Her Name is Angela

There are a small number of people you can count on in your life.  I know. God. He can always, without question be counted on.  His characteristics and attributes clearly say that He is always with us.  If fact, He is the only absolute certainty in my life.  

Then there is family.  You cannot discount the tie that binds you together.  The good, the bad, and undeniably the ugly.  Our families are supposed to love us for who we are, but most often it's probably in spite of who we are.  

I have a sister. One sibling. One that I have shared a room and clothes with.  One who has shared our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows. She is all that is remaining of my original family. In 1972 when we became fatherless, it came down to one mother and two girls.  This was during the time when the innocent victims of divorce were the "undesirables" among certain people groups.  Maybe "desperate times called for desperate measures".  Maybe we needed to close in our circle so our mother could find where God wanted us.  Maybe what we needed to learn was how to lean on each other in every circumstance that was thrown our way.  In the wisdom of God, He provided for us and in doing that caused a bond to grow.  

I could fill you in on sister "discussions" that may or may not have ended up with hair being found in someone else's fingers. I could tell you about long car rides with laundry baskets full of books because we didn't have a radio, much less air-conditioning, which made keeping pages in the right place very difficult. You would be enthralled with our beauty shop tales of hair up-do's that couldn't' be brushed out for days because of all the hairspray. Hair may have come out on that occasion also.  There may have been a time when one of us, was hidden by the other behind a couch until the police were called by a frantic mother and grandmother.  She came out when the men in blue knocked on the door. We both didn't leave the house for days. I could tell of late night talks when we were supposed to be sleeping and staying up late for more than a few nights.  There is no end to the stories that could be told. 

Today is my sisters birthday. It's a milestone. If I could describe my sister it would be this:  She loves family. Our family, her family, our extended family. It doesn't matter. If there is a drop of DNA that is common to her, it's a done deal.  She has loved my children since the moment each of them have been born, and they love her because she makes the effort to be their Aunt.  And the Treasures, no problem. They love Sissy! She is accomplished in her professional field. She has a husband and sons that  "rise up and call her blessed".  She is a good and trusted friend.  She is smart, talented, beautiful and excellent at board games :).  When we are together, it's as if we have never been parted. She is always fun. When you can laugh uncontrollably with someone, it's a bond that is not easily broken. She is the sister that many people long for, and some are blessed to have. 

Happy Birthday, Sharon. I hope it's wonderful. Do something fun. Wear red shoes. Feel the love that is coming your way, today and every day.  Know that there is no other sister I would rather have. 

You're stuck with me like Peeps and jelly beans at Easter. They always go together.  You can have all the black jelly beans, though.

For all the days we have, I am graced with the gift of you. 

Can I Have That One?

I'm thankful that God speaks to us in many ways. I'm thankful that He can use anything or anyone He desires to make it happen.  I'm thankful that today I was hit square in the face with something hard and God sent a "Word and a Wonder" (LPL/27bones attendees know this) that was a balm to my questioning soul.

Hard things hit when you are not expecting them to come crashing into your life.  Difficult situations, unexpected reactions are all part of our daily living when we do not want them to be.  Remembering that God is always in control is sometimes easier said than done.

I watched a video tonight. Social media does have a positive aspect. :)  In this video a father was presumably in a restaurant with his daughter in his lap. It was the usual endearing photo exchange that parents indulge themselves in with their children.  Chronicling our lives is getting increasingly easier and much more interesting than it used to be.  While watching the video segment  the father had his  daughter sitting in his lap. She was "feeding" him small morsels of food and she was enjoying every minute of it.  Looking at this fathers face, he was too.

All of this is very normal in a father/daughter moment. The best part was the fact that this fathers arms were completely encircling the daughter during their encounter. You could see she was very comfortable and safe in her fathers arms. At one moment he leaned into her and said, "Can I have that one right there? Can I have that one? Will you give me all of those?"

In the times of our lives that things are out of control, when nothing is going like we expected, everything is spinning around us and we wonder how we got to this place, that is when God says, "Can I have that one right there? You know, the one you are hanging on to. Can I have that one?  The one that you think you still have control of. Will you give me all of those? If you will, I will use you in ways you cannot imagine."

A father/daughter moment turned into a Father/Daughter moment.  I want to be the daughter that sits securely and safely in her Fathers arms without fear;  a daughter that trusts Him in every moment; the daughter that when her  Father asks something of her,  she gives it completely.

This precious daughter is going to find it very easy to learn how God loves. She is already beginning to see an example of it in her father.

One of these days I'm going to arrive in Heaven and when I do I hope I get to climb into my Fathers lap, feel His nail-pierced hands and arms around me, and sit a while.  What a day that will be.

Lessons Learned From One Table Over

Reflection at the end of a day is a good thing.  Sometimes we can look back see how our steps were ordered for good. And on those same days we can look back and see that even though we weren't praying for patience, God saw fit for us to put in some practice in that certain area.

I'm pretty sure the Bible says, "In all things, give thanks."  We were trying very hard.

The morning started off with this:

Thank You, Jesus.

Followed by this, with the former image in hand:

And the angels were singing.

All was well and right with the world.  Birds were singing, children were playing and I could almost feel myself starting to relax.  Quietly overlooking a lake, we ate lunch in divine splendor.  

As we exited and began to drive down a VERY BUSY highway, we heard what is never a good sound. After pulling over, we saw this:

Long story short, we found a place to get a new tire. They said it would take three hours!! So we sat. The football game was on. And we sat some more. On the upside, it only took half the time they originally told us.  

This is where the real story began. As much as I loved the morning, God had something much more in store for this soul that for most of the time is oblivious to what is going on around her.  

We stopped on the way home to eat at a place that is so much more than a restaurant.  You can shop there, too :) .  I noticed that the place was relatively empty when we sat down.  Maybe that's why the table to the left of me stood out.  There was an older couple sitting there just getting their food as we sat down.  The wife caught my attention first. She was dressed in white pants and a sparkly, purple sequined shirt. Her white hair was perfectly in place with just the right amount of curl. Her shoes were the prettiest pair of black sandals I've seen in a long time.  Sitting there in her wheelchair pulled up to the table, she was a picture of elegance and fine manners.  Her husband, ever the gentleman, was dressed just as well in his T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots.  He had a Stetson in the chair next to him.  I immediately fell in love with both of them.  

They each made sure that the other one had everything they needed.  They ate their meal, sometimes conversing, but mostly in companionable silence. You could tell that they have mastered the art of being with each without the need of words. Their silence wasn't forced. It was an easygoing comfort that comes with a love and respect for one another.  If one said something, the other was immediately attentive.  I imagine after spending so much time together it is a "hand and glove" reaction.  They each know what to do to the help the other.  

When they finished their meal, the waitress brought the check.  The wife held it up while they both examined it.  After agreeing it was correct, the husband helped his bride gather her belongings. He patted her on the back as he began to push her out and they left not knowing the lasting impression they made. 

I saw love in action.  It was quiet. It was peaceful. It hinted of minutes and hours spent together that made a difference.  It was comfort and it was unselfish. 

 The companionship of God is like that.  He is everything.  He is our Peace. He gives comfort when no one else can.  He longs for us to want to spend time with Him and when we do there is joy in the obedience.  He has given us all that we need in Jesus.  He has given us His Word to speak to us  and we can see in black and white what His instructions are.  Why do we so often long for the noise and chaos of the world when the companionship of God is what we need to crave? 

May we be satisfied with the quietness of God, because in that quietness, He speaks volumes.  

I was reminded of this today...from one table over.

Who Do You Trust?

Daniel 11:32b says that the people who know their God will display strength and take action. 

Who is this God that says He puts to death and gives life; causes well-being and creates calamity; wounds and heals and then makes the statement: "I am the LORD who does all these things"?

Oh friend, He is all this and much more. Understanding His names and attributes are what we have to draw strength and hope from . It is the exact courage that can pull us through those days when all hope and reason is lost.  God's character is all compiled within His attributes and His name. They are not part of Him, they are Him. 

What kind of strength are we displaying?  Do we as Christians show Who God is to those around us?  In those times of great distress and dismay, when the things surrounding us are in a whirl, where do we point with the fingers of our lives?  At this very moment, people in my sphere of friends are struggling. One has seen her father enter into the presence of Jesus.  One has a daughter on the edge of marriage and another has been praying for a particular person for years.  All the emotions and feelings that are wrapped up with these are more than we/they can bear.  That's where God comes in. He actually been there all along. Sometimes we can't see His goodness for the events that encompass our hearts and minds. 

God is Holy and gracious, loving us unconditionally.  He is always right and fair.  He is merciful and wrathful, all in One.  He is loving and jealous, not sharing what is rightfully His with any creature.  He is good, not giving us what we deserve and faithful. Always true to His promises.  He always does what He has spoken. 

God does not contradict Himself. All of these characteristics and attributes make God Who He is.

If we really knew God like that, would we as Daniel said, "display strength and take action"? 

Knowing God for Who he is will give us peace and security.  We can trust Him to do what He says.  His promises will become more real to us and we can rest in the knowledge that God really does have everything under control.  In this world of suffering and anxiety, we can believe that God is worth living for.  In fact, He is the only One worth living for. 

Trust Him.

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease
I trust in You, I trust in You

 

I believe You're my healer
I believe You are all I need

And I believe You're my portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

 

(Healer:  Kari Jobe)

 

Rest in the shelter of Who God is and the truth of His Word.  It's worth it.

Day of Memories..

This is a day of remembering.  Two hundred and twenty seven times in the Bible God tells us to remember : 

But God remembered Noah,
God remembered His covenant,
Remember all the commandments of the Lord,
Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, 
Remember the former things past,
Remember the word that I said to you, For I am God,
Remember the poor,
Remember what you have received and heard; and keep it...

and so on.  

Maybe there are some things in our lives that are too painful to remember. They bring back memories of a difficult time, hurt feelings, a wrong decision made or fear. We don't like to let those memories resurface because they are etched in our minds as something we would rather forget. Not remember.

And then there are the memories that we hold on to with the tightest grip we can manage. Those many "firsts and lasts" and things in between that seem to invade every spare inch of our brains. We take pictures and video so we can always remember what we looked or sounded like. Little League games, dance recitals, you name it and we are there recording every moment for the sake of posterity. I've done it and keep doing it myself. It's a chance to hang on to a certain time period so we will always remember exactly what it was like.  Pictures do that for us.  They transport us back to the place where something special was happening.  They help us remember. 

Today with much love and thankfulness I am remembering my Mom and my grandmother. I have pictures. I have hand written cards. I have special items of each of them. I have a video that was recorded at a family reunion several years ago that I periodically get out and play. While I was recording a certain trio of little boys singing "Hakuna Matata", Mom and Nonna were talking to me at the same time. In the course of  that conversation they both say my name. Sometimes I just like to hear them say my name one more time. It helps me remember. 

While I have all those reminders of them, what I most often think about is their kindness, their sensitive spirit to those who were hurting. They both seemingly had the uncanny ability to attract every person in their sphere of influence who had any kind of concern or problem, and they would sit patiently and listen, involved in each word that was spoken and offer advice when needed.  The feel of their embrace and the sense of their undeniable love is what speaks loudly today.  

Twenty four days before Mom opened her eyes in Heaven, she wrote, " Some circumstances seem senseless--often seem too painful to bear--but I know this truth and stand firmly on it: God is always, in all things, up to something good in my life.  His eternal good!"

I'm thankful for memories and I'm all about making memories. I have Treasures that will need to remember how God has been so faithful in their family. I want to be faithful in what they remember.  

Continue On...

As mothers, grandmothers and even great-grandmothers we all have a job to do. Some have said, "A mothers work is never done", and I believe it.  A mother knows what it's like to get everything clean, turn around and it's dirty again.  They wash endless amounts of clothes, cook meals that are scarfed down in 5 minutes flat and fix boo boo's that are causing no small amounts of pain.  All of this done while trying to be current, cool and calm.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

It's not easy to raise a family. Mothers sacrifice,  skimp, and work hard day and night.  I believe there is no assignment here on earth that needs more skill and compassion than what God requires of  mothers. They are a referee, a psychologist, a theologian, and occasional swat team.  Sometimes they have to wait 45 minutes at the pediatrician's with cranky, leaky nose children only to be told, "It's probably a virus. Take them home and let them rest".

How interesting that most mothers get the job done, and they generally do it well.  God put something on the inside of mothers that allows for all this to happen and they continue on. I believe that's what God wants from us--to continue one. Even when the work gets interrupted. Even when we feel like failures in comparing ourselves to others. Continuing on means allowing God take our shortcomings and turn them around. It means not giving in or giving up. It reminds us that these children we have for a short while were placed with us for a specific reason--to teach them about God and His greatness.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 says:

"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children, how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, "Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth and that they may teach their children so"  

In other words, do what God has commanded you to do and continue on. Teach them to fear the Lord and all His ways. Teach them that God has worked in their past and He has a plan for their future.

Someone once gave me what is called "A Parable for Mothers". As I read it then, it reminded me of mine and my sister's journey with our mother.

A Parable for Mothers

A young mother put her feet on the path of life and asked, "Is it long?".  Her 

Guide answered, "Yes, and it is hard and you will be old before you reach the end. 

But the last is better than the first."

But the young mother was happy and the sun was shining.  She could not believe any years could be better than these.  So she played with her children along the way and gathered flowers for them and cried, "Nothing can ever be lovelier than this."

Then came the night and the storms.  And the children cried with fear and cold. She gathered them close in her arms and spread her mantle about them and the children said, "We are not afraid Mother, nothing can ever harm us for you are with us."

And that night, the mother said,"This is better than the brightness of day,  for I have taught my children courage."

And the next day there was a steep hill before them.  The children grew weary, and the mother was weary too, but she called to them, " A little patience, and we will be there."

They kept climbing and at last were at the top.  

the children said, "We could never have done it, Mother, without you."

That night the mother looked at the stars and whispered, "This day is better than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardship.  Yesterday I taught them courage, but today I have given them strength."

And the next day there were great clouds covering the earth. Storms of war, hatred, suffering and privation came upon the mother and children, and upon mothers and children all about them.  

then the other gathered her family and said, "we must now rely completely upon God. Only our Lord and Savior will see us through.  

We pray for strength to help all the unfortunate and suffering about us."

They knelt and prayed. Then they put their arms about their aging mother and said, "

we will go. You stay.  You have taught us how to live in the strength of the Lord."

The mother sat alone at last. But not really alone.  She spoke to her Guide through all the years and said, "The last is better than the first for now they have You.  Your love is in their hearts. 

We have , at last, 

THE BEST.

Continue on, Mothers, Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers.  Continue on so God's name will be honored and glorified.  

Happy Mothers Day

Material Girl in a Material World: The True Daisy Buchannon

Starting today, I will have some guest writers on this blog. I am always interested in reading peoples idea's and the way they see things. This guest writer is close to my heart. He has always had a penchant for writing and I believe this proves it. With his gift of opening eyes to the hidden meaning, I expect to read much more of his work in the future.



Material Girl in a Material World:
The True Daisy Buchannon

     After finishing rereading the great Gatsby in anticipation of the movie coming out on May 10th, I've been constantly chasing the proverbial rabbit around in my head about the unique romance inspired through the eyes of Hollywood. When you watch the movie whether old or new you'll get the feeling that Gatsby and Daisy are tragic star-crossed lovers that through fate are not meant to end like the fairy tales of our youth, but more to the etiquette of a Greek tragedy. The question that has cost me several nights of sleep is simple, "Did Daisy really love Gatsby or the security in which he represented?".

     Some would argue back to when Gatsby was a lieutenant in Louisville, that Daisy was indeed in love with Gatsby so much that she waited for him and only when he wasn't coming home did she finally move on to eventually her husband Tom. But we know this to not be to entire truth. Gatsby tells us in chapter 8 that the only way he won her attention was after misrepresenting himself as a person from a well-off family and that he would be able to take care of her in the way she was accustomed. Once Daisy decided she couldn't wait any longer for Gatsby and the start of her adult life, out goes Jay and in come Tom.  Fast forward a couple years, multiple bottles of illegal Rye, and the probable fixed World Series and there's the new Jay Gatsby that's larger than life. 

     Over the years Jay Gatsby, who was of a higher moral value,  begins a downward spiral slowly crumbling his moral intuition to further pursue Daisy by going as far as participating and coordinating bootlegging of illegal alcohol and fixing the biggest sporting event of the era. After convincing Nick to invite Daisy to his house for tea, Gatsby swoops in and goes on the blinding tour of all the material things he's accumulated over time in hopes of prying her away from Tom. The enormous house, the clothes, cars, over abundant flowers, and let's not forget the unreal  parties of the summer that had New York's socialites'  mouths watering for more. All of this for Daisy's approval. When it seemed that Daisy was leaning toward leaving Tom for all the glitz and glamor of the Gatsby lifestyle, it's revealed that most, if not all of Gatsby's earnings have been less than honorable among society. With this in mind the longstanding security of Gatsby's revenue could be at risk due to legality issues later on in life and the presumption of leaving her husband in that time period, however justified it might be, was frowned upon. Even while knowing that Tom is stepping out on Daisy, she still chooses the safe and easy route of remaining with Tom, breaking the entire world that Jay Gatsby had dream would one day exist.

      In the end, she chooses the one who doesn't appreciate her, but gives her security over the one who would give the world his soul for one moment with her. It just goes to show you that in fairy tales, Cinderella may always get her prince, but in the real world JFK doesn't always get a Grace Kelly.

Jonathan Goodwin