what has jesus saved you from?

I came across this video the other day via a friend. I hope it touches your heart as much as it did mine. What struck me is how "normal" the people look in the video, and yet their signs display their deep, deep struggles. If  only we could all wear our hearts on our sleeves like this all the time. Striking up a conversation would never again be a struggle. ;)

I made my own version of shouting out that Jesus saves (below). I had a hard time choosing what to write down, because He has saved me from so many things. But they're the two things that have been on my heart since watching the video and thinking about what He has saved me from. Truthfully, my list could stretch clear into eternity.

Enjoy:



And my version:

Ok, your turn.

What has Jesus saved you from? 

Summer To Do's

I've got a list of to do's that measures approximately 1.34561 miles long. However, I'm only going to cover what I want to accomplish for the summer. Mostly because I will feel overwhelmed if I look too far into the future.

And then I'll be itching for more Dove bars.

First, I'd like to get rid of my baby grand piano.

Why?

Well, because the sound board is broken. Cracked. No good. Cody, the piano tuner lady, told me the ol' thing is good for nothing but a planter. As in, plant your flowers in it, babe.

No thanks.

I'd rather give it to someone who is up for the challenge of repairing it, a task too expensive for me. It's a very handsome, older Baldwin piano and I can't bear to casually drop it off at the dump, out on yonder Prairie, where those ivory keys will forever be silent.

It also much too large for my living room, and I will never have (or even want) a big enough house for it to sit perty in. No, this Prairie Mama's piano would most assuredly be happier in a home where it can be properly admired, with little children pounding tickling it's ivories on a daily basis.

Think about it. If you were made to make beautiful tunes, would you be happy housing a plant?

Me either.

Second, I'd like to finish Jessica's quilt (I'm sure the feeling is mutual for Jessica, since it's been well over a year since I began working on it):





I do have the quilt top sewn together, and the borders on it. Now I just have to piece together all the layers, and put the binding on ... and of course, quilt it.

Third, finish memorizing Psalm 1! I have verses 1-4 down pat. Two more!!

Can I get a woot woot!?

What's that? You don't think that will take me the whole summer? Yeah, maybe you're right. In that case, I'll add several more verses to hide in my heart. Stay tuned, and you can join me if that tickles your fancy!

Fourth, I'd like to possess more fruit of the Spirit.

Which fruit?

All of them.

Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.

How exactly do I plan to possess each of those fruits by the end of summer?

Ahem!

I don't! It's a lifelong journey that God has promised to help me with. And I trust Him to do just that.

Amen?

Amen.

And last, I'd like to have the garage cleaned out, the boxes in the basement sorted through, and the office moved downstairs to the spare bedroom.

That's all I'm going to say about that. Makes me tired just ponderin' it.

What about all my Lovely Lurkers? What do you want to accomplish this summer?

~Brenda

Psalms, and Critters, and Spiritual Songs

Conversation on the way home from church Sunday morning:

Jessie: Did Ashlee sleep at home last night?

Me: Uhhh, yes .... why do you ask (giving hubby that oh my word, now what look)?

Jessie: No reason. I'll tell you later.

Me: Andrew, why did YOU sleep on the couch last night?

Andrew: Oh ... no reason.

When we got home, I asked Jessie if it was "later" enough, but she said she would maybe tell me in a couple of hours why all the bed shuffling took place.

Then I got a text from Ashlee telling me to come up to her room.

I knew I was in for it. Or Ashlee was in for it. Or SOMEONE was in for it.

I tiptoed up the stairs, reached for the doorknob on Ashlee's door, and barely cracked it open, as if there was a hibernating grizzly on the other side, and found all three of my children staring at me with their little angelic faces.

My skin crawled. My heart beat a little quicker.

And out jumped this little critter (okay, so she didn't jump ... she slithered her body against the edge of the bed):





Next comes, "Can I keep 'er, Mom?"

Yeah ... you know the drill.

It's still undecided as to whether this Prairie Mama will allow the cat to stay. Let's just say I'm giving it a trial period. And Ashlee is contemplating a possible move, which obviously means that cat wouldn't be staying.

But she already named it. And we all know what that means.

Actually, several of us have named it.

Ashlee named it Lily.

Andrew named it Kiki.

Jessie named it Harvey Dent (the evil man on Dark Knight - apparently they have the same facial markings).

And I named it Ratatouille. Because she's about the size of a rat, same color as a rat, and well ... she kinda smells like a rat.

Kitty names are really for the owners anyway. Pray tell, when have any of us ever called a cat by it's name - and actually had the cat respond? Hmmm?

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On a more serious note ... here's my recitation of Psalm 1.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the path of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither,
And whatever he does, shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

I cheated and looked on that very last line.

Just so ya' know.

I'm pretty close to getting it exactly perfect, but it looks as though the KJV is somehow in the back of my mind. I'm saying sitteth instead of sits, etc.

Maybe I need to relax a little, huh?

And ... I wanted to share with you a song we sang in church on Sunday morning. It's entitled Psalm 1 (how fitting!). :-) I wish I could post the music to it also, but I can't find it anywhere on the internet. So the words will have to do. It's basically Psalm 1, in words that make the meaning a little clearer. I hope you enjoy, and I hope it helps you in your memorization. Understanding what I'm memorizing always helps me.

Psalm 1

How blest are they who turn to God,
Forsaking sinful ways;
Renouncing haunts of worldly minds,
And unbelieving days.

They make the teaching of the Lord
Their quest and great delight;
And to its guidance daily turn,
With ever clearer sight.

Like trees they stand, so full of life,
The living stream beside;
They yield their fruit and strong endure,
No matter what betide.

But those who to this boasting world
Commit their hope and trust,
The coming Day shall drive away,
Like worthless chaff, or dust.

O might grace, that we may stand
Among the sons of love!
When Christ the Lord, our coming King,
Shall life our souls above.

I really, really, really want to have clearer sight, and yield fruit no matter what betide.

I hope you do to, and renewing our minds with Scripture will most assuredly get us on that path.

God bless all Lovely Lurkers as you go through your week,

~Brenda

P.S. I've enabled the pop-up comment box, in the hopes that Lovely Lurkers will not have as much trouble commenting. I hope it works better for you. Please email me if you still have trouble.

The Tree On That Tee!!!

I came across a company through MckMama's blog that makes these really cool tees. Then I was flipping through the blog on the Wild Olive website, and came across this t-shirt:





And I am loving my new find!

Why?

Because this theme goes PERFECTLY with my our new journey and commitment to memorize Psalm 1!!!

The tree on that tee is what we wanna be!!!

Say it with me!

The tree on that tee is what we wanna be!!!.

We want to be that tree planted by the waters. Grounded. Unmovable. And, as the tee says ...

Rooted.

Ok, one more time.

The tree on that tee is what we wanna be!!!

I was a cheerleader in high school. Can you tell?

If you want to order one of these tees, go click on the ad in my sidebar. I might have to save my change, or cash in my rainy day money to get one, because I'm a bit low on funds right now.

Where there's a will, there's a way, right? ;-)

Have a great Monday, my Lovely Lurkers. May you be rooted in His love and care for you!

~Brenda

Ashlee, Flowers, and Scripture

What do all three of those have in common?

Nothing, really. Which is why this post could be considered a mixed up combobulation of ...

stuff.

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I've just realized that I never gave an update on Ashlee (thanks for the reminder PW!), so I thought I'd do that real quick.

In a nutshell, she is doing better. They've got her on some medication, and have altered her diet and eating times to where she can get some relief. It seems to be working, and we are very grateful. The main concern was whether she had gone and inhereted my intestinal diseases, and all those test results came back negative (woot! woot!).

What intestinal disease am I talking about?

Well ... I will share that with you later. I promise not to go into old lady mode and speak of nothing but my physical woes. But really, I had planned on sharing this information in my next Prairie Pebble post.

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Shortly after Mother's Day, I went out on the porch to water my flowers that the kids and hubby gave to me. And this is what I found:





Major confession time.

I took the nest out. (O Lord, please don't let me lose readers over this!)

Before you get too worked up ... here's the thing. It was hanging on the porch. I had to take the flowers down, because they weren't getting enough sun. They were going to croak, plain and simple. Not to mention, having a birds nest in there wouldn't exactly help the flowers to flourish. I couldn't bear to let my Mother's Day flowers die, and so I chose them over the birds.

So sue me.

The flowers are doing beautifully. Thanks for asking.

As for the birds ... The Bible tells me God watches over them, and I'm trusting Him to do just that.

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And one more thing. My scripture memory. I think I've got Psalm 1:1-3 down, so if you've got just a few more seconds ...

May I say my memory verses to you?

Wow. I haven't said that since I was in school.

Drum roll, please....!

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

But he delights in the law of the Lord,
and in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither,
And whatever he does shall prosper.

AhhHA! I got almost all of it right.

Doin' the happy dance...

I'm movin' on to verses 4-6 this week.

God bless you as you endeavor to hide His word in your heart. And as Sarah reminded me in the comment section ... His Word is alive and active!!

Amen, and amen!

~Brenda

My New Journey

Good Morning, Lovely Lurkers!!

It truly is a good morning! The rain has stopped, and it's a gorgeous day. I plan to plant some flowers, and simply tackle items on my to-do list.

You know ... like blogging.

I'm on a new journey, and I thought I'd invite you to come along. I've made up my mind to do some memorizing of Scripture. Not only is it therapeutic spiritually, but also mentally, and I believe every Christian should have a good stack of Bible verses hidden in their heart. It helps us preach the gospel to ourselves every day, keep our minds focused on the One who is most important, and as my first batch of verses tells me ... we will become like trees planted by the rivers of water.

Unmovable.

Grounded.

And that's what I'd like to become.

So here's what I'm going to do. Each time I sit down to blog, I'm going to try and recite to you what I have memorized. My first passage I've been working on is Psalm 1 from the NKJV.

How will you know I'm not just annotating from an open Bible?

(Wicked laugh) .... you won't!! You'll have to trust me. And something tells me it will be rather obvious anyway.

So, here's my first attempt. I've only been working on the first three verses of Psalm 1, so that's what I'll attempt to recite to you.

Ahem!!!! (Wow, I'm a little nervous) ....

Psalm 1
Blessed is he who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

But he delights in the law of the Lord; and in that law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its own fruit,
Whose leaf shall not wither,
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Okay ... that doesn't seem exactly right. Uno momento, and I will look the passage up and copy and paste it for you....

Ready?

Ok, here it is:

Psalm 1
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Wow. I really messed up that fruity line.

I italicked (is that a word?) all the places I messed up. I did get the gist of the passage, so that's good. But when it comes to Scripture memory, I really like to get it perfect. Because Scripture is perfect, and I don't want to mess it up.

Can I just say I love that last line? "And whatever he does shall prosper."

That just goes to show you that if you're focused on God, hiding His word in your heart, doing His will, not seeking to please "numero uno" ... whatever you do will prosper!!

And on that good note, I'll just say, thanks for listening to my recital. And if you are not already on a hiding God's word in your heart journey, I hope you can join me!

Cuz nobody likes to go on a journey by themselves.

~Brenda