That Thy Faith Fail Not

Was the moon as beautiful last night and this morning from your vantage point as it was from Darling Hill? As I drove up the road to Mom's last night and saw the moon through the trees, low in the sky, I thought (as I have on other such occasions) that I'd never seen it so big.

Upon awakening and going downstairs this morning, Mom said, "come in here and look at this moon." It was still a large round ball, in the West and shining its way to a beautiful "moonset". She said, "I thought it was the sun at first, but then realized - no, it's in the wrong place!"

What a wonderful thing to be able to behold the beauty that our Creator has put all around us. Today the sun is brilliant and the fields of snow are heavily glazed and shining.

The most wonderful thing is that I am reminded of this morning is how Jesus is in heaven, interceding for me.  As I am still reading through the book of Luke, I come to 22:31 where Jesus foretold of Peter's coming denials. He told Peter that Satan desired to sift him as wheat, but that Jesus had prayed for him, that Peter's faith fail not.  Jesus is in heaven today, interceding for the saints, that our faith fail not (Hebrews 7:25). As I read this I began to pray for my husband, my friends and for myself; we, as believers, are here to be "salt and light" in the world. When we leave our home our entire lives and being are to "live Christ". What a privilege!  Knowing that Jesus is there interceding in heaven for me is something I want to keep ever in the forefront of my mind.  I must remember that, though the Lord is interceding for me, I am still prone to "denying" Him.  Oh, Lord, keep my eyes fixed on thee...that my faith fail not! Thank you that you are in heaven, interceding for me!

Things I Wish I had told Dad

As I made my way along a familiar road this morning I came to a spot that brings back some bad memories for me. During my childhood we often came "up home" (where Grammy and Grandpa lived), which is 50+ miles northwest of the town I grew up in. We made the trip either on a weekly basis, or sometimes two or three times a month. Winter weather never held Dad back from driving anywhere, therefore there were countless times that we made the trek in a heavy or blinding snowstorm (which was a distraction to a child with a wild imagination and a very nervous stomach).  Along this particular 100' stretch of road there is a 50 or 60 foot drop off on the east side (therefore on the driving-lane side when headed northwest). Today this steep embankment is topped with heavy-duty guardrails but that was not the case when I was a child. In those days there would be an occasional brown post, some leaning , others teetering precariously where the tar and gravel at the edge of the road had begun washing over the bank. They offered no "guard" and were void of "rails" also. From the time prior to leaving the house, during preparation for any one of these snowy trips, my stomach would anticipate the possibility of Dad losing complete control of the car and our pitching down through the trees into the field below. A mile or two up the road was another stretch that harbored no posts at all, though the drop off was only 30 feet or so. In recent years, Syd and I were visiting with Mom and Dad, recounting old memories, and I mentioned the knots my stomach would be in as we drove through the last two towns on each trip "up home". Dad was surprised, and I think saddened, to hear how much that had bothered me and I could tell that he was sorry that he did not take even more care to stay well away from the 'problem spots'. I don't know why I never told him, but now wish that I had.

When I was five years old we moved from my birthplace to what became my "hometown", 13 miles away. The truck was being packed and things being picked through; some tossed, others cleaned and carefully packed into boxes to be used in our new, large Victorian house. I was to begin using my own "posted" bed and Dad had it set up in the back yard while Mom dusted and cleaned it before it would be disassembled and put into the truck. In all the hustle and bustle, my big red dog (which I used as a "horse") got thrown in the trash. I don't know how it happened and never really discovered at what point I found out, but it was heartbreaking that anyone would throw away a perfectly good, though dirty and matted, horse! He had been left out in the rain then hung on the line to dry for almost a week one time, thus the mats. Many years later, again in a conversation with Dad, the matter of the horse-dog came up. I could see the sadness in Dad's eyes as he said, "Why didn't you tell us how much that dog meant to you? I wouldn't have thrown it away." Even now it brings tears to my eyes, though only because of how bad it made Dad feel.

There are many things that were left unsaid...such as, "Why don't we swing up to Washington? It says that it's only 8 miles from here?"...when we were making the right turn in Chelsea on one of our 100+ trips from Grammy & Grandpa Pop's, heading to Grammy & Grandpa George's house. If I had only voiced this to Dad he would've gladly driven up to Washington, where I would see that there was no White House or Capitol building. I don't know how many years I silently puzzled over it. We did make a trip to Washington D.C. when I was around 12 years old, but I'm sure I had figured it out well before then!

My father had such a big heart and I surely do miss him. If you still have your Dad, be sure to tell him all the little things that have meaning to you. If he's anything like my father, he'll take pleasure in knowing them!

In this picture he's holding his great grandson, Lucius. Dad always had this "twinkle" in his eye.

Praising God with the Phoebe-Song

It is hard to grasp how much the Lord loves His own. This day I am full of thankfulness for His fellowship; why would He take thought of me? 'Because He has set His love upon me' because of the shed blood of the perfect sacrifice, His own Son; this is why He takes thought of me!

I walked into semi-darkness just a few minutes after 5:00 this morning and there was a "moonset" that was bright and shimmering on the west horizon. I could clearly see it through the trees, and hadn't recalled seeing one so bright before! There was certainly no need for a flashlight. The moon shone into our window most all night and at some wee hour of the morning I lay awake for a time watching it, then rolled over to read for awhile before falling back to sleep.

After getting Syd off to work I strolled back out into the yard and heard the chickadees singing their 'phoebe' song. It's long been a song of Spring to me and brings warmth into my heart. Mom has always exclaimed that the birds are praising God. Someone told me once that the birds do not sing praise to God because, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now..." (Romans 8:22). but it goes on to say that "...even we groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."  If the birds are not able to sing praises to God, how are we? Not only can we, we are commanded to! When I read it in context, I read that, as believers, we go through travail and groaning, waiting to be clothed upon with our heavenly bodies, so true! In accordance with a myriad of other scripture passages, in the meantime we lift our voices in praise to the God of creation! What a privilege it is too. I tend to agree with Mom, 'the birds are (most likely) praising God'.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by all that God gives us through the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us all things that pertain unto life and godliness! What more could we need? We can't need more than "all things".  When I was reading from Luke chapter 19 today, of the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus into Jerusalem, the words of Jesus were so perfect. The Pharisees wanted Him to rebuke the disciples for their rejoicing and praising God with loud voices. Jesus said, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."  At that moment even stones could have praised God!!

The sky is a blue that can only be described as 'heavenly'. It is as if you can see all the way to the third heaven (though I don't know where it is, exactly). It's much like looking across the ocean and only seeing where the curve of the earth is. These things are beyond my comprehension. I am glad that God is so far beyond our comprehension that only He can explain Himself. As I read this morning I was thanking Him that only He can know me also! I do not know myself. The older I get in the Lord, the more I realize how little I really know of myself, let alone others. As a young christian I thought I had so many things figured out. I made quick judgements of myself and even of others (shamefully). 99 percent of the time these things proved false and God had to bring me into check. How wise I think I am at times! I seek to be so "discerning" that sometimes I am probably just a shame to my Heavenly Father. What a blessing to know that, "He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust".  I just love having this relationship with Him, don't you?

If you are reading this and don't know the Lord God, Heavenly Father yet, you can come just the way I did. Jesus Christ is the door into the sheepfold. No man comes to the Father, but by Him (and ONLY Him, by the way, nothing added)

Now I must attend to the dishes and things at hand. The sun pours into the window before the sink and the shadows are streaming across the glittering snow. It is time to work while I praise God, along with the phoebe-song of the chickadees!  Thanks so much for stopping by.