HE'S HERE!!!! His name is Oskar Henry Culver, or Oz. His parents are Greg and Megan Culver, and he was born on Saturday October 23, 2010 at 6:48 p.m. He was 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He has lots of dark hair, beautiful skin, and, so far, dark blue eyes. We've all been excitedly waiting his arrival. It was time and, apparently, he thought so, too. His timing was perfect. Jon, Kelli, and the girls were here from Thursday till Sunday morning. Jon and Kelli went to eastern Iowa overnight and had supper with Greg and Megan on Friday evening. Oskar must have heard aunt Kelli saying they had to leave Sunday morning and he made sure to arrive in time to see them all. They, along with Tabbi and her boys were all at the hospital just before he arrived. Jon and I and Alex and Corriene were there all afternoon waiting patiently...sort of. Within a couple of hours of entering the world he had met all his grandparents, two aunts, and four cousins! Very cool, indeed!!!! They went home from the hospital on Monday, and Greg is home from work this week. Next week I will go and help her since Greg will be going back to work.
Jon is off work this week and next so he's catching up around here...getting our new computer running the way we want, grinding dies, odds and ends, but NO CRADLE WORK since it is complete and occupied by a sweet little man.
We're just so glad Oskar and Megan are healthy and well. God has been so gracious...again...
Thought for the day
Guess what I started reading again today..."The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" Can't help it, it's a wonderful book. On fb today one of my friends had a quote by Hannah Whitall Smith..."It is of vital importance for us to understand that the Bible is a statement, not of theories, but of actual facts. Things are not true because they are in the Bible, but they are in the Bible only because they are true." One of my favorites!
Showing posts with label hannah whitall smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hannah whitall smith. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
More Hannah Whitall Smith
More quotes from "The God of All Comfort"
"If God is our Father, the only thing we can do with doubts, and fears, and anxious thoughts is to cast them behind our backs forever, and have nothing more to do with them ever again. We can do this. We can pledge against doubting. And if once we see that our doubts are an actual sin against God, and imply a question of His trustworthiness, we will be eager to do it. We may have cherished our doubts heretofore because perhaps we have thought they were a part of our religion, and a becoming attitude of soul in one so unworthy; but if we now see that God is in very truth our Father, we will reject every doubt with horror, as being a libel on our Father's love and our Father's care."
"The Bible tells us that Christ is our peace, and consequently, whether I feel as if I had peace or not, peace is really mine in Christ, and I must take possession of it by faith. Faith is simply to believe and assert the thing that God says. If He says there is peace, faith asserts that there is, and enters into the enjoyment of it. If He has proclaimed peace in the Bible, I must proclaim it in my own heart, let the seemings be what they may."
"'Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' The steps here are very plain, and they are only two. First, give up all anxiety; and second, hand over your cares to God; and then stand steadfastly here; peace must come. It simply must, for there is no room for anything else."
"If God is our Father, the only thing we can do with doubts, and fears, and anxious thoughts is to cast them behind our backs forever, and have nothing more to do with them ever again. We can do this. We can pledge against doubting. And if once we see that our doubts are an actual sin against God, and imply a question of His trustworthiness, we will be eager to do it. We may have cherished our doubts heretofore because perhaps we have thought they were a part of our religion, and a becoming attitude of soul in one so unworthy; but if we now see that God is in very truth our Father, we will reject every doubt with horror, as being a libel on our Father's love and our Father's care."
"The Bible tells us that Christ is our peace, and consequently, whether I feel as if I had peace or not, peace is really mine in Christ, and I must take possession of it by faith. Faith is simply to believe and assert the thing that God says. If He says there is peace, faith asserts that there is, and enters into the enjoyment of it. If He has proclaimed peace in the Bible, I must proclaim it in my own heart, let the seemings be what they may."
"'Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' The steps here are very plain, and they are only two. First, give up all anxiety; and second, hand over your cares to God; and then stand steadfastly here; peace must come. It simply must, for there is no room for anything else."
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The God of All Comfort
I have a new book. "The God of All Comfort" by Hannah Whitall Smith. As you know, she is one of my favorite authors, and this book meets all expectations.
"It is of vital importance for us to understand that the Bible is a statement, not of theories, but of actual facts; and that things are not true because they are in the Bible, but they are only in the Bible because they are true."
"But is this all His name implies, simply 'I am'? I am what?--we ask. What does this 'I am' include? I believe it includes everything the human heart longs for and needs. This unfinished name of God seems to me like a blank check signed by a rich friend given to us to be filled in with whatever sum we may desire. The whole Bible tells us what it means.
Every attribute of God, every revelation of His character, every proof of His undying love, every declaration of His watchful care, every assertion of His purposes of tender mercy, every manifestation of His loving kindness---all are the filling out of this unfinished 'I am.'
'I am,' He says, 'all that my people need; I am their strength; I am their wisdom; I am their righteousness; I am their peace; I am their salvation; I am their life; I am their all in all.
I am rest for the weary; I am peace for the storm-tossed; I am strength for the strengthless; I am wisdom for the foolish; I am righteousness for the sinful; I am all that the neediest soul on earth can want; I am exceeding abundantly, beyond all you can ask or think, of blessing, and help, and care."
See why I like it?????
"It is of vital importance for us to understand that the Bible is a statement, not of theories, but of actual facts; and that things are not true because they are in the Bible, but they are only in the Bible because they are true."
"But is this all His name implies, simply 'I am'? I am what?--we ask. What does this 'I am' include? I believe it includes everything the human heart longs for and needs. This unfinished name of God seems to me like a blank check signed by a rich friend given to us to be filled in with whatever sum we may desire. The whole Bible tells us what it means.
Every attribute of God, every revelation of His character, every proof of His undying love, every declaration of His watchful care, every assertion of His purposes of tender mercy, every manifestation of His loving kindness---all are the filling out of this unfinished 'I am.'
'I am,' He says, 'all that my people need; I am their strength; I am their wisdom; I am their righteousness; I am their peace; I am their salvation; I am their life; I am their all in all.
I am rest for the weary; I am peace for the storm-tossed; I am strength for the strengthless; I am wisdom for the foolish; I am righteousness for the sinful; I am all that the neediest soul on earth can want; I am exceeding abundantly, beyond all you can ask or think, of blessing, and help, and care."
See why I like it?????
Saturday, February 20, 2010
No Second Causes
As you probably know, one of my favorite authors in Hannah Whitall Smith. I just finished reading "The Unselfishness of God", and I love this quote:
"Every fear, every perplexity, every anxiety, find an all-satisfying answer in God--He Himself, what He is in nature and character. His ways, or His plans, or even His promises, we may misinterpret or misunderstand, but goodness of character we cannot mistake, and it is the character of God that is our resting-place....
It was not that life was to have no more trials, for this wise and loving will might see that trials were a necessary gift of love. Neither was it essential that we should be able to see the Divine hand in every trial, since my common sense told me that He must still be there, for a God who is omnipresent could not help being present somewhere, even in a trial, and being in it, He would of course be there to help and bless.
We are not wise enough to judge as to things, whether they are really in their essence joys or sorrows, but the Lord knows; and, because He loves us with an unselfish and limitless love, He cannot fail to make the apparently hard, or cruel, or even wicked thing, work together for our best good. I say 'cannot fail' simply because it is an unthinkable thing to suppose that such a God as ours could do otherwise.
It is no matter who starts our trial, whether man, or devil, or even our own foolish selves, if God permits it to reach us, He has by this permission made the trial His own, and will turn it for us into a chariot of love which will carry our souls to a place of blessing that we could not have reached in any other way. I saw that to the Christian who hides in the fortress of God's will, there can be no 'second causes', for nothing can penetrate into that fortress unless the Divine Keeper of the fortress shall give it permission; and this permission, when given, means that He adopts it as being for our best good."
"Every fear, every perplexity, every anxiety, find an all-satisfying answer in God--He Himself, what He is in nature and character. His ways, or His plans, or even His promises, we may misinterpret or misunderstand, but goodness of character we cannot mistake, and it is the character of God that is our resting-place....
It was not that life was to have no more trials, for this wise and loving will might see that trials were a necessary gift of love. Neither was it essential that we should be able to see the Divine hand in every trial, since my common sense told me that He must still be there, for a God who is omnipresent could not help being present somewhere, even in a trial, and being in it, He would of course be there to help and bless.
We are not wise enough to judge as to things, whether they are really in their essence joys or sorrows, but the Lord knows; and, because He loves us with an unselfish and limitless love, He cannot fail to make the apparently hard, or cruel, or even wicked thing, work together for our best good. I say 'cannot fail' simply because it is an unthinkable thing to suppose that such a God as ours could do otherwise.
It is no matter who starts our trial, whether man, or devil, or even our own foolish selves, if God permits it to reach us, He has by this permission made the trial His own, and will turn it for us into a chariot of love which will carry our souls to a place of blessing that we could not have reached in any other way. I saw that to the Christian who hides in the fortress of God's will, there can be no 'second causes', for nothing can penetrate into that fortress unless the Divine Keeper of the fortress shall give it permission; and this permission, when given, means that He adopts it as being for our best good."
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Perspective
My hooray for the day is our oldest granddaughter turns 8 years old today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIA!!!
When I'm at home and in my element my perspective on things is positive. But I find that when I'm put under pressure I can quickly lose sight of all that seemed so clear at a better time. Is it just me, or do you do the same? How can we keep hold of the TRUTH in the midst of the daily stuff that requires most of our time and attention?
Thought for the day
One of my favorite books is "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith. It is a must read. The context is about laying our burdens on the Lord. "When I speak of burdens, I mean everything that troubles us, whether spiritual or temporal. I mean, first of all, ourselves. The greatest burden we have to carry in life is self; the most difficult thing we have to manage is self. Our own daily living, our frames and feelings, our special weaknesses and temptations, our peculiar temperaments, our inward affairs of every kind--these are the things that perplex and worry us more than anything else and that bring us most frequently into bondage and darkness. In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself, with your temptations, your temperament, your frames and feelings, and all your inward and outward experiences, over into the care and keeping of your God and leave it all there.
He made you and, therefore, He understands you and knows how to manage you; you must trust Him to do it."
I guess that puts things in perspective.
When I'm at home and in my element my perspective on things is positive. But I find that when I'm put under pressure I can quickly lose sight of all that seemed so clear at a better time. Is it just me, or do you do the same? How can we keep hold of the TRUTH in the midst of the daily stuff that requires most of our time and attention?
Thought for the day
One of my favorite books is "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith. It is a must read. The context is about laying our burdens on the Lord. "When I speak of burdens, I mean everything that troubles us, whether spiritual or temporal. I mean, first of all, ourselves. The greatest burden we have to carry in life is self; the most difficult thing we have to manage is self. Our own daily living, our frames and feelings, our special weaknesses and temptations, our peculiar temperaments, our inward affairs of every kind--these are the things that perplex and worry us more than anything else and that bring us most frequently into bondage and darkness. In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself, with your temptations, your temperament, your frames and feelings, and all your inward and outward experiences, over into the care and keeping of your God and leave it all there.
He made you and, therefore, He understands you and knows how to manage you; you must trust Him to do it."
I guess that puts things in perspective.
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