God Sees in Secret!

I was thinking for the last several days about God's wonderful way of forgetting and remembering.  I am so thankful that when I received Jesus' free gift of salvation, God said that He remembers my sins no more! He removes them as far as the east is from the west. Only the God of the Universe could do such a miracle as that.

As I was reading on further, I saw the passages in Matthew 6  that say that, "thy Father that seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly."

Our dear Father sees the secret things. He sees the bad AND He sees the good things. No one else needs to see the secret things. Elsewhere in Scripture God lets us know that "every secret thing" will be brought to light. I think that this means not only the bad...but the good things too! He says that He will reward us openly!

I hope you can take comfort in this as much as it thrilled my heart this week. No matter what man sees or does not see, God sees everything. He is the only one that matters. Isn't that a blessing and a comfort?

We have been so blessed to be visited with friends this week. Starting last weekend we have had four sets of guests, some overnight and some who just stopped in for a visit. Photos of some of these dear ones will follow in future posts.

I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by Darling Hill!!

Thoughts of Love

Hello, Dear friends. I'm so glad you stopped by!  It's certainly a hot Summer day and I hope you're able to keep cool somehow.

I was just meditating on the fact that God IS love. That is a tremendous truth. If God hadn't authored it, there would not even be any love at all in this world! Much of what we humans think of as "love" is fake and manufactured, and that would be the best there could be if God had not introduced true love.

God showed the true love when He loved us, the unloving, by sending the Son to shed his blood and die for our sin on the cross.

Praying for particular "problems" took me to I Corinthians 13 today and there were the verses on what true love displays. Charity (love) suffers long; it is kind. It does not envy others or vaunt itself and is not puffed up. It does not behave unseemly, doesn't seek its own. It is also not easily provoked and thinks NO evil (wow). Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth. All of those verses along with verse 7 say so much...charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things and endureth all things.

Just think; God looks at us that way. He believes in us, endures with us and doesn't think evil of us. What a wonderful, perfect God we serve. How we need to LOVE and obey Him with all of our heart and how we need to love one another as He loves us. It's such a GREAT, HUGE love. Only our Lord can make us begin to share a love like this. It must be a great matter of prayer and heart-openness to Him so that He can put that kind of love into us.

The thought was short, but there is so much to think about and pray on. Take care and thanks so much for stopping by today.

The Storms Blew Through

Hello dear friends! I'm glad you stopped by yesterday to see the flowers, as they do look so different today.

An Evening Occurence:
Major storms blew through last night, very severe. When I got home from work my hubby asked me to go up and check on Mom. She had evidently been bitten by something on Mon. evening. Tues morning my sis-in-law brought her down to see me at the Post Office. After I called the doctor they headed on down for him to take a look at Mom. She was swollen in the arm and hand, had hives over much of her back, eventually swelling in the left foot and even the face. Praise the Lord, she is now on a short stent of steroid to arrest this. THAT is why I needed to head up to see her when I reached home last night. Just as I was pulling out, the winds came up and the trees were bowing severely. As I was backing from the driveway one of our HUGE poplars just snapped off in the middle and came toppling down behind the house. Thank you, Lord, that it didn't hit anything! I prayed as I drove up the road, under all the trees, then turned up into Mom's field which is clear of any trees. Except for the car door being nearly ripped off when I opened it and getting entirely soaked running into the house, no mishaps. The hilltop and deck area looked like it had been raining plastic lawn chairs! It was comical! I said goodbye to my sweet Sis-in-law (without her I don't know how Mom would've gotten to see the doctor yesterday). Mom and I started a new puzzle and waited out that leg of the storm. She was feeling sleepy from the Benadryl and we sat down to catch a little news. The weather had turned calm, so I left her for a time and got home to see that we had no electricity. Syd and I took the dogs back up and we all sat around with Mom until my brother arrived. Her house on the hill is powered by solar, therefore she's never in the dark.

In the middle of the night the lightning storms came, and were severe. Trees were down everywhere and no one had power. When I left for work this morning everyone's generators on the Hill were humming along. We started ours this morning, with only the refrigerator plugged into it. Having gone so many years without electricity, that's all we really care about - well, except COFFEE, which I long ago mastered by simply dripping boiling water through the grounds, a little at a time.

You really didn't need to know all that, I just thought I'd tell you. Anyway -- this was simply to let you know why the flowers and bushes have taken on their "flat stage". Poor hydrangea is laying all over the ground and the lilies have lost many of their beautiful petals. The tomatoes and peas are holding up, being so near the house for protection.

A Midnight Encounter:
I heard the pitter patter of four little feet around midnight, after an especially huge crash of thunder. Taking my flashlight I was met by two beady brown eyes peering over the edge of the bed. I told Sturm that he would have to go cuddle up to Ruger but he bravely climbed back into his own crate instead. Soft brown eyes notwithstanding, no dogs in the bed.

A Morning Blessing:
God gave a huge blessing this morning. No electricity or phones in town were working. Ours simply rings busy and my brother's and church phone's answering machines pick up immediately. My mom's line is run from our pole out front, therefore I assumed that I would have no way of communicating with her today. I am working in a nearby village, so thought I would try her around 9:30 a.m. She ANSWERED! Her phone was working, though no one else's was! What an answer to prayer. She is doing much better. I did get to run up at lunchtime for just a minute and the swelling is down and it looks like she has more energy. Praise the Lord, our electricity is back on too, still no phones.

I am hearing reports this afternoon of trees being cleared and lines restrung. Though we have witnessed very severe thunderstorms and flooding in the past year, I am still so thankful to live in our corner of the States. I pray for those of you who have less protection from mountains and hardwood trees. May God watch over you as storms, flooding and wildfires threaten.

The forecast over the next several days is mid 70 temperatures! That's perfect Summer weather to me!

"Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield." Psalm 115:11


Such a rambling post today. Simply a little news from Darling Hill. Thank you for "stopping up by".

Hill Happenings

Hi to all my friends visiting the Hill this morning!! It's been a long time since I've written and there's really so much going on. As you know, we've had trouble with our internet at home. At one point we thought we had it fixed (paid the 125.00 to have it fixed) but have only had about three short sessions that we've been able to get on since!!! That was three weeks ago. We've been on the phone with the server and are thoroughly disgusted and awaiting it being taken care of. Wouldn't mind so much, if they'd just stop charging us the monthly fee. Enough of that...

I am laughing this morning in response to someone's reaction to one of the recent blog posts. I really should read the posts "through someone else's eyes" before I publish them, I guess. My Aunt emailed, concerned that I am so afraid of mice.  On one of the recent posts I had mentioned about when I see a mouse, I don't rest until he's not running around my house anymore. I just wanted to clear up,  I'm not afraid of mice. They're actually adorable and soft, I just hate the thought of them crawling around on my furniture, counter tops and bathroom & kitchen shelves. I have open shelving and my dishes are all exposed to those cute little, dirty mousie feet. The mention of it was mostly to point out how trivial my little "trials" are while the early Christians had to wander about in rocks and caves of the earth (imagine the mice and rats there), being hunted for their very lives.

Happenings:
My white hydrangea bush is in bloom, as are the white foxglove and rose campion. The tall flox (also white) are about to pop open! Originally, I had planned on having an all-white garden, including any flowers that produced a silvery-gray leaf . However, a few zinnias and bright colored annuals now grow amongst the white. I had seen a beautiful photo of a tiny house which was set into the edge of the forest, therefore it was a somewhat dark setting. The white flowers, trees and silvery "greenery" made it literally come alive. It lightened it up so much. We are located on the north side of Darling Hill and are shaded much of the time. Perhaps one day the white flowered perennials and flowering trees will lighten up the front of our little cabin. I would much rather have the Lord come and take us Home any day now though, wouldn't you?

It's hard to believe, this huge hydrangea (just showing one end of it) only produced  one "ball" of flowers last year!

My neighbor gave me a gift certificate to a nearby greenhouse because I watered her flowers for part of a week! With it I purchased the pretty white foxglove

abundant lilies

The rose campion, with it's silvery leaves and stems

I have pictures to show you. There has been construction and improvements done at our house and you all have been part of it. I hesitate to post pictures yet, as it is all still underway. If you can be patient (really, if I can be!) photos should be revealed within the next couple of weeks.
well....never mind...since the house showed in the background of one of those flower photos, I'll show you now (hee, hee!)

Before

Our dear friends came on Saturday and sure did a TON of work! Don't know what we would do without Dennis

The poor little garden out front suffered some trampling, but seems to have survived

After

Syd is still working on the cute little log stoop at the front door. The roofing on it will likely be the shingles, but perhaps the "siding". What color do YOU think the trim work should be? It's still up in the air.

Syd stepped in a hole and turned his ankle (crunching involved) early into the project on Saturday. My friend, Dottie, could not talk him into icing it right away. I was at work at the PO for the morning. Syd asked for his work boots, laced them up VERY tight, and poured ice cold water down his boot & kept right on working, all day (he repeated with ice water at least two more times). He was in a lot of pain and ended up on crutches Sunday and Monday, but it seems to be getting less painful every day. I do not even think he took his crutches to work today. Poor dear, he was so anxious to get this project completed that he just didn't think he could stop, so he didn't.

enjoying a quick lunch, then Sarah made us a nice chicken dinner later (she is pictured to left). Our dear friends, the Rs come and help us out on all kinds of projects!

Denny conquered an orange peel in one single strand!

We have been blessed to have an old friend, Sarah,  move back into the area. She's not old, but she's an old friend and we've gotten to see her twice since she's returned from the South. We are praying for her as she seeks employment and a permanent place to live (temporarily, as her home is Heaven also). I don't know if you've noticed but there is a spot for Prayer Requests now, to the right of the blog posts here. These needs are things that fellow-bloggers have asked prayer concerning and also needs of our own local church. I hope you'll mention any special requests in your "comments" so that they could be added to the prayer list.

I'm so glad you stopped by the Hill today to share in some of the changes we've seen. Come back again too, o.k.? Remember to leave a comment if you have an idea for the trim color on house. It must be a stain, as I do not want to paint and re-paint. The challenge is, the windows have been trimmed out for a while, therefore already weathered some. The corner posts and one other window are brand new barn board; matching may be tricky.

Choose Faith

"Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12:1-2

The Lord blessed me from the reading of Hebrews chapter 11 today, "the faith chapter". The old testament saints endured cruelties and trials and they stepped out by faith to face them. God reminded me that there is nothing that can come into my life that has not been faced by someone else at one time or another and that His hand is over all things that come my way. The first several verses in chapter 12 are what my reaction to the facts of chapter 11 should be. Jesus, Himself, endured the ultimate trial for me. He had to be separated from His Father for the first time, because of my sin! What a wonderful relationship was made possible because of our Lord's sacrifice. He is the only bridge that can carry us back to the Creator, God. He has reconciled any who will believe and accept the gift of salvation. I'm so glad that God loved us this much, even though we were sinning against Him, aren't you?

As I read about the early saints who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, dwelling in caves and rocks of the earth. Some were sawn asunder for their faith, not accepting deliverance. What rest we can have in the Lord! I face nothing like these early saints did. If I have a mouse run across my floor, I don't rest until it's dead. If my tub leaks (like last week) over my kitchen counter I think the house is falling apart. If we do not have enough money coming in to have the taxes paid up by September, I worry until the payment is made (God always provides it). How foolish and petty most of my little "trials" are. I am glad that the Lord is patient with me and remembers that I am dust. I picture a loving face, smiling and saying, "I love you, Cyndy; now trust Me and keep believing that I will see you through." Believing Him is a choice. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve..." (Joshua 24:15). I am reminded to profess to Him what my answer will be. "I will be loyal; I will serve Thee." I read another interesting quote (though it is a side-note), "Will to be loyal-and give other people credit for being loyal too". ~Chambers

Psalm 37 is one of my very favorite chapters from the Psalms. Each verse addresses some different area of life. Listen to the verbs; fret not, delight, commit, trust, cease from, rest... The Bible covers all areas of life. I am thankful that it is a Living Book and it never gets old!

I'm so glad you visited Darling Hill today. I'll leave you with some pictures of "rest". I hope that you, personally, have true rest in your soul.

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way..." Psalm 37:6

Honoring A Dear Saint

A very short post today, as our internet at home is still giving trouble. Since we had it "fixed" we have only been online about three times (almost two weeks).

We had a wonderful weekend as our 94 year old friend Eddy Grant came down from Maine. He has lived here all his life but has stayed with daughters for the Winter. As I said in the last post, he was going to ride in the "Mule" with me for the big parade (about 1/2 mile long). As we got to the largest groups of people, many said, "Hey, there's Eddy" and "HI Eddy!!" and they would clap their hands. He was thrilled and it was the response was very honoring to him. The sign above his head reads, "Vershire's oldest Veteran, Edward C. Grant (Eddy)". The mule was decorated to honor the Lord, Veterans and those serving our country at this time. A big sign on the back said "Support our Troops/Honor our Veterans" with a large yellow ribbon attached.

Many of Eddy's family members came to the parade and all wanted their photo taken with "Gramps". One of his young great-granddaughters was working up at his home on Sunday afternoon, painting. She had brought a dress to change into, just to be able to wear it for her picture with Eddy. He was also able to visit with lots of friends throughout the day on Saturday.

We are grateful for the testimony that this dear friend has been to us and to our entire family through the years that we have known him (all my life). He was quite a few years younger than my grandfather and lived on the neighboring farm. Eddy has known the Lord Jesus for many, many years and is a true testimony of God's grace. We love him. Our church family was blessed to have him with us all of Sunday, to share fellowship in the Bible, singing and meals together.

Thank you for stopping by the hill today. This post is brief and I wanted to include a Scripture verse with it but I'm not in a place where I have my Bible and do not want to misquote, so will not at this time. You all, take care. I have heard a report that there is some rain coming down in parts of the midwest and west. This is such an answer to prayer and will keep praying for gentle rains to fall. We all do need God's gentle rains to fall on us often, don't we? both physically and spiritually.

The Highway of Holiness

"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the highway of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." Isaiah 35:8,9

Oh the wonder of the upcoming Kingdom Age! One thousand years of peace upon the earth. Imagine, this could possibly only be just over seven years away. Though the above verse does not speak of the here-and-now, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior are already on a "highway of holiness". What a blessing and a privilege to walk  in "the way" of God. I walked the broad way that leads to destruction for years and now He has set me on the strait path. I was reading today about how God has begun this great work in the believer and He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). I had read from a small devotional booklet: "Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality...the vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision." This was a blessing to my heart. As with the old hymn writers, words written by old Bible scholars are deep and meaningful. God is doing the work, and no manner of clamoring and aesthetic exercise from me is going to get me there before He is ready.

I am on the highway of holiness, but I must be patient to let the Lord carry my feet along, onward and upward! A blessed verse from Psalm 37 yesterday: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." 37:5


                "Life is not as idle ore, but iron dug from central gloom,
                  And batter'd by the shocks of doom
                  To shape and use."   -unknown


We are looking forward to a wonderful Summer weekend. Our dear 94 year old friend, Eddy, is here from Maine (where he has been living for the past several months). He is looking forward to riding with me in the big parade tomorrow. This will be Eddy's third year riding on the Mule with us.

I really looked for the one of Eddy riding on the mule, but it's not here, so we have Bobbi Jo, Tristan and Beth instead, Parade 2008. I made the eagle out of brown paper and glue. He was mounted to the plow frame of Syd's truck when we decorated it for the USPS float 8 or 10 years ago. 

Am so glad you stopped up on the hill today. If you are from the West or Midwest, know that I am praying for rain for you there! Praying for safety too, from the heat and wildfires. Take care.