In Pursuit of J.O.Y.

J.O.Y.

Not *happiness*.
It is not guaranteed.
It does not last.

True joy does.

In the midst of trials.
In the midst of sorrows
and difficulties.

In the midst of happiness.
In the midst of triumphs
and victories.

Joy is abiding.
Because HE is abiding.

"Underneath are the Everlasting Arms..."
~ Deuteronomy 33:27a ~

We have had trials.
Struggles.
Sorrows.

We've also had many
happy times.
Triumphs.

And through it all...

God's peace and joy
sustain.
HE sustains.

We have nothing to fear.
Everything to hope.

It is foolish to
worry about the future.
The future is not ours to hold.
Ours to keep.

"Suffcient unto the day..."
~ Matthew 6:34 ~

Only this day.
Only this moment.

And HE will meet us
in our need.
HE is Faithful.
In that is J.O.Y.

Rest in HIM my friend.
Trust in HIM.
Find joy in HIM.
Only in HIM will
lasting joy be found.

If you do not have the LORD
as your own Saviour,
Please Click Here to learn how
you can belong to HIM too!

Many Blessings,
Camille

**Photos in this post courtesy
of our Emma ~
Taken on a recent Beach Walk.
Thank you my little love! XO

Good Enough

I'm a perfectionist by nature.
Not good.
Especially since I am the
Mum of four.
*Smile*

We are home together most days
due to the fact that we home educate.
And my husband runs his
business from the home as well.

Good news ~
The LORD is helping
me to relax a little.
A very good thing. :)

Long ago, we purchased our first home.
(The one we still live in).
It was *just a stepping stone*
to something better.
Or so I thought.

Shameful, but true ~
Oh how wrong I was.
How incredibly wrong!

This home was a gift.
We are SO thankful
that the LORD did not
strip it off of us!

SO thankful.


We had the opportunity
to renovate just after Emma was born.
And we did.

I chose these cupboards
for the kitchen.
So cute.
(My opinion).

And...
So much work to keep clean.
So. Much. Work!

Because of my
perfectionistic tendencies,
I put it off until I can do it *right*.
Which, by the way,
is very rare.
Too rare!

I got so tired of them
looking dreadful that I gave
a quick (and I mean quick)
clean to them one day recently.
All the cupboard door and drawer facings
were spruced up in under 30 minutes.


How great is that?

Sometimes Good Enough
Really IS
Good Enough!!

I remember a friend of
mine telling me (long ago)
that her Mom had shared a past regret with her.
It happened to be that she ~ (get this) ~
spent too much time cleaning and
not enough time nurturing her children!

This hit home with me.

How easy it is to get our
priorities mixed up.
Nurturing our children
both physically and spiritually
is of utmost importance.
How I need wisdom to accomplish
this task in a God-honouring way!

May we all enjoy the precious families
that the LORD has given each of us.

And clean just enough.
*Wink*

Many Blessings,
Camille

Homespun Treasures

Homespun treasures.
We likely all have them.

Perhaps...
A quilt made by Grandma long ago.
A baby blanket lovingly knit by
a pair of sweet hands.
A stack of handwritten letters.

Things irreplaceable.
Things priceless.
Of little or no monetary value.

BUT...
Of great sentimental value.

In this post I share
just a few of my homespun
treasures with you...
and then I will ask you to
share some of yours with me. :)

My husband has always loved airplanes.
As a graduation gift for my Sweetie,
my Dad created this Spitfire
in pen and ink and framed it for him.
It was the year we were married.

My Mom made this cross-stitch for us
as a wedding gift.

And my sister stitched this one
for the same occasion.

Just last week Calvin made us all
bookmarks using photos that he had taken.

Complete with a verse and personal
note on the back of each one.

Our other children
have given us notes and cards (handmade)
and other little gifts of love
over the years.
We treasure them up in special
keepsake boxes.
And then, of course,
there are the photo albums
and home videos of the children
when they were small.


If we should ever have a fire,
these are some of the irreplaceable
things that would be missed the most.

Keeping in mind, of course,
that it is unwise to store up
for ourselves treasures on earth.
(May the LORD give grace to keep
all things in their proper place and
in perspective).

What homespun treasures do you cherish?
And who made them for you?

Do share.
Maybe even post about them?
Please let me know if you do! :)

Many Blessings,
Camille

Simply Life

Simply Life.
Day in.
Day out.

Over and over again.
The blessings of routine.

I give thanks.
In the midst of the ordinary.
The *routine*.

This has been a familiar
sight in our home of late ~
Emma dressed in a
dress-up dress doing math.
Oh the joys of the moment.
It won't always be like this.
It won't.

I'm seeking to cherish
these memories.
Hold them in my heart.

So...
I continue to count.
To number HIS graces.
They are found in the simple
as well as the grand.

1581. A *princess* doing math

1582. That the children
migrate to the kitchen table for
their studies.

1583. A robin in January

1584. A little girl who knows what it
is to tidy up, and that she just gets
on with it! :)

1585. Kettle Corn

1586. Sharing some with Emma
while the boys were out with Daddy ~
Shhhhh! ;-)

1587. Girl's night in

1588. Indoor tropical plant blooming in winter ~
Thank you Susan for gifting it to me!
(I can't believe it flowered for me!!)

1589. Impromptu game of
Battleship between the first and the last

1590. Help from the children ~
A Blessing!

1591. The difference it makes!!

1592. That amazing things can happen
in only 30 minutes when *all hands are on deck*!

1593. Quinoa and what can be done with it

1594. Discovery of this *new-to-me*
Superfood!

1595. A puzzle in progress (by Austin and Emma)...

1596. And the completed masterpiece

1597. And the fact that
the perfectionist in me didn't require it
to be packed up right away ~ progress! :)

1598. More often than not,
getting waved on at the border

1599. Hagen's of Blaine!

1600. "Early to bed, and early to rise..."
and the wonderful routine of it.

1601. The blessing of routine

1602. Paper route and that
Emma is old enough to join in

1603. So thankful that her
brothers are right there to protect her

1604. When she said ~
"I bet it's better than White Spot's!"
(A favourite local restaurant)
In reference to the home-made chicken pot pie
we just put into the oven. :)

1605. My Sweetie's drawings
to explain the Trinity to the children

1606. Clear, frosty mornings...
rare where we live ~ winters tend to be grey

1607. Four haircuts done in record time :)

1608. Shorts in February!
(Don't be too jealous...things are chilly again).

My journal sits on my counter.

I list as events unfold.
Sometimes many all at once,
and other times in a trickle.

Would you like to begin?
Just grab a pen and a journal,
set them out on the counter,
and list out your blessings.
Find the joy in the moments ~
As they arrive.

Enjoy the journey!

Many Blessings,
Camille

This Little Miss...

This little miss drinks tea...

...with her special tea cup and saucer ~
(a gift from long ago)...

...while wearing her fuzzy socks and
a WalMart dress-up dress.

Oh to be young again! :)

Have a Happy Day!
With Love,
Camille

Propelled

I once, quite awhile ago,
read something somewhere in
this blog-world that made an
impression on me.

Not the impression the
author was looking for,
mind you.

It propelled me off in
the OPPOSITE direction.

A good thing.
A VERY good thing.

Her advice was to those individuals
who wanted to see their blog grow.
To see their following increase.
To see how to make all that
(and more) happen!

Blog every day,
was her advice.
Every. Single. Day.

Bondage.

At least,
that was how I viewed it.


Why do I blog in the first place?
To have *followers*?
To be popular?
To show off?
(May it never be so).

Or...

To glorify my Precious Saviour?
To share what HE is doing
in our lives?
In my heart.

To be an encouragement to others along this path?
To record for our children some of the
everyday things that we do together as a family?
To share our joys and our sorrows?
To share some of what I am learning
as a wife, mother, teacher, homemaker ~
Christian?

Yes.
That's it.

By God's Grace.

As an added bonus,
there are friends
to be made along the way.

True friends.

The ones who you pray for.
The ones who pray for you.
The ones you grow to love ~
In the LORD.


It's a beautiful thing.
And I'm thankful that YOU
have joined with me on this journey.
What a blessing you are.

Thank you for understanding when I don't
visit you as often as I would like.
And, be assured that I understand
when you are unable to visit me.

I really do!

Thank you for your patience.
And for your friendship ~
It is a joy.

With Love,
Camille

**Photos in this post courtesy
of our Emma ~ Thank you little love! XO

Almond (or Peanut) Butter Granola

This got rave reviews.
My Sweetie couldn't believe that I made it.  :)
Should I take that as a compliment?

I chose to.  Y.U.M.

Jennifer Jo featured it on her blog about a week and a half ago.

I altered it slightly.

One thing to note ~ I don't have peanut butter

in the house because two of our children are are deathly allergic to it.

However, I think it would be F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S.

made with peanut butter. I substituted almond butter.

And it was SO GOOD!

~ Peanut Butter (or Almond Butter) Granola ~

Adapted from Jennifer Jo's recipe.

5 cups rolled oats

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup brown sugar (I used Sucanat)

1/3 cup liquid honey

1/3 cup unrefined organic coconut oil

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

(I used almond butter) ~ If it's salted,

decrease the amount of salt you use.

1 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)

Stir the oats, nuts, and coconut together in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar,

honey, coconut oil, salt and peanut (or almond) butter

over medium heat until melted together.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir to combine.

It will be lumpy. Spread the mixture into a

10" x 15" glass baking dish and bake at 250 degrees for 60-90 minutes ~

Stir every fifteen minutes, until nicely golden in colour.

Be careful not to overdo it.

Cool to room temperature and add dried fruit.

Store in an airtight container.

Serve with creamy milk.  Enjoy!

Blessings, Camille

If You Read in the Bath....

If you read in the bath...

Your (once perfect)
book may end up looking like this.

Emma recently learned this lesson the
H.A.R.D. way. :)

Happy (safe) Reading!
Camille

And HE is Good. Always.

Security.
Where is it to be found?

In circumstances?
In things?
In money?
In friends?
In family?

All these things may fail us.

But, God never fails.
He never leaves us.
He is always with us.
He is always in complete
and Sovereign control.

And HE is Good.
Always.

Preaching these Truths
to ourselves day
after day.

Meditating.
Contemplating.
Living it out.

In the nitty gritty of
every day life
and living.

Regardless of how we feel.
Regardless.

What matters is what is true.
We ground ourselves in that.
Our moorings are in HIM.

"Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God ~
Naught else is worth believing."
~ Martin Luther ~

In the midst of recent
trials and sorrows,
I continue to count.
I continue to praise.
By HIS Grace.

1571. The joys of the *every day* ~
God's mercies are new every morning

1572. In the midst of suffering
and pain, HIS grace is there

1573. The deep seated and comforting knowledge
that the LORD does all things well and
HE only gives what is best

1574. The blessings of routine ~
we continue on in HIS strength

1575. This little miss
who brings a smile to my face as
she does her school work.

1576. Simple lessons to brighten up our days

1577. The sweetest Language Lessons ever! :)

1578. Memories of this poem from
my childhood and sharing it with our children

1579. That I get to be a part of this
journey of learning with our children

1580. That there really are joys to
be found in the midst of life and living ~
How Gracious our Precious Saviour is!

My journal sits on my counter.

I list as events unfold.
Sometimes many all at once,
and other times in a trickle.

Would you like to begin?
Just grab a pen and a journal,
set them out on the counter,
and list out your blessings.
Find the joy in the moments ~
As they arrive.

Enjoy the journey!

Many Blessings,
Camille