Matthew 10:16

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

I've been contemplating this passage of scripture a lot lately. I find I am much more jaded than I wish I were. Some translations use the word "shrewd" to describe the serpent, and "innocent" to describe the doves. How, exactly, does one maintain innocence and harmlessness in a world that seems to assault at every turn? I see in my friends an openness and warmth that I have lost somewhere along the way. In the name of protecting myself, I've become cold and emotionless. I don't wish to be that way. I don't want to wear my feelings on my sleeve, but I don't want to appear uncaring to others, either. I am seeking to find the appropriate balance.

Galatians 5: 22-23 says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

How does being shrewd align with gentleness and meekness?

Titus 3: 2 shows me that this gentleness and meekness are necessary to my witness of our Lord and Savior: "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. "

James 3:17-18 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

I pray the God would cultivate in me a meek, gentle, and humble spirit, so that I may bring honor to Him in my words and deeds.

Christmas Decorations

Traditionally, I have put up Christmas decorations very, very early. However, the past four years of living in our tiny space caused me to delay decorating and to use minimal decor. Well, NO MORE!!! Our house is really starting to feel like home. We don't have a full sized tree up yet, but here are the items I have out so far:

This is the piano our church gave us a few weeks ago. I am soooo blessed to have it. I have decorated it with nativity scenes. Most of them were gifts from former students. The clear glass one was my first, purchased for my college dorm room in 1994. The white one on the far right is illuminated, and was a gift from my bestest friend in the whole wide world, (besides Jesus, of course) Jenifer.

This is our Christmas tree for now. It's about 14" tall. :)

This cabinet was a gift from my friend and former boss, Claudia. Isn't it pretty? It is home to my snowman collection, which was a gift from my Momma.

Yesterday we moved our new piano. I was so upset when I woke up and saw it was snowing. (If you look closely at the cedar tree on the right you can see the remnants of the snow. This was taken on Sunday evening, after it had snowed off and on all day, but the ground was too warm for it to stick.) I was afraid our helpers would refuse to move it in the snow, even though both the loading and unloading areas are covered porches, so there was no danger of falling or anything like that. It was just not good for the piano to be in the cold, humid air. No one said a peep, though. One of the helpers did not show up. I ended up asking a new couple to come in the stead of the guy who was a no show. Everyone complimented the meal, and we had a wonderful time. We moved the piano right after church, and I served lunch as soon as the it was in the house and situated. It was after four o'clock by the time everyone left. I think everyone had a good time. That was our first "company" in our new home.

Let it snow!

Today was our first snow in the new house. I admit disappointment because we were planning to move the piano today, but hey, count your blessings, right? I normally LOVE winter and especially snow. I wanted to preserve the pictures of our very first snow in our new home, so here ya go:

Twinkie Strikes

This morning, I went to work alone. (A rarity since Wayne and I carpool to save resources.) I failed to crate Twinkie before I left for work. This was a B-A-A-A-D thing! I realized about 25 minutes out what I'd done, but it was too late to turn around. I could not have made it to work on time. I arrived at work and immediately asked my director if she could get me a sub for two hours (The time it would take to make the round trip including possible cleanup.) I am SOOOO glad I went ahead and went home. Here was my first clue that she had not outgrown her destructive tendencies:

Take one more step into the living room and this is what you see:

And some more pics for your viewing pleasure:

The picture of innocence. Actually, this is the CULPRIT!!! Jail her and seek the most severe penalty allowed under the law!

Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper! Thankfully, we have slipcovers for the furniture that were not yet on, and I will be able to patch the (one) hole that she made, and put the slipcover on, and no one will be the wiser. Can you believe all that mess is from one hole in a cushion? I thought we weren't gonna have a couch left at all when I first saw the mess.

And now, for what it looked like after several minutes of cleaning:

Whew! I hope this NEVER happens again!!!

There is so much I want to write that I have been procrastinating because I want it to be perfect! Typical me. I don't have time to do it perfectly, so I am just going to jump in where I am and get the important stuff down!

On September 5th, a day permanently etched into the history of my life, as significant as my birthday or our anniversary, we closed on our house. Our very own home! To say that I am ecstatic is an understatement. It's been a month and a half, and I still have to tell myself every day that this is real. I love, love, love the home God has blessed us with. Sure, it has it's problems, things we are discovering that we didn't know about when we bought it, but what 68 year old home doesn't? We were able to purchase 2.36 acres, with the option to buy the surrounding pasture at a later date, when we are able. The pasture surrounding the property is 19.74 acres, and while we can't use it, we can enjoy it's beauty, and the knowledge that we aren't going to have a subdivision moving in on top of us. Our house has three bedrooms and one bath. There is an enclosed back porch, which will be used as a potting room, among other things, and there is a little room off the utility room that only has the hot water heater and a laundry sink. We are going to install shelves, and this will be the pantry. There is also a very nice storm cellar that, when renovated, will serve as a root cellar as well.

Home Sweet Home

Our new home! After spending over three years looking for, and going through the process of buying, a home- here it is!

This is the view standing on the west side of the house looking back east.

And this is the back side, looking south. I love the hand pump in the back patio. It connects to a huge cistern underneath the patio. I can't wait to get it repaired so we can use it for watering the garden and flower beds!

This is the barn, taken from the back patio. Soon it will be filled with a milk cow, chickens, and Wayne's small engine repair shop. (Don't Whine, Call Wayne!)


This was also taken from the back patio, facing northeast. It shows the root cellar and outhouse, two of my favorite features of our home, sweet home.