A link to this hymn was posted by Ann Voskamp today. I’m not familiar with the hymn, but love the thoughts expressed on the beauty of the love feast that is the Lord’s Supper. The weekly remembrance is precious, and never grows old or stale to me. What love He has for us! And what love to Him we owe!

Here, O My Lord, I See You Face to Face
By: Horatius Bonar

Here, O my Lord, I see you face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen,
Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon you lean.

Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
Here drink with you the royal wine of heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

This is the hour of banquet and of song;
Here is the heavenly table spread anew;
Here let me feast and, feasting, still prolong
The brief bright hour of fellowship with you.

I have no help but yours; nor do I need
Another arm but yours to lean upon;
It is enough, O Lord, enough indeed;
My strength is in your might, your might alone.

Mine is the sin but yours the righteousness;
Mine is the guilt but yours the cleansing blood;
Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace;
Your blood, your righteousness, O Lord, my God.

Too soon we rise; the vessels disappear;
The feast, though not the love, is past and gone.
The bread and wine remove, but you are here,
Nearer than ever, still my shield and sun.

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by.
Yet, passing, points to that glad feast above,
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb’s great marriage feast of bliss and love.

Hymn # 243 from Lutheran Worship
Author: attr. Henry Lawes
Tune: Farley Castle
1st Published in: 1855

I started getting sick the day after Cookie Day (so, last Thursday) and seemed to take a long time to kick it. Wednesday was the first day I managed to make and execute a to-do list, mostly of things that involved me sitting at my computer. Yesterday I at last was able to tackle a more physical project and felt driven to do a major clean/purge in the Blessings’ rooms.

If you want some encouragement that your house isn’t that bad, take a closer look at this Picasa album (complete with notes)! We’re not done yet, but we’ve made a great deal of progress.

One thing that is a constant struggle with having 7 Blessings in two bedrooms is how to manage the “stuff.”

I had packed up a lot of the girls’ toys a while back in an effort to minimize what they need to deal with on a daily basis. I’d gotten rid of a lot, also. Over the last few months, things that had been packed away have been sneakily making their way out of tubs and back into the bedroom. I didn’t realize how bad the situation was until we buckled down for cleanup yesterday. I will need to keep a closer on on things to help them establish some room responsibility.

The boys have the toy shelf in their room that Dad and Mom Smith built for us years ago when we had a designated play area in our basement. The Blessings had just cleaned and rearranged it recently, but I was again amazed to find that, despite our efforts to be sure they “clean their room” each morning, a huge amount of toys and stuff were all over the place in there.

I’ve seen where moms have made lists for their children that they are responsible to follow for room cleanup, clearly defining what it means to “clean your room.” This is something I think I’m going to incorporate, and would welcome any ideas.

I’m also contemplating further reducing the number of toys available at a time. Some thoughts/ideas include:
~ Using only one shelf on the toy shelf in the boys’ room at a time.
~ Putting the girls’ “out of circulation” toys in the boys’ closet and using their closet more for storage. Is removing temptation in this way a cop-out? Or is it giving them an opportunity to earn the privilege of having the tubs back in their room?

I’ve also petitioned for Barak’s guinea pig breeding endeavor to be halted, and to give away/sell either the male or female guinea pigs. It has not been a successful money-making venture, and I would dearly love to gain back the space in the boys’ room taken up by the extra guinea pig “pen” (which is a kiddie swimming pool).

The simple fact is, I know very well that the less clutter there is, the easier it is for children to play, use their imaginations, take care of their space, behave themselves happily, etc. When you have seven children in two rooms, the need for less clutter becomes much more critical, and to date I have not found an effective way to accomplish this. But I am determined to find a way.

I appreciate and welcome your input!

A friend posted the following poem yesterday. It fits in so many ways where our family is right now. “One step is far enough for faith to see.” May it bless you also.

Child of My love, fear not the unknown morrow.
Dread not the new demand life makes of thee;
Thine ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow,
For what thou knowest not is known to Me.

Therefore go gladly to the task assigned thee,
Having My promise; needing nothing more
Than just to know where’er the future find thee,
In all thy journeying – I GO BEFORE
(Author Unknown)

Tracy mentioned this bit of trivia about the capitol: The “pretty” side of the capitol is facing the river. Supposedly this is because when the capitol was built most people arrived by boat and so that was the side people saw first.

I think that’s correct, but the other side (that many folks today call the “front” is also very impressive. Since I didn’t get any pictures of that side this week, I thought I’d post again and show both sides of the building.

The river side:

And the side that faces the town (picture from a couple of years ago):

From either direction, I’ve always thought it was a beautiful building.

One of the dads in our home school support group posted this to our elist, and I think it’s a great reminder.

The next time you feel like GOD can’t use YOU, just remember…

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
John the Baptist ate bugs
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer… and
Lazarus was dead!

And this is really just a small list of examples from Scripture. I treasure that our God’s business is redemption. He is the Expert at taking the dirty/ugly/unworthy and turning it into something for His glory.

I love snow, and I’ve been thinking lately on the fact that here is yet another example of God’s redemptive work. From everything we know about the pre-Flood world, there was no snow. Talk about global climate change – the Flood brought it in a big way, including the arrival of snow. And the Flood came because of sin. Yet look at the beautiful example we have of God’s creativity in the snowflake, and of His majesty in the beauty of freshly fallen snow. What an awesome Creator-Redeemer God!

A couple of great posts from my hubby’s blog on leadership.
Part 1
Part 2

Jonathan doesn’t post very often, but what he has to say is invariably worth reading. I know I’m partial, but I’d suggest you add him to your reader.