The Snare of Things that are Seen

"...God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His word real in fact as well as faith." -A.B. Simpson

More than a vase made of glass....

"There he proved them." Exodus 15:25

"I stood once in the test room of a great steel mill. All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit and marked with figures that showed it's breaking point....

...God does not want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He would have us like..toughened pieces of steel, able to bear twisting and crushing to the uttermost without collapse.

He wants us to be, not hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us such He must needs bring us into His testing room of suffering.

Many of us need no other argument than our own experiences to prove that suffering is indeed God's testing room of faith." -J.H. McC.

"It is very easy for us to speak and theorize about faith, but God often casts us into crucibles to try our gold, and to separate it from the dross and alloy. Oh, happy are we if the hurricanes that ripple life's unquiet sea have the effect of making Jesus more precious. Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without him." -Macduff

What if God could not manage to ripen your life without suffering?

-Taken from, Streams In the Desert, Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

-Picture by Photography by Jenneil

More For the Blessings Journal...

Well, I thought it was about time to add to my Blessings Journal. (see this post and this post) It's always good to reflect and remember what God has done, and how He has provided. (**Photo above was taken by my dear friend and fellow photographer, Jenneil Harbert, copyright 2008)

Psalm 145:2-5 says,"Every day I will bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation will praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works."

1. I am so greatful to the Lord for providing for BOTH of our cars to be fixed this past month. Neither fix was in the budget, but God in his mercy, saw fit to provide. This was above and beyond what we imagined in our humanness.

2. I thank God for our FREE vacation to Tennessee in July! Wow! We had a family from our church call us one day and tell us that they couldn't take the vacation they had booked for themselves back in March. So, they said if we wanted to go in their place, that it was ours-already paid for. It was the first REAL vacation we have taken as a family...i.e..not going to visit with family or friends, just going on vacation for vacation's sake! We stayed in a wonderful 2BR,2BA condo with a jacuzzi tub big enough for our whole family plus yours! :) It was restful and wonderful!

3. I thank God that He provided us the money to get to Tennessee for our vacation!

4. I'm thankful that Myra needed some clothes that fit, and I was able to go to Goodwill and get her 7 pairs of pants and 4 shirts (most name brands) for $17!

5. I'm thankful that God provided for Shane to get a suit for the wedding he recently officiated for some friends. We did not know where the money would come from, and God surprised us-once again!

6. I'm thankful that I'm getting more and more photography business.

7. I'm thankful that we are getting lots of yummy acorn squash out of our garden, along with the earlier crops of lettuce, spinach, basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers. There is nothing like fresh grown veggies!

8. I thank the Lord for my parents who took us to the State Fair recently and paid for everything, including ride tickets!

9. I'm thankful that God is expanding the ministry at our church and bringing in faithful workers, who are called to proclaim the Gospel to central Kentucky. We are so blessed to have John and Ashley and Jason and Marri to help expand our children and youth ministries.

10. I'm always thankful for my wonderful family. I will say it again and again-God has given me a wonderful, Godly husband who is dedicated to serving the Lord and following His calling. He leads us so graciously. He is kind and handsome, the love of my life. My children, though trying at times, bring me so much joy. They make me laugh and learn and who can ask for more than those little hugs and kisses?

Church Staff Pictures

Last night Shane and I headed into downtown Frankfort with my camera and met up with several of our church leaders and did some new staff photos for our church website. We had alot of fun, didn't take too long, and got some great pictures! I've got to finish a few this weekend with a couple folks who couldn't make it out last night, but I'm so happy with what we've got so far. Check them out here, at our church's website. If you live in or near Frankfort, Kentucky, come check us out at The Point Community Church. We love our church and are so blessed to be a part of what God is doing there! (Rick-our lead pastor's picture above)

Phillips family

I had the joy and privilege of doing family photos for Frank and Vivian Phillips this past week. Frank is one of our elders at church, and he and Vivian are just dear, precious friends. We call him our "elder" elder! :) On Monday, they called and said one of their sons and his lovely wife and their grandbaby were in town, and so we ended up doing some pictures that very night. We had a good time and got some great photos. As you can tell, they are very proud of their grandson, Abraham! I will be posting more soon on my photo blog.

The fragrance that God loves to smell

"I had a tiny box, a precious box
of human love-my spikenard of great price;
I kept it close within my heart of hearts.
And scarce would lift the lid lest it should waste
Its perfume on the air. One day a strange
Deep sorrow came with crushing weight, and fell
And broke the box to atoms. All my heart
Rose in dismay ans sorrow at this waste,
But as I mourned, behold a miracle
Of grace Divine. My human love was changed
To heaven's own, and poured in healing streams
On other broken hearts, while soft and clear
A voice above me whispered, "Child of mine,
With comfort wherewith thou art comforted,
From this time forth, go comfort others,
And thou shalt know blest fellowship with Me,
Whose broken heart of love hath healed the world."

-taken from Streams in the Desert, Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

What To Do With All That Zucchini???

If you're like me, you're a bit overrun with zucchini this time of the year. We don't have it in our own personal garden, but we have gotten alot from our cropshare, and I keep having people "offer" some of their zucchini to me. I'm not a big zucchini lover...unless it's loaded with sugar, as in zucchini bread or zucchini chocolate cake! So, I went on the hunt last week for zucchini recipes, found this one on Allrecipes.com and had to share! It was SO yummy! We had steak with it (which I got with a price match at Wal-Mart! It was chuck eye steak, that was normally $4.89/lb and I got for $1.99/lb because Pic-Pac had it on sale! Just a sidenote...we don't often have steak!), and although the steak was good, I just wanted more zucchini pie! I would love to do this with all my zucchini every week, if it weren't for the caloric content...because you can't eat just one small piece. So, even if you are fickle with zucchini, as I am, give this one a try..and let me know how you like it! :) (sorry I dont' have a photo of it!)

Mom's Zucchini Pie

1 (8oz.) pkg refrigerated crescent rolls (I used the reduced fat one)
1/4 cup margarine
4 cups sliced zucchini
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded mozzarella (I used a mozzarella/provolone mixture that was fabulous, but you can use any reduced fat cheese here as a substitute..I wouldn't use fat free, though. It never bakes well)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls, and press into a 9 inch pie pan, covering sides and bottom.
2. Melt margarine in a skillet over medium heat, and cook til the zucchini and onion are tender. Season with parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Remove skillet from heat, and mix in the eggs and cheese.
3. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until set. Cool 10 minutes before serving.