An Old Favorite

"Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without."

This quote from the depression/WWII era runs through my head from time to time.  Too bad it has become so outdated.  

I checked at a office supply store yesterday to see if they do any cleaning or repairs on printers (we have an all-in-one printer that is having some issues).  The manager said "No, we don't.  People usually just replace them."   Whoa, even in this (supposed) time of "recycle, reuse, reduce"?

I haven't given up, I'm determined to "make it do" a bit longer and am confident that I will be able to get the printer back up to speed.  

One quote....and one photo

"Self-righteousness is being more aware of and irritated by the sins of others than you are conscious of and grieved by your own."   
-Paul Tripp

I have been blog surfing again and came across this gem; it is from "Visions of a Seer"

A Bar of Steel

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

"I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument" (Isa. 41:15).

A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.

May this parable help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others. --Selected

"Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still,
And bear Thy will;
Courage to venture wholly on the arm
That will not harm;
The wisdom that will never let me stray
Out of my way;
The love that, now afflicting, knoweth best
When I should rest."

Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service.

"The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."

Friends

We had some good friends over last night. We don't see them often, but we are always able to pick up so easily where we left off weeks, months or even years ago. It was interesting to watch the conversation(s) jump from one topic to another and back again without anyone loosing track or becoming frustrated. We ran the gamut from memories to plans for the future to current events and back. A very comfortable relationship indeed.

It reminded me of a wall plaque that another friend (since school days) gave us one Christmas. I love it and still have it hanging on our wall.

So, for all our friends with whom we have "history" I am posting it's words here. We love you all so much and are thrilled that we have the assurance that we will get to spend eternity together.

What made us friends in the long ago
When first we met? Well, I think I know--
The best in me and the best in you
Hailed each other because they knew
That always and always since time began
Our being friends was part of God's plan.
George Webster Douglas

first post!

I have been checking out a lot of blogs lately and have decided to start one of my own. So far it has required more thinking than I had anticipated, so I am regarding this as a trial run. If it takes too much time or effort .... who knows how long I'll keep at it. But I am encouraged by those who have gone before me and hope it "takes".

I'll kick this off with a couple of pictures of our yard and a quote by George Washington Carver: "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in."