This Day In History

1735 : The second president of the United States, John Adams, was born in Braintree, Mass.

1945 : Henry "The Fonz" Winkler is born

A Kiss

The thing about pictures is, one can never capture the bold colors, nor can one capture what the imagination has seen. But here is my attempt.
For the last few days, I've looked out my front window to see a "kiss" in the leaves. I'm not sure you can tell, but the bright yellows, oranges, and reds form "lips" in the picture below.
Let's call this one Autumn Lipstick.

Sweet Citrus

An interesting fact I found in the 2012 Farmer's Almanac:

One can banish B.O. by rubbing under one's armpits with a slice of lemon or lime.

Let me know if any of you tries this... ;)

New Cabinet Knobs at a Steal!

One of my favorite things to do when shopping is to look through the clearance section.
Jeff and I went to Hobby Lobby today (he's sick, but loves getting out anyway, so he agreed to tag along). I went looking for "ingredients" for a craft project I'll be doing with my friend Anna, but didn't find what I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. Then I got sidetracked looking for the clearance section...

And look what I found!

And here's a close-up..

I've been looking for and wanting new kitchen cabinet knobs for a long time, ever since we did our own remodel at our house. But the knobs I wanted were going to be about $300 just for the kitchen. I just could not pay that. So I've kept my eye out for that crazy deal, and today I found it!
Guess what I paid for these knobs?
$1.02 each!
I'm so proud of my find today!
And I LOVE them in the kitchen (they're not installed yet, just lying on the cabinet getting used to the new space).
They have that handmade, arts and crafts style feel that we've redone our house to resemble. Anything hand-crafted is a large part of why I love the arts and crafts style of decor.
Now to get Jeff to install them...

He's Coming Home!

Sometimes the Lord blesses us with "extra" children - ones we didn't give birth to, but they are still brought in as part of the family.
The Trentham family has graciously allowed their oldest boy Jonathan to be adopted in as part of the Kear family (and now they are also part of us :)
On October 24th, my husband will be making his first trip to Cambodia with our pastor friend Tim Atchley, and when they return, they will have with them "my boy" who has served there for the past 2 years.
His room is ready, and we can't wait for a season of having him under our roof again!

Waiting at the airport 2 years ago with his little "sisters" Abigail and Katherine (Silly Bean and Roonie)

(Jonathan 1 day ago)

See you soon!

The Test of a True Believer

The book of James, chapter 2:


 ¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?


 ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.


 ¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”


 ¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?


 ²¹ Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³ And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴ So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.


 ²⁵ Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. ²⁶ Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.


Do you ever wonder whether your friends or loved ones are really born again?  The above portion of scripture makes it easy to tell "who's who"...

The Oak Tree

I was reading my Reader's Digest today and found an interesting paragraph about the oak tree that reminded me of some scriptural truth.  First the paragraph:
"In some forests oak trees of compatible species graft their roots together and 'become one flesh'.  Through their shared root system, the stronger, dominant trees may provide the weaker trees with nutrients.  In this way, even the roots of stumps can continue to live and contribute to the forest."
I immediately thought of two verses.  The first...
I Thessalonians 5:14 "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
The second...
Isaiah 61:3 "And provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor."
I notice a few things.
First, I notice that there is a community taking place among the oak trees.  The strong oaks are helping to encourage the weak oaks.  We in the church (the community of the redeemed) ought to encourage one another, helping one another when we are weak.
Second, I notice the shared root system.  We are all on the same "team"!  We cannot help but be connected - we just ARE in Jesus Christ.  The weak can draw strength just by being part of the community of the Saints of God.  Guess where that leads me?  Yep!  Get into a local church body!
Third, do you see what happens when those who are in mourning and despair decide to plant themselves with the other "oaks"?  Yes!  They become oaks of righteousness, plantings of the LORD and they display His splendor.  Those that were "unlovely" become the "lovely" when connected to Jesus Christ.
Beautiful picture, isn't it!

The 2012 Farmer's Almanac

For the first time, I've ordered The Farmer's Almanac, and I'm having such fun with it!
There are the typical - planting times and seasons, weather predictions (for the mid-south, a mild and dry winter and a cooler than normal spring), articles, ads for silly things.
One article in particular was interesting.  It's called Ham on the Lam and it's about the epidemic pig population in the US.  It appears that wild boar are taking over!  That's the serious part.
The part I'm laughing about is the side bar in the article with some funny "pig" sayings.
Here are a couple:
Do you know what "a pig's whisper" is?  It's a short period of time, the length of a pig's grunt.
Do you know what "pigs and whistles" is?  It's trifles.
What about "to go to pigs and whistles"?  To be ruined.
These are humorous, but the last two in the side bar are my  favorite.
Do you know what it means when one says "to drive pigs"?  Or what about "to drive your pigs to market"?
This is where I'm cracking up!
Next time your husband (or wife) is snoring, or snoring LOUDLY, poke them and say, "Are you driving pigs??"  OR "Are you driving your pigs to market?"
That's what it means - "to drive pigs" is "to snore" and "to drive your pigs to market" is "to snore loudly"!!

HAHA!
I love this little paperback book!

Recycling

Please don't hate me if I'm not all "green earth" to the extreme (though I do think we should care for the resources around us.  That's just good stewardship.  It's the worship of the environment that gets us in trouble - care for, not worship.  Worship is reserved for God alone.)
Y'all probably already know this, but I'm new to the bunny world.  I've never had rabbits, but am finding out they can be expensive to keep.
First of all, they grow from the cute little bunnies they were in April to big ol' rabbits, needing a bigger place to live.  There's this neat e-mail group called Freecycle that I'm part of.  A lady posted a rabbit hutch and we were fortunate enough to catch it before it was snatched up, so our bunnies now have a larger home, just in time for winter...

I've been doing some reading, and there is some debate for and some against heat lamps in the hutch.  The "against" crowd says that rabbits like cooler weather, and that if the rabbits have a good burrowing place with lots of bedding, and if their water can be kept from freezing, they'll be quite happy in the winter.
The reason for this post is the bedding.  That stuff is expensive!  You mean to tell me I have to buy wood chips or shredded cardboard for them to burrow, poop and pee on?
Uh no...
Enter the relevance for my reference to being "green".  I had this brainy thought of shredding our own bedding, as in using those newspapers that were just lying around.
Once I started the shredding, Abigail and Niki thought it looked like fun, so they joined me!

And, no, that is not one of the rabbits.  That is our spoiled rotten "brat" of a dog, Niki ;)  (see the shredded paper in the bag?)
Now our bunnies...  Alanis

and Marley

(they're wiggly and it's hard to get good pics!)
will be warm in the winter.

Easy-cut Watermelon

For years I've cut both watermelon and cantaloupe with some trepidation.  Why does it have to be so time-consuming and irritating?
A while ago, I stumbled upon an easier way to get the job done.  The pictures are below to show you my process.

I started by cutting the watermelon in half.  I chose to do so long-ways.  Then I make slices across...

Then I cut those slices in half...

Now comes the "fun" part - watch this!

I stand the piece up, and cut across ...

then down...  done with that piece!

This process is going quickly!  But what about those pesky ends?  Ah, I have a similar solution...

Yep, you stand "him" up like that, then...

make just one cut and you're DONE!
This took maybe 15 minutes to do what used to take me at least twice that long.
Yes, I'm happy with myself!
If you haven't discovered a quick, painless way to cut melons, why don't you give my way a try?
I have a feeling you may even improve upon it!  And if you do - or if you already have a quicker way, will you let me know?

To Make Our Joy Complete

Back to 1 John 1 again...
Verse 3 - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Verse 4 - We write this to make our joy complete.

What is making their "joy complete"?
Is it that they know the truth?
Is it that in proclaiming, they will have fellowship with others?
Is it in proclaiming that their fellowship is with the Father and His Son?

I think that they have seen the Word of life, who appeared to them from the Father (this is Jesus Christ), and that in SHARING what they have seen, causing others to hear and believe the truth, their joy is complete.
Our joy is complete when we know the truth and share it with others who believe the message.

I can tell you there is no greater joy than in seeing someone come to faith in Jesus Christ.  I am joyful in my relationship with Him, but my joy is "complete" when someone else believes in Him!

There is an anniversary approaching.  On Sunday, June 12th, it will be one year since my precious daughter Abigail surrendered her life to Jesus Christ.
In that, my joy is complete!

Happy Anniversary, my girl.  I love you very much!!

Solve This Mystery...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ,
We write this to make our joy complete.

Who or what is the "Word of life"?

Even though this "mystery" is simple to solve, it is the most important "mystery" that exists.
Do you know the Word of life?
(Verses are from 1 John 1:1-4)