One of my favorite hymns is "For the Beauty of the Earth," and what a wonderful surprise that we sang it during service this past Sunday. Written by Folliot Pierpoint in 1864, it's a wonderful hymn of thanksgiving to our Creator. (It also reminds me of the wedding scene in one of my favorite movies, "Little Women," where the March sisters are singing this during Meg's ceremony.)

1. For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

3. For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

4. For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

5. For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

6. For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

I've been going to our local Farmer's Market for some weeks now, buying some wares from our local farmers. I picked up some bok choy this time around, and I'm not sure what to do with it. Any thoughts? I'm thinking it would be wonderful to cook it alongside one of my winter squashes, but I'm not sure. My milk and egg guys weren't there this time around, but maybe next week.

I have a review of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" in the works, as well as a collection of thoughts on the state of the Houston local scene. Maybe in a few days?

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. --Winston Churchill

Our church is currently going through a capital campaign in order to raise money to construct a church building, so it has been a very exciting few weeks in the life of our church. Our pastor has been going through a series concerning the kingdom of God and a Christian's response to money. Since today was the "Commitment Sunday" where we made our pledges for donations, the sermon itself was shorter, but it still was very powerful.

The Scripture reading was taken from 1 Chronicles 29:9-16.

The people of Israel were giving money in order for the temple of God to be built. The Israelites responded not with a sense of duty, or a sense of solemnity, but with utmost joy. They gave wholeheartedly, freely, and joyfully to the Lord. When we give, we should give with joy and with "clarity." Our pastor explained that when we realize clearly who God is, we will not want to hold back on our joy. After receiving the people's gifts for the temple, David said:

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

We should also have clarity about who we are. Who are we, in comparison to the great and mighty God? David says that "our days on earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding." Nothing is ours, everything we have comes from God.

During the service, we recited the first catechism question from the Shorter Catechism: Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We live our lives most meaningfully glorifying God, which results in our dying to self and serving others. Giving should be an outpouring of our love for others, and an opportunity to glorify our Father. It is our privilege to serve. When we give to our spouses, we don't do so out of duty. To do so would be absurd. Even more so it should be like that with our God. Christ gave us the ultimate gift by dying for our sins. We can never come close to matching this gift, but our response should be an outpouring of joy in giving back to our Maker.

Lucy is absolutely loving the new toy we have bestowed upon her. We even caught her grooming it the other day. (Shock!) We have named the new "toy" Lily, and it seems to suit her just fine.

I've been tagged! Ashley has tagged me for this fun little meme, so here are 8 random things about my kitchen:

1. My kitchen is decorated with a mixture of burgundy, gold, and green, which are the colors of the rest of my house. There are shots of blue thrown in, from a set of decorative plates I received as a wedding gift. I love the mixture of colors in there, since otherwise the room is rather stark. I've just recently made over my kitchen, and have learned to accept it, even with its limitations.

2. My kitchen is about the size of a Cracker Jack box, and yet I love to cook in it. I've been known to whip up batches of homemade cinnamon rolls and no-knead yeast breads in there. This is the smallest kitchen I've been in to date, but I don't let the size stop me from making what I want. :-)

3. I love to cook. It's the way I unwind after a long day of work. The recipe that I'm loving right now is an Indian chicken curry--I about have the recipe memorized.

4. My favorite "servant" in my kitchen is my Crock Pot. I have no idea what I would do without it. It can make the toughest meat come out tender, without any actual work on my part. While I love to cook, occasionally I will come home tired, so it's great to have the Crock Pot meal already waiting by the time I get home.

5. My freezer looks like it's been hit by a hurricane. I have so much food in there, that I almost have to hold the food in with one hand while slamming the door shut with the other to prevent unnecessary spillage. I have 15 frozen bananas, several cups of chicken broth, veggies, two steaks, a few pounds of chicken thighs, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is now buried somewhere in the depths.

6. My least favorite thing to do in the kitchen is clean it. I think I would rather scrub the toilet that wash dishes, and I'm not even kidding. I hate to get my hands wet. (I scrub the toilet with one of those scrubby brushes, so no need to get my hands yucky!

7. My kitties have figured out how to open the bottom cabinets to get their food. At least Lucy knows how. :-) Yesterday I found her bag of food ripped to shreds all over the kitchen floor!

8. I have a whole cabinet devoted to tea. I'm sure there are many more important things to store in ones kitchen, but I haven't found it yet.

So there's my list. I'm not going to tag anybody this time around, but if you want to do it, feel free!

It's taken a few days for Lucy to get used to the new kitty, but she is slowly coming around. The first day, Lucy was hissing and growling as if her very life had been threatened by a two pound ball of fur, and she was mad at us and wouldn't let us near her. Now, the kitties are playing as if they have always been friends. Strange, huh?

Lucy though seems to have a stomach ailment of some sort. She's not eating a lot, and she has thrown up a few times. We aren't sure if it's just the adjustment from the new cat, or if the kitty gave her a real stomach bug. Otherwise, Lucy seems fine, so I'm going with stress. I really hope she is feeling better soon, since she has me so worried right now!

It's been a long few days . . .

Hubby and I have been talking the past few weeks about the possibility of getting another cat. It seemed like a crazy idea at first, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got at the prospect. We would have another kitty to love, and Lucy would have a playmate! It seemed like a perfect plan.

We thought thought it was a possibility to go down to the shelter this past weekend, but we weren't sure we were quite ready for the commitment. So, we decided to wait. Well, I decided to be silly during my lunch break and just "check and see" if the shelter had any cute kittens. And there she was. The perfect kitten, on page 4 of the list of available kitties. She was "dilute calico and cream," as the description said. After getting Lucy, who is a glossy black, I really, really, really wanted a light colored cat--maybe gray, or light peachy orange. She was beautiful.

I called the shelter, and yes, she was still available for adoption. My heart skipped a beat. After work, I called Hubby and pleaded. We could go to the shelter that night and pick her up, since she was too cute to pass up. Hubby willingly said yes, if she was really the one I wanted.

After work, the rain started to pour. We were driving to the shelter, with me at the wheel. Traffic suddenly came to a standstill as we rounded a curve on the highway. For 45 minutes we waited, and finally made it just before the shelter closed. The nerves on the drive were torturous. What if someone took her home before we arrived?

Hubby and I headed inside and proceeded to fill out all the paperwork we needed. After that was complete, we showed the lady there a picture of the cream kitty. She looked her up, and yes, she was still available. My heart jumped for joy. I couldn't wait to see this precious kitty and hold her in my arms.

Hubby and I proceeded to the cages, and slowly circled around the room, looking to see our kitty sleeping or playfully batting at a friend. She wasn't there.

So, we circled again. And again. And one more time, just to be safe. I could feel my heart start to flutter. We asked for help from a lady who was sweeping the floors. Maybe, just maybe, our kitty was in the back. She took our slip of paper with her picture and headed to the back. And we waited.

She returned. She couldn't find our kitty. She suggested that maybe she was in a "Pet Parade" at a local mall, and that she would be back in a few days. All was not yet lost.

On Tuesday at work, I kept thinking about that kitty, and how much I wanted to have her as my own. I felt a knot in my stomach just worrying that she was already gone. I checked her picture online one last time before leaving work, and I called the shelter as soon as I got home. I asked about the kitty, and she said that yes, the kitten was still adoptable. I explained what happened the night before. She said she would find out the kitty's whereabouts for me, and that she would call me back.

When she did, I was told that the kitty was adopted.

I was crushed. Even still, another kitty had caught my eye while glancing at the perfect kitty's picture. She wouldn't be the same, or so I thought. Hubby reluctantly agreed to go back up the shelter that day, warning me not to get my hopes up, and I didn't.

We arrived at the shelter, and saw the second kitty I that I happened to see online. She was a beautiful white cat with brown tabby markings. We asked to see her, and immediately knew she was the one for us. She was playful, and cuddly, and the cutest thing I had ever seen. Here she is:


After waiting 2 days, we got to bring her home tonight.