Quote of the day

Beautiful graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

 Part of the process of cleaning out a house that has been lived in for nearly seventy years involves sorting through things -- sifting out the things with sentimental value; the the things that might be used or donated or sold; and the things that can simply be thrown away.  At my parents' home, one category I am encountering often in the sorting process is books.  Hundreds of books.  There were and are books in nearly every room of their home.

Many, of course, are books I am familiar with, but some are books that my mother bought or ordered for various reasons -- maybe because they were inexpensive or simply looked interesting.  There were even boxes of books bought for very small sums at auction.

One book that I found in my sorting was called Pages from a Journal, by Joyce Butler, a well-known Maine writer.  Pages From a Journal is a book of essays, nearly all of which had previously appeared in the author's newspaper column of the same name.  The book has been on my nightstand for several months as I slowly worked my way through it, reading a bit each night.

Fairly early in the book I came upon a paragraph that I knew I wanted to share with my blog readers.  These words are from an essay titled "Grammy B." which alluded to the death of a loved one, and some of what our grieving may include.

Readers may remember that my dad passed away at the end of May.  When I first read these words, I was thinking of him.  I'll just share them now:

"We grieve for what is gone, but we ask too what is left.  It is surprising how much.  What a human being has given of himself to others in kindness, encouragement, cheer remains and gives meaning to the fact that he lived.  Those of us who lived close to him discover that he has also left us a legacy of attitudes, traditions, example, and the measure of wisdom which comes out of the experience of losing him.  And perhaps that is where the healing begins.  We become for a time a little more gentle and wise, and we grow a step or two into maturity.  And some of us, having asked ourselves what part of his life was important, are able to make of our questioning an equation to the meaning and importance of the life we ourselves are living.  Then for us the gauntlet is down and this too is part of the legacy." -- Joyce Butler, from the essay titled "Grammy B." in the book Pages from a Journal.

I've been meaning to share these beautiful thoughts for months, but I see now that the time was not right.  Now it is.  In the past three weeks, Mr. T and I have lost four friends to death, one of them violently.  Oh, we know we will see each of them again in heaven.  But we will miss them.

And this quote has become even more meaningful to me as I consider the folks who have passed away recently.  One of them was an elderly pastor from whom we had learned much over a period of years.  One was an old friend, a member of our church and a neighbor of my husband's family.  He epitomized many New England values -- again, a person from whom much was to be learned.

This week, though, I've been pondering the lives of two women who have passed on.  Both were personal friends of mine.  And the legacy of example they left behind is truly priceless.  Both were incredibly gracious women who loved God and others supremely.  Both had Scripture stored away in their hearts which often revealed itself in wise, godly speech and character.  Were they perfect?  Certainly not, and they would be the first to tell you so.  Is their example of love for God and His Word and for others worth pursuing in our own lives?  Absolutely, and I am seeking to do just that.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This sweet graphic is by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

For this St. Patrick's Day, I decided to do something a little different.

Many readers know that every year I write (or update) a kids' summer devotional book for our church's children's ministry, Patch the Pirate Club.  (You can learn more about Patch the Pirate Clubs here.)

Back in 2005, the songs and lessons the kids studied were from the Patch the Pirate adventure Limerick the Leprechaun, so I wrote a devotional book for our church kids featuring an Irish theme and also including information about sheep and shepherds.  One of many things I wrote about was the topic of "Irish Blessings."  Of course, when sharing these with the kids, I steered clear of those that emphasized luck.  For, as Abby reminds us in this post, No Luck Here, we are blessed, not lucky.

So today I am simply going to share the devotional page I wrote concerning one "Irish Blessing".

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."  

(Psalm 37:4)

Today we will learn about another "Irish blessing".  You may remember that these "Irish blessings" are good things that one person might wish for another.  Here is the one for today:

May you always have

Walls for the winds,

A roof for the rain,

Tea beside the fire.

Laughter to cheer you,

Those you love near you,

And all that your heart might desire!

These are good things to wish for your friends. "Walls for the winds" and "a roof for the rain" mean that you hope your friends will always have shelter from the weather.  

"Tea beside the fire" reminds us of a warm, cozy home.  Tea warms us up on the inside and a fire warms us up on the outside!

"Laughter to cheer you" is a good thing to have.  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 17:22 that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

Of course, "those you love near you" is a wish to always have friends and family nearby.  We like to have our loved ones near.

The last wish is "for all that your heart might desire."  Our Bible verse today tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  Delighting in God means that He is more important to us than anything else in our lives.  If we delight in God, we will love to spend time with Him, reading His Word, and talking to Him in prayer.  If we truly delight in God, the things we desire, or really want, will be things that please Him.  When we delight in God, He will give us the desires of our hearts.

*  Thank God for the promises in His Word, the Bible.  Ask God to help you delight in Him more each day.  *

And there you have it!  Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into my devotional book In Green Pastures.  This particular Irish blessing strikes me as one that I would wish for all of my friends.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  And remember, we are blessed -- not lucky.

Lakeside retreat, part 4

Sunrise on Umbagog

I've been struggling with whether or not to join in on Write 31 Days or not.  This is a writing challenge that goes on every October and involves writing every day on a particular topic. Last year I did blog every day in October and chose the topic of autumn, (which may be a bit of a cop-out, but oh well).  However, I didn't actually join the challenge -- just challenged myself to see if I could write 31 posts on a topic.

 This year, I've really had a hard time deciding what to do.  I did sign up for the challenge, but on thinking it over more, I don't think I'm going to be linking up my posts.  Life is just too crazy right now for me to commit myself and go to the work of designing and making a button and all that.  I had been thinking of doing 31 posts on the topic of memories -- and, although I will probably include memories in my posts, I will again use the topic of autumn, my favorite season, about which I still have much to say!

So let us begin with the last installment of our autumn retreat at Umbagog Lake!  This was a Sunday and the day that we checked out, so this will be short.

Before packing everything up to leave, Mr. T wanted to take his kayak out one last time.  He got some pretty (if slightly blurry) sunrise photos.

Then we ate breakfast and packed the car.  We wanted to leave at ten in time to arrive at a church in Colebrook, NH for the morning service at eleven.  En route, we just had to get the picture of this little airport:

We enjoyed worshiping at Community Baptist Church and afterward, enjoyed a nice lunch out with the pastor and his wife who are friends of ours.  After a leisurely and most enjoyable lunch, we headed to Vermont to travel down that side of the Connecticut River and eventually back into New Hampshire.  It was a nice drive.  We got a bit sleepy so stopped for coffee along the way.  We then saw my dad at the nursing home and of course, had to make one last stop:

before heading home.  It was very cold out so we ate our ice cream in the car, but enjoyed every bit of it.  We tried a new flavor: chocolate strawberry, and it was so good.   Chocolate ice cream with bits of strawberries in it.

So ended our autumnal lakeside retreat.  We were happy to get home and energized for the busy days ahead.  So very thankful for this time.

One last "little thing" from Pine Cone Lodge

Taken in Great Basin National Park last spring

 Today I will share the last of the "little things" from Proverbs 30 as I wrote about them in Pine Cone Lodge, this year's update of one of my devotional books for kids.  Tori had wanted to read the rest of these, and I hope she will enjoy them!

“The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” 

 (Proverbs 30:26)

     Today’s verse tells us about more “little things” that God says are “exceeding wise”.  Today we learn about another animal that is a good object lesson for us.  Our verse talks about the conies.  If you look the word “cony” or “coney” up in a dictionary, you will find that it means “rabbit.”  But in this proverb, the word translated “conies” really means “rock badgers.”
  
 A rock badger is about the size of a rabbit, but it really looks more like an oversized guinea pig.  It has short ears, sharp teeth, and eyes that look like black buttons.  Although the rock badger is small and doesn’t seem as if it would be safe from its enemies, God has given this animal ways to be safer.  Rock badgers find safety in steep, rocky places.  God has made their feet in a special way.  Their feet have a special grip like a suction cup.  The rock badger can easily scamper over rocky cliffs because of its feet that grip the rocks so well.  Rock badgers can hide from their enemies among the rocks.  Even if a rock badger is sleeping or resting, stretched out on a sunny rock, it may be safe because its enemies will think it is part of the rock and will not notice it.  Isn’t it amazing how God has designed even the smallest of animals so carefully?
   
The rock badger finds safety in rocks.  We could say that God’s people also find safety in a Rock, because the Bible tells us that our Rock is God.  Psalm 18:2 says, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer: my God, my strength, in whom I will trust: my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”  David wrote these words in Psalm 18.  We know that there were many times when King Saul was hunting for David to try and kill him.  Often, David and his men hid among rocks and caves, and God kept them safe.  When we have hard times in our lives, we can go to God and tell Him all about it.  He is our strong Rock, and He will keep us safe just as He did David.  God will never change.  He is just the same today as He was in David’s time.  He is our Rock!
   
*  Thank God that He is our Rock.  Thank Him that we can trust Him to keep us safe.  Thank God that He never changes.  If you are going through a hard time in your life, tell God all about it.  *

Hope you've enjoyed these simple posts about little things in nature that teach big lessons!  One year,  I was blessed to hear Beneth Jones speak at a ladies' retreat at The Wilds of New England.  She taught sessions based on these very "little things" from Proverbs 30.  At the time I heard her, I had already written these devotional pages.  I was amazed and so blessed by all of the meaning that she extracted from these verses!

More from Pine Cone Lodge: Locusts

Maybe a grasshopper in here somewhere?

Here is another page from Pine Cone Lodge, the devotional book I published this year for the kids in our church's Patch the Pirate Club.  This is another page concerning "little things" that teach us important lessons.  I should note also that in the actual devotional pages, the kids have blanks to fill in for some of the words in the Bible verses.  For the blog, I am just using the entire verse.

 “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” 

 (Proverbs 30:27)

     Today’s verse tells us about another “little thing” that God’s Word says is “exceeding wise”.  Today’s verse talks about locusts.  A locust is a kind of grasshopper which is a very strong flyer. 
    Usually, locusts travel alone, but once in awhile they travel in big groups, called swarms.  When this happens, billions of locusts will suddenly appear out of nowhere.  The swarm of locusts looks just like a dark cloud.  There are so many of them and they are so closely packed together that it almost looks as if the sun has disappeared or the day has suddenly become night. 
 
 A swarm of locusts may travel up to 2000 miles!  When the locusts get to where they are going, they all swoop down at once.  Then they eat everything they can find -- grass, bushes, the leaves of trees, garden crops -- even wood.  They are very hungry because they don’t eat much at all while they are flying.  Our verse reminds us that the locusts don’t really have a king, or a leader, to tell them what to do.  But somehow they all know how to travel together, where to stop, and what to do when they get there.
  
One locust alone would not eat enough to do a lot of damage.  But when billions of them swarm together, they can eat as much grain as it would take to feed a whole city for one year. 
 
 One lesson we can learn from the locusts is how important it is to work together.  God wants us to work together with others in our families, our churches and in Patch the Pirate Club.  He doesn’t want each of us to go our own way.  He wants each Christian to grow in Him and to walk with Him each day.  But He also wants us to serve Him together in our families and churches and in Patch Club.  The monthly presentation of a song and skit would not go well if each sailor decided he or she did not need to work with others.  For a song or skit to go well, the sailors need to work together.  Christians can do much more for the Lord if they will work together cheerfully and do their best for Him.
  
*  Thank God for the object lessons about “little things” in Proverbs 30 and in other places in the Bible.  Ask Him to help you grow strong in Him.   Ask Him to help you work well with others as you serve Him together.  *

A good post for a Sunday, I think!

More little things from Pine Cone Lodge

 Here is another devotional page from Pine Cone Lodge concerning little things that teach big lessons.  This one is also from the "In the Great Outdoors" category.  [Warning: If you happen to be afraid of spiders, you may want to skip this one.]

    “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king’s palaces.” 

 (Proverbs 30:28)

    Did you guess we were going to learn something about spiders today? Maybe spiders are not your favorite creatures, even in the great outdoors.  Or maybe you don’t mind them as long as they stay outdoors!  But our verse reminds us that spiders can even be found in king’s palaces, so we shouldn’t be surprised when we find them in our homes.  Did you know that a spider is not a bug or an insect?  No, it is a kind of animal called an arachnid.  It is in the same class of animals as scorpions and ticks.  Insects have three body parts and six legs. But spiders have 2 body parts -- the abdomen and the thorax -- and eight legs.  There are more than 30,000 different species, or kinds, of spiders.
 
 Not all of these spiders spin webs, but most kinds of spiders do spend much of their time spinning webs.  They use these webs to trap insects for food.  Spiders have special silk-spinning glands, called spinnerets,  at the tip of their abdomens.  They use these spinnerets to spin their webs.  The threads are called “silk”.  The threads of the web are sticky,  and that is how insects get caught in them.  So if the threads are sticky, why doesn’t the spider get caught in its  own web?  Spiders have a special oil on their bodies that keeps them from sticking to their webs.   
 
 Every species of spider spins a special style of web, and they build their webs perfectly on the first try.  They don’t make mistakes and have to start over.  Some webs, in bright sunlight, look like flowers to insects that are looking for nectar.  They fly right into the web thinking they will find nectar.  Instead, they will be a meal for the spider!
 
 Next time you see a spider web, think about the great God who created the spider and planned for it to spin a special style of web.  The web is God’s way of helping the spider to find food.  What an amazing God we have, Who designed such unusual creatures and even planned how they would find food.  When we think about God’s care for these small creatures, we can’t help but think about how much He loves and cares for us!
 
 *  Thank God for His love and care for you.  Thank Him for how He provides your needs.  Praise Him for His great power in creating all things.  *

Hope you have enjoyed this little devotional concerning another of God's "little things".  There are two more to go!

From Pine Cone Lodge

Think there are any ants under these picnic tables?  This photo was taken at an ice-cream place, so ants are pretty likely!

Here is one of the posts concerning "little things" from Proverbs 30, from the kids' devotional book Pine Cone Lodge.  I know Tori is looking forward to these, so here is the first one.  It's from the category

IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS  and is the devotional page for May 27.

 “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” 

 (Proverbs 30:25)

     Today’s verse talks about one of the “little things” God has made that is very wise.  The little things in this verse are little insects called ants.  Everyone has seen ants and knows what they look like.  Sometimes in summer, ants come into our houses and try to find food in our kitchens.  We don’t like it when ants swarm all over our kitchen counters or decide to help themselves to the sugar in our sugar bowls!  We really wish they would stay outside in the great outdoors and find their food there,  not in our houses.
 
There are many different species, or kinds, of ants.  The different species of ants have different favorite foods.  Some ants like to eat other insects, or small creatures such as spiders and caterpillars.  Other ants like to eat seeds.  Some ants, especially the ones that come into our kitchens, like to eat grease or sweet foods.  Most ants do like sweet foods, and sweets are very important for ants.  They give the ants the energy they need to work hard.  Ants are sensitive to the smell of sweet foods, so they can easily find what they need.  Sweet foods that ants eat include things like sugar and honey in our kitchens.  But other sweet foods that ants eat outdoors include fruits, the nectar of flowers, and also the body fluids of caterpillars!

 Ants work very hard to find food and bring it back to the nest.  If an ant finds a piece of food that is too big for it to carry alone, it goes back to the nest and gets some other ants to help carry the food.  On the way to the nest, the first ant leaves a trail of scents as landmarks so it will be able to return to the place where it found the food.
 
Ants work hard to gather and store their food, don’t they?  And our verse reminds us that if tiny creatures like ants can work so hard and so wisely, we should be able to do the same.  God wants us to work hard.  Whatever our work is, whether it is schoolwork or chores around the house or even a part-time job, God wants us to do that work in the very best way that we can.  He wants us to use our time wisely, too, just as the ants do!
 
*  Thank God for good object lessons in the Bible that remind us of how He wants us to live.  Ask God to help you do your very best work every day and to use your time wisely.  *

Hope you have enjoyed learning a little lesson from ants today!  And, if ants inside your house happen to be an issue, check out this Homemade Peppermint Ant Spray from Mom4Real!  I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I sure intend to!

Another page from Pine Cone Lodge

Here is another page from the summer devotional book called Pine Cone Lodge.  This page is for May 26 and is from the category

IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS:                     

     

“There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.” 

 (Proverbs 30:24)

  Have you ever thought about how many “little things” there are on the earth?  Many people have never thought about this.  Even if they happen to be out in the woods on a hiking trail, they are usually in such a hurry to get where they’re going that they don’t think about the dirt under their feet.  If they were to go to the side of the trail and dig around a bit in the dirt there, they would be very surprised at all the “little things” they would see.
    
    It’s not a good idea to scoop up dirt from the edge of a hiking trail.  But you can go out in your own back yard and scoop up a cup of loose soil to try this activity.  Find a flat rock or an old board to spread the dirt out on.  Then take a magnifying glass and look at the dirt through it.  You will be surprised at everything you can see!  There may be tiny crystals of different colors.  There will surely be spongy decayed leaves.  There can be all kinds of living creatures -- ants, grubs, mites, insect eggs, and earthworms.  What a lot of “little things” you will find in just one cupful of dirt from your back yard!  In that cupful of dirt you will see many little things God has made.
    
    Our verse tells us about four “little things” which God has made.  It says that although those four things are little, they are very wise. Over the next few days, we will learn more about these four little things.  God wants us to pay attention to little things.  Little things can teach us big lessons sometimes.  That’s why we can learn a lot from object lessons.  Another important thing to remember about little things is that God is the One who made them.  The little things God has made show us His wisdom and power just as much as big things, like elephants or the Grand Canyon, do.

 *  Thank God for everything He has made for us to use and enjoy.  Praise Him for His wisdom and power in making little things as well as big things.  *

I hope you will enjoy these occasional posts from Pine Cone Lodge.  I have fun writing these kids' devotionals, and I usually find that I learn a lot in the process!

A page from Pine Cone Lodge

 I thought it might be fun to publish a few posts featuring pages from this summer's devotional book for kids, Pine Cone Lodge.  This one I'm sharing today is from May 24, the very beginning of the book.  The devotional pages are built around various themes involving the outdoors.

AT THE LODGE                               

    “And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”  (Mark 6:31)
  
 Welcome to Pine Cone Lodge!  A lodge is a house or hotel where people stay for vacations sometimes.  In different parts of our country, there are many lodges people may stay at while spending time in the great outdoors.  This summer we are going to learn about some of these places.  We will pretend we are taking a refreshing summer vacation.  We will stay at a pretend place called Pine Cone Lodge, and we will also spend lots of time outdoors.  We will learn many object lessons from the birds, plants, animals, and fish God has created.
  
 In the late 1800s in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state, there were many hotels where people could go and spend time in the wilderness.  Some of these people wanted to stay in tents instead of hotels, because they wanted to feel more as if they were camping.  So at first there were tent camps at some of the hotels.  Then they put up platforms to set up the tents on.  Then cabins were built to replace the tents.  Many of these camps were owned by rich families, and the buildings became bigger and nicer as time went on.  Today we call these camps “lodges” or “Great Camps”.
   
Lodges and Great Camps began because people wanted to get away from their busy lives for awhile.  They wanted to get outdoors and spend time in the mountains and forests, enjoying the lakes, rivers, and other beautiful places God has made.  We still like to do those things today, don’t we?
   
In our verse today, Jesus and His disciples went to a quiet outdoor place to get some rest.  Jesus often went to quiet places in the wilderness to spend time alone with His heavenly Father.  In the summertime, it’s nice to take your Bible and devotional book and have your quiet time outdoors or on a porch or deck.  You can enjoy the nice fresh air and hear the songs of birds while you spend time with the Lord in Bible reading and prayer.  God wants us to take some quiet time every day, whether indoors or outdoors, to read His Word and pray!
  
 *  Thank God for the beauty of His creation and for the many interesting birds and animals He has made.  Ask God to help you be faithful in having a quiet time with Him at the start of every day.  *


Even though this book is for kids, I find that it has lessons for me and for all of us.  Hope you will enjoy these occasional posts -- I haven't decided yet how often I will do them.

A completed project

As many of my regular readers know, I take on a writing project every spring.  Sometimes I start it in late winter, but it always needs to be finished around the end of May.  The project is a summer devotional book for the sailors in our church's Patch the Pirate Club.  It has a daily devotional page for each day of the summer, plus coloring pages, word searches, recipes, crafts, and sometimes even a science experiment or two.  Oh, and a memory verse for each month.

This all came about because the club material provides daily devotionals -- "Sailor's Logs" -- for the school year when the club is in session, but nothing for the summer.  Long ago our club leaders at the time decided that if daily devotions are important for kids during the school year, they are important in the summer too.  I agreed to try my hand at writing a devotional book -- and the rest, as they say, is history.

I've written enough of these by now that I can just re-use some of my older manuscripts.  (This one, with an Adirondacks/outdoor theme, is from 2008, so you see the kids who will be using it will find it all new material.)  However, sometimes -- like this year -- the way the dates fall for the ending of Patch the Pirate Club for the summer, and the starting up of the club again in September, I find myself adding a few pages.  This year I added eleven pages: ten daily devotional pages, plus an additional craft.  It's always a challenge to come up with material that's interesting and fresh and will hopefully be applicable to the kids' lives.  Always a blessing, too, though!

And what a great feeling of accomplishment to have finished the writing, to pick up the books from the print shop, and then eventually see them in the hands of the children.  I'm so thankful for the strength and encouragement God gave me all along the way.

A fun giveaway for writers!

From a vintage calendar

Do you enjoy writing and journaling?  I certainly do!  For many years I kept an ongoing journal of ideas, thoughts, trips we took, and so on.  I am also working on my second scrapbook-style journal where I paste pictures and other items that speak to me, and then journal daily activities in and around them.  For some reason I seldom seem to find time for that anymore, but I do try to journal my daily Bible reading even if I do nothing else. I also have an impressive collection of journals filled with Bible studies I've done in the past.  It makes it handy to look back when I'm studying a particular book.

And of course blank books, note cards, stationery and even nice pencils, pens, and highlighters are always fun to have.  If you enjoy the writing process too, you'll want to check out today's giveaway at The Muncks Quiver.  Here's the link: Giveaway for the writer.  This fun giveaway ends at midnight tonight, so head on over and check it out.  Someone will win, and it just might be you!

This week's goals ... and a sigh of relief

Photo Source

Last week I met my two biggest goals, to finish Sunday School Lesson 8 and to finish proofreading the summer devotional book I produce each year for our church's children's ministry.  I also kept up with my water intake pretty well, but my other goals fell pretty much by the wayside.

For this week, here are my goals:

*  Begin study of Sunday School lesson 9
*  Limit sugar (I'm off to a bad start with this one already)
*  Keep up with crafting goals (which I have yet to set)
*  Exercise 4 to 5 times
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 10 pm each night
*  Post regularly in one or both of my blogs
*  Keep up with Kelly's Missions for Zone 2, the kitchen.

And that should be plenty to keep me out of trouble!

The sigh of relief involves this year's kids' summer devotional book.  This year I was reusing the one I wrote in 2004.  It is called Camp Evergreen and has a summer camp theme.  There were some pages I needed to update, and I had an extra page that I needed to write, so those obviously had to be retyped.  I got those done in a fairly timely fashion and then set about moving them into my folder of originals in the appropriate places.  That's when I discovered that my originals -- the hard copies from 2004 -- were in a different font and size!  And that's when I remembered that I had done that book on a different computer and had gotten it onto this one via the expedient of emailing it to myself.  After which I reformatted everything because I needed to send it out to some people in pdf files.  So the new hard copies didn't match the old ones.  Suffice it to say that I had to reprint all of the pages, not just the ones I had updated.

It all took time, but now, praise God, the book is at the printer!  And I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

A finished project!

Many of my longtime readers know I have a project that keeps me busy every spring. It doesn't have to, of course -- I could work on this writing project throughout the year and not end up in such a crunch time each spring. But I always seem to do so anyway...

My project is a devotional book for the kids involved with our kids' ministry at church to use during the summer months. Our church uses the Patch the Pirate program (and what a great one it is!) but the Sailor's Logs they use only cover the months of the school year. Believing that the sailors needed to have devotions year round, the leaders of the club at our church asked me years ago to consider writing a summer devotional book for them to use.

I have written, I think, nine of these at this point. My husband has been encouraging me for years to "recycle" some of the earlier manuscripts rather than starting from scratch with a new one. (The problem with this has been that I keep coming up with new themes I want to try!) This year, however, I took his advice and went back to the book I'd written for 2002. I needed to completely retype it, and some pages needed updating, so it did take quite awhile, though not as long as a new book would have.

I finished organizing the pages on Monday and got it to the print shop the same day. By Wednesday -- voila! -- we had a box of books!

Here is what this year's cover looks like.

This book is an almanac type of book, with a page for each day of the summer months. The pages deal with fun or interesting things that happened on that day in history, or special themes that have been assigned to that day -- like National Banana Split Day, etc.

Here's a peek at the book's pages.

And another.

Some previous books

I'm thrilled to have this project completed for another year! Maybe now I can blog more often...

Show & Tell Friday for May 30

Okay, after months of being away it looks as if I will be able to take part in Show & Tell Friday today. What more appropriate item to show you all than part of the reason I haven't been here for awhile -- this year's summer devotional book. For those who don't know, I write a devotional book each year for our church's children's ministry to use through the summer. I do make them available to other churches who are interested in using them. It seems that most children's ministries are geared to the school year only, yet many churches either continue their ministries year round or like to provide materials for the kids to use through the summer. So here it is --Pine Cone Lodge! That's the title of this year's book, which has an Adirondack lodge/outdoor theme. I am so happy to have it finished!


I thought I would also share pictures of some of the other recent books I have done. Here is a photo of Living Waters Ranch (2006) and Riding a Mountain Railway (2007).


And here is a photo of Camp Evergreen (summer camp theme) and In Green Pastures (Irish/sheep theme). As you see, each year's book has a theme, which is enjoyable for kids (and makes the books easier to plan and write). I could theoretically start over with some of my earlier themes by now -- there were three earlier books, one with a prayer theme and two with an almanac theme (what happened on this day in history, etc). The problem is that I keep thinking of new and (to me, anyway) fascinating themes. So only the Lord knows how long I will continue doing this!



To see what others have shared for Show & Tell this week, go visit visit There is No Place Like Home
and check out the links. It’s so much fun to see what others have to share!

If you've been wondering where I am...

Don't worry. I'm right here, just busy as can be. There's a lot going on right now, not the least of which is my annual writing project -- producing a summer devotional book for the children's ministry in our church. I just haven' t had time to blog lately, as I'm trying to come up with three pages a day for the book. I have lots of ideas in mind and at least one post started, and I may even try and get something ready for Show & Tell Friday tomorrow. I'll be back to blogging regularly, Lord willing, as soon as I can possibly manage to do so.

Please come back and visit again soon! God bless you all!

Another page from the summer devotional

This is from the category called "Down at the Station."

May 24

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power: not one faileth." (Isaiah 40:26)

Today we are going to visit a very famous train station in New York City. Most people call it Grand Central Station, but its name has been Grand Central Terminal since 1913. There are many, many interesting things about Grand Central Terminal, but today we are going to think about just one thing -- a ceiling!

The center of Grand Central Terminal, where many people come and go each day, is called the Main Concourse. This is where the ticket booths and machines are, as well as an information booth with a four-sided clock on top. But the ceiling of the Main Concourse is something special. It was painted to look like the night sky. This was done in 1912 by a French artist named Paul Helleu. The painting covers the whole ceiling and is said to show 2500 stars, including constellations like Orion. Strangely, the sky and the constellations look backward. A lot of people think that the artist made a mistake as he painted them.

Our verse reminds us that God is the One who made the real stars and constellations, and that He is all-powerful. He created the stars, and He is the One who brings them out each night. He is the One who gave the stars their names. When He calls them to come out, they all come. None of them are missing. On the ceiling in Grand Central Terminal, the stars and constellations do not look just right. But in the real night sky, they will always look perfect, because God is the One who put them there. And He never makes mistakes!

* Praise God for His mighty power in creation. Praise Him for making the stars and constellations. Thank Him that He never makes mistakes, and that everything He does is perfect.

Another page from the summer devotional

Here's another page from this year's summer devotional -- written for kids, but I know some of you are enjoying reading these from time to time. One of the weekly sections is called "In the Dome Car". This page is from that section. It's the devotional for May 19.

"Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." (Psalm 107:43)

Today we are going to begin learning about a special type of railroad car called a dome car. This type of car has seats and often has tables as well. But the most interesting thing about a dome car is its windows. There may be a special dome-shaped section on the top of the car that is made all of glass. The passengers can sit here and they are able to see all of the scenery that the train is passing through. The Amtrak train California Zephyr has a car called the Sightseer Lounge which is much the same as a dome car. This car has huge windows that wrap around most of the ceiling. These windows make it easy to see all of the beautiful mountain scenery, and even the sky. There is so much to see in this amazing country of ours. Traveling by train in a dome car means people can see places they could never drive to in a car.

We can observe, or see, much from a dome car. Over the next few weeks we will “see” many sights from the windows of the California Zephyr. But our Bible verse today talks about observing some things, too. Psalm 107 is a psalm that tells us we must give thanks to the Lord. It gives us two reasons for thanking Him: 1) The Lord is good; and 2) His mercy endures forever. Then the psalmist goes on to give many examples of God’s goodness and mercy which He has showed to His people. Four times in the psalm, the psalmist says, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” In the very last verse, the psalmist tells us that if we are wise, and observe all that God has done, we will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. How true that is! When we observe all that God does for His children, we begin to understand what a kind and loving God He is!

* Thank God for His goodness and mercy. Thank Him for the loving kindness He shows as He cares for you and your family.

Riding a Mountain Railway

Patty has asked if I would post some of the thoughts from my newest summer devotional book for kids. Here is the first page, which the kids in our church would have done on May 16.

"For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death." (Psalm 48:14)

This year's summer devotional book is all about trains and railroads. We will learn many, many things about the history of railroading and also about what trains and train travel are like today. It will be lots of fun to "ride the rails" together!

There are many songs about trains and railroads, and some of them are Christian songs. We will learn about some of these railroad songs through the summer. One old song is called "Life's Railway to Heaven". This song says that living the Christian life is sort of like traveling on a mountain railroad. Our journey begins when we ask Jesus to be our personal Savior and we are born again. Our journey ends when we get to heaven someday. But our journey is not just a straight, simple trip from here to heaven, is it? All sorts of things can happen along the way. We have good times and bad times. We have sad times and happy times. We have times when we are healthy and times when we are sick or hurt. We have times when we are walking with God faithfully and times when we do not walk with Him as we should.

The chorus to the song "Life's Railway to Heaven" says:
Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore,
Where the angels wait to join us
In God's praise forevermore.

And it is true that God will be our guide all along our journey through life. Our verse tells us that He will be our guide for ever and ever, even until death. What a faithful God He is!

* If you are a Christian, thank God that He will be your faithful guide through your whole life. Ask Him to help you follow Him each day. If you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior, you can do that today!

As you can see, each day's page begins with a Bible verse; for the kids, I leave blanks in the verse for them to fill in some of the words. This ensures that they will read it. At the end of each page are some prayer suggestions for them to use.

I'll post some more pages as time goes on!

A sigh of relief...

Yes, I'm heaving a sigh of relief as I see the end of my huge writing project in sight. Theres' still a bit of organizing to do, but the actual hard work of writing 100 pages or so is done.

As I've come to expect, the day after finishing such a monumental effort is something of a letdown, in a way. I say "letdown" for lack of a better word. It's more like I can't decide what to do next. Do I catch up on housework? Do I write letters or e-mails to all my friends I've neglected for months? Do I post in my blog? Do I sit down and cross-stitch? Do I get out my new sewing machine (still in the box since Christmas) and try it out? Do I cook? Do I rake the yard? So many choices, after weeks of no free time, are mind-boggling.

Maybe I can make it a "15-minute day" (a la FlyLady) where I do different things for 15 minutes at a time all day long. I do need to vacuum my upstairs. I'll also do some work in the kitchen, since that's the FlyZone for this week.

Hope everyone else has a happy day!