Together for Life

    'Tis the season to be thankful.  While my family and I are huge fans of  giving thanks year-round, none can deny the pleasure that one month of extra, focused gratefulness can bring.  Something special happens when we gather together around a bounty of food and celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord.        As we reflect on this past year, I was deeply touched by Pastor's sermon this past Sunday, in which he pointed out that every breath we take, every ministry we partake in; everything is only by the grace of God.  Pastor also pointed out that God doesn't bless us just to bless us.  We do not deserve anything.  God does not owe us anything, particularly His love; it is freely given.  Every blessing God places in our path is so that we will be amazed at His goodness, that it might overflow of the abundance of our hearts to others.       So this year, I am especially thankful for the l...

    Now that the 2016 Presidential Election graces the history books, who's ready to hear about something besides politics?  I know I am!  Here's a family update for Y'all.     See that picture of Ransom at left?  Don't be fooled; it was one crazy week.  Joel and I were stunned and deeply saddened to hear about Joel's Grandma Rumminger's passing last Sunday.  Almost exactly two years from Grandpa, we know that they are now reunited with each other, but most importantly, with Jesus.  Our only regret is that Grandma did not get to meet Ransom this side of Heaven.      The service on Friday was beautiful.  I am not one who enjoys funerals  at all , but I did enjoy this one.  Pastor reminded everyone that, as Grandma Rumminger left an outstanding legacy worthy of following, she had her eyes on Jesus' example; and so should we.     Although several states separate that side of our family, we were d...

        Mixed emotions flood our home today, as it has been two years since the passing of Joel's grandpa into Glory.  Sad because we miss him.  Happy, because we know he is better and we will see him again one day.  It seemed appropriate to have Joel post a tribute in his memory.  Although I never got to meet him, I feel like I know him just a little bit; and I think I can safely say we would have gotten along great!    ***     It has been two years since Grandpa Rumminger left us for Heaven. I still miss him, and there are many things I wish we could talk about, even though I would probably go and do what I was planning anyway. Sometimes it is just good to talk to someone about what is on your mind, even though it does not really change the outcome.    I remember going on a hunting trip with Grandpa one weekend when I was in school. On the way to hunting camp we talked about something that was bothering me...

      Fall is our favorite season.  This may or may not have to do with the fact that my Husband's birthday is in October.  He is the only one I've met who asks for pumpkin pie instead of cake on the big day.  Who am I to quibble?  Due to a plethora of food sensitivities, we had to get a bit creative in the pie department.  And by creative, I mean we had to get on Pinterest to find a recipe that would do the job.     Lucky for us, we found one.  One apron, pumpkin, and 60 minutes or so later, we had a beautiful pie.  I thought I'd share this recipe with Y'all, just in case you wanted to have me over sometime (Jest kidding!).  Truly though, it tasted like the one my mom made every year when we were kids, but without the eggs, dairy, or gluten.  Here it is:      Vegan Gluten Free Pumkin Pie 2 hours to make, serves 10 from minimalistbaker.com  Crust: 6 Tbls. cold vegan butter (...

      Time has indeed been flying!  Those of you on Faceboo k may have seen a recent update about Ransom turning 6 months old.  He did.  I blinked, and he's 20 lbs., has two teeth (Working on his third!), and almost, almost crawls!  I meant to do a blog update several weeks ago about his crib, but never got around to it.     We (Mostly Joel and Papa Cropsey) built his crib from a basic pattern we found on Pinterest.  Of course, it was altered some in the process, and we made it almost entirely out of two-by-four slats of birch wood.  That thing is solid as a rock!  We made it such that it is easily taken apart and re-assembled, for less transporting issues.  We chose to paint it in a Distressed style, gray being the base color and white for a white-washed-barn effect.  We are incredibly happy with how it turned out!  Also, we are in love with the thought of having an heirloom to pass down to our kids one day....

Babies Don’t Keep Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth, Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, Hang out the washing, make up the bed, Sew on a button and butter the bread. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking. Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue, Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo. Dishes are waiting and bills are past due Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue? Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo. The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.   Author: Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

"A merry heart does good like a medicine..." ~Proverbs 17:22~   For those of you who do not want to catch my cold, I recommend you wash your hands and consume plenty of Vitamin C after reading this post.  Colds are so contagious!  Yup, we here at the Joel Cropsey Household have been pretty ill as of late.  The good news is that for us, it is also short-lived.  I haven't really had a whole lot motivating me to write lately, but then I thought why not share a whole bunch of advice (that lots of people have probably heard) on getting through a cold?  I'll try and sniffle my way through an entire post. Our buddy is getting big!     When you're pregnant and therefore cannot do much over-the-counter medicine for that nasty cold or flu, you quickly learn other ways of coping.  Or, as in my case, you are taught by your awesome midwife what to get and do.  Joel and I have since been maintaining (and even growing!) our own remedy cu...

    A baby.  Determined to fall asleep on Mommy, and Mommy only.  Teething, with rough nights and long days.  Precious, sleepy, and decidedly cranky.     A husband.  Desperately wanting, no, needing his wife's attention.  Wanting so much to go on a date, or play a game together.  Oftentimes hungry as he leaves the working world behind and walks over the threshold into his home.     A mom.  Exhausted, needing even a few quiet moments alone. But the baby screams.  The pile of dishes setting haphazardly on the counter screams.  The laundry, rivaling the size of Mount Everest, screams.  The garbage practically begs to be taken out and thrown into the dumpster.  Her husband, walking into the mess, graciously helps her tackle it; more often than she feels he should have to.  As she sits down to her Bible Study, learning about becoming a woman of excellence, she thinks, "Oh, the irony!".   ...

    Here, as promised, is what Joel, Ransom and I have done lately.  It's short and sweet, but that counts, right?  Both Saturday and Sunday, we went to the Detroit Zoo.  Saturday was Ransom's first visit!  He snoozed through most of it, naturally.  We particularly enjoyed the new Penguinarium!  The penguins would come out of the water and interact with you (through the glass, of course) if you held something up in front of their faces.  Talk about cute!  We had a ton of fun.  I love bringing our little buddy along everywhere we go!  (By the way, our little guy just turned three months old on Sunday!)     After Saturday's jaunt, we stopped at a game store and bought a board game called "Pandemic".  It's a fun, cooperative style game, players against the board.  We're hoping to play it with some friends soon!      In the spirit of a tradition called "Family Night" we've been thinking about st...

    Here, as promised, is what Joel, Ransom and I have done lately.  It's short and sweet, but that counts, right?  Both Saturday and Sunday, we went to the Detroit Zoo.  Saturday was Ransom's first visit!  He snoozed through most of it, naturally.  We particularly enjoyed the new Penguinarium!  The penguins would come out of the water and interact with you (through the glass, of course) if you held something up in front of their faces.  Talk about cute!  We had a ton of fun.  I love bringing our little buddy along everywhere we go!  (By the way, our little guy just turned three months old on Sunday!)     After Saturday's jaunt, we stopped at a game store and bought a board game called "Pandemic".  It's a fun, cooperative style game, players against the board.  We're hoping to play it with some friends soon!      In the spirit of a tradition called "Family Night" we've been thinking about st...

     "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." ~Zig Ziglar "   What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith  but does not have works? Can that faith save him?     If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,     and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?     So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." ~James 2:14-17   ....So, to continue my discourse from yesterday; here are a few more reasons I need to leave the world of social media and how I plan to spend my time.  Some of my solutions are more broad, I am still looking for ways to accomplish these goals. ***        5).I just finished a wonderful book called "The Art of Neighboring", and one thing that God has placed on my heart is my need to be deeply rooted where ...