“I’m a little doll who was dropped and broken, from my mommy’s knees,
I’m a little doll who has just been mended, won’t you tell me, please?
Are my ears on straight, is my nose in place, have I got a cute expression on my face?
Are my blue eyes bright, do I look alright, to be taken home Christmas day?” sang the little girl.
She was reenacting her part in a children’s dance program for us that Howard and I had missed that evening. Usually quiet and reserved, the six-year-old, cheeks still rouged and hair still curled from the performance, became animated and expressive as she danced, pantomimed and portrayed a doll, pointing out eyes, nose and smile, slapping her knees for emphasis, clapping and throwing up her hands in a question at the end. I was amazed at her charm and grace!
Even more amazing, I realized, as the words of this children’s song came back to me in the night, was that she was a flesh-and-blood example of the song, living out the story of the doll! Tears of realization and gratitude welled up in my eyes as I got the picture.
Just over a year ago this child was “dropped and broken” when tragedy struck her family and she and her little sister were tossed about between makeshift caretakers. Even before she lost her parents, when hardly more than a baby herself, she tended her little sister, mothering her and changing her diapers. When they were rescued, the lice-infested children told horror stories of being locked in a closet by an uncaring adult.
But for almost a year now, they had been in the process of mending in a stable, if crowded, Christian home by a compassionate couple who could no longer look after them and care for their own children, too. My son’s family wants to adopt them and are going through the preliminary processes.
The little dancer, still fragile and a little uncertain, wonders if she is pretty. Her foster sister is pretty, and her little sister is cute, but somewhere along the line she has picked up a negative impression about herself. When asked recently if she could have anything she wanted, her response was, “I want to be pretty.”
As it turns out, those sad brown eyes--not blue--are bright and happier now, and they will be even brighter next Sunday morning, when they awake to their first Christmas with what will surely be their “forever” family—ours!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Best Part of Waking Up...
Wake up and smell the coffee! My husband bought me a Christmas present of perfume today, but I had to try it out. In between sniffing samples, we were offered a sniff of a jar of coffee beans to cleanse our sense of smell from the fragrance of the last perfume.
I had heard of cleansing the palate with bread or water between sips of wine, but I didn’t know about the coffee thing and was as surprised as Howard was. Since I usually can’t smell perfume (or anything else), I don’t buy it; however, my sense of smell has been with me lately, so I was agreeable to it as a gift.
When reading about this practice later, though, I found out it is not good to sniff something someone else has previously sniffed, for health reasons. In fact, it is recommended that you bring your own bag of coffee beans to sniff when trying out perfumes!
If only it were that easy to cleanse our minds and thoughts from harmful influences we may be exposed to in our everyday lives! In using the coffee beans, the intensity of the perfume is lessened, but a slight fragrance of it remains. No matter how hard we may try to remove unsavory images and words from our mind, there is always a slight impression that remains in our subconscious, only to surface when least expected.
How much better to live in such a way as to be obedient to the words of Ephesians 5:1, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
In that way, we can keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27), and like the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who survived the fiery furnace, our garments will not even have the smell of smoke! Daniel 4:27b says, “…neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” Now that’s a wake-up call!
I had heard of cleansing the palate with bread or water between sips of wine, but I didn’t know about the coffee thing and was as surprised as Howard was. Since I usually can’t smell perfume (or anything else), I don’t buy it; however, my sense of smell has been with me lately, so I was agreeable to it as a gift.
When reading about this practice later, though, I found out it is not good to sniff something someone else has previously sniffed, for health reasons. In fact, it is recommended that you bring your own bag of coffee beans to sniff when trying out perfumes!
If only it were that easy to cleanse our minds and thoughts from harmful influences we may be exposed to in our everyday lives! In using the coffee beans, the intensity of the perfume is lessened, but a slight fragrance of it remains. No matter how hard we may try to remove unsavory images and words from our mind, there is always a slight impression that remains in our subconscious, only to surface when least expected.
How much better to live in such a way as to be obedient to the words of Ephesians 5:1, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
In that way, we can keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27), and like the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who survived the fiery furnace, our garments will not even have the smell of smoke! Daniel 4:27b says, “…neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” Now that’s a wake-up call!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Do Unto Others
How pretty! I thought as I saw the glasses gleaming on the table. That morning, I had been emptying my china cabinet, putting things away for storage. How did I accumulate so much stuff?!! I had already filled several boxes with china, crystal and glassware.
Maybe my daughter-in-law would like these, I mused. One less thing to pack. I don’t think I had ever used the gold-rimmed glasses, just admiring them through the glassed doors sitting on the shelves. I gave them to her, and here they were, sitting on her dinner table sparkling in the light with company for supper. Everything looked so festive, filling me with the warm glow of generosity.
That was last night. Today my warm, fuzzy feelings seemed to evaporate with the morning light. Impatience and frustrations over minor irritations, including a non-responsive computer spoiled my mood and made me short with my husband. We had set out on an errand, and he pulled into the bank at the drive-through window, where I was in no mood to see the chatty teller. I kept silent as he returned her friendly greeting, shrinking back against the car seat to avoid her glance.
This sure is taking a long time, I thought as Howard waited for his deposit slip. Just then I saw the two tellers emerge from their booth and come outside, one bearing a large tray filled with slices of pecan-laden pumpkin bread, Christmas cookies, candy and other treats and the other carrying two paper cups of hot cider. I had to smile and put on a gracious face for their unexpected kindness, but I was still nursing my bad temper as we headed to Walmart.
It seemed the atmosphere was unusually festive in the store; even the bell-ringers at the door were more cheerful and jovial than usual. Then a smiling lady I didn’t even recognize hailed me and asked me about my grandchildren. We exchanged small talk, and I remembered who she was just before she pushed her cart away.
Was God trying to shame me out of my childish behavior by letting everyone be so nice to me? Or was He just letting me know that He cared for me? Even my husband became cooperative and dropped off my computer to be fixed; it was ready by this evening. I had been letting my happiness be dependent on what happened to me. Thank you, God, that your joy doesn’t depend on circumstances, but that there is joy in blessing others.
Maybe my daughter-in-law would like these, I mused. One less thing to pack. I don’t think I had ever used the gold-rimmed glasses, just admiring them through the glassed doors sitting on the shelves. I gave them to her, and here they were, sitting on her dinner table sparkling in the light with company for supper. Everything looked so festive, filling me with the warm glow of generosity.
That was last night. Today my warm, fuzzy feelings seemed to evaporate with the morning light. Impatience and frustrations over minor irritations, including a non-responsive computer spoiled my mood and made me short with my husband. We had set out on an errand, and he pulled into the bank at the drive-through window, where I was in no mood to see the chatty teller. I kept silent as he returned her friendly greeting, shrinking back against the car seat to avoid her glance.
This sure is taking a long time, I thought as Howard waited for his deposit slip. Just then I saw the two tellers emerge from their booth and come outside, one bearing a large tray filled with slices of pecan-laden pumpkin bread, Christmas cookies, candy and other treats and the other carrying two paper cups of hot cider. I had to smile and put on a gracious face for their unexpected kindness, but I was still nursing my bad temper as we headed to Walmart.
It seemed the atmosphere was unusually festive in the store; even the bell-ringers at the door were more cheerful and jovial than usual. Then a smiling lady I didn’t even recognize hailed me and asked me about my grandchildren. We exchanged small talk, and I remembered who she was just before she pushed her cart away.
Was God trying to shame me out of my childish behavior by letting everyone be so nice to me? Or was He just letting me know that He cared for me? Even my husband became cooperative and dropped off my computer to be fixed; it was ready by this evening. I had been letting my happiness be dependent on what happened to me. Thank you, God, that your joy doesn’t depend on circumstances, but that there is joy in blessing others.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Hallelujah!
"This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made," the congregation sang joyfully in church last night. Later, when Howard, who was leading the service, asked for testimonies, I shared something I had learned about this song. This was the hymn that Jesus and the disciples sang after the last supper as he was on his way to the cross!
It is from Psalm 118:24, which is part of the Hallel that was sung at Jewish festivals such as the Passover. The Bible says in Matthew 26:30, "And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives." Jesus, as a Jew and a rabbi, would have known the Hallel and and its implications.
Jesus had just presented them with the object lesson of the passover meal, which was traditionally the lamb, unleavened bread, and wine. But in his illustration, Jesus does not mention the lamb. Even though the disciples didn't realize it, this was because Jesus himself was the Lamb. As clearly as possible, Jesus tells them that the wine is His blood of the new testament and the broken bread is His body.
Peter had previously protested that Jesus should not die, and now he swears that he will never deny Christ. It is clear that he cannot accept what is about to happen. But another verse in Psalms 118, says, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head stone of the corner," verse 22. They had all sung the hymn that night but didn't realize it was being fulfilled in their ears.
Even now, as we celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus when he came into the world, many do not know or even acknowledge His birth. Instead, Christmas is almost an orgy of excess and self-indulgence, creating greed and distraction from its real meaning, especially among the young and impressionable, who are fed a diet of ever more ridiculous scenarios from the media "Christmas" presentations.
A history-making, world-changing event on which the calendar of history turns occured some 2,000 years ago when Jesus was born. It was so important that the very hosts of heaven heralded it in blinding brilliance in a celestial event to terrified shepherds who searched until they found the newborn Babe. Wise men who watched the heavens recognized the significance of the star, indicating a King had been born.
Although we don't know the date, it is well-documented that Jesus was born. And although we celebrate His birth, instead, we are asked to remember His death with the Lord's Supper. Because of Him, we can indeed sing, "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!".
It is from Psalm 118:24, which is part of the Hallel that was sung at Jewish festivals such as the Passover. The Bible says in Matthew 26:30, "And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives." Jesus, as a Jew and a rabbi, would have known the Hallel and and its implications.
Jesus had just presented them with the object lesson of the passover meal, which was traditionally the lamb, unleavened bread, and wine. But in his illustration, Jesus does not mention the lamb. Even though the disciples didn't realize it, this was because Jesus himself was the Lamb. As clearly as possible, Jesus tells them that the wine is His blood of the new testament and the broken bread is His body.
Peter had previously protested that Jesus should not die, and now he swears that he will never deny Christ. It is clear that he cannot accept what is about to happen. But another verse in Psalms 118, says, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head stone of the corner," verse 22. They had all sung the hymn that night but didn't realize it was being fulfilled in their ears.
Even now, as we celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus when he came into the world, many do not know or even acknowledge His birth. Instead, Christmas is almost an orgy of excess and self-indulgence, creating greed and distraction from its real meaning, especially among the young and impressionable, who are fed a diet of ever more ridiculous scenarios from the media "Christmas" presentations.
A history-making, world-changing event on which the calendar of history turns occured some 2,000 years ago when Jesus was born. It was so important that the very hosts of heaven heralded it in blinding brilliance in a celestial event to terrified shepherds who searched until they found the newborn Babe. Wise men who watched the heavens recognized the significance of the star, indicating a King had been born.
Although we don't know the date, it is well-documented that Jesus was born. And although we celebrate His birth, instead, we are asked to remember His death with the Lord's Supper. Because of Him, we can indeed sing, "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!".
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
"I Can Live on a Good Compliment for Two Months" --Mark Twain
“At your convenience, could I have a warm-up of my coffee?” Howard asked the waitress as he left the table and headed toward the dessert bar at the buffet where we were having a Sunday lunch.
“Oh yes,” I heard her say, then, “You’re polite!” Then she turned to fill his coffee cup, and said to me, “Your husband is polite!” It seemed she didn’t run into much of that in her everyday restaurant service.
“Yes,” I agreed. “He has good manners.” (I think he makes up for me; unfortunately, everything I say seems to come out rather bluntly!) My husband has always had a pleasing way with people, and it is rewarding to me when they obviously appreciate it. We enjoyed our meal, and the young waitress was kind and solicitous whenever she passed our table.
As we were leaving and I was gathering my coat and gloves, she again remarked to me on Howard’s cordiality. “You are a fortunate wife,” she said, her warm brown eyes sparkling. Just a teenager, maybe she was taking notes on what she might want in a husband someday.
“I know,” I said, “we’ve been married 53 years.” His thoughtfulness and the ways of a true gentleman were part of the reason I was attracted to him in the first place, not to mention his love for the Lord.
“Fifty-three years!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Why, you look in your early fifties yourself! I would never have guessed that!” When I protested, she said, “Well, maybe in your mid-fifties.” This was a girl after my own heart! I enjoyed her reaction when I told her my age, and then I added, “We have 6 children and 18 grandchildren!” forgetting to mention that we are also great-grandparents now.
“You must have a happy life!” she concluded. I told her that indeed, I do. After this many years, the rough spots and difficult times have softened in memory to inconsequential ripples on the (mostly) smooth seas of matrimony. We are very thankful for the Lord’s blessings on our life together and give Him the glory. I’m still working on patience and my abruptness, but I doubt I’ll ever have the charm of my spouse. After all, if we were just alike, one of us would be unnecessary!
“Oh yes,” I heard her say, then, “You’re polite!” Then she turned to fill his coffee cup, and said to me, “Your husband is polite!” It seemed she didn’t run into much of that in her everyday restaurant service.
“Yes,” I agreed. “He has good manners.” (I think he makes up for me; unfortunately, everything I say seems to come out rather bluntly!) My husband has always had a pleasing way with people, and it is rewarding to me when they obviously appreciate it. We enjoyed our meal, and the young waitress was kind and solicitous whenever she passed our table.
As we were leaving and I was gathering my coat and gloves, she again remarked to me on Howard’s cordiality. “You are a fortunate wife,” she said, her warm brown eyes sparkling. Just a teenager, maybe she was taking notes on what she might want in a husband someday.
“I know,” I said, “we’ve been married 53 years.” His thoughtfulness and the ways of a true gentleman were part of the reason I was attracted to him in the first place, not to mention his love for the Lord.
“Fifty-three years!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Why, you look in your early fifties yourself! I would never have guessed that!” When I protested, she said, “Well, maybe in your mid-fifties.” This was a girl after my own heart! I enjoyed her reaction when I told her my age, and then I added, “We have 6 children and 18 grandchildren!” forgetting to mention that we are also great-grandparents now.
“You must have a happy life!” she concluded. I told her that indeed, I do. After this many years, the rough spots and difficult times have softened in memory to inconsequential ripples on the (mostly) smooth seas of matrimony. We are very thankful for the Lord’s blessings on our life together and give Him the glory. I’m still working on patience and my abruptness, but I doubt I’ll ever have the charm of my spouse. After all, if we were just alike, one of us would be unnecessary!
The Rest of God
“There is something about winter that is peaceful,” I observed to my husband as we drove through the countryside on our way home from church Sunday. The muted greys and browns of fields and pastures were oddly restful, the stark trunks and branches of trees a black silhouette, contrasting against the drab sky. It was as if God were giving us a respite from the bright greens and glaring sun of summer, the riot of colors in spring, and even the recent jewel-toned woods of fall. A time of reflection after the distractions and activities of the warmer months.
Last night in our Bible study the focus centered on the rest God gives to His people as taught in Hebrews 4. The consensus seemed to be that it means “resting in complete faith and confidence in God.” For instance, in the previous verses, the Bible speaks of how the Israelites failed to enter into the promised land, or their rest, because of their unbelief.
Verses 3-4 of Hebrews 4 says, “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works.”
God says that all the works were finished from the foundation of the world (just as it says Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world). Verse 5 refers to entering into His rest, and the next verse reminds us that the children of Israel did not enter the Promised Land (rest) because of unbelief. Verse 10 concludes, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
In other words, since God has already finished His works, including providing all the benefits of Jesus going to the cross-- salvation, healing, wholeness--we are to cease trusting in our works, and rely completely upon Him! For, as it says in Hebrews 4:2, the Word which was preached to the Israelites did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith! They did not enter into his rest because of a lack of faith.
God is timeless. It is always today with Him. He says in verse 7, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” How wonderful to rest from our labors and rest in complete confidence that God has already done all the works since the foundation of the world! Our only labor is to enter with faith into that rest!
Last night in our Bible study the focus centered on the rest God gives to His people as taught in Hebrews 4. The consensus seemed to be that it means “resting in complete faith and confidence in God.” For instance, in the previous verses, the Bible speaks of how the Israelites failed to enter into the promised land, or their rest, because of their unbelief.
Verses 3-4 of Hebrews 4 says, “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works.”
God says that all the works were finished from the foundation of the world (just as it says Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world). Verse 5 refers to entering into His rest, and the next verse reminds us that the children of Israel did not enter the Promised Land (rest) because of unbelief. Verse 10 concludes, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
In other words, since God has already finished His works, including providing all the benefits of Jesus going to the cross-- salvation, healing, wholeness--we are to cease trusting in our works, and rely completely upon Him! For, as it says in Hebrews 4:2, the Word which was preached to the Israelites did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith! They did not enter into his rest because of a lack of faith.
God is timeless. It is always today with Him. He says in verse 7, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” How wonderful to rest from our labors and rest in complete confidence that God has already done all the works since the foundation of the world! Our only labor is to enter with faith into that rest!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Cat Burglar!
“Howard, what was that?” I exclaimed as I was startled from the edge of sleep. “I heard a door creak open!” I shook him with a harsh whisper. We listened for a moment and thought maybe it was the cat or dog coming in the cat door from outside. “Did you leave our door open?” I wondered as he got up stealthily.
He said he had closed the door. Well, it must not have been too firmly, because after we had lain back down, something plopped on the bed. The cat! It had pushed the door open and had been hiding under the bed!
Now this morning I awake to loud mewing and scratching on the other side of the door as he attempts to enter. That is the most persistent cat! He is my granddaughter’s beloved pet, but I am not much of a cat person. Still, I am the one he seems to want to glue himself to since we came to live with them.
A couple of nights ago he burst from our bedroom closet, which has two folding doors. The curious thing about the closet is that it is also accessible from the hall. “Was the hall closet door left open?” I demanded of my husband, yet knowing that if there is the slightest crack, an eager paw can force a feline entry through a folding door.
It is not a difficult task for “Sunshine” to push against the folds from the inside, but this morning when I was in the bathroom, I found he can also niggle a tiny crack into a paw-size opening from the other side of the door. Then, wedging his considerable Garfield-weight against it, he is in.
He reminds me of a cat, Gatsby, we used to have that would stalk outside our bedroom door in the morning meowing, “Howwaard, Theowlmaa,” until we put him outside. I’m sure it won’t be long until this one learns our names, too!
During our Gatsby days, I would often see our cat staring intently for long minutes at the base of a big tree near our deck. I later realized that a cat’s eyes are like vertical slits that can see upward without their ever moving their head. Gatsby was watching a bird, who would eventually hop to the ground for a speck of food it had spotted. Then the unwary bird would become cat food.
The Bible warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant’ because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” I Peter 5:8. A lion is just a big cat!
He said he had closed the door. Well, it must not have been too firmly, because after we had lain back down, something plopped on the bed. The cat! It had pushed the door open and had been hiding under the bed!
Now this morning I awake to loud mewing and scratching on the other side of the door as he attempts to enter. That is the most persistent cat! He is my granddaughter’s beloved pet, but I am not much of a cat person. Still, I am the one he seems to want to glue himself to since we came to live with them.
A couple of nights ago he burst from our bedroom closet, which has two folding doors. The curious thing about the closet is that it is also accessible from the hall. “Was the hall closet door left open?” I demanded of my husband, yet knowing that if there is the slightest crack, an eager paw can force a feline entry through a folding door.
It is not a difficult task for “Sunshine” to push against the folds from the inside, but this morning when I was in the bathroom, I found he can also niggle a tiny crack into a paw-size opening from the other side of the door. Then, wedging his considerable Garfield-weight against it, he is in.
He reminds me of a cat, Gatsby, we used to have that would stalk outside our bedroom door in the morning meowing, “Howwaard, Theowlmaa,” until we put him outside. I’m sure it won’t be long until this one learns our names, too!
During our Gatsby days, I would often see our cat staring intently for long minutes at the base of a big tree near our deck. I later realized that a cat’s eyes are like vertical slits that can see upward without their ever moving their head. Gatsby was watching a bird, who would eventually hop to the ground for a speck of food it had spotted. Then the unwary bird would become cat food.
The Bible warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant’ because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” I Peter 5:8. A lion is just a big cat!
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