Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, Master, Whose I Am

Jesus, Master, whose I am,
Purchased thine alone to be
By thy blood, O spotless Lamb,
Shed so willingly for me,
Let my heart be all thine own,
Let me live to thee alone.

Jesus, Master, I am thine:
Keep me faithful, keep me near;
Let thy presence in me shine
All my homeward way to cheer.
Jesus, at thy feet I fall,
O be thou my all in all.

Jesus, Master, whom I serve,
Though so feebly and so ill,
Strengthen hand and heart and nerve
All thy bidding to fulfill.
Open thou mine eyes to see
All the work thou hast for me.

Lord, thou needest not, I know,
Service such as I can bring;
Yet I long to prove and show
Full allegiance to my King.
Thou an honor art to me;
Let me be a praise to thee.

Frances R. Havergal, 1865
Tune: Wells, Adapted from Dimitri Bortnianski, 1752-1825


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Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the fellowship that I enjoy with the women of our church. Our church has grown some but its still pretty small by most people's standards. One of the benefits of that as far as I'm concerned is that it's easier to get to know everyone. And among those I've gotten to know more recently is a delightful young woman who invited all the women of the church to her house for lunch today.

That's another advantage to being fairly small. We can still gather comfortably in someone's home! Well, all the women at least.

Not every woman of the church was able to come but many did and most age brackets and stages of adult womanhood were represented. That caused me to reflect on my thankfulness for that aspect of being small as well. We're not all broken into groups of peers! I appreciate and enjoy the fellowship of women in various ages and stages of life! Each one brings something special to the group and to me personally. Each one gives me a particular reason to thank God for her. And so I do!

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Its always...

...tea time at the Centerville Tea Room in Woodstock, Illinois!




Emily and I enjoyed a lovely luncheon there yesterday.




We shared a pot of Black Forest Tea with our sandwiches.




Those china tea cups make the tea taste even better!




What a delightful way to spend a bit of time together!




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Sunday's Hymn: How Gentle God's Commands

How gentle God's commands,
How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust his constant care.

While Providence supports,
Let saints securely dwell;
That hand, which bears all nature up,
Shall guide his children well.

Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your heav'nly Father's throne,
And sweet refreshment fine.

His goodness stands approved,
Down to the present day;
I'll drop my burden at his feet,
And bear a song away.

Philip Doddridge, 1755
Tune: Dennis, Arr. from Hans G. Nageli by Lowell Mason, 1845

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Thankful Thursday

I have a list of things to thank God for this week. The first is His timing. Last week was the week we were without electricity for four days. It was warm but nothing like this week where temperatures are topping out at over 95 degrees and the humidity is very high. I am so thankful that God did not orchestrate the storm that knocked out our power and caused so much damage and the high heat and humidity for the same week! And I am very grateful for air conditioning too!

My second reason to thank God today is for my husband, Andy, whose birthday is tomorrow. I am very grateful for this good man that I've shared over 35 years of marriage with! Happy Birthday, Andy!

The third reason for gratitude today is for the fun day that Andy, Emily and I shared yesterday. A fishing outing was planned a couple of weeks ago but it was much too hot for that. So we made sure we were on the lake (Crystal Lake is only about two blocks from our house) at 8 AM when wake time started for a bit of water skiing and tubing as well as swimming off the boat before things heated up too much. And wonder of wonders, we were the only ones enjoying those activities at that time of the morning!

That was followed up by lunch at a local pizza place to celebrate the aforementioned birthday. Emily treated us to that and a good time was had by all. Thank you, God, for a thoughtful, loving daughter.

So what are your reasons for praising and thanking God today? Please do join in and share them!

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Sunday's Hymn: Children of the Heavenly King

Children of the heav'nly King,
As ye journey, sweetly sing;
Sing your Saviour's worthy praise,
Glorious in his works and ways.

We are trav'ling home to God
In the way the fathers trod;
They are happy now, and we
Soon their happiness shall see.

Shout, ye little flock and blest;
You on Jesus' throne shall rest;
There your seat is now prepared,
There your kingdom and reward.

Lift your eyes, ye sons of light,
Zion's city is in sight;
There our endless home shall be,
There our Lord we soon shall see.

Fear not, brethren; joyful stand
On the borders of your land;
Jesus Christ, your Father's Son,
Bids you undismayed go on.

Lord, obediently we go,
Gladly leaving all below;
Only thou our Leader be,
And we still will follow thee.

John Cennick, 1742
Tune: Pleyel's Hymn, Arr. from Ignaz J. Pleyel, 1790

Power is Back!

Just had to share the good news with my bloggy friends! My thankful list now includes things like air conditioning and the freedom to use the washer and dish washer. Plus the miracle of the electric garage door opener! And its so quiet around here too! We're happy campers tonight!


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Thankful Thursday

Its Thursday morning and we are still without power since the big storm on Monday. Most people in Chicagoland have had theirs restored but we are among the approximately 100,000 whom the utility company says should be up and running "by the weekend."

Andy, Emily and I have been so very thankful this week for our generator! Andy bought it about five years ago when we lost power for three days and he had the foresight to have it wired into the electrical panel when we had to replace the service entrance and breaker box last year. Its not the huge kind of generator that makes it so you can forget its not the real thing. No, we can't run the air conditioning or the washer or dish washer or the oven. We can only use one heat producing appliance at a time, one burner on the electric stove or the coffee maker for those that imbibe, for example, but we can have a few lights or fans and the router for internet. But most importantly, we can keep food in the freezer and refrigerator and we can have the hot water heater on too! Sometimes it feels downright decadent to have this blessing from God but we do praise Him and thank Him for it!

We are also so very grateful for God's protection in the storm. And isn't that what He does for us every day in so many ways, ways we might not even be aware of at the time? We do have an awesome God!

For He will hide me in His shelter
in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;
He will lift me high upon a rock.~Ps. 27:5

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Summer Storm

It's been quite the eventful day at the cottage. Violent thunderstorms blew through Chicagoland this morning knocking out power to over 600,000 people and we were among them. Many, many trees were downed and our big, beautiful spruce was sprawled across the driveway early in the storm.




The storm came out of the north and apparently put some twisting force on our poor tree.




Not only was our driveway blocked but the entire street was impassable on this end because of our tree.




Also on the other end because of a neighbor's tree!




We were fortunate, however, in that the spruce was actually on the city right of way so they removed it. And not only that but, because it did block the road, it was removed by noon!




We're also very thankful for God's protection in that no one was hurt and nothing was even damaged. Even our recycling container emerged unscathed, much to our amazement!




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Sunday's Hymn: A Shelter in the Time of Storm

The Lord's our Rock, in him we hide,
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A weary land, a weary land,
Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A shelter in the time of storm.

A shade by day, defense by night,
A shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes affright,
A shelter in the time of storm.

The raging storms may round us beat,
A shelter in the time of storm;
We'll never leave our safe retreat,
A shelter in the time of storm.

O Rock Divine, O Refuge dear,
A shelter in the time of storm;
Be thou our helper ever near,
A shelter in the time of storm.

Vernon J. Charlesworth, arr. by Ira D. Sankey, 1840-1907
Tune: A Shelter in the Time of Storm, Ira D. Sankey, 1840-1907

Thankful Thursday

I'm thanking God today for slightly cooler temperatures. The humidity seemed less intense too.

I'm also thankful for a lovely lunch with the women of my church today. I was seated next to a woman who is fairly new to our church and this was my first opportunity to get to know her a bit better. What a pleasure that was!

Yesterday, I had coffee (well, she had coffee and I had tea) with an old friend, a true kindred spirit, that I hadn't seen for a while. Catching up with her was a joy too.

And finally, I am thankful to be caught up with my weeding at last. They got so far ahead of me while we were on vacation but, with some much appreciated help from Andy, they are finally under control...for the moment. Weeds are an awful lot like dust, you know.


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Kitchen Improvements: Post Script

I'm really thrilled with all the improvements to our kitchen but...there is always a but, isn't there? Well, mine was the desire to add curtains to the windows. We already had cell-type blinds but there is such a softness to curtains on kitchen windows. Especially lace curtains. I love the sun filtering in through them! And I had this length of lace from a swag that Emily had on her dorm room window in college so...here's how I spent my "extra" time over the Fourth of July weekend.

I couldn't be more please with the results! The plants are happier having their sun filtered too!

Sunday's Hymn: Shine Thou Upon Us, Lord

Shine thou upon us, Lord,
True Light of men, today,
And through the written Word
Thy very self display,
That so from hearts which burn
With gazing on thy face
Thy little ones may learn
The wonders of thy grace.

Breathe thou upon us, Lord,
Thy Spirit's living flame,
That so with one accord
Our lips may tell thy name.
Give thou the hearing ear,
Fix thou the wandering thought,
That those we teach may hear
The great things thou hast wrought.

Speak thou for us, O Lord,
In all we say of thee;
According to thy Word
Let all our teaching be,
That so thy lambs may know
Their own true Shepherd's voice,
Where'er he leads them go,
And in his love rejoice.

Live thou within us, Lord;
Thy mind and will be ours;
Be thou belov'd, adored,
And served with all our powers,
That so our lives may teach
Thy children what thou art,
And plead, by more than speech,
For thee with ev'ry heart.

John Ellerton, 1881
Tune: Leoni, Arr. from a Jewish melody