Quotes From the Cottage

Many of these displays of faith which have come under our review, have been given towards the close of life, or in the article of death. It is a question of deep interest to us all, Have we a faith which will support us amid the frailties of age, amid the debilities or the agonies of dissolving nature? We all profess faith now: the hour which is to try whether we possess it or not is fast approaching. The reality and the strength of our faith must by and by--God only knows how soon--be put to a severe trial. Ah! how many, who thought they had faith in health, find they have none in sickness; and how many, who thought their faith strong, find then that it is indeed but "as a grain of mustard seed!" Let us now, by seeking clear, distinct, extended views of Christian truth and its evidence, "lay up a good foundation for the time to come, that we may hold on eternal life." Nothing but the faith of the Gospel can enable a rationally thinking man to enter with composure and delight into the unseen world. It is the faith of the Gospel, and that alone, which can enable the expiring mortal to exult in the dissolution of "the earthly house of this tabernacle," and say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"~John Brown in Hebrews regarding Hebrews 11:20-22

Sunday's Hymn: Nothing But the Blood of Jesus

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my cleansing this I see—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my pardon this my plea—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I'll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Now by this I'll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Robert Lowry, 1876
Tune: Nothing But the Blood, Robert Lowry, 1876

Thankful Thursday

The work marathon began for my hubby at 8:45 Tuesday evening when he headed into work to do his part for the move of some equipment. He said it went smoothly but he didn't get home again until 3:30 AM yesterday morning. After maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep, he was up again and out the door to be back at work in case any problems arose from said equipment move. Some problems did arise and he didn't get home again until 9:30 last night. Right now, Andy is sleeping and that's pretty unusual...its 9 AM! But he was exhausted!

Today I am thankful to God for:

• His protection of my husband on the travel to and from work as well as the time working while Andy was so tired
• His provision of a boss who told Andy to work from home today...and not be in any hurry to get up to do it!
• His provision of this job, a good job, for Andy when so many are struggling with unemployment

What are you thanking God for today? Each Thursday of 2010, I'm sharing my thankfulness along with Kim of The Upward Call and other friends. Please join us!

Update: I love the way sharing these good gifts from our gracious God magnifies our recognition of the blessings He provides! I just visited Rosemary at Whatever is Good and was reminded to thank Him for the restorative sleep that He's provided for Andy as well. Thank you, Rosemary!

The Mystery Ship!

Here it is...the "mystery ship" of the Maritime Heritage Festival in Port Washington, WI! So if you haven't clicked through to find out (or I didn't tell you yesterday after church), she is...

...the H.M.S. Bounty!
This Bounty was built in 1962 in Nova Scotia specifically for the MGM Film Studio's production of Mutiny on the Bounty. The original Bounty was a British Naval ship and the most famous mutiny actually took place on her in 1789 when Captain Bligh was overthrown by Master Mate Fletcher Christian and his followers in the South Pacific.

Built one third larger than the original, with longer hallways, larger decks and higher ceilings to accommodate movie equipment, she still remains true to her 18th century roots. In addition to the movie she was built for, the H.M.S. Bounty has been used in Treasure Island, Yellow Beard and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Man's Chest among others.



The Bounty's tables use ropes (called lines on a ship) in what was an early attempt at gimbaling which is a method of keeping things level on a ship when it heels or pitches on the sea. You can imagine how much easier this makes it to eat on a ship!

Figureheads were used on the old tall ships to enable sailors, who were generally illiterate, to locate their ships on the docks as well as to appease Neptune, the god of the sea. The Bounty's figurehead is quite sedate compared to the more typical buxom and scantily clad ones.

Aside from her use in seafaring movies, the Bounty's mission is primarily educational. She appears dockside, as we toured her, or you can sail port-to-port on her. Can't you just imagine yourself behind the wheel with Captain Jack Sparrow at your side!

Tall Ships

Friday we celebrated getting the hard work done on the rental by enjoying an outing to Port Washington, WI to see the tall ships there as part of the Maritime Heritage Festival. The forecast was for overcast skies with a 40% chance of thunderstorms but we set out hoping that the 60% chance of no T-storms would prevail. Here's what things looked like upon our arrival:

We proceeded to check in with the tall ship that we were scheduled to sail on at 10:00 AM only to discover that there was some sort of misunderstanding between the crew of the ship and the people in charge at the marina resulting in a missing boarding ramp. By the time that was resolved and we boarded (about 45 minutes late), the sky looked more like this:

Oh, and the ship we sailed on? It was the Roseway, the last working pilot schooner in this country. She retired from that service in 1973 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. She now serves as the educational vessel of the World Ocean School, a nonprofit organization. Here's a picture of her taken during the cruise after ours:

The other ship that was available for cruising was the Lynx. The Lynx is a replica of an 1812 naval schooner and is owned and operated by the Lynx Educational Foundation, another nonprofit educational foundation. Their mission is to to teach about America's struggle to preserve her freedom.

There was some difficulty for these ships in negotiating off the docks and proceeding out into Lake Michigan (and back in) because of the amount of draft they need and the restrictions caused by a rocky jetty at the mouth of the harbor. They both had rubber dinghies to assist them in these maneuvers but doesn't it look like the Lynx is about to be boarded by pirates?

Maybe that's why this shot was fired a little while later!

There were more tall ships to be toured as well, including one billed as a "mystery ship." But this post is getting rather long so I think I'll just leave that one as a mystery for today and show you the pictures of it tomorrow. Happy sailing!

Sunday's Hymn: My Times are in Thy Hand

My times are in thy hand;
My God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul, I leave
Entirely to thy care.

My times are in thy hand;
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to thee.

My times are in thy hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

My times are in thy hand;
Jesus the Crucified;
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced
Are now my guard and guide.

William F. Lloyd, 1824
Tune: Vigil, Arr. from St. Albans Tune Book, 1865

Thankful Thursday

We have a rental home from which our tenants moved out last week. There is always some cleaning and spiffing up that we need to do between tenants. Some of it is pretty heavy work, in fact. I started on it last Wednesday and Andy took this week off to work on it as well. Emily pitched in too and we've got it finished except for a few optional things and keeping up the mowing while its vacant. My thankfulness today is focused on:

• both Andy and myself being physically able to do that work (Emily is young enough to take it for granted, of course)
• cooler, less humid weather to accomplish the outdoor work
  
• having the work completed so we can enjoy some fun together while Andy is off the rest of the week
• enjoying the abundant tomatoes which the former tenants planted and left just as they started to produce

What are you thanking God for today? Each Thursday of 2010, I'm joining Kim of The Upward Call and other friends in thanking God for His goodness to us. Thankfulness shared just multiplies the blessings. Won't you join us?

Quotable

No man taketh away sins (which the law, though holy, just and good, could not take away), but He in whom there is no sin.--BEDE.

Sunday's Hymn: I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad,
I found in him a resting place,
And he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink, and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's Light;
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I'll walk,
Till trav'ling days are done.

Horatius Bonar, 1846
Tune: Vox Dilecti, John B. Dykes, 1868

Yesterday's Late Afternoon Visitor

Thankful Thursday

This is the promise I am especially thankful for today:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.~Romans 8:38-39

Each Thursday of 2010, I am joining with Kim of The Upward Call and other friends in thanking God for His good gifts to us. Please join us!

Quotes From the Cottage

When we speak of God's trying men, we are not to suppose that He needs to discover by experiment what is their real character. He knows what is in them before the trial, He knows beforehand what will be the effect of the trial; but He thus makes men's characters known to themselves and to their fellowmen, for ends worthy of His own infinite wisdom, righteousness and kindness. It also deserves to be noticed that the means which God employs to prove His people are fitted to improve them. The means He employs to discover the good that is in them are calculated to increase and perfect it; the means He employs to discover the evil that is in them are calculated to lessen and destroy it.
~John Brown in Hebrews p. 521 regarding Heb. 11:17

Sunday's Hymn: When This Passing World is Done

When this passing world is done,
When has sunk yon glaring sun,
When we stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o'er life's finished story,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When I hear the wicked call
On the rocks and hills to fall,
When I see them start and shrink
On the fiery deluge brink,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When I stand before the throne,
Dressed in beauty not my own,
When I see thee as thou art,
Love thee with unsinning heart,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When the praise of heav'n I hear,
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harp's melodious voice,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me,
Wakened up from wrath to flee,
Hidden in the Saviour's side,
By the Spirit sanctified,
Teach me, Lord, on earth to show,
By my love, how much I owe.

Robert Murray McCheyne, 1837
Tune: Mount Zion, Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, 1867

Thankful Thursday

Thankfulness to God for my daughter, Emily, is what's on my mind and in my heart today. She's a kind and loving daughter to us, always willing to help where needed and in whatever way she can. And when it comes time to relax together, she's lots of fun too.

Tomorrow is Emily's birthday and over the weekend we'll be celebrating with a special meal and cheesecake, which is her birthday cake of choice. So its my privilege to thank God for Emily, to thank Him for giving her to us and to thank Him for the faith that He's given to her and the way that He continues to grow her in that faith.

Each Thursday of 2010, I'm joining with Kim of The Upward Call and several other friends in thanking God for His good gifts to us. Shared thanksgiving is a special blessing! Won't you join us?

Quotes From the Cottage

...so when men are called by grace, and converted, they come out of a country, this world, which is a land of sin and iniquity, of great folly and ignorance, of darkness, and of the shadow of death; a desert, a mere wilderness; a country where Satan reigns, full of wicked and ungodly men; and which is the land of their nativity, as to their first birth: and they may be said to come out of it, not in a natural and civil sense, but in a spiritual one; and it is the character of a converted man, or one that is come out of the world, and is separated from it, to be unmindful of it; not so as not to consider from whence he came out, as owing to rich grace; nor so as not to lament the iniquities of it; nor so as not to pray for the conversion of the inhabitants of it; but he is unmindful of it, so as to be desirous of the company of the men of it, or to have the affections set upon it, and the heart tickled with the pleasures of it, or so as to desire to return to it, for which there is a great deal of reason: for this country is not worth minding; and there is much in it to set a gracious mind against it; a good man has better things to mind; and it is below, and unworthy of a Christian, to mind the world; and besides, worldly mindedness is attended with bad consequences. Moreover, though the saints have opportunities of returning, yet they do not; they are near it, and the country they are seeking is afar off: many things in it are alluring and ensnaring; a corrupt and deceitful heart often lingers after them, and Satan is not wanting to tempt unto, and by them. And yet they do not return; some that bear the name of Christians, but are not truly such, may wholly return, and never come back more; and true believers may strangely go back again in some instances; but they shall not return finally and totally: for they are held and drawn with the cords of love; they are in the hands of Christ, and are secured in the covenant of grace; they are returned to Christ, in the effectual calling, who will keep them; they are of the household of God, and shall be no more foreigners; should they return in such sense, they would be condemned with the world, which cannot be.
~John Gill on Hebrews 11:15

Sunday's Hymn: Amazing Grace

Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found—
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

And when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

John Newton, 1779
Tune: Amazing Grace,
Traditional American melody, Arr. by Edwin O. Excell, 1851-1921