The Red Envelope Project

Have you heard about this one? Here's the story:

Dear Friends and Intercessors:
This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception. I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.
As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.
Here is what I would like you to do:
Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama

The White House1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

N.W. Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message:
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

Isn't that a great idea? The envelopes will be sent out on March 31. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell the mailman. The more envelopes sent to President Obama, the bigger the statement. You could even copy and past this story on your blog so that even more people will be told. The more, the merrier!

posted by Lydia

An Excellent Speech

This speech on abortion was shown to us by some friends tonight. The girl is twelve years old. Wow. Watch it and tell me what you think!

posted by Lydia

The Valentine's Dinner- Secrets Revealed

Last night was our church's annual Valentine's dinner. The images you are about to see are the things that go on between the hours of 8:00 in the morning to 6:30 in the evening when the dinner starts and we are all on our best behavior ;-). Try not to be shocked. And remember: this is confidential information.
We got there a little late this year; 2:00 pm! The orderve room was in need of decorating, so us three sisters and our dear friend Stephanie set straight to work. Sort of.
Music while you work is essential.
A row of candles adds a touch of romance to an plain nursery.


We all have a love/hate relationship with tulle. Except for Carissa who pretty much hates the stuff all together. We affectionately referred to it as "the beast" all afternoon.
Stephanie bravely releasing the beast.
Add some lights, and you have a tangled mess on your hands.
Thankfully, I had it all under control. Now....how do I get out of this?
"Put it on your head, Steph. Oh, come on! It's not like I'm going to put the picture on the internet."
Stephanie and I taming the beast.
Mission accomplished.

We interrupt our usual programing to bring you the camera wars. I'm not entirely certain who won. OK, back to business.

The dinning room.

Part of the kitchen crew.

Lights, candles, action!

Decorating is done, food is cooking, candles are lit; time to get ready for the guests!*sniff, sniff* Perfume and hairspray. Yep, smells like girls in here.

Stephanie and I pause for a picture.

Whoops. Caught on film. That would be me with my "just one more" face on.

The staff must be fed too, you know.

Isn't it romantic?

posted by Lydia

Stars!

Mom just bought us a star!

I've always loved these stars. The angled mirrors create a 3-d appearance.
That little bit of color being reflected is our tulips.

Nothing like some bight colored flowers to brighten up your living room.

posted by: Caroline

A Lovely Hymn

I love, love, love this hymn! We sang it last week in church, and I haven't gotten around to posting it until now. I'm very sorry for depriving all of you ;-). Please take the time to read these precious words of faith and praise God for His amazing grace.

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,

For the bliss Thy love bestows,

For the pardoning grace that saves me,

And the peace that from it flows:

Help, O God, my weak endeavor;

This dull soul to rapture raise:

Thou must light the flame, or never

Can my love be warmed to praise.

Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,

Wretched wanderer, far astray;

Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee

From the paths of death away;

Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling,

Him Who saw thy guilt-born fear,

And the light of hope revealing,

Bade the blood-stained cross appear.

Praise thy Savior God that drew thee

To that cross, new life to give,

Held a blood sealed pardon to thee,

Bade thee look to Him and live.

Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,

Roused thee from thy fatal ease;

Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,

Praise the grace that whispered peace.

Lord, this bosom’s ardent feeling

Vainly would my lips express.

Low before Thy footstool kneeling,

Deign Thy suppliant’s prayer to bless:

Let Thy grace, my soul’s chief treasure,

Love’s pure flame within me raise;

And, since words can never measure,

Let my life show forth Thy praise.

~Francis Scott Key

posted by Lydia

Being New Yorkers we tend to complain about the winter up here. But what (now get ready for this) if we viewed it as a blessing? No really. Think of how much more we appreciate spring when it does come. Perhaps God sends us depressing winters so that we can rejoice all the more when spring arrives and nature comes to life again. What do you all think? It reminds me of being dead in sin and then being made alive though Christ Jesus.

Jesus is all the world to me,

My Friend in trials sore;

I go to him for blessings,

and He gives then o'er and o'er.

He sends the sunshine and the rain

He sends the harvest's golden grain,

Sunshine and rain harvest of grain,

He's my Friend.

~ Will L. Thompson~

posted by: Caroline

A Pre-Valentine's Day Valentine

Roses are bought and sold,
Hearts are given away,
The gift worth much more than gold,
Is celebrated today.

Singleness is mocked,
Purity is scorned,
Biblical love is balked,
And chastity is mourned.

Is waiting for you old fashioned?
Is patience out of style?
Perhaps I should wallow in lust and passion,
Since pure love is not worth while.

But no, I’m determined to wait for you
With modest propriety,
And while I wait, I’ll prepare for you too,
And pray that you do the same for me.

So today, though I know you not
I give the most precious gift I can:
A heart that has by Christ’s blood been bought,
And is pure and untarnished by man.

So when we stand before man and God,
And say the solemn “I do”,
I can say, after His approving nod,
“I saved myself for you!”

writen and posted by Lydia

Vacuuming Meditations

"Why do I even bother?" I wondered, as I wrestled the vacuum cleaner from the tiny spare room closet, " This house is going to be just as dirty by next Saturday, and I'll just have to do this all over again."

As I hauled the vacuum to the foot of the stairs and began to hook it up, a thought came to me. I was getting the sense that God was trying to tell me something, so I stood still and thought for a minute. What if the Holy Spirit had the same attitude about me that I had about our house? Can't you just hear it now,

"That Lydia. I keep washing her clean and washing her clean, but she never stays that way! As soon as I make her soul lilly white, she goes and says a harsh word to her little sister, and I have to start all over again! When will she learn to behave?"

Can you imagine? We would never be able to measure up to such a standard. We live in a fallen world and we are doomed to imperfection, and were we left to ourselves we would sink father still. But no, we have been promised, thanks to our Savior's cleansing blood, full atonement for every sin. Does God rebuke? Yes. Does He correct? Absolutely. And does He forgive? Always.

Vacuuming will never be the same again.

posted by Lydia

Saturday Afternoon Sledding

Saturday afternoon, the temperature was close to thirty degrees. Yippee!! Heatwave! :)

We decided to try and find a nice peaceful sledding spot at a golf course near us.

After following a snowmobile path for a ways then trekking uphill through about two feet of snow, we found our spot.

Everyone was a little tired after our walk. But not for long!

Abby snowboarding on her sled. Can anyone take a guess at which sister Abby takes after?

Ahem!! (whisper) Caroline. :)

Lydia making snow angels. She wonders how she gets so snowy and wet and I am over all dry. :)

My favorite picture of Lydia. (notice how snowy!)

I loved these trees. They were shaped so nicely and had beautiful pines cones.

On a bit of a side note, as we walked back through the woods I took this one last picture.

The queer rustling of the saplings' dried leaves caught my attention. At home, I looked up on the Internet to see what tree would hold it's leaves through the winter. It is called a sawtooth oak. It will not loose it's leaves until the new buds push the old leaves off in the Spring. Isn't that neat?! I can't wait to see that. I love learning about growing things. I think that is one of the reasons I long for Spring every year. But even in winter there are evidences of things that are to come.

Anyway, we had a lovely and peaceful afternoon sledding and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

Posted by: Carissa

This is my Father's World

This is my Father's world,

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world:

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,

The birds their carols raise,

The morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.

This is my Father's world:

He shines in all that's fair;

In the rustling grass I hear him pass;

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world.

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world:

The battle is not done

Jesus who died shall be satisfied

And earth and heaven be one.

posted by Lydia

My family and I just got back this evening from a performance by Joshua Bell. It was wonderful!! The violin is such a expressive instrument. I love the piano but the violin really seems to speak and sing to you. That is kind of a silly way to describe the sound but that is the way I hear it. My favorite piece that was played was by Cesar Franck, Violin Sonata in A major. Also, for a encore, he played a piece called Meditation by Jules Massenet. I had heard the piece before and it was wonderful to see him play it. I could have stayed there all night listening to him play piece after piece. The evening ended all too soon.
This is the first piece of music that I heard Mr. Bell play on a CD a year or so ago. The piece is beautiful to begin with but Mr. Bell makes it even more so.

Posted by: Carissa

We've Been Tagged! ~Lydia's Version

Miss Jen from Blessed Femina has tagged us. Yay!!! We've never gotten one of these before. Originally, all three of us were going to do this together, but an entire week went by, and we were no closer to getting it done. Sooo, these are my memories, and the other girls may or may not put theirs up as well. Got it? Good. Here we go!

The rules:
1. Fill in your memories of 2008
2. Link my blog to yours
3. Tag others and comment on their blogs so they know they've been tagged

My memories from 2008

~A good book I read~

Borrowed it, read it, loved it. The story is an allegory about a girl named Much-Afraid who makes the journey from the Valley of Humiliation to the High Places. You know what people say about finding kindred spirits in books? I do believe that they are telling the truth. Much-Afraid is definitely a believable character. (And just as a side note, there is a sequel to this book called The Mountain of Spices, in case anyone is interested.)

~ A great film/movie I watched~

I think that we all agreed that this was the best movie we watched this year. It was so sweet and simple in a very refreshing way. It's about a town with a majority population of women (sounds like our house), and the young gentleman doctor who comes to live there.To funny.

~A new place I visited~

Well, it wasn't really a new place (we visited when us girls were wee little lasses), but we took a trip to Washington D.C. last spring. Actually, it was Carissa's senior trip. She's so lucky. How many seniors get to take their trip with not only the whole graduating class, but also the entire student body and the staff? We're homeschooled, can you tell?

~An inspiring verse or quote I read~

"So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!'" ~Martin Luther

~A discovery I made~

I think that just about sums it all up. We started this blog back in August and the rest, as they say, is history.

~A new skill I acquired~

Dress making, a lovely way to spend a blustery, winter's evening. Of course, I could have never made this lovely dress were it not for my seamstress sister, Caroline. Quite frankly, sewing patterns intimidate me.

~ A lesson I leaned~

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say learned, but a lesson I am learning is the true and incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1Peter 3:3-4). I have been greatly blessed to be surrounded by women (and men too) who have been genuine examples of what this looks like lived out in day to day life. And you know what? Peter was absolutely right; those individuals are some of the most beautiful people I know. I'm hoping that this year will bring many more circumstances that will bring out this beautiful quality in my life. And to you gentle and quiet people (you know who you are!), thank you so much for your shining examples.

~A moment I will always remember~

Actually, my moment to remember doesn't exclusively involve my braiding Jackie's hair, but the entire weekend in general. This special moment took place at the annual youth conference that our sister church organizes in October. This year's was wonderful, and we all had such a good time. But don't Jackie and I look cute in this picture? Originally, ALL the girls were planning to do their hair in pigtails, but in the end, the two of us were the only ones that followed through. Goodness, I hadn't worn my hair in two braids since I was 10! Thanks for helping me keep some of my dignity, Jackie. What would I do without you, girl?

This has been so much fun looking back. Now, lets keep on moving forward...in that general direction...follow my finger!

Normally, I would tag a few other people to keep this chain going, but since 2008 is now a thing of the rather distant past and most of you have already done this tag, I'm not going to tag anyone else. Shh, don't tell anyone. If this looked like a whole lot of fun to you, please feel free to do this on your blog. I officially tag you. Have a lovely day.

posted by Lydia