How awsome is the God we serve! I have been enjoying some lovely verses about the treasure we have as christians, and the treasures that will be ours for all eternity. How humbling that God would put within our sinful, broken, mortal bodies, the treasure of salvation and His Holy Spirit. I think of that verse in Matthew 5:16 " Let your life so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven". The light of God's love that shines forth from us is a testimony to the world of God's power, and when compared to our vile bodies, our "earthen vessels" stands in stark contrast.


“I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. Isaiah 45:3


But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7

That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Collosians 2:2-3

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:14

Goodmorning! It is another beautiful sunny morning. I need to keep reminding myself that it is winter and spring is still many weeks away! This weather has been so wonderful. I purchased a pretty little pink primrose last week at the grocery store, and it sits on my desk at work blooming beautifully. When winter decides to show up, as it inevitably does!, and we are knee deep in snow and ice, it will be a reminder that spring will come! Speaking of spring, this year I plan to start some flower seedlings indoors and transplant outside in early summer. I also am going to try "container gardening" with vegetables and plan to get creative with different types of planters, wooden boxes etc to grown them in. I would like to plant carrots, peas, potatoes, golden beets, lettuce, radishes, spring onions. I have a fairly decent sized wooden box that I have previously grown tomatoes in, which I think would work well for potatoes. I am going to keep my eyes open at thrift stores over the next few months for containers that would work for this project. I have really enjoyed watching River Cottage over the last couple of months, and it has spurred me on to trying my hand of this.

What a beautiful mild, sunny day today. Hard to believe this is January with days like this - it felt like Spring. Worked on house cleaning today, laundry, and some more organization.

Also enjoyed a gingerbread latte with my oldest daughter at our local coffee shop. We enjoyed lovely conversation in our favorite corner table in the front window, with the sunlight streaming in. We are great talkers, her and I, and we chattered on for nearly two hours!

For supper tonight I cooked a prime rib roast, mashed potatoes with gravy, yorkshire pudding and green beans.

Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:3-5

As I put my heart and intent towards developing more quietness, gentleness, calmness in my life what better inspiriation in stiving towards this than the beautiful words precious in the sight of God. The aim of my every action and word should be to please God. If the qualities of gentleness and quietness are precious to God, He will help me to achieve this in my life.

Luke 6:45 says "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Where does a gentle, quiet spirit come from? the heart. I cannot hope to achieve these qualities just by "trying"; it must come from within. How does one develop the "inner" qualities of gentleness and quietness? From reading and studying the Word, meditating upon verses, walking closely with the Lord and communing with Him in prayer. In Deuteronomy 6 God commanded Isreal to to keep the words which he was commanding them on their hearts, to bind them as a sign on their hands, to be as frontals on their forehead, and to write them on their doorposts. In this way they would be reminded constantly of the Lord's goodness, graciousness, and mercy towards them, and of the Lord's commands, so that they would not forget and slip back into unfaithfullness. The Lord wanted them to live to their greatest spiritual potential, as he longed to bless them, and He wants them same from us! We should structure our life, and our home, so that we too will be constantly reminded of the Lord's goodness and mercy, and his commandments. Will quietness, gentleness, calmness be a result of this? Most certainly!

It has been a busy couple of days getting back into routine after such a nice break! Gone are the relaxing, slow breakfasts, and the quiet, lazy days. As 2012 unfolds I want to strive to create a better sense of stillness, calm, and quietness in my everyday busy life that is so precious yet hard to accomplish.

Isaiah 32:17 says, The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. " Another lovely verse found in Isaiah 30:15, "For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “ In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

How do we find this quietness in the middle of a hectic day? Firstly, I believe that starting your morning in the Word helps achieve this. Days when I am running late and don't have time to read first thing, it does affect the way I handle stresses that come my way during the day, and my attitude. As Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". The Word is our source of life. When we make it a priorty to begin our day in the Word we will definitely be blessed by it and will have a greater chance of maintaining peace and quietness through our day, and have a better attutitude towards the difficulties and annoyances we face each day.

"A Quite Life"

I love British village post offices - they are all so individual and quaint - some timber framed, some with thatched roofs, always adorned with beautiful baskets of cascasing flowers. Inside there are always treasures to be found- little items for the home, cute nick-nacks, soaps, stationary, sweets. During my time living in England I always enjoyed browsing through post offices - so different from those in North America!

The lovely post office in the beautiful Cotswold village of Painswick

The beautiful thatched post office in Brighstone on the Isle of Wight, situated on a lovely, quiet street.

It is a sunny but blustery day today. All the snow that fell at the end of last week is now gone. We have just finished a late breakfast and I have washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen. We had another decadent breakfast - I believe restraint is around the corner if I want to continue fitting into my current clothes! I tried a new recipe for baked french toast with a yummy, gooey topping of brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. It was very good, but very sweet.

It is back to routine for me tomorrow as I will be heading back to work. I have had a wonderful break and feel truly rested.

We took down the Christmas tree on Saturday as well as the other Christmas decorations. The house always seems so bare after putting away the decorations. Christmas touches in the home have such a homey, cozy feel. I still have a beautiful red poinsettia on my dining room table, as well as my Friendly Village dishes on my sideboard which will continue to be used over the winter months.

The rest of my day involves finishing up some correspondence, continuing to knit a scarf I started a few days ago, and cooking, of course!

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.

Thou hast a might arm; Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne: Lovingkindness and truth go before thy face.

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name do they rejoice all the day; And in thy righteousness are they exalted.

For thou art the glory of their strength; And in thy favor our horn shall be exalted.For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah; And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 89:11-18