Worship Notes In the Morning

"Even though the journey's long,and I know the road is hard.Well the one who's gone before me,He will help me carry on.And after all that I've been through,now I realize the truth that I must go through the valleyto stand upon the Mountain of God." Mountain of God, Brown Bannister,Mac Powell
This song was sweet to me this morning ,hope it's inspiring to someone else out there also.

Lee goes to an early morning prayer time on Mondays and he just called to tell me Psalm 25 spoke to him especially .

So these are some spiritual morsels I share with you today....

On a different note, moving is surprisingly jarring-we seem to be having a hard time tearing ourselves away from our old house. It seems like it takes a bit of courage to step out for the first time in so long, and have our own place again, here in the USA. Actually, we've never had a long term home of our own in the States during the span of our marriage. So,yes,it's a small move,but a big step!

Well,I have many tasks calling my name so here I go!
Celebrate His Love!
Marcella

Peeking Out....

Well,Pilgrim Mama remains devoted to keeping the content on this site fairly interesting,so therefore Pilgrim Mama excuses herself from posting,saying that she does not feel like composing an interesting post and besides she feels like babies with fevers and puking and the "runs" and the ensuing days days of lost time and energy are not of great interest.

Neither are the ticket receipt she lost for a family member(not the Pilgrim Papa,lest he see this and worry!) or the details of getting a lease to go through.Of course these are somewhat lame excuses because of course noteworthy things happened in between all these events and so on and so forth but of course to start telling about that would illuminate the possibility that the Pilgrim Mama may be a tad bit lazy?

Soooooo, she therefore waves at you from behind the stacks of things and packing boxes and offers a tidbit: The lease did go through and she will show you pictures of the happy abode as soon as decently possible.

Well,it's official. After almost a year and a half of living in with family,ever since we returned from Latin America,we have finally gotten our own place! This time of sharing space,literally and figuratively,has definitely been a real growing experience for me. God used it to show me areas of weakness that were in need of change. He used it to teach me new things and mature me. He taught me that it's not all about me,but about Him and walking obediently in whatever assignments He gives me,even when I don't understand why. He taught me that He's willing to give me tough love when it's necessary for my growth as His daughter. And in the end,even I can see and reap the benefits! Thank-you,Abba Father, for loving me enough to march me through the not so easy tasks! All glory goes to you!

So I leave you to try to puzzle through my packing.When it gets too overwhelming I eat a pop tart or candy and lie down for a nap. All in the hopes that it might help me to think better.... I know. Oh,wait! I forgot something!

http://acowboyswife.com/2009/01/16/finding-faith-believing-and-reaching-out/ is a testimony of how God starts giving glimpses of Himself to the people He creates.

http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/ is where you can get some great menu planning tutoring if you missed out on it with your maternal family members. It feels like a Mom,sitting down and helping you out,it does. A compliment to Meredith from http://www.likemerchantships.blogspot.com/ for leading the way to this page.

And with that I close,wishing you all a good day! Celebrate His Love!

Marcella

A Bit of Sun on a Cold,Cold Day

A Hunting Scene--photos by Jess

It's very cold for our part of the Valley-2 degrees was the projected low on our weather forecast. 2 degrees,people!!!

I entered the Usborne book giveaway over on Crafty Crow and you can too! Here's a link-http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/ . But hurry,the giveaway's almost over!

Celebrate His Love,

Marcella

A Winter List of stuff to Do At Home....

Read for fun....

Carefully make up a birthday basket for a young friend's birthday......

Climb trees.......

learn to spell,somewhat phonetically,but still.....

do puzzles late at night when Mama and Daddy are already in bed...

make signs for Mama,

put chocolate chip cookies in the mismatched sock bin,

eat cookies on mom's bed,

read staaaaaaaaaaacks of Boxcar Children books,

practice walking,

test the no standing in the highchair rule,

smile!

See! Winter is not dull! Enjoy your winter day,friends!

Marcella

Fireproof

Yah. We watched it at a local worship center's free showing. One thing I'll say without having had a lot of time to process it is that it's totally amazing this made it into mainstream theaters.

One of the best points of the movie in my book was that love and marriage aren't just about warm fuzzies and "feelings". True love serves and loves their partner even in the rough times when mere feelings are nonexistent.True love goes way beyond romantic feelings. It's deep.It's commited. Jesus changes us into truly good lovers,giving us servant hearts to even our spouses.

Sometimes it seems to me we hold our spouses to higher standards than anyone else in the world.For various reasons. And only spouses have quite the power to wound one another deeply,knowing each other better than any other person on earth. Oh,to have the wounds few and Love in abundance!

Well,I'm practically falling asleep at the keyboard and there's homemade bread to place in bags,a bit of laundry to fold,a feverish baby to check on and little boys who want Mama to snuggle please. On a happy homeschooling note I have two young men who truly started sounding out and spelling words for fun today! Yay and double Yay! There are no formal spelling lessons going on either.Maybe some of this "rich enviroment" stuff is paying off???

And for the knitters-I have a knitting help site up on my sidebar.Take a peek,novices especially!

Celebrate His Love!

Marcella

Decoupaged Suitcase and Book piles

The book piles have kept us occupied these winter days. How we enjoy all our local,used book sources.One little shop has piles of books for ten cents a piece. Now that's affordable! A copy of Stone Fox for a dime? I'll take it. Of course some of our purchases don't make the cut-they make the trash bin.What you see are the keepers. That's ok,for a dime I'll take my chances.

The vintage suitcase in the background was found in the back of a thrift shop and decoupaged by yours truly. This is my 6 and 7 year old sons' Go Box. It has things like mini pens,crayons,colored pencils,paper,probably some little cars,basically anything we want to keep there so we can have a bag to throw in the car and go! The Go Box accompanied us to Texas recently and was a very nifty thing indeed. A shout out to Blue Yonder http://www.blueyonder.typepad.com for the great idea
http://blueyonder.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/well-take-that-to-go.html and Meg for the decoupage inspiration.You'll find Meg linked at Blue Yonder with much more inventive ideas than mine!

http://www.homeschoolboutique.com/ has a very interesting maternity t-shirt-why am I looking at these right now anyway? But....I think this will be in my wardrobe next time around!

We have been busy on many fronts. Lee is happy I'm so much on the same page with being organized and having systems.Tis becoming a way of life. Which ,as I type ,I realize is God's faithful answer to prayer. For this I prayed,because with my own strength I was struggling so much in this area. And when I am organized I am a more patient Mama,more attentive,Ready. Calmer to meet the Important things in my children's lives. A better example. More Diligent.

While organization is a good thing it can become a bit,er, obsessive. Ahem. Seeking the balance.

And with this I leave you,good friends. Off to do the weekly shopping with four littles in tow. Highly interesting,let me tell you.Bye!

Celebrate His Love,

Marcella

Welcome 2009!

2009,We are ready to meet you,with the comforting hand of the Savior in ours. Wishing everyone a year of God's blessings.
Marcella