Tennessee Memories - Autumn Road

Proverbs 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established. 

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Photos taken in Kingston, Tennessee, 2007.

Not Down But Through - A Poem by Annie Johnson Flint

Photo by Dan or Clara Van Nattan

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

"When Thou passest through the waters,"
Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge,
And his promise is our hold;
For the Lord himself has said it,
He, the faithful God and true;
"When you come to the waters
You will not go down, but through."

Continue Reading.

Evening Song - No, Never Alone

Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.



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Tennessee Memories - Autumn Memo

Crisp autumn days with crackling leaves that crunch beneath our feet,
A sky like clear blue glass, or rain that rushes in a sheet;
The splendid smells of asters, nuts, and burning leaves --
Who would have thought that death could smell so sweet?

- Mary E. Stephens
(excerpt from Autumn Thoughts)

Saffron Crocus

Thought from the Past - Schools As Social Agencies

Here is an item copied years ago from The Fairhaven Fundamentalist:

A new mantra has crept into the stream of discourse about government's role in social services. Identified as an African proverb, it is, "It takes a whole village to raise a child."

This statement is false, if not ridiculous. It takes a family, especially a mother and father, to raise a child, and most parents don't want the whole village butting into the raising of their children because they know that, if the village usurps parental prerogatives, the village will teach children behavior the parents don't want them to learn.

The "Whole Village" mantra is not merely a rhetorical flourish or poetic license. It is the indicia of a major initiative of the social services professionals to expand their turf at the expense of parental authority and responsibility.

The key to catching most or all school children in the social-service web, whether their families want such services or not, is the categorization of children as "at risk," a magic phrase used to authorize the state to do whatever it wants with children. The more children who are designated as "at risk," the more personnel and funds the public schools can demand ...

No issue in America today is more important than education. We must not allow the public schools to teach children that parents are irrelevant and that the government will be their baby sitter, their nanny, their doctor, their nurse, their psychiatrist, and ultimately their employment agency. Our goal must be to teach all children how to read, to know about our great American heritage, and to be educated to fulfill their individual God-given potential.

 ... Copied [Disclaimer on source.]
(I apologize that I did not record the date of this item.)

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Comments on previous article by Mary E. Stephens (updated Oct. 2019):

Here is another good reason to teach your kids at home. The less your children are in the "village," the less opportunity the "villagers" have to tear down your standards. These "villagers" WILL try to "educate" your children with their "values" if you give them the chance, whether it's by sending them to the public school or letting them watch T.V., play ungodly games (computer, video, board, etc.), or any other unprofitable thing.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

If you are supposed to beware, then why would you let man "spoil" your children by these very things?

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Evening Song - Every Moment of Every Day

Psalm 145:1-2 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

A Friendly Reminder About Halloween

Romans 13:12-14 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

Just a friendly reminder about why Halloween is something that followers of Jesus Christ should not be doing.

Why We Don't Celebrate Halloween

Hard Questions: What would the Ephesian Believers Think of Halloween, Twilight and Harry Potter in Christian Homes?

Thoughts from Hymns - The Mercies of God

Photo property of Stephanie - The Enchanting Rose.

Here are some thoughts on God's mercy and an old hymn posted by Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose.

When All Thy Mercies, O My God

From another hymn -

The mercies of God! What a theme for my song,
Oh! I never could number them o'er;
They're more than the stars in the heavenly dome,
Or the sands of the wave beaten shore.

- Thomas O. Chisholm

Lamentations 3:22-24 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 

Evening Song - I Am Presuaded

Romans 8:33-39 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Watercolor Painting with Three Colors - A Tutorial

Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors are my favorite student grade watercolors. Probably this is because they are the almost the only ones I have ever used. :-) They are what I started with and they helped me learn quite a lot about watercolor and to realize that I wanted to proceed to the professional paints. As this artists says, it is not necessary to buy a large set. It is probably better not to if you want to learn to mix colors.

Working with three colors is a good way to learn to blend and mix colors - something good for water-colorists to be comfortable with. I did some tiny paintings using just three colors earlier this year and it was very interesting and satisfying.

Because these paints are not very expensive, they are also good for the hobbyist who wants to paint some simple greeting cards. They will give you better color saturation than many of the really cheap student paints. Of course, for good results you will need to buy watercolor paper.

Evening Song - Come, Every Soul by Sin Oppressed

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

Feel Good Wednesday - Be the Blessing Bakery

Here's a short story from Texas that should encourage someone today. Hopefully it's you. :-)

Galatians 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor...




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