God Knows What We Don't Know

"I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me" (Psalm 119:75).

One of the most perplexing aspects of the Christian life is trying to understand God's purpose when defeat or affliction comes into our lives, thereby hindering or even halting our ministry and testimony for Him. Many have been the servants of God who were sincerely working for Christ, seeking to obey His will and His word as best they understood them, but then suddenly were laid aside by sickness, or had their ministries stopped by the enemies of God (sometimes even by fellow Christians), or for some other reason, and could not discern why God allowed it.

What then? When affliction comes, we must simply trust God, knowing that whatever He does is right and that our affliction is invested with His faithfulness. He is our Creator and, through Christ, has also become our heavenly Father: "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9). He knows what we don't know, therefore we can "know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

This verse (Romans 8:28) is one of the most familiar and most wonderful promises in the Bible, but it is one of the most difficult to believe in time of affliction or loss. Nevertheless, it is God's promise, and "all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20).

God knows the end from the beginning, and in that wonderful day when Christ returns, "then shall I know even as also I am known" (I Corinthians 13:12). Until then, we must simply trust Him.

 

--from Days of Praise, daily devotions from the Institute of Creation Research.

more ?'s

What is my balance?
Why did they put John in prison???  Why did they cut his head off??!!
What does "transfigure" mean?
How do we make sounds?
What's a hard day?
What does heaven look like?
What are those strings that go whoop whoop between the poles?

Pilgrim's Progress Audios

If you've never read John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, you need to.  If you have a hard time concentrating on the old language, here is the next best alternative, The Pilgrim's Progess on audio CD. We have owned this fun dramatized set for some time, and we never tire of listening to it!  As a matter of fact, the girls were listening again this very day.  (Soon they will have their actor's accents perfected and all the lines memorized.)  I have a link to this classic set for $29.99 on my sidebar, but today I got a better sales ad from LES (Library and Ed Services). You can own this epic 6-CD audio dramatization of Christian's journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, featuring 77 actors, sound effects, and professional music, for ONLY $14.95, yes ladies and gentlemen, you heard me, only $14.95 (plus shipping and handling)!  This price is only good for seven days, so order before midnight  tonight!

Think I could get a job in sales? 

P.S. LES membership is free, and they won't sell your email address. We get ads from them about once a week with discounts up to 80% on books and other media.  I recently bought most of the Moody science videos from LES for only $2.00 each!  And no, I'm not an affiliate.

Can Yu Reed This?

Okay, maybe I need to change the name of this blog to something like "Showing off Emily"; she is getting way too much attention here, and my other kids are probably feeling left out.  But I had to post this.  My sweet friend, PlainJane, has been graciously and patiently emailing my four-year-old.  Emily sits here and composes her own responses.  PlainJane wrote first in purple, them Em responded in black. See if you can decipher her phonetic spelling, lol! (It can't be any worse than "whole language" method, can it?)


dear plainjane

Hi Emily,

 

How are you?  I hope you are having a good day! i am stil sic and i hav spots

 

It is very cold here, so we are all staying inside, even our and  .  What are you doing today?  l am  loocing at sum picshurs.

 

 

I thought I would give you a meme just like your mom & sisters do, so here it goes...

 

What is your favorite color?  green

 

 

What is your favorite food? putaato soop

 

 

What is your favorite book? go dog go

 

 

What is your favorite thing to play? ciyu

 

 

Have a good day dear!

love

emily

 

Much Love to You and Your Family,    

PlainJane

For those of you who need tranlastion, "ciyu" is Caillou.

Still On a Quest for Knowledge...

More four-year-old queries out of the blue:

How do you shrug?
What's a planet?
What does "mediocre" mean?
What things aren't precious? Are scissors precious?
What is a bond servant?
What does "injured" mean?
What is moisture?
What would we do if Amy got bitten by an alligator on her leg? Would we take her to the doctor? What would she use? A cane?
Why do some spoons have holes in them?
I know what "round" means, but what's a merry-go?? LOL!

I was answering all of these questions twice, until I discovered this child has the annoying habit of saying, "WHAT?"    Now, instead of repeating myself, I ask her, "What did I just say?" And she can always repeat the answer word for word. We'll soon be rid of that bad habit!   (Now we just need to work on some of mine...)

New Ideas for Old Dress

Do any of you crafty ladies know what I can do with my old wedding dress, besides donate it?  Mom and Dad aren't willing to store it any more, and I don't really want it around here. Somewhere I saw a christening gowns made out of wedding dresses, but I'm not doing that... a pillow? LOL.  Arghh.  I can't just throw it away, and it's not worth selling; no one would want to pay what it's worth to me monetarily.  And no, my girls aren't going to wear it.  Anybody else have this predicament??

Lauren? Are You Out There??

Once upon a time, long, long ago, my family moved to LeHavre, France, having been transfered by the company my dad worked for. At the time, I was merely four years old.  Mom and Dad met another American family there, and as it would happen in a foreign land, the two families being far from home and having their homeland and language in common, the parents became fast friends.  While the dads worked at the office and struggled to communicate engineering in a foreign language, the two moms and all the little kids traveled all over the place in a little red square-back Volkswagon. While my own mother was a bit timid about striking out on her own in unknown territory, the other mother had no fear. She was an assertive and independent woman, and together the two ladies made their way to some beautiful and obscure French sites with six or seven kids in tow. (Obviously those were the days before car seat laws!)

Red-headed Lauren was the only girl in the other family, and she was a year older than I.  I don't think we went to the same school, but we did everything else together. (I hope I am remembering this right.  Probably not -- I can't even remember to take meat out of the freezer for supper!) She lived in a big old three-story house with a dungeon beneath it.  Seems to me it had long ago been the home of some Gaulic military captain or something.  The top floor was a big playroom, a wide open space where noisy children were stowed away while parents visited beneath somewhere. I remember rollerskates up there, maybe bikes?  A chin-up bar in the doorway?  And three loud, boisterous, scary older brothers of Lauren's. There was a stone wall that ran along the road in front of their home, and Lauren and Todd (my little brother) and I played "hide from the bad guys" by jumping down and hiding behind it whenever a car drove by. And the dungeon.  This family hosted a Halloween party one year (maybe it was Mardi-Gras?), in the dungeon, which was the perfect setting, at least good enough to scare a four-year-old girl out of her wits. It was dark and damp, and one had to be careful not to fall into the cistern.  I remember so little about those years...maybe I dreamed all this except for the part about my friend, Lauren.

After a couple of years, the other family moved back to the USA, to one of the southern states.  Soon after, we also returned to the US and visited our friends before making our way to the west coast. And then? Almost no contact. All these years.  I think I saw Lauren's high school graduation photo, and I heard she married a Frenchman. She has two boys and soon to be two adopted little girls from China.

Well, once in a great while our moms still exchange a note.  And guess what I just found out?  My old buddy Lauren is an avid HOMESCHOOLER!  I can't help wondering if she is out there in HomeschoolBlogger-Land somewhere...

So Lauren, if you are out there, please leave me a comment and say hello -- "Bonjour" -- I remember that much, but you'd better write the rest in English, lol!  And tell me if I am nuts or what.  Do you remember it like I do??

Dutch Baby (Pannekoeken?)

In a post which I was writing yesterday I mentioned my inability to remember to take meat out of the freezer for supper, as well as other points about my poor memory. (I forgot to post the entry, and it is in my drafts, lol. No, not really, I didn't forget. It is waiting for a photo.) Well, no surprise, last night I had to improvise the evening meal.  DH said he would be happy to eat pancakes, but Emily, who is a very particular eater, voted for Dutch Baby. She does not care for pancakes.  Normally I would not make something special just for her, but last night I relented. This light, over-sized pancake is quite impressive when it comes out of the oven, and the kids love it.   And, it is VERY EASY to do.  Problem is, the size I can make won't feed the whole family. (For us it's a better lunch choice.) So the kids ate Dutch Baby, while Mom and Dad ate pancakes.  You can top this with powdered sugar and lemon juice, pancake syrup, jam, fruit and whipped cream,  hot pie filling, or even stir-fry!  Or serve with sausages and a green salad.

You'll need a large container -- a wide overproof frying pan or roasting pan, even a foil one will do, just so it isn't too deep, not much over three inches. To make the Dutch Baby, place butter in pan (see chart below) and set pan in 425° F oven until the butter is melted and foamy.  Meanwhile, quickly mix the batter.  Put the eggs in the blender and blend on high speed for 60 seconds.  With motor running, gradually add the milk, and then the flour, and blend for 30 more seconds. (Or do it in a bowl with a whisk. Fast!) Carefully remove pan from oven and pour in batter.  Return pan to oven for 20-25 minutes, or until pancake is puffy and well-browned. Serve immediately. For a sweet pancake, dust with nutmeg and serve with topping.  Makes 3-6 servings. Enjoy!

Pan Size	Butter	Eggs	Milk & Flour
2-3 qt	1/4 cup	3	3/4 cup ea
3-4 qt	1/3 cup	4	1 cup ea
4-4 1/2 qt	1/2 cup	5	1 1/4 cups ea
4 1/2 - 5 qt	1/2 cup	6	1 1/2 cups ea

Recipe from Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes II