What I Believe
QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

Compare yourself with those who on the Lord’s Day hear nothing except the dismal sound of the world. What a privilege it is for you to hear the proclamation of the gospel!
Bakker, Frans.

 

More Quotes

Compare yourself with those who on the Lord’s Day hear nothing except the dismal sound of the world. What a privilege it is for you to hear the proclamation of the gospel! Bakker, Frans.
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It is difficult to define Hiraeth, but to me it means the consciousness of man being out of his home area and that which is dear to him. That is why it can be felt even among a host of peoples amidst nature's beauty. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

. . like a Christian yearning for Heaven. . .

Entries from September 1, 2008 - September 30, 2008

Tuesday
Sep302008

Dictionary Word of the Day:  fettle

fettle \FET-l\, noun:

A state or condition of fitness or order; state of mind; spirits -- often used in the phrase "in fine fettle."

Well, vacation is officially over.  The attic and much of the basement is "in fine fettle."  I have spent some time reorganizing my physical fitness and personal goals and hope that with some adjustments, that area of my life will soon be fettled.  (Is that a word? **smile**)

I must admit that, at least for this morning, my state of mind and spirits are decidedly 'unfettled.'  Sad that vacation (even a working vacation) is over, sad that Tom is going back to work today, sad that my all my fun is over.

But it's a cool, crisp September morning and the day is calling and promising to be bright and cool. The leaves are turning and the dogs are ready for a walk.  My Hebrews study is on track again and I get to meet with my friends on Thursday to discuss what we are learning.  My drawing board is (relatively) clean and organized and I have work to do.  School is going well and we'll be adding another class this week.

And so it turns out that the fettling process continues.  Vacation may be over but still I must renew my mind and discipline my body and give thanks.

Tuesday
Sep302008

A Letter a Week:  K

Sigh. . .  I'm not at all satisfied with this one, but I had just a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon in which to quickly dash something off for this week, so I took some short cuts and, unfortunately, it shows. 

Thanks for stopping by each week to look at my letters!  Next week should be fun!  I'm looking forward to L!

For more ABC Wednesday click on over to ABC Mr. Linky Blog.

Or, if you prefer, you can also check out the ABC weekly no comment site and browse all in one place.

You can see the rest of my Alphabet by clicking on the 'A' in the sidebar or the "A Letter a Week" category at the bottom of this post.

Monday
Sep292008

Prayers Needed

Many of you already know about the tragic death of Terry Stauffer's young daughter.  It is a shocking, dreadful thing.  The Stauffer family and the entire community need our prayers in the days and weeks to come.  As is always true in such tragic situations, so many people are affected in far reaching ways.  Let us pray that God would  comfort and sustain the family, give wisdom amd favor  to those whose responsibility it is to find and prosecute the perpetrator, and that God would be glorified in the lives of His people and many would draw near to Him and be saved.

More locally, we are praying for our son Jake's best friend, Jake B., who was a passenger on a Chicago bound Metra train Friday morning (on his way to classes at Moody) when the train struck and killed a pedestrian.  Jake's strong faith in Christ is evident and he was able to pray with the very shaken conductor after the initial investigation on Friday.  Jake B. is back on that same train this morning, ready to share the comfort of Christ with his usual train-mates.  Will you pray for Jake and for all the 'regulars' who will be returning to their normal routine that will never really be 'normal' again. 

This morning we are taking Jake back for what we hope will be his final post-op pacemaker check.  If all goes well, as we expect, he will be able to go back to work and back to driving.  It's been a long haul, but he's ready to get back to work and 'back to his regular life.'  When he returnes to work, Jake, too, will lhave an opportunity to talk to his co-workers about God's gracious intervention in his life.  Pray that he will have the courage to boldly share what God has done and is doing in his life.

We have so much for which to be thankful.  Let us give thanks to Him Who gives us life, Who plans our days, and Who offers salvation and comfort and peace in times such as this.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sunday
Sep282008

Sunday Hymn: Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Dwelling-place

Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Dwelling-place

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
In ev'ry generation;
Thy people still have known thy grace,
And blessed thy consolation:
Through ev'ry age thou heard'st our cry
Through ev'ry age we found thee nigh,
Our Strength and our Salvation.

Our cleaving sins we oft have wept,
And oft thy patience proved;
But still thy faith we fast have kept,
Thy Name we still have loved;
And thou hast kept and loved us well,
Hast granted us in thee to dwell,
Unshaken, unremoved.

No, nothing from those arms of love
Shall thine own people sever;
Our Helper never will remove,
Our God will fail us never.
Thy people, Lord, have dwelt in thee,
Our dwelling place thou still wilt be
For ever and for ever.

Trinity Hymnal #287

Saturday
Sep272008

Quote of the Week:  Franklin

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.
Benjamin Franklin

Today's quote is an introduction of sorts.  It's been a long time since I've shared anything other than photos and calligraphy on my blog.  Real life has been busy and real life comes first.  But for a long time now, I have wanted to do a series on one of my favorite Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin was a fascinating man and a prodigious thinker.  He was also eminently quotable.  I'll be sharing some of my favorite quotes and some interesting details about this familiar American.  Benjamin Franklin accomplished many things worth writing.  I just hope I can remember how to write something worth reading!  : D

Friday
Sep262008

Cleveland Rocks

We lived in the backyard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for years, but this was the first time we've ever visited.  It was a lot of fun to see familiar items up close.  No photos are allowed inside the museum, so I wasn't able to take snaps of my favorite displays--The Beatles (of course), Jimi Hendrix's childhood drawings, hand written lyrics torn from notebooks from various artists (Hendrix, Beatles, Billy Joel to name a few) It was fun to see the familiar costumes from Elvis and Stephen Stills, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Sting and Joni Mitchell.  (Mick is TINY!)  I didn't count the guitars, but there must've been hundreds. My favorite was James Taylor's first guitar, a small home made looking thing that his brother painted robin's egg blue (without his knowledge--he never played it again). 

The building itself is amazing.  It was designed by architect, I. M. Pei and is located right on the Lakefront near the new Browns stadium and the Great Lakes Science Center (a really great museum!) and not far from the Cleveland Museum of Art and Jacobs Field Progressive Field.  Cleveland is a great town with lots to do!  It's worth a visit!

Johnny Cash's Tour Bus parked in front.

Browns Stadium

Taken inside the lobby--the only place you could take pictures.

Even Sam, who prefers instrumental and orchestral music and who does NOT like rock and roll, had fun!

Thursday
Sep252008

Jake at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Tomorrow I'll share some photos from Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Here's Jake.  I love this picture.  Isn't he cute? 

You can see a bit of the Cleveland skyline in his sunglasses.

Thursday
Sep252008

More County Fair

Thursday
Sep252008

More County Fair

Thursday
Sep252008

How can it be Thursday already?

We're on 'vacation' this week.  Well, sort of.  We went home to Ohio for a nice long weekend.  Got to do a lot of fun things there, like visit with our families, eat elderberry pie, visit the County Fair, eat fair food, spend most of a day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, stop by the Olivesburg General Store, pop into a few local antique stores, drive around and look at a lot of beautiful countryside and farms.  We got home from Ohio Tuesday afternoon and it's been a blurrrr since then!  Another morning of antiquing (brought home two good 'finds') and then began the 'sort of' part of the vacation--working around the house.

We're going to turn the place upside down; cleaning and organizing, sorting through and throwing out.  We've accumulated a lot of stuff that we just don't need and don't have room for stuff we COULD use, so now's the time.  Half of what's in the attic is going out (to the garbage or given away) and some of what's in the basement is going up to the attic.  The yard will be winterized and the garden put to bed.  I'll be making copious amounts of pesto for the freezer and getting the rest of the herbs ready to preserve for use over the winter.  The front porch will be cleaned and the rugs shampooed.  That's the short list.  There is a long list, but 'vacation' will have to go through the month of October to get all THAT stuff done!

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining.  I'm only complaining a little.  I DO like to clean and organize and I can't WAIT to enjoy that sense of satisfaction when everything is buttoned down and tidied up.  But until next Tuesday, I'll still be mostly away from the blog.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with some pictures from the fun end of our vacation.  First, the County Fair:

 

More to come

Tuesday
Sep232008

A Letter a Week:  J

For more ABC Wednesday click on over to ABC Mr. Linky Blog.

Or, if you prefer, you can also check out the ABC weekly no comment site and browse all in one place.

You can see the rest of my Alphabet by clicking on the 'A' in the sidebar or the "A Letter a Week" category at the bottom of this post.

Monday
Sep222008

Donne

Sunday
Sep212008

Sunday Hymn: Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?

Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?

Why should cross and trial grieve me?
Christ is near
With his cheer;
Never will he leave me.
Who can rob me of the heaven
That God's Son
For my own
To my faith hath given?

God oft gives me days of gladness;
Shall I grieve
If he give
Seasons, too, of sadness?
God is good and tempers ever
All my ill,
And he will
Wholly leave me never.

Death cannot destroy for ever;
From our fears,
Cares, and tears
It will us deliver.
It will close life's mournful story,
Make a way
That we may
Enter heav'nly glory.

Lord, my Shepherd, take me to thee.
Thou art mine;
I was thine,
Even ere I knew thee.
I am thine, for thou hast bought me;
Lost I stood,
But thy blood
Free salvation brought me.

Thou art mine; I love and own thee.
Light of Joy,
Ne'er shall I
From my heart dethrone thee.
Saviour, let me soon behold thee
Face to face,—
May thy grace
Evermore enfold me!


Trinity Hymnal # 506

Oh, I love this hymn!  If you're not familiar with it, follow the link so you can hear the tune.  It's one of my favorites!

Saturday
Sep202008

Quote of the Week:  Edwards

From the Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards, Monday, September 23, 1723

"I observe that old men seldom have any advantage of new discoveries, because they are beside the way of thinking to which they have been so long used.  Resolved, if  ever I live to years, that I will be impartial to hear the reasons of all pretended discoveries, and receive them if rational, how long soever I have been used to another way of thinking. "

Friday
Sep192008

Away for Awhile

I'm going to be away from the blog for awhile, so I've searched through the archives for some old posts that might keep you busy while I'm gone.  You can find them at the top of the sidebar.

Thursday
Sep182008

Dictionary Word of the Day: tintinnabulation

tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun:

A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

A new word!!  A new word!!  And what a great word!!  

I love tinkling sounds.   Don't you?  Wind chimes, the sound of keystrokes on a keyboard, that particular 'tinkling' sound when a little bottom is sitting on the potty chair, keys in the door when hubby comes home, the jingle of the bell on the front door when Ivy wants to go out.  But my favorite tintinnabulation of all is the tinkling of dog tags as my girls tintinnaMbulate through the house.  Each has her own music.  Do you remember this nursery rhyme?

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

To see a fine lady upon a white horse

Rings on her fingers and bell on her toes

And she shall have music wherever she goes

Wednesday
Sep172008

Time to Close Up Shop. . .

. . .at least for tonight.  I guess it's not smart to try to work with a blazing headache.


Wednesday
Sep172008

Rosemary Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction

 

While I'm sharing recipes, here's a fancy schmancy 'company dinner' that's easy as can be and melt in your mouth delicious.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season the tenderloin with rosemary and salt and pepper by sprinkling the seasonings on a large piece of foil. Roll the tenderloin over it until the seasonings have left the foil and adhered to the meat.

Wrap tightly in foil and refrigerate for at least one hour.

In a heavy pan, heat 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter.  After the butter has foamed and the oil is almost at the smoking point, add the meat to the pan.

Brown on all sides.

Remove the pork and place in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until an internal thermometer reaches 170 degrees.  See those brown bits and drippings in the pan?  Add about 1/3 cup of good red wine (cabernet sauvignon or merlot is good; you want something with tannins).  Simmer on low to reduce the liquid by half.


You'll know when it's reduced enough when you see a silky sheen to the sauce.  Keep warm.

When the meat is done, remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing into medallions..  Drizzle the reduction sauce over platter before plating.  If you have enough, drizzle some over the top of the sliced pork.  The sauce is meaty, herby, and earthy from the wine.  Yum!  Add a sprig of rosemary to the platter and serve with a nice salad.   I recommend Donna's "almost Olive Garden" salad.

Since there are just four of us, I only sliced three pieces for dinner and saved the fourth for the next day's  lunch.  (Sorry I didn't take pictures of the finished product.  I had a hungry family to feed and I forgot about pictures!)

The next day, I sliced the remaining pork into thin strips and piled it into a whole grain wrap along with the leftover salad, drained.  Honestly, I think I'd make the pork just so we could have the wraps again!

Tuesday
Sep162008

Easy Marinara Sauce

Tomatoes are plentiful right now, so before they're gone like summer, now is a good time to make Marinara Sauce--the easy way.

Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with tomatoes--depending upon the size, halve or quarter them.  I've made this sauce with all cherry tomatoes--they're easy, just wash 'em and cover the bottom of the pan with them.  Then take 5-8 garlic cloves (adjust according to how big the cloves are and how much your family likes garlic) and just take the paper off and tuck them down in the tomatoes.  Next, fresh herbs from the garden; I used basil, parsley, ( no sage) rosemary, and thyme.  Last, drizzle well with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Bake at 350 for an hour or up to an hour and a half.  It'll look like this:

 

Take out and let it cool down a little, then pulse in the food processor until combined but not soupy.  Transfer to large, shallow pan and simmer while your pasta water is coming to the boil and the pasta is cooked.  I add some crushed red pepper.

The sauce will thicken as it reduces.  This is a very fresh tasting sauce and very easy to make. 

Tuesday
Sep162008

Hat's Off to the Winner

Believe it or not, marie_d, the very first guesser, got closest to getting them all right with two out of four correct.  Congratulations, Marie!

Now, here are the answers:

Upper right:

Lower Right:

Lower Left:

And last, but not least:

Upper Left:  Jack Sparrow

I confess I DO love Jack.