My son has hiccups… for the third time today. I love it.
I made the most yummy, melt-in-your-mouth corned beef & cabbage for dinner tonight. The brine in which it crock-pot brewed for ten hours was exactly right. Mmm!
This evening during the men’s Bible study which meets weekly in our basement, I relaxed in bed with two books, my journal, and ice cream. The best part? No, it wasn’t getting caught up in my journal. No, it wasn’t loving every paragraph in “Praise Her In The Gates.” No, it wasn’t even reading sentences four times before understanding them in the Purtain book “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.”
It was the fact that my bowl of ice cream balanced on my belly when I sat/slouched just so. 🙂
I think spring might finally be around the corner. Our yard is almost completely void of snow! There are little purple crocuses blooming all around the front yard! And this morning, a dozen tiny birds were scampering around the back porch when I opened the slider to let the dog out.
I am excited about Easter. My sister-in-law and I are doing all the cooking and set-up. But we’re hosting it at my parents’ house. Two couples from my church are joining us for the feast & celebration. So there will be ten adults, a ten month old, and two babies-in-bellies. I can hardly wait!! But I wonder… can such an early Easter (especially in the northwest) be graced with white shoes, white purse, sandals?!!
My husband looks adorable in green. Then again, he’s just plain adorable anyways.
I love homemaking, housewifeing, housekeeping — whatever you want to call it, I’m in love. Is this new fascination and love of these things related to nesting?? Or just to finally settling into passionate wifeyhood? 🙂
I like stream of consciousness posting. It makes me happy.
Especially when I use italics.
Thursday March 27, 2008
May you always have
Walls for the winds,
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!
— Old Irish Proverb
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!
— Old Irish Proverb
St. Patrick’s Breastplate is contained in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early ninth century, along with Patrick’s authentic “Confession.” St. Patrick is said to have written this prayer to strengthen himself with God’s protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, high king of Ireland. It is said to have been inspired by Paul’s exhortation to “put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18).
The lyrics below are a translation of his Gaelic poem titled “St. Patrick’s Lorica,” or breastplate. (A “lorica” was a mystical garment that was supposed to protect the wearer from danger and illness, and guarantee entry into Heaven.) Cecil Alexander penned this translation at the request of H. H. Dickinson, Dean of the Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle:
I wrote to her suggesting that she should fill a gap in our Irish Church Hymnal by giving us a metrical version of St. Patrick’s “Lorica” and I sent her a carefully collated copy of the best prose translations of it. Within a week she sent me that exquisitely beautiful as well as faithful version which appears in the appendix to our Church Hymnal.
This hymn can be a challenge to sing without seeing the words matched to the notes, but it is a masterpiece nevertheless. And I love how it does get stuck in one’s head after singing the entirety in church. 🙂
May you be blessed. And may you put on the whole armor of God, as you serve Him and His kingdom.
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Beannachd Dia dhuit
(blessings of God be with you – Scottish Gaelic)
Thursday March 27, 2008
Ecclesiastes 8:14-17
There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.
Thursday March 27, 2008
Okay, after giving into the request to start a blog… I promptly decide to switch it up a little bit. So yes, I closed the initial attempt, and have already begun a new one. 🙂
So, as before: as God gives grace and inspiration, I will upload thoughts, photos, recipes, etc. to share with my brethren in Christ. May He keep my heart steadfast in my duties as Christian & wife & mama, and may He guide & guard what I post in the future.