Ever had a collection of leftovers stuck beneath the blade in your blender, making it very challenging to clean? Here’s a little tip my mom taught me growing up:
1. Fill your dirty blender about 1/2-3/4 the way up with water and a little soap.
2. Put the lid on and place on the blender base.
3. Turn blender on and allow to wash itself!
4. Dump and rinse…and you should have a clean blender…saving a lot of extra scrubbing time and probably water at that!
Simple…
This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.-Martin Luther
“For God’s covenant family to have a vital presence in culture, there must be community and compassion in the Christian home and in the church…women are essential for community and compassion to flourish. Women are essential to create the family atmosphere where truth can be heard, absorbed, and then reflected within and without the walls of the church. This does not constrain women. It unleashes us to do what we have been designed to do.” pgs. 127-128
May 4, 2008
On the Event of your 1st Birthday
Dear Karis Ruth,
As we look back on this precious first year of life with you, we desire to dedicate you to the Lord once again. We want to remind you of the meaning of your name and the special gift of grace you have been to us.
At least we have each other and a Sovereign God who provides all our needs!
“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren….that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us…” (2 Cor. 1:8-10)
Our Great God is in control, even when fear is elevated during a challenging season in our nation’s economy. In our community alone, there are 4-5 condo units for sale that are not going any where. The value of our homes are decreasing substantially. Gas prices just keep going up! It has been overwhelming me as of late. You may likewise be burdened or overwhelmed by the challenges of budget-keeping, but may I assure you that it all has a greater purpose! In order that we might not rely upon ourselves but on God! How should we as Christians respond?
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along not by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker…”
~Helen Keller
This quote has brought great encouragement to me when I have been overwhelmed by feeling like cleaning, cooking, taking care of my little one are insignificant. Each humble task is so important if done with a heart that views it as a great and noble task!
While at a gathering at our church last time discussing the topic of parenting, this thought was shared:
The greatest thing you may ever do is to raise your children and to include them in your lives!
How full of truth that is! Of all the important things we may accomplish in this life, raising our children to love the Lord and include them in serving the Lord together with us, is a high calling, and one not to be taken lightly or passed off to the “professionals”!
Blessings upon you as you view the humble tasks as glorious whatever season of your life!