I Am My Neighbor's Bible

Another poem that was included in a birthday card from my mom contains sweetly worded truths that are always worth remembering. I think all too often we get hung up on what's important to ourselves personally, while failing to consider our effect on the world around us.

I am my neighbor's Bible

He reads me when we meet;

Today he reads me in my home--

Tomorrow on the street.

He may be relative or friend

Or slight acquaintance be;

He may not even know my name,

Yet he is reading me.

And pray, who is this neighbor

Who reads me day by day,

To learn if I am living right

And walking as I pray?

Oh, he is with me always

To criticize or blame;

So worldly-wise in his own eyes,

And "sinner" is his name.

Dear Christian friends and brothers,

If we could only know

How faithfully the world records

Just what we say and do,

Oh, we would write our record plain

And come in time to see

Our worldly neighbor won to Christ

While reading you and me.

~ Anon

What a message Mom has left for me even though there are times it gets forgotten. I ask the Lord to embed these words in my heart.

Paper Momentos - Poems from Mom

I've been cleaning out drawers and closets this week and included in all that is a container and box holding greeting cards, notes, letters, and misc. wedding invitations and programs. I've been going through these items, trying to decide what to throw out as the pile has been growing over the years. Needless to say, I've been having trouble allowing myself to trash any of the precious memories contained in these various stationery items. How can I discard that heartfelt note of thanks written to me by my dear friend? Or the words of comfort written by another while my mom was here in our home during her dying weeks? Can I let the garbage man shred up any of the funny little notes or pictures my children wrote or drew when wee ones? I just can't. I'm afraid someone else will have to do it.

And then there are the greeting cards. Since I've been married, I have every card given to me by my husband and children. No way are they being trashed. It was when I started looking through the birthday cards my mom gave me over the years that I gave up on my initial project. Instead, I transferred everything into plastic ziploc bags for safekeeping. They may be just pieces of paper in plastic bags, but to me they are worth more than gold. There is no amount of money that anyone could give me that would surpass their value. They'll be worth very little to anyone else in the world, but to me they are priceless. So they stay for as long as I stay.

I found an extra blessing while going through my mom's cards. I forgot that in her later years she began taping poems to my birthday cards, poems which she had carefully cut out with pinking shears from some unknown source. I didn't appreciate those poems then nearly as much as now. Partly because she's gone, of course, but also because I appreciate poetry more as I grow older. So bear with me as I share with you a few of these poems from my mom in this and a few of the following posts coming up.

Some of the cards have the year recorded, but this one didn't. The card was a beautiful shade of pale blue/green and was entitled "A Daughter's Loving Ways," containing a lovely poem of its own, but these were the words lovingly taped to the left inside:

I can no longer grasp your tiny hand and lead you across a street,
Nor tuck you in at night against the chill,
Nor kiss your precious flawless baby face,
But, I can pray.

I can no longer take you to the House of God,
Nor read to you from His precious Holy Word,
Nor tell you what is right, and what is wrong,
But, I can pray.

For you are grown and from my constant care are gone,
To choose YOUR way and live YOUR life,
And be what you WILL in YOUR own way,
But, I STILL pray.

~ Mabel B. Rambo


And she did.

Now Two Granddaughters

God has seen fit to allow the safe arrival of our second granddaughter, Shana Elizabeth, born October 10,2008, at 4:45 pm, weighing in at seven pounds. So now Selena is a big sister and she loves it. Just wanted to tell the good news here at this blog--It's already been announced at my Nanna's Reflections blog.

Those who his gracious cov'nant keep

The Lord will ever bless;

Their children's children shall rejoice

To see his righteousness.

Our Children's Children

Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children. Psalm 128:6

There is a new little bean that is due to sprout this coming October. This little bean is my second grandchild, another kind benefit from my heavenly Father. Truly there is no greater blessing in the latter years of our journey, as all you grands know firsthand. A little while ago, I found this nice quote about this verse, a prayer, in Spurgeon's Treasury of David and thought it was appropriate for now:

Lord, let thy blessing so accompany my endeavours in their breedings, that all my sons may be Benaiahs, the Lord's building, and then they will all be Abners, their father's light; and that all my daughters may be Bethias, the Lord's daughters, and then they will all be Abigails, their father's joy.--George Swinnock

I like this prayer. Even if we don't see it happening yet, maybe it will someday if we keep praying. And this prayer should extend down for our children's children as well.

Treasured Moments

"Up, Nanna," says my little toddler granddaughter as she lifts up her arms for me to pick her up. These are moments that I treasure here on this side of glory. There is no amount of money that anyone could give me in return for them. I had small children once, as many of you have now, so I know how special it is to have any of our sons or daughters (of any age, really) hold out their arms to be held in ours. But I tell you, there is something indescribable about being reached for by a grandchild. You grandparents can identify.

I need to think more about the preciousness of such moments when my heart is feeling a bit low. I need to reach up to my God at those times. He loves me even more than I love that sweet little girl, so I would imagine it would give Him pleasure. I need to regress from self-pity and gloominess and have Him lift me up. This, I'm sorry to say, is not what I do often enough. I'll try to let Selena remind me of that the next time I hear her say those wonderful words, "Up, Nanna."

Joy and Sorrow

Our hearts and minds have been filled these days with a joyous occasion--my granddaughter's first birthday party. Then along came sorrow-the horrible news last night of the death of two beloved people whom we know. This pastor and his wife were killed (murdered) in another country and we are having loads of conflicting reports about what happened. Many of their family members are friends of ours. So the ongoing problems with finding time to post, especially the Aunt Jane's Hero one that I've been trying to get to, continue.

I appreciate your comments on my last post. They were so encouraging to me and I want you all to know that. Bear with me a bit longer and especially if I haven't been to your blog in a while. Pray for us.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance..

Ecclesiastes 3:4

In Defiance

O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions--Psalm 104:24

The above creature is a dragonfly. If you were to study the intricate and sophisticated system that is built into its design, you would agree with the video that I saw on Sunday morning. This creature, and many others, defy evolution. The earth is full of them. The earthworm, the elephant, the beaver, the giraffe, the woodpecker, the hippo, the lowly sparrow, and on and on--they are all incredible. Their structures are just remarkable. And how could they live for one minute without all of the components being fully functional at the same time? How did these intricate designs come to be? By chance? Random process? Naah!!! You have to come up with something better than that! I choose to believe the only logical explanation.

My granddaughter is learning the first question to the children's catechism. Who made you? it asks. I'm very thankful that she's learning the only rational answer: God. What else could it be?

Next she'll learn the second question: What else did God make? And the answer to that one is also the only reasonable one: God made all things. May she someday know it and believe it.

So, folks, I present to you the dragonfly. He defies evolution.

Celebrations

June and July are busy months of celebrations in our family. Each year, we enjoy them as God provides, thankful to Him for allowing them to come. Life is full of trials, and they have and will come to us, so these special observations are welcome. For our family, these are the special occasions and dates for this year:

June 12th - Observance of 36 years of marriage for me and my dear husband.

June 15th - My dear younger daughter graduates eighth grade in our homeschool and has now progressed to high school. She has become a good, hard working student, and we commend her.

June 17th - Father's Day. We give our thanks for the years of faithfulness in fatherhood by my hubby and now, my son-in-law begins his journey.

June 17th - I mark another year, sixty-six now, of my pilgrimage here on earth.

July 10th - My husband's pilgrimage here will be seventy years, if God is gracious to allow him to reach that date. We hope so--we have a big dinner event planned!

July 20th - My dear older daughter, now a wife and mother, celebrates birthday number twenty-seven.

We take each of these events as a generous provision from our Father's hand. But will we be just as thankful to Him when the hard times come? I have been reading many blogs of people who are undergoing extreme trials, but yet they rejoice in the blessings of their God in the midst of these times. On my sidebar, you will see a recent post of a such a woman. I was touched immensely by this post. If you have any time at all, read it. Every week I link to a particular post that has been a blessing, at least to me, and this is the one for this week.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . .Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

Mother's Day Notes

Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars. (Proverbs 9:1)

Well, we've had another Mother's Day, a day which since childhood has always touched the core of my heart. This is so partly because my own mom was always so precious to me and partly because it was such an important day in the culture and church which I grew up in. It was one of the biggest days of the year in church attendance and mothers of all ages came arrayed in the finest attire. I loved it then.

Those days are behind me now, the holiday is celebrated in a different culture and church, and my mom is gone to Jesus. So, now I'm the mom who's been especially honored, not just by two sweet and caring daughters, but also, for the first time, by a granddaughter who has no clue as to what's going on. In morning worship, a sermon was preached about our need for wisdom as women and for evening worship, I had infant nursery duty. Only one baby showed up tonight and guess who that was? You're right: my granddaughter. So the evening closed out with just the two of us spending those final quiet moments of the busy day together. Now, how special can a day be? Thank you, Lord.

My favorite portion of today's sermom: "Beauty is power, but wisdom is beauty and wisdom is given to those in Christ Jesus." Get it?

Christ is all the beauty we desire.

(...in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:3)