It's my birthday today. I have been surprised and delighted by all the greetings, prayers, best wishes received, courtesy of all the technology available at this point of my journey. I have "tweeted", emailed, facebooked all around the world in celebration, and even got a phone call from Romania and another from South Africa carrying birthday wishes. How amazing is that??
I am so blessed by friends and family--admittedly, far more than I deserve. I am aware, though, that at this point of life (57 incredibly full years!), my life and my blessings to a significant degree are a reflection of the choices I have made and the paths I have walked. I am so glad that at 16 years of age, I made a personal and deep commitment to follow Jesus with my whole heart for my whole life. I am very thankful that while I was in graduate school I was advised to develop a "wisdom council" and actively seek counsel, submitting my decisions courses of action to wise, godly people who know me well. Inviting these people into "my business" over the years has saved me many heartaches, and kept me on the "paths of righteousness"---for His name's sake and MY name's sake as well! I am so appreciative of the books I have read, the tapes, cds, and podcasts I have heard--the seminars I have attended and the sermons I have heard. I am blessed because God has used those things to counsel me, shape me, prune me, develop me, stretch me--as I put into action the things I have been taught.
I could go on for a very long time, listing the things that bless me and make today such a happy day for me. But, I have to get back to the job I love (another great blessing!) and eventual birthday time with the family I love (another wonderful treasure!). As I do, this verse keeps a constant melody playing in my mind: "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22
Showing posts with label Personal/Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal/Family. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Makin' Whoopee!!
Last night was alot of fun. My mother-in-law (we call her Grams :-) ) had a major stroke on May 12, and is a patient at Pebble Creek Nursing Home. A dear friend, Julianne Burgess, had surprised Grams with a hair appointment. She has always been a stylish lady, caring very much about the finer details of personal grooming. Her nails were still scraggly and in need of care. Another close friend, Sunhee Starkey, visited her buddy and took nail care tools with her to freshen Mom up! Between Julianne's thoughtfulness and the pampering Sunhee gave her, she felt like a new woman. Her grandson J.L. was there as well, blowing on her cheeks and making her laugh. Finally, she was so excited that all she could do, since she has lost her ability to speak, was crow with joy! We all were joining with her as she made long, drawn-out "whoopee" noises---"whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Then, we'd just dissolve in laughter.
This month at Cornerstone Church we are concentrating on living out I John 3:18--"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." It's our LEAP, when we "leap" into our community with acts of love and service. I just witnessed an Olympic worthy leap of love from these people who cared for Grams. Anyone can talk alot about love, but getting in there and doing something practical for another person for no reward but the reward of doing what is right and good and loving is a God-kind of love.
As much as I loved what was happening for Grams, I couldn't help but feel a sense of deep sadness for the many people I see everytime I visit, sitting alone, lacking attention and friendship day after lonely day. Maybe you would want to leap into some elderly person's life with love this month? You can sign up at the church or check it out on the website http://www.cornerstonefmc.org/ ....there are teams of people going to nursing homes and doing many other wonderful acts of service. Maybe you could set something up yourself. And MAYBE, just maybe it would be just the push you need to make the leap into a lifestyle of serving in love.
Thanks, Julianne, J.L., and Sunhee...you make the kind of "whooopee!" the whole world needs a lot more of.
This month at Cornerstone Church we are concentrating on living out I John 3:18--"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." It's our LEAP, when we "leap" into our community with acts of love and service. I just witnessed an Olympic worthy leap of love from these people who cared for Grams. Anyone can talk alot about love, but getting in there and doing something practical for another person for no reward but the reward of doing what is right and good and loving is a God-kind of love.
As much as I loved what was happening for Grams, I couldn't help but feel a sense of deep sadness for the many people I see everytime I visit, sitting alone, lacking attention and friendship day after lonely day. Maybe you would want to leap into some elderly person's life with love this month? You can sign up at the church or check it out on the website http://www.cornerstonefmc.org/ ....there are teams of people going to nursing homes and doing many other wonderful acts of service. Maybe you could set something up yourself. And MAYBE, just maybe it would be just the push you need to make the leap into a lifestyle of serving in love.
Thanks, Julianne, J.L., and Sunhee...you make the kind of "whooopee!" the whole world needs a lot more of.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The story the closet tells
My mother went to heaven on May 29th. Like all of us, she went without a suitcase or even a purse, so all of her earthly possessions were left here. It was her great desire for all of her clothes to be put to good use as soon as possible, so Dad asked my sister and I to come down yesterday and sort her things. Funny the story a simple closet can tell.
This is what her closet told me yesterday. Take care of what you have. It's a gift from God, and careful use will help you represent God and yourself well. Be thrifty. You can look good and be appropriate without big brand names, and sometimes God will surprise you with a designer find at a thrift store. :-) Clean it and fix it before you put it away. You can be ready at a moment's notice if you take care of things as they come up. Enough is enough. You can only wear one outfit and one pair of shoes at a time. Reason and stewardship says there's a place to stop--I don't need it just because I can afford it. Simple memories are precious. Mother chose the dress she wore to my brother J's and sister-in-law Cathy's wedding almost 20 years ago for the "going-away" outfit she was buried in. The dresses she wore to the other 3 family weddings were treasures draped in plastic. HER wedding dress was not there. After 50 years, she had gotten rid of the simple white suit she wore, but her sentimental heart still had it's treasures. In a little box were 6 decorated buttons with this note, "The buttons from my wedding dress." Thinking ahead saves time. She had written little notes to herself and attached them to some of the clothes, saying, "Can wear this with the green slacks and scarf."
One job is left from the closet, and that's going through several small boxes on a bottom shelf. Just by a quick count, I saw one box had more than 20 prayer journals Mom had filled with her own careful handwriting. Just about then, it seemed to me the closet started singing. It sounded like this:
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone, and our children sift through all we've left behind, May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover, become the light that leads them to the road we each must find! Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful! May the fire of our devotion light their way! May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey! Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful! (steve green)
This is what her closet told me yesterday. Take care of what you have. It's a gift from God, and careful use will help you represent God and yourself well. Be thrifty. You can look good and be appropriate without big brand names, and sometimes God will surprise you with a designer find at a thrift store. :-) Clean it and fix it before you put it away. You can be ready at a moment's notice if you take care of things as they come up. Enough is enough. You can only wear one outfit and one pair of shoes at a time. Reason and stewardship says there's a place to stop--I don't need it just because I can afford it. Simple memories are precious. Mother chose the dress she wore to my brother J's and sister-in-law Cathy's wedding almost 20 years ago for the "going-away" outfit she was buried in. The dresses she wore to the other 3 family weddings were treasures draped in plastic. HER wedding dress was not there. After 50 years, she had gotten rid of the simple white suit she wore, but her sentimental heart still had it's treasures. In a little box were 6 decorated buttons with this note, "The buttons from my wedding dress." Thinking ahead saves time. She had written little notes to herself and attached them to some of the clothes, saying, "Can wear this with the green slacks and scarf."
One job is left from the closet, and that's going through several small boxes on a bottom shelf. Just by a quick count, I saw one box had more than 20 prayer journals Mom had filled with her own careful handwriting. Just about then, it seemed to me the closet started singing. It sounded like this:
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone, and our children sift through all we've left behind, May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover, become the light that leads them to the road we each must find! Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful! May the fire of our devotion light their way! May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey! Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful! (steve green)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
An Officer and a Gentleman
The last week ended a season of life for me. My mother died. Want to meet a REALLY great woman? You can read about her at http://obit.smithfuneral.com/obitdisplay.html?id=547398&listing=Current I could go on and on about her. She's the most amazing pray-er I have ever known. If there's anything like Jesus you see in me, she's a major reason. The tribute I wrote to her life gives some details on that.
But today I'm thinking about Dad. The phrase, "an officer and a gentleman", describes a military standard to which leaders are to aspire. It was popularized by the movie of the same name, starring Richard Gere. My dad gave me a super example of what it really truly means to be a courageous soldier, a leader, and a gentleman through and through, under the most trying emotional moments of his life.
When my mother--his constant companion, best friend, spiritual comrade, and love of his life—left this life, they were married just 2 weeks short of 58 years. Their relationship had to be exactly what God had in mind when He planned the one-flesh scenario for marriage. Though on her behalf, he is celebrating her safe arrival in heaven, on his end of things, he is as broken-hearted as a man can be. He and Mom made it their rule of life to out-serve each other, and it didn't take her illness to show his colors. He served her with courtliness, sacrifice, humor, gentlemanliness, and the utmost respect all 58 years. Her cancer diagnosis only showcased his tender strength. Dad was with her in every difficult moment, praying, believing, encouraging, laughing--sleeping beside her bed every single night, insisting on taking every burden off her shoulders he possibly could. He didn't "baby" her, though; he saw her as a fully capable partner, one who really was God's premiere tool in making him who he is.
So sending her on before him to heaven was heartwrenching to him. But he was a soldier. Through her calling hours and her memorial service, Dad's focus was still outward--not on himself. He wanted people to know what a great God we serve, what an amazing woman Mother was, and to not focus on him. He prayed for God to help him keep his emotions in check so no one would let pity for him distract them from those main messages . 87 years old, and he stood at the casket the entire two days without breaks, thanking and greeting more than 1200 guests. Here's a moment for you--two friends of mine came through the line to share their sympathy. When Dad discovered that they were believers who were currently divorced from each other, but now were friends, he said, "Let me pray for you right now." He prayed intimately and urgently for God to "rekindle the love that once burned brightly" and to restore their marriage. He hugged them, and urged them to invite him to their wedding when God had done His work. Then he was back to greeting other guests.
When it was time for the fanily to tell Mom our last good-byes, he asked us all to precede him, because he wanted to be the last one to kiss the most beautiful person he had ever known. Oh, yeah---he's an officer and a gentleman. I salute you, Dad. You're my hero.
But today I'm thinking about Dad. The phrase, "an officer and a gentleman", describes a military standard to which leaders are to aspire. It was popularized by the movie of the same name, starring Richard Gere. My dad gave me a super example of what it really truly means to be a courageous soldier, a leader, and a gentleman through and through, under the most trying emotional moments of his life.
When my mother--his constant companion, best friend, spiritual comrade, and love of his life—left this life, they were married just 2 weeks short of 58 years. Their relationship had to be exactly what God had in mind when He planned the one-flesh scenario for marriage. Though on her behalf, he is celebrating her safe arrival in heaven, on his end of things, he is as broken-hearted as a man can be. He and Mom made it their rule of life to out-serve each other, and it didn't take her illness to show his colors. He served her with courtliness, sacrifice, humor, gentlemanliness, and the utmost respect all 58 years. Her cancer diagnosis only showcased his tender strength. Dad was with her in every difficult moment, praying, believing, encouraging, laughing--sleeping beside her bed every single night, insisting on taking every burden off her shoulders he possibly could. He didn't "baby" her, though; he saw her as a fully capable partner, one who really was God's premiere tool in making him who he is.
So sending her on before him to heaven was heartwrenching to him. But he was a soldier. Through her calling hours and her memorial service, Dad's focus was still outward--not on himself. He wanted people to know what a great God we serve, what an amazing woman Mother was, and to not focus on him. He prayed for God to help him keep his emotions in check so no one would let pity for him distract them from those main messages . 87 years old, and he stood at the casket the entire two days without breaks, thanking and greeting more than 1200 guests. Here's a moment for you--two friends of mine came through the line to share their sympathy. When Dad discovered that they were believers who were currently divorced from each other, but now were friends, he said, "Let me pray for you right now." He prayed intimately and urgently for God to "rekindle the love that once burned brightly" and to restore their marriage. He hugged them, and urged them to invite him to their wedding when God had done His work. Then he was back to greeting other guests.
When it was time for the fanily to tell Mom our last good-byes, he asked us all to precede him, because he wanted to be the last one to kiss the most beautiful person he had ever known. Oh, yeah---he's an officer and a gentleman. I salute you, Dad. You're my hero.
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