"Please identify any items you left behind at Thanksgiving," the e-mail from our son who had hosted the family last week, read. Well, I didn't leave anything, I thought smugly as I pulled up the photo captioned, "Thanksgiving Lost and Found". Our detail-oriented offspring (he calls it OCD) had everything neatly arranged and evenly spread out on a black background for our convenience and/or surprise.
I recognized a striped hoodie shirt I had seen on my grandson, and a game cube his brother had been playing with non-stop. Other items--headbands, doll blanket, and small slippers could only have been left by the two little girls in our party. There were also a couple of pair of glasses--sunglasses and reading glasses--but they weren't mine. Then my eyes fell on a coiled, black item that looked familiar. My belt! The patent leather-looking one with the pretty square buckle! I hadn't even missed it!
What I had missed while I was there was a belt for a sweater I had brought. Getting dressed to go out, I reached for a coiled length of black grosgrain and put it around my waist, ready to close the buckle fastener, when I looked down to see I had a guitar strap in my hand! How could this happen? I distinctly remembered seeing my belt on my bed and putting it into the suitcase! I must have gotten the look-alike (except for a loop to go around the neck) strap by mistake! So I had to improvise with the belt I now see in the e-mail photo!
Another surprise we had on our adventure was when Jamie, the chef, pulled a show-stopper at dinner. He had placed all the beautiful side dishes on the Thanksgiving table, and set the nicely-done turkey in the center. "I never have figured out how to carve these things," he said as he held the knife poised over the breast of the tantalizing centerpiece. Then, to our amazement, he sliced completely through it crossways, slice after luscious slice, revealing the stuffing underneath.
"How did he do that?" someone gasped. Then I remembered seeing him debone the turkey that morning, leaving only wings and drumsticks intact. It had the desired effect of surprise on the guests.
We were surprised again when Grandma's voice emanated from the tape recorder he had set down in the middle of a game that night. What a poignant and sentimental experience that was as she told old family stories that had us laughing and crying at the same time.
Surprises may be delightful or alarming, but there is no reason for us to be surprised about our eternal destiny. If we have put on the full armor of God, including the helmet of salvation and the belt of Truth, we will not be left behind; we will be reunited with our saved loved ones at a beautiful supper in heaven, where we will all be wearing our wedding garment, without spot or wrinkle or wardrobe malfunction!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Voices
"USE YOUR OUTSIDE VOICE," the billboard read as we traveled along the interstate highway on our way home from Texas. Clever, I thought, (even though I wished the kiddos traveling with us would use their inside voices). By appealing to advertisers to take advantage of the millions of people passing daily or weekly and reading a commercial message, the billboard offered a unique avenue of communication.
Use your outside voice. Isn't that what John the Baptist did in the days before modern communication? In his raiment of camel's hair, the rugged outdoorsman announced himself as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight," Matthew 3:3. In verse 2, he preached, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus had grown up by then and was ready to accomplish His mission. But when He was born, thirty years earlier, the angels had heralded his birth with their "outside voices" to shepherds on a Judean hillside. We know it as the Christmas story as recorded in Luke 2:1-20. First, the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and to reassure them in their fright, said, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Then he told them of Jesus' birth in the city of David and gave them the sign of finding the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." You can be sure they were using their outside voices!
Several times during Jesus' ministry, God affirmed His Son in His outside voice: First, when Jesus came up from baptism, God spoke from a cloud saying, "Thou art my beloved son; in thee I am well pleased." And again on the Mount of Transfiguration, God re-emphasized in His outside voice, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him," Matthew 17:5.
Jesus used his outside voice when He stilled the waters, cast out demons, called forth Lazarus, and countless other times. Sometimes he magnified his voice by using the natural amplification of the lakes and mountains when he taught. Finally, He used his outside voice when he cried out from the cross, saying, "It is finished," completing the work of our salvation.
Once more His outside voice will be heard when, as in I Thessalonians 4:16, it says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." And if we are alive and have heard the shout, the next verse promises, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." One outside Voice you don't want to miss!
Use your outside voice. Isn't that what John the Baptist did in the days before modern communication? In his raiment of camel's hair, the rugged outdoorsman announced himself as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight," Matthew 3:3. In verse 2, he preached, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus had grown up by then and was ready to accomplish His mission. But when He was born, thirty years earlier, the angels had heralded his birth with their "outside voices" to shepherds on a Judean hillside. We know it as the Christmas story as recorded in Luke 2:1-20. First, the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and to reassure them in their fright, said, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Then he told them of Jesus' birth in the city of David and gave them the sign of finding the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." You can be sure they were using their outside voices!
Several times during Jesus' ministry, God affirmed His Son in His outside voice: First, when Jesus came up from baptism, God spoke from a cloud saying, "Thou art my beloved son; in thee I am well pleased." And again on the Mount of Transfiguration, God re-emphasized in His outside voice, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him," Matthew 17:5.
Jesus used his outside voice when He stilled the waters, cast out demons, called forth Lazarus, and countless other times. Sometimes he magnified his voice by using the natural amplification of the lakes and mountains when he taught. Finally, He used his outside voice when he cried out from the cross, saying, "It is finished," completing the work of our salvation.
Once more His outside voice will be heard when, as in I Thessalonians 4:16, it says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." And if we are alive and have heard the shout, the next verse promises, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." One outside Voice you don't want to miss!
Blast from the Past
What a slice of history we were experiencing! In the middle of a family huddle of conversation and laughter over the dining table at our son, Jamie's, house, I was suddenly aware of my own voice coming from a tape recorder. "When did you record that?" I asked in surprise. Then I realized I was hearing a tape made some 20 years ago by our then highschool son when we were on a trip to "Grandma's".
"Grandma", my mother, was being interviewed for posterity by Jamie, her sixteen-year-old grandson. And here was posterity giving rapt attention to her colorful tales told in her dear, familiar voice, unheard for the past 15 years. "These are folk tales!" her great-grandson, Grant, exclaimed in delight. Grant doesn't remember much about my mother, having seen her only a few times in his young life; she passed away when he was only seven.
A natural story-teller, Mama had us holding our sides in laughter as she recounted outlandish adventures she recalled from the "hard times" of the 1940s. I was familiar with these stories, and I could hear myself faintly in the background jogging her 82-year-old memory, or reminding her to speak into the mic. (When her voice grew faint, it was because she had put the microphone to her ear like a telephone.) Then, enjoying the blunder as much as anyone, she laughed at herself, her voice pealing out in delight to us across the airwaves and across the years.
Mama's stories were kind of like the Bible, telling the unvarnished truth in un-sugar-coated realism of their desperate hard times that called for desperate measures. Yet when told from her distant vantage point, any embarrassment or disgrace dissolved in the hilarity and novelty of the situations, especially to the ears of her hearers.
This bridge to the past, a lesson in perseverance to her descendants, only makes us appreciate more the goodness of God, who brought our family through to stability and a measure of prosperity when faith in Him became the cornerstone of our lives. Thank you, Mama, for helping us to remember.
"Grandma", my mother, was being interviewed for posterity by Jamie, her sixteen-year-old grandson. And here was posterity giving rapt attention to her colorful tales told in her dear, familiar voice, unheard for the past 15 years. "These are folk tales!" her great-grandson, Grant, exclaimed in delight. Grant doesn't remember much about my mother, having seen her only a few times in his young life; she passed away when he was only seven.
A natural story-teller, Mama had us holding our sides in laughter as she recounted outlandish adventures she recalled from the "hard times" of the 1940s. I was familiar with these stories, and I could hear myself faintly in the background jogging her 82-year-old memory, or reminding her to speak into the mic. (When her voice grew faint, it was because she had put the microphone to her ear like a telephone.) Then, enjoying the blunder as much as anyone, she laughed at herself, her voice pealing out in delight to us across the airwaves and across the years.
Mama's stories were kind of like the Bible, telling the unvarnished truth in un-sugar-coated realism of their desperate hard times that called for desperate measures. Yet when told from her distant vantage point, any embarrassment or disgrace dissolved in the hilarity and novelty of the situations, especially to the ears of her hearers.
This bridge to the past, a lesson in perseverance to her descendants, only makes us appreciate more the goodness of God, who brought our family through to stability and a measure of prosperity when faith in Him became the cornerstone of our lives. Thank you, Mama, for helping us to remember.
Monday, November 28, 2011
I'd Know You Anywhere!
“Allison?” the stranger said questioningly, looking intently at my 19-year-old granddaughter. We had just entered Houston’s biggest and most famous shopping mall, the Galleria, during our Thanksgiving trip from Oklahoma. “Is that you?”
“Yes. Hi!” Allison said. With a brief how have you been, the moment was past. In answer to my puzzled look, she offered, “That was someone I used to know in Louisiana.”
In Louisiana? Wow! They had moved from there six years ago! And imagine the odds that the first person we ran into in the crowded mall was someone she knew!
It reminded me of the time we were in Houston at Ikea, and we bumped into a former church member from Mississippi. She now lived near Houston, an area of some 3 million people, and we were living in Oklahoma. Amazing! Or the time we lived in New Orleans and had taken a vacation to the Smoky Mountains. We stopped at a convenience store in Birmingham and found ourselves parked beside our next-door neighbors from home!
It is startling and usually a happy surprise when you run into someone like this. We had stopped at the Welcome Center in Texas as we came from Oklahoma last week with our son and family. We noticed a couple playing with a darling puppy on the grass in front of the building and walked over to admire it. As the children petted the pudgy little charmer, my husband engaged the man in conversation. Turns out he drives a truck which delivers to a company where a friend of ours works. He knew him well!
I Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.”
We have instant access to so much information today, thanks to the internet, but that is nothing compared to the full knowledge we will have in Heaven. And although we can reconnect with people from nearly every stage in our lives via Facebook, imagine the joy of seeing so many in Glory face-to-face! Some may even be a surprise to you (and you to them)!
“Yes. Hi!” Allison said. With a brief how have you been, the moment was past. In answer to my puzzled look, she offered, “That was someone I used to know in Louisiana.”
In Louisiana? Wow! They had moved from there six years ago! And imagine the odds that the first person we ran into in the crowded mall was someone she knew!
It reminded me of the time we were in Houston at Ikea, and we bumped into a former church member from Mississippi. She now lived near Houston, an area of some 3 million people, and we were living in Oklahoma. Amazing! Or the time we lived in New Orleans and had taken a vacation to the Smoky Mountains. We stopped at a convenience store in Birmingham and found ourselves parked beside our next-door neighbors from home!
It is startling and usually a happy surprise when you run into someone like this. We had stopped at the Welcome Center in Texas as we came from Oklahoma last week with our son and family. We noticed a couple playing with a darling puppy on the grass in front of the building and walked over to admire it. As the children petted the pudgy little charmer, my husband engaged the man in conversation. Turns out he drives a truck which delivers to a company where a friend of ours works. He knew him well!
I Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.”
We have instant access to so much information today, thanks to the internet, but that is nothing compared to the full knowledge we will have in Heaven. And although we can reconnect with people from nearly every stage in our lives via Facebook, imagine the joy of seeing so many in Glory face-to-face! Some may even be a surprise to you (and you to them)!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Give and It Shall Be Given
"Mama, you said God would bless me if I gave money in the offering, and He did!" My 12-year-old granddaughter exclaimed to her mother. Her uncle had just given his young visiting nieces and nephews money as Christmas gifts. Rachel wasted no time in enjoying this blessing as she shopped at the Galleria later yesterday.
I had to agree with the sentiment myself last night. With my family scattered far and wide, I take advantage of the chance to give them their gifts early if I will be seeing them before Christmas. Not long ago I had seen a gorgeous soup tureen at an amazingly low price at an estate sale, and, against all logic, since I would soon be downsizing and putting things into storage, I bought it. I enjoyed it for a couple of weeks and then the thought occured to me that it would make a wonderful present for my daughter I would see at Thanksgiving.
But what to give to the rest of the family? The wonderful big Scrabble set I had found at a previous sale would be perfect. I liked it a lot, but they had so enjoyed using it on a visit a few weeks ago, I decided to give it to them. And they were thrilled with it, thanking me profusely before loading it into their vehicle to take home to Georgia.
Then yesterday, following through with the activities on our hosts', Jamie and Tammy's, agenda, we browsed through the corridors and stores of the Galleria in Houston. We picked up a couple of items, including a cushy gingerbread man for our grandbaby at a build-your-own teddy bear store, but we really didn't shop.
Later on, we filled a couple of hours at a bookstore until dark when we could take a tour of seeing Christmas lights with the family. I had covered the entire store twice, and had bought nothing but a birthday card. Several books and displays were interesting, but nothing called out "buy me".
Just as I was headed to the exit to join the others, my son, Trevor, called out to me. "Mom! Did you see that giant Scrabble board back there?" No, I hadn't seen it, just the regular-looking ones in the games department. But my eyes lit up and I asked where, exactly. He pointed me in the direction, and I found a huge, deluxe edition with inch-high letters in an attractive carrying case displaying a colorful game board. I loved it! It looked expensive, though!
"The sign says 50% off," I said to the clerk. "Does that include these?" I asked her.
"Yes, it was supposed to be just for the smaller games, but we decided to include this, too. But just for today," she emphasized. Well, it was Black Friday, after all. My heart leapt at the possibility of getting the beautiful set. I asked if I could take it to show my husband, and she offered to carry it up front when I remarked how heavy it was.
"Are you buying that?" my son asked, wide-eyed, when he saw me following the sales clerk. I told him I wanted to see if Howard would buy it for me, and he said, "I'll buy it for you!" I protested, but he was adamant. How sweet to buy me such a wonderful gift! I thought.
When we got back to Jamie's house, everyone exclaimed over the handsome board, and my husband and our son, Mark, joined Trevor and me for a game. What fun we had and what a pleasure to whirl the effortless turntable and admire the beautiful "Giant Edition" with its walnut frame. Was God blessing me for unselfishly giving away my other treasured set? I believe He was!
I had to agree with the sentiment myself last night. With my family scattered far and wide, I take advantage of the chance to give them their gifts early if I will be seeing them before Christmas. Not long ago I had seen a gorgeous soup tureen at an amazingly low price at an estate sale, and, against all logic, since I would soon be downsizing and putting things into storage, I bought it. I enjoyed it for a couple of weeks and then the thought occured to me that it would make a wonderful present for my daughter I would see at Thanksgiving.
But what to give to the rest of the family? The wonderful big Scrabble set I had found at a previous sale would be perfect. I liked it a lot, but they had so enjoyed using it on a visit a few weeks ago, I decided to give it to them. And they were thrilled with it, thanking me profusely before loading it into their vehicle to take home to Georgia.
Then yesterday, following through with the activities on our hosts', Jamie and Tammy's, agenda, we browsed through the corridors and stores of the Galleria in Houston. We picked up a couple of items, including a cushy gingerbread man for our grandbaby at a build-your-own teddy bear store, but we really didn't shop.
Later on, we filled a couple of hours at a bookstore until dark when we could take a tour of seeing Christmas lights with the family. I had covered the entire store twice, and had bought nothing but a birthday card. Several books and displays were interesting, but nothing called out "buy me".
Just as I was headed to the exit to join the others, my son, Trevor, called out to me. "Mom! Did you see that giant Scrabble board back there?" No, I hadn't seen it, just the regular-looking ones in the games department. But my eyes lit up and I asked where, exactly. He pointed me in the direction, and I found a huge, deluxe edition with inch-high letters in an attractive carrying case displaying a colorful game board. I loved it! It looked expensive, though!
"The sign says 50% off," I said to the clerk. "Does that include these?" I asked her.
"Yes, it was supposed to be just for the smaller games, but we decided to include this, too. But just for today," she emphasized. Well, it was Black Friday, after all. My heart leapt at the possibility of getting the beautiful set. I asked if I could take it to show my husband, and she offered to carry it up front when I remarked how heavy it was.
"Are you buying that?" my son asked, wide-eyed, when he saw me following the sales clerk. I told him I wanted to see if Howard would buy it for me, and he said, "I'll buy it for you!" I protested, but he was adamant. How sweet to buy me such a wonderful gift! I thought.
When we got back to Jamie's house, everyone exclaimed over the handsome board, and my husband and our son, Mark, joined Trevor and me for a game. What fun we had and what a pleasure to whirl the effortless turntable and admire the beautiful "Giant Edition" with its walnut frame. Was God blessing me for unselfishly giving away my other treasured set? I believe He was!
Friday, November 25, 2011
In His Image
Oh,no! Anne-Marie got hurt! I thought, as I saw my 5-year-old granddaughter wailing, face red and tears pouring, in the wagon with the other small children. Someone rushed and picked her up, but she was inconsolable. They carried her to where we were sitting at a picnic table, and she was still boo-hooing.
"What happened?" I questioned. "Is she hurt?"
"No. Maddie told her she didn't like her." What? Her two-year-old sister hurt her feelings? Anne-Marie was nodding to my question under tear-soaked lashes.
The wagon was pulled up, and the crest-fallen, red-haired culprit climbed out. She looked up at her big sister and said, with some prodding, "I sow-wy."
"Now tell her you love her," she was instructed, to which Maddie said softly, "I wuv you." Then they hugged in a sisterly embrace and the sun came out again. The clouds were rolled away as quickly as the storm had arisen.
New, visiting playmates were present on this Thanksgiving afternoon, and Maddie had temporarily transferred her loyalties to them in some small infraction in the crowded wagon, I suppose, and offended her sensitive sister.
Later, when I told their mother what had happened, Tammy remarked on Anne-Marie's tender nature. "I never have to scold her," she said. "Just a word of correction or a look is all it takes. If I do more, she crumples into tears." We laughed about the difference in the little girls.
Maddie's personality, at this stage anyway, seems robust and tough in comparison to the little sunbeam that is her sister. A serious baby frown often creases her two-year-old brow as she seems to hold the world at a distance until she is good and ready to invite you into her good graces (which is always worth the wait).
God makes us all unique, with our special gifts. That is no doubt one reason the Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go. Watching children develop and observing their traits is like opening a present, discovering something new and different, though no less valuable, in every one. God is a God of infinite variety and newness. My husband is fond of saying, "They made one like (her or him) and quit," to which I say, "Who? No one is like the other!" Rather, He made each one, then broke the mold! And thank God, He did!
"What happened?" I questioned. "Is she hurt?"
"No. Maddie told her she didn't like her." What? Her two-year-old sister hurt her feelings? Anne-Marie was nodding to my question under tear-soaked lashes.
The wagon was pulled up, and the crest-fallen, red-haired culprit climbed out. She looked up at her big sister and said, with some prodding, "I sow-wy."
"Now tell her you love her," she was instructed, to which Maddie said softly, "I wuv you." Then they hugged in a sisterly embrace and the sun came out again. The clouds were rolled away as quickly as the storm had arisen.
New, visiting playmates were present on this Thanksgiving afternoon, and Maddie had temporarily transferred her loyalties to them in some small infraction in the crowded wagon, I suppose, and offended her sensitive sister.
Later, when I told their mother what had happened, Tammy remarked on Anne-Marie's tender nature. "I never have to scold her," she said. "Just a word of correction or a look is all it takes. If I do more, she crumples into tears." We laughed about the difference in the little girls.
Maddie's personality, at this stage anyway, seems robust and tough in comparison to the little sunbeam that is her sister. A serious baby frown often creases her two-year-old brow as she seems to hold the world at a distance until she is good and ready to invite you into her good graces (which is always worth the wait).
God makes us all unique, with our special gifts. That is no doubt one reason the Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go. Watching children develop and observing their traits is like opening a present, discovering something new and different, though no less valuable, in every one. God is a God of infinite variety and newness. My husband is fond of saying, "They made one like (her or him) and quit," to which I say, "Who? No one is like the other!" Rather, He made each one, then broke the mold! And thank God, He did!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Give Thanks
“Did you get the CD on ‘The Blessing’ that I sent you?” Howard asked our daughter, Amy, who had joined us at our Thanksgiving reunion yesterday.
“Yes! I love it!” Amy responded enthusiastically. We had gotten a teaching on the Numbers 6 Blessing, or the Aaronic Blessing, as recorded in the biblical book of Numbers, Chapter 6. Howard had sent a copy of the CD to our two daughters and had been sharing the concept with almost everyone he talks to and incorporating it into his sermons.
“I’ve been praying it over my patients!” Amy exclaimed, to her father’s delight.
“You have?” he remarked in surprise. “What do they say?”
“They love it!” she said. Then she explained to family who overheard the conversation that she is the Director of Out Patient Surgery at the hospital where she works in Georgia. “I especially pray it over those who are nervous about their surgery. Sometimes they are upset and crying, and they are very receptive!”
She went on, “One lady said, ‘You’re Methodist, aren’t you?’ ‘No,’ I said. ‘Baptist?’ ‘No, I’m Church of God,’ I told her. ‘Then lay hands on me again!’ she insisted!”
“I’m always praying it over my children, too,” Amy emphasized. “I believe in it!”
The scripture says, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace,” Numbers 6:23-26.
I can’t think of a better blessing to pronounce at our Thanksgiving table, and I’m sure my husband, the patriarch of the 26 of our clan gathered today, plus a couple of others joining us, will be called upon to pray it!
“Yes! I love it!” Amy responded enthusiastically. We had gotten a teaching on the Numbers 6 Blessing, or the Aaronic Blessing, as recorded in the biblical book of Numbers, Chapter 6. Howard had sent a copy of the CD to our two daughters and had been sharing the concept with almost everyone he talks to and incorporating it into his sermons.
“I’ve been praying it over my patients!” Amy exclaimed, to her father’s delight.
“You have?” he remarked in surprise. “What do they say?”
“They love it!” she said. Then she explained to family who overheard the conversation that she is the Director of Out Patient Surgery at the hospital where she works in Georgia. “I especially pray it over those who are nervous about their surgery. Sometimes they are upset and crying, and they are very receptive!”
She went on, “One lady said, ‘You’re Methodist, aren’t you?’ ‘No,’ I said. ‘Baptist?’ ‘No, I’m Church of God,’ I told her. ‘Then lay hands on me again!’ she insisted!”
“I’m always praying it over my children, too,” Amy emphasized. “I believe in it!”
The scripture says, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace,” Numbers 6:23-26.
I can’t think of a better blessing to pronounce at our Thanksgiving table, and I’m sure my husband, the patriarch of the 26 of our clan gathered today, plus a couple of others joining us, will be called upon to pray it!
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