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

Sunday Snippet

This is something new. I've been contemplating a few things lately, especially the issue of my time. Tomorrow is the first day of our new homeschool year. I now have a high school student to look after, as we are beginning ninth grade. I wish I could say that I'm happy that summer is over and school is starting up again, but that's another story. Let's just say that I am thankful for the fact that God is still allowing us to have school here in our home. But it does mean that I may again have less time for fun things like blogging.

So back to what's new. I knew when I made the decision to take on another blog that time was an issue. But when I made the decision, one of the reasons that I thought I could do it was that this blog was to be made up of short posts of a devotional nature, as well as a forum to discuss my writing projects. Typical of the type of person that I am, I've noticed that my posts have been getting more and more wordy and some have been such that I've pondered a while on what to say, hence it gets time consuming. I'll still be doing more intensive posts from time to time, but in order to keep things flowing around here, I'll be doing this weekly feature of words from other sources, with few or none from me. At least it will insure that things aren't stagnant and also that the original intent for the blog is maintained.

With all that said (see, I even made that a long explanation), here is the first week's Sunday Snippet. We sang this as our hymn during Sunday opening time, and it touched the heart of me and another teacher as we sang it with the children.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

Calling for you and for me;

See, on the portals he's waiting and watching,

Watching for you and for me.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,

Pleading for you and for me?

Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,

Mercies for you and for me?

Time is now fleeting the moments are passing,

Passing from you and from me;

Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,

Coming for you and for me.

Oh! for the wonderful love he has promised,

Promised for you and for me;

Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,

Pardon for you and for me.

Come home, come home,

Ye who are weary, come home;

Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,

Calling,O sinner, come home!

~Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909

What a wonderful Savior who calls sinners to Himself. I hope He's your Savior.

A Consolation in Suffering

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

What a God-honoring thing to see a struggling, sorrowing child of earth cleave fast to God, calmly trusting in Him, happy and at rest in the midst of storm and suffering! What a spectacle for the hosts of heaven! Now is the time for the saints to give glory to the Lord their God. Let them prize affliction as the very time and opportunity for doing so most of all. Let them use such a season well. And what consolation to think that affliction is really such a season!

Horatius Bonar

When God's Children Suffer

Sorry to have not kept my promise about the next Aunt Jane's Hero segment, but because of some events going on around me, I felt hindered. Instead, I want to once again address the trials of this life. I would recommend the above book by Mr. Bonar to anyone going through affliction or difficulties. What I wrote here was from his chapter on the consolation in suffering, found in the above verse from Romans. But there are even more reasons why we can say that it is good to be afflicted. He gives eleven, and it is from the sixth one, "Affliction is our fullest opportunity for glorifying God," that I've taken this quote.

I see some folks who are living examples of what Mr. Bonar is saying. Some are close friends; some are persecuted saints facing hatred, captivity and/or imprisonment. Some are bloggers that I don't even know. To them, and to all of us, I give the final words of the chapter:

Our joys were all of grace--pure grace--much more our sorrows.It is out of the "exceeding riches of the grace of God" that trial comes.

A Praise and a Prompt

I'm sure you are as thankful as I am for the release of two of the South Korean Missionaries who have been held hostage by the Taliban. Praise the Lord for His merciful dealings in the life of these two women. But this is a prompt that we not give up praying for the nineteen others still in the clutches of their captors. Yesterday's report from Citizen Link was a spur for me--to keep praying fervently for our brethren. You may or may not have the same opinion with regard to the article's position on pressuring the state department, but I'm sure you, like me, will heartily agree with this statement by the director of international government affairs for Focus on the Family:

“We need to systematically pray for them," he told Family News in Focus. "Remember, when one part of the body of Christ suffers, the entire body suffers with that part. So, their suffering is our suffering.”

So, we keep praying, friends, remembering those who suffer for the sake of a Savior who suffered. You may be familiar with the touching hymn " O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" --it grips the heart when you hear it, especially immediately prior to taking the Lord's Supper. As we sing these powerful words, how can our hearts not overflow with praise? I'll just post this one stanza of what was a VERY long poem when written, but these are words we need to remember if we are His children, and if anyone reads this who isn't, I implore you to search out what Christ accomplished for needy sinners like you and me, and you'll better understand why there are people all over the world who willingly lay down their lives for His sake. The good news of the gospel is that you can know Him too.

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered

Was all for sinners' gain:

Mine, mine was the transgression,

But thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Saviour!

'Tis I deserve thy place;

Look on me with thy favor,

Vouchsafe to me thy grace.

~ Bermard of Clairvauz, 1091-1158

(For more words and to listen to the tune, go here. Of course, it's at Cyber Hymnal also, but I prefer it played more slowly. BTW, will get to my Aunt Jane's Hero post next time.)

Truthfulness

Hello Friends. Isn't this little guy a sweetie? I just put him here to brighten the day for anyone who stops by. I haven't been around much of late, I know. There have been quite a few things going on this summer and this week it's VBS. Oppressive heat here in our area hasn't helped matters much either, so I haven't had a lot of get up and go you could say. I miss getting over to see some of you as much as I'd like, but hopefully this is temporary. Trusting you are all well.

I wanted to share something with you. I ran across a few words in my reading today that I read and reread. My husband and I have always been parents who place a high value on honesty in our children. Some of the most severe disciplines came when this virtue was violated. So this one sentence got my attention:

Our truthfulness towards our children is as high a duty as theirs towards us.

~Dr. H.W.J. Thiersch

I hope you and I will spend as much time working on this character trait in ourselves as we do in our children. And hopefully, they'll do the same and pass it on.

Talk to you soon!

The Fruit of Longsuffering

Charity suffereth long....I Corin. 13:4

Years ago at a gift exchange, I received a book that has come to be close to my heart. The book is Charity and Its Fruits by Jonathan Edwards. You know how some of the old writers are, they're not always the easiest reading, at least not for me, but they usually pack in so much meaningful stuff, its worth it to dig and plow because there will certainly be a harvest in one way or another. It just takes a little time. In this work, I particularly have been ministered to by the section on longsuffering.

Our suffering is so minimal. Someone says something to offend us. Someone wrongs us in the way they treat us on a particular issue. Very little physical suffering. But think of those who are being persecuted around the world: some severely, some imprisoned, some losing their lives. Big in the news right now are the South Korean hostages being held by the Taliban. There are many more.

After giving the examples of David, Stephen, and Paul, Mr. Edwards says this:

And not only do we have these records respecting inspired men; but we have accounts in uninspired and mere human history, of the remarkable heroism and long-suffering of martyrs and other Christians, under the most unreasonable and wicked treatment and injuries received from men: all of which should lead us to the same meek and long-suffering spirit.

So, the next time we want to take offense for "wrongs" against us, let's remember these words.

Horace and Georgiana

We have not known thee as we ought,

Nor learned thy wisdom, grace and pow'r

The things of earth have filled our thought,

And trifles of the passing hour.

~T. B. Pollack

In the second chapter, Mrs. Prentiss takes us right over to meet this young lady to whom Horace is so intent upon proposing, and when we meet her, we're able to understand Aunt Jane's distress over it. The young lady, Georgiana, is the antithesis of what any of us would hope that any of our sons would give us as a daughter-in-law. I don't have a son, but if I did, I'd hope he would look for a girl who exemplifies, or at least is striving for, those character traits of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. They don't start developing after marriage, now do they?* So hopefully a godly young man would be looking for these virtues when choosing a mate. Not Horace. But then, the question arises as to whether or not he is a godly young man.

Of Georgiana Fitzsimmons we read:

. . .Miss Georgiana's idea of a father was of a man who spent his life in making money for her to spend--of a mother, as a woman who looked after the servants, ordered good dinners, and kept out of her way on all desirable occasions. . .She found it quite agreeable to have lovers; it was out of the question to go into society with such a figure of a man as papa, who, as she often assured him, only knew enough to sell calico, and it was convenient to have fine looking young men like Horace Wheeler attend her when she went out. . .

Such was Horace's choice. Poor fellow. It doesn't take long in the story to realize that the "things of earth have filled his thought" rather than God's requirements. He has determined that he must have this "glorious creature":

. . .At last he bethought him of a ring of some value, that had been his mother's. He could put this ring upon her finger, and at the same time whisper some words that would reveal that to one human being only could he entrust this sacred relic. Georgiana would shed tears,half accept and half refuse it; he should then in this tender moment speak of his hopeless love--hopeless, because of his poverty and her position, and she should throw herself into his arms, declaring that a cottage with him., etc., etc.

This was Horace's plan, but was it God's? Those of you who've read this book know what happened by chapter's end. Not wanting to give away too much of the story, I won't go into detail about that, but I will ask you to reflect on this statement: "Sometimes God brings judgment by giving us what we want; other times He shows His mercy by withholding our wants from us." What would you want for your son in this situation, God's judgment or His mercy?

This chapter made me reflect on God's mercies and judgments and the various ways they come to us. It also made me think of the qualities of character I would hope that a son would look for in a prospective wife, and that I would want to see in my daughters. If you have a daughter who ever reads this book, you may want to encourage her to ask herself this question: "Is there any of Georgiana in me?" In fact, I don't think it's ever too late to ask ourselves this question.

And finally, I took note that Aunt Jane did not make a personal appearance in this chapter. But she was there. Somewhere unseen, she was praying. We can have little doubt that these prayers had something to do with the outcome. Such will be the case with our loved ones. Are they off somewhere doing whatever it is they do? Are they married? Away in college? At work? Who knows what kind of situations will come up in their lives. I just hope that even when we're not seen we'll be praying.

*(Note: My daughter brought something to my attention after I had posted this. I hope no one construes my statement in the first paragraph to mean that a woman CANNOT develop virtuous qualities after marriage. Someone can be saved after marriage for sure, and God can certainly do works of grace in any area of a person's life at any time. My point is that virtues that a godly man desires in a woman are most often there before the wedding. It's that old warning that a person in love should not think he or she can change the other person who does not really have a heart for God, but should choose wisely.)

Morning's Guest

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Just a quick post for those who are in a period of weeping. This verse is so in my heart today that I am writing about it here and at my other place too. But because this is Scraps, and my original intent was to only do small bits and pieces anyway, let me just give you this MARVELOUS quote about this verse:

In the second half of the verse weeping is personified, and represented by the figure of a wanderer, who leaves in the morning the lodging, into which he had entered the preceding evening. After him another guest arrives, namely, joy. E. W. Hengstenberg.

May the promise of the coming morning's visitor bring you much consolation thoughout the evening hours and especially at midnight.

My Times are in Thy Hand

My times are in thy hand... Psalm 31:15a

I hate to say this, but I think my brain is in standby mode. My computer is easy to wake up when its on standby, but not so when it's in hibernation, so maybe it's the latter with me right now. I haven't been in the mood for reading any books and the various writing projects which are waiting, all in different stages of development--well, none have been touched all summer. Soon it will be August and you know what that means: time to start getting ready for the next school year. I wasn't the happiest when the UPS guy brought the ABeka books for the coming year. All four boxes are sitting in the sunroom staring at me! Back in June when we finished up with last year, I had a list a mile long of all that I was going to accomplish before the next one.

For some reason, the Lord has not given me the heart for reading and writing right now. I don't know why. But I have been thinking about the above hymn all day, which would, of course, lead me to the verse in Psalm 31. I went to see what Spurgeon had to say about it in The Treasury of David and found the following quote from our friend, Matthew Henry:

When David had Saul at his mercy in the cave, those about him said, This is the time in which God will deliver thee. 1Sa 24:4. No, saith David, the time is not come for my deliverance till it can be wrought without sin, and I will wait for that time; for it is God's time, and that is the best time. Matthew Henry.

I like that one, don't you? If God brought this hymn and verse to my mind, then it was because He wants me to remember that His time is the best time. The day will come when I'll plunge full force into whatever He has for me to do, because He'll give me the heart to do it.

Maybe there is some aspect of your life where this lesson is being impressed upon you, too, as this verse can be applied in many ways. If we sing the first stanza together, then perhaps we'll both feel better. ( The remaining lyrics and the tune are here.)

My times are in thy hand;

My God, I wish them there;

My life, my friends, my soul, I leave

Entirely to thy care.

~William F. Lloyd, 1824

Blogger Reflection Award

In April of this year I made what was then a tentative decision to start a third blog. Not being sure about it for several reasons, including time constraints, I kept it private for a while. I wanted this blog to be mostly devotional in nature, as well as being a forum for discussing my writing projects, hopes and dreams. After a bit, I decided I'd go ahead with it and make it public, even if just a few people would read it.

It was through and because of this venture that I have "met" some of the sweetest folks that one could hope to encounter on a journey of any kind. I have received more encouragement from these ladies than I've ever had in anything I've written. One of these ladies, Mishel at Seasons of Life has honored me here at Scraps with a Blogger Reflection Award. I want to thank her for this award, but then turn around and give one to her for being one of those special people I just spoke about. As she said, we haven't known each other long, but she's one of those bloggy folks whom I wish I could someday meet personally.

The same would hold true for each of the following ladies. There is something in their spirits when they comment that lets me know theirs are kindred with mine. I see in each of them a love for God and a selfless desire to help another sister along the way. Thank you ladies. This award is for your encouragements to me and I'm sure to others.

1. Cami at Lindenville Devotions - Like me, Cami is a lover of devotional writings and she does it well over at her place. She is a wife and mother who loves her family and God. She owns the Lindenville Cafe blogring, which she takes seriously while showing heartfelt care and concern for each of its members. She's very supportive of us all. I'm sure everyone in the ring feels the same.

2. Carol at Musings from Down Under - Talk about talent--this lady has it. If you want to be refreshed and renewed by poetry that touches you in the inner man, then visit Carol often. She's quite popular with her writings, and understandably so. Most of the poems are short and sweet, but packed with so much meaning! Most of us know that poetry can express something in a unique way that prose never can. Carol has a gift for doing just that. Go there and be blessed.

3. Jodi at The Deputy Domain - Who of us does not like beauty? This is one lady who gives us beautiful portraits, music and writings. She puts them all together in a way that makes her blog an absolute pleasure to visit. As a wife and mother of five, I am always amazed that she has the time to put together such a charming, cozy and God-glorifying site. I would imagine that her home is the same way!

4. Kathy at Sumballo - This is a lady whose blog is worth visiting if you hunger and thirst for a deeper walk with God. Her knowledge of the Word is consistent and biblical and she humbly shares it with all of us. She recently has started a weekly feature which others can do with her to dive deeper into Scriptures, with "tools" to help accomplish this. She knows what she's doing, and does it well, at a level which most of us can understand. She's just getting started with this, so go over and check it out when you can.

5. Patty at Beside Still Waters - Yes, I know Mishel awarded her already, but my list would not be complete without her. Her blog is absolutely lovely. It caught my eye when I randomly went there one day and we've been bloggy friends since. She has such sweet quotes and little devotions that touch the heart. Like me, she is a wife, mom and grandmom and loves home. She also has another blog where you can go and find tasty recipes! Hope you can visit her because you won't find a nicer lady anywhere.

(Honorable mention: I know this is cheating, but I do want to thank my daughter Beverly and our friend Beka for often coming here to encourage their mama/friend.)

Also, I believe I'm supposed to mention in this post that this Blogger Reflection Award is to be awarded to five other bloggers and that it originated here, where you may find more information about it.