From the beginning of time, and after the fall of man, the perfect paradise of Eden was destroyed, demolished, never again to be the same. The real war against sin was underway. When we look at all the battles from then on, each one seems to be consumed with greed, lust for land and property, man’s inhumanity to his fellow man and everything that corrupts us – SIN! We’re even warned in the above Bible passage, Matthew 246, that there will be wars and rumors of more wars, but they must happen until Jesus returns to us.
Our news reports are filled with stories of hostages being taken – innocent children being killed, women holding tightly to their children for fear of having them snatched out of their arms. There is the more to war than the ugliness that we see on a daily basis. We are fighting a battle that has already been won in our own lives. The victory occurred many years ago when Jesus died on the cross to defeat Satan and give us eternal life. That war is over, but the battles go on. The devil is active and determined to make mankind his slaves and hold them captive within his own misery.
We will see these wars and hear rumors of more as time goes on. There’s no escaping man’s desire for more. Knowing that our victory has been won and we are assured a place in heaven, death no longer holds the sting it once did. What can we do about the situation currently going on in Israel and Ukraine? Please don’t underestimate the power of your prayers. God hears them. He is in control. He will always be with you.
Dear, Heavenly Father,
The world is very evil. The wars around us prove that. Only you can bring peace to this world and it starts with our returning to a relationship with you. Wars have been waged for centuries, but you alone have won our eternal victory. Heal our land. Help us to come to you in prayer, repentance and the knowledge that you provide a solution for everything. In Jesus name, Amen!
As I start a new week, my mind shifts to the olden days. Now that I’m considered an antique, I think about those days a lot. Maybe you remember seeing a sampler like the one pictured above. I don’t know how they fit cross-stitching into their week, but of course, there were always those intermittent moments when you had nothing to do but sew. Those days are gone too, unless you’re a costumer, or you enjoy doing needle work. The days of the week were categorized into chores which you would likely do on that day. For example: Monday was laundry day. I imagine an accumulation of seven days of laundry would take a whole day to do. Now that we have modern conveniences to help us through this chore, we can wash almost every day. Of course, they probably wore the same clothes for most of the week, so they had to be quite dirty.
Each day there was some task required of you.
Monday – laundry. (Now we do laundry daily because it’s so easy.)
Tuesday – Ironing, (do people even do that anymore?)
Wednesday – Mending – (do we even know what that means?)
Thursday – Market. (Today we shop when we need something and can even do it online.)
Friday – Clean. (This wasn‘t just tidying up, but deep cleaning)
Saturday – Bake. (This included baking for church fellowship on Sunday along with the five loaves of bread necessary for the next day.)
Sunday – Church. (Everyone knew that Sunday was designated for refreshing the soul and taking a break from your chores.)
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go back to the simplicity of the last century? As progress progresses, and us old-timers feel like we’re left in the dust, it makes me wonder if those days can ever be recaptured. Or would we even want them to be? When I was just a little girl, learning my ABCs, all of these traditions were part of our learning process. We had dish towels embroidered with the days of the week. There was even underwear with those same days stitched into them. What would happen if you wore the wrong day or used the wrong towel? Chaos would probably not ensue, but it could create some interesting conversation.
God sets a new week before us on Sunday. He already has planned your week. He knows the problems you will encounter and has a solution to help you work through it. He gives you a brain to help you organize the week and the time spent doing various things. I wonder what He would have to say about progress. We can move forward with confidence that we can accomplish the things we set out to do. We can look back at the things left unfinished the previous week and figure out how to work those into our schedule for this week. When we place Him first, our weekly chores won’t seem impossible. In fact with Him, all things are possible.
I wrote this post ten years ago. Nothing much has changed in our world today. If you are familiar with God, you know that he never changes. He is more than patient with us. I thank him for his consistency and endurance. His love endures forever. The painting expresses God’ presence among us as we travel this journey called life.
ART BY PAUL T. BOECHER
Wars continue to wage in the Middle East, despite the many lives already spent. Gangs infest the streets of our cities, shattering young lives and enticing vulnerable children into their malicious arms. Immorality festers in each new bit of technology. Our government engages in all sorts of drama and doesn’t accomplish anything while the media thrives on it. Our children are exposed to every available evil known to man before they even have a chance to become children. It’s like an old spiritual which states, “I wish that I could find a way, but life is just one long grey day.”
Let’s admit it, this world is a mess. God, I know that you have a plan in all of this yuck. It’s really hard to understand it, but I will trust in you to make something good out of it. Give me peace in the knowledge that you have a better place prepared for my future. Help me share that good news with those who still need to know it. Amen
The years of more than eighty-one, have drifted quickly by, I’ve shuffled on this rugged orb, I’ve laughed a lot and cried, Fell hopelessly in love one day, the true love of my life, I gave my heart to him alone, when he took me as his wife,
We watched three precious children grow, we stretched every cent, What we gave up, we did for them, and out the money went, As parents we don’t often think of what the cost might be, For if we did, the chances are, no children would we see,
Our lives rolled on as theirs did too, they fledged out on their own, They found careers that filled their lives, but still they were alone, When love found them and touched their hearts, life’s cycle turned once more, They pledged their lives to those they loved, they opened life’s great door,
So many years and memories can fill us to the brim, The days are marked off quickly, our eyesight may turn dim, Our bodies lose their power and strength, our minds may also fail, The simple things we used to do, are lost to no avail,
Old age is harder than you think, just wait ’til you get there, Your skin will hang on withered bones, you start to lose your hair, Your waning physical prowess, has all but lost the war, You’re wrinkled and you’re weakening, your muscles are so sore,
You’re cranky and impatient too, you can’t escape the truth, You’re not much longer for this world, your drooling is uncouth, You’ve turned into a child once more, you need another’s aid, Is this all there is left for you, is this why you were made,
Of course, I know that isn’t true, for this is just the start, My dying wish will be fulfilled, it’s written on my heart, No matter what I’ve done in life, no matter where I roam, My fate is sealed through Jesus, Christ and heaven is my home.
Halloween in my neck of the woods, begins on October 1st. If you want to purchase Halloween stuff you can certainly do so in July, because the decorations are readily available. When you live in the Halloween Capital of the World, you could be shamed if you don’t at least have a pumpkin or ten outside your front door. I live in Anoka, Minnesota. Maybe you didn’t know, but way back on November 1, 1919, the residents of this little community woke up to all sorts of nasty pranks which had been played the night before. Those pranks were not the usual toilet paper related ones, but cows actually were freely roaming the streets of this little town as well as in the county jail. Outhouses had been turned over. Wagons were placed precariously on rooftops. All of this was done by some local youth, who thought it would be fun to create havoc. I wonder how those kids were disciplined after that Halloween night of rowdiness. After the incident, the townspeople came together to take it into their own hands. They organized Halloween festivities for the following year. They planned things like “trick or treating,” decorations, parties and things to keep the young goblins off the streets. Thus, Halloween as we know it today is now celebrated with great fanfare in Anoka, MN. We have ghost tours, parades, decorations – all kinds of festivities to celebrate the holiday in an orderly fashion. The face of a jack-O’lantern adorns one of the roundabouts in the city. There are still those little stinkers who like to play tricks on Halloween today, but I haven’t seen any cows walking down the street lately.
Well, the first year we lived in our little, old house on the freeway, we decorated with little ghosts hanging from the lilac bushes. Witches smashed into tree trunks – all the trappings to celebrate a holiday I’m not particularly fond of. We made a scarecrow out of some old costumes I didn’t need anymore. I purchased way too many decorations including orange lights to fill the yard. I felt kind of silly, because no one on our block, except me, had decorated. Maybe our neighbors didn’t know that Anoka was the Halloween Capital of the World. This year, I bought a real pumpkin, which sits on the table in our dining room, surrounded by some fake autumn leaves. That’s the extent of my holiday decorating. Maybe I’m just getting old. Maybe I’m thinking about trying to get the Halloween decorations up and then having to take them down again in November, so we can put up the Christmas stuff. Maybe I should just move to another town.
When you see a small child wearing his parent’s shoes, it seems quite laughable. When a full-grown man tries to squeeze his big foot into a tiny shoe it can seem impossible. When we wear shoes that are inappropriate for us – like steel toed flip flops- well, as usual, I digress. My point is that wearing another person’s shoes is not an easy task. Even though this seems laughable or impossible, the fact is, it should be required of us. To wear a pair of shoes like the ones shown in the image I’ve chosen, might be hard to do. They don’t look very comfortable. They’re worn out and shabby. They’ve gone through a lot of trouble along the way. Is that how you view the person who might be wearing them?
I’ve seen homeless people wearing shoes like this. I’ve also seen them wearing brand new expensive tennis shoes. I’ve seen boots that have been worn for 20 years and still can stand the test of time. I’ve seen shoes that have been contributed to a thrift store that have never been worn. There are shoes, sandals and loafers that can’t be parted with, because they’re just getting broken in. The use of this phrase is not about physically wearing another person’s shoes, but about sharing what the person wearing them is dealing with in their life. It’s a colloquialism which demonstrates putting yourself in someone else’s place. We don’t always do that today. We basically look out for ourselves. The word compassion comes to mind. Being sympathetic, caring, and having a listening ear are door openers that live in the shadows today. It’s really sad that new age communication has suffered because of technology.
This is a new age – revolutionary time of change. We’re facing all kinds of new obstacles as we open our eyes to a new day. It is no longer acceptable to hug anyone outside of your own family. We contain our feelings. We don’t really communicate face to face anymore. God gave us the ability to care – to love – to show empathy – sympathize – and to work things out together. We need to be with others. We may even need to relearn how to do that as our culture changes. In the meantime, it might be good to just try wearing their shoes for a while.
John 15:12 ESV “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Most of us have seen the commercial where a person is walking through life behind a mask- trying to cover the reality of their life – feeling defeated, broken or useless. Of course, there’s a pill for that. The problem is that pills eventually wear off and you have to take another and another and eventually you wind up down some rabbit hole. Once there, it’s hard to push your way back into the truth of your existence.
I’ve grown up wearing masks of different kinds. I’ve grown old continuing to wear them. I’ve learned how to hide what really is going on in my head and heart, but there are times when the mask has to come off and the reality of life must be faced. Modern social media has become a mask of sorts. We try to put the best face on Facebook. Our photographs on Instagram can give us another source of identity. A failed recipe from Pinterest would never be revealed. We can become reliant on affirmation through these tools, but eventually the truth must come out. I am guilty of showing beautiful flowers from my garden, but I wouldn’t display the piles of underbrush and overgrowth that has invaded our back yard during our current road construction. I show photos of my husband and I taking little road trips in order to make the most of each day, while my heart is overflowing with questions – lack of faith or wisdom and a lot of tears. My house may look like a cute little farmhouse with a great deal of charm, but inside, you’ll find cobwebs, dust, and a place that has been neglected for a long time.
What and who we are does not depend on our outer appearance. If it did, we’d all be doomed. What goes on inside or behind the mask is reality. If we show that side, we can become vulnerable or destined to be hurt. Thankfully, we have a Savior, who became human to live with us, experience every temptation that we do without giving in to sin, and who gave His life so we can experience a perfect reality beyond the grave.
Maybe to some, that sounds like just another mask. The reality is that you can count on this message being truth from God Himself. He doesn’t hide from us. He’s revealed in His Word, the Bible. We can see Him in every corner of our lives, if we allow Him to enter in. When our lives are over, the mask will come off. What will God see? He will only see His Son, Jesus, who paid the ultimate price to give us eternal life.
We all can accomplish more than we think we can. In times of crisis, we draw on our inner courage to be of some help. When the adrenaline is pumping, we can overcome obstacles we never thought possible. The human mind and body are amazing creations – intricately and perfectly crafted to come to the rescue when necessary. However, when we rely entirely on ourselves, our strength and courage wane in comparison to what we can do when we listen to God’s voice and direction to be strong and courageous. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Easier said than done sometimes.
The world teaches that we can do whatever we put our mind to. We can use our brain, our physical strength and our wherewithal to do great things. When ego gets in the way it can puff us up so much that we think we’re invincible. When that happens, something can happen to burst the balloon destined for destruction. We realize that we are not always capable of doing these things, we easily become discouraged. Admitting that we need help isn’t easy. It’s like saying we don’t have the stamina to do things on our own. It weakens us.
God plants courage into each one of us. We were perfectly formed in His image and yet imperfect because of our inherited sin. We need His strength and courage to help us overcome the daily tasks of life. Without Him, we may be able to accomplish acts of courage, but with Him we can do even greater things. Remembering that He, alone, created the world in six days, we can be confident that through Him, all things are possible.
With the Lord begin your task; Jesus will direct it. For his aid and counsel ask; Jesus will perfect it. Every morn with Jesus rise, And when day is ended, In his name then close your eyes; Be to him commended.
It’s Monday . . . again! Isn’t it amazing that God gives us a new day, a new week, a new beginning and a second chance? As I begin this week, I usually think about what lies ahead, but it doesn’t hurt to look back at little victories – new memories made – old memories restored and laughed about. Here’s a list of some of the things that ran through my mind as I woke up this morning.
I wondered if I had awaken in the middle of the night. It was 6:30 AM, but the sky was still semi-dark. By the time I finished taking my pills, brushing my teeth and all the other start-of-the-day business, the sun was peeking through the clouds, creating a pink and golden masterpiece. Thank you God, for sunrises.
I noticed two feral cats sitting in front of the house next door. They were stationed like those concrete statues of crouching lions you often see at an entrance. We haven’t seen much of them this year, with all the road construction going on around us. They were obviously hunting for their breakfast as I saw a cottontail bunny scurry into a bush, alluding their gaze. Thank you God, for protecting these animals and continuing the circle of life.
A squirrel ventured down the side of our old black, walnut tree, quickly retreating when he witnessed what was going on below. Thank you, God, for life of all kinds.
I heard a strange noise coming from our bed. It was the sound of loud, mechanical snoring. Thank you, God, for keeping my husband safe and gifting him to me for another day.
I mentally began to plan my day and week. Another performance to look forward to, which means a rehearsal tomorrow and three shows this coming weekend. I wonder how long I will be able to do this. Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to continue bringing laughter to others in a somewhat unfunny world.
I thought about last week and the fun we had with my sister and her husband, along with our own children. Thank you, God, for family and memories old and new.
I wondered about the government shutdown and discovered that it has been averted. I am grateful for this, because it would have affected so many people. Thank you, God, for America, even though she has been sullied by politics, you are still in control.
I thought about what I would write about today, and realized that I already had. Thank you, God for all your blessings. You give us all a reason to carry on.
As stated before, I am not a meteorologist. I don’t know much about global warming, except for what is happening to our earth as we abuse her. I do know that God is in control of everything that happens in the world. He created every star, each galaxy and knows how many there are. I’m not too concerned about climate change, but when I hear the words, “El Nino,” my heart begins to race. It appears that we are in for an El Nino winter. which should change my region from the frozen tundra to the garden spot of America. It all has something to do with the temperature of the ocean. I’m wondering if I can wait until January to plant tulips?
Occasionally our weather does incomprehensible things to our landscape. Hurricanes, tornadoes, straight line winds all have an effect as they rush through the plains and forests, cutting through trees, brush and buildings. The rivers overflow with water causing major floods. Snow can debilitate our schools and places of business. Electricity and other sources of energy are temporarily cut off. In many cases, people are displaced, lose property and some lose their lives. Some folks wonder how a loving God could allow that to happen.
When we go through those trials concerning weather or natural disasters, it’s easy to blame God. It’s also easy to blame Him for our misfortune, our losses and His lack of intervention. We’re quick to turn our anger towards a God we can’t see but fail to see our own mistakes. There is no question that we’ve not been good stewards. We’ve exposed the earth to toxic fumes, dirty, water, huge waste dumps filled with things that won’t decompose or go back into the soil. We set giant windmills across the country to supply energy but fail to think about the birds and wildlife that suffer because of them. We complain about the forest fires that rage their way into our environment. At the same time, we are careless with matches and untended campfires. Instead of trusting that God knows what He’s doing when these storms come, we try to come up with our own way of adjusting things.
Isn’t that true in all our worldly problems and issues? We seem predisposed to trying to fix things by ourselves and forget about asking God for help. We lack the knowledge to fix things, because we created the things that change our environment. Our Creator is often called on as a last resort. I’m not trying to say we should sit back and simply let God fix everything. He certainly wants us to protect our environment, but we have yet to find a way to correct the problems we’ve created. To emphasize this, we can find God’s own words to us as he speaks to Job, who suffered complete loss of family, property, wealth, land, everything. Here’s just a portion of his discourse:
Job 38:4-18
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
We are part of God’s creation. He placed mankind in charge of being good caretakers of his land and everything in it. We do have a responsibility. Our prayers and honor to God are vital. He doesn’t need our help, but He is reaching out to us to depend on Him and His mercy.
A life-giving sustenance for those who taste of it,
God’s gift to man is the fruit of the spirit,
A gift that cannot be measured by the insight of man,
It is inborn,
It comes packaged in our relationships with others,
In the engraved command of God upon our conscience,
In our caring for others,
In our ability to serve,
In our ability to put others first,
Sometimes it sits stagnantly.
It slowly rots and dies,
Still there is hope,
Jesus came to restore life,
He stirs the rottenness of inactivity,
He washes the putrid darkness of sin,
Making it clean,
And creates new life from old,
To actively be of use once more.
GALATIANS 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
It doesn’t make sense to the logical mind that our weaknesses are an opportunity of any kind. There is nothing good about feeling that you don’t measure up to what the world expects you to be. Those feelings of weakness hold no value . . . or do they? Even as a child it becomes apparent that we must follow all the rules – be like so and so – be better – do more – reach for the stars. What isn’t often taught is that we might fail. We like the idea of success. We don’t want people to think less of us because of our inadequacies. Failure isn’t an option in our world.
But we do fail. We aren’t always the perfect student, the amazing housekeeper, the brilliant mind, the life of the party. If we were all the best at everything, there wouldn’t be any need to be the best, would there? Goals are great, but too often we set our goals so out of reach that they are bound to bomb. We are in fact setting ourselves up for failure. When we go through great difficulty, it’s hard to see that there is any good in it. It’s tough to understand that there are lessons to be learned from your hardships, but believe me, when you look back at these temporary setbacks, you will be able to see that God is walking right beside you. He had a plan that was better than yours. He never left you for one minute. In fact, there were times when he carried you.
He will use even our tough times to strengthen us if we trust that He knows what He’s doing. Out of difficulty, we find hope. We realized that success doesn’t come from what we do, but from the Creator of all things. He will use our weakest moments to give us opportunities we never thought possible – opportunities to share His strength with others; to give hope to the hopeless; to let them know they aren’t alone in their suffering. I call that real success!
Betty White was a wonderful comedienne. She could make us laugh with her St. Olaf stories. She had a great outlook on life. She loved animals and she didn’t pull any punches when it came to telling it like it is. I have always admired her for a number of reasons. She had a beautiful smile that would light up a room the minute she entered. She played characters that were naive, innocent and peppered with just enough sarcasm to set us back on our heels. Living for 99 years, she must’ve carried a lot of wisdom in that mind of hers. She also had a loving heart and supported causes that many wouldn’t. Her philosophy on life was to keep busy, mind your own business and don’t worry so much about others.
I often worry about not saying the right thing – about offending someone with what I do say – giving the wrong impression. Because of that, I often find myself hiding behind a mask. I am learning with age, however, what is necessary to get through this part of my life without falling into a constant state of depression. Those negative feelings are not only contagious, but they can eat away at your very existence. My answer to the age-old process of growing old is to not do it. It’s overrated. Just kidding! Life is worth living. Every second of it can be an adventure or a journey through the pits of hell. I prefer the adventure.
We’ve become a generation of people who sweat the small stuff. We used to laugh at ourselves and our shortcomings. Now we’re worried about being bullied or bullying someone else. A good case in point on that issue. My husband was teaching an after-school art class to elementary students. He had a small space in the cafeteria. While trying to set up his tiny area, a few teachers were on a mission to post “Don’t Be A Bully,” signs in his space. They virtually pushed him out of the way to get their signs on the wall. Hmm,
Our concern for stepping on other’s toes has morphed into a lack of communication. We used to problem solve through discussion. Meetings were held in person – not on a screen. Body language was a good indicator of how someone really felt about something. Those arts have stolen some of our common sense. We’ve also lost some of our nonsense through the new millennium. Betty White lived almost a hundred years. She was witness (as I have been) to massive changes in the way we do things. The thing that has heled us survive through all of time, is a good sense of humor. Let’s never lose track of how important humor is to our wellbeing.
I’m certain that God placed that sense in us, along with our abilities to see, hear, smell, touch and taste. It’s just as important as the rest of the senses. If you lose one, the others have to overcompensate. So, my advice to you today is taken from Betty’s mother who told her, “The older you get the better you get . . . unless you’re a banana.” That makes perfect sense to me.
There is no greater remedy – no vaccination – no antidote – no panacea or cure than spending a day or more with those you love. We had that opportunity this week as my sister and her husband made the trek to Minnesota for a visit. Last night, the addition of our two Minnesota children and their significant others, added to the health care plan. We were surrounded with laughter, good food and stories from the past that still make us laugh our heads off. We took a few pictures. The one of my sister and me was meant to replicate the photo taken of us when we were children.
We haven’t changed much in 70 some years, and we still know how to smile for the camera. The beauty in both of these images is that our relationship over so many years has blossomed and flourished even though we live many miles apart.
One either side of our photo, are the men in our lives. My brother-in-law, Bruce and my husband Paul. Both of these men have always been the love of our lives and together we have shared multiple experiences that could create a wonderful standup routine for one of us to deliver. Each of our stories has been repeated, added to and blown out of proportion into the embellished tall tales of today, but they still cause us to laugh. I can imagine being in heaven and sharing these same life stories with others who have amazing memories from their own lives. It would be heavenly to sit around a campfire and tell them.
We’ve lived a very full life. There have been ups and downs for all of us, but we muddle through and even learn from those events that have thus far shaped us. We don’t have the pleasure of living close to each other, so the time we spend together has to be made the most of. Last night, we were relegated to the “children’s table” as the children went to the “adult table” to eat and have a moment of freedom from our silliness.
Therapists can help revive a broken spirit. God can cause healing in times of pain or disability, but there is nothing like being with those you spent your childhood with. They’re probably the only ones who understand you, since you both shared almost everything when growing up. Except sweaters or boyfriends.
Look at those faces. Both of these darling girls have nurtured their smiles over the years. They have become older, wiser, a little wrinkled, (OK a lot wrinkled in my case.) at times challenged or filled with joy. Just Ike our mother, my sister and I have inherited the gift of laughter. Every time we get together, it’s as if we’ve never been apart. She and her husband arrived yesterday from Nashville, TN after two days of driving. The anticipation of their arrival grew as the day went on. All I could think of was the last time we visited them at their home, and it made me more eager to see them. The minute they arrived; the laugh attack commenced.
As I think back to our growing up years, I remember the days of sharing a double bed with her. I recall taking the sheets off the bed and using them as evening gowns and parading on top of the bed as if we were in a beauty pageant. She always won, but I’m not bitter about it. There was almost a five-year gap between us. For the first five years, I was queen of the roost, and nothing was going to interfere with the pecking order. Not even the fact that we were related. I gave her a hard time all those years ago. Thankfully, we became best friends as we each left the nest and ventured into our own realms.
Years have changed us, but we still love to laugh. A little Chardonnay helps, but it definitely is not necessary. Our husbands are going through health issues right now that are life changing, but they have the same tendency that we do. In the face of adversity, laughter is always good medicine. Our visits are usually short. I don’t think we could handle more than a couple of days. When you get older, laughter can lead to all kinds of physical issues which often create additional problems. Still, there is something very therapeutic about a good belly laugh, guffaw or chuckle. Today there will be more as we add a couple of our grown children to the mix.
There is something wonderful about family. They can lift you when you’re down. They can encourage you when you think nothing will. They can empathize with you when you have similar things going on in life. They can laugh at your senseless jokes. We can’t choose those who become our siblings, but if I had a choice, it would be her all over again.
A sister is a person you can love with all your might,
She’ll do most anything for you. You trust her with your life.
The best true friend you’ll ever have, she’ll never let you down.
She’ll have your back when others won’t and take away your frown.
Thia piece of art was done more than five years ago. It was a joint effort, started by me and finished by my talented husband. Together we can accomplish great things.
Then and now. 59 years have passed, and time has put us in a similar situation. When we started out, we were waiting. Today, we continue to wait. Our waiting is for different things today, but the fact that we’re together and still kicking is a wonderful accomplishment. It was not our doing, but the plan that God had already designed for us. We’ve been through thick and thin (literally.) We’ve made some wise and foolish mistakes in those years. We’ve prayed together. Our lives have become one with our maker. We continue to persevere. Our love has grown and matured. We complete each other’s sentences. We think each other’s thoughts. We’ve watched three babies turn into responsible adults who trust in God too. We’ve been blessed with three grandchildren who love the Lord. We’ve experienced poverty and wealth. We’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death, knowing that we will never really die. Our suffering will end after death. We believe in miracles. We want to make the most of our years together. We look forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow and the next day. We worry, we fret, we pray for answers, we compromise even when it hurts. We love each other with a new kind of love in our aging years. We know that heaven waits for both of us because of what God gave us through His Son, Jesus.
We continue to wait for the next adventure. Though illness has caused us to pause and reflect – though our bodies are not allowing us to be who we were twenty years ago – though our hair has turned white, and our faces have become weathered – we show our love in a wiser way than we did 59 years ago. Anticipation will go on through the coming years. It’s part of the process of living.
We are not “waiting” to die. God continues to ignite a flame in our hearts to share His amazing grace with all we come into contact with. Paul often does this through his words. Though his speech has faltered at times, because of the strokes he’s endured, he continues to be zealous for God. Through his art, he shares the beauty of God’s creation. My tongue usually gets tied in knots when I speak about my God, but He’s given me words to share through my writing. Together, we’ve been able to complement each other with our God given talents. Now, as we age, we’ve learned to grow old with hope for a wonderful future.
I hope that this glimpse into our lives is helpful to those of you who are married, single and contemplating marriage and those who are struggling with their marriage. Eventually I will put the entire story into a book. In the meantime, we’re anxiously waiting for what comes next.
Dear, Heavenly, Father, You have blessed our life together for a long time. It will be hard for us to say goodbye at the end, but we know that You have a place waiting for us that will far outweigh the stresses of this world. We are confident that our sins have been forgiven. Your love has been the cornerstone of our marriage. Help us to spend the remainder of our days, sharing your love with others. In the name of your dear Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen!
OK, so why all this stuff about us? Tomorrow will be our anniversary. 59 years ago, we vowed to love, honor and obey. These vignettes are about an average married couple. Our story isn’t much different than most, but it was a special life to us. As we wind down this journey of ours, it seems like this is one way I can express my love for this man. We’ve had our share of problems, disagreements, anger, frustration, loss, unwillingness to budge. At the same time, we’ve shared joy, peace, contentment, blessings, a common faith and a lot of laughs. As you look at these pictures of us throughout the years, you’ll see that both of us enjoyed our time together, even when things weren’t always running smoothly. We both wore many hats. His hats were all indicative of who he was, while mine often masked what was going on inside. His visual appearance showed a confident, strong, handsome individual, while I took years to come out of my shell. Thanks to God, He brought us together to help each other through anything that life threw at us.
I have a million funny stories that happened during our 59 years together. I’ll give you a sampling of just a few. When I was a young mom, I became a Tupperware dealer. In those days, we had to travel to our host’s home and put on a show. I’ve always been up for that. I was driving an older car with my huge bag of products in the back seat. I’d have to drive across a long bridge, leading into St. Paul. My car began to overheat. This is before the age of cell phones and mass murderers. I sat there for a while, wondering if I should get my bag of goodies and walk to my destination. I thought about jumping off that bridge for a brief second. Thankfully, a stranger stopped and offered to help me. He said he would drive me to my destination, and I could call my husband from there. I was desperate, so I agreed. This guy was being a good Samaritan, but he could have been planning something sinister. As we drove, he told me he had a trunk full of frozen meat. He wondered if I would be interested in purchasing any. I replied that I didn’t have the money to buy anything, but I did have a whole bag of containers he could purchase to store his meat. I arrived safely. My car sat on the bridge until it could be towed, and I sold a lot of Tupperware that night.
Between the two of us, we could take our show on the road and create a lot of laughter in a not-so-funny world. As I said, he wore many hats in his life. One of his favorites was a fedora that made him look like Indiana Jones. He was working as a naturalist at the time. Often, as he would lead young children on guided nature tours, he would hear the Indiana Jones theme song being hummed behind him. One child asked him if he was a paleontologist, and Paul replied, “No, son, but I guess you could call me an old dinosaur.” In his years of advertising, there were countless stories of photo shoots gone awry – a cobra coming out of a basket – A turtle being photographed with a tiny helmet on its head. Trips into the Wind River Mountains to get the perfect shot of a seaplane gliding across a glacial lake, surrounded by towering pine trees – only to get stranded and lose the pack animals. Always an adventure, turned into a memorable story. One of those stories turned into an interesting situation as Paul and the photographer sat in a restaurant talking about shooting the mom and dad that day and planning to shoot the kids later. Can you imagine what people must’ve thought?
We’ve created some wonderful memories over this span of years. Many of them are hilarious, always mixed with a measure of humor and love. Most of those years were spent growing into one person – one mind – with one God. As a marriage matures, we can look back and see our failures, lift each other out of the pits, rely on each other for a good laugh, muddle through the good and the bad. These days, we find humor in the feral cats that inhabit our neighborhood. He still makes me laugh when he talks like Donald Duck. We find joy in recalling some of those old memories. We laugh at ourselves as we lean on each other to get from one place to the other. Good marriages don’t just happen. They take a huge amount of work, compromise, giving in, love and having a common faith. Even then, you aren’t guaranteed a perfect life together. God gives us challenges along the way, that always seem to draw us closer to Him. Laughter can make those challenges a lot easier too.
As I reach the end of my years, I find I have a lot of good information stored up in this old decrepit mind of mine. If I don't write it all down, it may vanish and no one will have the advantage of my thoughts. This is why this blog exists. I love the Lord, Jesus with all my heart and soul. I know I'm undeserving of all He's done for me, but I also know that His love is beyond my comprehension.
I've always wanted to write. I never kept diaries, but tucked my thoughts in my head for future reference. I use them now in creating stories, plays, poetry and my blog.
I continue to learn every day. I believe the compilation of our time spent with God will have huge affect on the way we live. I know I'm a sinner and I need a Savior. I have One through Jesus, Christ.
My book, "Stages - a memoir," is about the seven stages of life from the perspective of a woman. It addresses all the things girls and women go through in life as they travel it with Jesus, and it is available on Amazon.com.
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