Thursday, September 19, 2013

I Learned a Lesson Yesterday

Yesterday I babysat most of my siblings for most of the day. That is not very unusual; I babysit them a lot and I quite enjoy it. Yesterday was also bread baking day for me. I try to bake bread once a week. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't; it depends on the week. This time I decided to let Nathan and Brendan help me because they are always asking to help. I did not know what I was getting myself into. They were very eager to help but I learned that there "help" wasn't necessarily the help I needed. But that is not the lesson I want to talk about in this post. The lesson I did learn was that my siblings appreciate when  take time to do things with them and that the extra effort I have to use to do that is worth it. Making bread with Nathan and Brendan took me twice as long as usual (and it is not like I have a whole lot of extra time right now), there was twice the amount of flour on the counter ( my family says I get a lot of flour on the counter when I make bread but I am pretty sure there was more this time because Nathan successfully dumped two cups of flour on the counter rather than in the bowl.) In the middle of my project with them I was getting a little frustrated with how long it was taking and how much effort I was having to put into such a simple project but then I was reminded of something I had recently read about how loving someone usually takes extra effort and self sacrifice. I realized then that I was showing my brothers I loved them and cared about them by letting them help me. So that was the lesson I learned yesterday. 
P.S. The boy's bread turned out delicious and it only took me about five tries to get all the flour cleaned up :)

Day 122

Day 122

“He gives rain on the earth And sends water on the fields,
Job 5:10
And when it is summer and there is no rain; He fills our well with water so that we can run our sprinklers.

Day 121

Day 121
Pretty View

This is another part of my view from my favorite part in the yard. This is my neighbor across the street's flag and yard.

Day 120

Day 120
Anyone want to go for a run?

Monday, September 16, 2013

Day 119

Day 119
Notebooks

I love notebooks of all kinds. I use them all the time. Some have a specific theme while others are just there for me to write whatever random things I need to write down.

P.S. I took this picture :):)!!

Day 118

Day 118
End Titles

P.S. This picture was taken by Hannah :P

Day 117

Day 117
Our Yard in Black and White

This is the view from one of my favorite spots in our yard. I like to do my devotions here and eat my lunch here. It is lovely.

P.S. This picture was taken by Nathan

Day 116

Day 116
Happy Chiefs

On Friday night Hannah and Sean treated us to a lovely breakfast for dinner. They made black forest crepes, scrambled eggs and hash browns.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Day 115

Day 115
Remember 9\11

Today, 12 years ago, the worst attack on American soil took place. Over 3,000 people were killed within a few hours. It shocked our nation and we have never been the same since.The attack was definitely a judgement on our nation. Sadly afterwards we did not turn to God; instead we have continued on our arrogant way. But God is a merciful God and it is never to late for us to turn to him. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 it says, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" So, as we remember this tragedy and all the lives that were affected let us not forget to pray for our nation and for our leaders. God has promised to heal a humble land and He always keeps his promises.

Day 115

Day 115
Home Away From Home

Monday, September 9, 2013

Days 112 and 113

Day 112
Life in the Midst of a Dessert.

It has been very hot and dry here. We are also on a bit of a water shortage so there is not very much green in our yard. There is this one plant that seems to be quite happy in the midst of the summer heat.

Day 113
Sadness

What can I say?? She is teething and trying to learn how to crawl so she is rather unhappy as of late.


Friday, September 6, 2013

Finally Some 313 Pictures

I have been horribly behind on posting my 313 pictures. I am very sorry about that. We started school a couple of weeks ago and I am still trying to figure out how to manage fitting everything into one day.

Day 97

 Boys and Their Cookies
On the day I took this picture (about 2 weeks ago) the littles and I made chocolate chip cookies. They were very proud of their masterpieces :):)

Day 98

My Pretty Sister

Day 99

Shadow Self Portrait
I have a fascination with shadows that is why you see a lot of pictures of them.

Day 100!!!!!!
The Light Meets the Dark
I made it to day 100!!! YAY!!  i guess if I made it this far there is no turning back ;) To celebrate day 100 I posted a picture that I messed around with Photoshop on. It is hardly Photoshopped; i was mostly just tinkering around in some of my very rare free time.
Day 101

My Little Camper
Elianna went on her second camp trip last week at our church camp. She enjoyed it greatly because she loves being outside and mom couldn't put her down and when mom needed a break there was a group of little girls willing to push her around in the stroller. What more could a baby ask for?

Day 102
Flames
There is something so wonderful about campfires. I feel safe around them. They make shadows flicker and dance and they are a great place to gather around.

Day 103
 Narrow Depth of Field

Day 104
Isn't this so true of the day in age we live in? Just go ask any random person in town.

Day 105
 Selfie!!! :)

Day 106

Deep in Thought
Either that or he is not pleased with the camera being there :):)

Day 107
 5:55 P.M
This is for all my friends who love triple digit times.

Day 109


Hannah (again)

Day 110
 I am so blue without you.

Day 111
Happy Days
There I am caught up and I posted a picture of each of my siblings. *sigh* what a wonderful feeling to be all caught up :):)





Modesty

My dad shared this video with my family a couple mornings ago. It is Al Martin preaching a sermon on modesty. This is an issue that is very rarely addressed in our society yet it is very important. I really appreciate the direct way he approaches the subject. My only warning is that though this is a church sermon it may not be appropriate for all audiences.


A lot of christian girls don't think that it matters how they dress because after all "God only looks at the heart right?" The thing is God does care about how we dress otherwise he wouldn't have addressed it in the Bible (see. 1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 3:3, Deuteronomy 22:5) Also the men around us do not see our hearts; they only see the outside of us. Although men are responsible for keeping their hearts pure; we will also be held accountable if we dress in a provocative way that causes them to stumble no matter how pure our intentions are. The culture we live in is not a modest culture. It doesn't even pretend to be. Whole clothing industries are given over to providing immodest and sensual clothes and most of the latest trends  are anything but modest and feminine. If we blindly follow the trends we will be dressing in ways that cause our brothers in Christ to stumble. (Now I am not saying that everything that is stylish is immodest; I am just saying most everything is.) There are also some things that we might think are o.k that are a stumbling block to the guys around us. That is why hearing guys perspective on modesty is a good thing. The modesty survey by Alex and Brett Harris is helpful as well as this video. I hope you will take the time to listen to this sermon or talk to your dad and brothers and prayerfully evaluate your wardrobe. The purity of our brothers in Christ is more important than the latest trends.