God's Will Part 3

      So, this year, I've been on the look out for passages in the Bible that clearly outline what the will of God is for His people.  So far, I've written about what I've found here and here. And now part 3.

1 Peter 2:1-2
"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation."

God's Will: These are the things God doesn't want to see in your life: deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

1 Peter 3:8-9
"Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

God's Will: As part of the body of Christ, God desires for us to be loving, compassionate, humble, and caring. 

1 Timothy 1:5
" The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

God's Will: Love. 1 John 4:16 says that God is love. And we are supposed to be Christ like, therefore, love better be a part of who we are. 

Psalm 34:13-14
" keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

God's Will: Once again, stay away from evil and deceit. Seek after goodness and peace. In fact it says, "Pursue peace." So don't just open your door to peace, don't just passively hope for it, pursue it. Go after it. Peace is a good thing. 
      Isaiah 26:3 "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you." 


Today may you pursue the peace that is found in the One who gave you life. Happy Tuesday.

The First Day of Summer

      Today was the first day of summer. It was lovely.  This afternoon there was a men's meeting at church. So, the Lovely Keren Ruth and I hung out while Luke and Benjamin went to that. We gardened and made a delicious veggie pizza.

I added a couple pepper plants and planted some cabbage seed in our section of the garden. 

  And Keren planted cantaloupe, watermelon, and corn in their section.

These beautiful radishes added their deliciousness to our pizza.

We also used some chives from the garden and then bought some broccoli, carrots and avocado.

It was tasty!!!!

Happy Summer, may it be full of wonderful adventures!

"Friends are the sunshine of life." ~John Hay

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!!!!! I love you.

P.S. Thanks for sharing your love of fun shoes with me!

Vegetables

I had my first little harvest from the garden last night.

Chives and a little, baby, radish. 

Happy Friday!!!

"Summer is very precious." ~Dylan Lauren

Today

        Good morning. How are you today? Are you wonderful? Are you tired? Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you discouraged or encouraged? I personally woke up today with a mind that was tending toward worry. But you know what? Psalm 118:24 says,
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
       Is your mind anxious or joyous? Knotted up or at peace?  I find myself going through stages in this process of learning to trust the One who gave me life. I have days where I seem to be able to let go and simply trust and then something pops into my mind and tangles up all the progress I seemed to have made. But you know what it says in Zephaniah 3:17?
"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing." Everything about this verse is hopeful and inspiring but I would like to point out the part where it says "He will quiet you by His love." What about your life needs to be calmed down and quieted? My is my mind and the anxious tangle it likes to make of everything. Through His love, He brings quietness and peace to your tangles.
       Are you sad today or happy? Feeling lonely or loved? Well you know what choose the later of both those options because Haggai 1:13b says, "I am with you, declares the LORD." The One who created closeness and love and security is with you.

Happy Wednesday. 

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." ~Confucius

To Tiptoe Through the Flowers

Oh the wonder and delight of a blooming flower.

Wild Roses.

Peonies.

While I was mowing the lawn today I discovered this little patch of daisies.

Marigolds in the veggie garden.

The Veggies are starting to come up. We already have a baby tomato and we are going to have a ridiculous amount of radishes.

And then there is this. It's a Flowering Almond Bush that was a gift to Luke and me earlier this spring. We kept it in the house for awhile and it was full of blooms. Then I planted it outside and it froze. I wondered if I had killed it but then it started to green up again. And just the other day, I discovered that it is actually blooming again.

"Where flowers bloom so does hope." ~Lady Bird Johnson

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." ~Henri Matisse

Landscaping

      So this weekend, I started to tackle some landscaping in our front yard. Right out our kitchen window is this little nook. Luke mentioned that it was rather hard to mow around so I decided to clean it up a bit. I really liked this spot, but as I started working I realized just how messy and over grown it was.

Before: This is what we see from the kitchen window. 

Before: Standing in the driveway.

Before: Standing in the yard with my back to the road.

I spent a good chunk of time working on Saturday, and then finished up today.

The process. Weeding, lots of tree trimming, and pulling out rock from the overgrown mess.

When I had it cleaned up I started wheeling in loads of mulch from all the firewood Luke chopped this winter.

And here is the finished product. There are wild rose bushes in there that have buds on them. I am excited for when they bloom.

And the peonies are starting to bloom.

Happy Monday.

"If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life."

~Bill Watterson

Theodore

     I am a sentimental person and yesterday was a little bit sad. We sold Theodore our trusty Montero. I didn't realize how sad I was about the prospect of selling him but I cried a little. There are a lot of memories attached to that vehicle.
     Like the weekend I met my love and his family. My brother, dear friend, and I had road tripped up to the wonderful town I now call home to get my brother registered for school. We stayed with the Williams family, some friends of friends. My love(who was then a new acquaintance) gave us the grand tour of the town as well as a driving us around on adventures all weekend.

My Love Luke, The Lovely Keren Ruth, me, and Jordan.
(Photo credit to Emily Holter, the dear friend who accompanied Jordan and I on the trip)

       Then I decided to move up and go to school as well. Luke and I started dating and thus he and good ole Theodore would pick me up for dates and rides to church.  When Luke and I got engaged, I was living back at my parents house. I didn't have a car and so Luke let me use Theodore that summer. As Luke pointed out the other evening, Theodore was really my first car.
       Luke and I said I do and packed up Theodore for our trip North to our first home.

(I think photo credits for this one go to my Dad, Rohn)
       
      Good times and good memories. Theodore, you will always be remembered fondly!!!

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” ~L.M Montgomery