The End of The Gathering Place

Dear Friends and Family,
After much thought, we have decided to end our family blog, The Gathering Place. We have found it to much of a burden to keep up with. We appreciate all who have commented and linked us to their blogs.

Alli, however, is going to have her own blog. Please visit her at her new blog address on the sidebar under "Alli's Blog". This is a new blog, not her old one. I have enjoyed blogging and maybe in the future, I'll make another attempt.
God bless ~ Julie

"If you are cold,tea will warm you-

If you are heated, it will cool you-
If you are depressed, it will cheer you-
If you are excited, it will calm you."~William Gladstone

Return Of The Daughters

A lot of people ask us, "Why isn't Alli working or going to college?" I mean, after all, isn't that the next step after high school according to the world's standards? This question is a hard one to answer. We know that our society thinks that the only way to be successful is to follow these traditional paths. Tony and I have been convicted in this area for Allison.

Her heart's desire is to be a keeper at home...God's highest calling for a woman. She has embraced these single years as a time of learning and loves being a helper to her family at home. Does this mean that she is uneducated or wasting her life? On the contrary! She has helped make our home the center of education, ministry, entrepreneurialism, and especially hospitality- valuable tools to carry with her to benefit the next generation for the glory of God.

This movie, the Return of the Daughters, has been such an encouragement to our family! It's wonderful to know of the growing number of young ladies who are turning to this way of life and defying today's anti-family culture.

We give this move the highest of ratings!

~Julie

Can You See It?

Look right in the middle of the picture...

It's a tiny lettuce sprout! I can't believe how fast they came up! I went out in the garden this morning to water my plants and looked really closely to find tons of small lettuce sprouts. I only saw one spinach sprout coming up but hopefully there will be more soon! I'm so excited!!! I hope they continue to grow and don't whither away.

As I am typing this, 1 Peter 1:24-25 comes to mind:

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever..."

We are reminded to not place our trust and find comfort in our own abilities as sinners, but in our Almighty Father. Even though my little plants may wither away, I can be confident that the truthfulness and goodness of God and His Word will always last eternally! That is definitely something to trust in! ~Alli

The Trent family is celebrating the fall season a little early this year! Tonight, Mom fixed us apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an after-supper treat to eat on the deck outside. It's something about the crisp apples, buttery crust, and aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves that really warms the heart and makes you crave those changing leaves and cool temperatures. So bake an apple pie and enjoy! ~Alli

Are You Bitter?

Most people do not recognize that they are bitter. Rather than admitting that they are bitter, they simply say they have been hurt or offended by others. I have been learning about the consequences of holding on to offenses and it has been very interesting. I've discovered that you can have physical consequences, spiritual consequences, emotional and mental problems all stemming from bitterness.

Bitterness is also deadly by way of passing it down to future generations, thus affecting hundreds of descendants. The sins of the parents are visited to the third and fourth generations of those who hold hatred in their hearts. Deuteronomy 5:9.

Wow! So what are we to do? I have noticed in my own life that I tend to "hold on" to offenses often revisiting them over and over trying to justify my feelings. I end up feeling bitter towards the other person after some time. God's only solution for bitterness is the complete forgiveness of our offenders. We must also realize that God has allowed these wounds in our lives for a purpose. These answers are not always easy to do. I know it's very hard for me to forgive someone who I think doesn't deserve it. The true test of forgiveness is if you can sincerely desire and hope for God's blessings on your offender. In this way you have released this person from the debt that you feel he or she owes you.

After all, we have been forgiven our debts by a loving God who sent His only Son, Jesus to die as a payment for our sins. If you have put your trust in Christ as your Saviour, then you have also been released from your penalty, death. Many blessings! ~Julie

Secrets to the Ultimate Marriage

For the past couple of weeks, Tony and I have been watching The Ultimate Marriage seminar from IBLP. We have really enjoyed it and have learned a lot. Even though we have been married for 24 years....we still have a lot to learn.

Topics include: Self-Acceptance The Way to Accept My Spouse, Personal Responsibility The Key to Oneness, Full Forgiveness The Way to Inner Peace, Exposing Enemies, Anger Recognizing its Roots, Lust The Enemy to Intimacy, and finally, Success Standing Against the Storm. We highly recommend this seminar to all married couples. I wish we would have had it earlier in our marriage :) ~Julie

Blogging Difficulties

Hello everyone! In case you are wondering why we havn't posted in a few deys...we are experiencing some technical problems with our computer! For now, we are on the family laptop which doesn't allow us to post pictures from our camera card. :( It's such a shame because we have so much to share about our busy weekend. On Sunday, we were able to celebrate Philip's graduation with our family and friends. Hopefully, we will be posting many pictures soon! Please stay tuned...

~The Trent family

Eggs in a Basket

We have been noticing some commotion on the front deck for a couple of days. The cats have brought it to our attention. They have been very interested in one of our ferns so upon closer inspection....Eggs!!!

They belong to a pair of purple finches. The eggs are about the size of a dime. Yesterday morning there were only two and this morning there are three.

The only problem is how to keep the kitties away! They like to sit on the rail directly under the fern. It's going to drive me crazy :) ~Julie

"Moving In"

Ever since I can remember, Dad has always been painting scenes from nature. As a boy, he was greatly inspired by his grandmother, Nellie, to draw and paint the beauty of God's creation. Ever since then, Dad has continued to do what he loves to do- draw and paint the outdoors! I guess he's painted pretty much everything in nature- from deer, creeks, and flowers, to birds, meadows, and trees.

Recently, Dad has gone through a "bird phase" and has painted at least a dozen Virginian birds in watercolor. The above picture is one of his prints called "Moving In." This one is one of Mom's favorites. :) Please take a look at some of his other work in our Etsy shop! ~Alli

And the Winner Is...

Aunt Rhonda!!!!!!

Congratulations Aunt!

Thank you everyone for participating! We may have another give away soon!

Financial Freedom

Recently our family viewed The Financial Freedom Seminar by Jim Sammons. I will say that this set of DVDs is very convicting. We learned a lot about what God has to say about achieving financial freedom. Below is just a sampling of what you can expect.


What It Really Means to Be Financially Free

1. Financial freedom is realizing that true prosperity comes only from God.

2. Financial freedom is committing ourselves to God's purposes for money.

3. Financial freedom is recognizing and rejecting false financial concepts.

4. Financial freedom is responding to God's reproofs for wrong financial decisions.

5. Financial freedom is choosing to serve God rather than money.

6. Financial freedom is giving God tithes and offerings.

7. Financial freedom is keeping out of debt.

8. Financial freedom is learning how to abound and how to suffer need.

9. Financial freedom is having sales resistance.

10. Financial freedom is recognizing and rejecting swindlers...

There is so much great information in this seminar. We are slowly trying to implement what we have learned. I will suggest that you order the Men's Manual II from IBLP to go along with the seminar. ~ Julie

A New Wreath For Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

We hope your Mother's Day is a blessing to you, as you are such a blessing in each of our lives!

We love you!

~ the kids

A Tribute to Mothers

Nobody Knows But Mother
by Mary Morrison

How many buttons are missing today?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many playthings are strewn in her way?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many thimbles and spools has she missed?
How many burns on each fat little fist?
How many bumps to be cuddled and kissed?
Nobody knows but Mother.

How many hats has she hunted today?
No body knows but Mother.
Carelessly hiding themselves in the hay-
No body knows but Mother.
How many handkerchiefs willfully strayed?
How many ribbons for each little maid?
How for her care can a mother be paid?
Nobody knows but Mother.

How many muddy shoes all in a row?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many stockings to darn, do you know?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many little torn aprons to mend?
How many hours of toil must she spend?
What is the time when her day's work shall end?
Nobody knows but Mother.

How many cares does a mother's heart know?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many joys from her mother love flow?
Nobody knows but Mother.
How many prayers for each little white bed?
How many tears for her babes has she shed?
How many kisses for each curly head?
Nobody knows but Mother.

Happy Mother's Day!

For those of you wondering where we were these past couple of days...

Yesterday, Mom had to have some minor surgery and she has been feeling poorly. Please pray for a speedy recovery. Thank you to all who have called and brought food by. My Mom and I really appreciate it. We are truly blessed! ~ Alli

My Testimony

"What is my purpose in life?" I cannot count how many times I have asked myself that very question, and how often I have been asked that by others. After the completion of high school I thought, by the world's standards, that my purpose in life was to go out and get a job or leave the home and go to college. Unfortunately, I went the working route thinking, "I guess this is just what I'm supposed to do now after high school, since I don't want to go to college." After working for two years, I felt God convicting me to quit my job and come home. I thought that if going out into the world to "make something of myself" was supposed to be my purpose, then why didn't I feel fulfilled? Instead, I felt unhappy and exhausted. While I was working, God pricked my heart and my perspective changed to, "What does God want me to do with my life? What is His design for me?" Since this change of heart, God has revealed His direction in my life in so many remarkable ways.

After searching through Scripture, I found that my ultimate purpose is to glorify God in all that I do in life. Through His Word, He revealed to me ways that I can accomplish this. All my life, my desire was to be a wife and mother one day. God showed me specifically through Scripture how this was actually part of His perfect plan for a woman. I was led to this passage, "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a help meet for him.' " (Genesis 2:18) Therefore, according to this verse, a woman is to be a help meet to her husband. My purpose in this season of my life is to train for this very important role at home under the guidance of my father. My job now is to be a helper to him and his ministry as preparation for my husband one day.

God also revealed to me that my purpose is to one day be a keeper at home. I found this clearly stated in Titus 2:4-5, "That they teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed." These are the things I am working on now while I'm still at home to prepare myself so I can one day fill this calling. Right now, our home is my ministry and I'm using it as a training ground for these purposes.

In addition to being a help-meet and a homemaker, my other desire is to be a mother one day. I feel it is my duty, as a Christian, to train and teach my children(Lord-willing) and bring them up in the glory of God. After all, my generation is going to be responsible for training up and bringing forth the next Godly generation. In this phase of my life, I am trying to learn everything I can about God's Word so I may be able to teach my children when the time comes. Currently, I am enrolled in a Christian college called Telos and I am taking some online courses through them. Telos focuses on building God's principles around all areas of the lives of believers.

Ever since God has revealed to me His plan for my life through His Word, I have felt the greatest sense of peace in my heart. Only a couple of years ago, my heart felt void and everything I did felt meaningless. I had always thought, "Why am I hear?" instead of thinking, "What does God want me to do while I'm here?" I am ashamed because I had never really looked to God's perfect Word for my answer. I only made an assumption and traveled down the path that was not intended for my life. Now I know my calling in life and can't wait to see what the future holds! Now I must focus on preparing and training myself for these future roles so that I may glorify God in my purpose. I has been difficult at times to stand alone and swim against the tide of the world, but God continually gives us the grace to get through the persecution that we receive from others. I will continue to embrace His calling and hold it dear to my heart because God's ways are sovereign, and He has truly filled the emptiness in my life.

~Alli

We awoke to this beautiful snowy scene early this morning, and received an unexpected three inches here in central Virginia! Although the weatherman yesterday had predicted some snow for this morning, we didn't get our hopes up. It never snows when you want it to!

Our family is going to be taking a break from blogging for Resurrection Sunday. We hope you all are blessed with a lovely weekend as we reflect on what our Lord and Savior went through for us to live eternally with Him in paradise!

~ The Trent Family

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism awareness month. This disorder is now found in 1 out of every 150 children. We as a family would like to observe this month as a time to pray and remember the hard times these families face.

Our middle son Philip, now 18, suffers with Aspergers Syndrome which is a disorder in the Autistic Spectrum. It is considered "high functioning" Autism. Please take time to inform yourselves about Autism and all that is involved. If you know of anyone with a child who suffers with this disorder, please pray for them and also send them an encouraging word. Visit http://www.autismspeaks.org/ for more information. ~Julie

How To Be A Lady

Chapter XXI-Choice of Society, and Formation of Friendships.

Character is formed under a great variety of influences. Sometimes a very trifling circumstance gives direction to the whole course of one's life. And every incident that occurs, from day to day, is exerting a silent, gradual influence, in the formation of your character. Among these influences, none are more direct and powerful than that exerted upon us by the companions with whom we associate; for we insensibly fall into their habits. This is especially true in childhood and youth, when the character is plastic, like soft wax,- - easily impressed.

Taken from How to Be A Lady by Harvey Newcomb, first printed in 1850. I bought this book for Alli as a Christmas present. I'm finding however that I can't seem to put it down. Some of the chapter titles are: Knowledge of Household Affairs, Habits, Doing One Thing at a time,Government of the Tongue, and Being Useful. If you like old reads, this is a good one.

~Julie

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! We have been blogging for some time now, and we have decided to take the plunge and start our own blog. We have received much encouragement from many of our favorite blogs and we hope that you will be blessed in the same way by ours. Here we will be sharing our thoughts, daily adventures, recipes, gardening attempts, sewing projects, and much more. We invite you to share your own comments and thoughts as you visit us here at the gathering place. ~The Trent Family