Grace Notes

Celebrating 100 Blogs

2009-08-13T07:47:00.003-04:00

One year of homeschool we celebrated the 100th day of school. Jessica was working on getting the concept on 100 into her mind. In preparation I had numerous things set out for her to count through out the day. We counted pennies stacking them in neatly in rows of ten. There were 100 marbles in the jar in the center of the dinning room that dueled for our classroom. The number chart with its ten rows of ten was displayed on the wall.

Today there is another thing to count. To bad she is too grown up to celebrate with me. Monday we start her senior year of high school, and our last year to homeschool since Jessica is our youngest.

Comments tell me that at least a few of my blogs have encouraged others. Reading back through I’m encouraged as well. This has been a learning experience. Some blogs fell by the wayside, because when I read them later I wasn't as pleased with my efforts as the day I posted them. Otherwise I would have reached 100 blogs sooner, but I’m my final critic.

Blog 31 contains a purpose statement I wrote about 18 months ago.

Encourage women to grow in their Faith and Treasure Joy

I have not always stayed as true to that purpose in my writing as I would like, but that purpose has not changed. It is still the lighthouse that has become a guiding strength for my writing. It is still a magnifying glass I can use to evaluate yhe words I put down on paper.

Today, twenty-three months after setting out on this writing marathon, I post my 100th blog and set another milestone behind me as a writer.

All Important

2009-08-11T19:34:00.001-04:00

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them . . . (Romans 12:4-6, NKJV)

It is surprising how much we use our thumbs. Like most thing in our lives we seldom take time to appreciate them. Recently I have become very aware of my right thumb.

In March I noticed a lump over the middle knuckle of my right thumb. The end of May a hand surgeon removed the cyst that was growing from inside the joint. Now I’m in physical therapy.

I’ve was surprised how much I missed the use of my thumb the two weeks until the stitches were removed. I’ve been even more surprised how long it is taking to get the full use of my thumb back.

Paul compares the family of God to the human body. Each member has a part to play if the body is to run smoothly. Don’t be a church member how merely warms a pew on Sunday mornings. Each time I bump my thumb or struggle with something that was easy before surgery, I’m reminded how important each member is.

Overwhelmed by God's Grace

2009-08-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

This morning I found an email in my box from one of the missionaries we support. He shared the hardships they are facing on the field right now and this quote.

"May you be overwhelmed by the Grace of God not the sorrows of life."

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the sorrows of life. If you don't have enough going "wrong" in your own life at a given moment just watch the evening news.

How much better to be overwhelmed by God's Grace.

"Lord give us hearts that wonder at Your goodness even when our hearts feel like they will break wtih sorrow. Remind us that You are in control, and Your love for us will always sustain us."

Bondservant

2009-07-26T17:28:00.003-04:00

A number of years ago we visited the Levi Coffin House in Fountain City, Indiana, just north of Richmond on a family vacation. Levi Coffin was a Quaker businessman who used his home as part of the “Underground Railroad” in the early decades of the nineteenth century. It is estimated that more than two thousand slaves passed through the Coffin House on their way to Canada. Each had one thing prominently fixed in their mind, freedom. Canada meant not being owned by anyone else. It meant they could live their own lives in their own ways.

Slavery isn’t something that usually comes as a willful choice. It is something to be shunned and fled if given the chance. The last thing our sinful nature wants is to be indebted to someone else. Yet, Paul introduces himself in Romans 1:1 as a “bondservant”.

Paul could have introduced himself as many other things. By this point in his ministry, Paul had planted several churches throughout Asia Minor. Believers throughout the region lovingly recognized him as their spiritual father, the one who first told them about Jesus.

Being bound to Christ has a different connotation then the forced slavery once accepted in America. God is not pleased when men and women bind other men and women as slaves. Yet, there is a cord flowing from Calvary that holds us more firmly in its grasp.

As Christians our hearts should long to be twined so tightly to the Cross that we constantly cling to our Heavenly Father’s goodness, trusting Him in every situation. That’s how it should be, but more often then I would like to admit my stubborn independence gets in the way.

A pair of rusty fetters is on display in a glass case in the kitchen of the Levi Coffin House next to a wanted poster for a runway slave. My mind often goes back to that display when I sing the last stanza of the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Vacation Bible School

2009-07-19T05:47:00.001-04:00

I’m so excited this year about Vacation Bible School. Our theme is the Armor of God. The visual image of a Roman soldier clad in armor is strong and fun to work with. I feel like a little kid again just playing with the endless possibilities.

Another treat, this year my assistant with the first and second grade class is our youngest daughter. What a privilege to have grown daughters who are faithful in the Lord and willing to serve.

Each night we plan on starting the lesson time lifting a plastic sword into the air.

“Everyone quiet down now. It’s time for us to sharpen our swords.”

Put on the whole armor of God . . . (Ephesians 6:11)

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ . . . (Romans 13:14)

Picture with me, Jessica throwing beans bags at her mother in front of a class of wide eyed students. Next I pick up my costume bought shield and begin blocking the attack. How could any of the students go home that evening without a good idea why our shields are so important!

Another night Jessica falls to the floor with an arrow held to her chest . . . wounded in battle. I take out the arrow and assure the class Miss Dickhoner will recover then turn to Jessica.

“Where is your breastplate?”

Each lesson will end as it began, sharpening our swords through memorizing Scripture.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;
(Ephesians 6:14-17)

Missions Has a Cost

2009-07-18T07:59:00.001-04:00

“Life is too short,” Papa said, “for her to waist her life like that.”

“Sometimes life is too short not to take the risks, if that is where God is calling you.”

He didn’t like my response . . . or understand it.

“God has nothing to do with it.”

This was not the first such conversation, and I’m sure it will not be the last. Our older daughter is studying to go to the mission field. She’s known her heart since she was in junior high school and been living it out ever since.

This week Barbara is on her fifth short term summer missionary trip. The first four trips were to Mexico. This time she is flying to the other side of the world. The first four trips lasted a week a piece. This time she will be gone two and a half weeks.

Next year she is planning to do her student teaching abroad. We are talking months instead of weeks.

Of course I’m concerned. What parent would have some reservations?

But, I keep reminding myself that the safest place on earth is the center of God’s will, no matter where that takes us.

These decisions have everything to do with God. The Lord must lead, and the Lord must sustain.

Safety in God economy doesn’t guarantee an easy road. Missionaries go hungry. Sometimes they face great opposition. Many have even died attending to the work God called them to do.

As a parent, I long for them to enjoy safety and comfort. But, I long more them to continue in the center of God’s will no mater the cost.

So, for the next two and a half weeks I will pray and wait for the next phone call or email telling me she is okay. Knowing this is just training for the day she leaves for a mission field, possibly for years at a time.

Used Curriculm Sale

2009-06-16T11:27:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my younger daughter and I loaded up 6 crates of books for the area wide homeschool used curriculum sale. Fall begins our last year of homeschooling so we cleaned out much of our homeschool storage corner in the basement.

We didn't price anything higher then $30.00 and even gave away several things. Still we made $300.00. It's neat to see someone excited about finding an item they are searching for on your table.

It makes letting go of this part of our lives a little easier. I know much of our curriculum is going to good homes and will continue to be used. One lady was so excited I had a sign language book and a box of flash cards. Her family is adopting a little girl from China who is hard of hearing.

Another lady has a daughter who is house-bound with an anti-immune disorder. Her daughter is only 10 years old and loves to read. We send her home with an arm load of books that should keep her daughter busy for months.

It’s neat when God opens unexpected doors through which we can bless others.

"Desert Island Days"

2009-06-14T20:48:00.001-04:00

God is Good . . . even when we don't "feel" His goodness at the moment.

Today I'm having one of my "desert island" days. Those are the days I don't want to be near anyone and would be happier on a desert island for a few hours while the hormones or whatever is going on with me settles down.

Friends tell me this is normal for women my age so I try not to let it get me too discouraged. This evening the last thing I wanted to do was be around other people, but I made myself go to church anyway. And, I'm glad I did.

I'm so thankful our standing with God is not determined by how we "feel" at a given moment, but on God's

Fear . . . Worry . . . Anxiety

2009-06-02T11:07:00.001-04:00

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You Because he trusts in You.(Isaiah 26:3, NKJV)

It doesn’t matter what name we give the emotion that ties our gut up in knots. The effects are the same. This crippling emotion is the opposite of trusting God. It robs us of the peace God desires to reign in our hearts. Lack of joy and lack of thankfulness follow close behind.

Jerry Bridges in his book Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate writes,

Anxiety is “in effect, believing that God does not care for me and that He will not take care of me in the particular circumstance that triggers my anxiety of the moment.”

“Anxiety is a sin . . . because it is a lack of acceptance of God’s providence in our lives.”

Ouch!

He goes on to define God’s providence “as God’s orchestrating all circumstances on events in his His universe for His glory and the good of His people.”

The last few days the circumstances that tested my faith was waiting for the results of a biopsy, and I didn’t do so well.

Last night was the worst. I read a few more chapters of my book and finished another quilt square while the rest of the family was sound asleep. The rising stomach acid wouldn’t let me join them. The author’s plot speed closer to a finish, and my quilt top moved closer to completion, but by 5 a.m. I was exhausted.

God didn’t give me the results of the feared outcome until I handed my sinful doubts over to Him. In the wee hours of the morning I finally confessed my inability to conquer the battle of worry storming in my heart to God. In His mercy a few hours later, and a couple of days earlier then expected, the doctor’s office called with the results.

“Mrs. Dickhoner, your biopsy came back normal.”

Relief along with regret I wasted all that energy worrying flood my emotions as I write. I still have surgery facing me in a few weeks, but it will be less involved than feared.

“Lord, I long to trust You with whole heart, yet I continue to fight for control. Teach me to rest in Your goodness regardless the circumstances You bring into my life.”

"Mountain Breezes"

2009-05-24T07:29:00.002-04:00

Recently a friend and I exchanged books. I loaned him my biography of Amy Carmichael and he loaned me a bound collection of Amy Carmichael's poetry. I loved it so much I ordered my own copy.

Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) lived a life of dedicated service. She opened an orphanage in India where she served without a furlough for more then fifty years. Her poetry flows from a keen mind and an unwavering devotion to God.

The title of the collection is “Mountain Breezes: The Collected Poems of Amy Carmichael”. Amazon.com carries it.

If you enjoy poetry, I encouraged you to get a copy and read for yourself. The collection contains hundreds of poems divided into seven different subject areas: worship, petition, surrender, ministry, wartime, encouragement, and youthful thoughts. It is hard to share only one favorite so I’ll share the one that encouraged me this weekend.

Love Traveling (by Amy Carmichael)

Love, traveling in the greatness of His strength,
Found me alone,
Wearied a little by the journey’s length,
Though I had known,
All the long way, many a kindly air,
And flowers had blossomed for me everywhere.

And yet Love found me fearful, and He stayed;
Love stayed by me.
“Let not thy heart be troubled or dismayed,
My child,” said He.
Slipped from me then all troubles, all alarms;
For Love had gathered me into His arms.

Memorial Day

2009-05-23T09:47:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It was first established to honor Union soldiers who had died during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

As a small girl, I remember going to Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on Memorial Day. Decoration Day was personal to our family, because Mama’s oldest brother died in Okinawa (April 1945). He was one of more then 72,000 Americans who lost their lives taking the Island of Okinawa near the close of WWII.

We would watch as Grandma McClintock put flowers one Uncle Wayne’s grave then gather around the flag pole as an honor guard fired the 21 gun salute in honor of all the soldiers buried at Fort Leavenworth and a brass band played Taps.

This year Memorial Day has a different face. For the first time a couple of weeks ago I heard an 87 year old veteran opening up for the first time about the death he witnessed all around him serving in the South Pacific during that same war.

Many of our WWII veterans are just starting to talk. How long have they suffered under the shadows of their memories in silence? The served out of honor and duty giving the best years of their young adult lives to defend this Nation. Now as these veterans are coming to the end of their lives the memories are beginning to trickle out.

It is our duty as the next generation to listen.

A Heart for Our Audience

2009-05-19T16:27:00.001-04:00

“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:9, NKJV).

Paul doesn’t bar any punches in Romans; but, he doesn’t put himself on a plane above his readers either. Instead, Paul comes along side them in a real and personal way. He prays continually for the individuals to whom he is writing. He seeks to address their individual needs.

Is there a lesson here for us as writers?

I think there is. We cannot claim divine inspiration, but God knew what He was doing when He directed Paul’s pen. The Book of Romans is full of hard words and steadfast promises seasoned with the heart of an author who cared deeply about the people he was writing to.

Do we think about our audience when we are writing? Do we pray for people we may never meet who read what we write? I have to admit there are times I get more involved with getting my thoughts posted then with the people who may read them.

Gentle Showers and Torrential Downpours

2009-05-19T14:01:00.007-04:00

Trials and testing come in all sizes. I’m surprised though how it is easier to turn to God for strength in a torrential downpour then a gentle shower.

Something about gentle showers deceive us into thinking we can handle the situation on our own. Satan misleads us into thinking God is too busy to be bothered with such trifles.

But, let a torrential downpour over take us. The magnitude of the situation is more likely to bring us to the throne of grace for God’s help.

For that reason, gentle showers are often more dangerous then downpours.

When Mama was diagnosed with terminal cancer I knew the situation was too big for an eighteen year old to handle alone. I fled to my Heavenly Father for comfort. The same was true when our younger daughter was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis when she was only six days old. My arms were too weak to carry such a load, and I knew it.

But, what about the gentle showers of daily life? Those are the times when I try to pull myself up by the boot straps and bear the load in my own strength. The hot water tank needs replaced the week after a daughter needs new glasses. I have medical tests and minor surgery scheduled the following week. This is a gentle shower, but I’m getting wet!

Finally, I admit I need my Heavenly Father to come along side me and take the mounting load. Spring flowers grow best under the steady soaking of a gentle shower. The same is often true of our faith.

“Lord, Help us turn to You when the rain drops first start to fall.”

Faithful Women: Recommended Reading List

2009-05-14T19:54:00.002-04:00

Queen of the Reformation (Charles Ludwig)
Gladys Aylward: A Missionary to China (Sam Wellman)
Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon (Charles Ray)
A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael (Elisabeth Elliot)
Evidence Not Seen (Darlene Deibler Rose)
Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards (Elisabeth D. Dodds)
These Strange Ashes (Elisabeth Elliot)
The Savage My Kinsman (Elisabeth Elliot)
The Hiding Place (Corrie ten Boom)
Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God (Noel Piper)

Faithful Women of God

2009-05-12T09:42:00.002-04:00

Saturday we had our traditional Mother/Daughter banquet with a twist. To encourage ladies without mothers or daughter to attend we called it our Ladies’ Spring Luncheon. This year’s theme brought “special guests” from three time periods: the Reformation, Victorian England, and the Second World War in full costume including hoop skirts, laced bodices, and straw hats.

Susannah Spurgeon (Victorian England) and Katie Luther (Reformation) greeted the ladies as they entered the multipurpose room. Friendly conversation filled the air as everyone moved into the adjacent room and found a seat. After the announcements and a couple of songs Darlene Diebler (Second World War) came to the podium.

Darlene shared her experience in a Japanese prison camp during WWII where she and her husband along with other missionaries were detained after the Japanese captured New Guinea. It broke our hearts when Darlene shared how her husband died in the prison and her desire to return to the mission field even though her own health was weakened from the mistreatment she endured.

Susannah came to the podium next, sharing how she had misjudged Charles Spurgeon the first time she heard him preach. Two years later the preacher she had judged a country bumpkin became her husband. Susannah also shared how after she became an invalid God still used her in the ministry.

Next we met the dramatic, energetic Gladys Aylward (Second World War) who led more than a hundred orphan children across China during WWII ahead of the Japanese invasion. Gladys shared how she learned to be content with the way God made her. As a young girl she longed to be a 5-foot 7-inch blond and act in pictures. God made her a 4-foot 11-inch burnett and sent her to China as a missionary. Her size and hair color made her fit in perfectly with the Chinese culture. God makes no mistakes.

Katie Luther finished up the program sharing how God helped her work through difficulties. Her mother died when she was very young and her father put her in a convent. Years later Martin Luther helped her and several other nuns escape. They made their way across Germany to Wittenberg in the back of a wagon hidden in wooden barrels that carried food to the convent. After becoming the wife of the great reformer, God taught Katie how to be industrious and creative in the ways she dealt with her husband’s overly generous hospitality and bouts of depression.

The program was followed by a buffet luncheon.

Books about the lives of our “special guests” were used as door prices. A book table was also provided were ladies could check out books from our church library about these and other faithful women of God.

These ladies have all gone on to glory, but for a short time Saturday morning they seemed to walk out of the pages of their books encouraging us to be faithful servants of God after the example they left for us.

Evaluation Time

2009-04-24T12:27:00.003-04:00

Spring is evaluation time in classrooms throughout the country. We want to know our students are learning what they need to know to become productive citizens.

For homeschool moms evaluation time is personal. Have we used the last several months wisely? Did we present the right material in the right way? Could we have done a better job teaching our children?

Are we as concerned about our spiritual development? It would be profitable for believers to take time to see how we are doing. Are our lives consumed by worry, or are we consistently trusting God in every circumstance?

There is no pen and paper test for this spiritual evaluation. It takes place in prayer as we ask God to show us our hearts.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23, 24 – NKJV)

Biblical Bifocals

2009-04-11T12:31:00.003-04:00

When the eye doctor prescribed bifocals I chose the no-line version to booster my vanity. I didn’t want everyone to notice the change from single to dual lenses. With short arms they do help me read better. I’ve tried to convince my daughters that publishers are using smaller font in books these days, but they won’t believe me.

I long to grow old with the dignity befitting a child of God. Yet, I cringe each time I go to the beauty shop. The pile of hair on the floor must belong to someone else! I don’t remember that many silver strands the last time I had my hair cut.

Every event . . . every change . . . every season of our lives must be viewed through the lens of God’s Word. Middle age is full of changes. Grandparents are getting older. Children are growing up and leaving home. Hormones are out of control. If we are going to handle all these changes in a godly way we need to put on our biblical bifocals.

A Favorite Poem

2009-04-11T10:22:00.008-04:00

A few days ago I shared my favorite literary passage to help set our minds for the Easter season. Today I want to share a favorite poem for the same reason.

I was first introduced to this poem, written by Martha Snell Nicholson, in my college freshman speech class a quarter of a century ago. It has been one of my favorites ever since.

Martha Snell Nicholson was born around 1898 and died in 1954. She was an invalid confined to her bed for over thirty years and wrote a number of stirring poems.

My Advocate (by Martha Snell Nicholson)

I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the Most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, "This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned, 'Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
'The Soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Shall not
Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can a righteous ruler do?"
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!

Then quickly One rose from God's right hand,
Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, "Each jot and tittle of the law,
Must be fulfilled: the guilty sinner dies!
But wait . . . Suppose his guilt were all transferred
To ME and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One Day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless, at Thy throne!"
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!

Rebuilding Walls

2009-04-06T00:28:00.005-04:00

A couple of years ago my older daughter built me a raised flowerbed in the front yard under the picture window. It was not only a solution for poor clay soil, but also an aid for my aging knees. Gardening is much easier on the knees with a brick wall on which to sit.

This spring my husband had enough of the wet basement and decided to do something about it. The something included contracting a company to dig around both inside and outside of the foundation repairing cracks and adding a sump pump. With the digging up came the hedges and my rose bush. The brick wall also came down.

After the outside of the foundation was patched and the trenches refilled with dirt we got busy rebuilding the wall. I decided that since we were redoing it anyway why not make it an “L” shape design bringing it on around the side of the porch as well. To our surprise the new design took as many bricks . . . well almost the same amount. I had to run to the neighborhood home and garden store for one more brick.

As my youngest daughter prepares to start her last year of high school this fall I feel like that brick wall, but I’m not sure were to find the needed brick to finish reshaping my life.

The 2009/10 school year will be our sixteenth year to homeschool. By February I normally have the first of the text books for the fall already ordered and am formulating my plan for the next school year. It’s already April and I’ve hardly began. I’m finding myself dragging my feet . . . not wanting our final year of homeschool to begin . . . for the simple reason it will be our final year.

2010 has other mile stones as well. I turn fifty in March. Our older daughter will graduate from college in December. My husband and I will have been married twenty-five years. A possible wedding is even in the works.

Where to find the last brick for my redesigned wall? I’ve loved being a stay home mom and homeschooling our two daughters. But, what is life after homeschool suppose to look like? I’m not sure.

Favorite Literary Passage

2009-03-28T18:26:00.001-04:00

With Easter only a couple weeks away it seems appropriate to share my favorite literary passage. It is a short but profound passage from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan and first published in 1675.
_____________________

Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchure, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, "He hath given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death." Then He stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks.
______________________

When is the last time you thanked God for His wondrous work through Christ on the cross? Take time to ponder the scene John Bunyan paints here. We were burdened down by sin, but Jesus took our punishment leaving us free from sins' awful weight.

Spiritual Fluff

2009-03-27T16:30:00.003-04:00

This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8, NKJV)

Have emotions taken first place in your life or are you building your faith on the Word of God?

With today’s obsession to please everyone . . . all the time . . . absolutes get thrown out like the Sunday newspaper. What others think becomes more important then what God says. Standards are branded old fashioned.

The Bible is treated like a book of suggestions instead of God’s blue print for daily life. Once biblical foundations are compromised away we are left with fickle emotions for our spiritual guidance. Emotions change with the weather, but we have a Heavenly Father who never changes.

How serious do you take the Bible?

Are you content to merely randomly pluck out verses to make it say what you want to hear? Or, are you making Scripture part of your daily life? Which do you treat as more valuable; how you feel on a given day or the guidance God has handed down to us in the pages of the Bible?

God gave us our emotions. They are part of who we are. But feelings must be filtered through the sieve of God’s Word. The side of the bed you got up on this morning should never dictate the depth of your faith.

Don’t masquerade your emotions as “answered prayer” to justify your actions. If the “answers” you receive are contrary to Scripture you have been deceived.

A quilt is constructed with three layers. The decorative layer on top gives a quilt its beauty. The bottom layer lends stability. The batting sandwiched inside adds warmth and comfort.

Emotions can be compared with the fluffy middle layer of a quilt. By themselves emotions are reduced to a layer of spiritual fluff. They have little use without the other two layers.

The Bible provides both our beauty and our stability.

Walking Away from Temptation

2009-03-25T07:40:00.000-04:00

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 - NKJV)

My mother-in-law is usually supportive and helpful with my weight loss goals. She is usually one of the first people to comment how niece I look when she notices I've lost a few more pounds. But, yesterday for some reason she was determined into coaxing me into eating chocolate marshmallow eggs with them.

I could taste the marshmallow filling, but my mother-in-law had already passed around the oreos a few minutes earlier. I knew three oreos were enough of a splurge for one afternoon. Even after the third offer and her assurance that I would eat one before I left didn't weaken my resolve, at least enough for me to give in.

The freedom of going home yesterday afternoon without the added calories of a marshmallow chocolate egg felt good. With the Lord's help I can walk away from temptation. That was the lesson I needed to learn. Poor eating choices is just like any other temptation in our life. God doesn't leave us there to falter alone. He promises to help.

Look, Don't Touch

2009-03-19T00:37:00.003-04:00

One afternoon Vickie invited me and two other ladies over for tea. I felt like royalty as we set down to the fruit salad and finger sandwiches she had lovingly prepared. The table was set with fine imported Irish china, creamy white with delicately painted clusters of green clover.

“This tea set belonged to my mother-in-law. I know she would have wanted it used.”

Vickie told us about an incident that happened shortly after she and Todd where first married. They were asked to house set for a couple of weeks while Todd’s parents went to Ireland to visit family. Todd’s parents assured them Vickie’s cat was welcome to stay as well.

Vickie carefully moved several of the antiques her in-laws loved to collect out of the cat's reach. That is all except the items displayed on a high shelf framing the kitchen a foot or so below the ceiling. “The cat could never get up there,” she thought.

But, one night Vickie woke to the dreadful sound of breaking glass. The item she found laying in pieces on the kitchen floor had been in the family for generations. Vickie was beside herself. What was she going to tell her mother-in-law?

A week or so later when Vickie tried to tell her the dear woman stopped her. “Before you say another word there is something I want you to know. Nothing in this house is more important to me then you. Everything I have is meant to be used and can always be replaced. Now what is it you need to say?”

Vickie told us that WAS her mother-in-law. She had the money for niece things and was never afraid to use them. China went into the dishwasher along with everyday dishes. It wasn’t that she didn’t value them. She just firmly believed they should be enjoyed.

Three of the ladies at our afternoon tea had matching salad bowls. One had a cereal bowl of the same pattern but noticeably shaped different. When Vickie unpacked the set from her mother-in-law’s things one of the salad bowls was missing. No doubt broken through use.

God doesn’t put “Look, don’t touch” signs on display either. The possessions He loans us are meant to share and enjoy.

Across the Wide River & The Light Across the River (by Stephanie Reed)

2009-02-13T23:30:00.004-05:00

A well written book penned for young people should also be able to be enjoyed by adults. This is true of the two books Stephanie Reed has written about the Rankin family. Stephanie gives us a front row seat view of the Underground Railroad through the eyes of two of the Rankin children, first Lowry and later Johnny.

In 1827 Reverend John Rankin built the family home on a high hilltop in the small town of Ripley, Ohio, overlooking the Ohio River. From this vantage point a lamp in the window could clearly be seen by slaves on the Kentucky side of the river. That lamp was the guiding light for thousands crossing the Ohio River on their way to Canada and freedom during the decades leading up to the Civil War. Soon transporting runaway slaves dictated nearly every aspect of young Lowry’s life. Would the burden prove too much for him to shoulder?

The sequel picks up where the first book left off. Lowry’s younger brothers and sisters helped with the “family business” as they grew older. The secret proved too much for one younger brother. Would Johnny’s indiscretion put the family in jeopardy?

For today’s blog I have the privilege to share an interview, through the convenience of email, I had with Stephanie. Both of these delightful books can be purchased through amazon.com.

Q. When did you start writing?

A. I’ve always liked to write. When I was a girl, I liked to write poems with complicated rhyme schemes. I enjoyed writing assignments in school, too. But I didn’t start writing books until my two kids were in high school and middle school. That was the year 2000, as a matter of fact, when I was forty.

Q. Have you always enjoyed history?

A. Yes. If I knew the characters in a book were real people, the story took on new meaning. I love to visit the settings for books. I also like to visit author’s homes--I have a dream trip all mapped out…in Wisconsin.

Q. Why junior historical fiction?

A. Put me in a room with people of all ages, and I will seek out the company of kids first. Talking with kids is so much fun, and they are very genuine! So that’s the junior part. For the historical part, the next age group I gravitate to is grandparents. I can learn from people who were born before me. They have experienced so much, and they are eager to share. Last of all, I would hang out with my peers—inferiority complex. Caveat: writers my own age—I can identify with them. As for why fiction, well, after a day in school, I think kids need to dream.

Q. Writing historical fiction must take a lot of research. Where do you begin?

A. I start on the Internet. I used to start at libraries, but now most have their card catalogues online. I never use Wikipedia, though. Research is exciting; I used to work in a library. I know how to track down a fact I need, like the addresses of descendants of the Rankins. They were the real-life Underground Railroad family in my books, Across the Wide River and The Light Across the River.

Q. How do you decide where history ends and fiction begins?

A. This is such an important question. I’m still learning! It’s awfully tempting to include every fascinating fact that I dig up, but I must remember that I am not writing a text book. On the other hand, I want to stay true to the Rankin family. I don’t want to make them do anything out of character, and that’s difficult, since I’ve never met them—the youngest Rankin son passed away in 1914 (there’s one of those fascinating facts), and I’m not quite that old!

Q. How does your faith influence your writing?

A. This is an excellent follow-up to your last question. I prayed about every aspect of my work. Even though I’ve never met the Rankins, God knew them. I don’t say that He told me everything the Rankins said or did, but He did give me plausible ideas. He also kept my spirits up with Mark 9:23: If you can believe, all things are possible for him who believes. Writing is hard, and being published is extremely hard. I needed the Lord’s help every step of the way. I decided early on that I wanted to use my writing to glorify the Lord and what He has done.

Q. Are you working on any other books?

A. Yes, I’m working on book three in my Rankin family trilogy. I’ve also completed a chapter book for younger readers based on a Rankin family story, and this is supposed to start another series. So that’s two. After that, I hope to write a story about Ohio’s Native Americans and their faith in God.

Q. Do you have any favorite books/authors?

A. Oh, yes! Too many to name, but remember that Wisconsin author home tour? I’d like to visit the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Big Woods), Carol Ryrie Brink (Caddie Woodlawn), and Sterling North (Rascal). I also love Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer), so maybe I could get my husband to take a little detour through Missouri.

If you’d like to learn more about Stephanie Reed's books or just chat you can visit her blog at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Stef

Amaryllis Bulb

2009-02-03T16:38:00.001-05:00

My sister-in-law gave me an amaryllis bulb for Christmas. The day after Christmas I planted it and set in the middle of our dinning room table. Over the last month we have enjoyed watching the stem sprout and grow.

Then the last week of January Cincinnati spent days shut down from a mixture of ice and snow. Schools closed. Tree limbs snapped taking down power lines. Roads become ice rinks. We were among the fortunate who never lost our electricity.

During the storm my amaryllis plant began to open. First one bud followed by another and another. By the time the snow was melting five budding flowers formed a royal crown.

I enjoyed the beauty of the snow and lacy ice cycles. But, I also enjoyed a pleasant reminder of spring. Isn’t it just like our loving Heavenly Father to plant a seed and germinate it to bloom at the perfect time!