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The Mystery Object: Can You Help?

April 20, 2016 by Esther Filbrun · 3 Comments

20 Apr

One evening this week, my ten year old brother was searching through my sixteen year old brother’s things, trying to find a lost wallet. I don’t know if he ended up finding the wallet or not, but he did discover something fascinating—an old metal thing, with the name “Nat” inscribed on the outside, and a tiny picture of a man on the inside. It is about 15 mm in diameter, so pretty tiny!

Mystery Object 01

There is nothing on the outside edge that would have made it possible to put on a necklace (no little loops or anything), and it wasn’t made to snap onto clothing as a button—we tried that out, and it didn’t work.

Mystery Object 02

I asked my brothers how they had found it, and the older brother said he had seen something shiny in the garden while he was cultivating, and picked it up. It was covered in dirt, so he soaked it in water and then cleaned it off. Afterward, he put it in with his other odds and ends, and forgot about it.

Then our younger brother was looking for his wallet, and found it—and seeing that it was made up of two different pieces, tried to open it! After prying it apart, this is what he found. In an attempt to find out who the man was, the boys popped his picture out to see if there were words underneath, but there were none—and in the process of putting it back in, some of the picture flaked off. They decided we ought to take a photograph of it before it gets any worse!

Mystery Object 03

Have you seen anything like this before? Do you know what it could be? None of us can figure any more out than what has already been stated.


In other news, I’m working on writing a guest post for my cousin Kendra Stamy at A Proverbs 31 Wife. So far, the task has proven challenging, but I’m enjoying it. Lots of interesting thoughts coming out about books and why we read what we read. Praying that I’ll be able to encourage someone through this opportunity! I’ll share the link on here once the post is published.

Also, I’ve been working on memorizing Psalm 67 the last two weeks. So far, so good—almost through the chapter now. I did get a little stuck on verse four, but I think I’m getting it. Just need to remember that verses three and five are exactly the same, and get six and seven down pat yet. I’m getting there!

Memorising Psalm 67:4

I decided to put the verse on my computer desktop until I get it memorized, so I won’t forget to practice it.

I also need to get this month’s newsletter written and sent. AFTER the guest post is written! I need to send out the last giveaway prize today—just heard back from the last winner this morning—and then that job will be done. 🙂 There are a couple other emails related to the giveaway that need replies yet, but they’ll be taken care of soon.

And along with all of that, I’m trying to ignore the insistent summons from a recent fascinating story, The Destiny of a Few by Sarah Holman, to finish reading it. Hey, I just got on Amazon to get a link for you, and I see that the Kindle version is currently free! Get it now if you can! I’m about halfway through the book, and thoroughly enjoying the adventure, even though I don’t completely agree with some of the views put forward in the book. If I can hold out until my work for today is done, then I can indulge in reading. I think.

Hope you’re having a great day, and if you have any ideas about what this mystery object is, my brothers and I would be glad to hear your thoughts.

Hello, Winter! (and Giveaway Winners)

April 15, 2016 by Esther Filbrun · 1 Comment

15 Apr

Hello, winter, what a surprise!
Icicles blooming before our eyes!

Well, not quite like that. But the heavy frost did come as a surprise to me yesterday morning.

Hello, Winter! 01

We’ve had skirmishes with frost the last couple weeks, little touches announcing that the hard one is on the way, but up until now we haven’t had anything serious. It’s been chilly, yes, but not quite to the point of freezing.

Hello, Winter! 02

The grass close to the sprinkler was heavily iced over. It made the most delightful crunch when stepped on!

Well, two nights ago it arrived. Mom woke up around 12:30, noticed that the air was pretty cold, and turned the sprinkler on. I woke up at 6, realized that my room felt like a freezer, turned my fan heater on, and went back to bed. I got up around 7 when the room was nice and toasty.

Hello, Winter! 03

The pumpkin leaves, beautifully encased in ice, looked almost like the plastic food look-a-likes you can buy at some stores.

Then came my morning routine–go in the house to get some hot coffee, and grab the overnight oatmeal with peaches that I had made the night before (you can’t beat pre-made breakfast!). After hearing how the water had been on for about seven hours, and seeing a sample of the icy coating on a pumpkin leaf someone had brought up, I decided that despite the fact that my coffee would get cold, I had to get a few pictures of the beauty out in our ice-encased garden.

Hello, Winter! 04

It was more beautiful than words or pictures can describe. I guess God’s creation is normally like that, but I rarely stop to just look and stand in awe.

Hello, Winter! 05

Hello, Winter! 06

Hello, Winter! 08

The most beautiful thing I saw in that half-hour out in God’s beautiful frozen paradise was the thistle flower. Showcased in a perfect sphere of ice.

Hello, Winter! 09

Hello, Winter! 10

The hollyhock was another favorite specimen.

Hello, Winter! 11

Hello, Winter! 12

I just have to wonder, looking at this…why does God choose to use cold to make such beauty? I don’t enjoy being cold. But yet, perhaps, sometimes He uses things like cold to draw us to Himself.

Hello, Winter! 13

The really interesting thing was–once the sun came out and melted away the ice, the plants looked perfectly fine. They hadn’t been frosted. The ice itself kept the plants from dying. There’s a scientific explanation for why this works under certain conditions, and I won’t go into it now. Suffice to say that for us, this was a fascinating experiment, and it was successful this time. If you want to read up on the technical side of why this works, go here.

Hello, Winter! 07

Last night, the sprinkler didn’t get turned on early enough, so we did get a little frost damage–it was almost as cold last night as the night before. And from the looks of it, we’ll be getting another good one tonight. But for now, I feel privileged to have been able to see the beauty in our garden, and ponder the spiritual allegories that could be derived from the experience.

And yes, by the time I was finished taking pictures about half an hour later, my coffee was quite cold. It did still taste good, though!

Hello, Winter! 14

The intricate ways God made this world are truly incredible!


And for the giveaway winners: Please join me in congratulating Bonnie S, Ashley S, Nancy T, Ross T, and Camy L for winning the One Year Celebration Giveaway! Congratulations, friends–and thank you, all of you, for participating. I wish I could send a prize to each of you, but I can’t. I am planning to host more giveaways just because they’re so fun, so hopefully if you didn’t win this time you can later. 🙂

What was your most memorable experience with ice?

One Year Thankfulversary: Giveaway Time!

March 31, 2016 by Esther Filbrun · 7 Comments

31 Mar

When I mentioned that I wanted to do a giveaway yet this month to my mom, she asked “is it because you launched the site about this time last year?”

“No…but that could be the reason!” I replied.

One Year Celebratory Giveaway

While that isn’t the only reason why we’re having a giveaway today, it is part of it. I enjoy giving things to people, love celebration, and love meeting goals. One of my yearly goals was to have a giveaway sometime here in the first quarter, and with that coming to an abrupt end in about a day, I think it’s about time to try to accomplish that goal!

Like I said before, I love celebration. For the most part, I love this thing called life that God has called each of us to live. And I love celebrating the little things—hasn’t He given us so very, very much? Just pause and look around for a moment, if you’re in doubt. See that bed? He gave you the gift of being able to relax and rejuvenate in sleep. Hear that bird? He made that amazingly complex machine. He made it all. And we should praise Him for that.

Beach

Today, I’m praising Him for a year well lived. Yes, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but He’s been there through it all. Through His love, He has brought many people past this website, and I’m thankful for that. And I hope in the coming year, we’ll be able to help even more people find good books.

Thank YOU, too, for sticking with me through the ups and downs and learning curves and pictures blowing out the side of your inboxes…thanks for understanding. 🙂 And thank you in advance for your support in the coming year.

And now for the giveaway! Since Easter has just finished (how was YOUR Easter?), I’ll do a Bible-themed giveaway. We’ll have several winners, so when you enter you’ll have the chance to receive one of the following:

  • A $20 Amazon.com gift card
  • Joseph of Arimathea by Sarah Holman: Two Kindle editions (from Amazon.com) of this book will be given away. I was reading this last Easter, and really enjoyed the story!
  • More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell: One paperback copy, can be sent from Book Depository. So far, this is one of my hands-down favorites in the Christian apologetics world—very practical and readable!
  • DVD of ABC Say it With Me: Bible Memory Verses: —Available only within the US. Our family loves this, and I’m sure the younger people in your life would as well.

Note: This giveaway is open worldwide, just as long as you can receive books and gift cards from Amazon.com. Please note that the DVD is only available to people who live in the US.

So in total if you add all that up, we’ll have FIVE winners! Yay!

Enter below. Giveaway begins on March 30th at 7 am EDT and ends in two weeks, on April 13th at 8 am EDT. (I’ll stick with Eastern time—adding New Zealand time to the mix is too confusing.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And legal info: Want to see the Terms and Conditions for the giveaway? Go here.

May God bless your coming week!

Esther

God’s Surprises

March 19, 2016 by Esther Filbrun · 1 Comment

19 Mar

This morning, I saw that this week’s five minute Friday prompt was the word “surprise”. Even though I’ve never done it before, I thought this would be a fun challenge, so below is my piece on the topic.

The rules: Write for five minutes straight, with no editing, on the topic given. Share online.

Easy enough . . . hopefully!

Bee on the Goldenrod

GO!

Surprises come in many different packages. Whether it’s your boss at work playing a prank on you, you sharing in a friends’ surprise party, or simply reading the Word and being surprised at its contents.

There are so many surprises in the world, and one thing that is often connected in my brain is the word surprise with the word mystery. Both are talked about in relation to God, and there’s that really fascinating verse by Paul, I think, that says the mysteries of God are now clearly seen—that’s butchered, I know, but you should get the drift.

I love that facet of His character. I love how there were (well, still are) mysteries about Him, but through Jesus coming here, living among us, Emmanuel, many mysteries have been cleared up. We can now understand the heart behind the old law, and yet there are so many things—threads—connecting both the old law and the new law.
Such as the oft-repeated command: “Obey my commandments, and you will have My blessing”—I’ve been noticing a lot of those in Numbers and Deuteronomy, and I know Jesus said that several times in John as well. That’s just one of the threads. The threads in His Word are fascinating! And there’s so many others, too!

STOP.

Beautiful flowers!

I didn’t quite finish the thought, so here it is—God’s surprises and mysteries come in many ways. Many mysteries are made understandable through the Word. And many of His surprises come through His Word (wow; I didn’t know this verse/that meaning was there!).

Another interesting related thought is that He promises we will be blessed if we follow His commands (John 14:15—“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”) His blessings come in many forms. Perhaps it isn’t even very obvious at times, but I’ve found that in genuinely trying to care for others—through His strength, because I can’t on my own!—I get blessed in return.

Well, I enjoyed that. I’ll have to do it again.

In more down-to-earth daily life, we’ve had a coolish week this last week. We’ve had some beautiful days, a couple rain days, and today was a bit of a hot day. Praise the Lord, we got about 40 mm of rain (1 ½ inches) about three days ago—much needed, and much prayed for!

Last evening, as we were preparing to have Bible time, I noticed the beautiful sunshine coming through the trees. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but that combined with the ever-sunny Jerusalem artichoke flowers was a gorgeous sight!

Thinking about how God answered Elijah’s prayer for no rain and then for the drought to break this evening, and about his act of faith. And how James promises that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)–right before he talks about Elijah’s example. What a God we serve! #Godisgood

A photo posted by Esther Filbrun (@estherfilbrun) on Mar 18, 2016 at 2:04am PDT

As I near the end of this week, I want to pause and take in the beauty around me, all the little surprises God has packed into each day. Whether it’s the sunset, the heart-melting grin of my little sister, or the little brother that wants a cuddle and a story. I want to take it in, and in return thank Him for each one.

I also want to continue to delve deeper, learn more, study Him—and ask Him to make me more like the daughter of God, the “moon” of His Son, that He wants me to be.

Do you have anything you’re wanting to focus on this weekend, and the coming week as we approach the Easter season?

P. S. Yes, I’m on Instagram now. Follow me here, if you like. 🙂

Learning to Love

March 12, 2016 by Esther Filbrun · 2 Comments

12 Mar

This month, I’m participating in a study on love, based on 1 Corinthians 13. I’ve had different ideas on the topic over the years—back when I was 5 or 6 and couldn’t write much, the most common phrase in my letters was “God is love”.

Back then, those words were security to me. That is who God is. But my idea of love—God’s love—never went far beyond that. That is who God is, but I never applied it to my life as “God is love, so therefore I should be . . . .”

Learning to Love

“Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:2-3)

The study so far has been challenging and enlightening. Seeing how without love we are practically useless has made me wonder how love is shown in my life.

  • Am I showing love to my coworker when she offers to do the last little bit of cleaning, that can only be done by one person, and I let her do it? Especially when I know she’s tired and would rather go home to rest?
  • Am I showing love to my brother when he has an exciting experiment and I’m feeling tired and grumpy, so I tell him I’m not interested?
  • Am I showing love to my friend when I tell her of my troubles, but never care to ask her about hers?
  • Am I showing love to my neighbor when she stops by, and since I don’t really like her I take the option to duck out to my room and let Mom talk rather than carry on a conversation?

Truthfully, I have to answer no to all those questions. I’m pretty terrible at showing love. So this next week, I’m challenging myself to do at least one thing each day to show love to someone—whether it’s speak a word of encouragement, do something for someone, or simply listen to my brother’s idea and practice some patience.

This week, I want to be proactive about learning to love those around me. I do love and appreciate a lot of people, but usually that isn’t shown.

Will you join me? Can we have a positive influence on the world and the people around us this next week?

And if this aspect of love is a little easier for you than for some of us, do you have any practical tips for how to actively show our love to others?

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