Harvest Lane Cottage

Please pray for Joplin residents this month.  It's going to be very hard for many people. Gayla of  Prairie Flower Cottage  shared her story here . This is the video she shared on her blog. Please read her story. It's one of thousands. Please help us help Joplin tornado victims. God has blessed; we've come a long way; we have a long way to go. Thank you for your prayers and your support.

Love and Hope by Sue Allemend   8 x 8 inches From art.com I am so thankful for love and hope, two things I receive from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Without these two things, life would be unhappy at best, unbearable at worst. May God grant you love and hope. Laura Happy, Loved, Loving, and Hopeful

I am thankful for grace and mercy when I mess up, don't measure up, or just outright sin.  I can always go back to Father God and repent and get a new fresh start.  Thank you Jesus for making that possible. There is grace for me to pick up this list again even though I've missed several days.  Thank you God.

 Available from art.com  "Give me the end of the year an' its fun When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done; Bring all the wanderers home to the nest, Let me sit down with the ones I love best, Hear the old voices still ringin' with song, See the old faces unblemished by wrong, See the old table with all of its chairs An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers." Edgar A. Guest Thanksgiving No Rules

I hope you enjoy a peak into what our Thanksgiving 2011 looked like. Here's what this week's menu will look like for me: Tuesday Breakfast- Cereal with milk Bananas Lunch- Chicken soup (leftover from Sunday lunch) with added noodles Bread & butter Supper- We'll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's employees. Snack- Cookies Wednesday Breakfast- Cereal with milk Fruit Lunch- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Pretzels Canned fruit Supper- Queso w/hamburger and chips I like a snacky type supper on the evening before a big dinner. Cookies Thanksgiving Breakfast- Oatmeal Dinner- Turkey Mashed Potatoes Gravy German Apple Stuffing Green Beans w/ Ham Hocks & Onion Mom's Scalloped Corn Rolls Pumpkin Pie Cool Whip Guests will bring: Ice Cranberry Orange Relish Pickle slices with cream cheese & dried beef Blueberry Cobbler Stuffed Mushrooms There are only 10 or 12 of us. I think we'll ...

Happy Thanksgiving Week!  Yes, really! Okay, some of you may be getting a little stressed at this point. Thanksgiving is but a few days away. First, take a deep breath. Now, go take your turkey out of the freezer. Put it in the refrigerator to thaw slowly and safely.  Now, get yourself a delicious drink; and, put on some relaxing music if you like.  Pandora has some great Christmas music.  Sit down with paper and pen right now and think think think. We have a lot of control over how much tension we have in our own minds over holiday dinners. Planning is so very important. Here are some ideas that might help you: Start with today. Plan your meals for each day from now until the end of the weekend. Try to use the food you have on hand as much as possible to save your money for special items you will need to celebrate. Plan for a few impromptu snacks as well.  Write this out for every meal. Then make a list of every item you will need....

This morning, I am thankful for fruit.  I received a gift of a case of bananas this weekend.  I'm going to peel them and put them in freezer bags whole.  That way, when I make banana cake  like I did this weekend, I'll have them ready to go.  I'm thankful for the bananas; but, I'm also thankful for the fruits of the Spirit which continue to grow in me:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control*. I've berrated myself over the years.  You see, although I have all these fruits in my life, none of them is fully ripe.  None is perfect, none is complete.  Each of these fruits is growing in me at a different rate.  The key word here is growing.  My fruit isn't ripe.  You know, sometimes underripe fruit isn't very sweet.  Sometimes I'm not very sweet.  Just this morning God revealed to me that this is a process for us just as it is a process for the fruit to first bloss...

Cinnamon nutmeg ginger cloves flour sugar salt baking soda baking powder yeast ...all good things that make good things for good people I love.

I thank God for the thousands of volunteers who have come through Joplin and Joplin Family Worship Center to help Joplin.  For information about how you can help, click here .

car gas money to buy gas heat in the car windshield wipers ...just trying to convince myself that I'm thankful to be able to get around when I want and need to.  ~smile~ Really, I am thankful that we have a car.

Thank you God for HOME. I can tell when I've been running about too much. I start feeling overwhelmed and frazzled. The laundry piles up. The dust piles up. The clutter piles up. The to do list is not to done. ~grin~ I just want to hide in my home and work on it. I want to stay home. So I canceled my appointments for the rest of the week. Yes, there's church tonight and choir practice tomorrow night. I cannot cancel those; but, the doctor will be just as happy to see my children for check-ups in January as she would be this week. So.  I'm. Staying. Home. Shared with: Creative at Home Wednesday  

Thank you to all who have given so generously to help the citizens of Joplin in our tornado recovery.  This will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without loved ones and without the homes that were lost.  We at Joplin Family Worship Center will be hosting an event on Saturday to distribute new Christmas decorations.  Will you consider helping in Bringing a Little Joy to Joplin? "It is such a blessing to be part of such a great event. This family has worked so hard to help the families who lost everything in the Joplin Tornado.  They called me this evening and told me it looks like they have a 40 foot moving truck packed with Christmas Decor items headed to Joplin from St. Louis .  This event will take place on Saturday November 19, 2011 at Joplin Family Worship Center located at 5290 E. 7th Street Joplin, Mo .  Doors open at 12 and close at 4pm. We will have all kinds of items from trees, lights, ornaments, nativity sets, and much much ...

Thirty years ago today... first date... first love... first husband... only husband.... Thank you God!

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition." ~Samuel Johnson~ I thankful for my home and the blessing of being a homemaker.

I am thankful for books and the ability to read.

I'm thankful for these who give us these.

Pastor Dan and Cindy Wermuth Joplin Family Worship Center Blessed to be a Blessing Jesus with skin on Love God and love others God is changing the face of this ministry Search inside God Build an altar Words of encouragement Words of affirmation Words of hope Words of love Brother of another mother Sister of another mister After seven years of drought and famine in our lives, Pastor Dan and Cindy were a river of God's love and God's blessing into our lives.  They awakened a part of me that had been dormant for a long, long time.   I'm growing again in a way I hadn't for awhile.  Thank you.  We love you.  We are honored to serve with you. 

Thank you to everyone who has helped Joplin.  We simply cannot ever thank everyone enough.  We've got a strong start on recovery.  You can reach Joplin Family Worship Center by clicking the button below.  God bless you.  Linking with Brenda.

I'm listening to Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodlands.  It's a radio program that I've listened to for most of my adult life.  It's part of the Saturday morning line-up at our local Christian radio station.  We also listen to Adventures in Odyssey, Down Gilead Lane, and Jonathan Park.  They are a great alternative to Saturday morning cartoons.  Our children don't watch t.v.; but, even before our television was disconnected, we didn't watch.  We have our reasons for that; but, that's another post.  One point though, it sure reduces the gimmees.  I thank God for Christian radio and specifically the old-time style radio stories.  If you don't have this available to you locally, please click on the photo.  You can listen to KNEO on-line all around the world.  They've got a lot of great programs for adults as well. God bless you friends! Laura Blessed to be a blessing

May 22, 2011 5:41 We heard no sirens... only a tremendous thundering that didn't stop. I thank God... We were all home.   We were all safe. We were all praying for Joplin ...THANK YOU GOD... Thank you God that you preserved us and so many lives across Joplin.  Though we were miles from the destruction, the path of the tornado was headed our way.   May we continue to give and share your love, the love of God with those who were affected. Thank you for the thousands of volunteers you've sent and the generous supplies you've sent.  May we continue to be generous to those in need both in body and in spirit. Amen.

Have you heard of life verses? Basically, it is a verse or verses that the Lord has given to you, that has quickened your spirit, that you hold onto for life.  Many verses minister to us for a season. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."   2 Timothy 3:16 A life verse differs in that it stays with you.  It guides your thinking and actions for a long extended time presumably life.  Pastor Dan Wermuth of Joplin Family Worship Center shared his last night.  "So he answered me and said to me:  "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts."   Zechariah 4:6  This verse filters how he looks at the world and influences his actions.  It's been quite a powerful verse as he leads our church and volunteers from across the country in the Joplin tornado re...

I'm thankful that God was there protecting His people in the tornado on May 22, 2011. I'm thankful that even now He is at work rebuilding, renewing, restoring, and bringing revival in the hearts of His people. This is a photo taken by a lady who lived in Joplin directly after the storm passed.  I met the lady, saw her snapshot, and my husband got a copy of it. Shared: Inspire Me Monday

November... Autumn golds and browns take over for many of the oranges and reds.  My thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and its preparations.  Who to invite, what to serve, how to decorate, and of course Pilgrim stories with the children. My thoughts also go to my blessings, to the people for whom I am thankful, to the things for which I am thankful, and to my God .  This is a month of thanks giving and thanks living at Harvest Lane Cottage.  I intend to write each day about someone for whom or something for which I am thankful. I am thankful for my relationship with God, the Lord Jesus Christ who made it possible for me to be reconciled to God and be saved, and for His Holy Spirit who comforts me and teaches me all things.  I continue to learn more and more and to be changed more and more by reading God's word, the Bible, praying, and spending time worshiping God. It's changed my life.  Read my story here:  Frightened of God May God bless you...