A House of Stone

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. Matthew 7: 24-25 The Message



No, this is not my new house (wish, wish)... Matthews Stone & Supply (Ben's business) is announcing a new website! Please take a look and pass along our name and site to friends and family who are building a house, planning to build a house, doing some remodeling, doing an addition, or might want to add some stone to the exterior, build an outdoor fireplace, retaining wall or entrance.

We are going into our third year in the stone business. We had no idea what to expect starting out in this economy, yet God has blessed us. Ben has done a fantastic job in knowing the product, timely delivery, and customer service. Next to THE ROCK, he is my rock and, honestly, this business fits him perfectly. Enjoy the pics here and in the gallery here.

Nourishment... instructions

For those of you at the Asbury retreat last Friday night, you know what I'm talking about.

I hope you have started Nourishment. Have you ever seen anything like the speed in which our world gobbles up God's seeds? We may have a fantastic pulling-away time with God and two days later we hardly remember the gist of it. I can remember coming home from several mountaintop experiences, only to be robbed of almost every bit of it by the middle of the week following. I have learned that follow-up and accountability are essential to my growth.

If you and I just complete our exercises and never have the opportunity to talk about them, some of the depth is lost. Since we cannot meet again and have a follow-up retreat, this blog is hopefully going to provide us the forum to voice some of our struggles and our victories as we pray and work toward a repentant heart.

Here's what I'd like you to do. As you diligently and prayerfully begin Nourishment think about questions your would like to ask others, as well as personal things you would be willing to share. We need to hear from each other. I need to hear your heart and share mine. I desperately feel that my own personal prayers for a truly repentant heart will be aided by your journey to do the same.

Over the next week, email me your thoughts. My email is swm0804@bellsouth.net or listed on the blog sidebar. I will collect and group your comments and, without using any names, publish them on Saturday, November 5th. For that day only Coffee Tea and Thee will post a running dialog with comments and further questions.

Is this too much truth-telling? I hope not. I do not in any way want to interfere with your solitude or the private things that remain between you and God. But please do not let some of the lessons He teaches you go unspoken.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27: 17

Blog Exercise #8

Interlink your old blog posts.

Did you think I had forgotten? Nope. I just got a little sidetracked the past few weeks.

Interlinking previously written posts in your archives builds a better blog. The main reason is that it simply provides a better experience for your blog readers. If a reader comes to your blog and finds a post that not only answers their question, but also provides further reading and suggestions on where to explore related topics, they’re more likely to go away satisfied. A satisfied reader is more likely to return (it makes your blog “sticky”) and tell their network about their experience. Secondly, search engines (SEO's) look at the links within a blog to find content to index but also to work out how to index and rank content. Links from other blogs to your blog are the ultimate way to start ranking highly in Google but internal links also count.

Here's are 2 ways how to do it:
1. In Post Links—the most natural way to add links to an old post. All it involves is making a keyword (or words) in your post into a link that points to another post on the topic of that keyword.
2. Further Reading—many blogs have a Further Reading section that appears at the bottom of each post. In most cases this is a list of related posts that are automatically generated using a plugin. While this can sometimes provide readers with relevant results, I find that adding manually chosen links for further reading can produce a more relevant experience. You can add these suggested links both at the end of the post and throughout the post itself.

3 Quick Tips on Interlinking Posts
1. Try to build this task into your daily posting schedule. It takes a little discipline to get into the rhythm of it but it can have some real benefits if you do.
2. For bloggers with large archives who can't remember every post they've ever written, one way to help you find your previous posts is to have a “related posts” plugin on your blog. These will often present you with suggestions on older posts that might be relevant.
3. Also, if you have a lot of content that you've never interlinked before, start with the most popular posts.

Bleary-eyed Bliss

But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble
into a gateway of hope. Hosea 2: 14-15 NLT

Ladies, I am laying low today. How about you? I am bleary-eyed tired - so tired if my husband asked me to buy a double-wide and move to the farm (my absolute worst nightmare), I might say yes.

Wasn't it wonderful! Worshipping, making journals, visiting, getting to know Hosea, hearing from God.

I'm praying for you today. I'm praying your thoughts will swirl a little longer, then sit and settle. I'm praying you leave your envelope sealed a little longer with God. I'm praying tomorrow or the next day you will begin Nourishment. I so need it and I need to do it alongside you.

I loved being with you. Rest! Be blessed!

For It Is Time... to prepare our hearts

Just a few days and we will be at retreat. I want to tell you that the Asbury team has planned an excellent conference. No matter that it is only five hours long - they have put prayer and dedication, heart and soul, into the five hours we will spend with each other and with the Lord.

I have been asked many times what is the best way to walk into a retreat... meaning what is the best way to prepare ourselves for hearing from God. If you have read the previous blog posts, you have already prepared your eyes by skimming the 14 chapters of Hosea. You have prepared your mind by learning of the man, Hosea. These last few days are the days to prepare your heart.

Prayer prepares the heart. Pray the soil of your heart is plowed up and fertile and ready to receive God's Word. Come expectant that He will speak directly to you. Come clean.... confessed up. Come ready to hear God and obey quickly.

Don't be surprised or alarmed this week if hurdles crop up to stand in your way or even cause you to reconsider coming. Pray first! Recognize the enemy's attack. Today Jesus Calling says, If you focus on the obstacle or search for a way around it, you will probably go off course. Instead, focus on me, the Shepherd who is leading you along your life-journey. Before you know it, the "obstacle" will be behind you and you will hardly know how you passed through it.

Pray for me. Pray I also come clean, ready to speak what God wants spoken. God has filled my heart to overflowing with the story of Hosea and the parallel truths applicable to our day. I have a feeling that some of the things He wants to say will be a surprise even to me! Pray that I can walk that sometimes scary place of being on the edge of the Holy Spirit's promptings.

I can't wait to be with you. God bless your days until it is time to together seek the Lord.

For It Is Time... to prepare our minds

Hello ladies! Have you been reading through Hosea? At first glance it looks pretty depressing, right? Thank goodness for chapters 2, 11, and 14!

At retreat we will not have time to study the entire book of Hosea. Our theme verse is Hosea 10:12...
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
We will camp out there and in Hosea 6: 1-3.

While we are preparing our eyes by looking over the words in Hosea, I would like for us to prepare our minds with a character sketch of the man, Hosea. Here are some facts about this incredible servant of God:
Hosea was named "the prophet of Israel's zero hour"
He was young when God called him
His ministry lasted 66 years
His ministry was during the most turbulent time of Israel's history prior to captivity
During his ministry the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was taken into exile by Assyria
Hosea was called to do some very hard things and say some very harsh words (we have seen proof of that as we have skimmed the book)
He was strong, committed, trustworthy, and patient
He suffered
He was obedient to God above all else
He had a rocky marriage
He portrayed God's love for Israel

There are several things about Hosea I simply cannot quit thinking about.

Firstly, his absolute obedience to God. God told him to marry Gomer and that Gomer would prove unfaithful. He did. She was. Two of her three children were not Hosea's. She left the home leaving her children with him and ran after other men, what the world had to offer, and a new god, Baal. At first it appears her life was going well, but after time she slipped further and further into poverty and desperation. But she did not come home.

Secondly, his absolute obedience to God when it must have been humiliating beyond measure. God told Hosea to go into the most desolate part of town where Gomer lived with her lover, meet the man, and offer the man provisions for his wife, without her knowing it. Hosea did it. The man took all that Hosea offered and they used them to worship Baal.

I want to ask you something... Do you know a man like Hosea? Was Hosea injured? Yes! Was he angry? Yes! Did he want to retaliate? Yes! But does he? No! He remains faithful to God, faithful to Gomer, and seeks to reconcile. I may know a few men like Hosea, but sadly, it is only a few. (Sidebar: Lord, please help us to raise our boys to be this faithful to YOU!)

Thirdly, God could trust Hosea with just about anything. So He trusted him to portray His Son.
More time passed. Hosea is still raising all three children and Gomer has sunk lower and lower into the pit of sin. She has become a slave. In those days one could become a slave by birth, by conquest, or by debt, and it appears debt was the culprit. Gomer was going up for auction and God told Hosea to go into the marketplace and buy her back. So he does. Slaves were sold naked and Hosea placed the highest bid, bought her, took off his robe, clothed her, took her home, and commanded her to never again live the life of prostitution. I assume she was so broken she complied. Surely later she found the deepest gratitude and love.

This takes us straight to the cross. Jesus walks into the marketplace of our lives and we are on the auction block of sin. Naked. The world is bidding like crazy for us. Jesus makes a bid and the auctioneer says, "Sold to Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, for the price of His blood!" There is no greater bid. He then clothes us with His righteousness, takes us home, and commands, "Sin no more."

Do we see ourselves as Gomer? Are we offended or grateful?

That's chapter 1-3, and we will pick up from there at retreat. It's alot to ponder isn't it? It puts the meaning into 'unfailing love'. See you precious friends next week!

(commentary from Hosea by Dr James Montgomery Boice)

A Day in Franklin

Gorgeous fall day. Very near home sweet home. Antique-ing in Franklin. Shopping. Finds. Quinton. Blessed by her. Graduation gifts. Birthday gifts. Finding Leiper's Fork. Ahhh the art. Eating. Stories. Jobs. Family. Past. Present. Future. Now an annual event.

Now this is a bakery!


Main Street, Franklin

cool stuff we found



she ended up getting the aqua table above and the white side tables below

labrador art

I love wire art and I want this calendar!

next stop - Leiper's Fork

Puckett's Grocery - famous for the music and everything else in town

Leiper's Creek Gallery - oh my!


Pam Padgett

Helli Luck and if you are wondering who I'd like to paint just like - Pam Padgett and Helli Luck!

Pam Padgett

Helli Luck

the most fantastic Roger Dale Brown I've ever seen!

all packed up headed home

For It Is Time... to prepare our eyes

Ladies! Friends! I am so excited to be with you on Friday night, October 21st, at Asbury United Methodist Church. Leading up to the retreat I will be writing three brief blog posts, one each week, to help each of us prepare for what God will teach us from the book of Hosea.

In Hosea 10:12 God says, ... break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord.
Our immediate unplowed ground might just be that we are slightly unfamiliar with the book of Hosea. Many of us know the first three chapters, but not so much the rest of the book. This blog post is to urge all of us to prepare our eyes by feasting upon the words of Hosea.

For the next week skim the 14 chapters. Throughout the book God shows His heart toward Israel - and toward us. No matter how far they strayed, God's desire was to bring them back.

This week, if you need an extra reminder of God's love, camp out in Hosea 2: 14-20.
As we shake our heads and wonder why our nations and our lives are in upheaval, reflect upon Hosea 4: 6, 14 - my people are destroyed by lack of knowledge... a people without understanding will come to ruin.
Hear God's call in Hosea 6: 1 - Come, let us return to the Lord.
Read Hosea 10: 12, the theme of our conference.
And don't miss, It was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness. Hosea 11:3-4.

Wherever we are, far or near, He is calling us back!