My Ebenezer

 I'm pretty sure I have  made it abundantly clear  that live plants and I do not get on together. Historically it has not mattered how much effort I put into caring for plants, their outcome is the same: demise. That said, I nonetheless was inspired to purchase some houseplants last summer, and an orchid was among them. I must have been feeling uncharacteristically brave that day. We brought it home laden down with 7 blooms just simply unapologetic in their beauty. It was almost indecent. And within a week of being on my kitchen windowsill, all 7 blooms had gone to their shrivelly graves. The orchid turned gangly and Josh thought about trimming it way back. I thought about tossing it in the trash; after all, this was further evidence of my deplorable lack of gardening skills. Yet for some reason, I kept the orchid. I'd dust the leaves off every so often and place it insistently in the window, turning its good side toward the sun. I watered it doubtfully every so often. Once, it

 In my ladies' Bible study, we are studying the book of Isaiah. Wow is that a great book! I had never before tried to plumb the depths of its richness, especially in the first 39 chapters, which can come across kind of doomy-and-gloomy. But there's so much more to it than that! God pleading with his people to return to Him and make Him their trust again. He wants to be their God, the only One they consult and put their trust in.  And so I have been applying these truths to my own life. How often do I google something before I've prayed about it? Or given an answer before I've prayed about it and consulted God? My anxieties run amok in my mind, and where is God? All of these good reminders to seek His face; to make God my trust and my portion.  I've been setting the alarm for 6am, and when it goes off and my soft, warm bed teases me with promises of one more hour of sleep, I remind myself that I'm getting up to spend time with my Lord! By His enabling alone, I th

 Not much text here, just the before and after on our skylight project, which is now complete! Praise the Lord.

 We are in the process of adding a skylight to our dining room. When we moved in, a skylight in our dark dining room was one of my wishlist items, but it just wasn't practical at the time. Now, 14 years later, it was time to replace the roof, and Josh suggested finally adding that skylight. He didn't have to ask me twice! I do not enjoy having to turn on "artificial" light during the middle of the day, and as we spend quite a bit of our time in the dining room every day, it will be so nice to have natural light! Here is a picture of the "before" and you'll see what I'm talking about. This pic was taken in the middle of a sunny-ish day:  (We leave those string lights up around the fireplace to help it not be so dark and dreary.) I don't have a proper "after" pic yet because this project is stretching out into w e e k s! We still need to sand the skylight one more time before we paint it and can put the furniture back in, so the best I ca

If you are a middle-aged woman (or probably any woman at all) you NEED to read Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories; specifically the one called "Cookies" from Frog and Toad Together and "A Swim" from Frog and Toad Are Friends. I am reminded of the joy of these stories every time I have an emergent reader in the house, which for me has been about every 5 years in recent history. :) The large print, simple words, brilliant illustrations, and uncomplicated plot lines make them must-reads for beginners. Did I mention the human nature cleverly personified by a frog and a toad? The relatability we all feel to poor Toad? Eden brought home Frog and Toad Are Friends as one of her assigned reading books, and I rejoiced when I saw the title. After consulting the Table of Contents, I had her find page 40, "A Swim." Now, it needs to be noted that Eden is a reluctant reader. She's not super confident, does a fair amount of guessing at words, and hasn't l

  Eden rang in the first week of 2024 by succumbing to the flu. She has been in bad shape for 7 days; feeling bad, then better, only to swing into worse, then slightly better again. It's been somewhat of a roller coaster; we even thought she was recovered enough to send her to school the next day, only to have her crash again a few hours later. Some days she eats almost nothing (a few grapes, maybe) and others she's hungry for something, but can't tell me just what. Cheese Quesadillas have come in clutch. :) She's been lying around on a mattress in our dining room (I've found that extroverts, even when sick, "want to be where the people are," to quote Ariel) dozing and looking at books by turns.  If I thought a doctor would tell us something other than "rest, and get plenty of fluids" I'd take her in. Thankfully, the rest of us are fine so far! A friend and I have begun reading "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and we meet

  It's sort of fun that 2024 rhymes with "more." Josh and I have been making up not-real resolutions with phrases like, "Don't lose more in 2024." or "Read more in 2024." Well, I would like to blog more in 2024. To do this, I will have to time block and make it happen. My plan for now is to set aside 45 minutes 2 specific days a week for this purpose. I'm trying to convince myself that it doesn't always need to be really interesting stories or life lessons. I just want to faithfully record the Lord's doings in our family and in my own heart. Maybe sometimes that looks like deep thoughts and carefully chosen words, but I think more often than not it will simply be a record of the week. It may even be boring. *gasp* We have just celebrated Christmas and the New Year. Both were beautiful because we didn't have to go anywhere. We were quietly at home, which is my favorite way to spend a holiday. I took down the Christmas tree the day af