This is Summertime by Joseph Farquharson, courtesy of Art Renewal Center (link on sideboard).
So, how's everyone doing? We've had such a cool, wet summer so far. It's been nice in its own way, though. We found a cherry tree on the property we didn't know about- yum! The garden is looking pretty good, too. Amazingly, the corn I planted in between storms is sprouting just as pretty as you please.
Some thank yous: A really sweet lady in my mom's church gave me her old hoe- THANKS!!!!!!! You made my life so much easier, you sweet heart! And a couple from our old, dearly departed church gave us some plants for the garden- I miss you guys sooo much! Thank you. You are ever in our prayers with all the old family. And God provided before we knew there was a problem- we're still not sure about part of our income, but my husband is losing his job to a computer system and is looking for a new one. God help him. But, I digress- this wonderful couple brought us some food & they didn't really know all that was going on. But it should be enough to sustain our family while my husband searches for new employment. Guys, may God bless y'all 100fold. We love you.
The sparrows were hopping around in the rain last night singing so cheerily. I can't help it, I think seeing and hearing things like that are special blessings from God. Such loud voices from such little birds. :-)
Golden Harvest in Hillsville has very reasonable prices for a thrift store. They take donations, so if you have stuff you don't want anymore and are local, drop them off and help the poor. And moms, they have really good prices on gently loved toys, too.
Yep, we decided that it doesn't matter if it is pouring rain every day. Nothing but grass and baby walnut trees are going to grow in the blank spots anyway, so we decided to follow the advice from a British website that said to plant in between rain showers. It can't hurt. As long as I don't walk on the spots I've planted- and it did work with the corn. I know it's late, but the Good Lord willing, we'll have a late fall again this year. But, some ornery critter gnawed some of my squash plants off at the base- if he don't watch it, he'll end up in a stew pot!
The "remodel" is going well. Eventually I'll be able to get some paint for the trim, but in the meantime, it is looking much nicer in the kitchen. The kids now have their books off of the floor in their rooms, and almost all of my kitchen stuff is actually in the kitchen. My office is again another story (the stuff from the bookshelves had to go someplace after all) but, I can still get to my desk. I'm nervous about my two new classes. New format for DQs (discussion questions) and I'm not sure how to post there yet. But, I'm a little ahead on the current class, so I should be ok on time to figure it all out. I will say this- I LOVE this school.
Ok, financial aid is available to one and all these days, so if you're looking for a school that is of a more conservative viewpoint where you will actually learn something besides how to be politically correct, Liberty University Online is for you. They are reasonably priced, fully accredited, and are something like 3rd for the list of best online schools in the USA. http://www.luonline.com/ if you want to look into it. 8 week long classes, and you can take just one at a time if you like. Also, you get to chart your own course- how American! And how unlike some other online schools I won't name. Also, you'll find a lack of prejudice at Liberty that doesn't exist elsewhere: No group is the bad-guy. Nope, not Southerners, not Christians, not White Men, not Jewish people, or any other group. It's very refreshing. I hear Patrick Henry is online now for some of their courses, too. They're worth a look into, especially if you're interested in Constitutional Law or politics. http://www.phc.edu/ the link for distance learning is up top.
*****and speaking of Patrick Henry, here's an excerpt from his most famous speech*****
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest.
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html (for the full text of the speech).
The thing that amazes me about these guys is that they were not just giving pretty speeches. They meant what they said and acted accordingly. Can you see the media reaction if guys like this came out of the closet? Oh, I wonder if they'd even report it- ignore them and they'll go away- or some such. And if the word really got out? Guantanamo, you think? For seditious speech or domestic terrorism threat? Surely, we're not so far gone as that! Surely, there are people out there in America who are still true patriots. Surely, we're not so whipped by PC intolerance that we're all hiding out, laying low, and hoping for the best! It seems so, though.
Our churches are scattered and split. Our nation that was making such progress during the Reagan years toward real unity is now a "salad bowl" with no cohesiveness. Groups clamouring for handouts, embezzling politicians who have been busted yet are still somehow running the country, people looking to government as if it were a god, and now national policy that directly hurts Israel- what? do we want to bring down the wrath of G-d on our heads? Or, is it some weird "scientific" methodology that is trying to prove the hypothesis that God is not still around? Let's see if we can break every last commandment in the Book and get away with it! That'll show 'em! It's funny, according to my old PC textbooks, it's okay for the poor to cling to the delusion of God, because it helps them cope with their poverty- so we should humour them. I reckon the poor have got it right then. I hope the top folks continue to think it's ok for the poor to hold on to the "delusion", since it's their prayers that are likely keeping more calamity from falling on our heads.
Oh, and just to be clear. We support Israel. Israel is the chosen nation of God (afterward will be spelled with respect to the traditions of the Jewish people as G-D). And even if you don't believe that, they are a sovereign nation with a long history and a very definite right to existence. I am happy that after the diaspora they finally have their land back. Interesting how it was prophesied a long time ago that it would happen just as it did. And also, the Jews, or Israelites are G-D's chosen people. That has not changed. He made an everlasting covenant with them. He promised to bless them if they followed Him, and those who do, are still blessed! The promises to Israel were not nullified with the advent of the church- we have different promises. Hey, we-the church- are promised persecution if we live godly in the Messiah. But, all of G-D's people- ISRAEL- who are trying to follow Him the way it shows in the Torah are still under the promise of health and prosperity.
We do not support Israel for some weird prophecy of our own. No, we support Israel because we love them! If it wasn't for them, we would not exist as we are. We are grateful to the keeping of the scriptures by them and the faithful way the JEWISH authors listened to the Holy Spirit when they wrote the Words of our Lord in the Bible- the entire Bible. (I know there was Luke and Nebuchadnezzar- but they wouldn't have written had it not been for the witness of the Jews). We feel that any people who legally bought their land as they did should have the rights to it. We also feel that since all of Jordan was set aside for the "Palestinian People", already carved out of Israel's rightful land, that they ought to go there instead of wrecking all the progress the Israelis have made in the wasteland they were assigned to. What right does anyone in the West have to dictate to the Israelis??? Gee, I wonder if that's where so many of our problems have stemmed from since the 1950's. Think about it people, the crummier nations are to Israel and the Jewish people, the worse off their own nations are! Do you think that's a coincidence? The West is on its last leg like the Roman Empire of old and why? Our wickedness surely has not helped- but our nations' attitudes toward Israel have put the nails in our proverbial coffins.
But, in all, I reckon it has to start with each family deciding. Are we going to do the right thing? We're going to try here. There is right and wrong. No matter what the media/political/school crowd tells you, they believe it, too. They just see different ones than the "common folks" do. Are going to let some group tell us what right and wrong really are when our own consciences testify to the real truths in the matter? We're going to try to follow God in truth, because the fakey way doesn't work. It's ruined our country. I hope God is stirring more of His people- followers of Yeshua the Messiah and Jews alike- to follow Him in truth. Remember King Josiah. Remember that it doesn't have to end here- with us fading into oblivion with a splat like overcooked pasta hitting the floor. America, remember whence thou art fallen!
Rose
PS: THANKS to the Mexican Preacher and his wife for helping our elderly sister when she fell, and the man with the walker for his help, too.
God Bless Israel! God Bless the West!
This is a painting called "God's Creatures" by a fella named Blaas, as usual, courtesy of the ARC online. For some reason it reminds me of one of my daughters. :-)
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