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The Church’s One Foundation
This is a guest post from my husband, Brian. Brian works casual call as a nurse and does the majority of the work involved in taking care of our land and animals. In his free time, Brian enjoys planting trees, building things (like this incredible chicken coop), and singing hymns. We’ve been married for 14 years, and I’m happy to call him my husband. *** Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed,By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, “How long?”And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song. One of the things I really appreciate…
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Reflections from the Art House North Songwriter Workshop {New Music Monday}
The Art House North is located in a beautiful, cozy old church. The sanctuary, now used for concerts, plays, and general artistic inspiration, is surrounded by stained-glass windows and lined with church pews, faded but comfortable from their years of good use. The wood floors creak a little bit under pressure, but their whispers mean that people are gathering together. I felt welcome at the Art House North from the moment I entered the building. Even the smells felt homey: chicken pot pie cooking in the basement and coffee brewing in pots both upstairs and down. Those of you who know me well know that I like to take notes.…
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Here O My Lord I See Thee Face to Face
This is a guest post from my husband, Brian. Brian works casual call as a nurse and does the majority of the work involved in taking care of our land and animals. In his free time, Brian enjoys planting trees, building things (like this incredible chicken coop), and singing hymns. We’ve been married for 14 years, and I’m happy to call him my husband. *** Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;Here would I touch and handle things unseen,Here grasp with firmer hand th’eternal grace,And all my weariness upon thee lean. For the second week in a row I’ve chosen a hymn written by Horatius Bonar. And…
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Bonding Through Work Instead of Play
Maremmas are incredible dogs. They’re smart, funny, and affectionate. They know their herd (in our case, our family, our cat Rex, and a growing flock of chickens) and they know how to guard their herd. They won’t do anything they don’t want to do, or rather, anything they don’t see as their job to do. They can be stubborn and sweet, obedient and obnoxious. In short, we love our Maremma, our “little” Luna. I noticed something different about training Luna from what I could remember about training the dog my family owned growing up, a Springer Spaniel named Daisy. Daisy lived a full and happy life, digging up rocks in…
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7 Good Mental Health Habits to Continue in 2023
I love making New Year’s resolutions. (Here’s a list of my past New Year’s resolutions: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). This year, however, I decided to set the goal of continuing some good mental health habits I started in 2022. The first group of my good mental health habits concerns food. I’ve posted a lot about my struggles with overeating, and I continue to fight against that sin in my life. Overeating, for me, is a spiritual issue. I understand the ideas behind methods such as intuitive eating, intermittent fasting, and diets like keto and paleo. None of this matters, however, if I choose to continue to eat foods I shouldn’t…