Mountain Musings

Real Hospitality

"For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."    ~ Romans 1:11-12

This morning we traveled two hours south to a church fellowship meeting in Radford, Virginia. The teaching passage was in Hebrews 4 about the rest the people of God have available to them. Excellent message, and we enjoyed our time there.

However, the highlighted verses above in Romans also really stood out to me as the speaker was getting across the difference between regular hospitality and real spiritual hospitality. I'd like to practice the real kind...and enjoy the mutual building up of one another as we come together, wouldn't you?

Old passages...but new understanding.

After the morning service, the rest of the family went back home in the van, and I continued traveling south four more hours this afternoon in another vehicle headed to my sister's home. So...I'm writing this post from her computer in South Carolina (hence, no pictures).

This is the week Granny comes back to Virginia to live with us until the end of the year. I'll be here a couple of days to visit with my sister a bit before we pack up Granny's things and travel home.

Then later this week we're going to practice some real hospitality as we welcome our friend, Erich, home from Afghanistan and invite some families over to fellowship with him and give him a send-off back to Texas. We'll see if we can put into practice Romans 1:11-12!

~Deb

Psalm 91

The other week Dad, Hannah, and I were fishing out at Braley Pond (emphasis on fishing not catching!). While Hannah and I were walking along the trail that circles the pond, I looked down and saw this three foot copperhead in the middle of the path. I was about a stride or so from stepping right on top of it and Hannah, who was walking ahead of me, must have stepped over it without seeing it! We are so thankful for the Lord's gracious protection! How Hannah did not get bitten was nothing short of miraculous.

I got a long branch and and swept the copperhead off the trail and down the hill toward the pond.  Needless to say, we were very watchful of our steps after that!

Afterward, I thought of this very appropriate Scripture passage from Psalm 91:

"For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
   lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot."

We thank God for the special care and provision He gives to His children!

 

"When he calls to me, I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble;
   I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation."

-Jonathan

September Saturday Sampler Class

I love it when Saturday Sampler day rolls around each month! That means....all the block homework has been done (whew!), and we're ready to show our finished block.

Earlier this month there was an extra special treat for all the ladies in class. Patchwork Plus had arranged for the Swirly Girls to be there for a trunk show of at least a couple dozen of their quilts made from their Swirly Girl patterns.

If you check out the Swirly Girls blog, you can read their version of their day in Dayton--I see they like to take pictures of the Amish buggies, too!

Sarah and I enjoyed the show! Here are a few of our favorites: 
Below is one of their newest. Hannah would like this one since she loves Reds:
This one below was striking with the vibrant pink paired with black, featuring a center panel:
Many of these quilts were very simple patterns that whip up quickly and are made especially for the bright modern fabrics that are so popular today:
October's Saturday Sampler class has been postponed until November because Patchwork Plus is one of the quilt shops hosting Tour De Quilt that same weekend.

My thought: "Ahh...a month's reprieve of sewing a sampler block."

Does Sarah think like Mom? Evidently not....she's already ahead of the game and finished her block this week! I'll never beat her!

~Deb

Family Encouragement Weekend 2011

Meeting other families, eating, and talking...

Singing and listening to messages and testimonies...
 

Playing games outside...

...and cultivating family harmony!

Read more thorough accounts and photos of the weekend shared by the Wilkes, Neely, Staddon, Hynes, and Martin families.

~Hannah

Has not My hand made all these things?

"He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark. Its noise declares His presence...."~Job 36:32-33a

"At this also my heart trembles, and leaps from its place. Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, and the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend." ~Job 37:1-2

"...But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word." ~Isaiah 66:2

We had a great time with our aunt while she was here, including hiking Humpback Rocks in the fog. It had been almost 20 years since we'd last done this with her!

~Hannah

Our Minute of Fame

The last time I actually sat down and blogged (last month!) Tom was working to get lights back on from Hurricane Irene, and he continued right through Labor Day Weekend!

The unfortunate part was his not being around to visit very much with his sister, Sue, who arrived on Friday evening to spend the holidays with us.

However...there was a bit of excitement at the airport when we arrived to pick her up, which made for a fun time to begin our weekend.

Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport is very small and hometown friendly. Tom and I often spend a lazy Sunday afternoon there watching the occasional plane come and go.

As we were standing with the rest of the folks awaiting their loved ones' arrival, we noticed a lady with a tripod and video camera set up over in the corner aimed at the plane arriving and passengers disembarking. She turned and asked if anyone had friends or relatives arriving specifically for the Labor Day Weekend.

Up went my hand. We do! We do! "My sister-in-law is arriving from Connecticut."

She then caught some footage of us welcoming Sue in the airport and then interviewed her out in the parking lot and told us the story would be on the 11:00 news that night!

Here's the Channel 3 WSHV online news article, and if you click on the little camera/video icon under the headline, you can hear the newsman introduce the story "Valley Visitors" and see Sue's actual TV interview (hopefully this link will stay active.

Hey, we were famous--for one brief minute at least!

~ Deb