From Spurgeon's Daily Devotional

Bro. Rocky D. lent us his copy of a bible computer thing that has this really sweet old devotional in it. Now, I am not a fan of devotionals, I think they ring of platitudes and the like, but for some reason Charles Spurgeon's rings true in an old time way. Here's today's message:

November 29th AM

"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people . . . Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."
Leviticus 19:16, Leviticus 19:17

Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face, not by railing behind his back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christlike, and under God's blessing will be useful. Does the flesh shrink from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin upon our friend we become ourselves partakers of it. Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in His warning given to Peter, the prayer with which He preceded it, and the gentle way in which He bore with Peter's boastful denial that he needed

Let's Babysit!

Today we get to babysit Baby T. He just happens to be our 2nd grandson and is the son of our #2 son and #2 daughter in law! Anyway, we are having lots of fun following him around with a camera. He's down for a nap right now...he's a busy little guy so I am getting house stuff done while he sleeps. But I thought how much fun it would be to blog about our day. So far we've given him his bath and fed him lunch and he's followed all the kids around being cute and goofy. He got sleepy around 12:30 and so he got his blankie and him and I sat down to play a little Spider Solitaire together. He got sleepier and sleepier (mmm...so did I!) while we played. Finally he just keeled over and I went and laid him down in his bed. I love sleepy, snuggly, cozy babies in my arms...oh and if you're wondering why his teeth are green...he's eating some dried snap pea crisps!
PS That's #5 son in the background texting his favorite girl in OKC!

Thanksgiving Day Fun

Doesn't Miss L look like she's having fun peeling potatoes? She looks like she got roped into the yucky job! She actually volunteered to do the mashed potatoes this year; it's one of her special specialities! This girl knows how to make a mean batch of garlic mashed goodness...we're lucky to have her! Next is little Miss A with Papa giving the turkey lurkey his bath before he goes into the oven. Don't think she connected that this was an actual Turkey! That's probably for the best. And then finally there is #4 son with little Miss A playing after dinner. They made a fort under the dining room table and I caught their fun with my camera. Finally a picture of little Miss A not trying to force a smile! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hope you all did too!

Peek A Boo!

Here's little Miss A with her quilt on her 3rd Birthday! I'm going to be very busy this year making quilts for everyone on their birthdays. First two down...only 14 more to go! I'm having lots of fun picking out the material for everyone's quilts...this quilt is actually very easy. I'm using the pattern for the quilts that are being made for Operation Quilts http://coburgquiltshow.org/_wsn/page11.html
I got the idea this summer when us girls were making an Operation Quilt for a soldier. My kids all said they would LOVE a quilt like that for their own. That got me thinking...I could make them all one for Christmas! I counted up the weeks before Christmas and it was exactly 16 weeks...that meant I had to make one quilt a week up until Christmas. Too much pressure! BUT...I could swing a quilt for each of their birthdays if I work real hard. Do-able! So, here are the first two quilts!

Birthday Girls and Their Quilts

Here's our girls on their birthdays! Little Miss A is so funny when asked to take a picture! She gets this funny forced look...or she squints her eyes all up. Thankfully Daughter in Law #3 knows how to take a great picture! Happy Birthday Girls! Love you both!

Stop, Drop and Roll...for Coffee?

Isn't he cute? He's supposed to be moving. Not sure if he will once I post this message. Reminded me of of my coffee loving Sis. D who I have not seen much of lately because Sis. B is not feeling well these days. My life most days is an endless round of Stop, Drop and Roll. I stop, because the next phase of a trial will hit me or I get a call that Sis. B is at the next phase of pain, I drop to my knees and pray over and over that God will just please help me and the ones I love so much that are hurting, and then I roll on to the next thing and start all over again. There is no end to this cycle at this time in my life. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be? Mmm...think I'll ponder this as I lift my cup of coffee for a sip and smile like this little guy!

Richest Woman on Earth

Would you consider yourself to be the richest woman on earth if you lived in this cabin? Maybe not. But what if you considered that the Lord had given you everything you needed? A roof over your head, the kids all fed, the man you loved most lying close beside you in your bed. What else would you need? Would you pray that the Lord would give you eyes to see exactly what these things were worth? Would you then consider yourself to be the richest woman on earth?

Today I am remembering back when we were raising our little ones and God gave me this song that you can hear playing right now. What a gift this song was to my heart! The words filled me to the brim with knowing just where my heart should be before the Lord and thanking him so much for my dear husband and children. I would play this album while the kids were little around my feet, as I worked at being a mommy. Paul Overstreet has some beautiful songs about families. If you ever get a chance to hear some of his work, take some time to listen and meditate. Want to know something I think is really cute? After raising my kids on Paul Overstreet...whose music do you think they still love to hear? Yep! Those sweet songs still call out to them today! Son #1 came over last night to get one of my Paul Overstreet CDs to listen to on the way to the Young People's Visit.

Gotta Love Those Waltons!

Did you watch the TV show, "The Walton's", when you were growing up? I did! I loved that family. Probably because it seemed such a perfect world. Ma and Pa loved each other and who couldn't resist such a grumpy Grandma with a sweet old Grandpa? They all ate at the dinner table together for meals too. I LOVED that dinner table! Those benches are right where the action happened for their family. Unfortunately, my family dinner table while growing up was very sorrowful. And that also was where the action happened. Bad action and bad memories for me. But I could escape to watch the Walton's perfect world and wish that I could be part of such a family. Now, skip ahead to when I turned 16 and met a family very much like the Waltons of my dreams. The Pelkey Family. Those words say a monumental mouthful. There was Sis. Janet, who was Ma, and Bro. Al, who was Pa and all 11 kids around the dinner table. God called me to the faith and led me to this family. I even got to marry one of them! We started our own little Walton's family! Now we have the seven children of such a storybook example and we have our own dinner table where our own sweet memories have been made and are still being made each time we sit down. My Pa and I are heading into our Grandpa and Grammy years now. Our table gets larger and larger with more happy faces round about it. And I thank God everyday for my blessings; that he called me to such a miraculous thing and saved me from such a sorrowful table that was shared in my childhood.