Hymn Of the Week

I love this hymn and wanted to post it on Monday and especially for Reformation Day. But, being the new blogger that I am, I was trying to be sure that I was respecting copyrights. This was on a site full of public domain hymns, so here it (finally) is:

From Depths Of Woe
Martin Luther

From depths of woe I raise to Thee
The voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me
And hear my supplication;
If Thou iniquities dost mark,
Our secret sings and misdeeds dark,
O who shall stand before Thee?

To wash away the crimson stain,
Grace, grace alone availeth;
Our works, alas! are all in vain;
In much the best life faileth:
No man can glory in Thy sight,
All must alike confess Thy might,
And live alone by mercy.

Therefore my trust is in the Lord,
And not in mine own merit;
On Him my soul shall rest, His Word
Upholds my fainting spirit:
His promised mercy is my fort,
My comfort, and my sweet support;
I wait for it with patience.

What though I wait the livelong night,
And till the dawn appeareth,
My heart still trusteth in His might;
It doubteth not nor feareth:
Do thus, O ye of Israel's seed,
Ye of the Spirit born indeed;
And wait till God appeareth.

The Great Pumpkin

Today we had Great Pumpkin party with some friends.

We did some Halloween math pages, learned the names of bones and cut and pasted a skeleton craft. Cut out the cutest masks and trick or treat scenes from Wondertime. Read lots of books about jack o'lanterns, a pumpkin cat, and a tree that couldn't get it's colors right. Made paper plate spider crafts, watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, ate lunch and a Great Pumpkin cake(mine didn't look nearly that pretty), and played our new It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown board game!

And I think I still have enough stuff that we didn't get to,to take care of next year! Oh,well.

Please bear with me as I try to figure out how to make these posts look the right way. I'm also trying to figure out how to show the real pictures of all of these events that I'm dying to share with you.

The party crowd

Ethan and his self-designed pumpkin

Anna Kate and her directed-design pumpkin

Rosie's pumpkin

Cinderalla and her newly painted crown

Fall weekend

Robin, Cinderella, and The Bunny
at Sleepy Hollow County Fair

Five things to do this weekend

1. Take your kids to a fall festival.
2. Carve pumpkins. We always share the pumpkin gospel. If you don't want to do a jack o'lantern face, check out this beautiful way to carve a pumpkin at By Sun and Candlelight. Just scroll down the post until you see the pumpkin.
3. Walk the easy hike at your local state park.
4. Build a bonfire, invite the neighbors over, and make smores.
5. Collect leaves and do this foliage friends craft at family fun.

This Is The Day

It was raining here yesterday. All day long. It ranged from a drizzle to a downpour. Now I usually don't mind rain. It gives me a cozy feeling. However, I really hate running errands in the rain. Especially if any of the kids are with me. So I was mentally grumping at the rain. And this verse popped into my head. "This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." One usually sees this verse printed on notecards with a big green valley and a great big sun on the picture. But we're supposed to rejoice in rainy days too. And do you know what? The autumn colors were intensified in the mist and were so beautiful. And if I hadn't been running errands, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy them nearly as much. Thank you, Lord, for sending this rainy autumn day to rejoice and be glad in.

Real Hope and a Purpose

This blog is written for the glory of God to give hope.

• To share the good news of the gospel with anyone asking the reason of the hope bubbling up from inside me (1 Peter 3:15)
• To encourage believers to set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,but keep his commandments (Psalm 78:7)

Are you separated from Christ, having no hope and without God in the world? By one man, Adam, sin came into the world. And death and hopelessness resulted. And every man came to deserve death, because everyone broke God's law.

Have you ever sinned and broken God's law? Have you ever lied, stolen, hated someone (Jesus said that that is the same as committing murder in your heart), loved anything more than God? Of course you have. We all have. We cannot stand before a perfect, holy Being and be called innocent, good, or righteous.

But, "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor.15:22) How is this possible? Aren't we guilty before God? Yes, we were, but now in Christ Jesus those of us who believe have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Able to stand before a holy God. Because, at the cross, Jesus took the punishment and the death that belonged to you. And then he came back to life, abolishing death's grip. "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor.15:56-57)

He won a battle we could only have lost. Now you have a choice. Death or life. Repent, cry out to God for forgiveness and accept the gift of life through His only Son's sacrifice. Follow Jesus. Have hope. Live...

Or live your own life. Your own way. The way that leaves you hopeless. The way that ends in death. God's Word says "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life..."(Deut.30:19 ESV).

Join me in "waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:13-14 ESV)