If I used everything...

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything You gave me.'" ~ Erma Bombeck

The Colonel was fantastic!

For those of you who don't know my little/big (he's taller than me) brother Greg played the part of Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility in a play this weekend at the local Christian high school. He did a really good job! I'm sorry for all of you who missed it, but he looked fantastic. If you want to see his costume there's a picture on Nienna's blog, hopefully she'll add some more or she'll let me post a couple here. http://mansionwestofvalinor.blogspot.com/
I'm very proud of him and I wanted to tell y'all! Great job Togo!

Quotes

I like quotes... good quotes that is. I decided that I wanted to post some of the quotes that I like because I want to share them with whomever reads this (and this is only a very few of the ones I like).

"God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy." ~George MacDonald

"It is hard; but the sort of compromise we're hankering after is harder — in fact, it is impossible.... We are like eggs at present. And we cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." ~C.S. Lewis

"He is a fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." ~Jim Elliot

"He who would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." ~Christ

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried." ~G.K. Chesterton

"A Biblical perspective of truth also necessarliy entails to recognition that ultimate truth is an objective reality." ~John MacArthur

A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him to find her.

You are the subject of the one that you crown in your heart - not the one that you flatter with your tongue.

"'When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.' - 2 Timothy 4:13
He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has had wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He has been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things unlawful for a man to utter, and yet he wants books! He has written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every Christian, 'Give thyself to reading.' The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own." ~Charles H. Spurgoen

But THIS is a writer's quote!!!
"Child, to say the very thing you really men, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean, that's the whole art and joy of words." ~the Fox, from Till We Have Faces.

The first snake and biscuits with Tony's pictures

We didn't have milk this morning so I told Mom if she'd run to the gas station and get some then I'd make biscuits. So I did, and here are the leftovers (after the tribe ate) and if anyone wants one they should just stop by:Btw, that's about a quarter of all the biscuits I made, and after making all those biscuits I ate only one and a half! Go figure... While I was baking my younger siblings came in all excited. "We found a snake!" I was facing the stove and so I said, "Oh really? Where is it?" Brendan said, "Right here." So I turned around and he was holding this lovely king snake. That's our first big snake for the year. We found a garter snake a few days ago but we like these guys better. This one measures at about 5'8"

And while I was uploading these pictures I found some that my 10-year-old brother took and I thought I'd post a couple.

The farm...fog...and my world...

Last spring I guess it was, I went outside early one morning and took some pictures. This poem came to me as I was taking the pictures, so I wrote it down. I always wanted to post it on a blog, but I didn't have one...now I do! This is our farm, where we called home for almost ten years, but sold last summer. My heart still stays there though, I loved it, and I don't think anyone of us will really let it go as home. This is a piece of what I felt there...

~Fog~
When I see a soft white fog
A feeling comes over me
As if everything holds a secret
or some hidden mystery
All thing's soft and hushed
As if in fear of breaking the quiet
And gentle Peace here reigns
Keeping out scuffle and riot

Beaded with bright drops of crystal
The spiderwebs hang like silver strands
So delicate, fine, and simply wrought
They seem to be made by fairy hands
A morning fog takes me to dreamland
With the dew of a wet, wild world
That lies yet still and quiet
It's colors not yet unfurled

Yes, all the colors are muted
As well as most of nature's sounds
But that's how the peace and harmony
Of God's creation resounds
Those days are special to me
When after sleeping like a log
I step outside of a doorway
And see a soft white fog.

Poetry and the absense of a blog...

Yes, I'm sure you're wondering where that name came from (from where it came). Well I had this school assignment to write an essay/poem/story to answer a question. I chose a poem...well when I read it to my dad he said, "Do you have a blog?" I said, "No, why?"... "Oh, well I was going to suggest that you put it on your nonexistent blog." So after a conversation he said I could create a blog. Here's the blog (ja, the title may change). Here's the poem:

Divisions and separations, more barriers and thrown up walls
Once more the cold shoulder and silence where there should be peace for all
How many times? Will it ever end?
Will these rifts and fractures ever mend?
What will it take to restore peace and harmony where they're desired?
To break the partitions and quarrels, yes, there are some thing required.
Each one must seek his pardon and grace
And forget the fear of losing face.
It is no easy matter to ask for the forgiveness we need,
Especially when we think that someone else our mercy should plead.
So that the wounds may actually heal
We must allow our hearts to get real.
Admission of guilt is the first step in this story
But do not let this be a false pride in which you choose to glory!
Then the grudging heart must be wiped clean...
And forget the things that were so mean
That had been done to the one who is attempting to restore peace.
And then with this there comes a new freedom and wonderful release!
To keep the gaps from growing wider
The hold on our thoughts must be tighter.
Preventing the quarrel ought to soften the fast approaching strife
And learning when nary a word needs to catch sight of any life.
Brothers offended are harder won
Than ever a city siege was done.
Though you may never be of the same opinion as another,
Finding common ground can fix the breach with your offended brother.
So to restore domestic accord...
Listen to the commands of the Lord.