amberdover

The High King Lives

Inspirational Wednesday: Sailing without a Map May 30, 2012

Galatians 1:8 KJV
  8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

(Pic deleted in case of copy right issues)

Hello dear ones :). I pray you’re having a beautiful Wednesday. Today I come to you with another issue of balance. Often we see two extremes in religion and even in Christian circles. There are those who base their faith on experience alone and the emotions of a spiritual experience. Then there are those who worship their theology as if it is God. I have been on both sides and  I praise God for constantly bringing me back to His truth and balance. C.S. Lewis describes it like this:

“Now theology is like the map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God; they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experiences of hundreds of people who were really in touch with God– experiences compared with which any thrills or pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see, what happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting, but nothing comes of it. It leads nowhere. There is nothing to do about it. In fact, that is just why a vague religion– all about feeling God in nature, and so on — is attractive. It is all thrills and no work: like watching the waves from the beach. But you will never get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to sea without a map.”

~ C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

God bless and Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover

 

Crafty Monday: Fireflies, Dirt Pudding, & Holiday Crafts (Pentecost & Memorial Day) May 28, 2012

Hello Friends and Welcome to Crafty Monday 🙂 We have one more week left of our bug studies and then we will be learning about the Ocean and planets.  If you’re new to this blog you can check my last couple of Monday posts and see the other bug studies. Bug Buddies is a study through Danielle’s Place (link below) that teaches about bugs and the Bible.

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/BugBuddiesStudies.html

This week we learned about Inch Worms and how God’s love is immeasurable. Enjoy the pics 🙂

We also learned about Mosquitoes and how we should be good friends like the lady bug….not bad like the mosquito.

Then we made fireflies. We really enjoyed this craft. The idea comes from:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/make-fireflies-that-really-lig-147918

For a special treat we ended the week with Dirt Pudding. Dirt Pudding is also my husband’s favorite dessert. You can tell from the pic that lil man enjoyed himself.

Don’t you just love the gummy worms sticking out? LOL it looks a bit gross but the taste is delicious….I promise I didn’t put real dirt in it 🙂

Here’s the site for the recipe:

http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t–2693/wiggle-worm-dirt-pudding.asp

For Memorial Day I made another homemade rug out of leftover carpet. I used my sandals as stamps. I saw a rug in Family Dollar that had flip flops on it etc….So I thought I’d try to make my own. It’s definitely patriotic.

For Pentecost we made this dove painting. It didn’t quite turn out like the original in this post:

http://www.thatartistwoman.org/2012/01/in-style-of-rene-magritte-2.html

It still looks neat though.

We also made a Dove and Tongues of Fire paper chain. It’s hard to see it in these pics. The Dove represents the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent after His Resurrection (on the day of Pentecost).  The tongues of fire represent the flames that appeared over the disciples’ heads when they were given the Holy Spirit. They spoke in tongues and in the Greek it’s clear they spoke in known languages (not gibberish).  They were then able to preach the gospel in many different languages and everyone understood them.

A few scoffers mocked them and said they were drunk but most people listened and many believed. The apostle Peter went on to give a lengthy gospel presentation to show that they were indeed sober & that the prophecies were fulfilled. The whole point of Pentecost is that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel. It wasn’t about an emotional or selfish experience. It was all about winning lost souls for Christ. Many people call Pentecost the birthday of the Church.

Pentecost is also a celebration of God giving Moses the Torah (including the Ten Commandments).  Last year we celebrated Pentecost with my buddy Hannah and her kiddos. We made salt dough commandments, tongues of fire head-bands, and stained glass “windows”. Oh, there were also tissue flowers.

The kids also enjoyed dancing with flags.

Several years ago Michael and I made flags for Pentecost. The flag below I made. I can’t remember what it says because it’s written in Hebrew but I think it says Love, Peace, Messiah etc etc….something like that.

Have a happy Memorial Day! God bless & Remember the High King Lives! ~Amber Dover

Jump to Part 3 of Bug Studies:

Crafty Monday: Ants & Ladybugs

Jump to Part 5 of Bug Studies:

Crafty Monday: Spiders & Dragonflies

 

 

Weekend Special: Virtual Santorini, Apple Crisp Delish, & holiday celebrations May 27, 2012

Hello friends 🙂 I hope you’re having a lovely Memorial Day weekend.  Also Happy Pentecost! I’m combining my weekend posts for a special. Today I’ve got a delicious recipe to share with you and I’m taking you to a special place in the virtual world. I don’t have anything for Media Saturday but since I reviewed the Avenger’s last week I wanted to show you my newest peg doll set. (Pic below)From Left to Right: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Black Panther, the Hulk, and Hawk Eye. They’re not perfect but boy did they take a long time to paint.

I’ve decided to start making peg dolls for boys since my son will soon outgrow the other sets. So I made an Avenger’s peg doll set and Michael loves it. He keeps begging me to add Black Widow (who I don’t really like) since she does turn out to be good at the end of the 1st season of the Avenger’s cartoon. I also plan on making a city-themed box for them and eventually villain peg dolls. I’ve also got to make Thor’s hammer and maybe some arrows for HawkEye.

Moving on……..the recipe below is great for dessert or breakfast 🙂

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Put apples in an 8 or 9 inch square baking dish.
  2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and mix.
  3. Spread crumble mixture over apples and bake for 35 minutes in a 375ºF degree oven.
  4. For an added treat top off with a little English custard.

A video showing some of the best places to geocache

It’s time to go around the world….well the virtual world. This weekend I’m taking you to Santorini Greece in SecondLife. This is a beautiful replica and I was able to get some gorgeous pictures. Enjoy the pics 🙂 Remember you can click on them to see them larger.

Santorini Church

If you get a chance to check out any of the virtual places I’ve posted, then please leave me a comment with your experience. Also, what are your plans for Memorial Day Weekend? Or Pentecost? I’d love to hear from you!

God bless & Remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover

 

Inspirational Wednesday: Whom Shall I Fear? May 23, 2012

Hello dear ones 🙂 I pray you’re having an inspirational day. So often I am preaching to the choir. Often I need to be reminded that God is for me and that I have nothing to fear because my Father created the universe. He has my back. May none of us forget these words. Life is scary and if we’re not grounded in Christ then we will be tossed by life’s storms. Chin up friend 🙂

(Pic deleted in case of copy right issues)

Psalm 27:1 KJV

 1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

“Maker Of The Wind”~Big Daddy Weave

Vs1 Dark skies overhead and I remember what You said,
that You would never leave
Rough waters all around but here I am on Solid Ground
as You reach down to me
And if You are on my side whom shall I fear
Chorus: I know the Maker of the wind
The Master of the waves
Forgiver of my sin And I know the One Who holds my hope
So I won’t be afraid when storms come blowing in
I know the Maker of the wind

Vs2 When trouble finds me, sneaks up behind me
It trips me up and it makes me fall

But when I’m broken then You remind me
That You have overcome it all

You know the number of my days
And what I need to understand
God I can trust in You as long as I can say

(Pic deleted in case of copy right issues)
          Passage from “Hinds’ Feet on High Places”, an allegory of the Christian walk with God. Much-Afraid was just tormented by her cousin Craven Fear. The Shepherd (Jesus) has saved her. Page 24
“Much-Afraid burst into tears. Of course she ought to have known that Craven was a coward and that if only she had lifted her voice and called for the Shepherd, he would have fled at once. Now her dress was torn and disordered, and her arms were bruised by the bully’s grip, yet that was the least part of her distress. She was overwhelmed with shame that she had so quickly acted like her old name and nature, which she had hoped was beginning to be changed already.
It seemed so impossible to ignore the Fearings, still less to resist them. She did not dare look at the Shepherd, but had she done so she would have seen with what compassion He was regarding her. She did not realize that the Prince of Love is “of very tender compassions to them that are afraid.” She supposed that, like everybody else, He was despising her for her silly fears, so she muttered a shamed ‘thank you.’ “

God bless and Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover

 

Hear the Writer Roar! Tuesday: Fear that Kills Creativity (From Seekerville) May 22, 2012

Hello friends :). Today I’m sharing a post from the Seekerville blog. You can read the whole article at the link at the bottom of the page. I hope your inner writer is roaring loud and getting tons done :). This article really rang true with me. God bless & remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
Fear That Kills Creativity
By Missy Tippens
“Missy, here. And I, like many writers, battle fear—fear that can sometimes hamper my creativity.
 
A few months ago, my sister, an elementary art teacher, sent me a link to a video by Sir Ken Robinson that I found interesting and inspiring. In it, he asks Are Schools Killing Creativity? He contends that creativity is as important in schools as literacy.
 
He tells the story of a little girl who hardly ever paid attention in class. But during a drawing lesson, she did. The teacher asked her what she was drawing, and she said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the little girl said, “They will in a minute.”
 
Don’t you love that certainty? Robinson says that kids take a chance. That if they don’t know something, they’ll have a go at it. They’re not afraid of being wrong.
 
Let me say that again, kids are not afraid of being wrong.
 
That’s the creative spirit you and I had when we were kids, too.
 
Robinson says he doesn’t mean that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. But he means that if we’re not prepared to be wrong, we won’t ever come up with anything original.
 
Let me say that again too! If we’re not prepared to be wrong, we won’t ever come up with anything original.”

Read the rest at: http://seekerville.blogspot.com/2012/05/fear-that-kills-creativity.html

 

Crafty Monday: Ants & Ladybugs May 21, 2012

Hello friends, welcome to crafty Monday! Well we’ve only got a week and a half left of our bug studies with Danielle’s Place. If you’re new to my blog you can click on the Crafty Monday link on the right panel & you will see the last two bug  posts I did. I encourage you to check out these neat Bug/Bible studies at http://daniellesplace.com/

This was was great fun because we did ants and ladybugs. I love ladybugs almost as much as butterflies. My papa was a farmer so I grew up knowing just how helpful ladybugs are. I also enjoy studying ants (though I don’t like them inside the house). Here is a pic of our Ant lapbook.

The Ant study was really kewl. We learned that a wise man/woman watches the ants and learns from them. Ants are always working and preparing. No one tells the ants what to do. They just do it. So Michael is learning to do his chores and take care of himself etc without being told. Also we learned about the many different types of ants in an old insect book I have. Let’s just say I never want to go to Africa….the ants are scary there. We did a test to see what foods ants like best. We put out banana bread, a marshmallow, and a M&M. The marshmallow won out & I think the M&M was too hard for them to bite. Hardly any ants got on the M&M.

There was also a memory verse game.

And we kept a few ants to watch. The dirt was too dark to see the ants though. Next time we’ll have to use sand or something. Oh as you can see in the pic we’ve also started a little greenhouse (Thanks sis!) to grow a butterfly garden.

I love the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Michael really seemed to enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t heard it: the grasshopper is lazy and procrastinates. He doesn’t store up food for the winter but the ant is constantly working. The grasshopper doesn’t understand why the ant won’t play and relax. He thinks they have plenty of time. In the end the grasshopper starves because he hasn’t saved up food but the ant lives. The movie “A Bug’s Life” kind of plays with this storyline. We watched the movie at the end of the week and it was wonderful to see all the many bugs we had learned about.

(Pic Deleted in Case of Copy Right)

Also, I made Michael an ant hat from construction paper. At first little man wouldn’t wear it. He said it was too silly but later he popped out with it on. He pretended he was an ant and “bit” his dad lol. He drug toys into the living room (his ant pile).

Then Michael put on a very dramatic play about two warring ant colonies. I rated it pg-13 for the violence ha! 😉

We also learned about Ladybugs. Ladybugs kill some of the harmful insects that eat our crops. We learned that we should be helpful to and kind to others just like the ladybug.

I made ladybug snacks from strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate chips. They tasted good but they didn’t look so swooft. My fruit was frozen and got very mushy when it thawed. We also didn’t use licorice for the legs like this recipe suggested: http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Ranger-Rick/Activities/Recipes/Ladybugs-You-Can-Eat.aspx

You can tell my son is all boy because he had a blast eating the “heads” off of the ladybugs lol.

For our craft we made lady bug magnets out of painted bottle caps. After we painted them I cut out cardboard to glue to the back and put the magnets on the cardboard. After we glued on the eyes I modge podged them to make them shine & to seal in the paint. I also made a bee magnet. Some of our eyes don’t match so it’s a bit silly.

I LOVE Michael’s Craft store. There’s so many neat wood crafts to paint & I always catch the sales. We’ve had the wooden ladybug paper holder (pictured below) for over a year. Michael did most of the painting but I used a black paint marker for the spots. I used modge podge as a sealant. The poor bug lost it’s antennae :(.

Lastly, we learned about walking sticks and how bugs use camouflage. We talked about how we are supposed to stand out for Jesus and not try to fit in with the crowd.

Overall, it was a wonderful week and even I learned a few new things about insects. Here are a few craft ideas etc that we did not use but you may be able to integrate it in your own studies.

http://www.preschoolpost.com/MayCreepyCrawlies.html

http://pinterest.com/pin/82824080617382298/

http://gogreenwebdirectory.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/go-green-kids-summer-green-craft-ideas/

http://www.crafty-crafted.com/art-crafts/footprint-ladybug/

I really wish we could’ve made these for snacks:

http://whatsforsuppermom.blogspot.com/2009/02/ladybug-appetizers.html

Health update: I’ve had more energy so that’s helped. Sometimes the iron pills make me sick and cause stomach pains but that comes and goes. I really overdid it geocaching this weekend. I’m so excited about this extra energy but I really need to pace myself. I’m praying I’ll be healthy enough to go on vacation with my family…maybe camping. Here’s to hoping.


Well, God bless & Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover

Jump to Part 2 of Bug Studies:

Crafty Monday: Butterflies & Beetles

Jump to Part 4 of Bug Studies:

Crafty Monday: Fireflies, Dirt Pudding, & Holiday Crafts (Pentecost & Memorial Day)

 

My Family Rocks! Sunday: My First Geocaching Adventure May 20, 2012

“Sorry we were late honey but Mommy and Daddy were stuck in the woods finding treasure. And we had to jump across a creek and fight spider webs. We didn’t think it’d take that long and then when we realized how late it was we ran as fast as we could. But Mommy got tired and Daddy had to carry me on his back.”

Sounds like a tall tale, huh? Well, not really when you’re talking about geocaching. Yes, this actually happened yesterday and boy is my body feeling it today…ugggg. The hubby and I dropped little man off at Church for practice. We had an hour and a half to find our first geocache. We had no clue it would take so long and be so rough.

What’s geocaching? Here’s the definition from the website: http://www.geocaching.com

“Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.”

There are geocaches all over the world…even in Antarctica! I’ve wanted to play this game for awhile but just now got the courage. There were a few beginner hunts I could’ve started with but nooooo…… I wanted to do the geocache that talked about Aslan (Chronicles of Narnia). So I decoded the decryption and read the clue “Over the river and through the woods”. By the way, if you don’t geocache you’re called a muggle (Harry Potter reference) which basically means you’re a clueless human. Geocachers can look a bit suspicious snooping around places but it’s perfectly legal. Those who hide the geocaches have to get permission to do so.

So I gathered my hiking bag and found a few treasures of my own to leave in the geocache. Sometimes people leave items in the geocache and if you take it you must leave something of equal value or greater. My gift was alot better than the bookmark I took (there were also small toys but we left them). I copied a page from C.S. Lewis and taped a wooden cross to it that was made in Bethlehem. I wanted to leave something inspirational and thought provoking….you know me.

I am really thankful that my Hubby decided to go because I would probably be lost in the woods had he not. We took the regular trail at the park but when we got to the trail we were mean’t to go on, there was orange tape. So we took another way and it turned out a lot longer and with rougher terrain.

We knew we had to cross water to get to the geocache. So we jumped across the creek. We slid a few times but thankfully never fell. My hubby had to help me across several places and he also battled the spider webs and briars.  Chris also warned me of the poison ivy. I really need to study my plants. We kept going anyways. I’m a bit itchy around the ankles but so far no rash….

Our GPS on Chris’ phone, kept bouncing it’s signal and we kept thinking the treasure was at different places. Finally after an hour we found it. We signed the little book and left our own treasure.

We found a much easier way back (the trail we were supposed to have taken). Anywho, had I checked ahead of time I would’ve noticed the terrain was a 3 out of 5 rating of difficulty. But you know me……I had to follow Aslan lol. When we got back to the main path we realized it was time to get Michael. So we ran but I had already pushed myself quite a bit. I was out of breath so Chris carried me some which slowed us down more. That may have been the first time Chris and I have ran like that together lol. We were late but it all worked out. Next time I’ll check the difficulty first. Also I’ll wear socks that cover my ankles……maybe wear sleeves too.

It was adventurous and I enjoy solving riddles etc… Not all geocaches are in the woods….some are near buildings etc. I can’t wait to have more adventures 🙂 but I think I’ll start with easier stuff next time.

God bless and Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover

 

Media Saturday: The Avenger’s Movie & Cartoon series May 19, 2012

(Pic removed in case of copyright issues)

Hello friends :)….well, I’ve been contemplating doing a review on the new Avengers’ movie. But I don’t want to be biased. I actually really liked the movie despite some of it’s flaws. My hubby and I saw it for his birthday. I grew up on comic book characters. It was nothing for me to pretend to be a super hero. I Loved X-Men and Batman. I doodled my own comic strips during school hours. They all starred me….cough* and I usually had some kind of magical horse or the ability to shape shift. My arch enemy was Snake man. Anywho, so for you to get a good review with both the good and bad side of the movie you’ll have to go here:

http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/avengers.aspx

Anytime you have super heroes and bad guys you’re going to have violence. Really I don’t see how it’s any different than old western shows my parents watched. The heroes just have better weapons and so do the villains unfortunately. The Avenger’s comics have been around since the 60’s and have evolved throughout the years.

My biggest issue with the new movie is the cursing. If you want to see the Avenger’s without any cursing then you can check out the cartoon on Netflix: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It combines story lines from over the years and will definitely please fans. My other issue would be the way women dress. It’s not so bad in cartoon form and my family has enjoyed watching the show. We also had this issue with the old star trek show. We skipped the parts when alien girls came out. I guess society thinks all women dress this way. Seriously, if you’re a super hero wouldn’t you want an outfit that makes it easier to fight bad guys? Yeah, I’m thinking camo…

(Pic removed in case of copyright issues)

Thor doesn’t bother me so much since according to the comics he’s not really a god but rather an alien that’s stronger than humans. My favorite part of The Avengers movie is when the Black Widow tells Captain America Thor and Loki are kind of like gods and then Captain America says “There’s only one God and I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that.” I wanted to stand up and shout. Seriously….awesome line.

Anywho, our family doesn’t have cable and it’s rare to find shows on Netflix that we all enjoy. In the beginning we had the old Star Trek series & so guess what we were for the Fall Festival…well, except Chris…he was William Wallace (Braveheart)

Then we enjoyed Cosby until they took it off of instant :(. Now we have the Avenger’s cartoon and all three of us like it. I guess I have this in common with my guys…I love super heroes. I’m a total nerd. So in a ways the Avenger’s bring us together….and who knows what we’ll be this fall festival…..he he he (evil laugh)

God bless and Remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover

 

Virtual Friday: The Rare occasion of Rain (also Paris & Athens) May 18, 2012

Hello friends and welcome to this Virtual Friday. If you’re new to my blog, this is the day I take you on tour of the virtual world of SecondLife. There are several nifty places out in Cyber Space but there are also dangerous ones. I will guide you through the scary world and show you the best places in SL. Sometimes I find real gems.

It is a rare occasion in the virtual world to find rain or any weather. Most sims stick to the mundane blue sky with no rain or snow. You can buy weather machines and I have a few that I used when I owned my own land. But now I am renting which is much cheaper so I can’t use my weather machines. I did a search for rainy places in SL and I only came up with a few. Unfortunately these places were not very family friendly. I took a few snapshots and that was it. Here are my loverly pictures.

Look I’m Mary Poppins lol 🙂

A rainy alley….someone was playing the piano in one of the buildings. It had an old feel to it. Still it didn’t feel the safest so I left. Remember you can click the pics to see the larger version.

Now moving on to places you can visit yourself. Today I’m starting a new blog series. It occurred to me that there are probably many people like myself who don’t have the means to travel the real world. I have great fun traveling the virtual world and many times seeing replicas of real world places.  So come around the world with me 🙂

I just have a few pictures to share.Remember you can click on the link and visit this place in SecondLife if you have an account.

#1 Paris in the early 1900’s Visit Paris Eiffel (25, 184, 25)

Here is a pic of the Eiffel tower. They made the replica so large I couldn’t get a decent picture. So you can only see the bottom of the tower. This is a quaint sim that I think you’ll enjoy 🙂

#2 Athens Visit GREECE (131, 3, 21)

I always try to dress the part when I visit an area. So yes I’m wearing a toga (well my avatar is). This was a quick stop and maybe I will explore more of Athens, Greece later.

The Acropolis

Join me next time as I travel the virtual world. I plan on exploring places like Machu Picchu, London, Egypt, and historic sites like the Alamo, the Titanic, and Boscoreale’s Cubiculum at the bottom of Mt. Vesuvius.

Well, God bless and Remember The High King Lives!

~Amber Dover

 

Inspirational Wednesday: Scared of the deep? May 16, 2012

Romans 7:21 KJV
21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Last night was somewhat magical….maybe I should say spiritual so you don’t take me wrong. It was a rough night at first and once again I found myself failing in some way. But once again God the Father reached out to me despite my failure. Fireflies lit up our back yard….something rare in our part of town. Michael and I, sat on the trampoline and watched the “little flashlights” as Michael called them. We both thanked God for reminding us of  His love. We needed a firefly night.

I find that no matter how hard I try to do good there is this war inside of me, a force pushing me towards ruin. I am not alone in this struggle. Even the Apostle Paul, the writer of most of the New Testament, dealt with this hardship. I also find that in my quest to know God the Father in a deeper way I often run in the other direction. My spirit longs to truly abide with the Lord but that other part of me is scared to go too deep. C.S. Lewis and Darien B. Cooper explain this phenomenon better than I. Praise God that one day I will lose myself in the ocean of God’s presence and never dabble on the surface again. It seems I will be in Heaven when that happens but I pray to get even a glimpse of what that can be like.

Romans 7:24-25a

24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?    25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord….

(Pic of Chris and Michael at the beach- above)

Quote from pg 51 of a woman’s devotional (by Darien Cooper) inside “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard

Sometimes we have difficulty coming to our Father because of an imperfect relationship with our earthly Father or others. We are not sure of His heart toward us. However, we need never be hesitant or fearful to come honestly and vulnerably to our Lord, revealing every minute detail of our beings.

Quotes from “A Slip of the Tongue” (The Weight of Glory) by C.S. Lewis

“This is my endlessly recurrent temptation: to go down to that Sea (I think St. John of the Cross called God a sea) and there neither dive nor swim nor float, but only dabble and splash, careful not to get out of my depth and holding on to the lifeline which connects me with my things temporal.

“For it is not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God demands; it is not even all our time and all our attention; it is ourselves. For each of us the Baptist’s words are true . ‘He must increase and I decrease.’ He will be infinitely merciful to our repeated failures; I know no promise that He will accept a deliberate compromise. For He has, in the last resort, nothing to give us but Himself: and He can give that only insofar as our self-affirming will retires and makes room for Him in our souls. Let us make up our minds to it; there will be nothing ‘of our own’ left over to live on, no ‘ordinary’ life. I do not mean that each of us will necessarily be called to be a martyr or even an ascetic. That’s as may be. For some (nobody knows which) the Christian life will include many a leisure, many occupations we naturally like. But these will be received from God’s hands. In a perfect Christian they would be as much part of his ‘religion’, his ‘service’, as his hardest duties, and his feasts would be as Christian as his fasts. What cannot be admitted– what must exist only as an undefeated but daily resisted enemy– is the idea of something that is ‘our own’. some area in which we are to be ‘out of school’, on which God has no claim.

For He claims all, because He is love and must bless. He cannot bless us unless He has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with Him.”

“Law, in his terrible, cool voice, said,… ‘If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead.’ Those are hard words to take. Will it really make no difference whether it was women or patriotism, cocaine or art, whisky or a seat in the Cabinet, money or science? Well, surely no difference that matters. We shall have missed the end for which we are formed and rejected the only thing that satisfies. Does it matter to a man dying in the desert by which choice of route he missed the only well?

 It is a remarkable fact that on this subject Heaven and Hell speak with one voice. The tempter tells me, ‘Take care. Think how much this good resolve, the acceptance of this Grace, is going to cost.’ But our Lord equally tells us to count the cost. Even in human affairs great importance is attached to the agreement of those whose testimony hardly ever agrees. Here, more. Between them it would seem to be pretty clear that paddling (near the shore) is of little consequence. What matters, what Heaven desires and Hell fears, is precisely that further step, out of our depth, out of our own control.”

Enjoy the video 🙂 God bless & Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover

Restless by Audrey Assad

Peaceful playlist:

songs by Anne Walsh: Jesus, Lover of my Soul & Children of the Heavenly Father

Audrey Assad- Restless

songs by Kari Jobe- Love came Down, My Beloved, & Revelation Song

Leigh Nash (former lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer)- Out of my bondage, Be still my soul, & Give Myself to You

Travis Cottrell- Jesus, I am Resting resting, How deep the Father’s Love, & Come Ye sinners poor and Needy

Fernando Ortega- Great is Thy Faithfulness

Big Daddy Weave- Maker of the Wind

Lordsong- Under His Wings

The Praise Baby Collection (it’s actually really good)- Be Unto Your Name

Most of these you can find on Itunes. You’ll have to find Travis Cottrell on Lifeway under Beth Moore’s stuff