A Legacy of Beauty

(Most of these words are a re-post from August 2016. This is the original post that the Lord used to spur me on to look at the Legacy of Faith passed down to me.)

Her stories now reside in a bin in my closet. My Grandma Hazel, the Mother of my own Mom, used to point me in the direction of those stories whenever I went to visit her. She knew that after I was finished taking a walk around the farm, I would want to come inside and read her memories of what it was like to grow up and then raise a family in the early part of the 1900's.

 

I loved to look at the photos of her younger self. This is her wedding picture, in 1921, just a few years before the Country entered into one of its worst economic times ever: The Great Depression.  

But instead of coming out of that time with a bitter heart, my Grandma Hazel showed me what it was like to look for beauty in the everyday.  

  

"Let others tell of storms and showers,
I’ll only mark your sunny hours."    

   

I have always loved sundials.  Maybe it's because my Grandma loved that particular sundial quote, and spoke of it in her writings. So I googled "Sun dial mottoes and quotes" and found a list from "Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations"

"True as the needle to the pole,
Or as the dial to the sun."

--Barton Booth—Song.

 

"Give God thy heart, thy service, and thy gold;
The day wears on, and time is waxing old."  

--Sun Dial in the Cloister-garden of Gloucester Cathedral.

 

"If o’er the dial glides a shade, redeem
The time for lo! it passes like a dream;
But if ’tis all a blank, then mark the loss
Of hours unblest by shadows from the cross."
        --On a Sun Dial in a churchyard at Shenstone, England. 

 

As a child I was fascinated that time could actually be marked without a clock! Funny how the childlike brain works sometimes . . . 

And yet, I am making an effort to keep my mind and heart soft, to be more childlike in sensing the wonder of things all around me,

to sense God's hand at work in places where I might have missed Him if my eyes weren't kept seeing.

Should we only mark the sunny hours then?  What if there is a joy to be found in the shadows as well?  What if there is a Blessing to be had when the shadow of the cross marks our days?

I can look back on days when I felt the dark would never end, but it was in the dark-seeing where lessons were learned that sunlight could never have taught me . . .  When the curriculum that we had spent so many hours creating didn't sell, and when the printing business that we had gathered fell apart at the seams, our family was carried by a God who never left us alone. When the relationships were torn asunder, and when the church that we had loved fell apart, our view of God's love was suddenly stretched beyond the easy phrase memorized and spoken by rote.

Even now, when the fatigue or the pain come ready to swallow my nights and steal my rest, the peace that only Jesus brings teaches me to wait upon Him in a stillness that is new to me. 

"Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings."

--Psalm 63:7 

 

So, should we mark only the sunny hours,  
or should we mark the shadow as well?  
Can we take the risk to embrace them both?  
He has a purpose for us in the shade and in the sun. 

One of my Grandma's stories tells about living through The Great Depression, and the hardness that was endured.  She ended with this thought:

"The people who lived then have forgotten about the long days of hard work without modern conveniences. Like the sundial, folks only remember the happy, sunny days of long ago. I also remember the kindness of so many people who made 1930 a time to remember." 

Singing in the shadows, or dancing in the sun, it is the kindness of the heart that opens the way to see God's Beauty in our days. 



This is Week 3 in The Legacy of Faith series here. Within a few weeks I hope to have an updated blogspace to call my home. Can I ask you to pray for me during this transition? Even in these days of pain and weariness, my Jesus would yet teach me more about seeing the beauty of HIS sufficiency.  


I would love to pray for you,
as you also seek to see His beauty.
Leave me a comment below
if there are places where your own heart is aching.

  

This week I am linking up with these great bloggers:

#Glimpses 
#Teaandwordtuesday 
#Sittingamongfriends 
#Tuneinthursday 
#chasingcommunity 

A Legacy of Praying Faith

I tenderly opened the journal, and its pages almost crumbled in my hands. It’s over 100 years old, after all!  And there I saw the handwriting that tells the owner’s name: Mabel Salsbury Dohm, my Father’s Mother.

           

And I cried as I read her opening Scripture:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” 

Revelation 3:20 

For you see, I know a part of her story that makes that verse so very valuable.  But maybe I should back up a little, and explain how I know these things, since Mabel died almost a decade before I was born.

I grew up hearing about Grandma Mabel, and what a Godly woman she was.  She was the second wife of my Dad’s Father, after his first wife died, and she, who was known as a beloved Sunday School Teacher soon found out that a pre-teen stepson was a bigger handful than a room of docile Sunday School children.  My Dad told us that this petite little woman wasn’t afraid to be stern when firmness was required, and she had soon won the affection of her new stepson. 

Not too many years later, and their home was filled with the addition of a new son, my Uncle Murlin, and four years later my Dad was born, the baby of the family.  These were the early 1920’s and modern day medicine was still a long way off. So when my Father contracted polio, the family all huddled together to do anything they could to save his life.  But my Grandma Mabel was a woman of prayer, and she sought God to preserve her son’s life.  A miracle happened on the darkest night, and my Father was fully healed, with only a paralysis of his eye movements!

But the bigger prayer life that consumed my Grandma Mabel was for the Spiritual lives of her sons.  This quote in her journal went deep in my heart as I read it: 

“O Lord, cleanse us! O Lord, keep us! O Lord, accept of our persons and services, through Him who is our ‘strength’ and our ‘Redeemer.’"

 

I am so honored to be sharing the rest of this post over at

Beloved Prodigal

with my good friend, Anna Smit, and the team there.

God is doing an amazing work

as He is calling the prodigals

home to His heart. 

Come join me to read

about the bigger miracles 

that came because of Grandma Mabel's prayers

by clicking here.

And this is Week 2 for The Legacy of Faith series that I am sharing weekly in January. You may subscribe to this blog to get these posts delivered directly to your inbox.

I am linking with:

Barbie Swihart,#Glimpses 
#LMMLinkup 

#Teaandwordtuesday
#Sittingamongfriends
#Tuneinthursday

The 25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 21

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11

 

 The gifts we give each other at Christmas can sometimes feel too little or mis-matched for the persons intended. We put such judgment on our gift-giving, trying to find the perfect present for each person. But when the Wise Men gave their gifts, the most perfect match was made. Gifts that spoke of royalty, Godliness, and even the Savior’s future death, were placed at the Child’s feet . . . 

To finish  reading this post, please join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where my friend Ifeoma Samuel and I 

have prayerfully prepared 

short devotions and activities

for your family.

May these last few days 

before Christmas

be full of blessings for you! 

~~~~~~~~

The #HolyHaiku has only a few

more days left!

 Join my friend Susan Shipe,

@hopehearthome 

over on Instagram 

to see more of this challenge.

 Today's prompt is "Shepherds."

Have you met

the LORD who came that night?

He gave us everything

when He gave His life.

He longs to know

you

and 

me

He wants to meet

us

in 

the

secret place

where love is born.

I am linking with:

#chasingcommunity 

#tuneinthursday 

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 15

“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Matthew 2:6

 

Our Father sent the Angels to announce the birth of HIS true Shepherd, to the humble shepherds in the field that night. It could not have been a coincidence. 

 

God plans every detail of how this world moves—He planned for their knowing and pondering and then rejoicing.

Isn’t it the lowliest among us who often have the clearest view of Heaven?

Jesus himself told us that in order to see Heaven we would need to become as little children. . . . 

To read more of this post, please come join me at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

with my friend Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully 

prepared devotionals and activities

for you and your family during this 

Advent Season.

Be Blessed!

~~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku continues with my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome 

where the prompt yesterday was "Search me O God."
Even though I am a day late, I found myself
compelled to ponder this prayer:

 

In the humblest of days,

In the smallest of journeys,

Christ would come to dwell

in me

and you. 

May we prepare Him room. 

 

I am linking this week with:
#GraceandTruth 
#TuneInThursday 

25 Days of Christmas~Day 7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

 

This child, this tiny baby in the manger, He was given to all of us.
 
What do we see when we look at this small image? 

Do we see the One who will rule the world?

Our memories are stirred when we come to the manger every year. . . .

To read the rest of this post,

come join me at:

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where I am so excited to be sharing with my friend,

Ifeoma Samuel. We have prayerfully prepared

short devotionals and activities

for your family this Season!


~~~~~~

Over on Instagram @HopeHeartHome,

the prompt is "Hope"

for today's #HolyHaiku.

And my heart was set to remember

a surprise sleigh ride that was a gift 

from my husband several years ago.

Into a dark time, his gift 

stirred an even deeper gift

of hope for my heart:

 

My heart is praying for you today,

to be blessed with

HOPE

from the heart of Jesus

and LIGHT 

on the darkest

of days, because

HE IS OUR PEACE. 

I am linking today with:

Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday 

Jaime Wiebel, #SittingAmongFriends 

Citzenship

~~11 years~~

   11 years ago our daughter-in-law from Vietnam began the process to come here as the wife of our son. It took over 5 years and countless trips to the capitol city of Ho Chi Minh, to answer questions and be interviewed about their paperwork, before her Visa was finally approved to come here.  We rejoiced that her Green Card was finally issued then. 

And now 6 years later, she finally passed all of the tests to become a US citizen. Today they went to the courthouse in Chicago for the swearing-in ceremony! And my heart is full to overflowing with Gratitude.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8 NIV







During the years before she was able to come to America, my heart learned about waiting and praying and crying, as our hopes were dashed time and again. But always, the Lord whispered in my heart,


"Don't give up. She will join your family one day. She will make her home there, across the ocean."



And as the days turned into years of waiting, I glimpsed the heart of my Lord in a way I had not seen before. As I waited, I knew that He waits also.



But not for a country on this earth. No, He is waiting for the day that we will join HIM there, in our true home in Heaven.



This earth was never meant to be our final home. There are days we live as if we are tied to these houses and ways and things, forgetting that all of this will pass away. And the Child who came to be with us on that very first Christmas, came to make the way opened for us to someday join Him in our true home. We were created for more than this. 




Heaven is our true home. 
Jesus paid the way
and bought our
redemption
to
make our hearts
washed clean
ready for Heaven's
pure air.
 

 "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"

Philippians 3:20 

We have been blessed with 
families
here on this earth
to paint a picture
for us
of the larger
Family of God
into which
He invites each one.



And for all of you who have had a part in praying for our son and daughter-in-law over those years, YOU have a part in this family's gratefulness today! 

This Christmas Season I am honored to be a part of the writing that Ifeoma Samuel is sharing on her blog
Purposeful and Meaningful 
Please come visit us there, beginning December 1st
for daily short devotionals that will lift our eyes to the beauty of Jesus' coming to earth!

I am linking this week with:

 Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday
Jaime Wiebel, #Sittingamongfriends 

  

A Friend of God

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."

Romans 5:6,11 

If you were in a Church Service within the last 10 years, chances are you have sung the song that is based on this Scripture Passage.  When I first heard the song, I felt a little embarrassed by it, and thought, "Isn't that song a bit arrogant? I mean, how can I stand and just sing those words out loud like that?"  And when I had those thoughts, I realized how often the enemy tries to dupe us into taking a lower standpoint than what God has created for us. 

It's Week 11, and the final week with our friend Jayber.  In case you missed any of the posts in this series, and would like to catch up, I will post an index at the end of today's post.

I am so grateful to Michele Morin at
Living Our Days, 

for the beautiful way that she has opened her site and her heart to lead us in such an enriching study of 

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry.

By the end of this book, it was the 1980's, and the little village of Port William had succumbed to the fate of so many small towns, and dwindled down to a handful of residents. The farms in the area had also suffered the fate of modernization and overzealous attempts to be bigger and better every year. In particular, the farm of the woman that Jayber had secretly loved had been worn to a frazzle as well. 

But there yet remained an untouched patch of forest land, passed down through the generations, called "The Nest Egg," where Jayber often found himself communing with nature, and where I found some of Wendell Berry's finest writing:

 "Above those, the big trees and the vines went up to the crown of foliage at the top. And at all these aboveground stories there was a moving and singing foliage of birds. Everywhere there were dens and holes and hollows and secret nests. When you were there you could be sure that you were being seen, and that you more than likely would not see what was seeing you. Everything there seemed to belong where it was. That was why I went there. And I went to feel the change that that place always made in me. Always, as soon as I came in under the big trees, I began to go slowly and quietly."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (pp. 345-346). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition. 

One afternoon as Jayber was resting there and fell asleep, he awoke to find that Mattie, the woman he secretly loved, was coming up the same wooded path, and the two of them found themselves in a woodland hush of nature. Hardly speaking, never touching, yet they would arrive there at the same time, purely by accident, at least a few times every year. Jayber counted it as a special connection of hearts that could not be shared in any other way.  

We've discussed this uncomfortable side of a "platonic" emotional relationship in the book study, and most of us have concluded that it's a little wierd and not quite "pure" in the fullest sense of the word.  Nevertheless, Jayber was moved to find what real love looks like because of his love for Mattie.

For you see, his chiefest enemy was Mattie's husband. 

But it was not because he had Mattie and Jayber did not, no, it was because Troy, (Mattie's husband,) had no true love and reverence for the woman that Mattie really was.  And this was finally most fully realized on the day that Jayber heard a horrible crashing of machinery in the woods.  

Mattie had been terminally ill for several months, and by word of mouth, Jayber found out that she was in the hospital, probably never to recover.  Mattie's husband had mortgaged the farm to it's fullest amount, but borrowed yet again and again. He had one more option left, and that is what Jayber came upon, as he followed the sound that he had heard:

"It was a painful walk, for I was still hoping to be proved wrong, but every step I took confirmed that I was right. The thickety little strip of bottomland along the lower end of Coulter Branch had been cleared off with a bulldozer, and that was where they were yarding up the logs. Tremendous logs were lying there, side by side. They made me think of beached whales, great living creatures heaved out of their element at last. But all the logs were not big. Troy Chatham had sold every marketable stick, every tree big enough to make two two-by-fours."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (p. 359). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition. 

And Jayber was furious. Did Troy really know his wife so little, that he could sell off the one remaining part of land so dear to her, all while she was on her deathbed? As Jayber felt the anger and hate turning to rage inside of himself, a curtain parted, and the swaggering self-assured man that Troy had always played himself to be, was finally revealed to Jayber:

"So there he was, a man who had been given everything and did not know it, who had lost it all and now knew it, and who was boasting and grinning only to pretend for a few hours longer that he did not know it. He was an exhausted man on the way back, not to the nothing that he had when he started out, but to the nothing that everything had been created from—and so, I pray, to mercy. And there I was, a man losing what I was never given, a man yet rich with love, a man whose knees were weakening against gravity, who needed to go somewhere and lie down."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (p. 360). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition. 

In time, Jayber would become friends with Troy, and find that forgiveness had been planted within him. But on that day, he had to face a kind of dying first:

"But that day I couldn’t stay with him any longer. I needed to leave him and his desperate merchandise and that woods of once-upon-a-time. I needed to go and find a place to lie down. That urge was in me like a natural force. Like a woman or an animal in labor, I longed to lie down, for I was heavy, not with new life but with much dying, many deaths. I had in me the shaking of the fall of all things. I wanted to get as low as I could, as I thought I would want to do had I been in the top of a windblown tree or in a little boat in a storm."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (p. 361). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition. 

And I recognized the death Jayber spoke of.  

Haven't I faced that death myself?

Haven't I been brought low when I have seen

into the depth of my own sinful heart?

And while I don't want to give away the ending of the book for any who might choose to read it still, I must say that my heart was left with longing for a man who never seemed to enter into friendship with the ONE who loved Him most of all.

Jayber found forgiveness with God.

He knew that only because of Jesus' death

are any of us fully forgiven.

Jayber even found forgiveness for a

man he had hated.

But I never saw that He found

the friend that would stick 

closer than a brother.

And for that, my heart wept. 

And once again, my aching cries out for those around me and even for myself. Because the enemy of our souls has duped us into a position lower than what Jesus came to bring us. Jesus took up our sins to bring us into friendship with God. Anything less than that is simply a lie.

Will I answer His call?

Will I go after those I love

and speak in His Name

 to join Him at the table

to find a friendship deeper than any

a love so much higher than

all we can grasp?

Index for the series on Jayber Crow:

Week 1:   "Revival"
Week 2:  "Are Questions Allowed?"
Week 3:  "The River is Rising"
Week 4:  "The River is Eternal"
Week 5: "Shade for our Souls" 
Week 6:  "Who is Sufficient?"
Week 7:  "Transforming Stillness" 
Week 8:  "Life, Life, and more Life"
Week 9:  "Deliverance Will Come" 
Week 10: "Glory Reigns"  
Week 11:  "A Friend of God"



I am linking this week with:
Jaime Weibel #SittingAmongFriends
Debbie Kitterman, #TuneInThursday
Barbie Swihart, #Glimpses 
Meg Weyerbacher, #TeaAndWordTuesday