Some forgotten happenings...

... Over the past few weeks several things have been kind of missed -blogging wise- and with our move coming up on us quickly I thought I'd better get going and caught up on things before I forget completely! Hope you enjoy the following. - Grace


Recently one of the 'little' ladies in our church was going to have a birthday, so Faith decided to make her a dress.

Purple with polka dots and white piping was chosen and the project commenced.

Faith has made a dress from this pattern before and even with a few adjustments she whipped it off pretty fast!

Tada! The finished product, matching bloomers and all!

Cruiz looked just lovely in that full skirt dress (I wasn't able to get a picture of her twirling in it) and was very thankful to Faith who did a most excellent job!

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Our house sells, so we start cleaning stuff up and packing. Well that brought us to find a lot of stuff that we did not need and thankfully right around this time also the ever faithful Purple Heart truck was going to be making it's round and "YES" we did have a lot of stuff for them!



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Back in the middle of March Dad had the wonderful opportunity to go with a friend down to the Contending for the Truth conference in Florida. The event was hosted by Ligonier Ministries.


God blessed the whole event and Dad and Mr. Worden came back with pages and pages of notes that they shared with the church.

You can check out more about the conference and what it was all about and even purchase audio copies at www.contendingforthetruth.com

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This poor little guy was yet another victom of our front window. Thankfully though it was not fatal. What a great opportunity from the Lord though, as Faith was able to hold the most adorable Brown Tree Creeper who occasionally visits our yard! Such an amazing creation!



Not quite ready to take off, this little guy laid in Faith's hand until he got his bearings back and flew to one of our backyard trees. The most interesting and unique thing about this small bird is that unlike wood peckers and such, these can only climb up the tree and have to fly back down if they want to get to a lower spot!

Moving Along

Today is the day we must decide. Monday is our closing for the Fox Glen house and we still have not found a new home. God has been teaching us many things these last couple weeks and we continue to seek His will and direction as to where we are supposed to live up north. We covet all your prayers as we narrow it down today with the last few houses we have found. May the Lord give us wisdom and openness to His leading as we seek to give everything up to God and trust Him for our every need. His way is perfect, His truth is sure and His love is every lasting!

Psalm 37:

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22

We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him-- to literally "cast your burden," which He has given you, "on the Lord . . . ." If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, "What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!"

"Cast your burden on the Lord . . . ." You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God's shoulder. ". . . the government will be upon His shoulder" (Isaiah 9:6). Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don't just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden.

Oswald Chambers Devotional

A walk in the Woods

The other day Faith, Joshua, Josiah, Christianna and I(Grace) headed down to the woods behind our public Library for some hiking and to try to see if we could spot some golden crowned kinglets that Faith and Christianna had seen the day before. Unfortunately, we never caught sight of the little birds but we did have an enjoyable time walking the trails and seeing all the new greenery sprouting up everywhere! God's creation is so beautiful in every season!

‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments,
and perform them,
then I will give you rain in its season,
the land shall yield its produce,
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Leviticus 26:3-4

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
before the LORD.
Psalm 96:11-13

Around the base of several trees was springing up a whole 'forest' of young buck hawthorns - the first plant in Spring to show its greenness and the last bit of foliage in Fall to hold onto its leaves!

Saturday Breakfast...Yummm!!

This past Saturday morning's breakfast was just a little different from the usual, though for sure nothing dis-likable, but most delightfully scrumptious and well worth doing again!




Faith was the breakfast cook this time and instead of the usual waffles or pancakes she decided to try something new. First course was a cup of deliciously refreshing orange/grapefruit juice and -of her own creation- 8 of her crystal parfait/cocktail glasses were layered with yogurt- with a light lemon flavor- and fresh sugar dusted strawberries!




The second(and last) course was a delectable dish, the recipe for which was from an old Detroit Times cookbook with a few alterations. It was called Southern Corn Pone - kind of like cornmeal flapjacks, these tasty fried flat cakes were simply mouth-watering accompanied with maple syrup! Yum!!

Thanks Faith for such a refreshing and delightful start to that day!

Signs

An old post of a few random, strange and interesting signs that we have seen.
The original post date was 4/6/07. It has been sitting in drafts for that long. :-)
Most were actually taken on our Sunday drives up to Lapeer before our house sold.

Spring!

Spring is finally starting to show it's full, gloriously beautiful face (or at least until this morning when we woke to a dusting of snow and freezing temperatures! But oh well, we won't get too downcast) as the flowers are springing forth everywhere we turn, sending up stems full of praises to their Creator and filling our hearts with praise to Him as well as we look upon these remarkable and gorgeous creations!

After the crocuses were fully blooming, their 'cousins' the "Glory of the Snow" (Chionodoxa luciliae) showed forth their starry faces, reflecting the rays of sun shining down.

Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1

Chionodoxa Luciliae

Adam

On man, in His own image made,
How much did God bestow!
The whole creation homage paid,
And owned him lord below.

He dwelt in Eden's garden, stored
With sweets for every sense;
And there, with his descending Lord,
He walked in confidence.

But, oh, by sin how quickly changed!
His honor forfeited,
His heart from God and truth estranged,
His conscience filled with dread!

Now from his Maker's voice he flees,
Which was before his joy,
And thinks to hide, amid the trees,
From an all-seeing eye.

Compelled to answer to his name,
With stubbornness and pride,
He cast on God Himself the blame,
Nor once for mercy cried.

But grace, unasked, his heart subdued,
And all his guilt forgave;
By faith the promised Seed he viewed,
And felt His pow'r to save.

Thus we ourselves would justify,
Though we the law transgress;
Like him, unable to deny,
Unwilling to confess.

But when, by faith, the sinner sees
A pardon, bought with blood,
Then he forsakes his foolish pleas,
and gladly turns to God.

John Newton

Our church is studying Genesis and last Sunday's message was on the fall of man. It was rather amazing to find this poem the other day that goes to well with what we were learning. How clearly that passage of scripture shows how man was and is so totally depraved and unworthy of that great sacrifice that Christ gave for us!

The day late Birthday...

A week ago today was Christianna's birthday, but because we were up north all day house hunting, the celebrations got pushed over to Thursday.

At 7:30 pm on March 28th, 1992 Christianna Hope Sauve was born into our family! 15 years have passed in which our lives have been blessed by having this sweet, thoughtful and passionately loving little(except for Josiah) sister around. Her care and concern for others and her love and devotion to her LORD mark the characteristics of this dear young lady and her surety in Christ her Redeemer and Savior.

Our hope wouldn't be sure if it wasn't for Christ who gave His life to pay for our great debt of sin and give us eternal life, and our family wouldn't be the same either without our dear daughter and sister Christianna Hope!

With her basket of flowers cake

One of her most wished for gifts was the March tea cup from Victorian Trading Co.

Faith made her a gorgeous spring dress which is underneath all the other gifts in this picture.

Spring is finally here!

Spring is here and the Crocuses are up!

For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:11-12

A Day of Blessings!

These next few weeks are going to be very busy with house hunting, cleaning and packing so I might not be able to post very often but I just wanted to quickly tell of the blessings we received from the Lord yesterday! (Sorry no pictures)

Charity had a check-up Doctors appointment in the morning and even though the bill for such a small visit was ridiculous, thank the Lord she is noticeably improving and regaining her strength!

In the early afternoon us ladies enjoyed some great fellowship with a dear friend and her daughter (and other relatives) in a lovely "Tea party" atmosphere as we shared with each other the different handcrafts we are working on.

At 4:00 I (Grace) had my final wisdom tooth removed and much to my relief it was able to be pulled instead of extracted surgically and the result is a much less painful jaw then the previous times and Praise God! it has not swelled very much and eating is permissible! Also, the biggest blessing of all is that because I don't have insurance the surgeon gave us a discount and charged us quite a bit less than the original 'Tooth Extraction' cost!!


So even though these things may seem small, we are greatly thankful to God for these blessings He bestowed upon us yesterday and praise His glorious name for His mercies and grace!

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Faith and I saw this interesting sight the other day and I just had to get a picture of it! It reminded us of this likewise interesting (and strange) poem that was in a book we used to have. - Grace

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore!
Psalm 113:2

Yes folks, our house has finally sold!


After 3 long years of waiting and praying for the Lord's will to be done, He has finally granted our prayers and lead some people to offer to buy our house. Most likely by mid-late April we will be moving up to the Lapeer area and to where God has lead us to minister and start a church.
Though we feel the Lord guiding us up North, we are sure going to miss a lot of people down here - all our dear friends who have blessed our lives, encouraged our hearts and been praying for us as we travel this road God has planned for us. May our Lord and King bless you all greatly!

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The Beautiful Spring Day at Elizabeth Park

On that gorgeous day last week when the weather was high 60s and we just couldn't stay inside any more, the majority of our family headed over to one of our most favorite spots - Elizabeth Park. Though the condition of the earth was not conducive to walking the enjoyed trails, we still had a wonderful time walking, jogging and of course taking pictures around the peninsula overlooking the Detroit river!

Cool dude Babe ready for a ride to the park!


Brothers checking out the river.

He[God] sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
O LORD, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—
Psalm 104:10-14 and 24
















Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98:5-9

A Visit to Simple Times Farm

Our dear friends, the Klatys have recently purchased a milk goat business and have also started selling other things including our homemade bread under their home business title of Simple Times Farm. A few Sundays ago because they could not make it to church we decided to pay them a visit, to deliver the bread and see the newest arrivals to their herd as almost all the does they had purchased were expecting this time of year. Check our their family Blog for more pictures and information about their farm.

Mrs. Klaty holding one of the largest kids, just born that morning!





Josiah greatly enjoyed holding the kids and received many kisses.






John and Spence chatting with the cat.


Chicken fun!

Lovable!

Sorry!.... Charity Update

I apologize for not getting this on sooner! The days seem to have passed by so quickly and with the so long neglected "other happenings of family life" needing to be posted, I kind of forgot to let everyone know about the latest results to Charity's doctor visits and outcome of the past month's trial.
With hearts full of thanksgiving and praise to our Lord, we rejoice to tell you that Charity is doing so much better as a week ago today she was taken off the antibiotics and released from those continuous fevers, sleepless nights and the swelling in her legs has completely gone down! With slow but noticeable improvement, everyday she is regaining her strength and as we pray, will continue to improve and once again be able to be a part of our family and church on Sundays.

Again, we cannot thank you all enough for your support of encouragement and prayers for us from the beginning of this journey on February 10th to now.

Our God is great and worthy to be praised and our ultimate prayer is that His glory was declared through this trial in our lives and that if in His will, some would be opened to the truth and turn to their Maker!

“ Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.

Now therefore, our God,
We thank You
And praise Your glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:10-14