And The Soul Felt It's Worth

I read this wonderful book that was recommended to me this past month and even had a lovely book discussion with a wonderful young friend!
We had tea while the children played and a nice lunch together!
It was such an enjoyable time! 
The wonderful book is titled Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27840585-present-over-perfect

I loved so many things about this book and I highly recommend reading it but my favorite part by far was the chapter titled, The Soul Felt It's Worth based on the Christmas hymn 'O Holy Night!'
Like the author, I have always loved this beautiful song and sang along with the beautiful lyrics but never fully comprehended the deeper meaning of the words until Shauna pointed them out in the book!

O Holy Night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt it's worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Till he appear'd and the soul felt it's worth!
The soul felt it's worth! When Jesus appeared! The soul felt it's worth when He appeared!
Wow! 
Our worth is in Him alone!
Not in anything this world has to offer!
Not in the hustle and bustle of life, or getting it all done or looking Pinterest perfect or striving and driving and doing and building and dieting and exercising and cleaning and shopping and buying more and more and more! Or wearing the latest fashions or trying to fit in with this or that group!
Or whatever it is we're doing!
Ahhhh! The madness can stop right now!!
Because when He appeared our soul felt it's worth!
We can breathe a sigh of relief with this TRUTH!
So beautiful and perfect!
My soul felt it's worth! My soul felt it's worth!
May the knowledge of this truth set you free this Christmas and all the days ahead!
The soul felt it's worth on that first Christmas long ago!
I wish you a Merry, Beautiful, Blessed Christmas!

Election Day and Hymns For Peace in Your Heart

I am an American.
I will exercise my right to vote.
Election day is today.
There seems to be so much at stake in America these days.

I am a mother.
What kind of future awaits our children and generations to come?
It can all be downright scary.
Do I need to be afraid?

I am a child of God.
God will never leave us nor forsake us.
He carries us, tucks us under His wings.
He holds us by the hand!

I am not afraid.
There is no need to fear.
God is in control of everything!
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."
He has the whole world in His hands!

I believe in God, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost!
I believe in the promises of God.
I believe in Emmanuel~God is with us!
And if God is with us, who can be against us?

I am not afraid!

Our peace, joy, hope, strength and encouragement for today and everyday 
is always in the promises of God.
His Holy and precious word!
His most precious gift!
Jesus.
What a friend we have in Jesus.

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  Isaiah 41:10

"For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isaiah 41:13

" These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, then he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Enjoy listening to these hymns with peace in your heart!

Poems & Other Scribbles by CoffeeChlo

My daughter, Chloe, started a blog featuring her own poetry and some of the music she loves!
She is the daughter who was born in Australia 20 years ago!
She loves painting, writing and music
which are traits handed down from my mom's side of the family, 
though I tell Chloe that I was constantly singing to her and her siblings when I  was expecting her!
We sang the patriotic songs I learned in grade school:
This Land Is Your Land, The Star-Spangled Banner, My Country T'is of Thee, America the Beautiful
And every children's song that I could think of:
Daisy, Daisy, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, In The Good Ol' Summertime,
Hey Diddle, Diddle and the whole album of a wonderful lullaby cassette that I received as a gift when I was expecting our first child in 1990 featuring songs called The Appalachian Lullaby, Tomorrow We'll Go to the Fair, Look at Teddy, and Raindrops. 
We sang all the hymns and church songs, too, that we loved so much: Jesus, Tender Shepherd, Jesus Loves Me, I Am So Glad, Day by Day, When We Walk With The Lord,  When He Cometh, Within Thy Wings.
We learned all kinds of Australian children's songs and discovered the singing group, "The Wiggles".
It was so cute listening to Miss Polly Had A Dolly in an Aussie accent!
And since our oldest, Shane, attended prep grade in Australia, we learned the Australian National Anthem, Australia Fair, and I still catch myself singing it from time to time!
Life was less busy in those days living so far from home without a lot of extra activities. 
I would walk in the neighborhood close to the school with the girls while Shane was in school and sing the whole time! No one seemed to be out and about in the neighborhood and the girls loved it.
We sang all the songs again at bedtime!
Chloe would then grow up to be the one child who actually liked to recite poetry, and the other day she inspired our whole homeschool class with typing out their own writings along with accompanying artwork!
So, anyway, here is Chloe's blog!
I hope you enjoy it!
https://coffeechlo.wordpress.com/

"Jesus, Tender Shepherd" and the Best Earache Remedy

The other night our almost 4 year old woke up in the middle of the night with an earache.


I bet it was from swimming every day during the hot weather that we had.


My old stand-by remedy is to crush a clove of garlic and then mix it with a tiny bit of water to create somewhat of a paste.


I dab the garlic paste onto the outside of her ear with a cotton swab.


I do not go into the ear canal, but I do dab it onto the earlobe.


Then I warm a rice-filled sock or just a plain dry cloth and hold it onto her ear.


I usually put a drop of peppermint oil on the sock or cloth, but our teenage daughter was using it for cramps and she wasn't at home at the time.


So this time I just used a warm cloth.

Then I gave her reflexology on the bottom top half of her foot (the side that the earache was on)~the toes and the area just underneath the toes.

I use firm pressure with my fingers and thumb.


Of course, this little child came into our bed and I asked her if she wanted me to sing her a song.


She did.




She chose "Jesus, Tender Shepherd" which is a bedtime song that my grandparents sung to me and all of my cousins.


All of us cousins still love that song to this day and we fondly connect to each other whenever it is brought up.


It is a favorite with all of our children, too!


Our little 'earache child' went to sleep shortly after and she slept the rest of the night!
Here are the words to our favorite bedtime song, which is actually a prayer but we have always known it with a little tune.


"Jesus, Tender Shepherd"

Jesus, Tender Shepherd, hear me;
Bless thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.

All this day thy hand has led me,
And I thank thee for thy care;
Thou has warmed me, clothed and fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer!

Let my sins be all forgiven;
Bless the friends I love so well:
Take us all at last to heaven,
Happy there with thee to dwell.

If by chance you happen to see one of us 'Storm' relatives and you want to know the tune, we would be delighted to share it with you!

May God bless your days and your nights!

PS. Don't you just adore the painting? I found it on http://www.allposters.com/ and the original was painted by Bartholome Esteban Murillo.

The title is called, "Christ Child as Shepherd"

I am putting it on my list of favorites.

Joyous Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday!

A time of love and hope,

Believing that all our sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood!

He died on the cross for all!

Oh, how our hearts are full of thankfulness!

Here are but just a few precious words from a few of my favorite hymns:

"Easter is our day of great festivity,

When the Lamb was offered for our sins to free

Through His precious blood which flowed on Calvary,

Clothing us with righteousness and purity.

Dearest Jesus, Praises

sing my tongue and soul to Thee,

Sing, Hosanna, Amen."

"My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine,

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer, My Saviour art Thou,

If ever I loved Thee, My Jesus 'tis now.

I Love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow.

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."

~May you all have a blessed Easter, knowing our Dear Saviour, Jesus Christ died for you and that all sins are forgiven in His Name and Precious Blood!

Oh, what a joyous time!

12 Ways To Get Happy!

1. Decide to BE happy! We have a choice, you know!

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24

2. Be thankful! Each day, write down 5 things that you are thankful for.

3. Know that you are special! God created all of us and His work is perfect! He gave each of us gifts! Take time and ask Him to show you what your gifts are and then use them!

4. Do something for someone else! Smile at your loved ones or a stranger. Pick up your neighbors trash cans, send a card to a lonely person. It doesn't have to be grand.

5. Do something fun with a child! Sing! Play outside in the sunshine! You can always sing this song:

I am so glad that our Father in heaven

Tells of His love in the book He has given.

Wonderful things in the bible I see.

This is the dearest that Jesus loves me!

I am so glad that Jesus loves me.

Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me.

I am so glad that Jesus loves me.

Jesus loves even me!

We can't help but be happy singing that song, especially with a child!

6. Exercise

7. Practice yoga and deep breathing-brings oxygen to our cells, relaxing us and bringing on happy hormones.

8. Laugh every day! We might need a little help with this. Just look again to children for inspiration on this. They are always laughing! Have a laughing party: just start laughing even if you have to fake it. Soon you will be laughing because it all is so ridiculous! Laughter heals!

9. Enjoy the simple gift of nature! Just get outside and breathe in the air, shuffle your feet through the leaves, lay down on the grass and try to look for birds. Find shapes in the clouds. Walk by the water and just marvel at all of God's creation!

10. Find someone to love! Your spouse, your children, someone else's child. Call your brother or sister and talk about old times. Take your mom or dad or grandparents out to lunch. Really think about how to find that love again for all of the people in your life. Find others that need loving and share what overflows from your heart.

11. Learn to forgive and try hard to forget!

12. Know that you are loved! God wants us to be happy!

"We love him, because he first loved us!" I John 4:19

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall reeive, that your joy may be full." John 16:24

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11

Hyvaa Huomenta, Hyvaa Paivaa

Good Morning, Good Afternoon! The kids and I had a successful first day back to "school"! We want to learn Finn, so I pulled out my Berlitz Finnish Phrase Book and wrote the greeting on the kitchen chalkboard! One of my goals in life is to know 3 foreign languages. It seems like an impossible dream, but I will keep it on my goal list for now! If anyone knows finnish and wants to share, please leave a comment. It will be fun to all learn a few phrases together. I could teach you Jesus Loves Me in Finn, but please correct my spelling if I get some words wrong. My sweet friend Eija taught it to me and the children many years ago. I have since lost touch with her, but I hope to see her again sometime. OK, so here goes!

JESUS LOVES ME (IN FINNISH )
JESUS MUA RAAKASTA

Jesus mua raakasta
Rama tu sin ilmoita
Vaikka lapsi heikokin
Henta hoita helemin

Mua Jesus raakasta
Sua Jesus raakasta
Mua Jesus raakasta
Nin sana opeta.


Ok, that was just the first verse. I can't remember the 2nd or 3rd verses, though we did know them at one time. Eija, if you ever find my blog, please help us with the rest!

A real Finn is probably laughing her head off. I am sure my spelling is atrocious! Oh Well, everyone needs a good laugh! Laughing strengthens the abs!

I hope everyone had a great 'back to school' day!

PS. I finally opened my etsy shop. I have been having tons of fun sewing again! If you want to check it out, I would be so pleased! Thank you! http://www.laurakcollection.etsy.com/