Earlier today I stumbled upon some old journals from years ago and was blessed by the reminders they contained. So I thought I’d share them with you: You’re trying to do for yourself what Christ already did for you—–trying to clean up your life. From Martin Luther’s Introduction to His Commentary on Galatians: “Two kinds of righteousness, active and passive, to the end that manners and faith, works and grace, policy and religion, should not be confounded, or take the one for the other. Both are necessary; but must be kept within their bounds; Christian righteousness appertaineth to the new man, and the righteousness of the law appertaineth to the…

TakeYourVitaminZ linked to this need over at DesiringGod.org and I’ve emailed Fred to ask if we can give: The 1% Campaign DesiringGod.org is one of the websites that I recommend  quite often because of the depth of its resources. To me, this request for financial support is not out of line. If you use their site, I hope you’ll consider this.  

Worth the read: Hooked on  Gadgets and Paying a Mental Price (HT: Challies.com)  

‘Members of Christian churches continue to think small thoughts of God and great thoughts of man. This state of affairs reveals that too many Christians have neglected their first great calling: to know their God. Every Christian is meant to be a theologian in the best and most intimate sense of the word.’ ‘To practical biblical theology is to know God’s macro story of redemption. Second, the biblical theologian is a person committed to understanding the history of revelation, the grand themes and doctrines of the Bible, and how they fit together. In other words, healthy church members give themselves to understanding the unity and progression of the Bible as…

“We trust the Lord with regards to what he has promised. In all else, he  calls us to be responsible and to be wise.” VanDrunen (HT: Thomas Knox Myrick)  

Well. WHEW! Another “Beach Day” at co-op has come and gone and I’m so grateful that we made through all of the activities and festivities with only a tiny bit of tears (during the “SCUBA diving” adventure) and NO bandaids required. Hooray! I still think I am pretty much the least qualified to ever try to corral small children and have fun. But like so many opportunities to serve in the church, we just do our best, and have to entrust the rest to the Lord. I think that overall the kids had fun, so that’s great: One of the moms made DELISH yogurt-banana-frozen-treat-thingies and another made TURTLE-shaped jello jigglers…

Grandma Chris makes the BEST matchy dresses for little girls! And Red Lodge, Montana is a great place to play in snow in May:   Thanking God for grace to carry us in our time of need— And for moments of joy, too. Yours, Tara B.  

“Dream not of noble service elsewhere wrought, The simple duty that awaits thy hand Is God’s voice uttering a divine command; Life’s common duties build what saints have thought. In wonder — workings of some bush aflame  Men look for God, and fancy Him concealed; But in earth’s common things He stands revealed, While grass and stars and flowers spell out His name.” (The Quiet Things, by Minot Judson Savage, 1882) HT: QuietResting  

I just found out that Borders will give your 12-and-under child a free book if they read ten books this summer. Seems like a good deal so I printed out the form for Soph: Free Book From Borders    

I’ve watched this video a few times in the last week (well, technically, I had it playing in the background—I’ve never actually watched the video, I just appreciate the words and music). Each time, I’ve been tremendously blessed to be drawn by the Holy Spirit into intimate, abiding worship  of the Triune God. I hope it likewise helps to lead you by the Spirit to the throne room of Christ our King and God the Father. What a Savior! What a God.