Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Who was St. Patrick anyway? Many people celebrate what we call St. Patricks’ day on March 17th, and most of them don’t even really realize who “ St. Patrick” was. I know that he would not be pleased to see that many people use this day as an excuse to have parties and drink. Many Christians now know the truth about who Patrick really was, but I thought it would be fun to have a little bio about him on “his” holiday. So here’s how it went:
Patrick was born in Britain in the 4th century A.D. At this time there was great uncertainty for the Roman empire. This being the case, the Roman legions that had protected civilized Britain from invaders, now had to leave to defend themselves in other parts of the Roman empires. This left Britain wide open for attacks. The Irish pirates new this well. One day just before dawn the pirates attacked and took many people captive to be sold as slaves back in Ireland. One of those captured that day was Patrick. At the time He was about 16 years old.
Now in Ireland, Patrick was sold to miliuc of Slemich, a druid tribal chieftain. Here Patrick was given the task of a shepherd.
Though Patricks’ father was a church deacon and he was raised in a Christian home, he had never made a commitment to serve the Lord, until after he had become a slave. He said, he would pray all the time right through the day while he tended the sheep. He would always tell his fellow slaves about the Lord, which soon earned him the title “Holy Boy.”
One night Patrick had a dream in which he heard a voice saying to him “You are right to fast, soon you will be returning to your own country.” The voice of God? Most assuredly! He then had another dream in which he received a response to his first dream, where he was told “Come and see where your ship is waiting for you.”
When he was 22, Patrick escaped and traveled 200 miles to the coast of Ireland. In speaking of his long journey across Ireland he said “I turned on my heel and ran away, leaving behind the man to whom I had been bound for six years. Yet I came away from him in the power of God, for it was He who was guiding my every step for the best. And so I felt not the least anxiety until I reached the ship.” When he asked one of the men from the ship if he could be a passenger the man was upset and turned him away. As Patrick turned to leave though the man called him back and said the other men wanted him to come along on the journey.
The trip was long and included a stop on land for 28 days. When on land they ran out of food, this made the captain challenge Patrick pray to his God for food. Patrick was glad to take up the challenge and said “turn trustingly to the Lord who is my God and put your faith in Him with all your heart, because nothing is impossible to Him. On this day, He will send us food sufficient for our journey, because for him there is abundance everywhere.” after this when the men turned around, a herd of pigs was standing right in front of them, which they ate for days.
Two years later he made it home to his family who begged him to never leave again, and it seemed as if this would be the case, but one night Patrick had another dream. In his dream he seemed to hear the voice of the same men he had worked with calling him to come back. In spite of the great opposition he received from family and church leaders(who thought the druids weren’t even worth saving) Patrick decided he must go back and take the gospel to those barbaric people.
The druids were always a challenge to Patrick, as he spread the gospel across Ireland. he also taught people to read and write. The druids tried to poison him and often ambushed him at his evangelistic events. It would take much time to cover the many ways he was persecuted by the druids and others who opposed him. Including the betrayal of a close friend.
Patrick preached Christ throughout Ireland until his death on March 17th around the year 461 A.D.
So it is not leprechauns and good luck that were behind this mans life but commitment to Gods calling on his life. I have just barely scratched the surface of Patricks’ life. I encourage you to study his incredible journey.
So we don’t have to throw this holiday away, but we can celebrate the life of the man that was so beloved by the Irish people, and learn from it courage, self-denial, obedience to God and a willingness to give up all for the Lords cause. May we emulate these great character qualities for our Lord and Saviors glory! May we also remember that even though we may not travel to far distant shores, if we don’t run from cannibals in the jungle or suffer from a lack of water in the heart of the dessert to spread the gospel we are all missionaries every day. Every time we step out our doors we are faced with a world that is watching every move we make- good or bad. What are we giving them? When they look at us and judge us by our actions, words, and looks they are judging Him. The world does not understand that we are failable humans and He’s the God of the universe. We do and will make mistakes but may we check ourselves, and examine ourselves so we are not found wanting and that the world may see Him in us. May we let Him totally consume our hearts, minds, and bodies, that we can show the world that He makes a difference in our lives. May our lives shout out from the housetops- JESUS SAVES!!! I like how one song puts it that “No matter where you work or what you do from day to day every child of God is called to witness on the way” how true that is. That’s our job. That’s our calling.
So lets go! There’s a race to be run and a crown to be won. PRESS ON!!!
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Jey
Patrick was born in Britain in the 4th century A.D. At this time there was great uncertainty for the Roman empire. This being the case, the Roman legions that had protected civilized Britain from invaders, now had to leave to defend themselves in other parts of the Roman empires. This left Britain wide open for attacks. The Irish pirates new this well. One day just before dawn the pirates attacked and took many people captive to be sold as slaves back in Ireland. One of those captured that day was Patrick. At the time He was about 16 years old.
Now in Ireland, Patrick was sold to miliuc of Slemich, a druid tribal chieftain. Here Patrick was given the task of a shepherd.
Though Patricks’ father was a church deacon and he was raised in a Christian home, he had never made a commitment to serve the Lord, until after he had become a slave. He said, he would pray all the time right through the day while he tended the sheep. He would always tell his fellow slaves about the Lord, which soon earned him the title “Holy Boy.”
One night Patrick had a dream in which he heard a voice saying to him “You are right to fast, soon you will be returning to your own country.” The voice of God? Most assuredly! He then had another dream in which he received a response to his first dream, where he was told “Come and see where your ship is waiting for you.”
When he was 22, Patrick escaped and traveled 200 miles to the coast of Ireland. In speaking of his long journey across Ireland he said “I turned on my heel and ran away, leaving behind the man to whom I had been bound for six years. Yet I came away from him in the power of God, for it was He who was guiding my every step for the best. And so I felt not the least anxiety until I reached the ship.” When he asked one of the men from the ship if he could be a passenger the man was upset and turned him away. As Patrick turned to leave though the man called him back and said the other men wanted him to come along on the journey.
The trip was long and included a stop on land for 28 days. When on land they ran out of food, this made the captain challenge Patrick pray to his God for food. Patrick was glad to take up the challenge and said “turn trustingly to the Lord who is my God and put your faith in Him with all your heart, because nothing is impossible to Him. On this day, He will send us food sufficient for our journey, because for him there is abundance everywhere.” after this when the men turned around, a herd of pigs was standing right in front of them, which they ate for days.
Two years later he made it home to his family who begged him to never leave again, and it seemed as if this would be the case, but one night Patrick had another dream. In his dream he seemed to hear the voice of the same men he had worked with calling him to come back. In spite of the great opposition he received from family and church leaders(who thought the druids weren’t even worth saving) Patrick decided he must go back and take the gospel to those barbaric people.
The druids were always a challenge to Patrick, as he spread the gospel across Ireland. he also taught people to read and write. The druids tried to poison him and often ambushed him at his evangelistic events. It would take much time to cover the many ways he was persecuted by the druids and others who opposed him. Including the betrayal of a close friend.
Patrick preached Christ throughout Ireland until his death on March 17th around the year 461 A.D.
So it is not leprechauns and good luck that were behind this mans life but commitment to Gods calling on his life. I have just barely scratched the surface of Patricks’ life. I encourage you to study his incredible journey.
So we don’t have to throw this holiday away, but we can celebrate the life of the man that was so beloved by the Irish people, and learn from it courage, self-denial, obedience to God and a willingness to give up all for the Lords cause. May we emulate these great character qualities for our Lord and Saviors glory! May we also remember that even though we may not travel to far distant shores, if we don’t run from cannibals in the jungle or suffer from a lack of water in the heart of the dessert to spread the gospel we are all missionaries every day. Every time we step out our doors we are faced with a world that is watching every move we make- good or bad. What are we giving them? When they look at us and judge us by our actions, words, and looks they are judging Him. The world does not understand that we are failable humans and He’s the God of the universe. We do and will make mistakes but may we check ourselves, and examine ourselves so we are not found wanting and that the world may see Him in us. May we let Him totally consume our hearts, minds, and bodies, that we can show the world that He makes a difference in our lives. May our lives shout out from the housetops- JESUS SAVES!!! I like how one song puts it that “No matter where you work or what you do from day to day every child of God is called to witness on the way” how true that is. That’s our job. That’s our calling.
So lets go! There’s a race to be run and a crown to be won. PRESS ON!!!
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Jey
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Projects
Basic Flacky Pie Crust:
Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup shortening, chilled
* 3 tablespoons ice water
Directions:
Whisk flour and salt together in medium bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss with fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together. Gather dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.Press dough into a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.
(Note: Jess modified the recipe a little to give it more of a sugar cookie taste.
Add 1/2 cup sugar and subsitute butter for shortening)
Apple Pie Filling
Topping:
1 cups flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tbsp cup butter (melted)
1/4 cup oats
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/4 cups water
3 cups diced, peeled apples
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine the topping ingredients, set aside. For filling combine sugar,cornstarch and water in saucepan until smooth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for one minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in apples and vanilla, pour into crust; sprinkle topping on top. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
This is a nice treat to end the cold winter with. Enjoy
all God's beautiful colors are so inspiring!!!
She loves making these, the baby fabrics are
so cute.
Another gift Jess made for her great Aunt for Christmas.
The pictures not very good but you can get an idea of what
it looked like. It is wonderful to be able to serve the Lord with
the gifts He given us.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Hello Spring
Good-Bye Winter!!!!!!
Hello Spring!!!! I know it's not exactly a Spring flower but we don't have any pictures of Spring flowers. We will have to get some this year.
Spring is such an exciting time of year a time of new life all around us. Flowers blooming, grass growing, trees budding, animals being born. I love driving around in the country at Springtime looking at God's creation coming alive! Watching the foals and calves stumble around on their wobbly legs, seeing the bright colors of all the flowers and smelling the crisp fresh air again after a long cold winter.
We so often let life go by so fast we forget the blessing God gave us of "His Creation." We must stop and take time to look around and be amazed at His wonder and glory.
Slow down, don't ignore what the Lord has given you to enjoy. Look at all the new life He sends and then remember the new life you can have through Him or the new life you already have. A new life to trust and obey Him. May He receive the glory He alone deserves.
We so often let life go by so fast we forget the blessing God gave us of "His Creation." We must stop and take time to look around and be amazed at His wonder and glory.
Slow down, don't ignore what the Lord has given you to enjoy. Look at all the new life He sends and then remember the new life you can have through Him or the new life you already have. A new life to trust and obey Him. May He receive the glory He alone deserves.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Beauty of God's creation - Random photos
Butterflies were abundant this year, they are so delicate and beautiful. You can see this little guys curled tongue!
We caught this one as a caterpillar! We've tried before to watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly before but without sucess. We were all very excited when this one emerged from his chrysalis.
One of our sunflowers. We started them late so they didn't get very big but they are still beautiful.
Cute little guy who was living in our flower box.
Dragonfly I captured while at a hot air balloon festival.
This strange moth was outside our door one morning when I googled him it said he was a dragon moth. This is a feature God gave him to scare away predators.
Oh Lord, what a variety of things You have made! In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your creatures.
The earth is full of Your creatures.
Psalm 104:24
Monday, October 18, 2010
First Post
Hi everybody! Welcome to the official “Busy, Bodies” blog. We are three ladies (two sisters and a daughter) striving to serve and glorify the Lord Jesus.
Lets start by saying we are in no way encouraging you ladies out there to be busy bodies, but merely to keep our bodies busy serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
The most important thing that we will share is our Faith in Jesus Christ. You will find articles on this blog that we hope will inspire you to a better relationship with our Creator God and to serve Him as true ladies of virtue. We pray to not compromise even in the “little” things that seem small at first, but in reality cause harm to our walk with Christ.
We keep busy taking care of the wonderful families the Lord has blessed us with. It is a great joy for us to serve as wives. Mothers, daughters and friends to our families.
We will also share our many creative interests with you, such as sewing, card making, scrapbooking, cooking, photography and anything else we find to try.
May this blog be a blessing to all who enter, take a seat and make yourself at home.
All Praise and Glory to God our Father , Who gives us a reason to work with our Hands!
Now all Glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power
at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might
or think-- Ephesians 3:20
Through God we will do valiantly. . . Psalm 60:12
But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. For not he who Commends himself is approved, But whom the Lord commends- 2Cor.10:17
Therefore whether you eat or drink, or WHATEVER you do, do “ALL” to the
glory of God.-- 1 Cor.10:31
The Girls (Dawn, Tina & Jess)
Lets start by saying we are in no way encouraging you ladies out there to be busy bodies, but merely to keep our bodies busy serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
The most important thing that we will share is our Faith in Jesus Christ. You will find articles on this blog that we hope will inspire you to a better relationship with our Creator God and to serve Him as true ladies of virtue. We pray to not compromise even in the “little” things that seem small at first, but in reality cause harm to our walk with Christ.
We keep busy taking care of the wonderful families the Lord has blessed us with. It is a great joy for us to serve as wives. Mothers, daughters and friends to our families.
We will also share our many creative interests with you, such as sewing, card making, scrapbooking, cooking, photography and anything else we find to try.
May this blog be a blessing to all who enter, take a seat and make yourself at home.
All Praise and Glory to God our Father , Who gives us a reason to work with our Hands!
Now all Glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power
at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might
or think-- Ephesians 3:20
Through God we will do valiantly. . . Psalm 60:12
But he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. For not he who Commends himself is approved, But whom the Lord commends- 2Cor.10:17
Therefore whether you eat or drink, or WHATEVER you do, do “ALL” to the
glory of God.-- 1 Cor.10:31
The Girls (Dawn, Tina & Jess)
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