I'm No Mary Poppins! :)

*SPOILER WARNING FOR ABIGAIL!!!! THIS POST CONTAINS SUBJECT MATTER RELATED IN A LETTER YOU WILL RECEIVE. READ AT OWN RISK!!!!* :D

We are all so blessed for the rain that has been falling for two days now!!! :) We have not had any rain for any length of time since the threat of Hurricane Earl, and even then, it was only a shower or two! So the earth was extremely thirsty! :) I decided to take a walk yesterday in it! And yes, this time I did take an umbrella! :) It did not take me long to find out that in the county, you are looked upon as strange anyway for taking walks, but stranger for taking them in the rain, and if you are without an umbrella, they want to send you to the funny farm! :P So I was a good girl. But I wish I could learn how to walk gracefully with an umbrella! Doubtless I could do it if I were she:

But I am not. And I do not believe even if I had a cute umbrella and not our lumpy black one, that it would make any difference. You see, I cannot walk and look forgetful of my umbrella. I either look as if my arm is tied to a very strong helium balloon, or else I drop it to low and nearly decapitate my head up amongst the ribs. I am always twirling it absentmindedly and accidently twisting my hair all around the pole, only to find I cannot get my head away from the handle five minutes later. And I like to enjoy the view when I walk, so I get wet anyway, from pushing the umbrella from this side to look at something, and from that side to look at another. Umbrellas are so unpoetic! :) And they seem to be in my way no matter what I do. Witness this scene:

Me. I see a brilliantly colored maple tree just across a ditch. Sarah has been complaining of no fall color around here yet, so I determine to gather a few leaves to cheer her up. But the ditch is too wide. No it isn't. Yes it is. No it isn't. Where would I put my umbrella? Just hold it. What!?! Yeah, hold it! Okay. So against better judgement, I agree with the other half of my brain to get the leaves. The opposite bank look very slippery, but I am resolved. With one quick move I straddle the ditch, and reach for the leaves. Blast! They are all out of reach! So with the tippiest tips of my fingers, I catch hold of one leaf, (mind you, I am still holding my umbrella!) and pull the rest of that branch to myself. Triumphant at last, with a fist full of leaves, I stand there panting. Oh joy. How do I get back across the ditch? I am almost doing the splits as it is! But somehow or another, and maybe with some help from the ever-present umbrella, I make it back over, and walk home with a wet skirt, but a happy heart. *bows* "Thank you!" :)
Isn't it so true what Laura Ingalls Wilder said? "It is the simple things in life which are the real ones after all." I do believe I got more innocent pleasure (with a dose of irritation) out of walking in the rain with an unruly umbrella than I could have gained doing many another thing! Try it! I bet no one who reads this blog is too old to enjoy a good hour of puddle-jumping! ;) -Rachel

Oh! Sarah made this cute little button for our blog! Please take it! :) Thanks Matthew for being such a good photographer! :)

Libera - Be Still My Soul

"Be Still My Soul" is such a beautiful old hymn and I have just learned it. I thought I'd post the absolutely breathtaking version of the song done by the "Libera" boys' choir as well as the lyrics. This hymn is now one of my favorites, and I hope it blesses you as well! :) -Rachel

"Be Still My Soul"

Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain

Leave to your God to order and provide;

In every change God faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake

To guide the future as in ages past.

Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know

the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on

when we shall be forever with the Lord,

when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last.

A Little Sewing Circle

I was gone with Mama and Anna yesterday from 8 in the morning till 8 at night, going thrift-store shopping. Dear Sarah held down the fort, and made a delicious dinner for the whole time. After being out all day long, we were prepared to come in and find a house...needing its Mama. :) But I must commend Sarah's efforts as "homemaker for the day", because upon entering the house, we saw something like this:

Okay, so they weren't dressed up in period clothing, but they were all sitting round the table, so cozily, with bits of fabric and lace all scattered around, sewing diligently away. I am sure they were unconcious of what a pretty picture they made! I almost hated to spoil the quaintness of it all! :) It was such a sweet little scene for me as a sister to see after I had anticipated something perhaps a bit less genteel! :) I won't tell you what they were working on, because that would spoil the post I can't wait to do! :) But I felt as if I had stepped into a scene from Little Women: "We were in the Slough of Despond to-night, and mother came and pulled us out as Help did in the book. We ought to have our roll of directions lie Christian. What shall we do about that?" asked Jo, delgihted with teh fancy which lent a little romance to the very dull task of doing her duty. "Look under your pillows, Christmas morning, and you will find your guide book," replied Mrs. March. They talked over the new plan while old Hannah celared the table; then out came the four little work-baskets,and the needles flew as the girs made sheets for Aunt March..."

Ah..."my girls" have learned well the pretty things that make the home a pleasant place to be! :) This little vignette may not interest everyone, but I noticed and appreciated it, and so I thought I'd "tell a tale" on the girlies at home who kept an eye on things and succeeded well! :) Thanks Sarah! :) -Rachel

"The Measure of Success"

We were reading from "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers this morning. For some reason, we read July 28th's reading, and it captured my attention: "And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side...." Mark 6:45
"We are apt to imagine that Jesus Crist constrains us, and we obey Him, and He will lead us to great success.....We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal...the question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end...God is not working toward a particular finish; His end is the process-- that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end which is glorifying to God...."
At first I was a bit confused..."God is not working toward a particular finish?" but then it cleared up in the last bit there at the end. This principle of God's success vs. our own is not understood by most people. They figure that if they follow God, He will supply them with success in their own goals, as if He was some sort of vending machine. The Lord does want us to be "successful" but, just as a child throws a fit when he cannot have that pretty lollipop in the store, (even though his mother knows he'd be all the worse off for it) we immediately assume that our plans, hopes, and dreams will be granted just because they are what we want. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." it says in Isaiah 55. At some point, the very thing we fear and struggle against, considering it "failure" will the be the very thing our Lord considers "success", and will desire us to do. I am warning you, the world will not take kindly to your following Christ. It will call you a fool. But as Christians, let us hope that we can avoid being so narrow-sighted as to think that the worth of our service to God is only measured by the world's standards, and only the fruit we can see, will be useful to God. I'd rather be a fool who loves Jesus than a brainiac who believes she is self-sufficient. Think of the many missionaries over time who have never seen a single Christian convert, though they have worked their whole lives toward that goal. Does that mean they have failed? Think of a man who works his whole adult life as a janitor at a school. In the world's eyes, he'd be considered a failure. And yet, God could have placed him there, in humble servitude, giving him an opportunity to minister to the students his whole life; a thing he could never have done in that way had he been the principle at the school. He may not understand the Kingdom work he is accomplishing. But so long as that janitor trusts that God is in control of His life, he can rest in the knowledge of His goodness. We have a standard to measure ourselves by that the world never has, and never will understad. So we cannot measure our "success" by their standards. We have enough people who are ready to do "grand and glorious" things, meaning the things that get noticed, and applauded. We need more people who understand God's economy, and who seek to follow Jesus Christ. Truly, if you think about it, going by the world's standards, Jesus was a failure. He never won the Pharisees over to God. He was crucified by the very people He was sent to save! And yet, in God's Kingdom, Jesus had just completed the ultimate, amazing, most beautiful rescue operation ever put into play. "Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend."
When you are discouraged by your circumstances, and feel that absolutely everything is going "wrong", I challenge us all to step back, take a look around us, trust Jesus, and notice how perhaps, we are accomplishing something great after all. -Rachel

Our Latest Creative Ideas... :)

Impractical as usual, but we shall not be deterred! :) Sarah and I have made many dolls before...rag dolls, paper-mache puppet dolls, finger-tip puppet dolls, pin-cushion dolls, paper dolls, flower dolls, vegetable dolls, and pretty much any you can think of! But when watching part of the new Sense and Sensibility, I saw Margaret Dashwood's wooden dolls and wanted to make some so badly! :) I wouldn't play with them exactly, but I'd love to make a few! I think Margaret's were actually marionettes, because she was putting on a play with them, but wouldn't that be fun? Some wooden dolls are pretty scary looking, so I'd be sure to make mine pretty! :) I love the old Colonial dress-makers' dolls! They got to wear prettier clothes than anyone else's! :P But I can't figure out how to make the wooden body and head...I'm not much of a hand at carving anything, and neither are the boys.....I mean, carving something so detailed! We can all whittle sharp ends onto sticks for arrows, marshmallow-roasting, etc. or make a spoon or two but that's all! :) So I guess my plan will have to go by the wayside, but can't you imagine a play we put on with gorgeously dressed wooden dolls? :) I still want to do it someday!

Here is a pretty doll, but her clothes need some work! :)

This guy needs shorter hair, but their clothes are pretty detailed! They remind me most of Margaret's dolls!

This doll has a scary face, most likely caused by continuous dropping-by-a-child :) But her clothes are sweet!

Aw! I love this doll! But I would have chosen different hair to make her more wooden-looking...know what I mean?

There are so many books written about wooden dolls! :) The Tale of Two Bad Mice, Miss Hickory, Hitty's First Hundred Years...and I'm sure there are more! :) Anyway, this is just the latest creative thing bobbling around in my brain...impractical, and I'm sure Sarah will be able to talk sense into me, but interesting nevertheless! :) -Rachel