Testing of the Picture

I haven't been able to access my blog all day, and I thought it may have had something to do with the picture I have on it.

I have put the picture back up temporarily, and will be taking it back down again sometime this evening.

So basically, this post is just a test.

Anchors Aweigh

We have had a very busy day today. We made a trip to Walmart to replace one daughter's broken glasses, and a trip to the library.

This evening my husband and oldest daughter went to Winter Jam, while our younger daughter and I stayed home, and had a lot of fun together. We baked brownies, sat outside in the beautiful weather, played dolls, ate pizza, and read a little bit of poetry together.

My younger daughter and I love poetry, and I read to her this lullaby poem bye Eugene Field.

This poem touched my heart because I'm the daughter of a man I was very proud of, who served in the Navy, and was himself a sailor at one time. He didn't see me until I was five months old because he was serving overseas at the time. Maybe it's nostalgia, but tonight my daughter and I listened to the Anchors Aweigh song. Before I post the poem, I am posting the lyrics to Anchors Aweigh, plus a link found here, that provided music to go along with the song.

Anchors Aweigh

Stand Navy down the field, sails set to the sky.
We'll never change our course, so Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink the Army, sink the Army Grey.

Get underway, Navy, decks cleared for the fray,
We'll hoist true Navy Blue o Army down your Grey-y-y-y.
Full speed ahead, Navy; Army heave to,
Furl Black and Grey and Gold and hoist the Navy, hoist the Navy
Blue

Blue of the Seven Seas; gold of God's great sun
Let these our colors be till all of time be done-n-n-ne,
By Severn shore we learn Navy's stern call:
Faith, courage, service true, with honor over, honor over all.

My father passed away on November 13, 1998, and I miss him so much. Because my mother passed away in 1991, the passing of my father left my brothers and I adult orphans. Sadly, I don't know whether he, or my mother, were saved or not. I do pray that one day I will see them in Heaven.

So in keeping with Rebecca's children's poetry month for the month of February, here is the song that so touched my heart tonight.

Swing High and Swing Low

Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow----
It's off for a sailor they father would go;
And it's here in the harbor, in sight of the sea,
He hath left his wee babe with my song and with me;
"Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow!"

Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow____
It's oh for the waiting as weary days go!
And it's oh for the heartache that smiteth me when
I sing my song over and over again:
"Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow!"

"Swing high and swing low----
The sea singeth so,
And it waileth anon in its ebb and its flow;
And a sleeper sleeps on to that song of the sea
Nor recketh he ever of mine or of me!
"Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow----
'Twas off for a sailor they father would go!"

This poem was from The Classic Treasury of Best-Loved Children's Poems, which I bought here.

If by chance a veteran, or a member of the Armed Forces reads this post, I want to thank you for the job you are doing. I want to thank you for making the sacrifices you are making for our country. You are putting your lives on the line for us here in America.

What some people fail to realize is that the families of those in the Armed Forces make sacrifices too. There are mothers left behind, who are raising children alone, holding down the fort on the home front while their husbands are out fighting for our freedoms, and to you, I want to say thank you as well.

More Thoughts on Trials

Until recently, I never understood the verses in the Bible that talked about suffering, and trials. I still don't understand it all completely, and I probably won't until I get to Heaven, but I have a better grasp of it now than I did before.

About ten years ago we were members of, and attended regularly, an Assemblies of God church. During that time I did a lot of praying, and searching the Scriptures. The Lord did bring us out of there, and I have since learned to how to pray in a way that honors God. I also wasn't searching the Scriptures to learn about God, but rather I was searching them to get my needs met. I highlighted many verses that I believed were promises that specific prayers would be answered in a favorable way, as in my way. I won't post the verses, but there were many from Isaiah, as well as Jeremiah, and the Psalms.

When I didn't see those favorable results, and the trial continued year after year, I began to get discouraged. I began to doubt God, believing that He was not going to answer my prayers. He is answering them, but in a very different way than I originally had believed He would.

I've been reading James 1, and 1st Peter lately. Look at these verses in 1st Peter 1.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the
Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace
be yours in the fullest measure.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

What I am beginning to understand now is that God has been answering my prayers from so long ago, just not in the way that I thought He would. He had, and still has, a higher purpose for them.

I can rejoice knowing that the proof of my faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor. And when will that be? As it says in verse 7, at the revelation, or the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

Why should we make it our aim to please Him?

Yesterday in my Biblical Education class we discussed 2 Corinthians 5:9-10. It really made me think about the reasons why I try to make it my aim to please God. In case you don't know what the verses say, here they are:

2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

I had to think again about what it is that motivates me to please Him. Do I make it my aim to please God because I love Him, and am grateful for what Jesus did for me? Or, do I try to please Him because of the benefits that might come as a result of my obedience?

Suppose your trials come in the form of needing a physical healing, and you aren't healed. If your motivation for pleasing Him were for the benefits you would receive, a complete physical healing, you might possibly get discouraged if you don't see the results of that physical healing. You could lose hope, and become angry with God for not healing you when you believe you have done all the right things. You might think you have a right to be healed. So, if your motivation is for the benefits you will receive, that would be a wrong motive.

Our motivation to serve Him, and to be pleasing to Him, should be out of love for Him, and because we are commanded to. Our motivation should not be for what we can get out of when we do love and serve Him. All that we do should be done for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

What about you? What motivates you to do the things that you do?

The Library

In keeping with the theme for children's poems as Rebecca suggested, here is one called The Library, by Barbara A. Huff. This was out of the book, Favorite Poems Old and New, by
Helen Ferris, which can be purchased here.

The Library

It looks like any building
When you pass it on the street,
Made of stone and glass and marble,
Made of iron and concrete.

But once inside you can ride
A camel, or a train,
Visit Rome, Siam, or Nome,
Feel a hurricane,
Meet a king, learn to sing,
How to bake a pie,
Go to sea, plant a tree,
Find how airplanes fly,
Train a horse, and of course
Have all the dogs you like,
See the moon, a sandy dune,
Or catch a whopping pike.
Everything that books can bring
You'll find inside those walls.
A world is there for you to share
When adventure calls.

You cannot tell it's magic
By the way the building looks,
But there's wonderment within it
The wonderment of books.

Unsettling Happenings

I've been trying to post something at least every couple of days since I began blogging. I haven't posted since Wednesday because of something unsettling that I discovered was happening.

I frequent a voice chat program, and found out a few days ago that someone has been cloning my nics, and they have been doing this for a long time. Not only cloning my nics, but pretending to be me to those who know me. And that has weighed heavily on my mind since then.

If the Lord brings you to my mind, please pray not only for me, but for my family as well.

I hope to get back to posting tomorrow, or Monday at the latest.

An update on the cake story

No, I didn't attempt to try to bake the cake again tonight. I'm saving that for tomorrow when I will try again. I did, however, attempt to make supper.

We were going to have fish filets, so I turned the oven on, and let it get hot. While I was spraying the cookie sheet, my oldest daughter came into the kitchen. She looked into the oven, and said "Mom! The oven's on fire!." I opened the door of the oven, and blew on the flames, and they went out.

The funny side of this is that my husband was taking a shower at the time. I told my daughters that if we had actually had a fire, he would have had to run out of the house naked. That just made my little 8 yr. old daughter just giggle, and giggle.

I do give praise to the Lord for bringing my daughter into the kitchen at the time He did. I had not been paying attention to the oven at all. I praise the Lord for His protection.