Joyful Domesticity

He cut 1 tooth two weeks ago.
Then he cut 4 more this week.
And on top of that, he has a cold and an ear infection.
Imagine taking this little boy on an airplane. Hmmm.
Poor sweet boy. We are loving on him lots right now.

Grandmama with the two grandsons.

Isn’t Hannah’s smile absolutely contagious?!

And Noah is probably the most smiley baby I have ever met. Yes, ever.

This picture strikes me: something about the dark green, clear blue, and bright orange. Oh yeah, and purple lips, lol.

I asked him to come over and smile for the camera. This is what I got.

And, lastly, this is where Gabriel hung out today. On Mommy’s back. I can’t post about what we were  making yet, because it’s a gift — but hopefully I will next week. I am pleased with the results. 🙂

Gabriel was playing in the backyard with Mommy and Grandmama — we had a jolly time!

I love this shot. The blurred parts are great, and I love his face. Hehehe. *mwah!*

So then we dampened his fun be sticking him in Mommy’s pumpkin patch.

Which pumpkin shall I choose? Hmm, I think my first choice is the one with legs! lol.

Mommy showing Gabriel that pumpkins are actually pretty nifty creations.

Umm, okay. He trusts me on that one.

Finally a pumpkin smile! It’s not his best smile ever, but I’ll take it. 🙂

This boy loves sticks, and for some reason his favorite thing to do with them is tap the trees. 🙂
The End — obviously. lol.

“Moonless Trust,” p 57

Some of you are perhaps feeling that you are voyaging just now on a moonless sea. Uncertainty surrounds you. There seem to be no signs to follow. Perhaps you feel about to be engulfed by loneliness. There is no one to whom you can speak of your need. Amy Carmichael wrote of such a feeling when, as a missionary of twenty-six, she had to leave Japan because of poor health, then travel to China for recuperation, but then realized God was telling her to go to Ceylon. (All this preceded her going to India, where she stayed for fifty-three years.) I have on my desk her original handwritten letter of August 25, 1894, as she was en route to Colombo. “All along, let us remember, we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey… On July 28, Saturday, I sailed. We had to come on board on Friday night, and just as the tender (a small boat) where were the dear friends who had come to say goodbye was moving off, and the chill of loneliness shivered through me, like a warm love-clasp came the long-loved lines—‘And only Heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight, over moonless seas.’ I couldn’t feel frightened then. Praise Him for the moonless seas—all the better the opportunity for proving Him to be indeed the El Shaddai, ‘the God who is Enough.’”

Let me add my own word of witness to hers and to that of the tens of thousands who have learned that He is indeed enough. He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.

Is it a Farmer’s Market???
Nope! Just the produce I harvested this afternoon from my backyard garden! 🙂
Love it.

I love this shot. So much edible goodness!

Delicious carrots.


Yes, I realize some of these are not at their ripest — but we’re freezing at night and I’m sick of covering my tomatoes with flannel sheets! lol. 🙂 We’ve had plenty of huge, juicy, deep red tomatoes for at least a month.


Sweet, tender beets.


My almost-completely-harvested garden! A lovely first attempt.

Along with squash (ummm, yes, we learned 27 squash plants was tooooooo many!) and lettuce, my pumpkins are remaining to be harvested. I think I’ll give them another week or two. They are beautiful: all different sizes and different colors. I think there are about 18 of them, but 2 of them are on the other side of our fence in the neighbor’s yard! 🙂