Random May Pictures

Here are some random pictures from May.  Though a little over-due, hopefully you'll enjoy seeing a little bit of what was going on for our family that month. :-)

Dad and Tayte working on the lawnmower together.

Such a precious sight.

These two have worked very hard together over the years.

Movie night at the Morton's -just we kids- the parents went out.

Here the guys were having a lively, intense discussion before the movie.

We'll spare the details, but all we girls did find it amusing. :-)

Breanna helped the little ones make a sweet banner for Mom for Mother's Day.

The hand print flowers stated some of Mom's character qualities.

The leaves told things that they were thankful for that she did for them.

We're so thankful for Mom and Dad.  The Lord has blessed us with such wonderful parents!

Working on setting poles for Dad's barn/shop.

We enjoy working hard together as a family.

It makes for very special memories. :-)

Mom and Sarah.

One of those sweet, fun moments. :-)

Such precious smiles.

(Gotta love the sticker on Sarah's forehead!)

Another precious, fun moment.

Esther ~ sweet and silly, ray of sunshine. :-)

Breanna playing ball with the kids.

(And our good dog, Daisy, always nearby.)

Mom and Dad taught we children how to play Hearts.

Elizabeth and Titus caught on really fast and enjoyed it,

and the little two like to help hold the cards and lay them.

I think this picture is just classic.  It makes me smile.

Mom and Bell with their sweet smiles, and Sarah with her big eyes like she's getting smothered. :-)

Tayte and Bree in his truck.

I thought this picture was neat.

And I must say, I think it's one perfect farm truck. :-)

The Lord is so good and gracious.  Sometimes we get caught up in the things that aren't going quite right, or how we wish they were, or think they should, or the things that worry us.  But when we look back and reflect, we so see the Lord's loving hand guiding and blessing, teaching and leading.  He has given us and blessed us with so much!   May we continue to look back, and ahead, and see the faithfulness of the Lord!

Our family also took a trip back up north in May.  Mom and I are working on a post for the trip.  Lord willing, we'll soon have it done. :-)

~Brittany

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby

(Click to read article)

What is guiding you??? or are you drifting???

As I turned on my laptop on this morning, my post-it notes came up on my screen and I began rereading some of the quotes that I have placed on there.  When I checked the blog later on to see if the girls had posted anything, I read the devotion that Brittany had posted earlier from Spurgeon on being separate and thought this quote went perfectly with it.  :-)  

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; We drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; We drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated?" - D A Carson

His Greatest Mercies--His Meaning is Always Love

"Here is a little story about a simple answer to prayer.  Lars was away.  I had to take the car to the repairman’s house.  Li Zeng, our live-in student, followed me in his car to bring me home.  Directions to the house had been ambiguous, and Gloucester, Massachusetts gets the prize for town-easiest-to-get-lost-in.  I prayed that I might not get lost—Li had to get to class, the repairman had to leave at 7:15.  I got lost, made a quick turn without checking to see that Li was still with me.  He wasn’t.  “Lord, Li will be late for class, the man will leave in a few minutes—what shall I do?”  It’s a long story, but after a phone call I found the house, left the car, declined the man’s kind offer to take me home because I wanted to find Li so he would not miss his class.  How was I to find him?  “Lord, help me.”  I stood at an intersection and prayed that he would come along—an absurd request in a place like Gloucester.  He’d been on a one-way street which would take him far out around the shore drive, with no reason to happen upon the intersection where I stood.  Within five minutes there he was!  God teaches us to ask so that He may answer our prayers.  This reminds us of the source of our blessings.  The answer to my prayer not to get lost was No—in order that I might be specially blessed in the way I was found.

Remember how the Lord brought Israel out (of Egypt) in order to bring them in (to Canaan)?  He got me lost that He might get me found!  Let’s never forget that some of His greatest mercies are His refusals.  He says no in order that he may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes.  All His ways with us are merciful.  His meaning is always love."

~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

~Brittany

Be Ye Separate

“Only ye shall not go very far away.” - Exodus 8:28
This is a crafty word from the lip of the arch-tyrant Pharaoh. If the poor bondaged Israelites must needs go out of Egypt, then he bargains with them that it shall not be very far away; not too far for them to escape the terror of his arms, and the observation of his spies. After the same fashion, the world loves not the non-conformity of nonconformity, or the dissidence of dissent; it would have us be more charitable and not carry matters with too severe a hand. Death to the world, and burial with Christ, are experiences which carnal minds treat with ridicule, and hence the ordinance which sets them forth is almost universally neglected, and even condemned. Worldly wisdom recommends the path of compromise, and talks of “moderation.” According to this carnal policy, purity is admitted to be very desirable, but we are warned against being too precise; truth is of course to be followed, but error is not to be severely denounced. “Yes,” says the world, “be spiritually minded by all means, but do not deny yourself a little gay society, an occasional ball, and a Christmas visit to a theatre. What’s the good of crying down a thing when it is so fashionable, and everybody does it?” Multitudes of professors yield to this cunning advice, to their own eternal ruin. If we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away into the wilderness of separation, and leave the Egypt of the carnal world behind us. We must leave its maxims, its pleasures, and its religion too, and go far away to the place where the Lord calls his sanctified ones. When the town is on fire, our house cannot be too far from the flames. When the plague is abroad, a man cannot be too far from its haunts. The further from a viper the better, and the further from worldly conformity the better. To all true believers let the trumpet-call be sounded, “Come ye out from among them, be ye separate.”
-Charles Spurgeon, Morning Meditation for June 27th
~Brittany

Being Women of Strength and Dignity Who will be Valued by the Right Guy

This article was such a blessing and encouragement to me!  Sometimes it gets discouraging because it feels like none of these young guys want a serious, purposeful girl who's seeking to live an uncompromising life for the Lord.  It was a good encouragement to keep being faithful, and just trust that someday the Lord will send the right one, who does appreciate that!  Keep being faithful girls!  If he doesn't appreciate and value you, then he's not God's man for you, and you don't need to worry about it!
~Brittany

on daughters and dating: how to intimidate suitors

I have two teen-aged daughters, so it was with some interest that I read a recent post entitled “Application to Date My Daughter”. It was pretty funny, playing on the idea of the stereotypical shotgun-toting father and the mortified daughter as they negotiate the tricky terrain of a first date.  Then Christian bloggers grabbed the concept, and for the most part, these versions were funny, too. There were some common themes: slouchy-panted unemployed suitors, dads breathing out Chuck Norris-inspired threats. I didn’t lose my well-developed sense of humor until I made the tactical error of glancing at some of the comments. And then I was just flat-out sad.

Here is the comment that made me the saddest, posted by a well-meaning young Christian father:

“Bro, this is awesome. My daughter’s only 2, but I am printing this for my fridge. Thanks for your godly example.”

Oh dear.

Okay, joke’s over. Bro. Let’s talk strategy for a second. Is that all you’ve got? You need a better plan than these low-level intimidation techniques. After all, she’s your DAUGHTER, for Pete’s sake. So let’s talk frankly about what you need to do to guard her interests when it comes to dating. Instead of brandishing a shotgun or breaking out an application, you need to build a wall.

That’s right, you heard me – build a wall. Go all “Rapunzel”. Build it so high that only the strongest of suitors can scale it. But don’t wait until your baby girl is a teenager, Bro  – start now. Start yesterday. There’s no time to waste.

build a wall

In Song of Solomon 8:8-9 we hear a family’s hope that their young sister will grow into a woman of strength and dignity. Can you guess what metaphor they use to describe that kind of woman? A wall. Their sister assures them in verse 10 that she is indeed a wall, complete with towers. Her statement indicates an assurance that she is not only strong, but able to defend herself against any unworthy suitors. That’s what you want, Bro – you want a wall.

Here’s the problem with shotgun jokes and applications posted on the fridge: to anyone paying attention, they announce that you fully expect your daughter to have poor judgment. Be assured that your daughter is paying attention.  And don’t be shocked if she meets your expectation. You might want to worry less about terrorizing or retro-fitting prospective suitors and worry more about preparing your daughter to choose wisely. And that means building a wall.

Instead of intimidating all your daughter’s potential suitors, raise a daughter who intimidates them just fine on her own. Because, you know what’s intimidating? Strength and dignity. Deep faith. Self-assuredness. Wisdom. Kindness. Humility. Industriousness. Those are the bricks that build the wall that withstands the advances of old Slouchy-Pants, whether you ever show up with your Winchester locked and loaded or not. The unsuitable suitor finds nothing more terrifying than a woman who knows her worth to God and to her family.

too strong?

But here’s a hard reality: if you raise that daughter, she’ll likely intimidate her fair share of “nice Christian boys” as well. Because a decent number of those guys have some nutty ideas about what it means to be in charge. I’m amazed and saddened at how often I hear young single guys say of bright, gifted single women, “Wow, she’s so strong I don’t think I could lead her.” At which point, too many bright, gifted single women begin to consider ways to “tone themselves down” or “soften themselves a bit”.

Raise a strong daughter, even if – no, especially if it means potential suitors question whether they can “lead her”, whatever that means to them. You’ve just identified those suitors as ineligible, without so much as an application process. Leadership is not about the strong looking for weaker people to lead. It’s about the humble looking for those whose strengths offset their weaknesses and complement their strengths. Strong leaders surround themselves with strong people, not with weak ones. Rather than finding the strengths of others threatening, they celebrate them and leverage them. This is Management 101, but I fear young Christian men and well-intentioned Christian parents of daughters have gotten a little fuzzy on the concept.

put down your shotgun

I often think that if we scrutinized our parenting with the same intensity we plan to turn on our daughters’ prospective suitors, we’d stop speculating about shotguns and applications and start building that wall. So, my well-meaning father of a two-year-old, please don’t hit “print” on that application just yet. Instead of cross-examining the man your daughter brings home, cross-examine the man who brought your daughter home from the hospital. She does not need the belated braggadocio of your intentions to protect her from slouchy-pants fools when she’s a teen. She needs you to hitch up your own and invest in her character - now.

So put down your shotgun. Pick up your Indian Princess guide book, or your coach’s clipboard. Take a seat at a tea party. Teach how to change a flat and start the mower. Discuss politics and economics and theology. Compliment a new outfit or an A in math. Tell her you think she is absolutely beautiful. Kneel at a pink chenille bedside and pray your guts out. Raise a daughter with a fully loaded heart and mind so that a fully loaded shotgun isn’t necessary. She shouldn’t need you to scare off weak suitors. Let her strength and dignity do the job.  Resolve to settle for nothing less than the best protection for your daughter. Resolve to be the kind of man you want her to bring home. Resolve to build a wall.

“What shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver…” Song of Solomon 8:8-9

I'm learning that faith first teaches us to be faithful in the things
for which we are truly responsible,

knowing that we shall give account to God for them;

and that it second teaches us to take no concern for the things
for which we are not responsible,

except to pray, knowing that God will control all the things
which we cannot or should not.
-- Andrew Romanowitz --

~Brittany

If thou but suffer God to guide thee,

And hope in Him thro' all thy ways,

He'll give the strength, what-e'er betide thee,

And bear thee thro the evil days;

Who trust in God's unchanging love

Builds on the rock that naught can move.

Obey, thou restless, heart, be still

And wait in cheerful hope, content

To take what-e'er His gracious will,

His all discerning love, hath sent;

Nor doubt our inmost wants are known

To Him who chose us for His own.

Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways;

But do thine own part faithfully.

Trust His rich promises of grace,

So shall they be fulfilled in thee.

God never yet forsook in need

The soul that trusted Him indeed. Amen

Georg Neumark (Catherine Winkworth, Translator)

Inter-Varsity Hymnal

~Brittany

Never Sacrifice Your Conscience

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said ... Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.” - Dan_3:16, Dan_3:18
The narrative of the manly courage and marvelous deliverance of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and in the very jaws of death. Let young Christians especially learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion, and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their consciences. Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not guided by the will-o’-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See whether he will be your debtor! See if he doth not even in this life prove his word that “Godliness, with contentment, is great gain,” and that they who “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, shall have all these things added unto them.” Should it happen that, in the providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly prosperity, he will discharge his promise in the gold of spiritual joy. Remember that a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of that which he possesseth. To wear a guileless spirit, to have a heart void of offense, to have the favor and smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win. “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention therewith.” An ounce of heart’s-ease is worth a ton of gold.
- Charles Spurgeon's Evening Meditation for June 24th
~Brittany

Heat Lightning ~ Nature Declaring God's Power, Control, and Sovereignty

While staying with some friends this weekend to help out, Elizabeth and I were privileged to get to sit outside and watch some heat lightning for the first time.  Haven't checked my camera yet but I don't think any of my shots turned out real well, so thanks to the Smith's for capturing these. :-)  The Lord's creation is so amazing.  It was really an incredible thing to watch.  Nature is such a good reminder of God's powerful, all controlling, sovereign, strong hand.

~Brittany

God Governs Your Circumstances

 "God doesn't drive an ambulance,

He never shows up afterwards and tries to put the pieces back together.

Its not how He works.  God governs the chaos.

We need to put roots there, because the world is broken.

We need to put roots there, because there will be a day,

if you have not been there yet, where you are perplexed but not crushed;

where you are confused and its hard to reconcile

the goodness of God with your circumstances."

-- Matt Chandler--

~Brittany

Love vs. Lust

“You cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it.

You cannot fight without something to fight for.

To love a thing without wishing to fight for it is not love at all; it is lust.

It may be an airy, philosophical, and disinterested lust;

it may be, so to speak, a virgin lust;

but it is lust, because it is wholly self-indulgent and invites no attack.

On the other hand, fighting for a thing without loving it is not even fighting;

it can only be called a kind of horse-play that is occasionally fatal.”

-- G.K. Chesterton --

~Brittany

Separation of Heart and Reserve of Soul

“I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse.”  - Song of Solomon 5:1
The heart of the believer is Christ’s garden. He bought it with his precious blood, and he enters it and claims it as his own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open common; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, “Well, there is no harm in this; there is no harm in that,” thus getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in worldly conformity. A garden is a place of beauty, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christ’s garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ’s deservings; let us not put him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own. The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above. A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself, as he doth not unto the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary had, and do not sit at his feet as we should. The Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day.
- Charles Spurgeon's Evening Meditation for June 18th
~Brittany

Faith and Praise

A new favorite song. :-)  This is so beautiful!

I read this quote recently and was blessed by it as well. When we have faith and believe the Lord, we can be assured that someday we will see the bigger picture and will praise God for the amazing way He works!

“Faith is to believe what we do not see,
and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”
-- Augustine --

~Brittany

Would You Be Free?????

Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
(Acts 3:26)

Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it

I read this quote in Elisabeth Elliot's book "Keep a Quiet Heart" this morning and was so blessed and challenged by it!  It's an area the Lord has been speaking to me about lately.  I hope it will be an encouragement to some of you as well!

~Breanna

"Say not you cannot gladden, elevate, and set free; that you have nothing of the grace of influence; that all you have to give is at the most only common bread and water.  Give yourself to your Lord for the service of men with what you have.  Cannot He change water into wine?  Cannot He make stammering words to be instinct (imbued, filled, charged) with saving power?  Cannot He change trembling efforts to help into deeds of strength?  Cannot He still, as of old, enable you in all your personal poverty 'to make many rich?' God has need of thee for the service of thy fellow men.  He has a work for thee to do.  To find out what it is, and then to do it, is at once thy supremist duty and thy highest wisdom. 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.'" (Canon George Body, b. 1840)

A Test of Our Spiritual Condition

I so enjoy the Psalms.  They are such a blessing, encouragement, and challenge.  Reading this makes me think that I need to read them more. :-)
“Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.”  - Daniel 5:27
It is well frequently to weigh ourselves in the scale of God’s Word. You will find it a holy exercise to read some psalm of David, and, as you meditate upon each verse, to ask yourself, “Can I say this? Have I felt as David felt? Has my heart ever been broken on account of sin, as his was when he penned his penitential psalms? Has my soul been full of true confidence in the hour of difficulty as his was when he sang of God’s mercies in the cave of Adullam, or in the holds of Engedi? Do I take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord?” Then turn to the life of Christ, and as you read, ask yourselves how far you are conformed to his likeness. Endeavor to discover whether you have the meekness, the humility, the lovely spirit which he constantly inculcated and displayed. Take, then, the epistles, and see whether you can go with the apostle in what he said of his experience. Have you ever cried out as he did-”O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Have you ever felt his self-abasement? Have you seemed to yourself the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints? Have you known anything of his devotion? Could you join with him and say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”? If we thus read God’s Word as a test of our spiritual condition, we shall have good reason to stop many a time and say, “Lord, I feel I have never yet been here, O bring me here! give me true penitence, such as this I read of. Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness; make me more like Jesus. Let me no longer be ‘found wanting,’ when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest I be found wanting in the scales of judgment.” “Judge yourselves that ye be not judged.”
-Charles Spurgeon's Morning Meditation, June 12th
~Brittany

Random Pictures of the Week

Tayte has recently become a reader.

Part of his marriage prep training. :-)

Three matching buddies at church.

And yes, they planned it. :-)

(Thanks to Amanda for the picture.)

~Brittany

The Ground of Faith

“Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”  -Numbers 11:23
God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfill his promise for him? No; he who makes the promise ever fulfills it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks, it is done-done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfillment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: “Has the Lord’s hand waxed short?” May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, “Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”
-Charles Spurgeon's Evening Meditation, June 8th
~Brittany

Good Quotes

I've had these quotes saved in my inbox from my email subscription to What They Said, (one of our favorite websites listed on the side of our blog).  These are a few that I've saved that I wanted to share on here.

"The world today is looking for, and desperately needs, true Christians. I am never tired of saying that what the Church needs to do is not to organize evangelistic campaigns and attract outside people, but to begin herself to live the Christian life."  -Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"It is often ignorantly and frivolously charged against Christian men that it is selfish in them to seek heaven and glory for their own souls; but no man who is truly seeking salvation will be moved by that accusation. When men really begin to seek their salvation, and to turn their faces to the glory of heaven, then it is that all selfish and ignoble desires receive their death-blow. It is not selfish, surely, for the diseased to seek healing, or the hungry food, or the prodigal his father’s house. So far from this being a sign that the heart is selfish, there is no surer sign that it is being sanctified." -Alexander Whyte

"I say the answer is simple, but it is not easy for it requires that we obey God rather than man, and that always brings down the wrath of the religious majority.  It is not a question of knowing what to do; we can easily learn that from the Scriptures.  It is a question of whether or not we have the courage to do it." -A.W. Tozer

"Ought we not to be more thorough in our service, not simply doing well that which will be seen and notice, but as our Father makes many a flower to bloom unseen in the lonely desert, so to do all that we can do, as under His eye, though no other eye ever take note of it?" -J. Hudson Taylor

“To argue from mercy to sin is the devil's logic” -James Janeway

"To forsake Christ for the world, or a lust, is to leave a treasure for a trifle; a mountain of gold, for a heap of dung; the pure, lasting fountain, for the muddy, broken cistern; eternity for a moment; reality for a shadow; all things for nothing." -William Jenkyn

~Brittany

The Weapon of Meekness

I was very blessed, encouraged, and challenged when I read this yesterday.

Meekness is teachability.  It is the readiness to be shown, which includes the readiness to lay down my fixed notions, my objections and “what ifs” or “but what abouts,” my certainties about the rightness of what I have always done or thought or said.  It is the child’s glad “Show me!  Is this the way?  Please help me.”  We won’t make it into the kingdom without that childlikeness, that simple willingness to be taught and corrected and helped.   We must walk (live) in the Spirit, not gratifying the desires of the sinful nature (for example, my desire to answer back, to offer excuses and accusations, my desire to show up the other's fault instead of to be shown my own).  We must “clothe” ourselves (Colossians 3:12) with meekness-put it on, like a garment.  This entails an explicit choice: I will be meek.  I will not sulk, will not retaliate, will not carry a chip.  A steadfast look at Jesus instead of at the injury makes a very great difference.  Seeking to see things in His light changes the aspect altogether.  The weapon of meekness counters all enmity, says author Dietrich Von Hildebrand, with the offer of an unshielded heart.  Isn’t this the simple explanation for our being so heavy-laden, so tired, so overburdened and confused and bitter?  We drag around such prodigious loads of resentment and self-assertion.  Shall we not rather accept at once the loving invitation: “Com to Me.  Take my yoke.  Learn of Me-I am gentle, meek, humble, lowly.  I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-29 paraphrased).
~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart
~Brittany

Let us... put on the armour of light.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.—That I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.—The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.—With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.—At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them…. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk.
  Rom. 13:12; Rom. 13:14; Phil. 3:8, 9; Rom. 3:22; Isa. 61:10; Ps. 71:16; Eph. 5:8, 11, 13-15
~Daily Light on the Daily Path, Day 156, Evening

~Brittany

"People around you desperately need living examples

of Christian love, and you can be that example.

Love is the first fruit the Holy Spirit wants to produce and grow in your life (Gal. 5:22).

Don't resist His gentle prodding;

respond in obedience to the Spirit's leading to love as Christ loved."

-- Alexander Strauch --

"But the fact remains that the place in which we find ourselves 

is the very place in which the Master desires us to live our life!

There is no haphazard in God's world.

God leads every one of His children by the right way.

He knows where and under what influences, each particular life will ripen best."

-- J.R. Miller --

"Fulfillment is not a goal to achieve,
but always a by-product of sacrifice."
-- Elisabeth Elliot --

~Brittany

His Will, His Grace

I know I posted this quote a while back, but I was so blessed by it that I put it with a picture.  I love this picture of Sarah.  Carefree, but diligently working away at pulling loose roots up from the yard.  She was so peaceful.  I thought the picture went well with the quote.  So... I had to post it again. :-)
~Brittany

God's Not Dead

For those of you that haven't seen it yet....

You REALLY need to!!!!

Excellent movie!!!  Our family was very blessed, challenged and inspired by it!  It provoked some good conversation afterwards.  There were a couple of things that we wished they would have done a little different, but overall we really appreciate it and were blessed by the message. 

I don't know how long it will stay on youtube, but for now...you can watch the entire movie on youtube by going to this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfdM4JxE0Wc

We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!

~Breanna