"What shall I say? there is no end of His excellencies and desirableness;–'He is altogether lovely. This is our beloved, and this is our friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.'" ~John Owen
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Week in Quotes, Day Four
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Week in Quotes, Day Three
The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of grace;
Not at the crown he gifteth,
But on his pierced hand:
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel's land.
~Samuel Rutherford from The Sands of Time Are Sinking
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Week in Quotes, Day Two
Perhaps I've posted this one before? It's one of my most favorite quotes. What a sweet foretaste of heaven the Lord gives us in wedding days and marriages. I'm so glad He lets a taste a little to keep us longing for the glory! "Oh Well-beloved, run, run fast!"
"O for the coming of the Bridegroom! Oh, when shall I see the Bridegroom and the Bride meet in the clouds, and kiss each other! Oh, when will we get our day, and our heart’s fill of that love! Oh, if it were lawful to complain of the famine of that love, and want of the immediate vision of God! O time, time! how dost thou torment the souls of those that would be swallowed up of Christ’s love, because thou movest so slowly!...What would I not give to have time, that lieth betwixt Christ and me, taken out of the way, that we might once meet! I cannot think but that, at the first sight I shall see of that most lovely and fairest face, love will come out of His two eyes, and fill me with astonishment. I would but desire to stand at the outer side of the gates of the New Jerusalem, and look through a hole of the door, and see Christ’s face." ~Samuel Rutherford
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Week in Quotes, Day One
I have a very, very dear friend who is getting married on Saturday and so every day this week I'm sending her a quote. I thought I would also post them here. Enjoy the week in quotes!
"How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God has in His saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in us....But we love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so does the Lord rejoice over us." ~C.H. Spurgeon
Friday, June 24, 2011
England
As you know, I recently went on a trip to England with my friend Brianna (and my Dad who was on business). Pictures will come! But first, I thought I'd write a brief synopsis of our time there.
Monday, June 6
Finish packing, piano lessons, etc.
Leave for UK!
Tuesday
Arrive in Heathrow at 10am
Hotel check-in
Orientation to the city, tube, etc.
Walk to Westminster square
Evensong at Westminster Abbey
Dinner at Sofra (Turkish)
Wednesday
Check into Hilton Park Lane (Hyde Park Corner)
St. Paul's Cathedral
National Gallery of Art
After dinner coffee in Hyde Park
Daddy leaves
Part 1-2 of Cranford
Thursday
Breakfast at Costa
Walk to Buckingham Palace - accidentally in time for the changing of the guard!
Tower of London (exterior) and Tower Bridge
Jubilee Walkway along the Thames
Lunch at Borough Market (Pasties and Pies)
Millennium Bridge
Shopping (I bought a pale pink trench coat on sale for 28quid)
Les Miserables at Queen's Theatre
Part 3-5 of Cranford
Friday
Rain...
Breakfast in Hyde Park
Gun salute (the Queen's horses gallop across the Park, and cannons are fired)
British Library
Lunch at Pret a Manger - Hot soup and hot chocolate!
London Eye
Victoria Tower Gardens (behind Parliament)
Daddy back
Check into Kensington hotel
Dinner in Covent Garden at Jamie's Italian
Saturday
Walk through Kensington
British Museum
Cycling in Hyde Park
Dinner at Moroccan restaurant (spectacular!)
Sunday
Cambridge Presbyterian Church (Rev. Ian Hamilton)
Lunch at Hamilton's
Blessed by the evening sermon
Monday
Daddy gone
King's College Chapel
Round Church
Wren Library
Lovely stroll through the town!
Marketplace (we bought Turkish delight and Jelly Babies)
Grantchester Orchard (Tea and scones with clotted creme in the apple orchard)
Drive to Lincoln
Dinner at Brown's Pie
Tuesday
Lincoln Castle (built by William the Conqueror)
Cathedral
Drive to Oxford
The Eagle and Child - (the Inklings met here: C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, etc.)
Fish and Chips/Bangers and Mash - typical pub grub
Drive to Heathrow
Wednesday
First class seats!!!
Home
Highlights in London were St. Paul's and Les Miserables. It took us four hours to explore the cathedral. Climbing the dome was fun! The whispering gallery was amazing! We had a great view of the city from the top. The engineering/architecture was fascinating. Les Miserables was absolutely spectacular! We wore formal dresses :-) The play was so moving and well done. The theatre was small and intimate - we had a great view (even from the very back row!)
Cambridge was also a highlight of the trip. It was such a nice change of pace after so many days in London! We enjoyed just walking around and taking in the small, college town atmosphere. The river Cam was beautiful, lined with willows and lush greenery. The best part was tea in the orchard. It was warm and breezy and relaxing!
The Lord blessed us with so many surprises and delights beyond what we could have hoped for! Even the opportunity and ability to go was due to His providence. And I was so thankful to share the trip with such a compatible friend! We had a marvelous time!
More to come...
Cheers!
Lily
Thursday, June 23, 2011
"I Know."
This quote from Ann's book, One Thousand Gifts nourishes deep when the mess is climbing high and the words snap sharp and oh, to remember the gift of this moment...of One who is in all our moments, in our hurting-pain, in our sadness and ache-longing and tears running liquid. Just-right reminder in the middle of the week...all's grace:
"...The Word has nail-scarred hands that cup our face close, wipe away the tears running down, has eyes to look deep into our brimming ache, and whisper, 'I know. I know.'"
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Motherhood as a Mission Field
This came up in my News Feed on Facebook this morning...thought I'd share!
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-as-a-mission-field
Also, being that Sarah is a huge fan of Ann Voskamp, I thought you should know that she wrote a column for (July 2) World Magazine. It was excellent, and convicting!
Cheers!
Lily
Friday, June 17, 2011
Christ and Sanctification
I know of some who are in deep affliction today, and reading this last night made me think of them, and long for the day when all of our tears will be wiped away and oh! no more of this breaking and hurting and faint-weary heart ache.
(this is right long, but where to cut it short? Such precious words from Octavius Winslow, and thinking of those just hurting today, and my heart hurting with them...just wanting to pour in this balm. So might you bare with all the words today and drink in the comfort? And oh, for those aching, (no doubt you know some, too, maybe you are one?) might you just offer up some heart-longing words to that great throne of grace? Thank you.)
Christ and Sanctification
"By simple, close, and searching views of the cross of Christ, the Spirit most effectually sanctifies the believer....
The intercession of our Lord Jesus pleads for and secures the sanctification of the believer. In this sense, it may be said that He is 'made of God unto us sanctification.' The Christian reader may be but imperfectly aware how closely connected is every spiritual grace and blessing that he receives with the advocacy of Jesus at the right hand of God. (Lord, increase our faith in this great and sanctifying truth!) While yet upon earth, our dear Lord commenced that work of intercession for the sanctification of the church, which He ascended up on high more fully to carry on. This was the burden of His prayer; and it forms, as John Owen observes, 'the blessed spring of our holiness'–'Sanctify them through thy truth' (John 17:17). And not only would He leave it, as it were, as a model of the intercession of His exalted priesthood, but for our encouragement He would provide an evidence of its success. To Peter, about to pass through a sever temptation, He says, 'I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not' (Luke 22:32). Nor did his faith fail. It was sifted, it was severely shaken, it was powerfully tried, but it failed not! Not a particle of the pure gold was lost in the refining, not a grain of the pure wheat in the sifting. Why?–because Jesus had interceded, and His intercession was all-prevailing. O the vast and costly blessings that flow into the soul from the intercession of Christ! Never shall we know the full extent of this until we pass within the veil. We shall then know the secret of our spiritual life, of all our supports, consolations, and victories: why it was that the spark in the ocean was not quite extinguished, why the vessel in the storm and amid the breakers did not quite become a wreck; why, when temptations assailed, crosses pressed, afflictions overwhelmed, and unbelief prevailed, our faith still did not fail and our [little boat] was not driven from its moorings; and that 'out of the depths' (Psalm 130:1), we were enabled to cry, 'Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ' (II Corinthians 2:14). The secret will then disclose itself–the intercession of Jesus our great High Priest.
How sweet and consoling to the believer is this view of our exalted Immanuel in the hour of bereavement, when confined to his chamber of solitude, or languishing upon his bed of 'pining sickness' (Isaiah 38:12). Too deeply absorbed in sorrow, it may be, to give utterance to his anguished spirit in prayer–His bodily frame so weakened by disease and racked by pain as to render the mind unfit for close and connected spiritual thought–O how sweet the intercession of Jesus is then! How sweet to know that in the hour of the soul's extremity when human sympathy and power are exhausted, Jesus has entered into heaven 'now to appear in the presence of God' (Hebrews 9:24) for His suffering child. And when all utterance has failed on earth, when the heart is broken and the lips are sealed, then to look up and see our elder Brother, the Brother born for our adversity, the exalted High Priest waving the golden censer before the throne while the cloud of His atoning merit goes up before the mercy-seat, bearing as it ascends the person, the name, the circumstances, and the wants of the sufferer below–precious Gospel that opens to the eye of faith so sweet a prospect as this! When you cannot think of Him, afflicted soul, He is thinking of you. When you cannot pray to Him, He is praying for you, for "He liveth to make intercession' (Hebrews 7:25). But our Lord Jesus is the sanctification of the believer in still another and blessed sense.
View Him as the Head of all mediatorial fullness to His people. 'It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell' (Colossians 1:19). 'And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace' (John 1:16). Here is sanctification for the believer who is mourning over the existence and power of indwelling sin, feeling it to be his greatest burden and the cause of his deepest sorrow. In the growing discovery of the hidden evil–each successive view, it may be, deeper and darker than the former–where is he to look but unto Jesus? Where can he fly, but to His cross? Hemmed in on every side by a host of spiritual Philistines, no avenue of escape presenting itself, the eternal Spirit leads the soul to a simple view of Jesus, opens to him the vast treasury of His grace, and the free welcome to all comers. And what does he find in that fullness? All that he wants to pardon sin, to hide deformity, to overcome unbelief, and [to] break the power of strong corruption; he finds that there is enough in Christ to make him holy, that, in simply taking his sins to Jesus, they are pardoned; in taking his strong infirmities, they are subdued; in taking his wants, they are supplied. In a word, he finds Christ to be his 'wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption' (Colossians 1:30).
(this is right long, but where to cut it short? Such precious words from Octavius Winslow, and thinking of those just hurting today, and my heart hurting with them...just wanting to pour in this balm. So might you bare with all the words today and drink in the comfort? And oh, for those aching, (no doubt you know some, too, maybe you are one?) might you just offer up some heart-longing words to that great throne of grace? Thank you.)
Christ and Sanctification
"By simple, close, and searching views of the cross of Christ, the Spirit most effectually sanctifies the believer....
The intercession of our Lord Jesus pleads for and secures the sanctification of the believer. In this sense, it may be said that He is 'made of God unto us sanctification.' The Christian reader may be but imperfectly aware how closely connected is every spiritual grace and blessing that he receives with the advocacy of Jesus at the right hand of God. (Lord, increase our faith in this great and sanctifying truth!) While yet upon earth, our dear Lord commenced that work of intercession for the sanctification of the church, which He ascended up on high more fully to carry on. This was the burden of His prayer; and it forms, as John Owen observes, 'the blessed spring of our holiness'–'Sanctify them through thy truth' (John 17:17). And not only would He leave it, as it were, as a model of the intercession of His exalted priesthood, but for our encouragement He would provide an evidence of its success. To Peter, about to pass through a sever temptation, He says, 'I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not' (Luke 22:32). Nor did his faith fail. It was sifted, it was severely shaken, it was powerfully tried, but it failed not! Not a particle of the pure gold was lost in the refining, not a grain of the pure wheat in the sifting. Why?–because Jesus had interceded, and His intercession was all-prevailing. O the vast and costly blessings that flow into the soul from the intercession of Christ! Never shall we know the full extent of this until we pass within the veil. We shall then know the secret of our spiritual life, of all our supports, consolations, and victories: why it was that the spark in the ocean was not quite extinguished, why the vessel in the storm and amid the breakers did not quite become a wreck; why, when temptations assailed, crosses pressed, afflictions overwhelmed, and unbelief prevailed, our faith still did not fail and our [little boat] was not driven from its moorings; and that 'out of the depths' (Psalm 130:1), we were enabled to cry, 'Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ' (II Corinthians 2:14). The secret will then disclose itself–the intercession of Jesus our great High Priest.
How sweet and consoling to the believer is this view of our exalted Immanuel in the hour of bereavement, when confined to his chamber of solitude, or languishing upon his bed of 'pining sickness' (Isaiah 38:12). Too deeply absorbed in sorrow, it may be, to give utterance to his anguished spirit in prayer–His bodily frame so weakened by disease and racked by pain as to render the mind unfit for close and connected spiritual thought–O how sweet the intercession of Jesus is then! How sweet to know that in the hour of the soul's extremity when human sympathy and power are exhausted, Jesus has entered into heaven 'now to appear in the presence of God' (Hebrews 9:24) for His suffering child. And when all utterance has failed on earth, when the heart is broken and the lips are sealed, then to look up and see our elder Brother, the Brother born for our adversity, the exalted High Priest waving the golden censer before the throne while the cloud of His atoning merit goes up before the mercy-seat, bearing as it ascends the person, the name, the circumstances, and the wants of the sufferer below–precious Gospel that opens to the eye of faith so sweet a prospect as this! When you cannot think of Him, afflicted soul, He is thinking of you. When you cannot pray to Him, He is praying for you, for "He liveth to make intercession' (Hebrews 7:25). But our Lord Jesus is the sanctification of the believer in still another and blessed sense.
View Him as the Head of all mediatorial fullness to His people. 'It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell' (Colossians 1:19). 'And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace' (John 1:16). Here is sanctification for the believer who is mourning over the existence and power of indwelling sin, feeling it to be his greatest burden and the cause of his deepest sorrow. In the growing discovery of the hidden evil–each successive view, it may be, deeper and darker than the former–where is he to look but unto Jesus? Where can he fly, but to His cross? Hemmed in on every side by a host of spiritual Philistines, no avenue of escape presenting itself, the eternal Spirit leads the soul to a simple view of Jesus, opens to him the vast treasury of His grace, and the free welcome to all comers. And what does he find in that fullness? All that he wants to pardon sin, to hide deformity, to overcome unbelief, and [to] break the power of strong corruption; he finds that there is enough in Christ to make him holy, that, in simply taking his sins to Jesus, they are pardoned; in taking his strong infirmities, they are subdued; in taking his wants, they are supplied. In a word, he finds Christ to be his 'wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption' (Colossians 1:30).
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Did You Know...
Did you know that Lily has been in England these past ten days?
Did you know that she got to worship at Ian Hamilton's church on Sunday?
Did you know that she didn't take me with her, but she did take another friend of hers who takes great pictures?
Did you know that, as badly as I want to worship in Ian Hamilton's church, I'm really glad she took the other friend because I get great pictures out of the deal...if she ever sends them to me.
Did you know that if Lily would write a blog post either from England or with lots of pictures of England by the end of this week I would either send her a Starbucks gift card or make her a set of note cards?
Did you know I'm trying to bribe her to write on OUR blog?
Did you know, I feel like I'm writing a kids' book?
Did you know that I hope you're having a great day and maybe the next post in this place will be by Lily.
Did you know that she got to worship at Ian Hamilton's church on Sunday?
Did you know that she didn't take me with her, but she did take another friend of hers who takes great pictures?
Did you know that, as badly as I want to worship in Ian Hamilton's church, I'm really glad she took the other friend because I get great pictures out of the deal...if she ever sends them to me.
Did you know that if Lily would write a blog post either from England or with lots of pictures of England by the end of this week I would either send her a Starbucks gift card or make her a set of note cards?
Did you know I'm trying to bribe her to write on OUR blog?
Did you know, I feel like I'm writing a kids' book?
Did you know that I hope you're having a great day and maybe the next post in this place will be by Lily.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
One of "those" moments
Some of you like these "snapshots of life" posts that I do every once-in-a-while, so this afternoon...
Dishes just cleared from dinner and Leah washing them, Mama clearing off the table, me looking for a burger recipe for Leah to make when we have neighbors over next week. The boys are just outside the open window...can just see the tip of a light saber waving and hear their joy squeals...enjoying sunlight and water and breeze and summer evenings. The phone rings, just like it's rung five times in the past 35 minutes. "Hello, this is Sarah..." It's Daddy, on his way home, almost here, tell the boys to be ready for rugby practice right when he pulls in. He's been gone for almost four hours...no time for dinner...got another meeting in 30 minutes. "Ok, bye." So I pick up the book he needs and the pencil laid on the table for him, the grilling cookbook in one hand, the pre-marital counseling book in the other, I walk down the steps: "Boys, do you have your water bottles? Daddy's coming down the street and he needs you to be ready right away when he gets here." They flurry up the steps (there's just two of them but it seems like five sometimes), light saber flying and they stop at the top to talk. "No, you don't have time. Please run get your water bottles and come quickly." They run inside, come back out with backpacks and water bottles, me still standing there in the empty driveway with an open cookbook in one hand and the counseling book and pencil in the other. I just look down at my feet and laugh...what must the neighbors think of this wild-crazy mess? It's been one of "those" days!
Dishes just cleared from dinner and Leah washing them, Mama clearing off the table, me looking for a burger recipe for Leah to make when we have neighbors over next week. The boys are just outside the open window...can just see the tip of a light saber waving and hear their joy squeals...enjoying sunlight and water and breeze and summer evenings. The phone rings, just like it's rung five times in the past 35 minutes. "Hello, this is Sarah..." It's Daddy, on his way home, almost here, tell the boys to be ready for rugby practice right when he pulls in. He's been gone for almost four hours...no time for dinner...got another meeting in 30 minutes. "Ok, bye." So I pick up the book he needs and the pencil laid on the table for him, the grilling cookbook in one hand, the pre-marital counseling book in the other, I walk down the steps: "Boys, do you have your water bottles? Daddy's coming down the street and he needs you to be ready right away when he gets here." They flurry up the steps (there's just two of them but it seems like five sometimes), light saber flying and they stop at the top to talk. "No, you don't have time. Please run get your water bottles and come quickly." They run inside, come back out with backpacks and water bottles, me still standing there in the empty driveway with an open cookbook in one hand and the counseling book and pencil in the other. I just look down at my feet and laugh...what must the neighbors think of this wild-crazy mess? It's been one of "those" days!
On Fire!
Well, Lily wanted me to post some pictures of the car that caught on fire while we were on our way, so...
(It actually got worse than these pictures show. After the firemen got there the whole front of the car burst into flame, the tires were gone, the metal was melting, the glass was shattered and the antifreeze and other fluids in the engine exploded and shot car pieces across the freeway.)
Also, please might you not share these photos on the internet? They are tucked here in this quiet corner as an exciting part of our vacation. But someone suffered that day and lost that day, so please? might you kindly remember them and not spread their sadness across this worldwide web? Thank you.
(It actually got worse than these pictures show. After the firemen got there the whole front of the car burst into flame, the tires were gone, the metal was melting, the glass was shattered and the antifreeze and other fluids in the engine exploded and shot car pieces across the freeway.)
Also, please might you not share these photos on the internet? They are tucked here in this quiet corner as an exciting part of our vacation. But someone suffered that day and lost that day, so please? might you kindly remember them and not spread their sadness across this worldwide web? Thank you.
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