Joyful Domesticity

Scripture says in Ecclesiastes that there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” ~ right now we weep and mourn, and we ask you to pray with us that we will be blessed with grace to laugh and dance.
May our good Lord and King have mercy upon us.

Today our fourth child, Promise Anastasis, has joined two older siblings in the ranks of heaven. Our hearts grieve heavily for the loss of our baby, and we look to our Heavenly Father for comfort in trial & hope for the future.

Please weep, mourn, and pray with us. And may we look ahead together with eyes of faith to the promise God has given us of the inheritance waiting in heaven for us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Soli Deo gloria,
S & M & G

The following pieces have been encouraging to me the last few days. May they bless you all as well. ♥

Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state will come forward joyously, and say, “I will speak, not about myself, but to the honor of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad.” Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation; but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us “out into a wealthy place.” The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise; we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s song, “He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”

(the following is written by Nicole Whitacre, from one of my new favorite blogs, GIRLTALK – be blessed)

“Our Burden Bearer”

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)

I’ve been suffering from various mild ailments for what seems like a month now. This is an especially busy week for me and I have been tempted to self-pity over my lack of strength.

This morning my husband prayed this verse for me. The note from my Reformation Study Bible sent me to Isaiah 46:1-4. Here the Lord contrasts the “bearing ability” of idols to that of the One True God:

“Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. ‘Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.'”

What is your burden today? They come in countless shapes and sizes—from clingy colds to crushing cares. But one thing’s for sure: our idols cannot bear their load. Leisure and escape don’t provide true rest. Sinful anger cannot relieve the pressure. Even friends are not strong enough to bear up under their full weight.

But have we forgotten? We have been borne by Christ since birth. He carried us from the womb and will not stop even when we are old and bent and gray. He alone has borne the full weight of our sin, and He alone can bear the burdens of life in a sinful world.

He doesn’t pop in once a week or every month to relieve us of our heavy load. Daily, everyday, today, He promises to bear us up.  He will carry and he will save. Today. So big or small, let’s cast our burdens on Him. God is our salvation.

Mothers seem especially good at worrying. We are designed to look after and care for our families, and so we are easily targeted to become worriers. But the problem with worrying is it is a complete waste of time. It accomplishes nothing good. As Jesus said, we can’t even get one hair to change color by worrying, so what makes us think worrying will keep our kids safe or pay the bills? It’s a futile activity.

Psalm 33 excerpts

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto Him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
For the word of the LORD is right; and all His works are done in truth.
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy;
To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee.

Psalm 34 excerpts

I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.
O fear the LORD, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.
The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.

THIS is the Word of the Lord!!

Many thanks be unto our great God!!

Here are pictures from Gabriel’s big day. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂

L: Gabriel’s morning milk on his birthday, about an hour before he officially turned one. haha.
R: sitting on the table with presents!

L: I love his rosy cheeks. Oh, and the drool-soaked shirt too, since he was popping his fifth tooth on his birthday. 🙂
R: playing with a new toy from Grandpa and Grandma C – he loves it! He loves banging things with mallets, haha!

L: playing with one of those pop-up toys (I loved this when I was little, too) from Grandpapa and Grandmama. He can’t open them yet but he loves to close them.
R: playing with the beach ball from Daddy and Mommy.

L: posing with Grandpapa and the coolest handmade wooden contraption ever. You’ve gotta see this thing in person. 🙂
R: Gabriel got so sleepy with all the excitement! We made him stay awake for the party, presents, etc. but blankie was necessary. 🙂 Isn’t his balloon fun, too?

L: Colin and Noah, Mommy and Gabriel, Ashley and Hannah – hurray for cousins!
R: the twins, chilling out on a blanket.

L: Gabriel still won’t feed himself, which is fine with me. 🙂 Of course it makes for a much cleaner baby and easier clean-up! So I fed him his “bee” cupcake… he would’ve eaten the whole thing if I hadn’t shared it with him. 🙂
R: did I already post a close-up? Can’t remember. Well here it is again.

L: I think my boy likes chocolate!
R: poor Dilly, she’s been doing poorly since Thursday when apparently she got a slice on her tongue. She walks around with her tail down like this, unless my brother’s dogs are around or even my parents. She needs cheering up, poor girl. It’s hard to get food and water into her but we’re trying! Praying for her tongue to heal quickly too. Anyway… look at Gabriel walking with Grandpapa’s toy. It’s the perfect height and Gabriel will love to put things in his little push-cart to carry around. The three little balls (in front of Gabriel’s thighs, if you look closely) go up and down when you push the cart. Grandpapa even inscribed a Proverb (3:23? 10:9? I can’t remember, I will have to look!) on the bottom. So cool.

L: Gabriel walking around; trying to go uphill.
R: I decided Gabriel needed a ride in his push-cart. 😉

L: isn’t he precious?!!
R: me with my garden. I hope the squirrels stop digging around in it soon. But things are sprouting anyway, thank God! 🙂

below: while Gabriel napped and once the other guests had gone, we played croquet as a family. Mama and I took turns holding Hannah (gotta get some girl time!) while playing… needless to say I may have held her a little too much, and definitely came in waaaaaaay last in the game, lol.

To kick off Gabriel’s birthday celebrations, we went last night the music concert of Jame Soles. Oh boy, was it fun!! Gabriel loved watching Mr. Soles with his family on stage, and especially seemed keen about the acoustic guitar. A-dooooor-able.
Besides the fun of Gabriel’s first music concert, we bought 4 new Soles cds (I know, I know– we originally only planned on buying two; but it was one of those times when a “buy 3 get 1 free” deal was too good to pass up!).
These are the newest additions to our family’s music collection:

“GOOD ADVICE”
A children’s album filled with great, memorable Bible and list songs, which grew out of Bible story times in the Soles household. Nothing like a song to help you remember!
Built on the premise that children prefer food to fluff, Good Advice treats children like grown-ups; it does not talk down to them, or play to their natural foolishness, but rather builds on the expectation that the child will one day be an adult. These are songs to grow by.

“ASCENDING”
Three times a year all the men of Israel were required by God to go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the feast day celebrations. This was the ascent, and Psalms 120-134 were written for those times. Ascending offers renditions of these Psalms.

“MEMORIALS”
There are many things in Scripture spoken of as memorials, things which bring to remembrance – the rainbow, the priestly garments, memorial portions of offerings, Passover, jealousy tests, and ultimately, the Lord’s Supper. Memorials is a musical celebration of God’s faithfulness reflected in these signs of remembrance.

“PURE WORDS”
Into the Psalter through the front door…. In this second album of Psalms from Jamie, Pure Words, 15 of the first 16 Psalms unfold….

Happy birthday to you….
          Happy birthday to you….
                    Happy birthday dear GABRIEL DAVID….
                              Happy birthday to you!!!!!!!!\

Gabriel David, open your mouth wide—our good and gracious Lord will fill it. (Psalm 81:10) May you—as your psalmist namesake—ever pursue integrity of heart and skillfulness of hand (Psalm 78:72).

Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire “Why is it thus with me?” I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for peace, but behold trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I could read my title clear; today my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the landscape o’er, and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; today, my spirit has no hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God’s plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God’s method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith — they are waves that wash you further upon the rock — they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. According to David’s words, so it might be said of you, “so he bringeth them to their desired haven.” By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it. “We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom.” Learn, then, even to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”

“O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait thy wise, thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by thee.”