Mountain Musings

Theology of the Family conference

Our annual trip to Asheville, NC took place in May instead of October this time, and spring was another beautiful time of year to visit Ridgecrest Conference Center:

Our lodgings looked out on the rolling hills near Black Mountain:

Since Mom stayed behind at home with Granny, we tried to send her plenty of pictures so she would feel somewhat included in our days:

Mom always loves catching up with various friends who also are attending this conference, so that was a part she was sad to miss. We ran into many familiar faces and met several new ones, too.

These 2 Jonathans caught up on each other's lives:

We heard tales of these young ladies' exciting travels and business ventures:

Our first evening's session was delivered by Paul Washer, who spoke about Fallen Families...a very sobering but encouraging message to start off the weekend:

Meanwhile, Mom back at home picked our quickly-ripening strawberries for me:

During lunch in the dining hall, we chatted with a sibling group from MI and got to know them better:

Free time one afternoon allowed for several of us to drive off-campus to enjoy a short hike together:

Catawba Falls had an upper and lower falls, and we spent some time exploring and relaxing:

My friend Hannah and I, who is also participating in the Spring100 challenge, added some miles to our totals.

As the conference came to a close, we said goodbye to various friends old and new:

2 brothers took a break from their Army duties to spend the weekend with their family:

We made dinner plans with friends from TN and found a local recommended BBQ restaurant.

It was an enjoyable time sharing conversation and a meal together.

When we returned to the conference center, the rest of the night was spent in fellowship with different groups of people who had gathered for an evening of music and talking.

These young men joined in piano and voice for a new version of "Only Trust Him", which was a fitting closing for the event:

We arrived back home to Virginia and regaled Mom and Granny with stories of our time away.

What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong
Who holds our days within his hand?
What comes, apart from his command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand.

~Hannah

Sunday Scripture

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you--that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine."  ~ Romans 1:11-12

~ Deb

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ February

For Today Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love. ~I John 4:7-8

Looking out my window... a very sunny and quite chilly February day. The wind is gusting, especially here on this ridge we call Mountain Musings. The front porch lawn chairs are tumbling upside down and being flung to the other side of the wrap-around porch.

I am thinking...of interesting questions to ask Granny. I've been googling "Questions to Ask an Elderly Person" for an interview post for the blog. I thought that might be fun! If you have any questions that you'd like her to answer...about her growing up years, her life before she came to live with us, her favorite memories, etc...ask them in the comments below, and a future post will feature Granny.

 

I am thankful...that Granny is doing much better and healing more each day from her fracture in early January. So thankful that she's able to get around and hopefully will be able to travel back to church soon to see her friends. I've heard from so many of you blog readers that you had been praying for her! Thank you!

 

I am wearing...a "winter white" skirt, aqua turtleneck, and denim over-shirt...my "going out" clothes since I was at my physical therapy foot appointment today. 

 

In my Kitchen...this week Hannah is planning meals and cooking for the family. She's always been such a great helper in the kitchen, but she also likes to do all the planning for some special meals. She usually picks Valentine's week....so I'm enjoying a kitchen-free week and sampling new recipes that I don't usually prepare. I'm especially looking forward to her Valentine's Day dinner.

 

Here is one of the delicious meals this week, Rosemary Dijon Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, and Strawberry Mandarin Spinach Salad:

We are creating: If you stop by to see us, most likely you'll find all of us involved in our various hobbies. Since Granny has felt better lately, she recently made a basket, her first in quite awhile...and here she is staining it outside. Everyone knows she makes baskets from old potato mashers, so someone sent her this one. She immediately wanted to get started!

Hannah collected aloe juice one day to use in her skin soother soap. Thank you to our friend Cindy for the healthy aloe plants she gave us:

Tom keeps occupied in his workshop. This bed has been in the works for quite some time...many, many setbacks and re-dos, but it's looking good now:

And Jonathan has been cooking in the kitchen recently....last week he made a chipotle-flavored chili for his co-workers...quite yummy. This photo below shows him in the middle of some cookie baking--orange creamsicles, which were a big hit:

I am reading...Brave Love. The author is Lisa Leonard, designer of jewelry for her own company and mom of two boys. My new favorite necklace is a Lisa Leonard design with 4 charms, each with the name of one of my four grandsons....with hopefully more charms to come one day. Her Instagram is here.

I am looking forward to: the end of the month when I again travel to Hampton's 30th Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show for a Quilty Girls Weekend!! I've posted about these quilting excursions in past years, so stay tuned in early March for a recap of my adventures.

 

I am hoping...the groundhog was right this year...an early spring would be nice!

 

A moment from my day...enjoying all the pink and red decor...Valentine table topper, floral bouquet from Tom, and reading a Valentine card from a dear friend that arrived today:

 

Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.

~ Psalm 119:165

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

~Deb

Sunday Scripture ~ Isaiah 61

Wisdom From the Word

Isaiah 61: 1 - 3

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

 

These verses came to mind as a Sunday scripture for this week after a blog reader and commenter emailed me a private prayer request for her family, and we have been praying for them after they experienced a series of seriously hard times this past year.

We can be assured that God does give us beauty for ashes so we can be oaks of righteousness...all for the goal of glorifying Him. Even when there are hard times of loss, pain, sickness, even death...God is working all things for the good of His children.

Think on these things. ~Deb

Happy New Year and a Return to Blogging!

Hello all, and a Happy New Year to any blog readers we have left after such a long absence! Would you leave a comment and let us know if you're still there? I've missed being in this space and will try and catch up gradually with a few different posts.

Let's start 2019 with thinking about things that are true, honest, just, pure, and lovely as the verse above states.

We're supposed to have a very snowy weekend here in the Shenandoah Valley, so what better time to hop back on the blogging bandwagon since we'll be stranded at the top of our hill for a few days...which, sounds to me like a very desirable thing right now!

This scene is from a snowy December weekend when we were heading up our driveway after a visit to Gloucester to visit new friends (that post coming soon):

In the meantime, I wanted to ask prayer for Granny who had surgery this week for another compression fracture. Poor Granny....her bones are so fragile. This fracture resulted after an extended bout of hard coughing! This week has mostly been spent going back and forth to doctors' appointments or at the hospital getting blood work done, more labs drawn, and scheduling the surgery. Please pray that she will heal quickly and that the pain will subside so she can get back to being a happy Granny. Thank you!

 

We also celebrated Hannah's birthday this week. I hate to admit that she ended up making her own birthday cheesecake, but I did arrive home in time to prepare the meal with Tom's help and our faithful Instant Pot: As in the past, her choices were somewhat different from my normal recipes. But amazingly everything turned out quite tasty.

She picked Sticky Korean Chicken from the Half Baked Harvest blog along with Steamed Lemon Broccoli, a Taste of Home recipe.

The Brownie Caramel Cheesecake recipe was found over at Six Sisters Stuff blog, and it was birthday-quality delicious!

Here's Hannah on her birthday this week enjoying a piece. Happy Birthday, Hannah!:

As is our custom, the birthday person picks a game to play, and this year Pictionary was the choice:

It's good to be back!

What has your January looked like so far?

~Deb

The Barn ~ At Creekside Farm

Hannah and I went on an adventure today - a very fun excursion west of Harrisonburg to a little area called Hinton.

We had heard about The Barn at Creekside Farm for awhile now, and this was the day to go check it out for a possible new vendor spot for Hannah's soaps and Granny's baskets.

We had no idea what to expect, and this was the scene as we arrived...pastoral countryside scenery, beautiful mountains and sky in the distance...and the Barn, our destination for the morning!

And a closer view as we approached:

Here's the refurbished two-story barn located just behind the silo...complete with a junkyard truck on display in front: The signs out front list the monthly vendors at The Barn, which is open the second weekend each month, April through December: The first vendor's booth that we browsed, The Shabby Cottage, displayed many lovely antiques. Hannah and I played around with the vintage letter blocks and came up with some special boys' names! We brought these letters home with us for the next time these cuties come to visit: I enjoyed looking around this booth, too...The Goose and the Gander. The red bench that you see in the photo was made from the headboard of a twin bed. It really caught my eye....and now it'll catch my eye every day...because its new home is on my front porch! The Barn has a top floor also...and these steps with a scripture verse from Proverbs lead the way upstairs. It reminded me of writing scripture inside Jonathan's house Write Them on the Doorposts of Thy House, Part 1 and Part 2:

Here are other vintage booths upstairs: I love anything related to gardening....but I completely missed the Potting Shed sign below until I saw it in this picture just now! Something for the men...antique tools: This gives you an idea of the way the barn was set up and divided into vendor booths...very well thought out and decorated...a great business idea of rented spaces in a barn full of antiques and treasures! Hannah and I enjoyed the drive out in the country and enjoyed our time at The Barn! If you're local, you should check it out next month.

~Deb

** An update on Granny: For those of you who prayed for Granny's surgery and time in the hospital, thank you so much! She's recuperating nicely from back surgery for the compressed fracture and really wanted to get out of the house today and ride with us to The Barn!  But this excursion would have been a bit strenuous for her at this point. Please continue to pray for complete healing and for her to regain strength and get back to normal.

Hannah and I went on an adventure today - a very fun excursion west of Harrisonburg to a little area called Hinton.

We had heard about The Barn at Creekside Farm for awhile now, and this was the day to go check it out for a possible new vendor spot for Hannah's soaps and Granny's baskets.

We had no idea what to expect, and this was the scene as we arrived...pastoral countryside scenery, beautiful mountains and sky in the distance...and the Barn, our destination for the morning!

And a closer view as we approached:

Here's the refurbished two-story barn located just behind the silo...complete with a junkyard truck on display in front: The signs out front list the monthly vendors at The Barn, which is open the second weekend each month, April through December: The first vendor's booth that we browsed, The Shabby Cottage, displayed many lovely antiques. Hannah and I played around with the vintage letter blocks and came up with some special boys' names! We brought these letters home with us for the next time these cuties come to visit: I enjoyed looking around this booth, too...The Goose and the Gander. The red bench that you see in the photo was made from the headboard of a twin bed. It really caught my eye....and now it'll catch my eye every day...because its new home is on my front porch! The Barn has a top floor also...and these steps with a scripture verse from Proverbs lead the way upstairs. It reminded me of writing scripture inside Jonathan's house Write Them on the Doorposts of Thy House, Part 1 and Part 2:

Here are other vintage booths upstairs: I love anything related to gardening....but I completely missed the Potting Shed sign below until I saw it in this picture just now! Something for the men...antique tools: This gives you an idea of the way the barn was set up and divided into vendor booths...very well thought out and decorated...a great business idea of rented spaces in a barn full of antiques and treasures! Hannah and I enjoyed the drive out in the country and enjoyed our time at The Barn! If you're local, you should check it out next month.

~Deb

** An update on Granny: For those of you who prayed for Granny's surgery and time in the hospital, thank you so much! She's recuperating nicely from back surgery for the compressed fracture and really wanted to get out of the house today and ride with us to The Barn!  But this excursion would have been a bit strenuous for her at this point. Please continue to pray for complete healing and for her to regain strength and get back to normal.

Sunday Thoughts

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." ~ Matthew 5:16

(Front porch entryway flowers: white wave petunias, red/pink geraniums, and golden coreopsis)

This morning was quite different as everyone headed off to church while I stayed home with Granny; she hasn't recuperated enough for sitting through a church service quite yet.

If you've ever checked out Sermon Audio online you know about the abundance of sermons on their website...just perfect for folks who are shut-ins and can't make it to a church gathering on a regular basis.

Granny and I pulled up one of our favorite pastors, Phil Johnson, and listened to his May 10th Mother's Day sermon, "The Mom Who Refused to Take No for an Answer" based on Matthew 15:21-28.

^"Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

The hour passed so quickly because he's always so interesting to listen to. Both of us enjoyed our Sunday morning together, and I'd definitely recommend Phil Johnson, especially his Ten Commandments series.

Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a wonderfully productive week!

~Deb

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