Tribute to My Wonderful Father

Please feel free to my dad's web site at Caring Bridge to see the updates on his condition. He is comfortable and sleeping now and receiving care in his home with my wonderful mother.
Visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dickbrink/mystory to sign his guest book.

In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=5232

Garden idea

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pethealth/2008/07/gardening.jpg
Now that Spring is here- gardening fun has begun. Here is an idea we found for adding nutrients to your garden soil. Add eggshells to your soil!

Using Egg Shells in the Garden: Crushed Shells Boost Garden Soil’s Calcium Content, Deter Pests

Snow Candles

Sticky snow is good for more than building a snowman or having a snowball fight. Check this out. Who would have thought of making candles in a snowbank?







We discovered a Nature craft book at the local thrift store and decided to try a perfect craft for this time of Winter.
(We all know God created "Mother Nature")







We read about Wilson Bentley, "The Snowflake Man" who was the first to take microphotographs of snowflakes(** our Creator's beautiful handiwork **Psa 148:7-8)




It was about 40 degrees outside the afternoon we did this. (The important thing to remember first is to try not to tackle baking chocolate chip cookies at the same time as learning this new candle making skill. The cookies turn out a little too
dark.)




what you'll need:
-Snow
-pan with about 2 in. water and a couple tin cans of various sizes(creates a double boiler)
-old candles of assorted colors-paraffin wax - from the grocery store -
-wicks- We melted old white candles, also from a thrift store, to get some wicks and extra wax. Walmart did not carry them.
-Assorted color crayons for vibrant color
-a stick or chopstick
-potholders





















When your melted wax is ready to pour, just go outside and poke a hole into the snow about the length of your finger.


Slowly pour the melted wax while holding the wick in the center. It will cool quickly. Let it sit in the snow to harden about an hour(if you can wait that long. We were excited to see ours.)














It was so much fun, we spent all afternoon creating and forgot to make supper!

















This was a lot of fun working with the different colors from the crayons and experimenting with melting wax!

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Being of Swedish descent, Bridget's paternal grandpa's side, we also enjoyed this little idea from a site I found when searching for more snow candling ideas on the web.

"When I grew up in Sweden a common thing to do with the children (that would be me back then) was to build snow lights. As you have a lot of snow, it gets dark at 3pm and you want the children to play outside you would hand them a bunch of candles and send them out to build snow lights all around the house. Later on you would light them up and stand in the kitchen window to look at them.
Well, back then, being a child and everything, it was the coolest thing to see as a well build one that can burn all through the night and still be lit in the morning.

Now I have kids on my own and of course this was something I just had to do with them. But - no one here (I moved to the Netherlands a couple of years ago) ever heard of these and they were all amazed of my innovative little product when I lit it in the evening. So if people here haven’t heard of them then surely there are more people in the world missing out on some winter time fun with the children.You can do this as long as the snow can be compressed into snow balls, so between +1 c / 33 f down to -7 c / 19 f or so." By Chris Järnåker

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Why did God make snakes?

Grace and Mom were driving in the car.
and Grace made a statement:

"Adam and Eve were good and then they were bad."

My response, "Adam and Eve chose to do bad. We need to choose to please God."

Grace: "Why did God make snakes?"

My response, "Let's go home and ask Daddy."

Help the Children Love the Different People :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

Here's a very good message for all of us to hear. It's from John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.

This is available in either an audio or video and the notes to follow along.

Help the Children Love the Different People :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

That's What I Call Learning at Home

Check out this Mom's photos.

She has a whole-hearted home school.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/contentedsparrow/sets/72157618978177999/show/with/3846254263/

Inspiring.

Pumpkin Walnut Pancakes

Sometimes you just crave certain foods.

Like in the middle of a cold, winter month on a Sunday afternoon.




























Pumpkin pancakes was it this time. Just had to make them














and "voila!" - found out they tasted even better than I imagined and with some chopped walnuts - simply delicious!



Just like a warm, pumpkin walnut muffin slathered with butter and maple syrup. Yum.






I don't think my family got as excited as I did but I will do it all over again in a couple of weeks because I love them- and my family.

Made for Heaven

Jesus reminds us...
"My kingdom does not belong to this world."
John 18:36

Unhappiness for earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dissatisfaction, God holds our attention. The only tragedy, then, is to be satisfied prematurely. To settle for earth. To be content in a strange land... When God Whispers Your Name by Max Lucado


internet photo

I finished watching the 3 hour film "Fiddler on the Roof"(the past 2 days) and I feel I understand a little more clearly what this means- being a stranger in this world. We are God's people and we look forward to being with Him someday in His home forever. Knowing this makes the world and all it's little challenges seem very small and manageable.
"Lord, help me keep things in proper perspective each day here while we wait to go home with You. " Titus 2:11-13