THE DAILY ROUND

The daily round of duty is full of probation =(critical examination and evaluation) and of discipline; it trains the will, heart, and conscience. We need not to be prophets or apostles. The commonest life may be full of perfection. The duties of home are a discipline for the ministries of heaven. H. E. Manning
That is a vigorous thought to me--my normal duties are a "discipline for the ministries of heaven"! May we do our "common" work as an offering to God today.

DAY BY DAY

"And the people will gather the portion of manna for a day by the day." Ex. 16:4
"How great the value which this truth teaches us to attach to each single day! We are so easily led to look at life as a great whole and to neglect the little "today"; to forget that the single days do indeed make up the whole, and that the value of each single day depends upon its influence on the whole. One day lost is a link broken in the chain, which often takes more than another day to mend. One day lost influences the next and makes its keeping more difficult. One day lost may be the loss of what months or years of careful labor had secured. . . .If you desire to abide in Jesus, let it be day by day. . . .Accustom yourself to look upon this as one of the reasons for day and night. God thought of our weakness and sought to provide for it. Let each new day derive its value from your calling to abide in Christ. . . .As the Father asks, "Can you trust me just for this one day to keep you abiding in Jesus, and Jesus to keep you fruitful?" you cannot but give the joyful response: "I will trust and not be afraid." --Andrew Murray in Abide In Christ
Carpe Deum!

PEACE

There can be no real prosperity or progress in a nation, A HOME (emphasis mine), or a soul unless there be peace. As not even a machine can do its work unless it be in rest--secured on a good foundation--quietness and assurance are indispensable to mankind's moral and spiritual well-being. Sin has disturbed all our relations; we are out of harmony with ourselves, with men, and with God. . . .Peace can only come with right. Where everything is as God would have it, in God's order and in harmony with His will, there alone peace can reign.
--Andrew Murray in Abide In Christ

May we experience peace and harmony in our homes, we as seek to follow our Creator's order for our families. "It is HE that has made us, and not we ourselves." (Psalm 100) Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs 17:1

A GENTLEMAN, A SCHOLAR, AND A BALLER

Last night Caleb scored his 2000th point in basketball--the first time anyone in our area has scored that many in more than 8 years! CONGRATULATIONS, CALEB!

HAPPY HEART DAY

Trust me, I have not earned your dear rebuke,---
I love, as you would have me, God the most;
Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost.
Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look,
Unready to forego what I forsook;
This say I, having counted up the cost,
This, though I be the feeblest of God's host,
The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook.
Yet while I love my God the most, I deem
That I can never love you over-much;
I love Him more, so let me love you too;
Yea, as I apprehend it, love is such
I cannot love you if I love not Him,
I cannot love Him, if I love not you.

---Christina Rossetti

APPRAISAL

Never think she loves him wholly,
Never believe her love is blind,
All his faults are locked securely
In a closet of her mind;
All his indecisions folded
Like old flags that time has faded,
Limp and streaked with rain,
And his cautiousness like garments
Frayed and thin, with many a stain--
Let them be, oh let them be,
There is treasure to outweigh them,
His proud will that sharply stirred,
Climbs as surely as the tide.
Senses strained too taut to sleep,
Gentleness to beast and bird,
Humor flickering hushed and wide,
As the moon on moving water,
And a tenderness too deep
To be gathered in a word.

--Sara Teasdale

"Who is it you marry? You marry a sinner. There is nobody else to marry!" --Elisabeth Elliot

ON EDUCATION

It is a great mistake to think they (children) should understand all they learn; for God has ordered that in youth the memory should act vigorously, independent of the understanding--whereas a man cannot usually recollect a thing unless he understands it. --Arnold of Rugby

Let us be diligent to have our young ones memorize Scripture--even if they do not understand it!

PRAYER FOR CHILDREN

Father, hear us, we are praying
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.

From the worldling's hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Holy Father, save our children.

Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.

Written by Amy Carmichael
Prayed by me.

BOOKS

A home without books is like a room without windows. . . . A little library, growing every year, is an honorable part of a man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life. --Henry Ward Beecher

Books are the quietest and most constant friends; they are the most accessible counselors, and the most patient teachers. --Charles Eliot

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.
--Anatole France

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ---Chinese proverb

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us to Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry--
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll--
How Frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul.
--Emily Dickinson