Wounds of a Friend

by Miss Lynn on June 8, 2017

Dear Readers and Friends,

……May you be exhorted TODAY!

“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” Proverbs 27:9

Real friends tell us what we need to hear, not just what we like to hear. Compliments seem to be so easy to receive, but reproof never seems to feel very welcome. I think we tend to correct ourselves enough, and so we feel like we don’t need more from anyone else. However according to Proverbs 9:8, “reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” Ouch, that’s tough. I need to desire correction so much more than flattery!

Are we willing to let friends speak hard to hear things? Do we have any friends who are willing to speak the truth in love to us? Sadly, those friends who speak “pretty words” and never the “painfully honest words” may actually be vain friends, there to get what they can out of the relationship, rather than true friends willing to say words that may wound, in hope that a friend may be restored in their path or relationship (nothing can be sweeter than this).

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:6

I pray that we realize who the honest friends in our lives are! I am thankful that God has been giving me friends who give and take earnest counsel, including hard to hear stuff, when necessary. For example, Danielle–a shining wise and gracious friend–has let me say so much over the years, and yet only seems to love me more (despite some of my fairly hideous deliveries, yikes). She has been a wonderful counselor in my life too. And of course, when you need someone to say it like it is, there is the honesty of sisters! We love each other most of all, and the conversations don’t get any more real and honest than the ones I have with my sis Tara. 🙂

“A rebuke is kindness, it is oil for my head, let my head not refuse it.” Psalm 141:5

Hmmmmm, kindness. Can we really say that we are anxious to have our faults pointed out? Have you ever asked a trusted friend what your blind spots and weaknesses are? In all likelihood, it could prove to be revealing.

We are called to watch over each others souls as friends–which is no small task– and since we are all sinners saved by grace, we do need real friends who will give us real correction like sisters would, because we are after all, sisters in Christ. Iron sharpening iron is not always comfortable, but it is profitable as long as we don’t let friction severe relationship. Our purpose is to encourage each other day by day so that our hearts stay soft and do not fall away. Your spiritual journey and growth and encouragement are of utmost importance! Consider how very important our call to encouragement is:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “TODAY,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13

These verses tell us to exhort each other “daily,” because if we don’t, our hearts grow hard and then we become in danger of falling away from God (which includes falling away from community that nourishes us in the Lord too). So let us continue to be involved in each others lives, and encourage one another so that we don’t fall away.

Superficial friendships often revolve around parties and pleasure, right?……..but true friendships, as exemplified in the Bible, stay together through serving and battling. You praying for me and encouraging me and serving with me is the sweetest oil of friendship, a very fragrant gift of God’s presence in my life.

Sweet friendships refresh the soul, and awaken our hearts with joy, for the counsel of good friends is like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence. Proverbs 27:9

XO Lynn

March, April, and May Pictures

Faithy and the spring flowers at Markham Nature Park

We found some Wooly Bear Caterpillars on the trail at Regency Dr. and took 3 fuzzy guys home. We fed them cut-leaf geranium weeds (by Faithy’s trial and error method to find a food they would eat), they ate constantly for weeks, and then just stopped one day and wouldn’t eat another bite. That was probably two months ago now and we have since moved them to the garage because they won’t eat nor will they make a cocoon nor will they die. We check on them every couple weeks and they are still just hanging out. 🙂

Wooly Bear eating cut-leaf geranium, and a green caterpillar eating Buckeye leaves. The spring nature experiences and memories of childhood held forever dear in our Nature Journals.

Ohhh, we should draw these beauties next March when they bloom at Markham

Our baby praying mantis meets himself in Noah’s nature journal!

My Winslow Homer painting of ‘The Canoe’

Image result for winslow homer the canoe

Science time–making a thermometer

Can you draw some (processed) food that comes from plants?

Too cute Miss Ingalls

Love my itty bitty bouquets

A very busy Buds and Beans page in our Nature Journal. We grew a bean seed in a glass jar with no soil so we could see root growth, and recorded the growth process of the plant over the span of a couple weeks.

Fun just to be a preschooler

I love my “flowers” from my preschooler (all school year)

Mommy Faith and Baby Nora

…….but still just Baby Faith sometimes

Love our spelling routine.

Read the next story in the Pathway readers (love, love, love these books) to mommy. Study 3 new words from the story, as listed in the back of the reader, until memorized. Close the book and spell out all three words using wooden letters.

2. Open the book and check the spelling of the words, fix any mistakes as needed. (Faith has more fixin’ to do as she just started spelling this year. Yes, that is “buggy” and “grandmother” that she spelled there.)

3. Clean up the letters (or mix ’em up) and hand write all 3 words in ‘My Word Book’ (notebooks that contain a personal collection of words that belong to the kids now because they can read and spell them, yay!). Open the reader and check one more time to make sure that everything was spelled correctly. By this time the kids usually know their words for sure! Just to make sure though, I quiz the review words on a subsequent day at spelling time (more Noah than Faith at this point).

4. Review time then leads into pre-test time to find the next three spelling words. After the last review word, I read aloud the next word from the list in the back of the book, and my child spells it to me (best guess); if its spelled incorrectly it is assigned as a spelling word, if its spelled correctly it can be skipped. Sometimes we go through 10 new words in order to find 3 that Noah can’t spell, where little Faith usually can’t spell any new words. So the pretest is usually skipped for her, but it is very useful for Noah, my more experienced speller. After the pretest, its back to step 1! We do spelling this way about 3 times a week for a total of 9 words or so a week.

As Charlotte Mason students typically delay formal spelling instruction, next year will be the first “official” year of spelling instruction for Noah, and so its onto Miss Mason’s tried and true method (although new to us): dictation! He and I are looking forward to it; I think he will be well prepared.

Ah, the simplicity of a virtually no routine preschool day

Trip to a favorite spot, The Lord’s Land

Tea time for Faith and Mommy, oh and penguins too. She “planned it.”

Spring Cleaning (I think the only spring cleaning we did was clean out the pantry)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Easter dolls

Easter Garden Basket 2017, with moss brought home from the Lord’s Land, and other shade loving plants

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Reading the Bible to Daniel

This is the Bible Faith reads to herself every morning now, and with great tenacity is teaching herself how to read from the Word of God. So proud of you Faithy girl.