Rest In the Lord~ This Is The Air I Breathe

Tonight we had some worship time while making supper. I was struck again by how powerful music can be. How music can stir the emotions and cause the heart to shiver. Poetry set to a simple melody has the power to bring a busy mom to stop and rest in the LORD for a few moments.

 

I find worship breaks during my everyday life can really rejuvenate this mama. I can have 4 or 5 minutes of concentrated prayer. Singing in my shower voice really loudly in my kitchen may not be attractive to my neighbors but it IS a joyful noise unto the LORD!

• Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?
• Homeschool morning is not going as planned?
• Kids are fighting?
• Fight with your husband?
• Bad news from your best friend?
• Having a 'one of those days' kind of day? Month? Year?

Take a moment and rest in the LORD. Meditate on the words in your favorite worship songs. Use those words to springboard prayer in your life. Start a mini study by looking up the song and finding out if there is a relevant verse that inspired the song. Use the music as a tool to increase your time with the Lord!

In Psalms we are encouraged to rest in the darkest of times.

 

^{2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters.}

^{Psalm 23:2} 

Jesus commands us to take His example and learn from it.

 

 ²⁹ Take the yoke^[a] I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. 

Matthew 11:29

 Footnotes: 

Matthew 11:29 yoke: Yokes were put on the necks of animals, so that they could pull a plow or wagon. A yoke was a symbol of obedience and hard work.

 Jesus also encouraged rest in his disciples. Should we not also take a few minutes to rest in Him?

³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
Mark 6:31

I pray that today you find a few moments for some quiet (or Shower Singing Loud!) worship time to rest and rejuvenate in your LORD Jesus!

This Is the Air I Breathe

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I, I'm desperate for you
And I, I'm I'm lost without you



This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I, I'm desperate for you
And I, I'm I'm lost without you

And I, I'm desperate for you,
And I, I'm lost without you,

I'm lost without you,

I'm so lost without you.

I'm so lost without you.

I'm so lost without you,

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I, I'm desperate for you
And I, I'm lost without you.

Always Blessed,

Gretchen :)

Cookie In a Cup Amazingness

Amazingness in a Cup

Today I decided to treat the kiddos to a very special Friday night yummy in the middle of the week! I know, I know I'm going all crazy and breaking the rules but sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie... IN A CUP!

My eldest daughter, Princess Peony, likes to quote from the movie Wall-E:

 Captain: 12:30? AUTO, why didn't you wake me for morning announcements? Honestly, it's the one thing I get to do on this ship.
[Resets the ship back to morning]
Captain : Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to day 255,642 aboard the Axiom. As always, the weather is a balmy 72 degrees and sunny, and, uh... Oh, I see the ship's log is showing that today is the 700th anniversary of our five year cruise. Well, I'm sure our forefathers would be proud to know that 700 years later we'd be... doing the exact same thing they were doing. So, be sure next mealtime to ask for your free sep-tua-centennial cupcake in a cup. Wow, look at that.

Source 

 source

My lovely sister and fellow foodie, Rosie, introduced me to the cookie in a cup idea a few weeks ago and I, being the gal that I am, fell in love with the single serving size wonder of chocolate chip cookie all warm and gooey topped with ice cream and ... sorry, drooling yet?

So here is my adaptation of the recipe!

Chocolate Chip Cookie In a Cup

• Crack one large egg in your favorite coffee mug (or wide mouth pint jar)
• Add 1/3 cup of flour (I used 1 Tbs of barley flour and the rest AP)
• pinch of baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 3 drops of vanilla extract (we like almond extract)
• 1 Tbs of softened butter 
• 3 Tbs chocolate chips

Mix together and bake in microwave for 11/2 to 2 minutes. Be careful not overcook. The center will be slightly soft, springy and moist. Top with ice cream and enjoy.


Complete cookie-cake amazingness. Enjoy!

Check out my sister over at as seen through my eyes and be blessed by her amazing photography. 

Always Blessed,
Gretchen :)

A Day In the Life....

Today we spent time making bread, baking buns, and assembling quick mix meal kits. It was so warm and cozy in my kitchen working alongside my children. Measuring and mixing. Kneading and rolling. Waiting. It is so very hard to wait for that first slice of warm bread out of the oven! There were many misshapen hamburger buns but the outcome was still a lovely tasting concoction just begging to be cracked open and buttered. What a fine day inside.

Mixing the dough.

Kneading.

Princess Petunia helping knead some dough.

Beautiful!

Sir Bean adding raisins for a loaf of cinnamon bread.

Making some soup mixes.

We got to be a little creative making our 'fast food' mixes. 

This became Beef Noodle Mix.

A worthy days work!

Bow-tie Helper, Veggie Soup Mix, Lentil soup mix

And the reward for all the hard work! Nom!

While we were toiling away inside in our smallish, toasty-warm kitchen, outside it was windy and damp. The trees are all quite bare and there is such a starkness in the air. It smells of dirt and snow all mixed up together and we just wait for those thin bits of sunlight to break through the gray skies that permeate our November days.

"Have you ever noticed a tree standing naked against the sky,
How beautiful it is? 
All its branches are outlined, and in its nakedness
There is a poem, there is a song. 
Every leaf is gone and it is waiting for the spring. 
When the spring comes, it again fills the tree with
The music of many leaves,
Which in due season fall and are blown away.
And this is the way of life."
-   Krishnamurti 

I'm reminded that there is a season for everything and that we are called to appreciate it for what it is. Even dark and dreary days are beautiful to our LORD. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

1 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

How was your Saturday? 

Always Blessed,

Gretchen :)

Princess Peony, the Photographer.

 

The Great Procrastinator

Oh how I have procrastinated on starting this blog. It has been on my mind for quite some time to get back to writing. Writing something powerful and controversial. Writing something meaningful. Writing something about my life and experiences. Goodness, Gretchen, write something. There may be a small gem of wisdom to impart here and there.

However, I can put off a nudge to do something like no one else I know. I have  proclaimed myself the Queen of Putting Off What Could Be Done... Ever! If ever there was a time in my life to procrastinate on a Holy Spirit Niggle it is at this Season of Life I'm surviving. My husband works out of town and is gone often, we have five children aged 2 to 16, we live a Brady Bunch Style family with mine, his, and ours (and scheduling that entails), and I homeschool. Clearly I have an excuse to not add ONE MORE THING.  I lack the time, the energy and the real culprit; (EEK! Official first confession in Blogworld) the confidence to put anything down on paper or ahem... type on the screen.

I mean, what if I say something that offends. Or, what if I am as boring as a lecture on the merits of the Fugi Apple versus the Braeburn Apple. What if I use there instead of their and the grammar police come and slap my wrist! Gasp!

The LORD doesn't stop though. If you ignore for too long it becomes like a buzzing mosquito in your ear and all things strangely and eventually direct you to THE CONVICTION or IDEA or PERSON that He is wanting you to deal with. It took about three years for me to start homeschooling after I got that first nudge. It took 18 months to start wearing skirts when I got that gentle niggle. And here I am about 9 months of avoiding the push to blog, finally starting. 

WOW. My LORD sure does loves me to put up with me and my 'no' and my 'not right now' complaining.

So I shall muddle through this new adventure and see where it takes me. I will strive to honor God in all my posts as I do in my life. I will share things I love. Things I find wonderfully helpful to myself and my family. Along the way I will hopefully grow in my love for God, my husband, and my family. 

In advance, I apologize to those I will offend but I guess being Christian automatically makes me one who stands apart in thoughts and deeds. I shall offend only out of love. To the Grammar Police: I will do my best to not break any comma, homonym, or spelling mistakes.

Now I shall leave off with a gentle sigh and go eat my Braeburn Apple......