Mountain Musings

Heaven's a Little Sweeter Today

Gone From My Sight

by Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

 

Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His saints. ~~ Psalm 116:15

 

 Granny went to be with the Lord late Saturday night.

We are sure she's quite happy and healthy today, but oooh we will miss her!

Please pray for us!

~Deb

As the Deer

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.

He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.

(from Psalm 42, Psalm 29, Isaiah 35, and Psalm 18)

~Hannah

Sunday Hymn

A Mighty Fortress is our God

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Here's the view this afternoon from our front porch after we received 15 inches of snow yesterday. The temperatures are up to the mid-40s today...so some has melted already...a good thing for the guys who need to traverse our steep hills to get to work tomorrow!

The gang spent quite a bit of time snow-blowing and shoveling towards the end of the day yesterday even though snow was still falling heavily. It made today's shovel-up-the-rest-of-the-snow easier.

Our church services were cancelled again this Sunday, and the above hymn was one of our selections picked for our family time of singing and listening to a sermon together this morning.

Do you like customized ring-tones on your phone? I'm a fan of them...and have selected certain songs to play when a certain person is calling. Every time I hear the above song, A Mighty Fortress is our God, I know my friend Jan is calling because that's what's programmed into my phone for her ring.

So this morning when we were singing this song, I felt like my phone was ringing off the hook! Ha!

And in case you're interested, Tom's ring tone is Be Thou My Vision (I love when I hear that song if he calls on the way home from work!); Jonathan's is There is a Fountain; Hannah's is Amazing Grace (The Water is Wide tune instead of the normal one); Sarah's is Oh, Shenandoah, because she loves this area of Virginia so much; Granny rings in as At Calvary--because it reminds me of her church back home; my sister's ring is The Cleansing Wave; and anyone else who calls without a customized ring plays as Come Thou Fount.

Well, enjoy your week, even if you're digging out like we are! We should have an enjoyable week as Tom's sister is arriving tomorrow from Connecticut for a few day's visit...and she thought she was getting away from all their snow! Haha!

~Deb

Sunday Hymn

And it shall come to pass...that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains.  ~ Isaiah 2:2

Behold! The Mountain of the Lord

Behold! the mountain of the Lord
In latter days shall rise
On mountain tops above the hills,
And draw the wondering eyes.

To this the joyful nations round,
All tribes and tongues, shall flow;
Up to the hill of God, they’ll say,
And to His house we’ll go.

The beam that shines from Zion hill
Shall lighten every land;
The King who reigns in Salem’s towers
Shall all the world command.

Among the nations He shall judge;
His judgments truth shall guide;
His scepter shall protect the just,
And quell the sinner’s pride.

No strife shall vex Messiah’s reign
Or mar the peaceful years;
To plowshares soon they beat their swords
To pruning hooks their spears.

No longer hosts encountering hosts,
Their millions slain deplore;
They hang the trumpets in the hall
And study war no more.

Come then, O house of Jacob, come
To worship at His shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine.

This is one of the hymns we picked to sing here at home this morning. Many churches in our area, including ours, were closed for Sunday services due to the extremely low temperatures, high winds, and forbidding traveling conditions for our friends who would be driving from over the mountain.

Whenever a Sunday like this happens, we still get together as a family to sing, pray, and listen to a recorded sermon. This morning Tom downloaded a message given by Phil Johnson from Grace Community Church in California speaking on Effectual, Fervent Prayer.

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

~ James 5:16

Jonathan first read James 5:7-20 for us before the message began. Then Mr. Johnson spoke on Elijah from I Kings 18. Elijah prayed Privately, Passionately, and Persistently. If you'd like to listen to his sermon or just read what we heard today, you can go to this link.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday...if the power doesn't go out here and Tom's not called in to work the outages, we're expecting guests for supper tonight. Should be some good fellowship, even though we didn't meet with our regular church group today.

~Deb

Write Them on the Doorposts of Thy House ~ Part 2

"Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."

~ II Samuel 7:29

Earlier in the week I showed you just a few of the scriptures that we wrote on the main floor of Jonathan's house that he's building. Today I'll show you the scriptures we wrote on the upstairs hallways and rooms.

Of course, here comes the tricky part...I had to climb a very steep ladder to get up there to write! I had never climbed that ladder during any of this construction progress, so I had no clue what the upstairs looked like.

Well...Saturday was the day to be courageous! I had a goal--I had to write those verses for Jonathan! So up I went...ackk!

And I now have a suggestion for ladder makers...please make rungs closer together for old ladies who climb ladders!    Made it to the top! Whew!

I began writing in the nursery with a verse found in 1st Corinthians, and it's the same verse a friend cross-stitched on a diaper bag for my nursery long ago...perfect, don't you think?:And another one for the nursery:While I was writing, everyone else was working. Here are Tom and Hannah nailing top plates upstairs: And Jonathan working downstairs:Here I am writing verses for the children's bedrooms: Upstairs hallway: I was looking forward to writing verses in the master bedroom, and I started with these two at the doorway leading into the suite:And a verse for wives just opposite the door frame above:I Corinthians 13: 4 - 7 ..."love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

This verse above is written on a master bedroom post below...great verses for husbands and wives about love:Hannah took on the big task of writing verses 10 - 31 of Proverbs 31 inside the master bedroom walk-in closet. How appropriate! Here are a couple of examples: And another: And the last two verses in that Proverb: There are so many more verses that are wonderful in the guest room, bathrooms, and master bedroom, but if I included them all this post would go on forever!

So I will end with I Peter 2:9 written over a doorway upstairs which says:

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Okay...time to close my eyes and head backwards down that ladder. My work upstairs is finished until real steps are built!

So...I've made a Pinterest board titled Write Them on the Doorposts of Thy House which includes all the verses at the house--many more upstairs and downstairs.

I hope you've enjoyed reading these latest posts about bathing a new house in scripture as much as I've enjoyed writing the verses.

"Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches."  ~ Proverbs 24:3-4

~Deb

Write Them on the Doorposts of thy House ~ Part 1

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9

On Saturday our family spent the day over at Jonathan's house helping him work on the next step in the long process...which was installing top plates.

Since it's been awhile since I showed pictures of the progress, I thought Saturday would be a good day to take my camera with me and take some photos. Here are Tom and Jonathan getting all set up for work: Jonathan and Hannah took a moment out for a smile for the camera before getting started. It was quite chilly, and we were all bundled up for the long hours we'd be there: The girls have both been helping whenever and wherever needed. They have become quite adept at house-building and helping their brother! I helped by putting as much pressure as I could on the board Tom was chiseling so it wouldn't slide. Doesn't it look like I'm doing a great job? Ha!But that wasn't the main reason I was there on this particular Saturday. Jonathan had put me in charge of writing scriptures on the studs and framework all through the house before the drywall goes up...so his house would be completely bathed in scriptures in every room...like this one in the kitchen:

"Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them." ~ Jeremiah 29:5

I had my trusty clipboard ready along with 19 pages of scriptures I had selected and designated for various rooms of his future home: One verse I selected was II Chronicles 7:16, which is a scripture my sister calligraphed for our wall many years ago and one which I like a lot:

"For now have I chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."

 Here I'm writing this verse above the front door: I ran out of room to write the complete verse like I wanted, but here's what it looked like when I finished:Hannah took a turn and wrote over one of the dining room windows using scripture from Psalm 128:

"Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord."

Here she's all finished writing her selection, and you can also see verses I've already written on both the left and right of the windows: Since Sarah is our bookworm, she wanted to pick a verse designated for the library and selected 2 Timothy 2:15..."Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." And this verse in Joshua greets folks coming in the back door:I forgot to take a photo in the laundry room, but there's the perfect verse for that area:

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."  ~ Psalm 51:7

The rest of the gang continued working while I kept going from room to room writing verses in the kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, library, dining room, and living room. I was having a great time!Since I haven't posted a picture of the front of the house, here's one we took before leaving for the day showing the front porch with the windows and door installed. The design is a country farmhouse look:
And another view of the side of the house that shows the front porch again. And, yes, that's pure mud! all around the house. It's quite a balancing job for me to keep upright on those boards leading around to the back door: Next post, Part 2: I'll climb the ladder (no steps yet) and head upstairs to show you the verses written in the nursery, master bedroom and bath, guest room, and kids' room. Stay tuned later this week!

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."  ~ Psalm 127:1

~Deb

 

Autumn Splendor

 To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise in hymns of adoration,

To Thee bring sacrifice of praise with shouts of exultation.

Bright robes of gold the fields adorn, the hills with joy are ringing,

The valleys stand so thick with corn that even they are singing.

And now, on this our festal day, Thy bounteous hand confessing,

Upon Thine altar, Lord, we lay the firstfruits of Thy blessing.

By Thee all human souls are led with gifts of grace supernal;

Thou, who gives us our daily bread, give us the bread eternal.

O blessèd is that land of God where saints abide forever,

Where golden fields spread fair and broad, where flows the crystal river.

The strains of all its holy throng with ours today are blending,

Thrice blessèd is that harvest song which never hath an ending.

Hymn by William C. Dix 1861

Photos by Hannah Girotti, October 2014

Arise and Be Baptized

Our church gathered at the local river to witness 5 people give testimony to their faith in Christ. It was a beautiful day for a baptism and picnic!

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

"...there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized."

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

  " And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

"And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

Speaking of breaking bread, we did just that after the baptisms.

Decker and Sons Grilling Co. took charge of the main course.

Sarah created this special cake for the occasion:

Afterwards there was plenty of fellowship and playful activity as part of the joyful celebration.

~Hannah

He is not here: for he is risen!

Thanks be to God!

Happy Resurrection Day to your family from ours!

~Deb

Happy Thanksgiving ~ 2013

We're very thankful today for our faithful blog readers! That's YOU!

Thank you all for reading our musings these many years and for leaving such enjoyable comments. We hope you have a wonderful turkey day!

Count your blessings!

~Deb