The faces of Ronnie

These photos were taken over the last few days.  Ronnie is 21 months old now, and developing and changing almost daily.  This is such an amazing age!

The BBB

The BBB
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
James 1:16

Recommended Reading
Proverbs 1:10-19

After falling prey to a phony business scheme, a school teacher lost her life savings. When she went to the Better Business Bureau to report the scheme, they asked her, "Why on earth didn't you come to us first? Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?" The teacher replied, "Oh yes. I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it."

Deception can be one of the most difficult things to avoid in life because we are often so blinded by desire that we don't see the possibility of having the wool pulled over our eyes. This is why Jesus said in His Word, "Take heed that no one deceive you" (Matthew 24:4). He knew that our desire for His return would be so great that we might be vulnerable to deception by false teachers and bad doctrine. As Christians, we must carefully judge the opportunities we are offered and seek only the will of the Father so that we are not deceived or enticed by the followers of evil.

The human heart has so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood lurks; is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy that if often dupes itself.
John Calvin

More favorite photos

Ronnie's goofy smile

Ronnie started doing this silly smile a few weeks ago and it just cracks me up!  I don't know where it came from, but he does it at the most perfect times, and always gets a laugh from mommy and daddy.  What a blast!

His understudies: Surrender

He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done."
Matthew 26:42 NIV

Recommended Reading
Romans 12:1-2

It's often been said of some great military leader or another: "He never asked us to do something he wasn't willing to do himself." By comparing Matthew 6 with Matthew 26, we see this is true of Christ. In the earlier passage, He taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth." In the latter passage, He Himself prayed, "May Your will be done in Me."

Surrendering our "all" to Christ doesn't mean we're dispirited prisoners waving a white flag. It means we've come face to face with the King of Kings, and we are willing to defer every preference to Him. Knowing He is all-powerful, we submit as a servant to a king. Knowing He is all-loving, we yield as a child to a father. Knowing He is all-wise, we gladly choose His will over our own.

The Lord would rather have one person who is 100-percent committed than 100 people who are 90-percent yielded.
Lord, not my will, but Yours be done!

I have been before God, and have given myself, all that I am and have, to God; so that I am not, in any respect, my own... I have given myself clear away.
Jonathan Edwards

One of my favorite photos

I am slowly working on getting the photos transferred from our old PC to the iMac.  So now that I have transferred some, it has been fun to look through them again.  This one of Ron and  Ronnie is one of my favorites.  Ronnie was about 4 months old here.  We went to a historic home here in town and walked around the property taking photos.  This one turned out so good.

Stubbed toes

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18

Recommended Reading
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

What if you were to win an all expense paid, first-class trip around the world, but while checking your baggage at the airport you stubbed your toe? Would you say, "I wish I had never won this trip! Look! I've stubbed my toe!"?
No. You'd say, "This momentary discomfort cannot compare to the enjoyment of the trip we're about to take."
The Bible says that all our earthly problems fall into that category. They aren't worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed when we get to heaven. Paul wrote, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV).

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Whatever our situation here on earth, we know that our eternal quality of life will be beyond anything we can imagine or think about. We're looking for the glory to be revealed, the eternal glory that far outweighs all the stubbed toes and broken hearts of earth.

When Christ calls me Home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school.
Adoniram Judson, Missionary

(devotional from David Jeremiah's ministry)

Beautiful Christian Sister

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'"
I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain.. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!


by Maya Angelou

Peanut butter granola

Here is a peanut butter version of the granola recipe I shared last week.  I haven't tried this one yet, but I will!

2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Begin by melting the butter and peanut butter together in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the honey, vanilla and salt. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and hot throughout. It doesn’t need to boil. Add the oats. Stir until the oats are completely coated with the sticky gooey peanut butter mixture. It will be chunky. Turn the mixture into an ungreased cookie sheet, or a large 9 by 13-inch pan. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It will be brown and crispy. Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool right there in the pan. Break it up into pieces after it is cooled. Transfer the granola to a clean coffee can or sealed canister. Add the raisins, if you are using them, when the granola is cool.

Remembering Grandma Ida

My grandma Ida was one amazing woman.  I miss her dearly and think of her often.  She went home to be with the Lord in 1995.  She lived through the depression era, had three children, lost her husband and ended up raising her children as a single mother for 10  years until she remarried.  She made the most amazing meals from scratch.  She really knew how to stretch a dollar and make things last.  She reused everything, yet never had any clutter in her house.  She worked hard, laughed much, and loved her family.  But above all, she loved her Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.  She had an unwavering faith in God, and she always talked about Him.  I know there are so many things I could've learned from her now that I am a wife and mother myself.  And it is in my selfishness that I wish she was still here to teach me those things.  I know that God brought her home and that she is enjoying His sweet presence for eternity.

Many years before she died she wrote letters to all three of her children.  The letters were put with her will and no one even knew about them until after she died.  I know it was a neat surprise to my mom to have those letters written just to her.  My mom came across those letters again recently and photo copied them to share with me.  There is one page that I wanted to share, because it just confirmed to me even more how much my Grandma loved the Lord.  I am going to write this as she has written on the letter:

Here are a few bible verses I would like you to read.  

John 14

Christ died for our sins 1 Cor 15:3

Christ died for all 2 Cor 5:15

Jesus means so much to me, because he has saved me from hell to heaven, from death to life, from selfishness to love, from sin to service.

With Jesus as my Savior, I have nothing to fear, His Holy precious blood has freed me from the grief of sin, the terror of death, and the murderous power of the devil.  Now I am God's own child, and I can live eternally in His Heavenly Mansions when I die.

Be good to your brother and sister.  I love you very much.  

Mother

(the photo above is of my mom with Grandma Ida)

I am granola!

Well, now that I have made homemade granola, I am officially "crunchy"!  LOL!  It turned out nice and golden brown and very tasty.  Ronnie likes it too!  I can't wait to try it on some yogurt!

Update:  here is the recipe I used, it is from the Hillbilly Housewife site.

3 cups dry oatmeal
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup each nuts and dried fruit (optional)
First melt the margarine in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt. Honey is easiest to measure in a well oiled measuring cup. Otherwise, just scoop the last of it out of the cup with a clean finger or spoon. Heat the honey briefly with the margarine and then add the oatmeal. Stir it up nicely. It smells really good. Turn the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet, the kind with shallow sides; a large 9 by 13-inch pan works well too. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It should be a toasty brown. Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool and crisp up right there in the pan. Store it in a clean coffee can or sealed canister. Add the nuts and dried fruit, if you are using them, when the granola is cool. Serve it with milk like regular cereal, or if you are hankering for a divinely inspired treat, get a big bowl of plain yogurt, and sprinkle a large handful of granola on top of it. Mmmmmmmm, very tasty. Sliced bananas are good with this too.

A beautiful weekend outside

We had a lot of fun over the weekend enjoying the gorgeous weather!  We took walks, went for wagon rides, and played on the playground at the end of the street.  Ronnie figured out how to use the slide, and he loved it!  He kept going back to the steps to do it again.  What a blast!  He enjoyed the swing too, but he liked the slides even more.  I guess I know what we'll be doing this spring since the playground is just down the street. :)

Who is Jesus?

Who Is Jesus?
by Jim McClarty

Jesus is not your homeboy. He’s not your co-pilot. And He’s not your boyfriend. Despite the marketing techniques that are in vogue today, which attempt to make Jesus more approachable by making Him more “cool,” the trend toward redefining our Savior may soon make Him indistinguishable from any other pop star or celebrity. And sadly, like most celebrities, He is too often viewed as an optional accessory to be used or ignored according to the whim of the consumer. And, as we all know, audiences are fickle.

What’s worse, notions of Jesus as God – one to be worshiped and obeyed – are markedly absent from most modern sermons and the “dumbing down” of Christ is reaching a sort of critical mass in the contemporary church. Soon, the Jesus of the Bible will disappear altogether.

Here’s a fact: You are not like God and God is not like you. He is different. He is “completely other.” As the prophet Isaiah records, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:8-9)

In the attempt to fill pews and keep their coffers fat, the modern church has attempted to humanize Jesus in sub-biblical ways. They assume that His love is tantamount to human love, or that His jealousy and zeal are the same as ours. As a result, we have a generation of Christians who define their Christianity by their own feelings and thoughts, rather than by aligning their thinking with the dictates of Scripture. And that’s not just theologically clumsy. It’s lethal.

Jesus once asked His apostles, “Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am?” When they responded that some thought He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other prophet, Jesus asked them pointedly, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mat. 16:13-15)

That’s an excellent question – one that we all have to come to grips with at some point in life. Who do we say that Jesus is? Is He merely a man with some good social ideas? Is He another in a succession of Hebrew prophets? Or, is He the figment of someone’s fertile imagination foisted on all humankind as some sort of grand, cosmic joke?

Biblically, there’s only one right answer. Faced with that penetrating question, Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” In response, Jesus made sure that only God received the credit for that realization, saying, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.” (Mat. 16:16-17)

That means that the only correct answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” is the answer God reveals – “He is my Son. He is Christ. He is Lord.”

Of course, all of that begs the question, “Who do YOU say He is?”

Be careful. Your answer matters.

His understudies: Grace

HIS Understudies: GRACE

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1

Recommended Reading
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1

The term "understudy" is used in the theater for someone who learns the lines of the primary actor so that he or she can step into the role if necessary. Several famous stars began their careers as understudies. For example, Anthony Hopkins made a name for himself when he took over a role for Sir Laurence Olivier when the latter was stricken with cancer during a 1967 play at the National Theatre.

In a sense, all Christians are understudies. When Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1, He commissioned us to continue in His stead. We're to imitate Him, and to do so with such grace that others, too, can imitate Him by imitating us.

Just as Jesus was "full of grace" (John 1:14), we are to grow in the grace of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18). Our speech is to be with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). We are to sing with grace in our hearts (Colossians 3:16). And we are to be strong in the grace that is in our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:1).

We are understudies of His grace. What a role!

Grace is free, but when once you take it, you are bound forever to the Giver and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver.


(devotional from David Jeremiah's ministry)
E. Stanley Jones, Missionary