O Sacred Head Now Wounded

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss 'til now was Thine;
Yet though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners' gain;
'Twas mine the dread transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Saviour,
'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Oh, look on me with favour;
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.


Be near when I am dying,
Oh, show Thy cross to me;
And for my succor flying,
Come, Lord, to set me free:
These eyes new faith receiving.
From Thee shall not remove,
For he who dies believing
Dies safely through Thy love.

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
Oh, make me Thine forever;
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.

Attributed to ~
Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153)

English Translation by ~
James W. Alexander (1804-1859)

"Ordinary" Joys

This Thankfulness Journal is a wonderful way to chronicle the daily happenings of our lives ~ the journey HE has us on. Sometimes filled with laughter and sometimes with tears...usually "ordinary" and occasionally "spectacular" ~ we are blessed.

Will you join us?

Have you begun this journey of thanks? It is powerful and has already changed my life in the "noticing" of the small ~ and I realise that they really are the big. The numbering continues ~
if you are interested in knowing the "why" look here.

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits,
even the God of our salvation."
Psalm 68:19

337. Evidence that a little girl lives here ~
she will soon be grown, so I enjoy...

338. Soapy toes...

339. Small hands that copy...

340. Notes of thanks for thoughtful gifts

341. More little girl "evidence" ~
soon to be exchanged for larger pursuits

342. Street hockey and more street hockey and three boys to play!

343. Gifted flowers to plant ~ joy!

344. "Old Betsy" aka "Betsy Blue" faithfully transports us
mile after mile with very little expense ~ she really is a gem!

345. Noisy house
346. Family that cares
347. Faithful, hard-working Husband
348. New life bursting out everywhere ~ welcome spring!
349. Jobs for my boys
350. Neighbours who are neighbourly
351. Olympic opportunities
352. Food in abundance
353. Purging ~ liberation from "stuff"
354. Witnessing opportunities
355. Singing the old hymns

Many Blessings,
Camille

Ugliness of Pride

Ouch! This one hurts and hits SO CLOSE to home!

Actually, I was unaware of how much of this ugly sin was still in my heart ~
I really thought I had made great strides forward in this area!

Pride ~ Unfortunately, none of us is immune!
We all suffer from the same malady.

Simply put ~ it's SIN.

The first sin was all tied up with pride ~ "...You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5b The Devil tempted Eve in the Garden with this thought ~ to be as gods. Just eat and it will come true! Oh how tricky the Devil is! He had previously fallen in the very same sin ~ he desired to be worshipped as the King of Kings was ~ this was his downfall. We all struggle with the same thing he did ~ we want to take glory for ourselves.

Over the years in my role as Wife and now Mother, I have allowed pride to reside unchecked in my heart. It is a constant battle to keep it at bay and subdued. How often have I thought to myself ~ "No, I can't welcome them into my home ~ it's not clean enough, new enough, orderly enough ~ they will see my imperfections!"

How foolish! We are called to give HOSPITALITY ~ not provide ENTERTAINMENT ~
that's a good one to ponder for awhile! :)

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40b

To my shame, I have also had moments of thinking that I was superior in my Mothering methods, my home cleaning abilities, my cooking skills ~ you name it, I probably thought I was better at it than most! As Christians we are called to live humbly before our God and fellow man. I was doing the exact opposite ~ exhalting myself instead of abasing myself.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look,..." Proverbs 6:16-17a
According to this passage of Scripture, my pride is and ABOMINATION to the Lord!

OH. DEAR. ME.

Let's think for a moment about a king who lived in Old Testament times. By the world's standards he had everything going for him. He had built a magnificent kingdom and thought it was all the work of his own hands. He took the glory to himself. Consequently, God removed not only his kingdom, but his sanity as well! King Nebuchadnezzar is the king of whom I speak. This entire story can be read in the book of Daniel chapter four. I would encourage you to take the time to read it ~ it's amazing to see how God dealt with him and how he repented in the end. Powerful story!

Everything we have ~

EVERYTHING. WE. HAVE.

~ is DIRECTLY from HIS hand.

ANY good found in me is because my Glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives IN me! What a wonderful thought! All my "righteousnesses" are as filthy rags ~ it tells us that fact very clearly in the Bible. (Isaiah 64:6)

We must never take any glory to ourselves.

We must always live in a state of humility and recognition that
ALL IS OF THE LORD ~
the very next breath we take is from HIM!

Oh yes, and while we are at it, there is something else ~
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."
Philippians 2:3-4

How wonderful it would be if we were all to live in such a way ~ can it be done? Only with His power is this possible...as we continually bring it before HIM in prayer. When we least expect it, and often seemingly from way out of left field, those old thoughts will creep in. That is the time for battle ~ as we tell our children ~ that is the time to send an "arrow prayer" up to the Lord. Take a moment to send up a quiet and quick prayer for help or grace in order to be obedient to God's Word ~ "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exhalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." II Corinthians 10:5-6 We all are equals before God and none of us should think more highly of ourselves than we ought. (Romans 12:3)

"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality." Romans 12:10-13

Might the Lord help us, for our good and His glory, to win this battle. It is one we must fight daily until the glorious day that He takes us HOME to be with Him forever! Until that day, we must constantly battle these thoughts of superiority and subdue them with the TRUTH that we are created for the Glory of God alone to be useful instruments in His hand. As we prayerfully consider these things, He will give the grace day by day to live our lives accordingly.

Have I "arrived"?

OH. NO!

Definitely not!

BUT, God is all sufficient and HE lived that perfect life I could never live and died to pay the penalty I could never pay. How WONDERFUL to rest in HIS finished work! One day at a time ~ WITH the Lord. ALL things are possible. We are all works in progress. The longer I am a Christian, the more I see the ugliness of my sin and my need of the Saviour. How beautiful it is to belong to HIM and to trust in HIS Righteousness ALONE!

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Colossians 3:17

**UPDATE**
You might like to also read the poem "Dying to Self" which has been a great blessing to me over the years ~
one day at a time...WITH the LORD! :)

Spring Has Sprung

These beauties are in my neighbour's garden ~ aren't they lovely? :)

What Was For Breakfast?

Not that anyone REALLY wants to know day after day what we eat, but I just had to post about these!
I found the recipe at Jennifer Jo's Blog ~ click on her name and it will take you to the recipe.

The yummiest soaked oatmeal pancakes.

I made them with whole wheat flour instead of white and used "old fashioned" rolled oats. I also added in a little vanilla extract (the real stuff) and they were FABULOUS!! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! And FYI ~ I served them with organic strawberries that were on MAJOR sale at my little local store...Yippee! :)

Auntie Fran's Hawaiian Chicken

Want to know what's for dinner at our house tonight??

Auntie Fran's Hawaiian Chicken

4 chicken breast halves (boneless and skinless)
1 large tin sliced pineapple
(I use a fresh pineapple and therefore need to purchase pineapple juice separately)
1 or 2 green or red peppers, sliced into rings ~
I slice and don't bother making them into "rings"
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp soya sauce
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 chicken bouillon cube

Heat skillet. Put some flour, salt and pepper into a plastic bag.
Place the raw chicken breasts in the bag one at a time and shake until coated.
Fry in some oil in the skillet until browned on both sides (not cooked through).

Meanwhile ~ drain pineapple, pouring liquid into a 2 cup measure...
add enough water to make 1 ¼ cups. 
(If using fresh pineapple and using a box of pineapple juice,
 then pour 1 ¼ cups of the juice into the liquid measure). 
In Saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients (which is everything listed in the ingredients
 from the sugar down...and the pineapple juice). 
Bring to a boil stirring constantly with a whisk, 
then boil for two minutes ~ remove from heat.

Place chicken into casserole dish and pour about half the sauce over top ~ 
reserving some for individual servings.
Bake uncovered in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
At this point you would add the pineapple slices and the rings of 
green or red pepper to each piece of chicken.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer (until the chicken is fully cooked).
Serve over rice.  Enjoy! :)

Many Blessings,
Camille

Tracings of His Hand

We see and hear evidences of the Creator of this Universe all around us ~ the tracings of His Hand abound in the things we so often take for granted. God is majestic and cannot be contained ~ our minds are finite and cannot comprehend the immense greatness of our God!

This week's list contains some of these evidences recently photographed...

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork." Psalm 19:1

330. Water droplets on the cherry tree blossom buds...

331. Amaryllis blooms to brighten late winter days...

332. Red berries mingled with the greenery in the front flower garden

333. Sunlight and shadows making patterns on the floor

334. Single red rose and sunlight to play with ~ camera fun! :)

335. Back yard ground cover sporting dainty periwinkle flowers ~ favourites!

336. Tulips gifted to me by my Dad ~ a thoughtful gesture "out of the blue"

Many Blessings,
Camille

An Unexpected Gift

My Dad came by unexpectedly the other day ~ with these!
Aren't they GORGEOUS??
What says "Spring" better than fresh tulips? :)

"...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Matthew 6:28-34

Last Minute Olympic Experience

The boys had been hoping to attend an Ice Sledge Hockey game during the Paralympic Games here in Vancouver. It was not something we planned in advance to do. In fact, it was at the "eleventh hour" that I called about a game which was to take place in only 1 1/2 hours ~ the only one that would work for our family's schedule. There were still seats available ~ so off we went with a quickly packed lunch, some "Narnia" to listen to and the GPS to guide us along the way! :)

These were the cutest...all decked out for the Olympics! :)

L to R ~ Calvin, Austin, Emma and Fraser

Italy and Czech Republic were the teams competing...

My budding photgrapher...

It was a fun excursion and well worth the effort! (And the Czech Republic won...a bonus since they were the ones we were cheering for!) It was a hard fought battle between two well-matched teams. It came down to a shoot out after one overtime period ~ very exciting! :)

A Boy and His Dog

From L to R ~ Fraser, Harmony, Buddy, Austin, Oreo, Calvin and Hershey

Don't you think there is something special about a boy and his dog? Beautiful thought ~ really.
But the trouble is, these are not our dogs...we don't even have ONE! :)

The neighbours have kindly hired our boys to walk their dogs for them and the boys have happily obliged. Two of these dogs are not "regulars" and one of the "regulars" is missing. This troupe is quite a sight as they trek down the road ~ what fond memories they will have of these days!
What fond memories I will have of these days!

Why can we not freeze these precious moments??
I suppose the solution to that is to enjoy each day God gives us, for it will soon be a memory.

Counting Blessings

I love the hymn that the title of this post is inspired by ~ Count Your Blessings..."name them one by one!"

Did this godly hymn writer keep a journal of thanks? There must be many who have done so in the past ~ what a legacy to leave behind...your thankfulness journal! Have you begun? It really is powerful and encouraging ~ it might just "surprise you what the Lord has done"!

319. Two youngest playing a duet on the piano ~ warms my heart! :)


320. Flowers lovingly picked for me ~ first of the season!


321. And then I find that another has been secretly added ~ how sweet! (Thanks Calvin!)


322. Fun in a restaurant ~ for both of us! :)

323. The last of the hot chocolate...

324. And children to enjoy drinking it!

325. Front door welcome ~ a long ago yard sale find.

326. The sound of music ~ brings joy to my heart.

327. Quiet "together" moments...

328. Blonde hair to braid...

329. A treat from a dear friend...

Many Blessings,
Camille