Rolinger Reflections

Last week was a very busy wedding week here. We are so happy for Donyelle and Matt! May God be glorified in their marriage!

This week we are getting Craig ready to go to Sandy Creek Bible Camp in TX and from there to AZ for his dad’s 90th birthday.

I will be here with mumsy who is doing quite well right now. She is in the process of getting new teeth which will help her.

I’m thankful this morning as trials and happiness come and go in life, there is one constant, the Lord Jesus. He is the One worth living for! He surrounds us with His goodness!

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.” Psalm 125:2  Thank you, Lord!

My neighbors juice and they were my inspiration to start juicing so that I could get some healthy vitamins and minerals into mumsy. She is loving it and so are we! I just knew you would want to see. There are six ingredients in this recipe. Can you spot them all?

Today while taking these pictures, I thought of these verses…

“They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.” Psalm 36:8 

Now that’s quite a drink!

Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105

Is the above picture sunrise or sunset? Unless you were standing next to me, I don’t think you would know.

The circumstance that you are going through right now, is it gladness or sadness?

This blessed me today:

“What our heavenly Father ordains is wise and good. What, then, my soul, is it best for thee to do? Learn first to be content with this divine order, and be willing, with Job, to receive evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. Study next, to make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice. Praise the Lord for the sun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is beauty both in sunrise and sunset, sing of it, and glorify the Lord. Like the nightingale, pour forth thy notes at all hours. Believe that the night is as useful as the day. The dews of grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The stars of promise shine forth gloriously amid the darkness of grief. Continue thy service under all changes. If in the day thy watchword be labour, at night exchange it for watch. Every hour has its duty, do thou continue in thy calling as the Lord’s servant until he shall suddenly appear in his glory.” Spurgeon

I was going to add these pictures to a previous blog but changed my mind. Here is the section of ground cover I finished last week. Five hours and about 250 plants.

These last two are just because I love green beauty!

I’ve enjoyed these verses this week:

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the LORD,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 92:12-15 

I read Psalm 104 this morning. Read it!

“Think of what must be involved in running cities like New York or London or Tokyo with their millions of inhabitants. Complex organizations administer the water department, the housing department, the food supplies and all the other essential services.

But then think how infinitely more complex is God’s task of managing the world in which we live. There is the problem of supplying water for all His creatures. There is the immense logistical task of providing food for men, beasts, birds and fish. There is the matter of housing and shelter. It can only give us great thoughts of God to meditate on Him as the Creator and Sustainer of this vast world of nature.” WMD

Fernando Ortega sings it this way…

CREATION SONG (Glory to The Lamb)

He wraps Himself in light
As with a garment,
He spreads out the heavens
And walks on the wings of the wind.

He sends forth the springs
From the valleys
They flow between mountains.
The birds of the air dwell
By the waters,
Lifting their voices in song-

(chorus)
Singing glory, glory!
Glory to the Lamb!
All praises and honor forever.

He made the moon for its seasons,
The sun knows its setting.
He looks at the Earth and it trembles,
He touches the mountains
And they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life,
I will sing praises to my God-
As long as I live,
Praises to the Lord, oh my soul.

I’ve spent lots of hours this week working the hillside. With my busy life I can’t complete a job in one outing, so I’m taking 2 hours here and there. What satisfaction to see it coming together!

Will you take a walk with me?
(Click on the picture for a larger view.)

We have beautiful euonymus ground cover that we’re bringing back and spreading. You’ll notice in the forefront the new patch of ground cover we added last year (growing nicely) and in the distance the area we are adding now.

Below is a closer view of the patch begun yesterday. This is the before picture. Hopefully I’ll take an after. No guarantees.

The hillside that I’m doing now doesn’t look steep, but it is a challenge to plant here. My feet keep slipping. (Any Bible verses come to mind here? That’s another blog!)

Walk up the hill and this is what you’ll see.

I’ve been working on this hillside for 5 years and I’m excited this year to see how great it’s looking! (Well, really four years. My first year living here I just visualized how it could be. Well, no, my parents lived here 3 years before me and all those years I kept hoping for something beautiful. So really I’ve been thinking about that hill for 8 years. Anyway, I digress.) From weeds to beauty!

Craig got home pretty late last night and asked me to walk outside with him and show him what I did. We love sharing together in the satisfaction of a job well done.

It reminds me of the work of Christ.

“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him,
putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant,
will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:10, 11 

The Father sees the work of Christ and is satisfied.
I’m satisfied, too, with the glorious work of the cross!

The Bible is clear that God is working out His plan in history and one day Jesus will be returning to the earth to reign. What a reign that will be! Unlike anything we have ever seen. I’m looking forward to that reign!

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
Before the LORD, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
Psalm 96:11-13

Why is He waiting for His reign to commence?

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

He is waiting for you!

I sat with a friend reminding her of God’s faithfulness and He reminded me (thanks, I needed that!) and now I’m reminding you. Life is full of changes. People change. Circumstances change. He never changes.

Today I’m especially enjoying the last verse of this song. If you have a Savior there is bright hope for tomorrow!

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever will be.

Refrain:
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided;
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

---

Thomas O. Chisholm

I am trying to blog more regularly. Life seems to take over and I stop, so we will see what happens.

We are in the process of completing the new summer lessons. This is a series on Bible prophecy for kids with motions and words called “Out of this World.” Please pray that Craig can learn them before he hits the road for camps this summer in a couple weeks.

Pray for me as I stay around home caring for mom and preparing for a few camps and conferences later in the summer/fall.

Our biggest request is that God will be glorified.

Thanks for praying!

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night.”
Psalm 92:1, 2