Word Of Life Ladies' Retreat--Schroon Lake, NY--2010

What a wonderful time we had at the W.O.L. ladies' retreat this year! Here is a photo of our whole group that went. There were 38 of us in all from ME, NH, & TX.

We had a wonderful speaker for the weekend. Here is her bio. She spoke on Abiding in Christ in Obedience, Patience, and Confidence. It was just precisely what God had for me to hear this weekend!




Hello! My name is Jennifer Sands, and I welcome you and thank you for visiting my website. www.jennifersands.com I pray that as you explore this site, you will find hope, encouragement, and inspiration.
My husband, Jim Sands, was killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Back then, no one could have convinced me that I would recover from losing Jim, or that I'd ever be functional again. But I have since learned that God can do amazing things -- things that I never could have imagined. Before 9/11, I did not know Jesus as my Lord and Savior... but by His abounding love and grace, I have since undergone a radical spiritual transformation. I am now determined to spread the Gospel and a message of overcoming trials -- and living everyday life -- through faith and trust in Christ and in the power of His Word.
If you've ever been through the pain of adversity and found yourself thinking, this can't be happening..., then I have encouragement for you. If you've ever searched for answers to life's toughest questions, then I have wisdom to share with you. If you've ever desired the most valuable riches, then I have a priceless treasure to offer you.



Our singer for the weekend was Paula Dunn. Born and raised in Maine, she has an amazing testimony of how a church going door to door one day, saved her and her siblings lives. She was only 6 weeks old at the time.

For the past 22 years, I have had the exciting privilege of sharing God's love through music and my testimony. Throughout this time, my purpose has been to reach out and encourage those who are hurting, to challenge believers to a deeper walk with God, and especially to bring as many people as possible into a personal relationship with Christ. This has been and continues to be my prayer for each concert-a prayer that God is continuing to answer each and every weekend.

The fellowship was so sweet, and my battery definitely got charged and I'm ready to abide in Christ! We are already super excited for next year! Madelyn will join me next year and that is going to be awesome!

Mother's Day 2010--Mom's Favorite Chinese Food and the Beach!

I am so blessed by my family! They gave me the most wonderful mother's day! They say a picture is worth 1,000 words...and I'll let you fill in the words from all of these glorious shots!

Cousins are soooo much fun!

The cousins sure do love each other, and it's sooo much fun to get together!

Ahhh....sweet family times!

We Love Our 102 Year Old Great Aunt Frances!

Oh how we love Aunt Frances! Yes, she's 102 years old! Yes she came up to her camp on Suncook Lake in Barnstead, and Yes we treasure our visits with her!

She was so excited to meet the twins for the first time. She'd been praying for them all winter long! And of course the feeling was mutual! They have LOVED telling everyone at school about their 102 year old great aunt!

We love you bunches Aunt Frances, and are praying for your recovery from your broken shoulder!
xoxoxo

Father and Sons!

All hard work brings a profit,but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 14:23 (NIV)

It brings my heart great joy to see Glenn working with our two sons and to see how well they work together as a team. On this day, the project was preparing for the coming winter. Yes, I know it's barely Spring time, but Glenn loves to fill the woodshed for the next winter. It gives him such encouragement to work hard and to be ready.

Junior LOVES to drive the tractor, and that actually makes getting wood fun! Both boys love to run the woodsplitter, too. They are learning such great character skills from such a wonderful man!

When Junior first came here he would often say..."Mom, Dad is such a hard worker, I want to be just like him!"...and I would say..."That's a terrific goal sweetie, you do that!". There have been many nights when Junior will say..."Dad, are we headed back out to do more wood?", and that has motivated Glenn to put in another shift! It's truly a win/win situation, and I love that the tornado wood is getting cleaned up!

I just LOVE my boys! Another job well done! We now have all of the wood we need for next winter!

Happy Mother's Day!--2010

"He gives the childless woman a family,making her a happy mother."Psalm 113:9 New Living Translation

What a joy this day brings to me and my mother's heart. As I prayed and yearned for the expansion of our family last year, I am amazed at how God has answered my prayers this year. What a joy! I am in amazement of our heavenly Father and how He truly wants to give us the desires of our hearts....he truly does! I am so thankful!

Here is a poem I wrote when I was 12 years old. It's still just as true today!

Mother's Day

What is a mother?

Why she is someone whom we share.

To cater to our many needs,

and show us that she cares.

She helps us up when we are down,

and sends us on our way.

She helps us through the toughest times,

and brightens up our day.

Sometimes I stop and wonder.....

Just what would happen if....

Mother's weren't around,

to give that gentle lift.

But then I turn around and see,

my Mother's smiling face.

And I know that she'll never leave,

for that love I can't erase.

It will stay inside my heart,

for as long as I may live,

and remind me as I go through life,

of the love my Mother gives.

So to all of you Mothers who are honored

in this beautiful month of May,

I have one other thing,

that I'd really like to say....

God gives us gifts,

and that means so much,

but far above most others...

One of His greatest gifts to earth is when,

He created Mothers.

Dedicated to my Mom--Linda Meserve--

I love you Mom!----

Share our joy!----Easter 2010 --Winslow Mountain

(our 5 darlings)

Brittany and her husband Chris

who reside in Michigan at New Tribes

Bible Institute.

Oh How I Love This Time of Year!!

Isaiah 58:11

"And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. "

I love and treasure the new beginning of Spring. The heads of my beloved perennials popping through the soil, my strawberry bed coming to life, my cold frame ready to be planted, and my vegetable garden, ready to be tilled. This is such an exciting time of year. A time of new beginnings.

This has got me thinking a bit. More often than not the act of reading scripture each day feels like the hard work of tilling a garden, hauling compost, and sowing tiny seeds. I think we sometimes set ourselves up for disappointment by expecting miracles to happen, angels to descend, or the Holy Spirit to drop in as we read these sacred words. Many times Bible study feels like, well, study.

It's not unreasonable to expect God to use scripture in powerful ways, and there are times when words jump off the page and into our lives, bringing renewal and the life of God. However, in the grand scheme of things, I think that reading scripture is a way that God tills the stiff, barren soil of our lives, sows words of life, and then, whether immediately or later, those words will sprout with power and relevance.

Just as a farmer must always till, plant, and harvest every year, we have the same responsibility to continue reading scripture, sowing new seeds, and allowing God to raise up new life. When we least expect it, the seeds of scripture sown into our lives will be brought to life by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is at work in our prayer lives and in our reading of scripture; however we sometimes must dedicate time to the hard work of letting scripture till and take root as we read it daily. We may not see the benefits right away, but if we can keep up with it, the harvest will be tremendous

Yesterday, my beloved hubby, Glenn, tilled part of our vegetable garden. Enough to plant the things that are okay in the cold. Peas, Corn, Beans and maybe some lettuces and spinach. Oh how I love my hard working hubby! Thank you Glenn!

I can't help but marvel in the comparison of my life and that of a garden, tilled and brought to life by the Lord!

Many Hands Make Light Work!

This is an old fashioned proverb, and it is very true! Our dear children have experienced this first hand in the last two weekends.

Last Saturday, the 20th, Glenn and the kids spent hours and hours raking the yard. The kids worked so hard and without complaint! I think the garden tractor and rides on that and driving that helped the matter!

"And whatever you say, or whatever you do, do everything in the name of the Lord, and not for people." Colossians 3:17

"Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with promise, that your days may be long and it may be well with you."

Glenn had an opportunity to do just that yesterday with his Dad, "Grampa Jon". Grampa needed to make a trip up to Vermont to get a load of hay with his hay wagon. He sells hay in NH as part of his work. So Glenn loaded up our van with all of the kids and they followed Grampa the 2.5 hours up to Vermont and then worked as a team to load 268 bales of hay onto Grampa's hay trailer. Glenn said that the kids all worked super hard, and were such a great testimony. The bales were heavy, and it was a lot of work, but they all worked together and had it done in no time. The reward from Grampa...A trip to his favorite diner on the way home for some munchies! The heavenly reward...."Priceless"!!

Everyone got home last night, tired, but excited about a job well done!

We Love Cooking with Great Grammy Winslow!

"Listen to advice and accept instructions and in the end you will be wise." Proverbs 19:20

We have treasured the time spent with Great Grampy and Great Grammy over the last 10 months, bringing meals to them and enjoying their company. Grampy is 92 and Grammy is 90. Twice now we have headed to their farm early on a Wednesday to do some baking with Great Grammy. Grammy's family is from Denmark and were wonderful bakers. She and her sister Dot used to run a roadside bakery stand long, long ago, and it was a huge hit, with homemade rolls, and breads and sweet treats! About 5-6 years ago for Christmas, Grammy gave each of us a cookbook binder with her treasured recipes in it. They are written in her own handwriting. It truly is a treasure! I love making things from this cookbook. What an amazing gift to us! Here is a list of the recipes in it:

Back in the Fall last year Grammy wanted to show us how to make her famous coffee ring. It's super yummy! It's made with Plainer Sweet Dough. You can either make it into rolls or a coffee ring. Below is the recipe. Everyone enjoyed helping out!

It's super important to follow the recipe. Above is Grammy showing us how to shape and cut the ring!

Now it's time to wait for it to rise! We enjoyed a cup of tea while we waited.


And then the wait is over! Add the icing and you have a beautiful coffee ring! As Grammy says..."It's truly the talk of whatever you bring it to for an event! It's a favorite!"



Then the week of St. Patrick's day we headed over to Grammy's early to make her famous chocolate cake with fudge frosting. This was to celebrate Jon's birthday. This cake is so yummy! One of the secret ingredients is sour milk with vinegar in it. The fudge frosting is cooked on the stovetop and when placed on the cake, it hardens and turns into chocolate fudge! Oh my...soooooo yummy!!

The kiddos enjoyed a game of aggravation while we waited for the cake to bake! The aroma was divine!

Then the best part, of course---birthday cake for dessert! Needless to say, it was a hit with everyone, and there wasn't even a crumb left! Yum! Thank you Grammy!

We love you!

Stayed tuned for what we will bake next in the Winslow kitchen.....high on the list...the famous lemon jelly cake! I can't wait for that one!