Whiter Than Snow--A Musical Devotion by Catherine Castle

 

When I lookout my breakfast nook window after a snow I see a snow-covered hillside garden.  The scene always puts an old hymn into my mind—“Whiter Than Snow” (circa 1872). As I admire the snowy beauty, glad that I don’t have to get out in it,  I find myself  humming the tune and marveling at its words.

 If you aren’t familiar with the song, whose lyrics were written by James L. Nicholson, you can hear it on YouTube. Online,  I found six verses to this hymn, but my favorites verses are 1 and 6, and, of course, the chorus. These two verses, in my opinion, sum up a Christian’s assurance of heaven—our confession of faith in the Lord, our baptism, and God’s response to our surrender.

 

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul;

Break down every idol, cast out every foe—Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

 

The blessing by faith, I receive from above; Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;

My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know, The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

 

The song’s inspiration was most likely Psalms 51:7: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

 

As much as I love the beauty of a fresh snowfall, its glory will diminish as time goes by. Children will roll snowmen in the front yards, exposing the brown grass and mud beneath the snowflakes. Cars will splatter gray mush onto the pure white edges of the road. And eventually the sun will come out and melt away winter’s glory. The picture perfect moments that have drifted from the sky aren’t permanent. 

 

But when God washes us and makes us whiter than snow, that purity won’t fade as long as we are His.  In the book of Revelation, Jesus said, “They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of Life.” (Revelation 3:4-5)

 I don’t know about you, but I take great comfort in knowing that my walk with the Lord has made my soul whiter than snow.

 So, the next time a winter storm comes your way, remember this old hymn and celebrate the storm’s beauty—even if you have to shovel ten inches of snow. Because as the song says, The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow. Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love. And that’s something to celebrate.

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon.

 

New Year, New Season.

HAPPY 2020!

Hello everyone!

If you're like me, 2019 was quite a year. It was very busy, full of good, bad and...well, life. Last year, I moved twice, changed jobs twice, lost my grandmother, and got married. [Sharing a photo. :) ] So that's why I haven't been on the blog much. You see, it was one of those seasons in my life when I had to take a break from writing, to allow God to write a couple chapters in my life.

As a writer, it was hard for me to lay aside my author duties, because I felt like I was slacking off, being lazy, and losing ground. But my mind was just too tired and full of other things, so it was the right time for me to take a break.

And you know what I learned?

Life is full of many different seasons. And that's okay. In fact, God designs it that way. He was the one who created the four seasons of the yemar. Sometimes it is the season for the tree to bloom, sometimes to shed, sometimes to lie dormant. We too will go through seasons when we need to rest. Seasons when it is time to work and focus. There's no reason to feel guilty about that.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

This is a familiar verse, but I think the New Year is a good time to stop and ponder it, to prayerfully ask, "What season do you have me in, Lord? What role would you have me to take this year?" Perhaps there is something you need to give up, or rest from. Perhaps there is something you need to work harder at. Whatever it is, if you ask with a sincere heart, the Lord will guide you.

Dear Lord,
As I enter this New Year, please guide me. I want to bring honor to You and embrace the season you have for me. Please show me Your will for me this year, and help me to accomplish it. In Jesus Christ's name, amen.

Soul Seeds by Catherine Castle

Soul Seeds

 

Image by Susanne Jutzeler, suju fotografie from Pixabay

 

“God created man, in the likeness of God made He him. Male and female created He them and blessed them.” Genesis 5:1-2

 

Have you ever wondered about seeds?

 At first glance, there is nothing special about a seed. Some might be little, black, round seeds. others are knobby tubers, or have brush-like fibers tipped in black and gold. Some seeds are prettier than others, but none are so extraordinary that you would exclaim over them. However, hidden inside each seed or bulb is the DNA for complete plant. Encapsulated in speck, some no bigger than a period on a piece of paper, is a living thing. A flower or vegetable with its DNA pattern stored within the tiny black dot. Plant a seed and nurture it and a beautiful flower, tree, bush, tasty vegetable, or a weed grows. What a marvelous wonder that is.

 Have you ever wondered about humans?

 At first glance, there isn’t anything special about most of us. We can be mild tempered, happy-go-lucky, or bad tempered. Some of us are short. Others are tall. We can have ordinary faces, natural beauty, or even no beauty at all. But hidden inside each of us, like there is in each seed from which a plant grows, is the potential to become something more beautiful than we appear to be. It’s not a DNA thing or a unique chromosome that creates our beauty. Instead, it’s our souls, made in the likeness of God with the ability to respond to God’s love and infinite grace. When we surrender to God and let His word and His love nurture our souls, we have the potential to become beautiful beyond our wildest imagination.

 A good botanist or gardener can often look at a seed or tuber and know what kind of plant will grow from it. They know the right conditions needed to help the plant succeed. They know what to do to protect the plant from natural enemies. They know how to make the plant grow. The wonder of seeds is that all the ingredients it needs to become a plant are captured within its shell, whatever that may look like. Add some sunshine and water and the plant grows.

 We can’t look at a person and know what they will become. We can’t discern what choices they will make or where those choices will lead them in life. We can’t accurately predict anything that happens in their lives. Only God knows that.

But we can make our own choices to help our soul seeds grow. Through Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace we can bask in the light of the Son and drink the Living Water of the Word. The soul that God planted in us can grow into something more beautiful than any flower that ever sprouted from a seed. For a gardener like me, that’s something to look forward to.

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog

 

Painter of Romance - Edmund Blair Leighton

Edmund Blair Leighton

I'm not a huge fan of art. I never learned the true appreciation of it in High School, however there are a few artists that have captivated me. One of them is Edmund Blair Leighton. I'm sure you've seen these paintings around at one time or another, but if not, you're in for a treat today. Because his paintings are gorgeous. 

Leighton paints what is referred to as "historical genre scenes" with a very romantic feel. Typically, they are regency or medieval era. I'm including a few of my favorites with this post. :D

Edmund Blair Leighton was born in London, England on September 1, 1852. He attended college at both the University College School and the Royal Academy School. He began exhibiting his work in 1874 at the Royal Academy, and succeeded. Apparently, he did well enough as a professional painter to support his wife and two children. For Edmund's family, painting was a heritage. His father was a painter, which aided in Edmund's acceptance into Royal Academy, and interestingly enough, Edmund's son also followed in their footsteps and chose painting as a profession.

Accolade (1901)
Public Domain

Because I adore his art so much, it was shocking to me that Leighton was not considered among the ranks of truly great artists. In his obituary, which was printed in a magazine, Leighton was "a painter who, though he did not attain to the higher flights of art, yet played a distinguished part in aiding the public mind to an appreciation of the romance attaching to antiquity, and to a realisation of the fellowship of mankind throughout the ages."

Next Door Neighbor (1893)
Public Domain

Appreciation of the romance attached to antiquity. That must be why I like his work so much. :) To me, his work captures stories in still form. I could stare at them for a long time imagining what is happening in that scene. 

What do you think of his work? Who is your favorite painter?

 

Climb Every Mountain

By Shirley Raye Redmond

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

Bandoola, a powerful Burmese elephant, climbed 5000 feet along the narrow ledge of a sandstone cliff face covered with dense vegetation. With grit and determination, the great tusker and his oozie or elephant handler, led 198 people (including sixty-four women and children and four British army
officers), forty-five elephants and eight calves more than one hundred miles from Burma into India in an daring attempt to escape invading Japanese troops during World War II.

So great was the strain that the elephants’ leg muscles shook for nearly an hour after their ordeal. Upon their safe arrival in India, Lt. Colonel John Williams, the officer in charge, offered up a prayer of thanksgiving. The nineteen-day trek had been grueling for animals and humans alike. Williams well knew that Bandoola and the other tuskers were used to hauling lumber for building bridges and military outposts, but were not accustomed to climbing mountains or carrying cargo. When he asked Po Toke, who’d raised Bandoola from a baby calf, what he’d told the elephant to get him to achieve the near miraculous feat, the oozie simply answered, “Must climb, Bandoola.”

The trust between Bandoola and Po Toke was so strong, the situation so dire, that man and beast strove together to lead the others on the dangerous journey to freedom. Although I’ve never faced such a journey as Bandoola’s, I have occasionally endured hardships that left me shaken and exhausted. Perhaps you have too. Thankfully, we have a trustworthy Savior who walks with us each step of the way, no matter how tough those steps may be.


Prayer Starter: Lord, you are the Good Shepherd who will lead me safely through life’s difficult mountain passes and the lowest valleys. Strengthen my resolve to trust in you.

I’m giving away a copy of Guideposts new inspiring devotional, ALL GOD’S CREATURES. Several of my own devotionals are included in this volume. If you’d like to participate, leave a comment. I will pick a name at random later in the week and the lucky recipient will receive a hard cover, signed copy of the book.

Thunder Dog: Book Review by Shirley Raye Redmond

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust

By Michael Hingson and Susan Flory
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
256 pages

Book Review By Shirley Raye Redmond

Everyone loves a good dog story about a canine hero. Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Old Yeller, and the list goes on. Now you can add the name Roselle to that list. This incredible Seeing Eye dog—part golden retriever and part Labrador—calmly led her blind owner and one of his colleagues down 78 floors in one of the towers of the World Trade Center that eventually collapsed after a hijacked airplane crashed into it on September 11, 2001.

If you’re looking for a great story to inspire you in the New Year, this is it. It’s a story of faith and trust. You’ll also learn a lot about the intensive training that goes into producing a service dog like Roselle. This is a must-read for every dog lover.


Shirley Raye Redmond is the author of three inspirational novels, PRUDENCE PURSUED, VIPER’S NEST, and AMANDA’S BEAU, as well as two dozen children’s books, including the true story of THE DOG THAT DUG FOR DINOSAURS (Simon & Schuster). Touch bases at shirleyrayeredmond.com or Facebook

Weekly Windup Winding Down and Giveaway!

Hello Friends!!

We've had a few gorgeous days here in Colorado and it has put me in the mood for Spring Cleaning! As part of the spiffing up here at Stitches Thru Time, we are making a few adjustments and changes that we hope will freshen things up around here. AND to celebrate, we are offering a GIVEAWAY! Stay tuned to the end of the post to hear about that. :D

Weekly Windup

We've had a wonderful time with the Weekly Windup and giveaways here at STT. But this year we are going to change the way we operate our giveaways. Instead of running them as a blanket giveaway over two weeks, they will be handled by each author in their individual posts. This will free us up to deliver more fresh content, instead of taking so much time to assemble the WW posts, etc. So, you will see the Weekly Windup posts go away, but the giveaways will still be coming!

Wednesday Posts

Since so many of us have church on Wednesday and several members have had to cut back with time constraints, STT will no longer have a new post on Wednesdays. By taking this day off, we will be able to keep the same fun and upbeat community around what we love, our faith, books, history, crafts and friendship.

Spiffing and Cleaning

You might see a few adjustments to the appearance of the blog and the ease of finding past posts. That's all a part of our Spring Cleaning and spiffing up. :D

Now for the Giveaway!

One blessed commenter will receive their ebook of choice from any Stitches Thru Time author!

We are all so excited to see what this next year has in store for all of us, and sharing each experience here at Stitches Thru Time!

Weekly Windup:

  Welcome to the Weekly Windup! We have winners to announce!

Winner of Christmas Charity (ebook) by Susan G. Mathis is...Marilyn R! Congratulations!

Winner of The Washwoman's Christmas by Elaine Manders is...Connie Porter Saunders! Congratulations!

If you are a winner, please Contact Us with your email address to claim your prize.

Coming up this week:

Monday, 12/17:
Tuesday, 12/18: Wartime Internment of Germans, by Terri Wangard
Wednesday, 12/19:
Thursday, 12/20: The Christmas Heirloom, a book review by Jodie Wolfe
Friday, 12/21: The Christmas Truce by Pegg Thomas
Saturday, 12/22:

Announcements:

FREE Inspirational Nonfiction alert!!! 📚📣 Enter to win 25 reads (hint: Amber Schamel's book is one of them!) + a brand new eReader! FREE reads on entry! 👉 bit.ly/Inspynonfic-dec2018

The Art of Beatrix Potter

By Shirley Raye Redmond

The beloved children’s author and illustrator of such time honored classics as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, has often been portrayed as shy and withdrawn. They say she was sweet natured, but lonely, with no close friends. So she turned to animals for companionship, all the while hating her London home, which was ruled by her overbearing parents.

But the truth of the matter is that her parents were no more overbearing than any other Victorian parents of their day. Although Beatrix was not outgoing, she was quite close with her younger brother and her grandparents. It’s true she preferred the country to the city. Each summer her father rented a home in the country so the family could spend time outdoors, taking long walks and puttering in the garden.

Yes, she loved animals, but did you know that occasionally when her pets died, she boiled their carcasses in a pot to strip away the meat and gristle so she could study their bones and sketch them? By the time she was eighteen, she’d made up her mind to be a painter. Her parents were not pleased. However, when her brother Bertram, eventually began earning his living as an artist, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were proud and thrilled. Bertram tried to introduce his talented sister to important art critics, but they were not interested in her paintings.

Beatrix was in her mid-thirties when she started writing “picture letters” to children of her acquaintance. No one would publish those either. Few people know that Miss Potter self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit, draining her savings account to pay for 250 copies. At 47, she married William Heelis, a shy country solicitor and got what she wanted at last—she had her character Pigling Bland say it: “I wish I could have a little garden and grow potatoes.”

And those art critics? They’d be surprised, no doubt, to see Beatrix’s collection of exquisite mushroom and other fungi paintings on display today in the British Museum.

Beatrix’s favorite story of the ones she’d written was The Tailor of Gloucester, inspired by entries she’d discovered in her grandmother’s journal about clothing and customs of the day. My favorite is Squirrel Nutkin.

Do you have a favorite Potter tale?
 

*****

An award-winning writer and frequent conference speaker, Shirley Raye Redmond is the author of three inspirational novels, PRUDENCE PURSUED, VIPER’S NEST, and AMANDA’S BEAU, as well as two dozen children’s books, including LEWIS & CLARK: A PRAIRIE DOG FOR THE PRESIDENT (Random House), which was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. Touch bases at shirleyrayeredmond.com or Facebook

Interview and #bookgiveaway with Susan G. Mathis!

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Just in time for the Christmas reading season, we have Susan G. Mathis joining us to talk about her new Christmas book! Be sure to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for that!

Welcome, Susan! I hear you have a new Christmas book out called Christmas Charity. Can you tell us about it?

Yes, Christmas Charity is my first novella (short novel). It’s about Susan Hawkins and Patrick O’Neill who find that an arranged marriage is much harder than they think, especially when they immigrate from Wolfe Island, Canada, to Cape Vincent, New York, in 1864, just a week after they marry—with Patrick’s nine-year-old daughter, Lizzy, in tow. Can twenty-three-year-old Susan Hawkins learn to love her forty-nine-year-old husband and find charity for her angry stepdaughter? She hopes so—and before Christmas comes.

How did you research your book?

My cousins did lots of research on our ancestry, and I did extensive research about the history and culture, the customs, and so much more. I also enjoyed visiting Wolfe Island, Canada, and Cape Vincent, NY several times, and have made friends in both places. This past August my hubby and I spent two weeks enjoying the area, visiting Wolfe Island, Pullman Island, Dark Island, Cape Vincent, Clayton, and Alex Bay. It has become our annual pilgrimage from Colorado Springs to this island paradise.

Tell us about the Thousand Islands, the setting for your novels.

The Thousand Islands is 1,864 islandsthat straddle the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 50 miles downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands in the state of New York.

During the gilded age of the thousand islands (1874–1912) wealthy summer residents built summer homes, castles and mansions, and the region retains a historically important collection of vacation homes from this time. Several grand hotels provided luxurious accommodations while steamboats offered extensive tours among the islands. 

Among the lavish homes built during this time were several castles, some of which remain as international landmarks. The region's first was built on Pullman Island, the setting for my first novel that comes out in March. "The Towers" on Dark Island, now called Singer Castle, is the setting for the novel I’m working on now.

Who is your main character?

Susan is the nine-year-old girl from my debut novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy. Susan is all grown up now and enjoying teaching on Wolfe Island. But when her parents betroth to a man twenty-six years her elder and the new family moves to Cape Vincent, NY, just days after the wedding, life gets tough, especially when she becomes an instant stepmother.

How much of yourself you write into your characters?

Christmas Charityis loosely based on my family story—my great grandparents, Susan and Patrick, although naughty little Lizzy is a creation of my imagination. Ten-year-old Susan from my debut novel, The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, is now twenty-three and unexpectedly marries Patrick, a forty-nine year old widower. Not only is Patrick’s kind personality similar to my husband’s, but also my family story is woven into the novella.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

The characters are the actual names of my ancestors, except Lizzy.

What's your next project?

Katelyn’s Choicereleases on March 15^thwith Lighthouse Publishing, and it’s the first in the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series! 

It’s the story of nineteen-year-old Katelyn Kavanagh who leaves her family’s struggling farm to work on Pullman Island for the famous George Pullman. There she finds herself serving powerful men such as President Ulysses S. Grant, and Generals Sherman and Sheridan—and falling in love with her best friend’s brother. Katelyn gains popularity with some of her friends by spilling the sensitive high society gossip she’s privy to. But when she overhears a possibly damaging presidential conversation, she knows she can’t tell anyone. She could lose her job—and endanger the president’s 1872 reelection—and jeopardize her relationship with the man of her dreams. Still, the scandalous news just keeps begging to be told…

What are you working on now? 

I’m having a blast, writing book two in the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, this time about Singer Castle on Dark Island. I hope it’ll release next summer, but I need to finish writing it first! 

I’ve been posting photos on Facebook that we took while at the castle this past summer and asking friends to tell me about them. It’s been so much fun and has given me so many great ideas. Friend me on Facebook and let’s get connected!

How can we get your books?

They’re available in paperback and as e-books on Amazon and Barnes&Nobles. Here are the links: Christmas Charity and The Fabric of Hope. 

Website: www.SusanGMathis.com

How can readers find you on the Internet? I’m at www.SusanGMathis.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SusanGMathis/, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@SusanGMathis, on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/susangmathisaut, on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6044608.Susan_G_Mathis, and on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/108568340293012416399

Thank you so much for joining us today, Susan!

Readers, leave a comment for Susan to get your name in the drawing for Christmas Charity! Winner announced in the December 3rd edition of the Weekly Windup.