The Taste and Hope of Joy

When I Don't Desire God,by John Piper, has been on my reading list for a while now. I must admit that I go through his books pretty slowly; it takes me a while to really digest what it is he is saying, and I always find it very rewarding and thought-provoking.

I just have to remind myself of the benefits as I snail through!

Here are a few gems that I have found as I read the chapter on, "Fighting for Joy Like a Justified Sinner". This is a wonderful read, and I hope you enjoy the following bits as I have.

Christ himself connected joy and the cross in his own soul.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us, "For the joy set before him [he] endured the cross."

So in his own heart the unshakable hope of joy with the Father sustained him through his final suffering. He prayed the night before he died,

"Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory

that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:5)

~John Piper, When I Don't Desire God

I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse,

for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, "The same yesterday, today, and forever." Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and irons;

my temptations also fled away; so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God [about the unforgivable sin] left off to trouble me;

now went I also home rejoicing for the grace and love of God.

~John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

{July}

On account of this month being a wee bit too full for a regular post, here is a quick and condensed post of what we have been up to lately:

::Traveled quite a bit, mostly to the Austin/ Burnet area. Dad also returned from his (as far as we can tell) last trip to the UK::

::Proved we were still immune to the chicken pox. Poor Dom somehow contracted a case of it and Nicole and the girls stayed with us for a few days. Thankfully Dom kept his pox to himself.::

::Mica, Caro, and I had great fun hosting a craft open house! There were lessons learned all around and we had a wonderful time sharing our crafts with people.::

::I have been busy knitting a few main projects; please visit my craft blog to learn more!

::We've been able to see quite a bit of some dear friends who will be moving to New York! We're very thankful that this busy time has provided some sweet time together::

::Life in general, we each have projects and assignments to keep us busy throughout the week, although we still love posting our thoughts and pictures on this blog!

We've just been a bit busy lately :)

Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

Well, you finally hear from me. I hope you are having lovely time our motherland. We have been busy with our little things, now that we are back home. We left Grandma's at 7:35... pm. So our four hour trip wasn't what it was cracked up to be, being cramped, long, and hungry ( The ice cream place in Brenam, Scoops, was closed). Oh but I had a special surprise in the Virtuous Daughter Magazine that I get and I'll tell you when you get home! Also it was very nice to wake in my own bed! Pity it isn't like that for you :(. These past days I been able to get my schoolwork done, in spite of these sleepy rainy days. And I am 3 Modules away from finishing my science, and 2 chapters away from finishing my history! Yesterday we went to the Frye's for Charlotte's violin lesson with Mica. I felt quite like a birdwatcher; at Grandma's we found a bird's nest with baby birds! And yesterday I saw a robin, a house sparrow, and a cardinal, just hanging around the window boxes.

Oh, how could you resist!

Nate!

The birds nest at Grandma's.

Right before we left.

Love,

Caro :)

P.S I realize that you probably won't see this till you are here.

Oh, well!

To The Very Lovely and Most Beautiful Nicole

{Nicole and her Precious}

Dear Dad,

Nicole sent these photos that she took yesterday--isn't she stunning?

The majority of it is from the inside, which is constantly being refined and made more beautiful.

She really is a fine fellow and I am so grateful to have her as an older sister,

best friend, and sister in Christ

(And no, as sentimental as that sounds, there are no tears this time :)

{Sophie running for the plunge}

Also, here are some photo's of the Girlies while they are swimming (Note Mia's floaties).

{Mia the Sitting Duck}

{Sophie's fabulous standing-on-the-water ability}

I hope these brightened your day!

All photo's are courtesy of Nicole and her iphone.

Love,

Elena

p.s.

Mom REALLY misses you. very much.

p.s.s.

Have you tried any more odd food yet?

God Save the Queen and Happy Independance Day

Dear Dad,

It was a grand suprise to get your call today.

I was half expecting a salesman!

You'll have to tell us what it is like to spend Independance Day in our mother country;

would it be appropriate to visit the grave of our last monarch?

I'm studying the American Revolution for my next exam and we are in the middle of "John Adams",

so England has been in our minds lately :)

Tomorrow we plan on listening to some sessions of the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference, then perhaps cleaning some more. Not very patriotic but we figured there were plenty good-hearted rednecks out here to be patriotic for us.

I'm hoping there will be some good fireworks by the water.

The house looks so wonderful!

We've re-arranged nearly every room except for Grandpa and Grandma's room; you ought to see it, it's like a whole new house.

Well, I can smell the popcorn and Mica plans on making more spinach ice cream tonight (!!).

I have been seriously craving some carrot cake like the one Nicole made for Dom's birthday, and this time I want to make it with almond flour so Mica can also enjoy the yummy goodness.

If this turns on your carrot cake craving as well, we can make some when you come home (!!).

Hope you're able to enjoy a cup of English tea tomorrow.

I love you!

love,

Elena

p.s.

Sorry, nothing to put in this section today, except that we have been giving Kate a spoonful of coconut oil (Natural dog health experiment of Mica's) in her supper dish

and she has been LOVING it.

p.s.s.

Oh, and I had a wee bite of the human-like dog treats (I know, I know)that we bought Kate--very bland.

Busy Ducks

:: Parliament ::

Dear Dad,

We are here safe and very wet, at Grandma's house; I don't think it has stopped raining since we've arrived.

It would be wonderful to be a duck right about now!

Yesterday we rearranged and cleaned the entire house and today Mom is priming the "Pepto-Bismal" room while the rest of us have been doing little odd jobs about the house.

Mica and I are looking forward to waking up to the color of fresh linen instead of the sickening pink.

We are watching a very interesting old movie with Emily.

It has "Melanie Wilkes" from "Gone With the Wind" in it; we really like it so far.

Tonight we are planning on going to Aunt Gaby's for dinner tonight, then tomorrow we'll be going into Austin.

This time here is going by so quickly!

I'm sure it is for you as well. We can't wait to hear about what you are doing and see pictures.

I love you!

Love,

Elena

p.s.

I finished my first knitted baby bootie today--it's pretty cute :)