Showers of blessing

We continue our study in Ezekiel, the last time we met was about The Lord Seeks for His Own. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Do you remember from yesterday how God would seek for his own people, setting them up in green pastures and giving us a good shepherd to mind us?

God SO CARES for his people that he will make a covenant of peace with us.

• Banishing wild beasts from the land
• so that we can dwell securely.
• Sending down showers of blessing
• They shall be secure in their land
• Bars of yoke broken
• Delivered from the slavers
• No more be prey to those who surround
• No longer consumed by hunger
• No longer under reproach

God wants his people safe.
God wants his people to know.. HE is the Lord God.  HE ALONE.
And we are his. 
We are indeed the sheep of his pasture. 

²⁵ “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. ²⁷ And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹ And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. ³⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹ And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

I need to stop and ponder this a while.  God always wants his people to know who he is.  So as he cares for them, provides for them, keeps them safe, he wants them to know what is going on, to not simply take life for granted.  EVERYTHING we have is from him.   So shouldn't that make a difference in how we think about him?   Should his care not merit some attention from us?

In this chapter, God is making it abundantly clear to the Israelites, through Ezekiel, that HE is their God and they are indeed his people.   Remember it. Make it important.   Because you know what?   It is important.

Oh... that I too would remember this.  To see the showers of blessing God pours down on my head, because they are indeed abundant.  :)
 

Thoughts on being .... safe

Thoughts on Being

Guarded

Protected

Strong walls

Words

Hugs

Cocoon

Shelter

Love

Challenge

Guidance

Learning

Community

Tended

Watched

Minded full well

Guided risks

A haven

Time given

Boundaries

Rules

Laws

A shield

Made

Delivered 

Loved

Sacrifice

Risen

Safe

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The Lord Seeks for His Own

 We continue our study in Ezekiel, the last time we met was about Israel's Shepherds Disciplined. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Oh....this passage... God seeking for his sheep, seeking for those who belong to him.  Not willing to let them remain scattered and at risk. 

Oh...this passage is a comfort you know?

• He seeks them out.
• He rescues them from all the places where they have been scattered.
• He feeds them.
• He gathers them together.
• He feeds them in GOOD pastures.
• He lets them lie down.   A sheep that is scared won't lie down, they stay on their feet ready to run, so image if God has gathered his sheep together and lets them lie down.  That means no danger threatens.
• He will seek the lost.
• He will bring back the strays.
• He will bind up the injured.
• He will strengthen the weak.       

Canadian Research by the Lad: The Raven

Last week I researched the Artic Tern in order to show my lad how to do a quickly research a topic.   That we aren't looking for indepth, but just to find out some basic information about a topic.

Yesterday I had him pick a topic by reading through the woodlands section of our history book.  He choose the Raven.

Here is his report.

The intriguing Common Raven has accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries, following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and hunting parties in hopes of a quick meal. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These big, sooty birds thrive among humans and in the back of beyond, stretching across the sky on easy, flowing wingbeats and filling the empty spaces with an echoing croak.  (SOURCE)  they are complete black even the beak legs and eyes 

You can learn more at this link.
You can hear a raven's voice and see where they live in the world.

here are some videos on ravens

and

Art Series: One Last Word

Today I have a different sort of an art book for you.   It's the art of words, words in poetry that can touch you heart and elicit emotions and conversation, that can have a child go "meh" and a mom go "I like this one".   (and have the reverse happen).  A book of verse containing works of art that cause a boy to say "I like that one mom".

This type of art is also good.  :)

So let me then tell you of this book "One Last Word".

This book is a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance poets.  Quite honestly I had NO idea what the Harlem Renaissance was, but the beauty and the imagery found within these poems had me searching for what it was.   According to History.com "Spanning the 1920s to the mid-1930s, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity. Its essence was summed up by critic and teacher Alain Locke in 1926 when he declared that through art, “Negro life is seizing its first chances for group expression and self determination.” Harlem became the center of a “spiritual coming of age” in which Locke’s “New Negro” transformed “social disillusionment to race pride.” Chiefly literary, the Renaissance included the visual arts but excluded jazz, despite its parallel emergence as a black art form."

So a time when people of Negro descent were learning to take pride in who they were and not be beaten down by their past.   If you want to learn more...read more from The History site.

I read this poem in particular, and books like the Book of Negroes pops into my head, and I can imagine that pride of remembering who you are, and the carefulness of remembering where you have been.  How hard it must have been to separate the two.

Many of the poems in this book touched my heart...the art work and poems take up 94 pages in a 120 page book, hardcover.  The remaining pages are biographies of the poets and artists.

94 pages of beauty ... some with hurt felt...but mostly of the joy and pride of a person or people recognizing who they are.  Some see God in the picture, others don't.

Three sections: Emergency Measures has seven poems.    Calling Dreams has 14 poems and To a Dark Girl has 9 poems.

The poem "We Wear the Mask" made me think of more than just negroes who suffered but all the different people who struggle with hidden issues, hurts and sorrows, mental or physical frailities, but not wanting to diminish the pain of the black folks who suffered so.  Just made me think beyond you know what I mean?

 So much beauty in words and images, chances to see inside the soul of another person.. it is good, you know?   Art!  In its own way.

I thought I would leave you with one more poem to intrigue your heart.

IF you are learning about black history... do take in this book as it's important part to consider.  If you like poignant poetry, or are searching for poems for your child to memorize, get this book.  It's a great book of poetry and should you get your child intrigued, could provoke conversation...or just be nice to listen to!  :)  you will find my affiliate links below, thank you for your support.

 One Last Word - Wisdom from the Harlem Resistance.
By Nikki Grimes
Published by Bloomsbury Children's Books
128 pages
Age Range: 10-14 (or up through adult)
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Amazon.ca: One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

Amazon.com: One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance

Book Series: The Prayer Saturated Family, Becoming Prayer Saturated

The Prayer Saturated Family was written by Cheryl Sacks, it's a 12 chapter book.   Every three weeks or so I plan to do another chapter in it.  :) 

This first chapter is called Becoming Prayer Saturated.

The central theme is this: Praying together as a family is one of the best investments you will ever make.   She gives four reasons why this is so:

1. Praying together strengthens and heals.
2. Praying together impacts future generations.
3. Praying together ignites nationwide revival.
4. Praying together shapes young lives.


So I piecing together what I think about some of these thoughts.

I am fully on board with point 1, 2 and 4.  I can easily see the truth of these statements.   I query number 3.   If the point is to have a prayer saturated family I don't understand how that will lead to nationwide revival.  How can one family praying spark a nationwide revival?   I know that families praying together can change neighbourhoods.  I know this. I read about it. I have seen how the prayer of one family for another makes a difference...in the lives of both families.  I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of one family prayers being able to influence the trend of a nation.

So perhaps that means that my mind is too small to conceive the idea... or that my belief in God is too small... or perhaps that I don't really see the strength of prayer... or that it just isn't possible.

But yet I know that with God all things are possible ... if one has the faith and if it be the Lord's will.
So who I am to say that the faithful prayer of one family isn't just what God is requiring in order to start a revival in our land?

Thinking that makes me see just how small I sometimes make God.
How small and unimportant I make talking with him.
When prayer, it can change the world.

Not Good.

Prayer isn't small.
And the God we talk to...he isn't small either.
He changes the world.
Query is this: Am I prepared to help him?  To do my part?  Despite my lack of seeing the big picture?  Can I believe that my prayers can help to change the world?

Review: Silver Soldiers

About this series: With the release of this collector's item, limited edition of God's Silver Soldiers/The Deluxe Comicbook just in time for the San Diego 2016 Comic-Con, a 20-year dream mission has come true. God's Silver Soldiers (Nordskog Publishing, Inc. November 2016), the first edition in the new superhero series, is now available with issue two and three following close behind.

Now Art has formed Truthmonger Comics, a creative entity whose mission is to bring the much-needed messages of morality and spirituality to today's youth through the medium of comicbooks.  Joining creator/editor/writer Art Greenhaw for this new line of Truthmonger Comics and its flagship title, God's Silver Soldiers, are superstar comicbook artist Ben Dunn, writer Rebecca Dunn, and graphic designer Josh Knight.    Truthmonger Comics is additionally inspired by Art's friend of many years and biggest literary influence, Stan Lee.

My thoughts:
I honestly am not sure how to review this comic book.   I disliked the start of the comic book, like REALLY disliked.. enough so that I didn't want to read through the comic, but since I promised to do so I persevered.   The initial premise is "God" pulling people who are actively living a life of sin with no thought toward God into a life as Soldiers in his service.   Now granted ALL of us are lost in our sin, but we don't go from actively living a life of sin, to suddenly being soldiers.  So it was hard to let go of that...

BUT redemption...happened later on... 

The called soldiers learn to fight temptation by remembering the path that God put them on.
Each had a battle to fight .... and then we are left hanging waiting for the next book in the series.

NOW the second half of the comic book I liked better, though I had to take imagination into consideration.  :) The scene is Jesus in Jerusalem as a boy child.   After all we are not told all the Jesus spoke about with the teachers in the temple.  All we know is that he answered all their questions with wisdom and surprised them with his knowledge... So I am not sure that I agree with the authors take on it in "The Tales of Nazareth" but it did perk my interest as to what they will do with the rest of the series.

Should you get it?  
Honestly I don't know.  Not my style of literature, the lad was uninterested, and hubby couldn't be bothered.  :)   BUT the message overall not bad, so if you like comic books and you are wanting something more uplifting, this just might be your ticket.  :)
 
For more information please visit: www.GodsSilverSoldiers.com

Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Nordskog Publishing; 1 edition (November 3, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1888092300
ISBN-13: 978-1888092301

Israel's Shepherds Disciplined

 We continue our study in Ezekiel, the last time we met was about Come and hear. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.
 

Today the Lord God has a word for the shepherds of Israel, the folks who are supposed to guiding and watching over Israel. ... you know...like a shepherd watches over his folk, leading them to good place to eat, keeping them safe from the wild animals that threaten them and such like.   The shepherds of Israel have been remiss in their duties.  God asks them.

Should not shepherds feed the sheep?

The shepherds have been so busy feeding themselves and minding their own concerns that they have stopped caring for those in their charge.

They

• slaughter the fat ones
• do not feed the sheep
• do not strengthen the week
• Clothes themselves with wool
• Do not seek those the stray
• The lost are not looked for
• in fact, they treat their sheep so harsh and with such force the sheep have scattered.

The sheep indeed have become food for the wild things that surround them.
³ You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. ⁵ So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.

God's complaint against the shepherds is this: My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

God's charge: 
⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 

God's response: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
 
Do you hear that?  
God is going to rescue his people from this improper care. 

Ah...hearing those words is a comfort you know?

Especially when we are in the process of trying to find a new church home while hubby looks for a new job.  Having gone to two churches and finding fluff presented to us from the pulpit and wondering...how are people being fed?   How are they being cared for?

And today I find God telling me that he does mind his scattered people, he does care for us and watch out for us, disciplining the shepherds, providing for the needs of his people.

It's a comfort to know.

SOMETIMES we have to be patient... God allows a situation sometimes to fester for a while.  But he does watch, he does mind, and he will act. 

Recipe: Seasoned Teriyaki Chicken

This is one of those throw it together dishes that hubby and I often collaborate on.

Take four chicken breasts.   If you dislike any kind of fat like hubby does, trim off that fat and leave for your spouse to fry up with some mushrooms.  :)

Slice one large onion thinly and lay it in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Use more if you really like onion.   We are a mixed bunch in this house so we met in the middle.

Salt and pepper one side of those chicken breasts, and lay the seasoned side down on the onions

Season the chicken: Feel free to use what you like eh?
we put on

• salt
• powdered garlic
• basil
• pepper
• no salt seasoning (from Costco)

Take 3/4 of a small bottle of diana's teriyaki marinade and splosh it over the chicken.  The marinade we used was a thinner type of marinade, but not too thin.  It thinned more as it cooked. letting off a delicious aroma.

Stick in in the oven for about an hour, at 350.  About 50 minutes in, I cut the chicken breasts in half and moved them around a bit in the liquid.

End result:

International student: tastes good.
11 year old boy, somewhat food suspicious lad: I like this mom!   Can I have some more?
Mom: This works.
Dad: I really like how we did this.  WRITE THIS DOWN hun. 
----------------
As for the leftover chicken bits.   I tossed them in a pan with some sliced thin small chucks of portabello mushroom.  I tossed in some garlic salt and butter as well.  It was a really quick fry up.  I like cooked mushrooms, and this gave me a way to use up the chicken fat so it didn't go to waste.

D is for DogSledding in Canada!

You know... I was all set to talk about different Canadian river beginning with "D" and as I was browsing through books at Costco a kids Canada alphabet book had D is for DogSled...and that was WAY more interesting than talking about the Dubwant and Don Rivers!   LIKE WAY more interesting.

One of my dreams, oh... for such a very long time has been to go on a dogsled ride.   In fact, I had a dog when my lad was young who needed a job to do so I got her a harness so she could pull the lad around.  :)   My goal was to help her become more accepting of the lad by giving her something she liked to do...work and feel useful!   (we didn't succeed but at least had fun trying).   When the lad was I think 8 we went to an Archaelogy day and he got to go on a dogsled ride...man... I was jealous!!!  But they didn't allow adults to go....ah well...

The world's biggest Dog Sled race, as far as I know, is the 1000 mile race called  the Iditarod.  There is also the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest which runs between
Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska.   There is also the 211 mile long Hudson Bay Quest and the 200 mile Canadian Dog Sled Races which are among the biggest races just in Canada.

There are two main styles of dog sled hitches.   Fan hitch and gangline.  Gangline tends to be the more popular of the two for dog sled races.    They each have their own advantage.

 The fan hitch allows dogs to spread out their weight over a larger surface area, helpful on rough surfaces, treeless areas or on ice.   The Innuk often use this method to travel.

The gangline has the dogs held closer together which is excellent for running in forested areas or on narrow trails.  Numbers of dogs can vary in this type of hitch.

Travel by dog sled used to be one of the major forms of transportation in Canadian winters, particularly among the more northern peoples.    In fact, the International Federation of Sled Dog Sports states that archaeological evidence shows dog sledding in Canada, North America, and Siberia originated 4000 years ago.  (source)

Did you know the word mush came from a poorly understand early French Canadian word where the drivers of the dog team would say "Marche!" in encourage their teams to run well.  English explorers misunderstood the term and henceforth dog sled drivers were called Mushers.(source)

  A famous sled dog is Balto...who was the lead dog in a dog sled relay of 1000 miles, in January 1925, when a deadly diphtheria epidemic threatened the children of Nome. Medicine to stop the outbreak was in Anchorage.  Balto's team covered the last 53 miles.  (source)  A statue of Balto can be found in Central Park, New York.

So there you have it, information about dog sledding and Canada.

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Hymn Study: For The Beauty of the Earth

Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.” 


 Written by Folliot S. Pierpoint, this is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving and was originally written as a song for the Eucharist (The Lord's Supper).

Pierpoint was the author of several poetry collections, including The Chalice of Nature and Other Poems (1855), Songs of Love, the Chalice of Nature, and Lyra Jesu (2nd Edition, 1858). The words of this hymn appeared in Lyrica Eucharistica, The Hymnal Noted (second edition, 1864).  (source)

Pierpoint was born in Bath, England in 1835.  He was educated at Queens College in Cambridge, and later taught at Somersetshire College, where he was a teacher of classics.


He wrote numerous poems, but For the Beauty of the Earth is the only one he is remembered for today. Not only did he write books of poetry, but also produced two hymnals.   He was 29 years old when he wrote this particular hymn.

 The song was inspired by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded him.  Pierpoint wrote praises of God for the beauties all around him into the lyrics.  Take for instance beauty of the earth and sky, beauty of each hour, and the joy of human love that he incorporates into the lyrics. (source)

The words to the original text can be found here.   The tune Dix was written by Conrad Kocher in 1838, also the tune used for As with Gladness Men of Old. 

Pierpoint died at age 82 having written 7 volumes of poetry. 

 Originally the last two lines of each verse read: 

Christ our God, to thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise.

(source)

Lyrics

(1) For the beauty of the earth, 

For the glory of the skies; 

For the love which from our birth, 

Over and around us lies; 

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

(2) For the wonder of each hour,

 Of the day and of the night; 

Hill and vale and tree and flow'r,

 Sun and moon, and stars of light;

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

 (3) For the joy of ear and eye, 

For the heart and mind's delight; 

For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound and sight; 

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise. 

 (4) For the joy of human love, 

Brother, sister, parent, child; 

Friends on Earth and friends above, 
 For all gentle things and mild

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

(5) For Thy Church that evermore

Lifteth holy hands above

Offering up on on every shore

Her pure sacrifice of love 

Lord of all, to Thee we raise 

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’

 We continue our study in Ezekiel, the last time we met was about To What Way Does Your Heart Turn? You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

 So here we have Ezekiel, God hasn't been allowing him to speak, and a messenger comes running up from Jerusalem with new “The city has been struck down.”    

Ezekiel, given by God a ready answer, has a response.   You people who count on your numbers as a reason for why you should possess the land (after all Abraham was only one and we are many) this is why you can't.
Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26 You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?
 
 It doesn't work this way.   Abraham was a man who followed after God, but the Israelites are, ergo
As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. 28 And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.
God won't let sin go unpunished.   He won't.   If you live in a way that God doesn't want you to, then judgement will come.   Judgement comes because God wants people to know this truth.  HE IS THE LORD.  HE IS GOD.

God then points out to Ezekiel why people come to hear him talk.  He's a source of entertainment.   He talks well, they like the sound of his voice, but what he says means nothing to them.  They will not change.