The Winning Photo is . . .

Thank you to everyone that helped us choose little Rose's month picture.

The vote was close at first but photo B took the top place. 

  Since the birth of Bell, we have done a scrapbook for each new baby of their first year of life.  We include a month photo and photo's of that month's happenings in their life.  It is always so precious at the end of the year to see how drastically they have changed in just twelve short months.

 

Truly we are fearful and wonderfully made.

  The works of the Lord are marvelous!

How do you spell "hope"?

How do you spell "hope"?

Do you spell it H O P E
or do you spell it H Y P E ? 

Keep reading to find out! 

"It is not difficult to see how reports of human failure would caution the Christian not to be too self‑confident, but how can they produce hope at the same time?


The answer to this is very clear in the Bible, and it is one that is consistently taught. It is the essence of the Gospel: When men come to the point that they see they cannot trust in themselves, they must turn to God alone for their deliverance. Thus, human hopelessness is the basis for biblical hope. Over and over in the Bible, God brought people to the end of themselves, so that in their weakness they might find God sufficient. When all human hope is lost, men still have the promises of God, backed by His power and by His character.

Here is the critical difference between the “hope” which the world offers me and the true hope which God offers. The world’s hope is a counterfeit hope, it is only a delusion. God’s hope is certain. Hebrews chapter 11 focuses on the biblical hope which sustained the men and women of faith in the Old Testament times, especially when all human hope was lost.

The world’s “hope” differs from God’s hope in the way it is spelled. God’s hope is spelled H O P E. The world’s “hope” is spelled H Y P E. Hype is furthered and fueled by success, while hope is promoted by failure. HYPE is confident of what men can do. Hope is confident in God, not men.

The sad reality, in my personal opinion, is that the church has all too often exchanged its hope for hype. We think that “success stories” build the hope of Christians, but the Bible suggests otherwise. It is those who are sick who turn to someone else for healing, as the afflicted turned to our Lord in the gospels. It is those who are sinners, who look for salvation in someone outside of themselves.

You see, when we as Christians view our hope as being synonymous and signaled by our successes, we have switched to hype, not hope. And the tragedy is that those who are afflicted and suffering are told (or it is at least strongly implied) that they must have too little faith, when it is these very trials which God has given us to strengthen our faith, just as He gave to those who are listed in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews chapter 11."

I hope you are challenged and blessed! 

-Bree-

This was taken from an article written by Bob Deffinbaugh: Lesson 7 Principles of Priesthood (Leviticus 8-10)   http://bible.org/seriespage/principles-priesthood-leviticus-8-10

Recipe of the Month

Hello everyone!

We thought it might be fun to post a recipe each month from our kitchen that our family really enjoys.  So to start us out I am going to share a recipe that Mom created on my last birthday.

Healthy Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
(If you like Red Lobster's, you've got to try these!!)
Yields 12 biscuits

Mix together with a spoon : (do not over mix)
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 cup melted butter

Then mix in:
3/4 cup cheddar cheese

Drop biscuits on a baking stone or baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. 

While biscuits are baking:
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small sauce pan or in the microwave.
Stir in:
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley

When biscuits are done baking, brush butter sauce on top of each hot biscuit. 

Serve and Enjoy!!                           

Sledding

We got a delightful amount of snow last week.  It stayed cold enough for a few days, that Dad and Tater took the little ones and were able to go sledding with some friends.  I came along to be the photographer.  Everyone had a great time.  Here are just a few pictures from the day.

Here's Dad with Essie and Tater with Ti.

Sweet Bell slid down with Essie and is pulling her back up the hill.

Ti and M.J. getting ready to take off.  Cold, but still smilling.

Here's a group pic, getting ready to take off again.

Bell and Essie

Tater and his little "monkey" (as he's taught her to call herself),

climbing back up the hill.

I thought this picture was precious.

Daddy holding little sweetie's hand as they assend.

Mr. K. and M.J. brought a saucer sled.  It was funny to watch Ti hang on and lean with it;

whichever way it spun and took him down.

    Here's one of the latter pictures, with everyone running back

up with their sleds... Still going hard at it.

It was a delightful time.

-Britt Ann-

Some Thoughts to Ponder

Hello everyone. 

We are currently going through the book of Leviticus in our Bible Study and have been very blessed.  Yes, I did mean to say the book of Leviticus and yes, we've been very blessed!  The Lord lead us to several articles explaining the book of Leviticus that have been very delightful! There are such treasures in Leviticus that we often skip over and consider pretty dry and inapplicable. The author of these articles is Mr. Bob Deffinbaugh.   

We just finished studying the Sin Offering- which was an offering for the unintentional sins, or sins of omission. If you would be interested in reading the whole article on the sin offering, click on the website.  http://bible.org/seriespage/sin-offering-leviticus-41-513-624-30 The conclusion was so good and thought provoking.  It is as follows:

"From these principles there are several immediate levels of application. The first pertains to the matter of your personal salvation.

Do you see the value which God has assigned to the blood of an innocent victim, which is shed in place of the sinner? Have you come to personally accept the shed blood of Christ as God’s provision for your sins? The terms “salvation” and “born again” are all too frequently misunderstood because we use unbiblical terminology to define what they mean. We talk, for example, about “asking Jesus into your heart,” a totally unbiblical phrase, and one which completely ignores the shed blood of Christ.

Liberal theologians, along with countless Americans, who are lost in their sins, want to retain certain things about Jesus, but choose to reject the most important part of His person and work. They want to honor Him as a humanitarian, a healer, a teacher and philosopher, a great example, but they do not want anything to do with His sacrificial death, His shed blood. By God’s definition this is taking the sack, but throwing out the lunch. The essence of Christ’s work for sinful man is the shedding of His blood. I urge you to trust in His blood for your salvation, for the cleansing from your sins.

The teaching of Leviticus on the Sin Offering has something very important to say to the Christian about personal sanctification. Whenever we sin, we need to remember that it is the shed blood of Christ which God has provided for our forgiveness. Repentance and confession is the means for experiencing that forgiveness and cleansing on a daily basis.

Knowing the high price which Christ has paid for our forgiveness should also cause us to take sin very seriously. Every sin, no matter how insignificant it may seem, required the blood of Christ to be shed. Let us never forget that while forgiveness is free, it was not obtained cheaply. Here is a motivation for godly living.

Then, too, let us be reminded of the seriousness of sin. God takes sin very seriously. God takes unintentional sin more seriously than we take willful sin. And God takes willful sin even more seriously than we wish to think about:

'For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?' (Heb. 10:26-29).

I am not for a moment suggesting that Christians are not eternally saved and secure, but I am suggesting that the willful sin of a wayward saint is a very sobering matter, and one which will not allow that wayward believer to sense any safety and security in what he or she is doing. Let us learn from both the Old and the New Testament how much God hates sin.

Finally, I must say to you that “ignorance is not bliss,” in spite of those who would have you think so. The Israelites were held accountable for the sins they committed ignorantly. Many contemporary Christians seem to think that if they don’t study their Bibles, if they don’t familiarize themselves with the standards and principles God has given in the Bible, they will not be responsible for their sins committed in ignorance. Not so! The Sin Offering strongly suggests that we had better become careful students of the revealed Word of God, for it is disobedience to His word that constitutes sin."

Just one more quote that was also very thought provoking:  "Obedience is best evidenced by our willingness to do something which we would rather not do, for reasons we don’t understand, simply because God says so."

Hope you all found it as encouraging and challenging as we did! 

-Bree-

Sweet Pictures and Funny Quotes

Everyone knows that every once in a while little kids say some really cute things.  Here are a few pitures that go along with a few sweet things that our little ones have said recently.

As I was walking through the livingroom one afternoon, Ti stopped me and said, "Britt, I have a problem with Essie.  You'll have to adjust it."  (I don't know what made him think to use that verbage, but it was really comical.)  He then went on to explain how she had knocked down part of his lego house.  In the end, they made up with each other... and here's the picture to prove it! 

                         

One evening after dinner, we didn't know where Essie was.  As Tater went to find her, he walked in the sewing room and said, upon sight of the little dear, "What are you doing, Es?"  To which she replied, "Boone."  She was all dressed up in Ti's Daniel Boone shirt and hat.  It was really quite cute.   

On New Years Eve day we just had to watch a movie.  I thought this picture of Dad with Essie and Bell trying to decide what to watch was sweet.  We decided on...

...Savage Sam.  During the movie, the little brother was complaining about having bacon and mush for breakfast.  Latter, at the end of a somewhat romantic scene (nothing serious), he says, "Mush."  Tater then told Ti, "He didn't like that mush stuff did he?"  To which Ti responded, "Nope.  But he did like bacon."  We all cracked up at the sweet innocents of his comment.

Here's our sweet Essie stringing foam beads on yarn.  Mom said the picture so captured her, and I just love that little sweater with her hair up in those pig-tails.

Everyother Friday evening we've been having a class with a few other families here at our home.  We have been going through the teaching DVD called Amazing Grace.  Here are Bell, Ti, and M.J. having fun after one of our classes.

Last, but not by any means least,  is our newest picture of our sweet Little Rose.