Pulse

GRATEFULNESS
by George Herbert (1593- 1633)
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.
He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast given him heretofore
Is lost.
But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.
Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.
This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.
Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.
Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

Grafted, Gratitude, and Grace

 "...Sam Van Aken has grown a new variety of fruit tree that produces 40 different types of stone fruit each year."

My, oh my, what a beautiful tree, what a beautiful metaphor, what a beautiful reality...

"you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,  do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. "
Romans 11:17B-18 ESV

What a gift we have been given to be grafted in and to be nourished, loved, to live, and to bear fruit. To bear with,  to love one another.

By bearing one another's burdens, by loving we fulfill the law of Christ. and his law, his commandment...to love one another. This is what proves we are his, his disciples, what gives God glory. This bearing one another and this bearing of fruit are the same. Loving as He loved by laying down our lives. Bearing up in order to bear the fruit of love.

Bear One Another's Burdens

6 Brothers,^[a] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ² Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. ⁵ For each will have to bear his own load.

Read more at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6&version=ESV#qrG30jqkPPSZZZuZ.99

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant^[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Grafting is not without it's pain and neither is growth. Pruning is required

For more, click on the tree of forty fruits to the right to be take to Sam Van Aken's website and enjoy listening to his reason for taking on this project.

Charlotte's Web

What does a fifty plus year old post-menopausal brain need as bedtime reading? Children's literature, of course. Taking C.S. Lewis at his word that “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest”, I added children's stories to my bedside reading table, as there are times in life when even the most trivial adult or young adult novel would give me too much to consider and sleep would not come.
One of my recent favorites has been Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. While I started off reading, I soon switched to the the audio version read by the author himself. Perfection. A reader (listener) can know without a doubt what Mr. White wanted us to hear about life, death, friendship, living, and growing up and older by the gentle inflection of his voice. His impressions of the animals in the barnyard speaking is worth the price of the CD's alone. But don't take just my word for it, you can listen for yourself in the embedded audio below. And for those who simply can't wait you can purchase the audio from Audible and have it before bedtime tonight.

30 Days of Thankfulness 10

Warm house in the woods, fall moonlight on the pasture, chance to go to sleep early--that is what I am thankful for tonight!

30 Days of Thankfulness 8

I am thankful for my Classed friends, who have taught me much about learning, teaching and how to integrate and enjoy life!

30 Days of Thankfulness 6

Thankful for a Sabbath's Rest....the Word preached, lived, given, received and enjoyed.

30 Days of Thankfulness 5

Thankful for my dear son-in-law who makes my daughter happy by working hard and sharing her love of theology, literature, and many more facets of life and shares all that he is with this new family of his! I love you, James!

30 Days of Thankfulness 4

Thankful for a lovely, gracious, compassionate, thoughtful, intelligent, enjoyable, fun-loving daughter! I love you, Grace.

30 days of Thankfulness 3

Thankful for a husband who believes excellence is a gift from God and practices to be a good steward of that gift. I love you, Ed!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Being home and dinner with the family.

The Riddle

The Riddle

There was a man back in '95

Whose heart ran out of summers

But before he died, I asked him

Wait, what's the sense in life

Come over me, Come over me

He said,

Son why you got to sing that tune

Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon

Let an angel swing and make you swoon

Then you will see... You will see

Then he said,

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

Picked up my kid from school today

Did you learn anything cause in the world today

You can't live in a castle far away

Now talk to me, come talk to me

He said,

Dad I'm big but we're smaller than small

In the scheme of things, well we're nothing at all

Still every mother's child sings a lonely song

So play with me, come play with me

And Hey Dad

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

I said,

Son for all I've told you

When you get right down to the

Reason for the world...

Who am I?

There are secrets that we still have left to find

There have been mysteries from the beginning of time

There are answers we're not wise enough to see

He said... You looking for a clue I Love You free...

The batter swings and the summer flies

As I look into my angel's eyes

A song plays on while the moon is hiding over me

Something comes over me

I guess we're big and I guess we're small

If you think about it man you know we got it all

Cause we're all we got on this bouncing ball

And I love you free

I love you freely

Here's a riddle for you

Find the Answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I...

For my sewing fiends!

You know who you are.  For those of us who do any hand embroidery or other handwork trying to find a reliable marker that will always wash out has been a bit of a challenge.  I wanted to share something that might help... Pilot Color Eno blue lead. I ordered it after reading this article. It makes a nice fine line and washes out easily.  I know many of you have been happy with other products, but after a few major problems with some products not washing out or showing up years later, I swore off all but chalk markers. This has the added advantage of fading in the sunlight which might make it useful for those fabrics we choose not to laundry or laundry often. I've only tried the blue refill linked above and as always YMMV!

The Sunrise of Your Smile

Dedicated to Sarah and Grace.

Reject the worldly lie that says,
That life lies always up ahead,
Let power go before control becomes a crust around your soul,
Escape the hunger to possess,
And soul-diminishing success,
This world is full of narrow lives,
I pray by grace your smile survives.

Now close your eyes so you can see,
Your own unfinished memories,
Now open them, for time is brief,
And you'll be blest beyond belief,
Now glance above you at the sky,
There's beauty there to blind the eye,
I ask all this then wait awhile,
To see the dawning of your smile.

Michael and Susan Card penned the lyrics above to give , as he says, "...all the advice...[we] could cram into one song ... to the kids...." They chose for a time, as we did, to homeschool their children.  It has been and is a lifestyle that challenges us in many ways. Challenges that more often than not have show the selfishness of my motives and actions which is why I appreciated those, whatever their educational or other lifestyle choices, who are willing to share their thoughts, ideas, triumphs, and struggles.  Susan Card wrote of her experiences as a homeschooling mom in The Homeschool Journey . When I read her book I was challenged by her willingness to do the things that she needed to do for her children's well-being even if that meant stepping outside the "normal" (whatever that is) homeschool choices. But more so I was encouraged to examine what my heart's desire was for my girls. My hope and prayer is that God will take I have done, both the wise and the foolish, and redeem it.   As any parent, and their children, will honestly confess, I haven't been the perfect, or even best, role model, but I hope they know that

"...I would wander weary miles,
Would welcome ridicule, my child,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile,
To see the light behind your eyes,
The happy thought that makes you fly,
Yes, I would wander weary miles,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile."

Love you girls. 

Veteran's Day 2009

Thanks Daddy, Pawpaw, and all the uncles and great-uncles that served. Thanks to all veterans who have ever served. And thanks to those who are serving or preparing to serve. Someday we will know the true extent of the sacrifice and service you have provided and are providing us.

Fencing Part II

As mentioned in the previous post, my younger daughter participated in her first fencing tournament this weekend.

Does this look like the face of a savage?

But that is what the back of her lame says

In her starting pool of seven fencers, she did not win a bout, but did improve with each bout in the number of touches she scored. All of those in her original pool went on to place in the top eight. In the direct elimination bout she won her first 15 touch bout. In her second bout she was paired with the 4 seed, who eventually went on to tie for third. She did lose that bout, but not before getting in 6 touches toward the end of the bout. She was not going down without a fight!!! Here's a few more photos:

and with two of her coaches
and of course the Slaughter/Savage team

No actions shots this time. The trusty point and shoot can't handle the fast action. Looks like we are in the market for a DSLR. Any suggestions?

Fencing

My dad arrived this weekend to watch my younger daughter participate in her first fencing tournament. He came appropriately dressed to *fence*.


Needless to say we realized that our wires got crossed.

He came bearing gifts as well.


A girl is never too old to be wowed or spoiled by her daddy.

A beautiful fall day

For those of you interested, I have posted photos of our beautiful fall day. This is especially for the gal who's a little far away. Click on the link below and enjoy.

Fall in Eureka.

A trip to Hillsdale

We had an enjoyable visit with our oldest DD at Hillsdale College this past weekend. Thursday night we attended a lecture given by Michael Ward, author of Planet Narnia. We met old friends, professors, and many of our daughter's friends. We attended a football game(they won), ate a delicious dinner hosted by the Honors students where we were delightful entertained and gently reminded of the joys of life by Dr. Sundahl.  We attended Hillsdale OPC church and were grateful to find a warm church body that ministers faithfully to the students. Here's a few photos for those of you who have asked how she is doing so you can judge for yourself.