~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blessed Assurance
Words by Fanny Crosby, 1873
Music by Phoebe P. Knapp, 1873
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Refrain
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Refrain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, so this is an old hymn and many of us have heard it more times than we can count, but when is the last time you took a moment to really read and pay attention to the words? Me? Longer ago than I'd like to admit. I do love old hymns and though I like all the new stuff too, I really wish we heard more of the older hymns and gospels.
I'm lucky enough to have the privilege to play what I like at the office and usually have it tuned in to a local Christian music station. Most of the time it just serves as background music and a lot of that time I'm singing along more out of habit than really paying attention, but even then on some level it is soothing and a blessing to my day. Anyway, occasionally something will really catch me to the point of grabbing my full attention. Today it was a newer version of the above hymn (sorry, I don't know for sure who was singing it) and I stopped what I was doing to really listen to the words and got so absorbed that I had to "google" them and read them through several times...
Am I resting in that most blessed assurance that Jesus is mine?
Do I realize just by the foretaste how sweet the divine glory is really going to be?
I am His heir through salvation and purchased at a very dear price by the God of the universe.
Am I telling my story and singing my song of praises to my Savior all the day long? Especially in the hearing and presence of others that may not know the tune or the words?
Am I delighting in and submitting to my King of kings in every area of my life?
Am I choosing to look toward the coming of Christ with the angels surrounding Him?
Am I listening to His soft and gentle voice whispering love to me and tending me with mercy?
Am I resting in my submission to His plan and recognizing the blessings of being happy just to be in Him?
Am I being diligent in my watchkeep? Waiting and looking above to such an extent that I'm so full of His goodness that there is room for nothing else?
Am I truly lost in His love?
I lot of you know the things that my family is going through right now and let me just say that I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit was the one to grab my attention and guide me through this. It very definitely spoke some peace into my heart this afternoon to be reminded that no matter what I'm walking through, I'm His. And no matter what is going on around me He is there whispering to me of His eternal love and the plans He has for me. And that no matter the outcome of these worldly days, He is coming again and when He does I'll be going with Him!
I hope that you too, have accepted Christ as your Savior through the precious gift of His blood shed on the cross as payment for your sins. If you have, please sing with me of our "Blessed Assurance". If you have not made this decision, He waits for you, He wants to give you all these things and more. I'll be honored to listen if you have any questions, please send me a note.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Friday, February 17
Tuesday, February 14
Busy, busy, busy!
OK, so it's still Februray, but it is flying by! I've been busy...
Busy at the office... I'm officially a manager as of Feb 1 and it hasn't really changed much in the way of my daily norm. I did spend one afternoon with our HR rep just talking through some of the recordkeeping type things and some of the things that I think will be challenging for me if and when they occur. We are making progress though as far as the department. By the end of this week we will be done with one group of active files and should be done with the other group of active files by the end of the month. This is the massive project that we started the 1st of April last year and have done with me, a full time employee that started the beginning of July, a temp that has been full time with us since the beginning of September and 2 very loyal employees working lots of extra OT. We've had others come and go doing extra OT as well. So we are now beginning to move into the inactive side of things, but some prep work has already been done on these and we are not having to label them as extensively, so they should go much quicker. Feelings of accomplishment are coming soon!
Busy at home... I've been working on several projects at home. This weekend I was able to complete my quilt top and the back (I did not have enough fabric to do the whole thing one color so I had to improvise), now I'm just waiting for payday to go buy the batting so I can begin putting it together. I was able to finish one book on CD and start another - I pop them in to the computer and listen to them while I sew. I even took some time to sit and read an actual book which I finished and have started another since them. Yes, I'm a reading addict, bookaholic, (choose your term and enter it here) of the worst kind! The cruelest thing to me is being in a foreign country and walking by a book store knowing that I can't read a darn thing inside!
I'm still progressing on the afghan I'm crocheting and only have about 30 more rows to go. I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so. I've recently acquired a ton and a half of yarn (OK, so I didn't actually weigh it, but it's a lot!) from my grandmother and am thinking of researching what it takes and how to do it to become a seller on Ebay. Then dig in and just keep knitting and crocheting and selling the finished projects on Ebay. I'd make a little money and put the yarn to good use. I've also thought of donating finished projects, but I'm not sure who could put them to good use. I don't know if there are organizations that could give them to fire victims, abuse victims, hospital patients. If any of you have connections or ideas, I'd love to hear them. Just searching for a place to give - I enjoy doing them and now that I have a seemingly endless supply of yarn, I can really do more!
Busy out and about... My friend Susannah was with her family last week after the loss of her grandmother and she came home Friday evening. So, I went over and shared the ride to the airport with Marc and the boys and heated up the dinner I'd brought when we returned to the house. Saturday I went to a free scrapbooking crop with some friends that I usually gather with once or twice a month. I spent four hours that morning and finished 4 whole pages as well as cutting all the pieces for Susannah's baby shower invitations. I just have to print the wording on the vellum (thanks to Sarah I didn't have to go buy this!) and then cut them and assemble and address. I'm intending to get them in the mail this weekend. I do have to pick up another pack of envelopes. Then from the crop I went to a Stampin' Up party that a friend from Sunday School was having. I had a delightful time hanging out there and chatting with friends. I even got a prelook at the wedding dress I'm going to do minor alterations on for a friend who is getting married April 1. We had Bible Study last night at Susan's instead of my place so that she could participate, since her DH was out of town. I definitely enjoy hostessing, but it was nice to get out this once too. We have one more lesson in the book we are using now and then we are going to do Beth Moore's The Patriarchs.
Well, I guess that brings things up-to-date and is all the news that's fit to print for now. Hope you are all having a lovely Valentine's Day!
Busy at the office... I'm officially a manager as of Feb 1 and it hasn't really changed much in the way of my daily norm. I did spend one afternoon with our HR rep just talking through some of the recordkeeping type things and some of the things that I think will be challenging for me if and when they occur. We are making progress though as far as the department. By the end of this week we will be done with one group of active files and should be done with the other group of active files by the end of the month. This is the massive project that we started the 1st of April last year and have done with me, a full time employee that started the beginning of July, a temp that has been full time with us since the beginning of September and 2 very loyal employees working lots of extra OT. We've had others come and go doing extra OT as well. So we are now beginning to move into the inactive side of things, but some prep work has already been done on these and we are not having to label them as extensively, so they should go much quicker. Feelings of accomplishment are coming soon!
Busy at home... I've been working on several projects at home. This weekend I was able to complete my quilt top and the back (I did not have enough fabric to do the whole thing one color so I had to improvise), now I'm just waiting for payday to go buy the batting so I can begin putting it together. I was able to finish one book on CD and start another - I pop them in to the computer and listen to them while I sew. I even took some time to sit and read an actual book which I finished and have started another since them. Yes, I'm a reading addict, bookaholic, (choose your term and enter it here) of the worst kind! The cruelest thing to me is being in a foreign country and walking by a book store knowing that I can't read a darn thing inside!
I'm still progressing on the afghan I'm crocheting and only have about 30 more rows to go. I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so. I've recently acquired a ton and a half of yarn (OK, so I didn't actually weigh it, but it's a lot!) from my grandmother and am thinking of researching what it takes and how to do it to become a seller on Ebay. Then dig in and just keep knitting and crocheting and selling the finished projects on Ebay. I'd make a little money and put the yarn to good use. I've also thought of donating finished projects, but I'm not sure who could put them to good use. I don't know if there are organizations that could give them to fire victims, abuse victims, hospital patients. If any of you have connections or ideas, I'd love to hear them. Just searching for a place to give - I enjoy doing them and now that I have a seemingly endless supply of yarn, I can really do more!
Busy out and about... My friend Susannah was with her family last week after the loss of her grandmother and she came home Friday evening. So, I went over and shared the ride to the airport with Marc and the boys and heated up the dinner I'd brought when we returned to the house. Saturday I went to a free scrapbooking crop with some friends that I usually gather with once or twice a month. I spent four hours that morning and finished 4 whole pages as well as cutting all the pieces for Susannah's baby shower invitations. I just have to print the wording on the vellum (thanks to Sarah I didn't have to go buy this!) and then cut them and assemble and address. I'm intending to get them in the mail this weekend. I do have to pick up another pack of envelopes. Then from the crop I went to a Stampin' Up party that a friend from Sunday School was having. I had a delightful time hanging out there and chatting with friends. I even got a prelook at the wedding dress I'm going to do minor alterations on for a friend who is getting married April 1. We had Bible Study last night at Susan's instead of my place so that she could participate, since her DH was out of town. I definitely enjoy hostessing, but it was nice to get out this once too. We have one more lesson in the book we are using now and then we are going to do Beth Moore's The Patriarchs.
Well, I guess that brings things up-to-date and is all the news that's fit to print for now. Hope you are all having a lovely Valentine's Day!
Monday, February 6
It's February?! Really?! It can't be!
Another week has flown by and I can't believe we are in February already. Wasn't Thanksgiving just yesterday?!
My grandpa turned 83 on Thursday and I went up to Indiana this weekend to spend some time with he and Gram. (Yes, this means that the doorframe did get fixed last week on Tuesday and all the paperwork has been sent in to the insurance company, so I'm hoping to get the final check in the next week or two). As of the last weekend in January, Gram is back in a health care unit in the main building, but a different one that where she was before, so that hospice will still be able to come. They tried about a week and a half with her in the townhouse, but she is just too weak to stay there. Some days are OK, but others, she was too weak to even get out of bed. Plus she fell again and since Grandpa doesn't have the strength to get her up then he had to call for someone to come out and help her up. No damage or anything broken this time, but is just a really big risk for both of them for her to be home. She had a rough week and was very disoriented and not knowing what was going on. Grandpa said she had a good day on Friday though and was much more with it. However, Saturday when I was there was not a good day. She is physically quite a bit stronger, but though she knew me, she didn't really know what day it was, or why she was where she was. Her sense of time is really mixed up. The little bit of time I spent with her yesterday before I left, she seemed much more with and we even walked around a bit with me pushing her wheelchair. One day at a time, she is at least not in any type of pain right now and that's the good thing.
The best part of the weekend was it began snowing very early Saturday morning and continued through the entire day, then got really cold on Sunday and snowed a little more here and there, but really was more windy and so we had some drifting. There was probably a total of 1-2 inches, but part of it melted away on Saturday as it was still above freezing until late evening. But it was enough that I really enjoyed it a lot!
In other family news, my cousin and his wife have gotten moved to San Antonio and are in the process of buying a house. They have also found out that they are expecting their first child on August 20!
I'm very much looking forward to this coming weekend too. I'm going to a scrapbooking crop at a local high school with some friends of mine in the morning - it's free! And then in the afternoon I'm going to a Stampin' Up party that a friend from Sunday School is having. So I'll be having a very creative and enjoyable day! Then hopefully on Sunday I'll get some more work done on the quilt I'm currently doing. I've got two different colors of border to put around it then the top is done and I'll be able to prepare and start quilting it!
I'm also going to attempt to get my taxes done in the next week or two. A friend of mine was blogging about that very subject on Friday. I do not dread it per se, because most of the time I actually end up with a refund. I just dread the process - I'm not an accounting type person and don't enjoy this sort of stuff. I have to go out and buy the TurboTax and get it put on my machine. Then just make myself sit down and do it. It's just time consuming and I'd much rather be doing something else... sewing... reading... scrapbooking. Oh well, it must be done!
That's really it for now. Happy Monday to all and a terrific rest of the week. Feel free to comment anytime you want, I enjoy hearing from you all!
My grandpa turned 83 on Thursday and I went up to Indiana this weekend to spend some time with he and Gram. (Yes, this means that the doorframe did get fixed last week on Tuesday and all the paperwork has been sent in to the insurance company, so I'm hoping to get the final check in the next week or two). As of the last weekend in January, Gram is back in a health care unit in the main building, but a different one that where she was before, so that hospice will still be able to come. They tried about a week and a half with her in the townhouse, but she is just too weak to stay there. Some days are OK, but others, she was too weak to even get out of bed. Plus she fell again and since Grandpa doesn't have the strength to get her up then he had to call for someone to come out and help her up. No damage or anything broken this time, but is just a really big risk for both of them for her to be home. She had a rough week and was very disoriented and not knowing what was going on. Grandpa said she had a good day on Friday though and was much more with it. However, Saturday when I was there was not a good day. She is physically quite a bit stronger, but though she knew me, she didn't really know what day it was, or why she was where she was. Her sense of time is really mixed up. The little bit of time I spent with her yesterday before I left, she seemed much more with and we even walked around a bit with me pushing her wheelchair. One day at a time, she is at least not in any type of pain right now and that's the good thing.
The best part of the weekend was it began snowing very early Saturday morning and continued through the entire day, then got really cold on Sunday and snowed a little more here and there, but really was more windy and so we had some drifting. There was probably a total of 1-2 inches, but part of it melted away on Saturday as it was still above freezing until late evening. But it was enough that I really enjoyed it a lot!
In other family news, my cousin and his wife have gotten moved to San Antonio and are in the process of buying a house. They have also found out that they are expecting their first child on August 20!
I'm very much looking forward to this coming weekend too. I'm going to a scrapbooking crop at a local high school with some friends of mine in the morning - it's free! And then in the afternoon I'm going to a Stampin' Up party that a friend from Sunday School is having. So I'll be having a very creative and enjoyable day! Then hopefully on Sunday I'll get some more work done on the quilt I'm currently doing. I've got two different colors of border to put around it then the top is done and I'll be able to prepare and start quilting it!
I'm also going to attempt to get my taxes done in the next week or two. A friend of mine was blogging about that very subject on Friday. I do not dread it per se, because most of the time I actually end up with a refund. I just dread the process - I'm not an accounting type person and don't enjoy this sort of stuff. I have to go out and buy the TurboTax and get it put on my machine. Then just make myself sit down and do it. It's just time consuming and I'd much rather be doing something else... sewing... reading... scrapbooking. Oh well, it must be done!
That's really it for now. Happy Monday to all and a terrific rest of the week. Feel free to comment anytime you want, I enjoy hearing from you all!
