Personally

A week ago, I asked for prayer as my mom was in the hospital and we didn't know how she would do. The day after that blog post went out, she was released from the hospital to recover at home. She does have a long (3-6 months) period of treatment yet, but we are thankful she is still with us.

Psalm 90 so relates. Verses 10-12 read: "As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away. Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." (My mom has exceeded that eighty year span already.)

Garry and I have been reading through Psalm 119 together. I find these verses apply to me in what I consider my afflictions, which are nothing like my mom's:

"Remember Your word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my afflictions, that Your word has revived me" (verses 49-50).

"Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good and do good; teach me Your statues" (verses 66-68).

"I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, according to Your word to Your servant" (verses 75-76).

"If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me" (verses 93-94).

I find this passage from Peter's first letter also encouraging: "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen" (5:10-11).

Please continue to pray for my mom and my sister, who has primary care of our mom in addition to working full time. Thanks.

My Parents' Examples

I have been thinking about my parents a lot lately. My parents exemplified as best they could these commands from Deuteronomy 6:5-7: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

As they were rearing my sister and me, they did this. They loved the LORD personally, and my mom still does, and they took every opportunity to teach us diligently all 66 books of the Bible. When we had questions, they didn't blow us off but worked to help us understand.

They taught us to be like the Bereans, whom Paul refers to in Acts 17:11, to not believe whatever we heard but test it by Scripture.

Like Timothy, from childhood we knew the sacred writings which we able to give us the wisdom that led to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15). The Lord graciously brought this saving grace to each of us--my sister and me--when we were relatively young.

As we grew, we saw other examples in our parents.

Being part of church was always important, and not just showing up. They were always involved in one ministry or another. Their common interest in music caused them to meet in a choir not long after World War 2. That wasn't the only choir they were part of. They sang in various groups. My dad sang in quartets, often accompanied by my mom on the piano. They sang duets. But music wasn't their only ministry.

They were always hospitable. They opened their homes not only to relatives, but a variety of others over the years, giving generously of whatever the Lord provided them with.

Looking at photos, I am reminded of all of the friends my parents took in, whether one at a time or in groups--and missionaries who were home on furlough. My mom even has photos of a time they entertained a couple of young men from Sweden.

Our dad had four careers during his life, having a variety of interests. His death almost 24 years ago came as a shock to all who knew him. Even after our dad passed away, our mom continued in various ministries as long as she was able to, whether having people into her home, hosting missionaries, teaching Bible studies, or visiting people in the hospital.

Our parents did not just talk faith in Christ, take us to church whenever the doors were open. They exemplified a living faith. Mom may not remember much, but she always encourages me in the Lord whenever we talk.

As of this writing, our mom is in a hospital. We don't know how near she is to seeing her Lord face to face. We would appreciate your prayers for her, my sister, my husband, and me.

Observing Growth

Watching, and scenting,
The growth of the pine trees;
Seeing the lengthy things which
Remind me of cacti;
Seeing the pine cones forming,
I appreciate this orderly growth
At the time God ordained.

Is there not a corollary in me?

There is a time of gangly-ness,
Spiritual adolescence,
The slow forming of what
A Christian is to be known for;
A scent that is life to some and
Death to others, as Paul wrote:

"But thanks be to God,
Who always leads us in triumph in Christ,
and manifests through us the sweet aroma of
the knowledge of Him in every place.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God
among those who are being saved and
among those who are perishing;
to the one an aroma from death to death,
to the other an aroma from life to life.
And who is adequate for these things?"
(2 Corinthians 2:14-16; NASB).

Observing growth this 2017 spring.

What "Forever" Means Compared to "Here and Now"

In Isaiah 40, we read: "The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (verses 7-8; NASB).

Some time ago I wrote a piece called "Pruned" about the pruning of some bushes outside of our home office and the anticipation of the bushes' greater growth that their pruning produced. Now those pruned bushes are full of leaves, but the leaves look over-watered, limp, as if they experienced too much of a good thing. Since we did have a lot of rain recently, and not much sun, that could explain it.

Spring brings greener expectation, much as youth does. Spring brings graduations, weddings, baby showers, many expectations.

But the green doesn't last. Sun takes its turn to shine, to brighten, to mature things. Eventually, as Isaiah wrote, the grass withers and the flower fades.

As Christians, our hope is not in the seasons we experience, whichever one we are in, but in the promise of Isaiah 40:8: "The word of our God stands forever."

As Jesus Himself promised us: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away" (Matthew 24:35; NASB).

We can enjoy the seasons God has gifted us with--"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22; NASB)--and rest in the unchangingness of His Word, which remains forever.

The Straight and Narrow as I Understand It

The straight and narrow road is hard to find;
God must make your mind
And heart alive to its existence,
Or you will merrily travel the wide road
You were born on--
Dead while thinking you are alive and
Partying with your companions on that
Road so enticing, so straight to hell.
The narrow road, by comparison, is
Wide enough for only two:
The Savior and you.
And you enter it by means of
His cross and resurrection;
And then He is your Companion and Keeper,
Shepherd and Guide, for this life and the next,
Faithful to every word in His Word.

Psalm 23; Matthew 7; Ephesians 2