Progress = Change

That little graphic was created quite a few years ago.  It was an idea about what we envisioned for our home school journey with our kids.  A solid bridge into their future.

I can identify my best moment of our home school journey...

teaching my kids to read.

They love to read and are rarely without a book or two (or more!) in progress.  It used to make my mother upset that we allowed our children to read at the dinner table.  I loved it then and still do - yes even as young adults they read at the table during dinner fairly often.

Now we've come to the end of our (at home) home education journey.  It has absolutely been a success for our family!

Jess has graduated high school and is a full-fledged undergraduate student at Franklin Pierce University with a dual major, in the honors program and officially advanced class standing due to all the college work she completed during high school
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In September, Ben will begin his advanced college work at Nashua Community College for the remainder of his high school years.  Most likely he'll be finishing or fairly close to finishing an associates degree by the time he graduates high school.

Also new this summer is Ben going away to work at Camp Spofford for the next couple of months. My mama-heart is trying to sort out the varying emotions around this adventure but mostly I'm thankful that God has given him this opportunity and excited to see how he will grow this summer. We all prayed desperately for this door to open for him and several men in our church stepped up to offer recommendations and encouragement along the way.   He will come home just before his college classes begin - literally - as in two days before they start!

Other relationships in our lives are also changing.  Unexplained distance and estrangement has grown in formerly close relationships.  Physical distance is about to become a reality with some of our closest friends as they are embarking on a life-changing move to a different part of the country.
However God has brought a wealth of new relationships and opportunities for new friendships within our church family and we are tremendously thankful for the gift.  Monadnock Congregational Church is a wonderful place and I'm so grateful we challenged our presuppositions about the name on the sign.  It is now very clear that a name/label attached to something doesn't always mean what we think it does.  This church is sound in belief, has a Pastor who is bold in proclaiming the truth of the Jesus Christ, and has a congregation made up of genuine people who are trying to live honest, Christ-like lives by God's grace in a broken world.  We are all sinners, we fail, we stumble, we blow it big time even.  But there is Jesus and therefore there is grace and forgiveness... restoration and on-going sanctification.

As for me... I'm praying about what God is going to have me do next.
I don't think I'm having a mid-life crisis or anything... there is no desire for a sports car or crazy adventure.  More a quiet waiting to see what's next in the journey.  I've been dabbling in some new sewing ventures and finding things I love and things I don't.  Made a little bit of money for some things, helped some people with a few different things and continue to learn new skills and techniques.  I'm also considering the possibility (though a remote one) of a job outside home someplace.  If God opens a certain type of door, I will walk through thankfully.  If not, I shall continue along doing what He puts before me as opportunities.

Blessings on the journey~

Pierced by the Word - a book

Recently I started this small book as part of my morning time with Jesus.  I'm also reading (again) through the Gospel of John but this time I'm using Steve's ESV version study bible.  What a big difference to have that slight change of wording and all the extra study notes on the scriptures!

The book by John Piper is really excellent and I'm mulling over blogging it as I have other materials I've read.  I'd probably have to re-start it to make some notes, or I can just wing it.  Each 'chapter' is very short - just 3 pages or so, but the material is EXCELLENT!  I really enjoy John Piper's teaching and his easy to read style.  The book is available many places obviously, but here is the amazon link just to make life easy.

Blessings on the journey~

Big News

Announcing....  Applewood Quilts Etc. real presence on the web!

I took the plunge and now have my own domain & site for my sewing!

I still have a lot to learn with getting a site up and running and all that jazz - but I'm making progress!

Reminders from Scripture

Downtown Temple, NH - photo credit: Steve Wolfe

While walking with my husband we were talking about the struggle we have had to discover the place God would have our family be to worship and become a part of the local body of Christ -namely a church home.  This has been ongoing for months now.  Steve described our disheartened state as 'being in a spiritual funk', which I (sadly) found pretty accurate.
We are slowly feeling the fog lift as God is showing us things and we are stepping seriously outside of our comfort zone in some areas to be obedient to what we believe God wants for us.  It is not easy, but nothing says that any of this life is supposed to be easy.  What we are promised is that God will be with us on the journey and give us all that is needed to take each step with Him as our guide.

I am blessed to have access to a marvelous software program for Bible study, devotional helps, etc. from Logos.com, and have just completed a 5-day reading plan about spiritual growth that has been really good.  For the 4th day, I read three pieces of scripture that struck a deep chord because they give a picture of what God's heart is for His church.

Psalm 133:1-3

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

John 13:35

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Blessings on the journey~

Chapter 7 Lines

Chapter 7  Community is worth fighting for: Conflict

"Communities need tensions if they are to grow and deepen. Tensions come from conflicts...  A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly. " ~Jean Vanier

p 127  There is no greater challenge in building community than to master the art of handling anger and conflict.  ..we must consider how important this topic is in God's eyes. It is both remarkable and appalling that by and large in churches today, we are not scandalized by broken relationships and chronic enmity between people.  We are not scandalized by lack of love.
But Jesus is.

p 128  We have been invited into the Fellowship of the Trinity. When we violate oneness, when we contribute to relational brokenness, it doesn't just affect us and the other person.  We are contributing to the destruction of that which is most prized by God and was purchased by him at greatest cost - the oneness of the Trinitarian community.

p 130  Matthew 18:15 may be the single most violated of all the instructions Jesus gave the human race.

p 131  To be alive means to be in conflict.  It's part of the dance of the porcupines. People may not be normal, but conflict surely is - at least in our world.

p 132  Interestingly, while Jesus tells his hearers they should take the responsibility to set things right if the other person has sinned, in another setting (Matt 5:23-24) he tells his hearers to take the first step if they are the ones in the wrong.  Jesus puts the burden on you in both cases.
Why?  Because people who value community are people who own responsibility to deal with relational breakdowns.

p 132  "Go" Jesus says. Take action. Don't let resentment fester.

p 133  Anger exists to tell you something is wrong and to move you to action.  Anger exists so you will be motivated to make it go away.  However, remember Proverbs 14:17 and Ephesians 4:26.

p 134-135 Causes of our anger? Fear? Frustration? Hurt? What outcome do we want? to win? to hurt someone?

p 136  Sometimes you should become angry. However even then you still must decide how to express your anger.

p 138 Conflict is inevitable. Resentment is optional.

p 139  The need for sensitivity is one of the most important - and often misunderstood - aspects of healthy anger management.

p 141 The simplest guideline is to approach the other people the way you would want to be approached in their place.

p 142  We must speak truth in love - clearly.

p 143  The goal in conflict resolution is not to win or score points - it's reconciliation.  Your aim should be to restore the relationship.  Reconciliation is rarely simple and almost never quick.

p 144  Direct confrontation doesn't always do good.  Sometimes it escalates the conflict. Sometimes it leads to violence. Confrontation can do tremendous damage. Then we need a miracle.  God created one.  It's called forgiveness - that's in the next chapter.

Chapter 2 - Lines

All page references are from the above pictured book

Ch. 2  The Wonder of Oneness

p. 29 ... people will admit to being lonely in anonymous polls, but when asked to give their names they will say they are independent and self-sufficient.

Loneliness, said Mother Teresa, is the leprosy of modern society.  And no one wants anybody to know they're a leper.

p. 30  Albert Schweitzer said, "We are all so much together, but we are dying of loneliness."

[Edward} Hallowell points out that our society is increasingly devoted to, obsessed with, and enslaved by achieving, and increasingly bankrupt and impoverished when it comes to connecting.

p. 31  No matter how little money we have, no matter what rung we occupy on anybody's corporate ladder of success, in the end what everybody discovers is that what matters is other people.  Human beings who give themselves to relational greatness - who have friends they laugh with, cry with, learn with, fight with, dance with, live and love and grow old and die with - these are the human beings who lead magnificent lives.

We were made to know oneness. That is why loneliness is so painful.

p. 33 [Robert Putnam] and a team of researchers documented that for twenty-five years American society has experienced a steady decline of what sociologists call 'social capital' - a sense of connectedness and community.

p. 34 ... the idea of the Trinity turns out to be vitally important because it tells us that God himself has been experiencing community throughout eternity.   **I find this idea fascinating!

p. 37  Dallas Willard states, "Ultimately, every human circle is doomed to dissolution if it is not caught up in the life of the only genuinely self-sufficient circle of sufficiency, that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For that circle is the only one that is truly and totally self-sufficient.  And all the broken circles must ultimately find their healing there, if anywhere."

p. 38 The Trinity is "a self-sufficing community of unspeakably magnificent personal beings of boundless love, knowledge, and power," as Dallas Willard puts it.

p. 40 What is most amazing is that God invites us into the Fellowship of the Trinity.

p. 41 When Jesus prays for us (John 17:20-21) to be invited into the divine circle, it is not a casual request. There is an enormous price to be paid for our admittance. The Son will go to the cross. The Father - who had known nothing from all eternity but the perfect intimacy with His Son - will now see his Beloved suffer the anguish and alienation of sin. The Spirit will come to earth and allow himself to be quenched and grieved by human beings.  At enormous cost to every member of the Trinity, you and I have been welcomed to the eternal circle, to be held in the heart of the Father, Son, Spirit.
*** I had never considered it quite this way before... what sacrifice!  How can I not have ever realized the enormity of what transpired - not just at the cross, but from the Father, and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit?  Staggering...

Halfway through 2014

We are half-way through 2014 and WOW has it seemed to fly by so far!  July 1st already!

It's been a pretty busy year with more changes than I can remember, but generally it has been a really great year for our family.  We have seen God moving and growing/changing us all, which is always a very cool thing to see even when it doesn't especially feel comfortable.

Right now we are in the midst of a pretty ambitious home-improvement project to benefit J&B and their friends.  I'm pretty astonished at what has been accomplished in about a month's time - mostly by the efforts of my most awesome and amazing husband with some handy help from B and his friends and a bit of painting on my part.   Big reveal will come when we are done.

I haven't forgotten about the book study posting, just slow going as I've been doing a lot of other reading as well lately.  I finished Love Does by Bob Goff and was blown away, challenged, and encouraged.  I would put it on your 'must read' list if you have such a thing.  I also read Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider and would recommend that as well, though I do disagree with her claim that it is absolutely needful to travel outside the country with your family... I'm not a big traveler anyway and have pretty much no desire at all to leave the country.

Blessings on the journey,

New Book Study...more lines!

Quick back story...
We moved in part because we craved small town living... and hoped to discover the lost art of community.   We also left our church after 10 years in large part due to the serious lack of genuine community & depth of relationship.  In recent months God has been speaking into our lives loudly on this topic.
I read a great book called

Authentic Relationships: Discover the Lost Art of One Anothering by Wayne Jacobson.

Then we did a study at a local church called "Christian" by Andy Stanley - which was truly excellent. (The link takes you to the YouTube playlist of all the sessions)

This week I began a new book study and have begun again making lots of notes of the lines that speak to me most loudly.  So those I will share in coming posts along with anything of note that I am learning and changing in my own life.
This is the book:

Blessings on the journey~

Prayer View

I took this photo one morning as I sat by the stove doing my 'quiet time' over scripture and a bible study book.
The light filtered through the curtain as the sun came up burning gold and orange and I was thinking that day how God's mercies are new every morning, regardless of the view out my window.

Over the past few weeks I've been wrestling with some weighty thoughts and struggling to make sense of my emotions regarding changing relationships and to do lists and politics and budgets.  So many things swirling in my head that the noise is deafening at times and I just want to sit and be still under a blanket by the stove.  My mornings in the chair with a Bible (or a kindle) on my lap, sometimes a cat as well - are quiet and still and sometimes I hear from God there and other times the noise in my head drowns out what He is trying to teach me.  I know this and sometimes I can quiet the noise enough to hear and other times I just pray - "God - you know what I need, I can't be still, help!"
Thankfully, I belong to a Savior who is beyond patient with me... and slowly... slowly... the noise in my head is becoming less of a roar.  If he can calm the storm of wind and waves - I'm sure he can handle me and whatever little emotional hurricane is whistling through my head.  And for this truth I am most grateful.
We've now been a year in our new home and I've decided that there are some perks to moving where things are still somewhat familiar.  To be true there are LOTS of new things in our lives, but simple things like the fact that I still shop at the same grocery store chain and big things like the fact that our dearest family friends are right here in town, have made moving so much easier!
We are in a season of learning how good/strong community and healthy/helpful relationships are formed and what that looks like in real life, small town, friends, etc.  I'm reading a really tremendous book right now, Authentic Relationships by Wayne Jacobsen & Clay Jacobsen.  I'm certain God is going to use it in a powerful way for me.

One truth that I learned this week was that I can't be restrictive in my head about how God is going to answer prayer in my life.  I can't be so narrow in my view of what He can/will do that I don't see him using the unexpected to answer prayer - He will do what He will do and I can't say 'do it my way'.... well, I can say that, but I'm very likely going to miss His answer in my stubbornness and pride.
For a long time I'd been praying that God would send my kids good friends and put people in their lives that would walk alongside them in their faith journey, people that loved Jesus and would be encouraging, helpful, and fun.  It took a lot of years and a move to Temple for God to answer - a completely unexpected means of making His answer known, but He is faithful and he DID answer.
We are in a season of praying over several other things and seeking God's answers for us... I'm sometimes slow to learn, but am confident of the fact that He will answer us in His time and I just want to make sure that I'm watching for and aware (as much as I can be) of every means of His provision for our family.

Blessings on the journey~

Lines (15) The final chapter

Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"
***we made it!***

Chapter 16   Blessing   Psalm 134

pg 184  "In Psalm 120, the first of the Psalms of Ascents, we saw the theme of repentance developed.  The word in Hebrew is t^eshubah, a turning away from the world and a turning toward God; the initial move in a life-goal set on God.  It was addressed to the person at the crossroads, inviting each of us to make the decision to set out on the way of faith.  Each of the psalms that followed has described a part of what takes place along this pilgrim way among the people who have turned to God and follow him in Christ.  We have discovered in these psalms beautiful lines, piercing insights, dazzling truths, stimulating words.  We have found that the world in which these psalms are sung is a world of adventure and challenge, of ardor and meaning.  We have realized that while there are certainly difficulties in the way of faith, it cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be called dull.  It requires everything that is in us; it enlists all our desires and abilities; it gathers our total existence into its songs.  But when we get to where we are going, what then?"

pg 185  God shares himself with us - he gets personally involved - generously - graciously.
God stands - foundational & dependable
God stoops - he meets us where we are - we can't get ourselves cleaned up enough to approach him - so he comes to us - this is a demonstration of grace!
God stays - he sticks with us, sharing his life with us in grace & peace

pg 186 Psalm 134 features an "invitational command"  (I like that wording!)  "Come, Bless the LORD..."

pg 187  "Bless the Lord.  Do that for which you were created and redeemeds; life your voices in gratitude; enter into the community of praise and prayer that anticipates the final consummation of faith in heaven. Bless the Lord."

pg 189  "Feelings don't run the show.  There is a reality deeper than our feelings.  Live by that."
pg 190  Luke 15:7 Jesus speaks of the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, not relief, not surprise - joy!
pg 191-192  The Westminster Shorter Catechism's 1st question -
"What is the chief end of man?"  - this asks us what is the final purpose, the main thing, why are we here?  The answer is "To glorify God and enjoy him forever."  Glorify.  Enjoy.
This book has journeyed through these passages looking at things involved in Christian discipleship and finally arrives at this point - Bless the Lord.  Glorify & Enjoy God in all things.
"Grace and gratitude belong together...(snip) We are so created and so redeemed that we are capable of enjoying him.  All the movements of discipleship arrive at a place where joy is experienced.  Every step of ascent toward God develops the capacity to enjoy."
"Best of all, we don't have to wait until we get to the end of the road before we enjoy what is at the end of the road."

Some final thoughts:  This is the only book I have read by this author and I have heard some criticism of his total theology from some people that I respect.  As I am not God - I have no way of knowing the heart of another person and would not presume to pass judgement on his motives/ideas/etc.  I don't think I found anything glaringly inconsistent with my own beliefs in this book generally speaking.  (I suppose that sounds wishy-washy, but honest at this point as I can't remember every word I read in detail).
I found much instructive and helpful here - I love the visual of life as a journey upwards (hello...blog title!)  I pretty much always consider myself on a journey, following Christ and learning as I travel.  This book gave me pause to consider some things I hadn't previously and allowed me to ponder the long journey that discipleship really is.

Blessings on the journey,

Lines (14)

Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"
***almost done... hang in there!***

Chapter 15     Community  Psalm 133

pg 169  "For God never makes private, secret salvation deals with people.  His relationships with us are personal, true: intimate, yes: but private, no.  We are a family in Christ."
I find this idea to be interesting and thought provoking ... and for someone like me, slightly intimidating.

pg 170  Psalm 133 puts, what is said & shown throughout scripture and church history, into words of song - community is essential.  "Scripture knows nothing of the solitary Christian.  People of faith are always members of a community."
Again this is a tough one for me... perhaps it is just the area of the country where I live or my limited exposure to faith communities at large - but here, for me, community is hard to come by in the sense that my soul longs to find.

pg 173  "Living together in a way that evokes the glad song of Psalm 133 is one of the great and arduous tasks before Christ's people.  Nothing requires more attention and energy."
I would add that it is perhaps something that is sorely lacking in a lot of places for precisely this reason.

 pg 175 Quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer ~ "Not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, constitutes the basis of our community.  What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ.  Our community with on another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us."

pg 176  "Important in any community of faith is an ever-renewed sense of expectation in what God is doing with our brothers & sisters in the faith."
Ah, perhaps here is part of the key found... that we don't really expect to see God move in our own lives or in anyone else's life.  And we never spend enough time together - talking about God and what He is doing in our lives to know differently.
Shared experience builds community.  If we never share our lives in any real sense, genuine relationships and true community can't be built.  If we are all so fearful of being real with one another that we live in shallow pleasantries and false masks - how can we build 'family' ties that are strong enough to weather persecution or even a minor challenge?

A Coat of Paint Changes Everything

I forgot that I'd promised to post about our exterior painting project. Whoops!
Here are a few 'before' photos of the house and detached garage.

The house originally had about a zillion of those thin plastic louver type shutters in that same awful green color (you can see them on the corner of the garage) but Steve ripped those down as soon as possible after we'd moved in.
We are guessing that the prior owners were trying to achieve an 'apple theme' with the color choices given we have apple trees on the property and border an old orchard.  We didn't like it - especially the green accents that were just awful in our opinion.
We had several painters and painting companies come out to give us estimates and chose to work with a friend of a friend and we are so thankful we did!  Mark Cedras was great to work with and answered all my questions patiently and helped immensely with color choices.  He is a talented artist and it comes through even in something as mundane as painting a house - though after seeing how much work he did, I am doubly impressed with the transformation he brought about for us.
First he power-washed everything and scraped to get rid of all the loose and peeling paint - which there was plenty, especially on the garage.  He also let us know of any spots that needed repair due to rot/neglect.  We had a friend from church come and help with a lot of that, and another friend of a friend do some siding replacement where it was really bad.
When we'd been in the process of checking Mark's references we happened to do a drive-by of a prior project he'd done and fell in love with the color of that home.  With Mark's encouragement we did something that seemed brave to us (though we've discovered it is fairly common) and opted to make the house one color and the detached garage/barn a different color.
The paint/stain used are all Benjamin Moore products purchased through Milford Paint and we are very pleased with the final product.  The house color is called "Kendall Charcoal" and is a dark gray, white trim and the doors are accented in a dark green called "Black Forest".  The garage is "Country Redwood" with white trim.

We think the entire thing is just lovely - classic and a touch elegant for our little corner in the country. We are happy to recommend Mark if your looking for a great painter!

Blessings on the journey~

Lines (13)

Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"


Chapter 14     Obedience      Psalm 132 

pg 160  "The first half of Psalm 132 is the part that roots obedience in fact and keeps our feet on the ground."

pg 162  "Christians tramp well-worn paths: obedience has a history. This history is important for without it we are at the mercy of whims. Memory is a data bank we use to evaluate our position and make decisions. With a biblical memory we have two thousand years of experience from which to make the off-the-cuff responses that are required each day in the life of faith."

pg 163 "Obedience is not a stodgy plodding in the ruts of religion, it is a hopeful race toward God's promises."

pg 164 "The second half of Psalm 132 takes seriously what God said to David and how David responded. (snip) and uses them to make a vision of the reality that is in the future of faith: (vs 15-18). All the verb tenses are future. Obedience is fulfilled by hope."

pg 165 "Psalm 132 cultivates a hope that gives wings to obedience, a hope that is consistent with the reality of what God has done in the past but is not confined to it."
(snip)
"Christians who master Psalm 132 will be protected from one danger, at least, that is ever a threat to obedience: the danger that we should reduce Christian existence to ritually obeying a few commandments that are congenial to our temperament and convenient to our standard of living."

pg 166 "What we require is obedience - the strength to stand and the willingness to leap, and the sense to know when to do which.  Which is exactly what we get when an accurate memory of God's ways is combined with a lively hope in his promises."

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Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"


Chapter 13     Humility      Psalm 131

pg 145  "Christian faith needs continuous maintenance."
Psalm 131 is a psalm of maintenance - a pruning psalm.

pg 146  "All cultures throw certain stumbling blocks in the way of those who pursue gospel realities."  (snip) "The way of faith deals with realities in whatever time or whatever culture."

pg 147-148  A discussion of the story of John Faustus and the way our culture has become Faustian to applause & admiration.  "It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, as profitable, and rewarded as achievement."

pg 149  "Our lives are only lived well when they are lived in terms of their creation, with God loving and we being loved, with God making and we being made, with God revealing and we understanding, with God commanding and we responding.  Being a Christian means accepting the terms of creation, accepting God as our maker and redeemer, and growing day by day into an increasingly glorious creature in Christ, developing joy, experiencing love, maturing in peace. By the grace of Christ we experience the marvel of being made in the image of God. If we reject this way the only alternative is to attempt the hopelessly fourth-rate, embarrassingly awkward imitation of God made in the image of man."

pg 150 "Christian faith is not neurotic dependency but childlike trust. We do not have a God who forever indulges our whims but a God whom we trust with our destinies."

pg 153  "We need pruning. Cut back to our roots, we then learn this psalm (131) and discover the quietness of the weaned child, the tranquility of maturing trust. it is such a minute psalm that many have overlooked it, but for all its brevity and lack of pretense, it is essential. For every Christian encounters problems of growth and difficulties of development."

pg 154 "And that is what Psalm 131 nurtures: a quality of calm confidence and quiet strength which knows the difference between unruly arrogance and faithful aspiration, knows how to discriminate between infantile dependency and childlike trust, and chooses to aspire and to trust - and to sing, "Enough for me to keep my soul tranquil and quiet like a child in its mother's arms, as content as a child that has been weaned.""

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Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"


Chapter 12  Hope  Psalm 130

p. 133 "To be human is to be in trouble."
"A Christian is a person who decides to face and live through suffering.  If we do not make that decision, we are endangered on every side."
"Psalm 130 grapples mightily with suffering, sings its way through it, and provides usable experience for those who are committed to traveling the way of faith to God through Jesus Christ."

p. 134  The psalmist here sets anguish out in the open, it is voiced in prayer before God - right out there, no holding back.
**How many of us think God isn't big enough to handle our cries?  How often do I pretend to have it together before the Almighty?  How stupid is that?!  I know He knows... what is the point in pretending?
My anguish does not shock him.

"You know, there is an American myth that denies suffering and the sense of pain. It acts as if they should not be, and hence it devalues the experience of suffering.  But this myth denies our encounter with reality." ~Ivan Ilich

p. 135 "The worst thing that can happen to a man is to have no God to cry to out of the depth." ~P.T. Forsyth
The Psalm shows us how to cry out - to face our suffering by bringing it before God - not to hide from it or avoid it - but to face it with faith.

p. 136  Because we have God - who is personal - we have the means to walk on through our suffering. He is with us, involved, caring and loving and absolutely merciful.

p. 136-137 "Eight times the name of God is used in the psalm. We find, as we observe how God is addressed, that he is understood as one who forgives sin, who comes to those who wait and hope for him, who is characterized by steadfast love and plenteous redemption, and who will redeem Israel. God makes a difference." (emp. mine)

p. 137 "And this, of course, is why we are able to face, acknowledge, accept and live through suffering, for we know that it can never be ultimate, it can never constitute the bottom line. God is at the foundation and God is at the boundaries."

p. 138 At the center of the psalm is the direction for participating in our reality - especially when it comes to suffering- the directions say wait and hope. These words are connected to the image of a watchman.

p. 139 "The psalmist's and the Christian's waiting and hoping is based on the conviction that God is actively involved in his creation and vigorously involved at work in redemption. Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions."
**I think there is also needed a level of acceptance that sometimes we will not know or understand these things - but that God knows is enough for us.

p. 140 "And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion of fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let him do it his way and in his time."
** Often - for me - this is the hardest part.  Trusting in God's ways and timing instead of what I think I want and when I want it.

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Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"


Chapter 11  Perseverance   Psalm 129

"Patience is drawing on underlying forces; it is powerfully positive, though to a natural view it looks like just sitting it out.  How would I persist against positive eroding forces if I were not drawing on invisible forces? And patience has a positive tonic effect on others; because of the presence of the patient person, they revive and go on, as if he were the gyroscope of the ship providing a stable ground.  But the patient person himself does not enjoy it." ~ Paul Goodman

pg. 122  Isaiah 53 paints a picture of someone extremely - painfully - persecuted and rejected and yet overcoming and righteous.  "The person of faith outlasts all the oppressors.  Faith lasts."

pgs 123-124  "Stick-to-it-iveness. Perseverance. Patience.  The way of faith is not a fad that is taken up in one century only to be discarded in the next.  It lasts.  It is a way that works. It has been tested thoroughly."

pg 125  "The life of the world that is opposed or indifferent to God is barren and futile. The way of the world is cataloged with proud, god-defying purposes, unharnessed from eternity, and therefore worthless & futile." 

pg 126  "The person who makes excuses for the hypocrites and rationalizes the excesses of the wicked, who loses a sense of opposition to sin, who obscures the difference between faith and denial, of grace and selfishness - that is the person to be wary of.  For if there is not all that much difference between the way of faith and the way of the world, there is not much use in making any effort to stick to it.  We drift on the tides of convenience. We float on fashion."

pg 127  "Perseverance does not mean perfect. It means that we keep going."
"For perseverance is not resignation, putting up with things the way they are, staying in teh same old rut year after year after year, or being a doormat for people to wipe their feet on.  Endurance is not a desperate hanging on but a traveling from strength to strength.  There is  nothing fatigued of humdrum in Isaiah, nothing flat-footed in Jesus, nothing jejune in Paul.  Perseverance is triumphant and alive."
      **I really grasp this more fully as I get older... we do not just carry on pitifully in our faith - we are conquerors in our struggles because of Christ and it is His strength that carries us on and sustains us in the battle.

pg 128  "The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment that God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God's faithfulness."

pg 129   In Hebrews we see a litany of people who lived by faith - people who centered their lives on the righteous God who is faithful through all things and by this they were able to persevere.  They had steadiness of purpose and admirable integrity - not that they never faltered, failed and sinned, but that by God's faithfulness they learned faithfulness.  Out of this we then read Hebrews 12: 1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

pg 130  Purposes last - Christian faith allows us to build on the organizing center of life - God, in all His righteousness. "Christian discipleship is a decision to walk in His ways... It is the way of life we were created for.  There are endless challenges in it to keep us on the growing edge of faith; there is always a righteous God with us to make it possible for us to persevere."

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Continuing notes from "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"


Chapter 10:  Happiness   Psalm 128

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
    who walk in obedience to him.
 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
    blessings and prosperity will be yours.
 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
 Yes, this will be the blessing
    for the man who fears the Lord.

 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
    may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life.
 May you live to see your children’s children—
    peace be on Israel.

p. 112   Jesus makes clear that discipleship is not a reduction in what we already are (we are not talking - of course - about that whole sin thing *S*) - rather he will expand our capacities and fill us up with life so that we overflow with joy.

p. 114  "... blessing has inherent in it the power to increase.  It functions by the sharing and delight in life."

p. 115  "We are in a battle.  There is a fight of faith to be waged.  But the way of faith itself is in tune with what God has done and is doing.  The road we travel is the well-traveled road of discipleship.  It is not a way of boredom or despair or confusion.  It is not a miserable groping, but a way of blessing."

p. 117  "everyone wants to be happy, to be blessed.  Too many people are willfully refusing to pay attention to the One who will our happiness and ignorantly supposing that the Christian way is a harder way to get what they want than doing it on their own.  BUt they are wrong.  God's ways and God's presence are where we experience the happiness that lasts."

In re-reading these notes - I am noting the absence of a distinction between 'happiness' and 'joy'.  They are different and that is of vital importance to understand.  JOY is what we are promised in scripture, not happiness.  Though I think that happiness can be a by-product of joyfulness - the two are not always linked.  I can find great joy in doing things that bring me no happiness simply because of my Savior.  I serve a mighty God - I am HIS.  This leads me to joy in all things - regardless of the happiness involved or lack thereof.
There is little happiness in suffering or in doing yucky daily jobs like cleaning or dishes or diapers...but there is joy in these things if they are part of what God has gifted to us in this life for His glory.

Blessings on the journey~

Before & After

We've been in our new home 4 months now.  Time flies when you are having fun!
We've also been busy... perhaps that is an understatement.  We've been working hard to make the new house our home... in the sense that it reflects our style of living, our taste, our priorities, our colors, etc.  In just four months we've cleaned (a LOT!), replaced the roof on the house & garage, stripped wall-paper, fixed walls, painted walls, re-arranged, changed light fixtures, painted more, built a fire-pit, sealed the driveway, edged & mulched and put in crushed stone, added a pellet stove, replaced the kitchen stove, dealt with some plumbing issues, repaired some exterior issues, had the exterior on the house & garage painted, and on and on.
So... to share - here are some before & after shots of various rooms in the house.

Sun porch/room before

Sun porch/room after

My Sewing Room upstairs

You can also see more finished photos of this room on my sewing blog.

 The kitchen before we moved in

The kitchen after we stripped wallpaper, changed the light, fixed the wall & painted

This project also has it's own post here.

The downstairs bathroom before we moved in

After some new paint

The roof project has it's own post here.

The exterior paint project will get it's own post very shortly - Steve is still taking photos for me. 

We are so very blessed to be in our new home and are excited about our progress so far.