Finding Your Niche For Hospitality

The photo is of a gerber daisy that my sister gave me last night when she invited us over for a few hours. As I was enjoying the beautiful color of the flower this morning, I thought of my sister's continual generosity and thoughtfulness. It never fails that whenever Jenna invites me over - whether it's for tea or to play games or whatever - she always presents me with some little goodie or two! For example, last night I left with this plant, a little box of salt water taffy, and a book she thought I would enjoy reading.

This set me to thinking of others and the little niche they have for hospitality. Marty's aunt never fails to offer cool drinks. My sister-in-law next door is great at organizing and hosting fun, outdoor parties. A dear friend with a listening ear always makes sure I have a cup of hot tea when I come to visit. My step-mother cooks an absolute feast when we get together. Marty's grandma keeps her candy dish well-stocked for the little ones (and big ones!) who visit her each week. I could sit here for an hour adding to this list.

All this say that each of these people has found their own little niche regarding hospitality. Might I encourage you to find your's if you haven't already? Doesn't have to be anything elaborate - but it could be if that's you! The important thing is to share a piece of yourself with everyone who walks through your door. Hospitality is a sweet, sweet blessing - on both ends.

Investing

(Photo by Eli)

". . . The way a man loves a woman has a lot to do with what he learned as a little boy through his relationship with his mother. This is because she is the woman God placed in his life until he is married.

What if a husband had a mother who invested her life not only in cooking, cleaning, and caring for her son, but also in carefully and deliberately bestowing upon him what every man desires to know - how to understand and care for the fragile heart of his bride?"

-- From "Preparing Him For the Other Woman - A Mother's Guide to Raising Her Son to Love a Wife and Lead a Family" by Sheri Rose Shepherd

Computer Science Pure and Simple

When my boys were in their early elementary years, my goal for their education was to introduce them to a broad view of lots of different topics and subjects. As they've entered later elementary and early Jr. High, their gifts, abilities, and interests have really blossomed. As my oldest son, Ben, now enters his Sr. High years, my goal is to make his education specific as to his bents, abilities, etc. One of his definite abilities and interests is computer science. At our recent homeschool convention, I purchased the curriculum called Computer Science Pure and Simple for him. We were introduced to this computer science course through a magalog (magazine/catalog) put out by a homeschooling family business called Schoolhouse Publishing. The course includes Book 1 (labeled Grade 5 and up), Book 2 (7th and up) and the Microworlds 2.0 Disk. Schoolhouse Publishing sold it as a discounted set, but you could purchase it individually. Though it is not cheap, it is an excellent resource for a young person interested in this field. We were encouraged by Schoolhouse Publishing to have Ben go through the first book though he was mostly beyond it - it sets up some foundation for the later book. I bought this curriculum three weeks ago, and Ben has already blown through the entire first book and all the applications! He is really enjoying it and has learned much from this computer science course written for homeschoolers. For more specific and detailed information on this helpful resource, visit www.shpublishing.com.

The Shutterbug

(Photo courtesy of Eli)

Eli has recently developed an interest in photography. He actually has quite an eye for it. He takes beautiful shots from interesting angles and perspectives. Just a few days ago, he asked if he could take some photos for my blog. I readily agreed, gave him a five-minute class on the basics of our digital camera, and sent him off. He wandered around the farm for an hour and came back with a pile of shots that we sorted through. That's the wonderful thing about digital cameras - the freedom of taking tons of shots of the same object from all different distances and angles until you get the perfect photo. All without wasting any film! If you never thought about it, introduce your child to photography - it's yet another opportunity for them to develop their creativity.

God's Grace in Marriage

(Photo courtesy of Eli)

"Although we both are sinners, God is using our marriage to help us grow in godliness. In fact, our husbands' particular sins, unique weaknesses, and even their idiosyncrasies are tailor-made for us. Likewise, our sins and weaknesses are custom-designed for them. Both husbands and wives will become more Christlike by having to deal with each other's sins and deficiencies."

-- From "Feminine Appeal - Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother" by Carolyn Mahaney

The Benefits of Sewing

Yesterday afternoon Eli cut and sewed this stuffed vulture from felt. He's using it to act out parts of the "Hank the Cow Dog" series of books and tapes. Actually, all my boys know the basics of hand sewing and machine sewing. A couple years ago, a friend of mine shared that she taught each of her four boys the basics of sewing - they have used those skills to mend backpacks, sleeping bags and clothing when their mom wasn't available. My boys have benefitted from this advice - Ben has mended a pair of pants when I didn't have time, Caleb helped me hand sew finger puppets for his two-year-old cousin last Christmas, and Eli delights in making little toys and gifts for people. They each have made cases and holsters for their marshmallow guns, too! The basics of sewing is a great practical skill to teach your children - boys OR girls . . .

Slowing Down

"Have no idea how to begin slowing down? Have no idea what you could let go? Is it just too confusing? Afraid you or your family will miss something? Go to God with your schedule. Place all activities on the altar. Wait on Him. Share your heart with your husband. Let your husband set your schedule. Look over activities very carefully, evaluating them honestly. Do they work toward the call that God has for your family? Are they necessary? Do they compete for "down-time" that your family really needs to fellowship, rest, and develop a lifestyle of learning? Commit to finding God's plan for your day! Listen to your sweet husband. Look objectively at those tempting activities! Reach for the very, very best use of your day! Then, you will find God pulling you back into a pace that you can continue the journey till the end!"

-- From "Homeschooling The Easy Way - Volume 2 Reprint Book" by Cindy Rushton (www.cindyrushton.com)

A Snippet of Beauty

Happy Memorial Day!

Act Like A Princess

"9 - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light;
10 - who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11- Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
12- having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."

-- I Peter 2:9-12

vs. 9a - Who am I? I am chosen, royal, holy and special! I am the Bride of Christ, a Daughter of the King - a princess!!
vs. 9b - My job as princess? To proclaim the praises of my King who called me out of the darkness. Praise Him!
vs. 11 - How do I live like a princess? Abstain from fleshly lusts (keep away from sin); conduct myself in an honorable fashion (act like a princess should)
vs. 12 - Why act like a princess? That I might bring glory to my King.

Abba, thank you that I am, indeed, Your Daughter - a Daughter of the Great King. Help me to live in such a way as befits a princess - that I might reflect the graciousness and glory of my Father, the King.

Enjoy!

Have a lovely holiday weekend with your family making memories!

Leftovers

"Leftovers were not called "leftovers" anymore. They were carefully served buffet style and were now labeled "smorgasbord." The table was set for a sit-down meal, sometimes made even more special by candlelight. Thus the setting itself implied "special."

Leftovers were taken out of the refrigerator and heated: a piece of chicken, a serving of spaghetti or casserole, some slices of pot roast. The mother made a fresh green salad or a favorite vegetable dish to accompany these selections. Then each member of the family chose his or her main entree from the available foods, as well as taking a helping of salad or vegetable. If spaghetti turned out to the favorite dish of too many people, then whoever got the spaghetti was now considered lucky rather than just a victim of leftover food. Leftovers became special. Leftover Night became Smorgasbord Night. It was in all in how it was presented."

-- From "The Welcoming Hearth - Your Home Can Be a Safe Place of Warmth and Renewal" by Elizabeth R. Skoglund

Something To Think On

"Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn't judge us by our theology: the world judges us by our behavior. People don't necessarily want to know what we believe about the Bible. THEY WANT TO SEE IF WHAT WE BELIEVE MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES. Our actions either bring honor to God or misrepresent His truth."

--From "Feminine Appeal - Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother" by Carolyn Mahaney

Yarn Octopus

Eli and I enjoyed creating this yarn octopus one evening last week. The directions for it are in the May 2008 issue of "Family Fun" Magazine - there are similar instructions for one at kaboose.com.

After the Rain

"The more we acquaint ourselves with that which is truly great and beautiful, the more we will dislike and turn away from that which is shallow and ugly."

-- From "The Gift of Music" by Betty Carlson

"Why Study Art?"

"Art seems to be one of the greatest means that we can employ to encouage our little ones to really "see." By this I am not meaning to quickly look and go on, rather I mean to give full attention to the details, to the spirit behind the great works. Art forces us to take time to look at details that we often walk right past, whether in the beauty in God's creation or the beauty in creations of others. Art opens the mind of the child (as well as the mind of the adult!) to beauty. It slows us down to see the beauty that is in the little things in life. Great art encourages a greater enjoyment of the beautiful things in our life. Art is the gift that disciplines our minds to really pay attention, to enjoy the little things that exist just for our blessing!"

-- From "Time for Tea - Reprint Book for Volumes 1 & 2" by Cindy Rushton (www.cindyrushton.com)

Words From Proverbs 22

WORDS OF GRACE -
"He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend."
- Proverbs 22:11

WORDS OF WISDOM -
"Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips."
- Proverbs 22:17-18

WORDS OF TRUTH -
"That I may make you know the certainty of words of truth,
That you may answer words of truth
To those who send to you?"
- Proverbs 22:21

O God, that my words would be words of Grace, Wisdom and Truth this day -

Will You Draw With Me?

My youngest son, Eli, will frequently request a drawing or painting partner. Yesterday afternoon it was announced that we would be working with colored pencils copying birds from nature guides. The book that we both chose to copy from is a little book of Audubon's bird paintings. If you've never had the privilege of browsing through a book of Audubon's paintings, do so. The detail and colors are exquisite.














By copying great paintings and/or beautiful photographs, I've noticed that Eli has really picked up on adding details to his drawings as well as an increased ability in blending colors. He's learning to develop different techniques by adopting methods of various artists and work. As I finished before him, it was interesting to just sit and watch as he worked. I learned a few things myself!

Professor Noggin's Card Games

Professor Noggin's Card Games are an excellent homeschooling resource! A friend loaned us the Birds of North America version, so Eli and I played it yesterday afternoon. As he is a bit of a "bird expert," he beat me pretty bad!! The game is very simple - you answer various questions (some easy/some hard) about birds. If you answer your question correctly, you win the card and whoever has the most at the end is the winner. The bird game is one of many versions of this game - a few others include: Reptiles, the American Revolution, Outer Space, Famous Inventions, and many other subjects in history and science. I've seen this sold in various homeschool catalogs, and it seems to run about $8-9 a game. See www.professornoggin.com for more information on this fun and educational game!

The Praying Helpmeet

"A helpmeet is marked by a life of prayer! She will pray for her man! I am not talking about a simple little God bless him . . . I mean earnest, continual, unceasing prayer. Prayer with a burdened heart until you pray through for him! So often, more time is spent grumbling and complaining about one fault in our husbands than we spend in prayer for them in a whole year! A helpmeet will be busy praying and fasting for her man!

Let's do a check-up: Do you pray earnestly, continually, and unceasingly for him? When was the last time that you prayed about a problem of his until it was answered? Do you care enough about his struggles, his dreams, his concerns, and his desires to pray and fast for God's answers? Do you take your concerns to the Lord or try to handle them yourself? Would your husband call you a woman of prayer? Can he depend on you to be praying for him? May we commit to become a praying helpmeet today!"

-- From "Time For Tea - Reprint Book for Volumes 1 & 2" by Cindy Rushton (www.cindyrushton.com)

Tea Party In A Bag

Yesterday morning I stopped by my grandparents' home to share some asparagus with them. They invited me to visit a bit over tea and cookies - an offer I couldn't refuse! Before leaving, my grandmother presented me with a little brown bag containing a box of lemon-flavored, teapot-shaped cookes with a tea bag. She explained that she had been at her favorite shop, saw the cookies and thought of how much I love teatime. So she bought them for me and decided to add a bag of her favorite tea, so I could enjoy some tea with my cookies. Of course I was delighted and immediately thanked her for her gift of a "Tea Party In A Bag!" On the way home, I thought of all the wonderful possibilities in which to present others with a little gift such as this - for a hostess gift, as a favor for a tea party, as a thank-you, or as a "just because" gift as Mim did. Brainstorm some more ideas and see who YOU can bless with a simple bag of cookies and some tea!

More on Hospitality

" . . . the glorious thing about being a Christian is that we are each uniquely suited to provide a never-to-be-duplicated safety zone of hospitality for those God brings to sit at our hearth. It is a very Christian task to find out where our talents and inclinations lie with regard to hospitality."

"Hospitality can truly range from offering a cup of cold water all the way to giving a great, elaborate banquet. Christ extended hospitality when he fed the multitudes. Mary, who sat Christ's feet, as well as Martha, who served, were each exercising their particular calling in hospitality. Each gave their own gift to others. What one does best is unique to each individual's gifts and calling."

"To provide a place, whether that place is concrete or whether it exists in the heart of a person who is always there for you: that is the essence of hospitality. Through that place God himself can minister."

-- From "The Welcoming Hearth - Your Home Can Be a Safe Place of Warmth and Renewal" by Elizabeth R. Skoglund

Psalm 84

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion."

-- Psalm 84:5-7

Abba,
Keep my heart set on the pilgrimage to my true Home - remembering that this life is not all there is. When I pass through a difficult place, help me to let you make it a place of growth and strength. One day I WILL be with you - until that time, help me to faithfully and diligently walk in your strength.

On Home

(Photo courtesy of Eli)

"We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ectasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few minutes of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bath or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."

-- C. S. Lewis

Fruity Jello

This recipe was adapted from an original recipe for Fruity Jello that I found here: http://pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/fruity-jello.html. (You can cut and paste this - sorry, I haven't figured out how to do hyperlinks yet!)

.6 oz. box of sugar-free raspberry Jello
10 oz. jar of maraschino cherries
20 oz. can of pineapple tidbits

Prepare the Jello according to the directions on the box, substituting the drained juices of the cherries and pineapples for the 2 cups of cold water. (If you don't have enough juice for 2 cups, top it off with water.) In a 13 x 9 dish, arrange the fruit evenly. Pour the prepared Jello mixture over and chill until firm.

This is a yummy and refreshing dish for a potluck, to take to a new mom or someone home from the hospital as well as a nice side for a warm evening's supper.

Using Your Gifts

"Are there places where your gifts are needed in the body of Christ? A better question is, "Where are your gifts needed?" One good way to determine your gifts is to ask yourself where you see weaknesses in the body. It is highly likely that you see these weaknesses because you are looking at the church through the lens of your gifts. Where you see weakness is probably the very place where God wants you to serve your brothers and sisters."

-- From "How People Change" by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp

Caleb and His Boat

Caleb made this boat a few days ago and spent the evening pulling it across the pond with a string he attached. He was inspired to create it after reading through a book I recently bought for him at our state's homeschool convention. "Easy Carpentry Projects for Children" by Jerome E. Leavitt is an inexpensive little book put out by Dover Publications. Some of the projects are a little dated as the original publishing date was in the '50s, but they can be easily adapted. I bought it knowing it would feed Caleb's enjoyment of woodworking. Actually, woodworking is a great, practical skill for older boys to learn. My boys have watched their dad and uncle doing woodworking projects and have become interesed in it through them. We've purchased some basic tools for them and allowed them to experiment and learn. I saw a few woodworking textbooks at the homeschool convention that could be used to teach the skill, but some time with a fellow woodworker and a book like "Easy Carpentry . . ." might do the trick, as well! It's a skill that will be of great benefit to them as men -

Hospitality

"A hamburger given to a bag lady on a bus bench; an elaborate wedding dinner; a gift of firewood late at night from an inn-keeper to someone just checking into a motel; a cool, wet towel given to someone at the scene of a car accident; a midnight snack shared with someone who needs to talk: all of these involve acts of hospitality. They are acts involving a gift of love from one person to another. Each of these echoes the sentiment of the small child who said, "That means she loves us."

The place of hospitality will often be quite literally the welcoming heart of one's home. But more fundamentally, it will always be the welcoming hearth of the heart. For while hospitality requires a physical place, it is even more essentially a place in the heart. Hospitality is the gift of oneself that says, "You are important; you are loved."

-- "The Welcoming Hearth - Your Home Can Be a Safe Place of Warmth and Renewal" by Elizabeth R. Skoglund

Mums for Mom

From the boys . . . lovely pink mums as well as a bike seat for my new bike!

The Liberty Bell

Toured Philadelphia this week with our church's homeschool group. This shot is of the Scripture from Leviticus that's engraved on the bell -

Home

Dove Nest

I placed an old birds' nest on the porch table for decoration. It's no longer empty! A mourning dove has claimed it for her own and laid two creamy eggs in it. Haven't been able to get a shot of the dove yet -

Susquehannock State Park

Sunday was a beautiful spring day - we decided to check out this state park that we had never visited before.














A gorgeous view of the Susquehanna River from Hawk Point Overlook -



















Ben at the Wissler's Run Overlook -

Yard Sale Find

Eli and I did some yard saling on Saturday. This was one of my finds - a lovely old bowl that has a faded mark on the bottom. The only part I can read is that it was made in the United States. Doesn't really matter what it says - I didn't buy it for the antique value, just the sweetness of it . . .

An Old Favorite

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.

I love old Pooh Bear - he's so sweet and gentle and reminds me of dear memories of reading about him to the boys under their grandparents' maple trees. If you've never introduced your little ones to this classic, make sure you do -

Orange Julius Recipe

Eli hamming it up while he drinks an Orange Julius last evening -

1 - 6 oz. can of frozen orange juice
1 C. water
1 C. milk
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
12 ice cubes
Place all ingredients in blender; blend on high until ice is crushed or to desired consistency. Makes enough for about 4 large glasses.

Happy May Day!

I LOVE lilacs - the scent, shape and color. My lilac bush is extra special as it comes from a cutting that I took from the lilac bush of my childhood home.


















If you look closely, you can see the green rows in the garden. On the left are the onions and the two rows on the right are potatoes. Our snap and sugar peas, radishes and broccoli are also doing well further up the garden -