A Prayer for You

A Psalm for the Week...

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from the sanctuary 

and grant you support from Zion,

May he remember all your sacrifices 

and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

We will shout for joy when you are victorious

and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he answers him from his holy heaven 

with the saving power of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

O Lord, save the king!

Answer us when we call!

24 Words

Devotion for the week...

These are 24 simple words, but they offer an opportunity for profound self-examination.

"May the words of my mouth and the

meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

Are the words of our mouths pleasing to God? I can think of 4 ways of looking at that.

1. The words we choose to use regularly. "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips." Colossians 3:8

2. What we choose to talk about. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

3. Are our words honest? "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices." Colossians 3:9 "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful." Proverbs 12:22

4. How we speak our words. We all know that sometimes our words themselves may be fine, but the tone we use conveys anything from disrespect to contempt. 

What about the meditation of our hearts? Here are 3 things to consider.

1. What are we thinking about? "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8

2. Are we worrying? Jesus asked, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:27

3. These are more examples of acceptable thoughts. In my NIV translation, Psalms records 12 times the word 'meditate' is used. The writers of the psalms meditate on God's unfailing love (Ps. 48:9), His works (77:12, 143:5 and 145:5), His precepts (119:15 and 119:78), His decrees (119:23 and 119:48), His wonders (119:27),  His law (119:97), His statutes (119:99), His promises (119:148).

"May the words of my mouth and the

meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

This should be our prayer each day, and our guideline for whether we should be saying or even thinking any given thing.

May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing to Him today.

Let's Go On a Picnic!

I made this scrap quilt last year to use it as our beach/picnic blanket. I can't tell you who designed it because I no longer have the pattern, but it was designed to be made with precuts. I used scraps from my stash instead, meaning I did a lot of cutting before I could sew anything.

I wanted it to fold up small for when we're carrying it around, so I didn't use batting. I sewed the front and back together before quilting, which I rarely do. I always find that, no matter how carefully I pin, the layers shift and I end up with an uneven quilt.

I've used this for a birthday party tablecloth too, and the kids always end up pointing out the different pictures in the fabrics while they're eating, which is fun to listen to. Here are a few of my favourite fabrics.

I love this snail!

This orange center seems to glow.

The back is pieced from men's shirts I had lying around.  The black one was slippery to work with...not sure what it was made of exactly, but it sure won't show grass stains!

I hope you find time for a picnic or a beach day this week!