that I am not putting myself out as a a gospel authority or scriptorian.  Far, far from it.  I'm just a woman digging into the word of God and seeing what I can learn.

3.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

I am glad that the 3rd verse opens up with several of the same words as the 2nd verse ended; it makes things easier from a memorization standpoint.  ("Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" - Eph 1:3; "from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ" - Eph 1:2).  We humans are a rather thick-headed bunch and time and the repetition helps to perfect whatever it is we are trying to learn, whether it be an intellectual pursuit, a sport, an artistic performance, etc.

I see Paul's use of the phrase, "Blessed be the God....", as his acknowledge of God's exalted status.  This puts me in mind of the hubbub created back in the 1980's when Nancy Reagan went to England for the marriage of Charles and Diana and the news that when she met the Queen, she would not curtsey.  I guess that ticked off a lot of English folks.  But I would have done the same thing.  (Oops, there goes my invitation to tea - and I'm a serious Anglophile.)  A person not living in a monarchy does not follow some of the social rules particular to that system of government.  But we are all  children of God.

And, luckily for us, our Heavenly Father has given us "all spiritual blessings";  He has given us everything we need (which is not the same as everything we want).  We only have to talk to a soldier or a first responder to know how important it is to have everything we need when we go out on patrol.  Why does He do it?  Because He loves us and because Christ "took the bullet" that had our name(s) on it.

4.  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Even before the world was made God chose us for His own.  How cool is that?  Before the light was separated from the darkness, God knew us and loved us, each and every person that has ever been born.  We all have the agency, the power to choose paths that will change our lives, for good or bad.  He knew not everyone would consistently make the righteous choice, but He gave us that freedom.  I cannot imagine the faith and trust that took.  He wanted (and wants) every one of us to return to Him; in order to do that we have to be 'holy and without blame', as no unclean thing can live in God's presence.

For which spiritual blessing are you most grateful this week?

Musings on Ephesians 1:1-2

      

The folks at Do Not Depart are running a scripture memorization challenge of Ephesians, Chapter 1.  Only one or two verses a week...very doable right?  What if you start two days after everyone else does?  Still doable.  Most people started Monday (16 September).  I started Wednesday.  Fortunately for me, memorization comes fairly easily - must have been all the theatre I did in college.

So this week, we covered verses one and two of Ephesians 1.

1.  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

When Paul's name was Saul, he persecuted Christians.  Then, he was on the road to Damascus one day (to find more Christians to tie up and cart back to Jerusalem), when Jesus appeared to him.  The experience was so life-changing that he could not see for three days.  Thereafter, became a Christian himself, and a missionary, and was finally persecuted himself and killed.

I found  my most satisfying definition I found for the word 'apostle' in an answer at ask.com as an 'ambassador'.  Thus an apostle of Jesus would be an ambassador of Jesus.  The use of the word apostle as opposed to follower or disciple means to me that Paul could speak of Jesus and act, in Jesus's name, with some authority.  And of course, nothing happens if not by the will of God.  But sometimes we just need to be reminded of that.

So Paul tells us by what authority he writes, then proceeds to tell us to whom the message is written.  Of course there are saints in Ephesus of the day.  But maybe there are other Christians passing through the city or visiting relatives, etc.  Certainly a missive from one of the foremost apostles of the day would want to reach the biggest possible target audience.

2.  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dictionary.com gives a definition of 'grace' as a manifestation of favor.  So Paul is conveying a message of grace and peace to the Ephesians both from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  What better gift is there in the world?  One word:  NONE.

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Most, if not all of the Bible verses I quote will come from the King James Version (KJV).  I just love the formality of the language.  But then, Shakespeare is one of my favorite authors.  No matter the version of the Bible, I think a wonderful poetry shines through the language, so you get:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead of simply:  "To Whom It May Concern".

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Now, it's your turn:

1.  Are you participating in the 'Hiding Ephesians 1 in My Heart' challenge at Do No Depart?  Would you like to?

2.  Do you have a favorite Bible verse to share?

3.  If you are not religious and/or not Christian, do you have a favorite quote or saying to share?

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Lucky or Blessed?

      It's been a rough couple of weeks (husband away helping his mother after her husband had an operation, our Mamaw passed, I got a cough that would not (and hasn't yet) gone away.  Sounds like I need to remember my blessings.  So here goes:
1.  My faith in God.
2.  My family.
3.  My education.
4.  The roof over my family's heads.
5.  A working vehicle.
6.  Living in a small town in Kentucky.
7.  The wonders of nature.
8.  The beauty of art.
9.  The pleasure of a good story.
10.  My continuing ability to learn.
11.  Hugs.
12.  Blog interaction.
13.  Good food prepared with love. 14.  My marriage.
15.  Good music.
16.  Prayer.
17.  That I have an endless supply of blessings.
This list is by no means exhaustive.  I will probably blog more in the future.  I may well elaborate on the blessings listed here in forthcoming posts.  
I call them blessings to acknowledge God as the source of all good in my life.  But to give the day a nod, I used 17 and colored the text green for St. Patrick!
So am I lucky .... or blessed?  I'm both!
I'd love to see a blessing you are lucky to have in your life in the comments!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So When You Come to Visit

Since my theme this month is "Friendship", I thought it would behoove me to write a post on some of the things I would suggest doing in the area when a friend comes to visit.

1.  Watersports

Somerset is quite close to several areas of Lake Cumberland, and there are a few business that will rent you anything from a 'personal watercraft' all the way up to a houseboat.  There are even the occasional boat races on Lake Cumberland.  In addition, marinas usually offer holdiay related events such as fireworks on July 4th and drive-through Christmas light displays at the end of the year.  For lots of links and information, you can visit the Lake Cumberland Tourism site maintained by the Somerset/Pulaski County Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

If you have kids, there is always the Somersplash Water Park, open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and the odd weekend before or after those days.  Attractions include a wading pool for the wee ones amongst us, a lazy river perfect for relaxation, a wave pool and multiple body or tube slides (including a bowl slide and a speed slide) for those more adventurous than me!

If you are into fishing, there is plenty of opportunity for that too.  (I don't usually go, but my husband and his father are avid fishers.)

2.  Cumberland Falls

There are lots of hiking trails around the falls and several scenic lookout terraces.  Probably the most popular time to go is on a night where there is a moonbow over the falls.

3.  Historical Sites

There are several Civil War ear sites around here, but Mill Springs is arguably the most famous.  They have a visitors' center and do re-enactments every so often, as well as some kid-friendly ghost-type activities around Halloween.

Ft. Boonesboro (of Daniel Boone fame) is a little farther away, but makes a nice day trip.  You go into the fort, see a short multi-media presentation and then can walk around and see shops and cabins as they would have appeared in Boone's time.  I liked seeing the progression of cabins (first where it is just a room really, with a dirt floor) showing how living quarters improved from just after move-in until after they had been there for a while and made improvements.  My boys really liked the blacksmith.  It is my understanding that several people/guides etc live there much as they did back in the day ... including having to make their own fire.

4.  Festivals Etc.

Two things for which Somerset is probably most well-known is the Master Musicians' Festival and Somernites Cruise.

I did not know much about the MMF until my brother (who is in music at the University of Utah) mentioned it some years ago.  Being that he thinks it's a big deal, it must be!  Their site hasn't been updated for 2013 yet, but they do have a rather active Facebook page.  And one year, MMF had Nuttin' But Stringz there, which is like one of my favorites.  I'm going to try to embed a Youtube video:

Somernites Cruise is draws the biggest crowds to Somerset on the 4th weekend of each month, April through October.  On Friday night there is a block party downtown for the cruise.  On Saturday afternoon, people park their vintage vehicles along main street and people walk by and they all gab about cars for the entire afternoon.  Parking can be a bear at times, but that's to be expected.  There are food and craft, etc, vendors around as well.  Then, Saturday night, the cars cruise up and down Highway 27.

People are setting up lawnchairs, blankets, coolers, etc etc up and down Highway 27 and setting up in front of the various businesses to get the best vantage point for see the cars cruising by.  This usually starts early Saturday morning, but I've even seen folks out the night before!

Anyway, when folks come to visit, we can always find something to see or do, even if they want a true "vacation" and want to rest.  But how often does that  happen, really?

The Taste: Tuesday at 8|7c on ABC

So I get an message from Influenster.com in my gmail account this morning:

"Your VIP Invite to The Taste on ABC"!

Almost immediately, my active imagination had visions of being whisked away by private jet ... did I mention my imagination is active?

I am not a fan of reality tv.  Competitive cooking shows are usually not the exception.  In some of the shows the judges and competitors have more bite than all the dishes combined ... and that gets old really, really fast.

So, imagine my surprise when I went to watch the first episode, where contestants were auditioning, only left me wanting more!  I've got to go and watch the other three episodes to catch up before next Tuesday so I can jump in mid-stream with the season.

"The Taste" features celebrity foodies Nigella Lawson, Ludo LeFebvre, Brian Malarky and Anthony Bourdain as the judges.  They sit at a table facing away from the kitchen area, so they have no idea whose creation they are sampling.  Attractive models carry a tray with four spoons of each contestant's dish to the judges' table, who from there must determine who goes on and who goes home.

The auditions allowed each contestant to fix any dish they wanted, with the caveat that if the panel did not care for it, the contestant would not go on.  So everyone was bringing their best.  Contestants included both professional as well as "home chefs".  It did my heart good to hear Nigella tell a contestant not to apologize for being a "home chef", and it was interesting to note that many of the contestants who progressed past the first show were not professionally trained.

There was a fair amount of swearing in the episode, but the "bleepers" are right on the money.  And some of the contestant egos are going to make for 'interesting' television in later episodes, but then a number of contestants stated they had quit their jobs in order to even audition, so I have to give them props for commitment.

I am genuinely looking forward to the next episode of "The Taste".  If you haven't been following it yet, there is a link above for the first episode, or if you care to catch the latest episode, go to http://abc.tv/Z3jimp for the "sandwich episode".

So, if you are someone who either likes to prepare food, wants to sharpen your own kitchen skills, or like to eat good food, you owe it to yourself to watch at least one episode of "The Taste".

To my readers and Let's Get Social Sunday hop buddies, I have a question....If you were to audition for "The Taste" next time around, what dish would you bring?

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Disclaimer:  I received no monetary compensation for this review.  If I complete all the tasks, there is a chance I could win some sort of prize; one thing I would like to get is "The Taste" badge for my Influenster account.  :O)

What are Your Favorites?

Simple easy-peasy questionnaire.  Put your answers in the comments section.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITES?

1.  Color?

2.  Song?

3.  Book?

4.  Food?

5.  Vacation spot?

The Nobility of Motherhood

  

Since when did it become a "little thing" to be a mother?  One of the blog posts I read this week involved a SAHM having trouble filling out employment sections of applications.   (I don't know if this was an application for employment, college, sweepstakes, or whatever.)  What do you put when it comes to "most recent job"?  Many commenters offered suggestions of which most had corporate-sounding names: "COO - Chief Operating Officer of the X-Family", and others like that.  My issue is not with the blogger or with the commenters.  The titles chosen, if applied in the outside world, would accurately reflect the duties performed by the person in question.  I support my "sisters", be they single or married, with kids or not, working outside the home or not.  My beef is with whomever decided that being a woman, wife, mother was "not enough".

Some years ago, an young woman found out she was pregnant.  Her fiance knew the child was not his, biologically, but chose to stand by the young woman.  (BTW, how cool is THAT?)  When she was in labor, the local hospital maternity ward was overflowing and she had to give birth in a ... less than antiseptic location.  Word got around, and many people brought the new mom and little baby boy gifts due to the unusual way in which he was brought into the world.

A short time after that, the "father" came in and said, "Honey, we gotta move...like now."  Still recovering from childbirth, the new mom was probably less than thrilled.  "We're going WHERE? WHEN?  That's not really an ideal neighborhood...."  Well, the long and the short of it was, they went.  A couple of years later, they were able to return to their old neighborhood.

When the boy was 12, he disappeared on a shopping trip.  The parents went out of their minds with worry.  And where did they find him?  In a room full of old men!  These days, the police would probably run background checks on all the old guys, to make sure none of them had criminal records.  But this was another day, another time.  Turns out all that happened was some rather educational discussions.

This boy went on to be many things to many people.  On his death "bed", he asked a friend of his to look after his mother.  She had a profound effect on her children, and through them, a much larger audience.

If anyone were to tell Mary, or her son Jesus, that being a wife or mother was not a noble pursuit for a woman, ... well, I'm sure they would have indicated their disagreement in some form or fashion.  Now I used  this example because I am a Christian.  I know there are similar examples of noble womanhood in other belief systems and faiths, and encourage those whose spiritual beliefs are different from mine to share their stories too!

In fact, I am asking for your opinion, not only of my writing on this post, but also of the idea behind it.  Your thoughts are IMPORTANT to me.  I would be honored to read your comment below.

IMO (In My Opinion), we need to reclaim the dignity and power of the names "woman", "wife" and "mother" ... regardless of the individual circumstances in which we find ourselves.  We are the tenders of the hearth, the nurses of the sick, the teachers with students in many stages of life, the team-players.  We have the hands that rock the cradle.  Whether our influence stretches only to the closest four walls, or around the globe, we change the world every day.

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NOTE:  This post was edited to reflect it being submitted to the Thursday Favorite Things link-up at Katherine's Corner.  Other entries are accessible by using the button above.