One Day

One Day

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
  One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—
  Dwelt among men, my example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
  Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever:
    One day He’s coming—O glorious day!

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
  One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected;
  Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He.

One day they left Him alone in the garden,
  One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
  Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
  One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered;
  Now is ascended, my Lord evermore.

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
  One day the skies with His glory will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;
  Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

-J. Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918)

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13

"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

"Jesus saith unto him,' I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

 May you have a blessed and beautiful Resurrection Sunday!

  

The Love of God

(source)

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.  

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

 -Fredrick Martin Lehman (1868-1953)

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

I Need Thee Every Hour

Source

                                                                                 
                                                                                  I Need Thee Every Hour

                                                                                   I need thee ev'ry hour,

                                                                                   Most gracious Lord.

                                                                                   No tender voice like thine

                                                                                   Can peace afford.

 

                                                                                   I need thee ev'ry hour;

                                                                                   Stay thou nearby.

                                                                                   Temptations lose their pow'r

                                                                                   When thou art nigh.

 

                                                                                    I need thee ev'ry hour,

                                                                                    Most holy One.

                                                                                    Oh, make me thine indeed,

                                                                                    Thou blessed Son!

 

                                                                                    I need thee, oh, I need thee;

                                                                                    Ev'ry hour I need thee!

                                                                                    Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

                                                                                    I come to thee!

 

                                                                                    I need thee ev'ry hour,

                                                                                    In joy or pain.

                                                                                    Come quickly and abide,

                                                                                    Or life is vain.

 

                                                                                   -Annie S. Hawks, 1835-1918

 

                                    "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20b

 

 

 

 

My Savior's Love

 My Savior's Love-
 
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: "Not My will, but Thine."
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

-Charles Hutchinson Gabriel

May you have a blessed Easter filled with the love and joy of our Risen Savior Jesus!

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.'" John 11:25-26a

Chasing Butterflies

(photo source)

Chasing Butterfiles

Home: The kitchen sink-

Piles and piles of dishes

To be washed.

Every day

Three times

Throughout the yeasr.

Miles of dishes for a life-

And years of time. 

Fame: Rehearsing for the play

An opera to be learned.

The camera- day and night

Before the picture's done.

Dull- tedious hours.

A book propped on a shelf-

A flower in a vase-

The busy hands at work

While thoughts go winging forth

Like butterflies

To seek the new.

Life worth while.

From "Cooking Menus Service" by Ida Bailey Allen 1934

Divided

AN EMPTY sky, a world of heather,
Purple of foxglove, yellow of broom;
We two among them wading together,
Shaking out honey, treading perfume.
Crowds of bees are giddy with clover,
Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet
Crowds of larks at their matins hang over,
Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.
Flusheth the rise with her purple favour,
Gloweth the cleft with her golden ring,
’Twixt the two brown butterflies waver,
Lightly settle, and sleepily swing.
We two walk till the purple dieth
And short dry grass under foot is brown;
But one little streak at a distance lieth
Green like a ribbon to prank the down.

An excerpt from Jean Ingelow's poem "Divided".

I added some "new" vintage books to my Etsy shop this evening. Please be sure to stop by and take a peak. Besides this delightful copy of Jean Ingelow poetry I have listed a 1940's copy of "Wuthering Heights", a copy of "The Little Minister" dating the late 1800's, as well as, a couple other lovely books from the 1800's.

Hope you are all enjoying a lovely start to your week!

Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Sky

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

-Charles Wesley

"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." Malachi 4:2

My Jesus, I Love Thee

 

 

My Jesus, I Love Thee

 

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

-William R. Featherson 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 

1 John 4:10

"Be Still, My Soul"

---

 

 

(photo source) 

 "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 for 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.  

-Katharina A. von Schlegel 

Over the years "Be Still, My Soul" has become my favorite hymns.

The comforting words and beautiful music are such an inspiration!

May you have a blessed day!

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Sewing on a Rainy Day

                                          Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
                                          The days pass quickly when I am sewing.
                                          ~Author Unknown

                           
                                        

                                        "It rains- what lady loves a rainy day?
                                        She loves a rainy day who sweeps the hearth,
                                        And threads the busy needle, or applies
                                       The scissors to the torn or threadbare sleeve;
                                        And blesses God that she has friends and home."
                                                                                          -Anon.

Hope you are all enjoying a peaceful and cozy Thursday. Today has been rainy and rather chilly, but I am grateful for a warm fire and a hot cup of tea to enjoy while I sew. I must agree, the day does fly while sewing and cleaning! : )

October

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on
the feelings, as now in October."
-  Nathaniel Hawthorne
 

                                                    (image from Pintrest)

October's Bright Blue Weather

"When gentians roll their fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather."
-  Helen Hunt Jackson

                                                  (image from Pintrest)

Hope you all have been enjoying a beautiful start to October. Here is upstate New York we have been blessed with truly lovely autumnal weather. The foliage is reaching peak in our area. It is such a treat to see God's handiwork on each and every tree.

Yesterday I baked my second apple pie of the season, and pumpkin is sneaking into many of the treats we are enjoying. I love the cozy flavors and feelings this time of year brings.

May you have a blessed start to your week!

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:1&2

Decorating for Autumn

This past Friday Adam and I took a drive out to the Apple Shed, an apple farm and farm market. It was a lovely drive through the country. The day was sunny and warm, the perfect goodbye to summer and introduction to fall. All of the corn fields were a bronze like gold and the soy fields a more yellow gold. The fields shimmered in the sun, wild asters growing along side the road created a lovely contrast with the gold of the fields. What a blessing to live in the country and see God's creation everywhere I turn.

The leaves are beginning to change color on the big old trees surrounding our home. Crimson leaves are scattered across our lawn. They stand out quite vibrantly in the gloominess of today. This time of year it is so fun to be cozy, wearing warm sweaters, drinking hot tea while working on a sewing project or cooking up a big batch of soup.

Over the weekend I took some time to pull out my autumnal tablecloths and do a little decorating. The photo above is our kitchen table. I found the lovely vintage tablecloth at an estate sale a year or two ago. It was fun to use it for the first time. : )

Last weekend we purchased some Indian corn. I used ribbon I had on hand to hang it on our front door.

I arranged miniature pumpkins and gourds I found at the Christmas tree shop last month on top of a set of bowls, so it looks full but really isn't. : ) This is on the side board in our kitchen.

Mom gave me this table runner she made several years ago. It adds a nice autumnal feel to our dining room table.

This is our table set for dinner Saturday evening. I made vegetable soup and cornbread. Our area is known for cabbage, so the soup has plenty of chopped cabbage, as well as, carrots, corn, onions, potatoes, garlic, celery, tomatoes and ground beef. It was a cozy and hearty meal. I took my sister Rachel's recommendation when making the corn bread. Rachel always adds some cream corn and shredded cheese to her corn bread, and I must say it was very tasty!

  I found this little poem on Pintrest.

Happy Fall!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The famous Longfellow brothers were born and raised in Portland, Maine, in the 1800’s. Henry Wadsworth was born in 1807, and younger brother Samuel arrived in 1819. Henry became a Harvard professor of literature and one of America’s greatest writers, and Samuel became a Unitarian minister and hymnist.

While Henry was publishing his books, however, dark clouds were gathering over his life and over all of America. In 1861, his wife tragically died when her dress caught fire in their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That same year, the Civil War broke out. Two years later, Henry’s son Charley, age seventeen, ran away from home and hopped aboard a train to join President Lincoln’s army.

Charley proved a brave and popular soldier. He saw action at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, but in early June he contracted typhoid fever and malaria and was sent home to recover. He missed the Battle of Gettysburg, but by August Charley was well enough to return to the field. On November 27, during the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia, he was shot through the left shoulder. The bullet nicked his spine and came close to paralyzing him. He was carried into the church and later taken to Washington to recuperate.

 Receiving the news on December 1, 1863, Henry immediately left for Washington. He found his son well enough to travel, and they headed back to Cambridge, arriving home on December 8. For weeks Henry sat by his son’s bedside, slowly nursing his boy back to health.

On Christmas day, December 25, 1863, Henry gave vent to his feelings in this plaintive carol that can only be understood against the backdrop of war. Two stanzas now omitted from most hymnals speak of the cannons thundering in the South and of hatred tearing apart “the hearth-stones of a continent.” The poet feels like dropping his head in despair, but then he hears the Christmas bells. Their triumphant pealing reminds him that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.”

 The Sunday school children of the Unitarian Church of the Disciples in Boston first sang the carol during that year’s Christmas celebration. How wonderful that such a song could emerge from the bloody clouds of the War Between the States.

From "Come Let Us Adore Him" by Robert J. Morgan

The Joys of Autumn

After an especially hot summer I am welcoming the cool breezes of early autumn. September has a wonderful smell that makes me think of falling leaves and fresh crisp apples. The cool mornings and evenings have me reaching for my favorite shawl or sweater, and a knitting project! All summer was so hot the thought of handling wool did not appeal to me in the least, but now nothing could be more delightful than sitting on our chair swing in the side yard with a hot cup of tea and my knitting. I love to sit on our swing with my mother, sisters and new little nephew, chatting, watching the golden leaves flutter from the trees against a clear blue sky.

This weekend I hope to try a new apple pie recipe. Nothing tastes more autumnal than an apple pie. : ) Here is the recipe I plan to bake: Butter Crumble Apple Pie

This past weekend I tried a delicious new recipe for Pumpkin Lattes made in the crock pot. Absolutely wonderful! Here is that recipe: Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Lattes .

Another cozy project I have been working on is a patchwork quilt for my hope chest. With a little over 8 months until my wedding I am hoping to have it completed in time. I sew a couple squares a day with the goal of having the squares all assembled before winter, so that I can spend the winter month hand quilting. All of the fabrics used to sew the squares are scraps of fabric I have collected over the past 10 plus years. Each is a memory of a special sewing order for our family business or a dress I sewed for myself.

Beautiful days like we have enjoyed of late make me think of this hymn:

This Is My Father's World-

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
he shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass;
he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

By Maltbie D. Babcock

The History of Aprons

                                           The History of Aprons

The principle of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few. It was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children’s tears and on occasion was even used for cleaning 

out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron’ that served so many purposes.

Share this with those who would know, and love the story about Grandma’s aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.

Remember, Grandma used to set her hot baked pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set their pies on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on the apron. I don’t think I ever caught anything from an apron…. but love!                   

-Author Unknown

Happy Fourth of July

 Here is a photo of the wheat field across the road from us. What a blessing to see such beauty each day!

This morning when we first woke up my mom called me to look out the back windows of our home. I was surprised to see three wild turkeys! One of the turkeys was busy eating black berries that grow along the border of our yard. I took these photos out of my back bedroom window, so they are not quite as clear as they could be.

America is truly a beautiful country!

"America, the Beautiful"

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
-Katherine Lee Bates

"This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

"So Take Joy Home"

                                             So take Joy home,
                                             And make a place in thy great heart for her,
                                             And give her time to grow and cherish her;
                                             Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee,
                                             When thou art working in the furrows; ay,
                                             Or weeding in the sacred  hour of dawn.
                                              It is a comely fashion to be glad,-
                                              Joy is the grace we say to God.

                                                                 -Jean Ingelow