Simply Days

Daily Devotion 190

{ Posted by Sister Lori }
{ 01:03, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

July 8

 

Habits

 

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Romans 12:9b

 

We are creatures of habit. Good habits have to be developed, while bad habits form without effort and are not easily broken. There are simple habits like good personal hygiene, such as brushing your teeth and washing your hands. Other habits, such as regular church attendance, daily devotions, and continuous heartfelt worship, praise, and

Prayer, contribute to our spiritual well-being. Loving responses, deeds of kindness, and edifying speech are godly habits characteristic of the Spirit-filled life.

 

We may not be enslaved to sinful habits like smoking, drinking intoxicating beverages, or using illicit drugs, but what about habits like evil speaking, bitterness, unforgiving attitudes, wrong thoughts, or gluttony? Such habits are also wrong and displeasing to God.

 

Do you find yourself struggling with a habit that may be causing you spiritual defeat? Praise God, there is victory and freedom in Christ through His shed blood. Here are some suggestions that may help you gain the spiritual victory God desires.

 

1. Truly repent of and confess all known sin.

 

2. Confide in someone you can trust, and make yourself accountable to that person until you are free.

 

3. Be honest and open with others about your temptations and struggles. We need the prayers and encouragement of fellow saints. We need each other in our pilgrimage to heaven.

 

4. Do not neglect your devotional life. Spend time daily with God and His Word. Fasting is a helpful practice, along with earnest prayer.

 

5. Claim the promises of God’s Word.

 

6. Put on the whole armor of God. “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”

 

We are in a spiritual warfare. God has made every provision for our victory if we do our part by meeting the conditions of His Word. Through the power of Jesus, we can be “more than conquerors.”

 

Mark Kropf, Cataldo, ID

 

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever.

—Eugene M. Bartlett, 1939

 

Bible Reading: Romans 6

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

Acts 15:1–21

Job 38, 39

 

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA  22803

Phone:  877-488-0901

E-Mail:  [cs@vision-publishers.com]

 

 

 



Blog Name Change

{ Posted by Mrs. Joseph Wood }
{ 10:48, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 3 comments } { Link }
Hello Friends!
The Wood family has a new blog name as you might have noticed. Since we were no longer on property we thought AB-Ranch wasn't an accurate description of where we were at the moment. After much discussion the children came up with this name, "Bought with a price." as a reminder to us that no matter where this journey in life takes us we should remember that we have been bought with a price we are not our own. It is our desire to live each day for His purpose not our own! The children came up with other names and voted on them. The winner, Elisha, gets to make cookies with mommy tomorrow and since Sammy was his helper... Sammy gets to pick which cookies we make! It was fun coming up with a blog name that represents the entire family. We will continue sharing our lives with you and the good work the Father continues to do in our lives. We hope you all know how much you mean to the Wood family. We consider your friendship priceless! If any of you should ever find yourself in Kansas know that we will always have room for you!

Oh, and something that my Joe mentioned the other day.... we use to live in the exact center of CA. Now we live in the center of the United States! Fun!!!

On behalf of the entire Wood family....
Mrs. Joseph Wood

Fire Cleaning has begun...

{ Posted by ~Melissa }
{ 9:22 PM, July 8, 2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Today the cleaners arrived.  And Oh, my!  They set out their plan and we either agreed or didn't agree. And for the most part, I think we got on the same page. 

We did agree to wash the kitchen items inside the cupboards, which we had originally asked them... they said they figured 12 hours to clean the contents and today Dh and I spent nearly 15 hours (our hours together) cleaning and only got the upper cupboards done inside.  I have twice as many lower cupboards, so I am like... 12 HOURS??? what were they thinking??? 

Today they got the upstairs walls and ceilings done and they cleaned a few things that was nice to see... they cleaned off the girls' bathroom sink and the toilet and really the entire bathroom... it just sparkles.  The girls' rooms don't really look all that different... they basically cleaned walls and worked around the mess that the girls had left... I don't think they did the upstairs screens however... and I will maybe ask them to do that... as I got soot on the back of my hand checking...(Will I be brave enough to ask???  LOL).  They did wash the downstairs screens which was SOOO nice!  The big deal about the  screens is that for several days, my daughter Chelsea, 16yo, would come up with soot smeared on her face and we couldn't figure out where she got it... well she loves to look out windows and see as much as she can see and often she hits her nose on the screen... and so the nose smudge began and continued until just the day before she left for camp.  We figured it out that she was too "nosey" about what was going on outside.

Anyways, upstairs I wasn't super impressed... There are two rooms done real nice and two rooms done OK.  The one gal was very particular about her cleaning and she did the two nice rooms.  One was just learning and was working with the man who was the boss of the project, I guess you call him??  He says he likes cleaning walls and ceilings, but isn't interested in the details... and it kinda showed.  Not that it was horrible, it just didn't sparkle like the other two rooms.  And the one room my girls bunk bed in... that room just didn't shine... I offered to move stuff, but they just cleaned around it... so as soon as I pick up the stuff off the dresser, I'll have to clean it again... that kinda clean.  Why clean???   Oh well.  At least the ceiling is done... I hate doing ceilings!  

Downstairs they had a guy working solo in our front room... absolutely love that guy!  And he's not coming back!!!  He has other work to do the rest of the week... but he was so thorough and that room really shines as well.  I still have to clean inside the cupboards and clean the stuff ON the cupboards, but the doors and walls and everything shines!  He knows his stuff!  One thing we learned is this cleaner just sucks the life out of the wood and he says you have to follow it with murphy's soap to add some oil back into the wood to give it shine.  I would have to say that wasn't done upstairs on our railing as it is rather dull... but downstairs, our pantry doors just glow... love it!  

Here's the plan for the rest of the week as far as the cleaners go... Wednesday, they will finish the kitchen (walls, ceilings), dining room (walls, ceilings) and the master bedroom (walls and ceilings).  Thursday they will clean the carpets and the floors... which he said they'd clean the wood floors, but I'm guessing they are going to leave that to me, because we have so many items that need to be inside because of the outside dog... that he suggested moving those items to our dining room and kitchen area... well, we are moving the stuff and moving it back... so they aren't going to be able to clean under them... so that's another thing added to my to-do list.  

Thursday when they clean the carpet, they do not want us in the house at all... especially with Paige... as she will run on the wet carpet, get it dirty and it would just be best if we weren't in the house... he even suggested we sleep in the camper on Thursday night... too bad that is plum packed FULL of blankets and laundry that I have been doing for the last week!   Maybe I can find one of the beds... what an ordeal!  So after 3 days they will be gone!  GONE.  

That will leave me with alot of work!  I figured the kitchen will take me two more days, even with some help!  The entry room is like the kitchen as far as cupboard cleaning... so say 2-3 days in there.  The dining room... not so bad, maybe a day, the bathroom... likely a day, the living room... a day (want to polish that wood so it isn't dried out... and I think the piano is my job... they won't touch it... not sure how you clean soot out of a piano!).  My bedroom... likely two days.  Upstairs... 1-2 days in bedroom 1, 1 day in bedroom 2, 1day in bedroom 3.  Bathroom2 - 1/2 day.  And the storage areas they are not touching at all... and that will take me at least a week.  That's nearly 3 weeks of straight cleaning YET to be done!  I think we will make the deductible!  I will not be able to do much cleaning the next two days the cleaners are here... being banned from the house one day... and banned from downstairs tomorrow.   My girls also thought they might miss out on cleaning being at camp... well they didn't miss out on much!  LOL.  Perhaps with their help it can go a bit faster... I hope so!   

I am beginning to wonder about how the fire is helping me to get my house cleaned in one big swoop... because it isn't going to be one big swoop!  I will be cleaning the house until we are ready to start back up with school... no summer break for this MOM!  I am still plodding on... the house is getting decluttered.  I have one van full of items ready to go to the church garage sale.   I'm sure I will have more as I enter more rooms;  I've only gone through just the laundry room and part of the kitchen!   And the big storage area upstairs... which is the area I NEED to declutter... they aren't going to even try to clean... they even suggested I move everything into that area... now wouldn't that just make the area worse again???  CRAZY! 

Well, I better go work for another hour or so.  I hope to clean off the kitchen counters and the dining room furniture so that they can move items around and clean.  Tomorrow morning I will be emptying bookshelves to my bed so they can clean our bedroom.  I then will head upstairs to likely Paige's room to "finish the cleaning", doing the detail work.  I'm so tired and so very sore! 

Now... you know your house is big when the cleaners joke about hating to break into our house because it is so big and there are so many rooms... even a burglar would get lost!  One said that after a lady got lost trying to figure out where to go and she says... there's too many rooms in here!   Dh liked the comment... he loves his big house.

Warmly, ~Melissa

 

  



Gage Park

{ Posted by Mrs. Joseph Wood }
{ 08:05, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 2 comments } { Link }
The Wood family is doing well! I have posted photos above of our trip to the park today. It started to rain and we thought we might have to turn around and go home however, we decided to pray that the Lord would hold off the rain till we were done with our trip. And guess what?!?  THE LORD DID JUST THAT! The Lord held off the rain until we got in the car and started out of the park... at that time the rain started coming down in buckets and lasted for hours. The children cheered and thanked the Lord with HUGE smiles! They witnessed the Lord answers prayer! I love moments like this when He builds their faith and let's them know He is listening and cares... even about trips to the park!

Funny moment of the day: Elisha and Timothy were talking about the Ark of the Covenant and its contents. When Timothy informed Elisha that the reason why God had the 10 commandments put in the Ark of the Covenant was because He didn't want Moses to break them again! LOL!!!!!!! Funny how children think of things isn't it?

Have a wonderful week dear friends!
Mrs. Joseph Wood

Long long gaps!

{ Posted by ChestnutsMama }
{ 04:57, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

Oh dear Ikeep making resolutions to keep up with this and then I don't!

Let me see, what's been going on. Well, we are nearly done with school. Our garden is very overgrown, and we could do with spending more time out there. We are nearly done with girlguides, we have a sleepover, the village fete, and a party and then it's summer!

We had a visit from my friend Ali, and it was lovely to see her, and for her daughter to get to ride with ours, we look forward to having them back again soon.

And I am struggling with a lot of issues, which I will not go into here, but suffice it to say, anyone who feels like praying for me, I would be grateful!

oh yes and our sheep were sheared! I have photos, but photobucket is playing up, so I'll upload them another time.

 



What a weekend!

{ Posted by Amy W }
{ 2:12 PM, 2008-Jul-8 } { 1 comments } { Link }

We had the most lovely 4th of July Weekend. God blessed us with incredible beautiful weather on Friday- mid-70’s and sunny. Simply gorgeous. We enjoyed a wonderful laid back day of visiting with friends and family, playing games and eating.



My sister made 2 different versions of her deluxe deviled eggs- bacon and chives. Oh yum- 2.5 doz. just wasn’t enough for this crowd- the delectables were gobbled up in no time. My sister-in-law’s famous potato rolls, green bean casserole, potato salad, crunchy salad, Jell-o salads, Coca Cola cake, homemade ice cream, fruit pizza, fruit kabobs, homemade port-a-pit chicken, hot dogs, sausage, hamburgers, chips and cheese and on and on and on.
We spent the entire day outside with our friends and family. We visited and played games and took walks and visited some more. We capped off the evening by trekking a few blocks to an open field to watch our little town’s fireworks show. We didn’t climb into bed until almost midnight and I believe we all went to sleep with dirty feet . . . . but oh the fun and the memories.


Saturday morning had us waking up leisurely with the kidlets and some cousins camped out on the living room floor. The extra little hands were helpful in tearing down the canopy and putting the backyard to rights.
The kids and I then spent the afternoon with my brother’s wife and their 2 kids while he and Mr. Steady worked on painting the trim and such at my parent’s home (ladder work and not for the faint of heart).
We had naps.
We ate leftovers and set off more fireworks.
We soaked our dirty feet.
A good time was had by all.

Photos: 1st- Mr. Steady manning the grill, 2nd- The food spread, 3rd- fun & games

Oh the eating.
Mr. Steady fashioned me a table out of 2x4s nailed to wooden sawhorses and I’m so glad he did- his homemade table was extra long and we needed it for all that food! So much food! Oh the yumminess.

Homeschool Mission Statement

{ Posted by Amy W }
{ 1:50 PM, 2008-Jul-8 } { 0 comments } { Link }
 

Now that I have a name for my homeschool I would like to write a homeschool mission statement.
I am very interested in knowing if other homeschoolers have written their own statements . . . .
What does your mission statement say?
What did you think was important to include in your mission statement?
I’d love it if others would share their mission statements with me in my comments or leave a link to your statement in my comments.
I’ve got some notes but it’s mostly a work in progress.



Finally online again and a jewelry question

{ Posted by Rashel }
{ 01:30, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }

I am finally back.  My modem got fixed sometime last week but I have just been too busy to get online much.  Last week my dd 5 had to be admitted to the hospital for dehydration after some kind of infection caused high fever and vomiting.  She only had to stay one night and she did wonderfully!  She is fine now and back to normal.  The day after she got out was my ds9 birthday, then the fourth and then his party.  So, I have been a little busy. 

 

I do have a question for you ladies.  I took my wedding ring in to have the prongs replaced that hold my large stone, I ended up getting a whole new head because of how many prongs needed replaced.  And to make a very long story short, they completed messed up my ring.  It now is now a round circle, it has a dent on the wide band, a chip on the wide band, the head is set crooked and they somehow messed up my band that contains little diamonds.  I did complain at the store and got half of my money back, but I am going to complain to the main company too. Have any of you ever had something like this happen?  If so, what did you do?  I am just really upset about the whole thing.  Yes, it is just a ring but it is my wedding ring and it is in terrible shape now because of what they did.  I am telling everyone around here not to go to that store and I will NEVER go there again to have any work done or buy anything.  Just wondered if you had any suggestions for me.

Thanks and I will be back to regular posting soon I hope.

Blessings,

Rashel

 

PS - thank you to those that left me a comment and said you were missing me



Tuesday's Thoughts

{ Posted by Kitty }
{ 11:09 AM, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 1 comments } { Link }
Well hospice is officially coming. The little aide came yesterday morning just as Kristy and I were about to bathe mom and quickly took over the process. I have to say, Kristy and I do a much better job.  Mom's hair was not washed, she didn't offer any oral hygiene, didn't clean her nails, or even turn her over and wash her back. And yes, I stood there and watched this go on, cuz thats the  type of person I am, never opening my mouth when I should. My dd and I kinda just stood there and took it all in.  I waited to see what she (the aide) was going to do next. Well what she did next was, left. LOL She also promised to bring back several supplies for us diapers, wipes, antibiotic cream and tecaderm bandages, none of which I have seen yet. I believe her words were, "I'll drop these things off to you before lunch". I should have asked her what day's lunch was she talking about, lol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fig trees are producing a great deal of figs right now. We are picking them by the gallon buckets full each day. My tree is doing so-so because it was damaged last year by some heavy equipment digging out the ditches, but my sil's tree is full to the brim. I have never seen so many figs. I made preserves over the weekend. The only thing wrong with that, is that I'm the only one who eats it, and that is not a good thing, cuz I EAT it! Ummmm so good, on toast! Now I'm hungry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm still working in the yard getting it together. I did something that I never thought I would ever do yesterday. I will take a picture of it later today and show you all. My daughter says it's so 1960's. How would she know, she is only 25? LOL Speaking of Kristy, she is on a job interview as I type. Last week when my dh and I went to the doctors, I ask the little nurse if they were hiring. As luck would have it, they were in need of two people. So I picked up an application for my daughter and she was called in for an interview. I pray she gets it, she is wanting a job so bad. I will lose my helper of course, but that is probably why God has sent me hospice. See, it all works out! Have a blessed day.


Another chick!

{ Posted by Sister Lori }
{ 02:04, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 } { 0 comments } { Link }

Blessings!

   Well, Delta hatched out another chick!:P Silly duck:)

   This one isn't doing well at all and we aren't sure it will make it. As a matter of fact I don't know why it's still alive! It looks like the egg was opened prematurely. Perhaps Delta broke it open and tried to help? Ducks will help their babies by helping to finish opening the egg for them. Since she doesn't know the difference between her eggs and the chickens eggs, it's possible she was being helpful when this one was just beginning.
   This was at around 3pm. It's 11pm now and it's still not standing, eyes aren't open but...it has started scooting itself around the box, cheeping more often and loudly and when we hold it's head to the water it drinks. Only God is keeping this little one alive. I'm not sure what we are supposed to learn with this little trial but we prayed tonight and thanked Him for blessing us with this lesson:)
   We expect that it won't make it through the night but then we didn't think it would live THIS long so whatever the Lords will is in this we are ready to welcome it:)
   Okay, I'm being called to help out with Mary-Ann...oh, did I say that she broke her hand? But that's another post:P She's fine, but she needs help getting her pj's buttoned:)
God be with thee!
Sister Lori


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