"Oh, look!" I said as we went into our town's premier supermarket yesterday, "They have tulips!" Actually, they had all kinds of flowers at the entry and in their floral department. Heart-shaped balloons floated above potted plants of azaleas, tulips and other gorgeous arrangements in a sea of color. It was Valentine time!
Men, young and old, were streaming out of the store with bouquets, boxes of chocolates and cards. I had to smile at their serious, stolid expressions, as if they were here on an unaccustomed mission they dare not ignore.
"I would like some of those tulips," I suggested to Howard. He said okay, but he had planned to get me some chocolates. "I would rather have the flowers," I said. After he put them in the basket, I remembered once I had received a pot of red tulips with balloons for Secretary's Day when I worked as our office secretary at church. They were so pretty and seemed to light up the house.
"A balloon would be nice, too!" I prompted my husband. I guess he had already considered that, because he said they were expensive here. "Well, there's the dollar store," I said. He told me they were out when he was there yesterday, but I felt sure they would have some. On pulling up in front of the store, I saw a woman coming out with a beautiful, inflated red heart floating by a ribbon grasped in her hand.
"See, she has a Valentine balloon; they must have them," I pointed out. He wanted me to go in with him, but I said, "I'm not going to pick out my own balloon!" Then as he trudged toward the store, I called mercilessly, "A red heart! Two of them!"
My dear husband has a penchant for getting something different than what he is sent for. I am nearly always surprised at what he comes up with. But when I saw him emerging from the store with a bright red balloon, I was relieved, even though the other one was a black-and-white zebra stripe, like the stripes on the pajamas I'd gotten a teen granddaughter for Christmas!
"Those are so pretty," I told him, "But what's with the stripes?" He said he thought I would like them. I tied the balloons to the flower pot when we got home, then I gasped in amazement when I noticed that the red balloon wasn't a heart at all, but a giant red star! Stars and stripes! How funny! Well, since I didn't notice it at first, I guess he didn't, either.
Lest I create a wrong impression, my husband is very generous, especially when he is reminded. I did just have a salon visit, and he's taking me to the church Valentine banquet where I'll be wearing a new outfit. Men are men, and thank God for them! But they are comical sometimes, as evidenced by a snapshot my son took at 7:45 this morning and shared on Facebook. A half-dozen or more guys were clustered in front of a greeting card rack, all with heads down as if praying, contemplating that all-important card. Today is Valentines Day, and I guess he had just thought of it, himself!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Rose by any other Name...
"Oh, I forgot my Bible!" I said as we drove off from the Bible study. Actually, it wasn't even my Bible, but the one I picked up at home because of its convenient size and the fact that it had index tabs on every book. (Not that I needed the tabs, but they might be handy, and I didn't see my own favorite Bible just then.)
"I'm so embarrassed I left it," I went on. Well, it was embossed in gold letters with someone else's name, because Howard had bought it at a garage sale! This group was very serious in their conscientious study and note-taking and might wonder why that name was on my Bible! I have never been a good note-taker, so I rarely take notes, but I didn't want to further reinforce an appearance of carelessness.
When we returned to our hosts' house for this week's session, the first thing I saw was the Bible lying right where I left it. "Oh, is that your Bible?" someone asked. I laughed and claimed it. I told them what I had heard Martha Stewart say on a program once about collecting old, monogrammed silverware at antique shops, garage and estate sales. "I just tell people it belonged to my Aunt Mary or Cousin Louise, when they notice the initials," she smiled. (I didn't do that, though.)
A little later, after a time of worship and singing several scripture choruses, I asked my friend, who plays the piano and sings beautifully and leads us, if she arranged the music and scriptures in an original work, or if the songs were established pieces. I complimented her when she said that she did write some of them. When someone else added their appreciative comments of her talents, she said, "Well, my name means a song!" Her name is Carol.
Howard chimed in and said, "I wish we had named our kids biblical names! I think they carry a special significance." (I reminded him that two of ours do have biblical names: Mark and Benjamin. Come to think of it, they are both ministers, but so is our daughter, Julie!)
Someone mentioned how God changed names in the Bible--Abram to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah; Jacob to Israel and Simon to Peter. "God will give you a new name," a man said, to which someone asked, "What is it?" Of course, the answer is that no one knows, as recorded in Revelation 2:17: "...To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
My mother named me for one of her sisters, and I have always felt the name was too old-fashioned. When I tell someone my name, they usually say, "Oh, that was my--mother's, grandmother's, aunt's --name. " I looked up the name recently and found that the modern form for Thelma is Thea! I like that much better! A lady at our new church asked my name the other day, saying she had forgotten it, and impulsively I said, "Thea." (She won't remember it anyway.) But I guess I'll stick with my old name, at least until God gives me a new one!
"I'm so embarrassed I left it," I went on. Well, it was embossed in gold letters with someone else's name, because Howard had bought it at a garage sale! This group was very serious in their conscientious study and note-taking and might wonder why that name was on my Bible! I have never been a good note-taker, so I rarely take notes, but I didn't want to further reinforce an appearance of carelessness.
When we returned to our hosts' house for this week's session, the first thing I saw was the Bible lying right where I left it. "Oh, is that your Bible?" someone asked. I laughed and claimed it. I told them what I had heard Martha Stewart say on a program once about collecting old, monogrammed silverware at antique shops, garage and estate sales. "I just tell people it belonged to my Aunt Mary or Cousin Louise, when they notice the initials," she smiled. (I didn't do that, though.)
A little later, after a time of worship and singing several scripture choruses, I asked my friend, who plays the piano and sings beautifully and leads us, if she arranged the music and scriptures in an original work, or if the songs were established pieces. I complimented her when she said that she did write some of them. When someone else added their appreciative comments of her talents, she said, "Well, my name means a song!" Her name is Carol.
Howard chimed in and said, "I wish we had named our kids biblical names! I think they carry a special significance." (I reminded him that two of ours do have biblical names: Mark and Benjamin. Come to think of it, they are both ministers, but so is our daughter, Julie!)
Someone mentioned how God changed names in the Bible--Abram to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah; Jacob to Israel and Simon to Peter. "God will give you a new name," a man said, to which someone asked, "What is it?" Of course, the answer is that no one knows, as recorded in Revelation 2:17: "...To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
My mother named me for one of her sisters, and I have always felt the name was too old-fashioned. When I tell someone my name, they usually say, "Oh, that was my--mother's, grandmother's, aunt's --name. " I looked up the name recently and found that the modern form for Thelma is Thea! I like that much better! A lady at our new church asked my name the other day, saying she had forgotten it, and impulsively I said, "Thea." (She won't remember it anyway.) But I guess I'll stick with my old name, at least until God gives me a new one!
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
"They're alive! They're alive!" my husband fairly chortled as he came up from the basement. Just the day before he had put out a distress call to our daughter in Tennessee. "I've had a disaster with my worms! I must have done something wrong, I can only see a few!"
Julie had shared with him details of her husband's worm enterprise, and, after perfunctory instructions, Howard had ordered some from a worm farm that were delivered in the mail. So now I have a bin of creepy crawlers beneath my bedroom!
We found out they eat newspapers, potato skins, tea bags, and all manner of table scraps, with a few exceptions like citrus, meat and other things on a taboo list we pulled up on internet. When Howard gets a new hobby, he goes into it with full-force enthusiasm. We were scouring stores for peat moss, their recommended habitat, when gardening season is not even here yet.
Today I accompanied my worm farmer to the basement for the first time since the little wigglers arrived. He had told me how tiny they were (I think he ordered 1,000), but they have obviously grown wildly, with some almost the size of big, red fishing worms. But no, we are not going into the bait business. The idea is to sell the worm castings (products of digestion) as fertilizer. Supposedly, there is a big market for this.
Worms are often thought of as being a bit detestable, and calling someone a worm is a term of contempt. However, in the Bible, God calls Jacob (Israel) a worm: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel," Isaiah 41:14. Israel is called a worm because she is weak and despised, but God promises His help.
The first verse of the hymn, At the Cross, by Isaac Watts, written in 1707, uses the figurative description of a worthless individual as a worm when it says:
"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?"
I remember singing that old-fashioned version in church years ago, but the more modern printings read, "Would He devote that sacred head for a sinner such as I?", or "such a one as I." Evidently, we have grown more "politically correct" in 300 years!
It is ironic that recent scientific research and genetic analysis show there is a similarity between man's make-up and that of the worm! Of course! We have the same creator! Actually, this is said to strike a blow to evolutionists, because the genome, or DNA, of the worm (and other species) has not changed in eons, making it impossible for humans to have evolved from anything! Despite the similarities of our genetic make-up, I'm glad the little creatures living downstairs are not my relatives!
I'm reminded of a poem I wrote when our second son was little:
"What's this? I think, as I remove a box from underneath his bed,
I wonder what's inside as I take off the lid.
"Eek! Wiggly, squiggly, squirmy things! I fling
the box across the room.
"Small boys are easy,
It's just their toys that make me queasy! "
They may be underneath my bedroom, but my husband's "toys" are not underneath my bed!
Julie had shared with him details of her husband's worm enterprise, and, after perfunctory instructions, Howard had ordered some from a worm farm that were delivered in the mail. So now I have a bin of creepy crawlers beneath my bedroom!
We found out they eat newspapers, potato skins, tea bags, and all manner of table scraps, with a few exceptions like citrus, meat and other things on a taboo list we pulled up on internet. When Howard gets a new hobby, he goes into it with full-force enthusiasm. We were scouring stores for peat moss, their recommended habitat, when gardening season is not even here yet.
Today I accompanied my worm farmer to the basement for the first time since the little wigglers arrived. He had told me how tiny they were (I think he ordered 1,000), but they have obviously grown wildly, with some almost the size of big, red fishing worms. But no, we are not going into the bait business. The idea is to sell the worm castings (products of digestion) as fertilizer. Supposedly, there is a big market for this.
Worms are often thought of as being a bit detestable, and calling someone a worm is a term of contempt. However, in the Bible, God calls Jacob (Israel) a worm: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel," Isaiah 41:14. Israel is called a worm because she is weak and despised, but God promises His help.
The first verse of the hymn, At the Cross, by Isaac Watts, written in 1707, uses the figurative description of a worthless individual as a worm when it says:
"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?"
I remember singing that old-fashioned version in church years ago, but the more modern printings read, "Would He devote that sacred head for a sinner such as I?", or "such a one as I." Evidently, we have grown more "politically correct" in 300 years!
It is ironic that recent scientific research and genetic analysis show there is a similarity between man's make-up and that of the worm! Of course! We have the same creator! Actually, this is said to strike a blow to evolutionists, because the genome, or DNA, of the worm (and other species) has not changed in eons, making it impossible for humans to have evolved from anything! Despite the similarities of our genetic make-up, I'm glad the little creatures living downstairs are not my relatives!
I'm reminded of a poem I wrote when our second son was little:
"What's this? I think, as I remove a box from underneath his bed,
I wonder what's inside as I take off the lid.
"Eek! Wiggly, squiggly, squirmy things! I fling
the box across the room.
"Small boys are easy,
It's just their toys that make me queasy! "
They may be underneath my bedroom, but my husband's "toys" are not underneath my bed!
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Heads-Up!
Just as we got into the car to take our son to the airport, his phone rang. "It was the airport," Greg said, "My flight is delayed an hour." Oh well, he said he would just go on and wait the hour. After we had driven about three-quarters of the way, the phone rang again with the news that the flight had been cancelled!
There wouldn't be another flight until 7:00 that night. We had gotten up in time to leave by 7:30 a.m. to be there a couple hours early for his flight! Since he didn't want to hang around the airport all day, we headed back home, but not before getting breakfast at a midway service area. "We drove a long way to have breakfast at McDonald's! " I quipped.
I had plenty of time to put in the roast and make Sunday dinner when we got home. Greg had a nap afterwards and we ran an errand, then it was time to go. I stayed home this time. When Greg called to see if his father had gotten home alright (he had), he said the plane had been delayed another hour! He finally got to his destination about the time we went to bed.
I awoke in the grey dawn the next morning to the muffled sounds of our clock's chimes. Duh, duh, duh duh; duh, duh, duh,duh. Four sets of them. I counted the musical beats for a total of twelve before it sounded the hour. Then there were six bongs. Six o'clock. It's almost as if the clock is giving me a heads-up that it is going to sound the hour, I thought.
I couldn't help but think about the times we live in. Surely no one doubts that these are very momentous days. Every day alarming new developments point to the loss of our freedoms and a change in our country and world. It is apparent to many that the time of Jesus's second coming is drawing near.
Matthew 25 gives the story Jesus told of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. The story is presented in the tradition of wedding ceremonies of that time, in which the bridegroom is coming to take the bride to his home for more festivities after already having had religious ceremonies at her home. No one knows just when he will appear, and the young women grow weary and fall asleep. When the cry goes out at midnight that the groom is coming, five of them find their lamps have gone out and they do not have time to get more oil. The other five go into the wedding feast without them.
Jesus uses this as an illustration of his second coming. Verse 13 says, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." In other verses, Jesus encourages faithfulness when He warns of thinking "...My lord delayeth his coming," Matthew 24:48, and again in Luke 12:45-46, "But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, (46) The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers."
We did not know the flight was going to be delayed. Greg did not take his luggage from the car at home, however. He was ready to go at a moment's notice. Even as he waited at the airport, luggage checked and ticket in hand, there was more delay. The flight did come, however, and he was ready! Our heads-up was given when Jesus said, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke 21:28.
There wouldn't be another flight until 7:00 that night. We had gotten up in time to leave by 7:30 a.m. to be there a couple hours early for his flight! Since he didn't want to hang around the airport all day, we headed back home, but not before getting breakfast at a midway service area. "We drove a long way to have breakfast at McDonald's! " I quipped.
I had plenty of time to put in the roast and make Sunday dinner when we got home. Greg had a nap afterwards and we ran an errand, then it was time to go. I stayed home this time. When Greg called to see if his father had gotten home alright (he had), he said the plane had been delayed another hour! He finally got to his destination about the time we went to bed.
I awoke in the grey dawn the next morning to the muffled sounds of our clock's chimes. Duh, duh, duh duh; duh, duh, duh,duh. Four sets of them. I counted the musical beats for a total of twelve before it sounded the hour. Then there were six bongs. Six o'clock. It's almost as if the clock is giving me a heads-up that it is going to sound the hour, I thought.
I couldn't help but think about the times we live in. Surely no one doubts that these are very momentous days. Every day alarming new developments point to the loss of our freedoms and a change in our country and world. It is apparent to many that the time of Jesus's second coming is drawing near.
Matthew 25 gives the story Jesus told of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. The story is presented in the tradition of wedding ceremonies of that time, in which the bridegroom is coming to take the bride to his home for more festivities after already having had religious ceremonies at her home. No one knows just when he will appear, and the young women grow weary and fall asleep. When the cry goes out at midnight that the groom is coming, five of them find their lamps have gone out and they do not have time to get more oil. The other five go into the wedding feast without them.
Jesus uses this as an illustration of his second coming. Verse 13 says, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." In other verses, Jesus encourages faithfulness when He warns of thinking "...My lord delayeth his coming," Matthew 24:48, and again in Luke 12:45-46, "But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, (46) The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers."
We did not know the flight was going to be delayed. Greg did not take his luggage from the car at home, however. He was ready to go at a moment's notice. Even as he waited at the airport, luggage checked and ticket in hand, there was more delay. The flight did come, however, and he was ready! Our heads-up was given when Jesus said, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke 21:28.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Hook Shot!
I was never much of a sports fan, but after going to one of our 9-year-old granddaughter's basketball games, I was hooked! That game led to another, and another, and another since she was in a tournament. Her team won the play-offs, so I figured I'd get some rest. Not! Another tournament. It seemed her team could do no wrong, with only one loss in their season. I went to the first game of the day yesterday, which they took handily. Alas, they lost the play-off that afternoon by one point!
The little basketball champ took it hard, but that's what games are all about: winning and losing. As I watched the energy-charged activity and fierce competition of the kids on their opposing teams, it reminded me of the battle between good and evil on the earth. As believers try to spread the gospel, they are often thwarted by the enemy. Just as it seemed the ball (the Word of God for these purposes), was about to go into the net, even circling on the hoop, it inexplicably went astray, only to be captured by the opposing team.
Then the battle was on! A member of the opposition dribbled and shot it to one of their players. She fumbled it, recovered, but a believer wrested it from her clutched arms, even wrestling it to the floor. A fellow teammate caught the ball, artfully dodged the flailing, intervening arms, and delivered it to one who scored! A soul had received and accepted the gospel!
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Picture a missionary in a godless place. He has run up against resistance, even encountering a dangerous situation. Somewhere back home a Christian feels the urgency to pray for the missionary, falls to his knees and intercedes on his behalf. Later, it is revealed that his prayer coincided with the exact time of the missionary's need. He had a team player that intercepted the ball and put it through the hoop!
In sports, the participants have to play by rules. Oftentimes, I saw a player get fouled. The referee noticed immediately. God has given the Devil legal rights to this earth (actually, Adam gave it to him when he sinned in the Garden of Eden.) But the Christian has been empowered to stand against the enemy by the presence of the Holy Spirit! He is our divine Coach, Counseler and Comforter, just as the girls' basketball coach advised, corrected them and comforted those who had a bump or scrape!
The little players on our granddaughter's team were ever-vigilant in guarding and blocking the opponents' moves or at the ready with upthrust arms to receive the ball. They darted around almost like guardian angels on duty!
The Bible is full of instruction on supporting our fellow-believers. Moses received help when Aaron and Hur held up his arms in a time of battle (Exodus 17:12). Hebrews 10:24-25 admonishes us, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." Now that is teamwork!
The little basketball champ took it hard, but that's what games are all about: winning and losing. As I watched the energy-charged activity and fierce competition of the kids on their opposing teams, it reminded me of the battle between good and evil on the earth. As believers try to spread the gospel, they are often thwarted by the enemy. Just as it seemed the ball (the Word of God for these purposes), was about to go into the net, even circling on the hoop, it inexplicably went astray, only to be captured by the opposing team.
Then the battle was on! A member of the opposition dribbled and shot it to one of their players. She fumbled it, recovered, but a believer wrested it from her clutched arms, even wrestling it to the floor. A fellow teammate caught the ball, artfully dodged the flailing, intervening arms, and delivered it to one who scored! A soul had received and accepted the gospel!
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Picture a missionary in a godless place. He has run up against resistance, even encountering a dangerous situation. Somewhere back home a Christian feels the urgency to pray for the missionary, falls to his knees and intercedes on his behalf. Later, it is revealed that his prayer coincided with the exact time of the missionary's need. He had a team player that intercepted the ball and put it through the hoop!
In sports, the participants have to play by rules. Oftentimes, I saw a player get fouled. The referee noticed immediately. God has given the Devil legal rights to this earth (actually, Adam gave it to him when he sinned in the Garden of Eden.) But the Christian has been empowered to stand against the enemy by the presence of the Holy Spirit! He is our divine Coach, Counseler and Comforter, just as the girls' basketball coach advised, corrected them and comforted those who had a bump or scrape!
The little players on our granddaughter's team were ever-vigilant in guarding and blocking the opponents' moves or at the ready with upthrust arms to receive the ball. They darted around almost like guardian angels on duty!
The Bible is full of instruction on supporting our fellow-believers. Moses received help when Aaron and Hur held up his arms in a time of battle (Exodus 17:12). Hebrews 10:24-25 admonishes us, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." Now that is teamwork!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
With a Grateful Heart
"Where did you get your valentines?" I asked a friend in the church hallway last night. She was carrying a load of large, shiny red hearts, looped over her arm by their white ribbons covered with heart stickers.
"The Missionettes made them for me," she explained, "I take them to the nursing home patients to put on their doorknobs." I took a closer look and saw they were artfully designed with scrapbooking embellishments of small, wooden hearts, cute sayings, and original drawings by the girls.
What a good project, I thought--helping the children to be thoughtful in service and ministry to others, as well as fostering creativity, self-expression and fun!
My friend was just retiring after 23 years of conducting a weekly nursing home service in a local facility. My husband and I had attended the service once and saw the love and dedication she had put into it. She had asked Howard to play the guitar and sing for them that day.
We had just come out of our Wednesday night Bible study on prayer. This was the final session of a four-week series, and tonight's subject was "Thankfulness." Jesus was our pattern for thankfulness, as He was always giving thanks to the Father. He obviously considered gratitude an important quality, for when He healed the 10 lepers and only one returned to thank him, He said in Luke 17:17-18, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger."
There is no doubt God takes ingratitude seriously, for when the Israelites complained of the manna and wanted meat, He sent quail. Then Numbers 11:33 says, "But while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague."
Their complaining and lack of thankfulness, despite the parting of the Red Sea, water coming from a rock, and many other miracles they saw, resulted in their wandering in the wilderness for forty years!
Our lesson made me think about being thankful, even for the little things I take for granted. At breakfast I not only thanked God for the food, but for those who produced it--the chickens that laid the eggs, the cows that gave the milk, the farmers who harvested the wheat for my toast and the workers who processed it. I thanked God for our warm house, the electric lights and even Benjamin Franklin!
I know the residents of the nursing home will be thankful for the gifts of the children, who are learning thankfulness themselves, besides the joy of giving!
"The Missionettes made them for me," she explained, "I take them to the nursing home patients to put on their doorknobs." I took a closer look and saw they were artfully designed with scrapbooking embellishments of small, wooden hearts, cute sayings, and original drawings by the girls.
What a good project, I thought--helping the children to be thoughtful in service and ministry to others, as well as fostering creativity, self-expression and fun!
My friend was just retiring after 23 years of conducting a weekly nursing home service in a local facility. My husband and I had attended the service once and saw the love and dedication she had put into it. She had asked Howard to play the guitar and sing for them that day.
We had just come out of our Wednesday night Bible study on prayer. This was the final session of a four-week series, and tonight's subject was "Thankfulness." Jesus was our pattern for thankfulness, as He was always giving thanks to the Father. He obviously considered gratitude an important quality, for when He healed the 10 lepers and only one returned to thank him, He said in Luke 17:17-18, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger."
There is no doubt God takes ingratitude seriously, for when the Israelites complained of the manna and wanted meat, He sent quail. Then Numbers 11:33 says, "But while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague."
Their complaining and lack of thankfulness, despite the parting of the Red Sea, water coming from a rock, and many other miracles they saw, resulted in their wandering in the wilderness for forty years!
Our lesson made me think about being thankful, even for the little things I take for granted. At breakfast I not only thanked God for the food, but for those who produced it--the chickens that laid the eggs, the cows that gave the milk, the farmers who harvested the wheat for my toast and the workers who processed it. I thanked God for our warm house, the electric lights and even Benjamin Franklin!
I know the residents of the nursing home will be thankful for the gifts of the children, who are learning thankfulness themselves, besides the joy of giving!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Guardian Angels
Throughout my childhood, through raising children, and having grandchildren, our bunch has surely kept the guardian angels busy. My daughter tells of a time she was talking on the phone at their rural home in Mississippi, while her little 2-year-old girl played in the next room. As Amy talked, she was vaguely aware of honking horns from the busy road, from which their house sat back some seventy-five feet at the end of a long driveway. "What could be going on?" she wondered, when suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Lady, is this your baby?" a flustered stranger asked, with little Rachel under his arm. "She has been walking along the road in front of your house and cars are stopping to avoid hitting her!" Our daughter was dumbfounded and overcome with relief, realizing what might have been! Apparently our little granddaughter had found the screen door unlocked, pushed it open and went for a stroll, unbeknownst to her mother!
Several years earlier, when my oldest daughter was raising small children, it was her turn to praise God for His protection. They had a cabin on some river-front property they owned, and one day Bethany, about three years old, somehow wandered off without her parents' knowledge. I don't remember if someone brought her home, or our daughter found her. But she was discovered a long way from their cabin where she would have to have pass within inches of a surface-level, unprotected swimming pool and several other camps scattered along the winding, up-hill lane. When noticed, she was running alongside a large dog. There was no doubt that it had kept her from danger. Sometimes it seems God lets animals have wings.
My own parents could testify of many hair-raising experiences with us children, but I remember one incident from when I was about five. (This is not when I was run over by our horses!) Mama and Daddy had gone to town, leaving my teen-age sisters to baby sit the younger children. It was a beautiful summer day, and the girls had put a quilt on the ground for the baby to play on, and we were all sitting around on it in the shade of a big tree, idly plucking little flowers from the grass and talking.
Well, I was mostly listening to their chatter, when I saw our four-year-old brother get up and walk toward Daddy's pickup truck. I can still see him in his little overalls, the strap tied through a button-hole where the fastener was missing, ambling along in his familiar walk. He climbed up in the truck. I thought nothing about it, and I don't know if my older sisters even noticed. A while later, though, Bobby climbed down, and a few minutes after that, we noticed smoke curling up from the cab and out the windows.
They ran for the neighbor's house, and a man came running with a fire extinguisher. But by that time, flames were licking through the windows and smoke was pouring out. It was too late to save the truck. It was a charred ruin by the time Mama and Daddy got home.
Evidently, Bobby found some matches, struck them, and maybe burned his finger, dropping one onto some papers on the seat which caught on fire. He didn't tell us what had happened, we could only surmise. But, Praise God, he got out of the truck in time! Anything could have happened! He might have been unable to open the door in fear and panic (which he showed no sign of, though!).
Our quiet little brother kept mum about the incident, never even acknowledging his part in it. Finally, Daddy bought another truck. When he brought it home, Bobby looked up at it admiringly and said, "Daddy, I'm not gonna burn this one up!" I'm sure Daddy picked him up and held him close, thankful he was safe, but the rest of us teased him about it for a long time. Just another example of God's protection.
"Lady, is this your baby?" a flustered stranger asked, with little Rachel under his arm. "She has been walking along the road in front of your house and cars are stopping to avoid hitting her!" Our daughter was dumbfounded and overcome with relief, realizing what might have been! Apparently our little granddaughter had found the screen door unlocked, pushed it open and went for a stroll, unbeknownst to her mother!
Several years earlier, when my oldest daughter was raising small children, it was her turn to praise God for His protection. They had a cabin on some river-front property they owned, and one day Bethany, about three years old, somehow wandered off without her parents' knowledge. I don't remember if someone brought her home, or our daughter found her. But she was discovered a long way from their cabin where she would have to have pass within inches of a surface-level, unprotected swimming pool and several other camps scattered along the winding, up-hill lane. When noticed, she was running alongside a large dog. There was no doubt that it had kept her from danger. Sometimes it seems God lets animals have wings.
My own parents could testify of many hair-raising experiences with us children, but I remember one incident from when I was about five. (This is not when I was run over by our horses!) Mama and Daddy had gone to town, leaving my teen-age sisters to baby sit the younger children. It was a beautiful summer day, and the girls had put a quilt on the ground for the baby to play on, and we were all sitting around on it in the shade of a big tree, idly plucking little flowers from the grass and talking.
Well, I was mostly listening to their chatter, when I saw our four-year-old brother get up and walk toward Daddy's pickup truck. I can still see him in his little overalls, the strap tied through a button-hole where the fastener was missing, ambling along in his familiar walk. He climbed up in the truck. I thought nothing about it, and I don't know if my older sisters even noticed. A while later, though, Bobby climbed down, and a few minutes after that, we noticed smoke curling up from the cab and out the windows.
They ran for the neighbor's house, and a man came running with a fire extinguisher. But by that time, flames were licking through the windows and smoke was pouring out. It was too late to save the truck. It was a charred ruin by the time Mama and Daddy got home.
Evidently, Bobby found some matches, struck them, and maybe burned his finger, dropping one onto some papers on the seat which caught on fire. He didn't tell us what had happened, we could only surmise. But, Praise God, he got out of the truck in time! Anything could have happened! He might have been unable to open the door in fear and panic (which he showed no sign of, though!).
Our quiet little brother kept mum about the incident, never even acknowledging his part in it. Finally, Daddy bought another truck. When he brought it home, Bobby looked up at it admiringly and said, "Daddy, I'm not gonna burn this one up!" I'm sure Daddy picked him up and held him close, thankful he was safe, but the rest of us teased him about it for a long time. Just another example of God's protection.
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