Clothed With Scarlet

A Mother's Prayer

A Mother's Prayer

The sweetest sound heard through our earthly home,

The brightest ray that gleams from heaven's dome,

The loveliest flower that e'er from earth's breast rose,

That purest flame that, quivering, gleams and glows,

Are found along, where kneels a mother mild,

With heart uplifted, praying for her child.

~

The stream of tears can never cease to flow

Long as life's sun shall shine on us below;

And many angels have been sent by God

To count the tear drops wept upon life's road;

But of all the tears that glow, the least defiled

Are when a mother prays beside her child.

~

Because it is to mortal eyes unseen,

Ye call it foolishness, a childish dream,

In vain, ye cannot rob me of that thought,

That legend with such heavenly sweetness fraught,

That blessed angels have for ages smiled

To see a mother praying for her child.

Anonymous

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

November 9, 2009

14 days and counting...

Me.

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Pregnant Me.

Oh...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wait!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:0)

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That is the broad side of a barn!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hehe...

~~~~~~~~

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Oh yes, this is pregnant Me.   :0)

I just feel as large as a barn.   ;0)

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:0)  Just poking fun at myself.  I really do love being pregnant....even the tough days.... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our wee tiny baby is due to arrive into our arms in the next 14 days!

The girlies are terribly excited!  Addison asks most often, "Will I get to hoed Baby Sit-rw today?"

What an amazing miracle and blessing to carry each child, an eternal soul, that has been knit together by the very hand of our Creator.

~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

November 3, 2009

Music:  Who's My Baby/Ladybug Picnic

 
 

Fall Camping Trip

In September we took off to a neighboring state to camp for a few days. 

Immediately after arriving, we promptly went to explore our camping area.  We camped in a cabin; it is hard to totally rough it with three children ages 7 and under and momma 7+ months pregnant    :0).  Below our cabin about 50 feet was a creek. 

~~~

After hiking down to the creek, we climbed back up and walked a ways to find another portion of the creek that we could cross.  The girls stopped to build a small dam out of rocks.  Daddy showed the girls how to build their dam, which rocks to select and how to travel safely on the rocks across the creek.  Momma sat on the creek's edge watching. 

 It was inevitable...one by one, the children slipped and lost their footing falling into the shallow water.  It didn't stop their dam-building at all.  Daddy just smiled as we watched Addison plop bottom first and soak herself almost entirely.  :0)

~~~

We returned to our campsite to drop off our bug houses and gather a few items to go and search for firewood.  Kennedy is watching her Daddy gather what we need.

~~~

Kennedy is gathering kindling.

~~~

Daddy went down our little 50 foot cliff to tie ropes to a small log and the girls and I pulled the log up the cliff to our campsite.  Then Daddy climbed right up the cliff..all the while little girls giggling and excited as they watched Daddy go suddenly from the bottom to the top.

~~~

 

Campfire lit...smores to follow...    :0)

~~~

The next day we went to one of our nation's oldest state parks.  We found a waterfall, spotted a few deer and all kinds of insects and lots of gorgeous trees with their leaves just barely floating to the ground.

~~~

The trail that we walked was beautiful...

How blessed I am!

My beloved husband of 17 years and my precious children...

~~

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

October 30, 2009

Music: Legends of the Fall
 
 
 
 
 
 

Giggle with me??

A 30-second glimpse into our school room...

Bailey is correcting her handwriting as I am reading from The Little Duke.  It is the story of Richard the Fearless (943-996) who became the Duke of Normandy at age eight.

Kennedy is painting with water onto a nifty reusable picture that becomes colored as she swipes the wet paintbrush.

Addison is coloring a picture of a horse.

~~~

One moment, there we are, productive and everyone working wonderfully on their assignment.

Then....

...it goes like this...

Mother Klause (reading):  "All through the meal, the Duke and his Lords talked earnestly of the expedition on which they were bound to meet Count Arnulf of Flanders, on a little islet in the river Somme, there to come to some agreement, by which Arnulf might make restitution to Count Herluin of Montreuil, for certain wrongs which he had done him."

Mother Klause (explaining):  "Restitution means..." 

 **Suddenly water flies into Mother's face.**

Mother Klause:  "Kennedy, please do not turn your soaked "painting" upside down onto Bailey's reading log.  You are working with water so you must take care not to get your things near any paper or books."

Kennedy:  "Oh!  I'm sorry Mother, I will be more careful."

Mother Klause looks over to see that Bailey has misunderstood her handwriting instructions:  "Bailey, you were correct in capitalizing the proper names, you will need to go back and fix that." 

Bailey:  "Oh, Momma!  I didn't know I was erasing what was right and making it wrong!" 

Mother looks up to see Addison squatting in her chair with a colored pencil hanging from one nostril:  "Addison, please remove the pencil from your nose and sit on your bottom in your chair."

:0)

Addison:  "Yes ma'am."

~~~

Hehehe...

Thought you might get a giggle out of 30 seconds of our day.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

October 21, 2009

Music: The Lonely Goatherd (from The Sound of Music)

"God's Word says..."

Addison is 3, Kennedy is 4.  They are 16 months apart.

They love one another dearly and are the best of friends.  They play so well together.  They truly enjoy one another's company.

However, when they do squabble....whew....DO THEY SQUABBLE!

:0)

Yesterday morning the girls are getting ready for the day and I am putting books on the shelf in the library (all on the second floor and all rooms are open to one another).  I hear Addison tell Kennedy, "Kn-dy, God's Wo-rwd says you awe not to be wude to you-rw sist-rw!"

Translation: Kennedy, God's Word says you are not to be rude to your sister!

:0)

I turn, trying not to laugh, to see the two facing one another at the top of the stairwell looking seriously at one another.

~~~

Over the last year, I have learned that God's perfect Word, the two-edged sword, will truly pierce right into the hearts of the children.  God's Word changes us.  Why would it be any different for our children?  Why do we feel some overwhelming need to water down scripture for our children?  It makes sense that we speak His Word directly to our children. 

Taking the wisdom of someone quite dear to me, I made myself some note cards so that I would always have God's Word in-hand, I set forth about this time last year to correct and teach the children in the moment(as the anger, laziness, lying, impatience {name the sin} was actually occurring) with the words of our Creator instead of my own words.  I also set forth to encourage the children with the Word of God when I saw Christ-like behavior/words in them.

God's Word is amazing...  The Sword Is Sufficient

~~~

So, yesterday, we sat down to talk about what God's Word says about being rude to your sisters. 

:0)

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

October 15, 2009

Music: Word of God Speak

Having put his hand to the plough...

The last post from September 7th,I will follow Thee...

I have written several things since but have opted not to post anything further.  The words from September 7th continue to penetrate my heart and my mind.  The words to the song continue to penetrate my heart and my mind.  It is like I find more and deeper truth each time that I go back and read.

The more I seek Christ, the more I find Christ; the more I find Christ, the more I love Christ.  I'm learning more about putting my hand to the plough.  I'm learning that I cannot and do not want to let go.

...no matter what...

~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

I will follow Thee...

"...Christianity is fundamentally an experience in losing the lives of our dreams in order to receive the lives Jesus died to give us.  Those who would bear the name Christian credibly experience a tremendous amount of abandonment in life." **

56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.  57And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.  58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.  61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.  62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.  ~~Luke 9:56-62

"Jesus is our only hope.  If Christians are truly willing to leave everything to follow Him, then they will, in fact, eventually leave everything." **

"The question is, 'Can we lean into the abandomnment?  Can we accept it as the Savior's invitation to find our lives at long last?'"  **

~~~

"We cannot change ourselves, and we cannot help but be changed when He reveals more of Himself to us.  To follow Jesus is to enter the lifelong process of discovering more about God than we know, discovering that "my ways are not your ways," discovering that we have been worshipping not God but an expectation of God.  Nothing makes it harder to see God than our own expectations of Him.  They blind us to the new ways He is at work saving our lives.  Conversion pulls us away from being religious, away from having all the answers.  It turns us into pilgrims who journey though life..." **

~~~

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy soul.  This is the first and great commandment."  ~~Matthew 22:37-38

About two years ago I asked the Lord to teach me how to love Him with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul.  I told the Lord that I didn't know how.  I told the Lord that I loved my husband and my children more than I loved Him.  And...truthfully, and sadly, there were probably many other things that I loved more than my Savior.  I told the Lord that I wanted to obey this first and great commandment.

~~~

"Christianity isn't something we get good at.  Jesus' teachings are not hard; they are impossible.  Those who first heard Jesus' statement that the rich man is like a camel trying to pass through the eye of aneedle were shocked.  They asked, "They who can be saved?"  The Savior's response was that while it is impossible to be a Christian, all things are possible with God.  It always, always gets back to receiving grace.  But if we are used to earning our own way, nothing could be harder." **

"Faith means betting our lives on the grace of God."  **

~~~

We must learn how to follow which means that we must give up the expectation of knowing where we are going.

One single day at a time...

It is the only way...

Going to receive our daily manna...His perfect word, just for this day...

~~~

** Quotes from M. Craig Barnes

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

September 7, 2009

...only a fragment of a home...

 “A home without children is only a fragment of a home. Its life, however happy, is a song with the sweetest part left out. Where no children come the husband and wife miss much that is deepest and richest in life. Their wedded joy never realizes its fullest measure of tenderness. There are chords in their hearts that are never waked. There are whole fields in the natures that are never brought under culture. There are powers and capacities in their souls that are never developed. They lose many a deep lesson that can be read from no book save from the pages of unfolding child-life. They miss many an inspiration of purity, of gentleness, of unselfishness, of beauty, for God has no constituted us that only in loving and caring for children are the richest and best things in us drawn out.” ~~ J. R. Miller

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

September 3, 2009

Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1

 ¹The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

 ²To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

 ³To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

 ⁴To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

 ⁵A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

 ⁶To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

 ⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 ⁸My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

 ⁹For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

 ¹⁰My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

 ¹¹If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

 ¹²Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

 ¹³We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:

 ¹⁴Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

 ¹⁵My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

 ¹⁶For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

 ¹⁷Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

 ¹⁸And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

 ¹⁹So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

 ²⁰Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

 ²¹She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

 ²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

 ²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

 ²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

 ²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

 ²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

 ²⁷When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

 ²⁸Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

 ²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

 ³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

 ³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

 ³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

 ³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

September 1, 2009

Saturday Morning Cartoons

 

~~~

~~~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

August 22, 2009

Music: Jesus Loves Me

Everything we want, everything we have...

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."
                                      -- Thomas Jefferson

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

August 19, 2009

Music: Big Snow In Salzburg

Teacup Tuesdays -- Chocolate Teacakes

* From the Archives - November 2007 *

 

I found this recipe several years ago.  I have altered some; you can stir in a 1/2 cup of slivered almonds after mixing all the other ingredients if you like.  The end product is actually a thin wafer-like cookie.  They are very tasty and very quick to throw together.

3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup instant cocoa mix (this is hot chocolate mix, not cocoa powder!)

Combine butter and sugar, then stir in flour and cocoa mix.  Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Shape into 1" balls (place dough in fridge for a few minutes if it is too soft to shape) and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Once cool, sprinkle again with sugar.

posted by Mrs. Klause

August 18, 2009

Music: Do-Re-Mi

~~~~~

Orignially Posted: November 4, 2007

Music: The Sweets of May

I found this recipe several years ago.  I have altered some; you can stir in a 1/2 cup of slivered almonds after mixing all the other ingredients if you like.  The end product is actually a thin wafer-like cookie.  They are very tasty and very quick to throw together.

3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup instant cocoa mix (this is hot chocolate mix, not cocoa powder!)

Combine butter and sugar, then stir in flour and cocoa mix.  Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Shape into 1" balls (place dough in fridge for a few minutes if it is too soft to shape) and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Once cool, sprinkle again with sugar.

posted by Mrs. Klause

August 18, 2009

Music: Do-Re-Mi

~~~~~

Orignially Posted: November 4, 2007

Music: The Sweets of May

Sisters - At The Park

 

Addison & Kennedy playing at the park.  It was 8:30 in the morning and terribly hot!

 

Silly Sisters.

~~~

Little girls with pigtails, silly faces, tiny rosey red cheeks, little girl giggles...

These are a few of my favorite things.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

August 10, 2009

Music: My Favorite Things

Teacup Tuesdays - Sleek & Fancy

From The Archives - December 2006

Mema Simpson...she died when I was 10-years-old.  I remember so many times with her however.  She used to sit in a funny little chair at the end of the bar in her kitchen and drink coffee.  Mema had several sisters, Neva lived there in town with her.  We used to go and visit Neva all the time.  Mema had a dishwasher in her kitchen that sat against the wall.  When she wanted to use it, she had to push it over to the sink and attach a hose to the kitchen faucet.  She had a small shelf in her dining room that would hold six teacups and their saucers.  I can only recall there being two cups & saucers that hung there but my memory might not be serving me well.  This is one set:

It is blue and white with gold rims and designs.  It is a rather sleek and fancy looking teacup.  I do not know where it came from or why she only had one nor do I ever recall seeing her use the cup and saucer. 

Whatever the history, she is seeing her share of tea and coffee in our home.  More importantly...my daughters and I are filling her full of memories...

** The music that you hear is from a movie.  I have never seen the movie and have absolutely no intent in watching it.  It would ruin the beauty of the song for me.  Mema had a little music box on her coffee table and this was the song that it played.  The music box was actually a type of picture frame that held six family photos in a hexagon shape and as the music played, the photos turned in a circle.  I can remember sitting on her floor and listening to the music and watching the pictures go around.  For years I didn't know what the song was and had no way of describing it to anyone as it was just a distant memory in my mind.  One day I heard the music and tracked down the title.  I don't call the song by it's name.  Instead, it is Mema's Musicbox Song.  :)

posted by Mrs. Klause

Music:  Theme from 'Love Story'

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison!

 

We kept it very small with only our immediate family, my parents and dear family friends, the Sliders joining us to celebrate Addison's third birthday.

Addison really likes orange.  Most little girls always pick pink and purple...the pink cup, the pink popsicle, the pink shoes, etc.  Addison always picks all things orange.  So, she had all things orange with flowers and butterflies.

Mother and Daddy got her a real cowgirl hat.  

  

She has been waiting her turn very patiently.  Kennedy and Bailey already have one.  She said to me, "Momma, now I can weal-wey (really) be a cow-ga-oil (cowgirl)."

 

She was quite excited.  Mother made some lovely hat-bands for her.

 

Pawpaw Slider gave them all Silly String but it wasn't the children that started playing with it first!  :)   For those of you that know my beloved husband, you already know he was the one to start the Silly String "fights".

 

Daddy laughed the entire time while trying to help Kennedy spray her pink string.  I didn't get any photos as we were laughing too much but Kennedy never actually shot the silly string intentionally.  Her first pile of pink string was on the dining room ceiling!  She was trying to figure out how to hold the can and depress the button at the same time.  Her entire can was 'spent' in this manner...

to the side into the living room,

toward the back door and stuck to the wall,

back into the living room, over the sofa and onto the dog...

 

Nana Slider, Bailey and Kennedy.

I know.  It is blurry but it is the only photo I got of Mother.  She looked just lovely that day.  I should be ashamed of myself for not ensuring a good photo of her! 

 

I thought that a wonderful gift for Addison would be a sandbox...with an umbrella over the top.  Her Daddy built it for her.  Pipaw (my Daddy) and Addison went to play in the sandbox.  Sadie (the dog) was on their heels and enjoyed a sliver of shade in the grass while they played.

 

My Little Cow-ga-oil from Deep In The Heart of Texas.

~~~

She is often seen in her lovely orange dress with her new orange sandals and her new cowgirl hat with the orange hat-band. 

:)

{sigh}

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 22, 2009

Music:  Yellow Rose of Texas

His Reward

 

Once a woman came upon three mothers at work.  "What are you doing?" she asked of them.

"I'm doing the weekly washing," answered the first.

"I'm doing a bit of household drudgery," replied the second.

The third woman replied, "I'm mothering three young children who someday will fill important and useful spheres in life, and wash-day is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever." 

Only the third woman had caught the vision of the great work she was doing.

-Author Unknown

~~~

     "A home without children is only a fragment of a home.  Its life, however happy, is a song with the sweetest part left out.  Where no children come the husband and wife miss much that is deepest and richest in life.  Their wedded joy never realizes its fullest measure of tenderness.  There are chords in their hearts that are never waked.  There are whole fields in their natures that are never brought under culture.  There are powers and capacities in their souls that are never developed.  They lose many a deep lesson that can be read from no book save from the pages of unfolding child-life.  They miss many an inspiration of purity, of gentleness, of unselfishness, of beauty, for God has so constituted us that only in loving and caring for children are the richest and best things in us drawn out.  Then when old age comes on, how lonely is the childless home, with neither son nor daughter to come back with grateful ministries, to bring solace and comfort to the declining years!"

     "Our homes would be very cold and dreary without the children.  Sometimes we weary of their noise.  They certainly bring us a great deal of care and solicitude.  They cost us no end of toil.  When they are very young they break our rest many a weary night with their colics and teethings, and when they grow older they wellnigh break our hearts many a time with their waywardness.  After they come to us we may as well bid farewell to living for self and to personal ease and independence, if we mean to do faithful duty as parents.  There are some who therefore look upon the coming of children as a misfortune.  They talk about them lightly as "responsibilities."  They regard them as in the way of their pleasure.  They see no blessing in them.  But it is cold selfishness that looks upon children in this way.  Instead of being hindrances to true and noble living, they are helps.  They bring benedictions from heaven when they come, and while they stay they are perpetual benedictions."

     "It is a great thing to take these young and tender lives, rich with so many possibilities of beauty, of joy, of power, all of which may be wrecked, and to become responsible for their shaping and training and for the upbuilding fo their character.  This is what must be thought of in the making of a home."

                                      ~ Excerpt from Home-making by J. R. Miller, originally published in 1882

~~~

Psalm 127

 1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

 2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

 3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

 4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

 5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 17, 2009

Music: Fur Elise

Once a woman came upon three mothers at work.  "What are you doing?" she asked of them.

"I'm doing the weekly washing," answered the first.

"I'm doing a bit of household drudgery," replied the second.

The third woman replied, "I'm mothering three young children who someday will fill important and useful spheres in life, and wash-day is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever." 

Only the third woman had caught the vision of the great work she was doing.

-Author Unknown

~~~

     "A home without children is only a fragment of a home.  Its life, however happy, is a song with the sweetest part left out.  Where no children come the husband and wife miss much that is deepest and richest in life.  Their wedded joy never realizes its fullest measure of tenderness.  There are chords in their hearts that are never waked.  There are whole fields in their natures that are never brought under culture.  There are powers and capacities in their souls that are never developed.  They lose many a deep lesson that can be read from no book save from the pages of unfolding child-life.  They miss many an inspiration of purity, of gentleness, of unselfishness, of beauty, for God has so constituted us that only in loving and caring for children are the richest and best things in us drawn out.  Then when old age comes on, how lonely is the childless home, with neither son nor daughter to come back with grateful ministries, to bring solace and comfort to the declining years!"

     "Our homes would be very cold and dreary without the children.  Sometimes we weary of their noise.  They certainly bring us a great deal of care and solicitude.  They cost us no end of toil.  When they are very young they break our rest many a weary night with their colics and teethings, and when they grow older they wellnigh break our hearts many a time with their waywardness.  After they come to us we may as well bid farewell to living for self and to personal ease and independence, if we mean to do faithful duty as parents.  There are some who therefore look upon the coming of children as a misfortune.  They talk about them lightly as "responsibilities."  They regard them as in the way of their pleasure.  They see no blessing in them.  But it is cold selfishness that looks upon children in this way.  Instead of being hindrances to true and noble living, they are helps.  They bring benedictions from heaven when they come, and while they stay they are perpetual benedictions."

     "It is a great thing to take these young and tender lives, rich with so many possibilities of beauty, of joy, of power, all of which may be wrecked, and to become responsible for their shaping and training and for the upbuilding fo their character.  This is what must be thought of in the making of a home."

                                      ~ Excerpt from Home-making by J. R. Miller, originally published in 1882

~~~

Psalm 127

 1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

 2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

 3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

 4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

 5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 17, 2009

Music: Fur Elise

Teacup Tuesdays - Cozy Cupboard

 

Married nearing 17 years and I have never had a china cabinet.  :)

All of my teacups have always lived on shelves or hanging on interesting racks designed just for teacups but now they have their very own cupboard!

A couple of months ago we bought a dining room table and chairs and a matching china cabinet from some friends.  I was terribly excited to get my new cupboard settled into our dining room!  ;0)

And...it even has a light in the top that shines down on the little teacups...

  

 

:0)

Blessed beyond measure...it isn't the cupboard or the teacups, it is what fills the cups and saucers and pots and creamers.

...little girl giggles...

...the image of chubby little hands grasping the ceramic handles...

...the many puddles of spilled tea or cream followed by the words, "Oops, Mommy, I spwilled!"...

...the memories of friends along the way...

...hearty laughs and streaming tears shared with friends over a cup of tea...

...sweet memories of the women in my family...

No, it isn't the cupboard or the teacups.

:0) 

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 15, 2009

Music: I'm A Little Teapot

Teacup Tuesdays - A Surprise Saturday Afternoon Tea

I know...it is not Tuesday but sometimes you just have to jump right in and get started with things...

Poor old Teacup Tuesday has fallen by the wayside in the last three months.  Let's see if we can start again.  :)

~~~~~~~~~

Several days ago Kennedy was privileged to spend a day with her Daddy.  While they were gone, Addison and Bailey prepared a tea party for me...as a surprise.

It was planned last-minute so Bailey was creative and used what she had on-hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Here are the little party planners.

 

The girls set our pretty glass plates and selected teacups from the cabinet.  Addison and I had prepared oatmeal cookie dough that morning and it was in a bowl in the fridge awaiting further work.  Bailey decided to bake some cookies (with permission).  The pan that the cookies are on is still hot.  I was just getting ready to put the cookies on a plate.

 

What you see here is a lovely bouquet of tissue paper flowers and skewered pickles. 

:)

The plan was to make a nice arrangement of skewered fruit but none of the fruit that we had on hand was suitable for Bailey's cutting and skewering so she and Addison talked about it and Addison (age 2) suggested pickles instead. 

In the teapot is grape kool-aid.  We have kool-aid about once a year around here and we had prepared a pitcher the day before.  Bailey thought and thought and could not remember the order of operation to prepare hot tea.  She was trying to keep this a surprise so she decided that grape kool-aid would be a nice alternative.

~~

Bailey sweetly and lovingly scolded me for not doing a better job of teaching her how to make hot tea.  :)  She actually does know how but I suppose it has been too long since she did it all on her own.  Addison is typically the one that selects and prepares tea with me.  Bailey and Kennedy usually take care of setting the table, pouring the cream and such.

So...

It seems that a bit of Teatime Tutoring is called for...

It was a lovely and yummy surprise Saturday Tea Party.  I am so thankful for oatmeal cookies, sweet pickles and grape kool-aid.  What a sweet memory to tuck away. 

In my rocking chair with a lovely teacup in my hand is where I can be found at least once every single day. 

I suspect that one day...

...when I am old and grey...

...you will still find me rocking...

...teacup in hand...

...perhaps enjoying spearmint tea...

...or blueberry tea...

...steaming coffee...

...or even grape kool-aid...

:0)

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 9, 2009

Words that humble...

 

This is my Kennedy.  She is four now.  She is such a unique and amazing little girl.

This evening she came up the stairwell, headed to bed, and walked to me.  She wrapped her arms around me and said, "I am so glad that God gave me to you."  She held me and kissed me and walked away to her room.

~~~

God has taught me a great deal through this little child.  She never ceases to amaze me.

I am so glad that God gave Kennedy to me.

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 7, 2009

Twigs & Feathers -- Part I

Nesting...

:)  An interesting part of God's creation...

I think it is an amazing and curious part of how God created a woman.  Every pregnant woman that I have ever known has gone through a period of time during her pregnancy in which she has an overwhelming need to get all things in her home in order. 

I am so thankful for this "nesting". 

~~~

My To-Do List - Cleaning & Organizing

1.  Clean out my closet - Done!  Whoo-hooo and it wasn't so bad.

2.  Clean out the school closet - Done!  And it took quite some time to sort through stray game & puzzle pieces and get all the crayons back to their containers and such.

3.  Clean out coat closet - Done!  My dear friend, Mrs. Spangler, came with her children on Tuesday and announced upon their arrival that at least one household project could be done while we visited. -- All done!

4.  Clean out Bailey's closet

5.  Re-organize sewing cabinet

6.  Clean out the garage

7.  Sort through, organize and store all children's clothing.

8.  Clean out the junk drawer in the kitchen (and the junk cabinet - who put all that stuff in there?)

~~~~

My To-Do List - Acquiring Items for the Wee Littlest One

When we moved out-of-state, we got rid of all items that were not absolutely necessary which meant almost all baby items. 

1.  Cradle and/or Crib

2.  Car seat

3.  Wee tiny clothes for a wee tiny girl.

4.  Sew burp rags, changing pads and bibs.

5.  Locate (in the garage) the box of baby items we kept and clean them for use.

~~~~

Nesting...a time to give thanks to God for this new life...

Nesting...a time to pray for the life of this new little girl...

Nesting...a time to praise the Lord for the blessing of this child...

Nesting...a time to seek guidance from the Lord on how to raise up this child for His glory...

~~~

Time to go!

There are twigs to be gathered and soft feathers that need to be woven into the nest! 

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

July 4, 2009

 

 

This is His day.

Addison wakes first typically; around 6:30 a.m.

My beloved husband was just about to leave the house so he was blessed with her smile and kisses to start his day and she with the loving embrace of her father.

Addison (age 2) and I sat at the table together.  I had a cup of coffee and she enjoyed a cup of blueberry tea.  She was noticing the sunrise and commenting on how far it reached (all the way from one neighbor's yard to the other neighbor's yard which was as far as she could see).  I told her that God brought the sun to us in the east every morning.  As we discussed directions and talked more of the sunrise, I began to recall a thought that has passed tthrough my mind more times than I can count over the last many years.

The miracle of the sunrise...

The sunrise is an amazing miracle when you stop to think about all that happens...

...yet it's daily occurrence seems to numb our senses to the beauty and the simply amazing creation...

When I stop and remind myself of this, I always think of Psalm 118:24:

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

This day, today, God created this day.

I shall rejoice and be glad in this day.  I must set my mind to rejoicing in all things today.

What is His purpose and His plan in my life .. on this day that He has created?

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

June 23, 2009

Music: Make My Life A Prayer To You

..all things..

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark."  

                                   ~~Charles Spurgeon

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."  ~~Matthew 19:26

~~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

June 15, 2009

How shall I hide?

"A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished."  ~~Proverbs 27:12

This verse stayed with me this morning. 

I began to think about it and dissect it and hold it up to my moment-by-moment decisions. 

I went to look up the original Hebrew words that Proverbs was written in to ensure that I was reading what was actually written.  (The Interlinear Bible is where you locate the bible in the original Hebrew and Greek just in case you are not familiar.)

~~~

A prudent or sensible person will discern, will inspect, will give attention to, will distinguish...

...the evil, distress, misery, adversity, calamity...

--- This next phrase is what caught my heart this morning. ---

"..AND HIDETH HIMSELF.."

To hide means to conceal.  

..but the simple or the foolish...

..pass on or traverse or advance..

..and are punished or condemned.. 

Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we are forgiven; however, we live with the consequences of our sin.

So...according to God...in Proverbs 27:12, I can be wise and discerning and see the sin coming and hide myself from it or I can just go on and walk right in and suffer the condemnation and consequences. 

Hmmm...makes me want to truly ponder each moment even further so that I can foresee the evil.  Causes me to realize how far I am from truly "praying without ceasing".

~~~

When I think about it, this is how I hide from evil.  Or I don't bother to hide at all.

If you look up the word conceal**, it means to withdraw from observation or to cover and keep from sight.  If you look up the word hide**, it means to put oneself in a condition to be safe.

Think on that...

Think of a common sin in your daily life or something that you struggle with.  God's word says that we are to be keen enough to see the evil coming and then we are to put ourselves into a condition in which we will be safe from the evil.

My mind wandered further...

I began to think of how God created animals and their ability to hide themselves from danger.  So, I went looking for some visual examples.

This is a seahorse that is hidden in some coral.

An owl sitting plainly in sight, yet seemingly sitting in a position to keep herself safe.

This is a red goby hidden amongst coral.

A spider sitting on a sunflower.

A jackrabbit in the weeds.

~~~

"This we had before, ch. 22:3. Note, 1. Evil may be foreseen. Where there is temptation, it is easy to foresee that if we thrust ourselves into it there will be sin, and as easy to foresee that if we venture upon the evil of sin there will follow the evil of punishment; and, commonly, God warns before he wounds, having set watchmen over us,Jer. 6:17. 2. It will be well or ill with us according as we do or do not improve the foresight we have of evil before us: The prudent man, foreseeing the evil, forecasts accordingly, and hides himself, but the simple is either so dull that he does not foresee it or so wilful and slothful that he will take no care to avoid it, and so he passes on securely and is punished. We do well for ourselves when we provide for hereafter."  ~~Matthew Henry's Commentary

~~~

So, how then shall I hide myself from evil? 

^"7Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.  ⁸I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."  ~~Psalm 32:7-8

~~~

 "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word."  ~~Psalm 119:114

~~~

"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock."  ~~Psalm 27:5

How shall I hide myself?

In His word...

...and on my knees...

~~~

** 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary

~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

May 27, 2009

Music: Light by David Nevue

One of my favorite things...

Addison is two.  I love to hear the words that come from my wee children.  They speak words in the manner that their tiny ears seem to hear them.

Although there are words that they speak that I correct and help them to pronounce appropriately, there are just a few that I do not correct and I shoo family members away from correcting that small handful of words as well. 

The above candy we would call an M & M. 

Addison says:

"N - dough - M"

She likes n-dough-m's a great deal....but then again....who doesn't?

;0)

It will only be a few months in her life that we will get to hear her say those sweet words that cause us to silently smile.  However, I will be old and grey and still remember a tiny voice saying how much liked "n-dough-m's". 

~~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

May 21, 2009

Music:  My Favorite Things

What will enthrall the beloved?

“Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all we can, at whatever cost to ourselves, to help people be enthralled with the glory of God. When they are, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving people and glorifying God are one.”  ~~John Piper

~~~~

I read this quote earlier today and have spent a fair amount of time pondering the thought. 

It's meaning encompasses far more than I realized the first time I read it through.  I began to think of this statement with a more broad "stroke".

John 15:12 - "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you."

1 Pet 1:22 -

"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:"

1 John 4:12 - "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."

~~~~

 

I love my husband. 

     “Love is doing what will enthrall the my husband with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the my husband this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all I can, at whatever cost to myself, to help my husband be enthralled with the glory of God. When he is, my husband will be satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving my husband and glorifying God are one.”

~~~~

I love my children.

“Love is doing what will enthrall my children with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall my children this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all I can , at whatever cost to me, to help my children be enthralled with the glory of God. When my children are, my children are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving my children and glorifying God are one.

~~~~

I love my family...my father, my mother, my brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, grandparents, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins...

Love is doing what will enthrall my family with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall my father this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all I can, at whatever cost to myself, to help my mother be enthralled with the glory of God. When my brothers are, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving my family and glorifying God are one.

~~~~

I love my church family.

Love is doing what will enthrall my church family with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the men, women & children in my church this way is the glory of God. Love means doing all I can, at whatever cost to myself, to help my brothers & sisters in Christ to be enthralled with the glory of God. When my church family is, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving the men, women & children in my church and glorifying God are one.

~~~~

 

I love my friends.

Love is doing what will enthrall my friends with the greatest and longest joy.  What will enthrall my friends this way is the glory of God.  Love means doing all I can, at whatever the cost to myself, to help my friends be enthralled by the glory of God.  When my friends are, they are satisfied and God is glorified.  Therefore, loving my friends and glorifying God are one. 

~~~~

Words to think about...

Words to hold up to scripture to find truth...

My own thoughts to ponder.

My own actions to consider.

What exactly am I doing to enthrall my husband, my children, my family, my church and my friends with The Longest and The Greatest Joy? 

How are my words and my actions bringing glory to God every moment of every single day?

~~~~

All for His glory...

~~~~

posted by Mrs. Klause

May 19, 2009

Music: Stars & Butterflies