Hello Spring September! {Gifts 634-644 and a givewaway!}

September here in the Southern Hemishpere heralds the Spring time!
And with that came a spring storm that knoocked out our power, downed a powerline, set our powerboard on fire and fried some of our appliances! Looking forward to the sunshine that is on it's way and noticing the beauty of it all along the way.




Spring leads us gently toward summer

Helps us shake off all that winter lumber

Frost-locked all the winter

The willows by the river

Shake out their powdery tendrils

Arduous cold gives way to warm ease





That last of the Violas pied

Spring yellow blooms and blossoms

Tips of tender green shoot forth

Apple blossoms bud in baby pink

And in the sunny fields

The dandelions shine.





Purple blue blossoms turn their heads

toward warm golden sun

The dry dead grass turns pea green

The wild flowers flourish

Cornflower blue and dainty white

Nodding their heads in the breeze





The rooster; the farmers' timepiece

And the hens, scratch between iris and daffodil

Pose like weathervanes mid garden

Paddocks of buttercups

watch the cow and her calf graze

Spring buds dance like the fresh new lambs





There is no time like Spring,

When life's alive in everything

Spring the time in which we rise

Breaking away from winter's ties

To dance again in the summer sun

Come spring, some!


Thanking God for all these blessings:


#634 Friends with a spare washing machine ~ phew!
#635 Same kind friends with a spare breadmaker!
#636 A friendly neighbor
#637 Sunny nearly spring days
#638 Warm sunshine
#639 Fresh homemade bread
# 640 Best friend's visit
#641 money the bank
#642 An afternoon nap
#643 church community
#644 knitting scarves




To hearld in the coming season of Spring, An honored and Beautiful Life is gving away this beautiful cornflower and mauve frilly scarf.





HOW TO ENTER September’s Spring GIVEAWAY:

Leave your anwser, to the question below, in the comments box ~

"What is your favorite thing about Spring and why?"

A winner will be randomly selected and I will post the winner's name via this blogpost at the end of the month☺

Sponge Jam Tart Recipe

Saturday dawns and we're headed to the local community market this fine sunny morning. We're taking a pen load of piglets and our truck. This may be the first and last time, I journey into this....community. Born and bred here, most of them. I've heard their a clicky bunch. I cringe.




I put loads of washing through and I make beds, I wash dishes and straighten towels. I make soup for lunch and get dinner ready.




And I bake jam tarts. They're effortless.




Because some days anxiety just threatens to engulf me. Sometimes it comes down to just putting one foot in front of the other. It comes down to refusing (again) to listen to lies that accuse and condemn. They wont like you, you're not good enough, you wont fit in. Those that dont like you will turn others against you.




The answer to anxiety is always found in truth. I am loved, I am forgiven, I am saved. I am a child of God. A Jesus girl. I am good enough. And then you just need to do the next thing.




And realise - I can be just just me. I don't have to be someone I am not.




And for that I am thankful. Ever so thankful.
















Giving thanks this week (627~633) for:




Snapfish - wonderful Father's Day gift ideas (father's day is this coming Saturday here in NZ!)




A great homeschool trip! (More on that next time perhaps?)




Piglets sold




Community market spirit




Tarts baked




Homemade soup and bread




Afterhours trademen

Psalm 150:6 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."

Sponge Jam Tarts





Ingredients

1 sheet sweet short crust pastry, thawed
50g Butter
50g Caster Sugar
1 egg
½ cup Flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp vanilla essence
Jam (or lemon curd or custard!)

Method

Preheat oven to 180oC. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin.
Dust your bench with flour and roll out the pastry, cut into 12 circles and fit into the muffin tin.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and combine.

Sieve in the flour and baking powder then add the vanilla essence. Mix well.

Dollop a little jam into the bottom of each tart case, then top with a teaspoon of sponge mixture.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

God's Winter Beauty

Icy fingers and naked ancient oaks

Cold bones and stiff winter winds

Everything withered and quiet

A hibernating shade of rich brown

Winter hills of white with slivery gleam

Cloud shrouded hilltops

Sparkling dew covers the earth

Steam swirls upward where sun touches

Refreshing crispness on fine bright days

More often days of steady rain

Heaviness fills the air

The blue sky painted gray

Frost upon the window panes

Beyond, warm moist air flows over cold river

Thick gray fog drapes like a blanket

Creating a misty soup

All seems lost to the cold decay

Winter's sun, aspiring hope after struggle

The hugging warmth on numb limbs

Winter shall release its icy reign

More #1000 gifts this week:

614 ~ productive school days

615 ~Sunshine after rain

616 ~Sozo Ministry

617 ~Beautiful big bare Oak trees

618 ~An unexpected gift from a friend

619 ~A ledger that balances

620 ~Moving furniture around

621 ~A relaxing sunday

622 ~Truth and honesty

623 ~A heads up regarding neighborhood changes
624 ~God's winter glory
625 ~pain relief for a sore back
626 ~the first signs that spring is around the corner!

Ugly-Beautiful

Some days I wish could wrap myself in a chrysalis. One that smells of cinnamon  or wildflowers preferably, where I could go about my day in desultory fashion...meandering. Where everything was the embodiment of ideal. The Epitome of dulcet, enchanting, halcyon. BEAUTY.

However some of my days are often filled with cacophony. 7 lively boys and a tomboy daughter explode on the scene no later than 6.30 every morning. Some days are maladroit and mediocre. Others are down right repugnant.

Shrill shrieks of siblings bickering. Missing school books and pencils that need sharpening with that elusive sharpener. Wet washing and not the slightest hint of sunshine on the horizon. Phone calls from well meaning people who KNOW we homeschool in the mornings  so are not available to chat. It all grates on my insides, twists my stomach into knots. 

And then there is this:

The messy corner cupboard that needs clearing out. re-organising

And this:

Untidy pile of recipe books

And this:

Piles of laundry that get no further than here

However when I stop. JUST STOP. All suffuse and chafed. And I seek a vestige of tranquillity...I seek the God who made all...I hear His whispering....

'look here':

Preserves already accomplished

'And here':

Food inspiration

'And here':

Clean washing and the facilities to make it happen

And I can again see the beauty of the gifts #604 ~#613:

Buying paint for bedroom walls with friends

Coffeehouse coffee (while we waited for our paint orders!)

Killing time at the park before youth group drop off

Riding the swings and flying fox with my teens

Church home group

A homeschooling trip to the museum with the middle-ies

Serving travellers

Littlest boy asking me turn toward him in my bed so he can seek my face

He and I waving goodbye to Lifestyler Husband and Our girl out a rain-stained window at 4am

My teens scratching out John 3:16 of their own accord, in the sand on the shoreline

And everything becomes incandescent again despite the mountains of laundry, the carnage of unwashed dishes and the never ending pick up.

And I make the choice to be thankful, to be enthusiastic, enraptured and grace-filled  for my children and husband. And for my God.

The Gift of Grattitude

There are two things I am learning whilst recovering from my anxiety disorder.

One is to give thanks for everything - every day, every hour, every minute, every moment.... When you focus on the goodness of God - it conquers the fear. When you start to give thanks for the small things, you start to realise God is with you...every day, every hour, every minute....every moment.

And two - it is only by the grace of God that we are where we are.

With a roof over our heads.

With an income that supports our family sufficiently.

With food in our bellies.

With warm clothes to wear.

With healthy children.

We have no more right to these things than anyone else. But by the grace of God we were not born in a country where these things fail to exist...

Basic things.

Basic things we take for granted.

It is all a gift.

Every day, every hour, every minute, every moment...

Humbly I offer more thanks to God for these gifts:

This new space (#589)

being organised (#590)

Easy dinner recipes (#591)

(Hard Thankyous) More info requested for cild's school exemption (#592)

(Hard Thankyous) 14 day notice (#593)

(Hard Thankyous) Local body hampering (#594)

Out & about after illnesses (#595)

Exercise climbing up and down hills! (#596)

Our boys bestfriend here for overnighter (#597)

A sleep in after a rough night  (#598)

Boys making a pancake brunch (#599)

Boys just hangin' with their mate (#600)

A church blessing upon our family (#601)

Community Compassion (#602)

An offer of help (#603)