All of us!

Our church had a Fall Festival as part of our annual Missions Conference. Here is a picture of all 6 of us (a rare thing to get us in one shot) on the hayride taken by my friend Christi.

Sunday Hymn

How Sweet and Awesome is the Place
By Isaac Watts

How sweet and awesome is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

Wife, Mama, and What?

I have been writing at this blog address for over a year now and never have posted on it's unusual name. Some of you may have already understood the allusion, but others of you have probably wondered at some point or another. Here is the story....

When logging in to Blogger for the first time, one is immediately prompted to provide a name for the fledging blog to be created. It is a daunting task to name something that then is put out into the world for anyone to see. I knew that my blog would be only about me. After all, personal blogs are by definition the epitome self-centeredness in many ways. It would be what I thought about, what happened to me, and my observations about the world. However, I wanted to portray in my blog what I value about myself and focus on my main callings in life. Thus, "Wife" and "Mama." I started writing here just after we moved to Kosciusko, and thus "Country Mouse."

Richard Scarry wrote a little story called "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse." It is about a little country mouse named Annie who is visited by her city mouse friend, Melissa, and awed by Melissa's descriptions of rich city life, decides to return to the city with Melissa. After being chased by a cat and a dog in Melissa's grand house, Annie runs all the way home and settles back into her cozy life with a new thankfulness for her humble home. The story ends with these words, spoken by Annie, "I would rather live a simple life in peace, than dine on riches and live in fear."

And so it was with me last year when we moved to Kosciusko. The blog name asks the question that I was asking myself, "Am I really a 'country mouse?' Do I really want to be here?"In many ways, this simple life can pale in comparison to the comforts and opportunities that come with living in a larger city. The draw to be a "city mouse" is strong. And the draw to choose a place based on what I want and what I like is strong.

Yet, I know though that God went before us and clearly called us here, to this place, to this small Mississippi community. I too have learned Annie's lesson. I am thankful for a chance to live "a simple life in peace."

Rainy Thursday

Today was Joe's day off and it was a treat to have a little extra time with him. Our church's annual Missions Conference starts tomorrow and so the next few days are filled with extra activities. Our little MS church proudly supports many missionaries and has a legacy of passion for missions that has been passed down from previous generations. It should be good to hear of God's work in advancing His kingdom around the world.

Back to Budgeting

When Joe was in seminary in Charlotte and I was home with Joseph, we lived on his part-time internship salary and our savings. We were so young and lived very simply. God provided abundantly for us during that time (as He still does today), but I have many stories specifically of His provisions for us financially then.

I also was very careful with our money and have realized recently that I have grown sloppy about it. Inspired by the women at Frugal Hacks and Money Saving Mom, I have reinstated a tighter grocery budget and am looking forward to the challenge of keeping to it. I am learning how to do the CVS system and am cutting back on our weekly Wal-mart grocery run.

Towards that end, I have also become an affiliate of Crystal's Supermarket Savings 101 e-course. Crystal runs Biblical Womanhood, which is a site that exists "to promote femininity and build up women as they embrace their Biblical callings." It is a great site to check out as it is full of thought-provoking articles on being a Godly wife, on graceful parenting, on cheerful frugality, and on current news. Crystal's posts on her blog often provoke intense debate from a spectrum of viewpoints.

Crystal is a savvy business woman who has written many e-books that she sells on the site in addition to traditional hard copy books on family, womanhood, modesty, marriage, etc. Her Supermarket Savings 101 course started with an e-book that she wrote about feeding her family on $35 a week that she then expanded into an online course. The e-course is only $8.97 for the next 48 hours and also includes 6 other ebooks.

Click here to learn more about the course and buy it. And as a bonus, I'll get a little money back for being an affiliate!

Sunday Hymn

In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand(x2)

One more

For all of you mamas of little ones out there, this one hit home to me....

Notables

I've had these links bookmarked for a few weeks now and just want to go ahead and post about them. This is just a random list of articles that have caught my attention and so it is a really hodge-podge list.

• Just in case you needed another reason to avoid the public schools in Massachusetts.
• Tracing a new movement in evangelicalism, this article chronicles a growing number of conservative Christians who are embracing environmentalism, organic foods, and anti-consumerism.
• As I am on an ongoing mission to conquer the toys that are trying to overtake our home, this article was right on target.
• I've written here before about how much I loved my experience giving birth at home with my midwife and here is an article that spells out why.
• And here is a link to my midwife's site!
  
• Lastly, my aunt has a store at Ruby Lane where she sells beautiful handmade jewelry. Check out her store here.

Kind and wise

Another great post by Sara on taming our tongues. This one is so applicable to me--very convicting!

A family loves and mourns

From John Piper, who is always worth reading:

What I Said at My Granddaughter’s Funeral