Refine: seeing God as Lord more clearly

As soon as I saw the word refine this chorus popped into my head.

Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master

Ready to do Your will

You know what refining does right?

If you work at a refinery you are busy taking all the unwanted materials out of another material.  Making it clean, pure, just that one material.

As believers we are constantly being refined by the Lord God.  

Drawn in to be more like him, more able to see HIM, more able to see our separation, more able to turn away from our sin, more able to recognize God as the Lord of everything.

Can we say the process is easy?

No.. it's hard.

It's VERY hard at times.

Seeing how much we have left to chip away, not us doing the chipping, but the Lord himself.
Knowing he does so with care for our very selves.

Giving us life circumstances that challenge us, break us, wound us, and up lift us, helping us to challenge each other, helping us to see the joy that it is to be more like the one who loves us deeply.

Ah... this is good... to see that love and care he takes for us.

Remember that..

Remember it when you are being refined.  It's only for our own good.

AND

It is done by one who loves us deeply.

And that matters.

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This is a five minute friday post. the word prompt is brought to us by Miss Kate.  Today the word is REFINE.  What is Five Minute Friday?  Well it's a party of a group of like minded folks who gather on Friday to do a five minute free write around a singular word.  AND THEN we take the time to offer up encouragement to each other on this writing journey.  It's fun, though it's not always easy, but it is always good.   Come join us won't you?  You are always welcome.

Question of the Day: How Do They Make Pudding Cups?

The lad and I have the joy of talking about all kinds of different things, not that long ago this questions came up:  just how do they make pudding cups?

I found this video to explain that process (even if it is with tapioca pudding which my lad would rather not have).  :)

This of course led me to wonder.... can one do this at home?

So I found this recipe Homemade Chocolate Pudding Snack Packs.   Look good don't they?   Oh oh.. and here's another one that I want to try (looks easier with less chance to muck it up). 

Anyways, there we go with a quick answer to "how do they make pudding cups".

Field Trip: Bird Kingdom

On January 5, the lads and I took in the Bird Kingdom.   I managed to find a fantastic deal through groupon plus had an additional 10$ off coupon which.... WOOT WOOT  saved us the price of parking (which by the by.. tad expensive).

BUT the Bird Kingdom was a lovely place to visit and I am so glad we were able to go.

The Bird Kingdom is divided into different sections. Each area with it's own speciality.

The first area was devoted to the daredevils of the Niagara Falls.   We had fun posing in a barrel.

We had a chance to read various exploits, and learned about one lady who went over the falls in a barrel with her pet toy dog.   The dog survived, the lady sadly did not.

The reptile area.

My son was able to have a bird sit on his arm.  A nice big parrot.   We weren't allowed to take pictures of him with the bird.  It was a money grab, but what the lad wanted was to hold the bird and he could.  He said it was neat!

The finch room (or at least what I call the finch room... better name probably the small bird room)....oh my... the fun we had watching the finches!   They move so fast and they made us laugh.



We moved from here past the talking bird (none of the pictures good enough to show).
Through the noctural area.

Off this took us to the main aviary... WOW... the birds we saw.  It was rather interesting to see.  The room was divided into multiple levels, starting us at the top so we could work our way down.  Feeding stations were placed throughout the room.   It was great to just take one's time and slowly walk through, checking for hidden spots where birds might be hiding.

  

I hope you enjoyed the tour through the Bird Kingdom.  It was an excellent place to see a variety of different birds and other critters too.  :)

The Bird Kingdom!
Open 9:30AM - 5:00PM Daily
 5651 River Road
Niagara Falls, Ontario
L2E 7M7