In Other Words ~ Come Join Us!

This post is going to stay second from the top
until the end of December.
Please read my recent posts below.

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or the next two weeks, we are going to do something a little different, to give our hostesses a break, and yet still share some special quotes with you. I invite any of you who read the In Other Words memes and those who host, to share what your favorite quotes were or a specific post shared by a hostess that touched you, encouraged you, etc.

So, this gives all of you a chance to write on a quote you wish you would have, rewrite on a quote you wrote on but wish you shared it a different way, share about how another’s post blessed you, or anything you wish to write about. Just leave a little blurb on your blog, and then leave the link below in Mr. Linky. If you do not wish to write about it on your blog, but want to share something anyway, just leave a note in the comment section above.

Thank you!  

In Other Words: Tuesday’s New Quote

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ext week’s In Other Words, will be hosted by Lori on her blog, All You Have to Give.  She has chosen the quote below.

Think and ponder on this quote and share about it on your blog on Tuesday. Then, visit Lori’s blog on Tuesday, leave the link to your blog there and visit the other gals who have also written on it.

 

In Other Words: Deer & Angels

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henever we go into town near dusk, our younger kids will beg for us to go the “deer way”.  It’s along dirt roads and by several lakes and then in one particular area we always see deer.  Sometimes there will be 40 deer, just grazing in the alfalfa field.  We pause, watching.  There are times they just stay eating as they watch us in return, but if one runs across the road to the wooded area, the rest follow.  This happened one day this past summer when our youngest daughter who is five was with us.  We had to stop completely to let them all cross over.  We could see the deer in the woods, peering around the trees watching us, probably hoping we’d leave so they could go back to the alfalfa field.  With eyes of wonder, our daughter in a whispered awe said, “They’re like angels . . . watching us.”  So simple – yet so profound.

We do not participate with Halloween.  I hate it more each year.  When our oldest children were young, it seemed innocent. I made outfits for them – one year our boys were pumpkins and our twin girls were Hershey Kisses.  They were quite adorable.  But as time went on, we saw more and more evilness with it, and were convicted not to particiate in something that is seriously celebrated by “real” witches.  Halloween is a for real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca and is one of the two high and holy days for them. Their belief of spirits being released is current, along with the worship of Samhain (the lord of death) – both are promoted as something to embrace on that day.  I want to run from it.  I don’t like taking our kids into the stores around this time.  I don’t like taking my kids into town when the trick or treating is going on.  I hate the commercials that come on when watching the “good” shows.  I am concerned of the spiritual battlefields we are walking through.  And then, I think of this verse, and the deer angels watching us! 

There is just so much we can do as Christians protecting our children.  I can keep them away from as much evilness as possible, but even as with the death of our son, it sneeks in . . . and there is nothing we can do.  BUT, I can give them over to God (again) . . . and ask God to strengthen my faith (again) and try not to take them all back (again) to do this on my own.  And when I get so overwhelmed and worried of the kind of world my children are growing up in and what their futures may entail . . . I think of those deer . . . and the angels that surround us. 

Could we really be better protected?

Today I am hosting In Other Words.  Come back on Friday to read the new quote for next Tuesday and who will be hosting it.  In the meantime, share about this verse on your blog and then leave your blog link in the Mr. Linky box below.  A comment (above) would be nice too!  🙂

In Other Words: Reflecting the Light

It’s a whirlwind of appointments and events this week so I am keeping this post short and simple. 

This quote can certainly be looked at several different ways.  However, Jesus being called “the Light” is repeated so often through the book of John that it should be our continual desire to be the reflection of the Light – to be reflecting Jesus on a daily basis. 

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 
John 8:12

“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
John 9:5

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. “
John 12:46

“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
John 1:4

And then too, I think of the children’s song, “This Little Light of Mine“.  We do want to shine for Jesus – but may that shine be so bright because of us reflecting Him.  

 

 

 

This week, Bonnie is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, Ink It Blog.  Be sure to visit her site and the links to the other women who have shared on this quote.  Then come back here on Friday, for next Tuesday’s new quote for In ‘Other’ Words.  Be blessed.

In Other Words: Pressing Forward

 

 “Still, accepting God’s existence is one thing; honoring his command is another matter entirely, especially if we’re required to go back when we’d rather go forward.”

~Liz Curtis Higgs
from Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible~

The beauty of writing on these quotes each week is each woman’s interpretations, and we come from all different approaches.  I’ve not read the book, and do not know the specifics of what the author was writing about.  I am writing it from “my” viewpoint, because I know for me, it’s something God has been working on my heart with.

I’ve been required to go forward, not back as this author shared.  This what God wants “me” to do – and God may have something else for you.  Sometimes we do need to go back to work through it, and work it out for the future.  I’ve shared a lot about my son who passed away almost four years ago . . . and though we go back often to share and bring awareness, I don’t want to “stay” there.  I don’t want to grieve anymore.  I want that joy in the morning.  I know God wants that – and I know even my son who bathes in His glory would want that.  There’s another area I don’t share about too much, because I don’t know who all reads this.  God has removed the bitterness and anger and given hope and newness.

My adoptive mom and I did not click – or as it would be modernly said now, we did not bond.  It was a rough childhood and for many years beyond.  We never completely mended our hurts.  There was no reconciliation during her last year of life as she fought the cancer battle, though I know she read my cards and she knew I loved her.  She died seven months before my son.  The strange thing is I’ve not had one dream of my son since his death.  How I longed for it – to see his face, to hear him talk, to hold him in my dream, to tell him I loved him and forgave him.  But I know he knew that.  There really was not that need.  With my mom, it was all unresolved.  God blessed me with a dream of her.  We were sitting at a table, and though I don’t remember our conversation, there was healing ~ there was reconciliation.    We talked, we laughed, we looked in each others eyes, we touched . . .  She was healed.  I was healed.  Truth was so vividly revealed to me.  When I take my last breath here, and take the first one in heaven, and see her again, there will be no turning away from each other.  Our bodies are not just new, but our minds and emotions as well.  The “sorrys” will not have to be said.  It’s all gone. 

God has allowed me to move forward from much of my childhood.  Sadness still passes through at times, and missing the mom I wish I would have had in my life – but then God reminds me of the brieviety of this life and it won’t really matter in heaven.  Keep moving forward – look forward to heaven. 

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Phil 3:12-14

 

I am thankful God has required me to move forward.     

This week, Miriam is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, Miriam Pauline’s Monologue.  Be sure to visit her site and the links to the other women who have shared on this quote.  Then come back here on Friday, for next Tuesday’s new quote for In ‘Other’ Words.  Be

In Other Words: Reach out and touch someone

We can tend to get into such a routine, we do not notice those outside of our box.  Our box may be the same pew we sit in each week at church.  We  talk to the same people each week.   But we don’t notice the lonely widow who comes in each week, and leaves quietly, never talking to anyone.  She might be the one in your church in  outdated clothing, appearing to not care how she looks and seems unapproachable.    It’s easier to keep our distance, just observing, maybe even whispering “did you see what she was wearing this week?”.  Little do we know that how lonely she is.  She might glance at the little kids, and we think, she turns away from them, because she mustn’t like kids.  Instead, it’s because her heart aches for the grandchildren that live across the country.  Maybe she needs one of our children to just add some spark in her life, sing her a song, or bring her brownies.  I wonder if she’d come the following week, with a sparkle in her eye, lipstick on, and instead of rushing out the door, lingering for that five year old to come give her a hug again. 

How often do we ask someone how they are and get the usual “just fine” – but do we really know?  How often are we willing to be vulnerable and share a need, or dig a little deeper with someone and ask, “but how are you really?”  Our we teaching our children compassion, to the “least of these“.  

Recently one of our sons stopped at a neighbor’s house for a garage sale.  He introduced himself to them, as they had just moved in several months previously.  Though we live in the country, there are numerous houses on our street.  They told him he was the first neighbor they met, that everyone just seems to be to themselves.  I need to stop procrastinating on making a couple loaves of bread to take to them, and introducing myself as well. 

 What are those around us hungry for?  Does someone need a phone call, a card, a lunch date out, help with house cleaning, or just a simple hug.  As Believers, how are others to see Jesus in us, if we do not care or show Him, in what we do or say in our daily living?

Do They See Jesus in Me?
(chorus)
Do they see Jesus in me?
Do they recognize Your face?
Do I communicate Your love and Your grace?
Do I reflect who You are in the way I choose to be?
Do they see Jesus, Jesus in me?

This week, Amy is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, “In Pursuit of Proverbs 31“. Be sure to visit her site and the links to the other women who have shared on this quote.  Then come back here on Friday, for next Tuesday’s new quote for In ‘Other’ Words.  Be blessed.

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In Other Words: Sharing Paths

Quote by Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby
from their devotional book, Experiencing God

The one word question “WHY?” has escaped my thoughts more than I can count.  Many of the why’s will not be answered until I reach heaven – and then, I doubt it will really matter.  But some why’s seem a little more fulfilled, when we see how we can use our pain, to help others.  A few weeks ago, it happened again, as we gasped out loud to read in the paper, that friends of ours, who are grandparents, lost their first and only grandchild.  The grandfather is also our dentist.  We saw the ultrasound pictures in his office, and the newborn pictures after his grandson was born.  I would often run into his wife at the store or Good Will and was shown the newest item for her little grandson and see the delight in her face as she spoke of a smiling happy baby.  How we wished the death notice we read was not their grandson, but tragically it was.  He was only 12 weeks old and died of SIDS.  Though we did not know the grandparent’s son and daughter-in-law, we could relate in many ways.  We understood the pain the grandparents were going through, trying to reach out to their son and daughter-in-law, and yet not able to “fix” their pain.  We know the pain of losing a son and a baby.   When we wrote them a card, our words were “we rejoiced when Timothy was born, now we weep with you as you say good-bye”.  Men don’t always know how to show expression, but my husband has hugged and wept with this grandfather and I’ve had the priviledge of sharing with the grandmother and remembering her grandson with a bracelet for both grandma’s and the mom.  We visited with them on Father’s Day, knowing that this first-time daddy, was not having a “happy” day.  Though wounds were reopened, it was healing, being able to share and weep with them, to be available, to walk beside them, yesterday, today, and for the many months and years ahead.   

You see, in time, this family’s road may be difficult and lonely ~ when the cards stop coming, and the sympathies seem to stop and others are hesitant in saying his name.  Yet, little Timothy’s birthday in March is forever etched on their hearts, as is his deathdate each June.  Selfishly, I wish I did not have to share their pain, that we never had buried children, or to know the path they will walk.  Yet . . .

 “God uses people. God uses people to perform His work.
He does not send angels. Angels weep over it,
but God does not use angels to accomplish His purposes.
He uses burdened broken-hearted weeping men and women.”
David Wilkerson

What have you gone through that God can use to walk beside another broken soul?  Maybe it’s cancer, the death of a spouse, divorce, or the loss of a home or job.  Maybe you have dealt with alcohol or drugs and know the struggles of being released from claims of it on your life.  Is God tapping you on your heart’s door to share with a friend or neighbor or to send a card to someone you might not even know, but know they are walking the same path you did?  How can you use your pain for His gain? 

This week, Bonnie is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, “Ink It Blog“. Be sure to visit her site and the links to the other women who have shared on this quote.  Then come back here on Friday, for next Tuesday’s new quote for In ‘Other’ Words.
Be blessed.
~

Book Review: Mosaic By Amy Grant (& one copy to giveaway!)

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This post is in participation with The Ultimate Blog Party.
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Ihave read this book, Mosaic, and had some of the same feelings before reading and after reading it as the blog reviewer below.  When I read her review, I could not have put it in any better words.  Kelly Kelpfer has granted me permission to reprint her review here.  Thank you Kelly, and thank you for sharing so eloquently and from your heart.

I was offered the opportunity to read and review Amy Grant’s new biography, Mosaic. Had it been in the bookstore, I might have picked it up, glanced through it and come away with a very different impression than I’ve developed from reading it cover to cover.

I haven’t been a rabid Amy fan. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen her in concert once and that was because I went to see Mercy Me and Amy opened for them. I purchased her Christmas CD at a garage sale. This information is not a slam in any way. I’m just sharing where I am coming from where Amy is concerned.

Driven to curiosity by the talk before, during and after her divorce from Gary Chapman I purchased Amy’s Behind the Eyes CD. The lyrics from several songs haunted me. As a survivor of a rotten marriage gone good, I felt compelled to write to Amy. Crazy as that sounds…who does that? But I did. I don’t remember what I wrote, other than to tell her it didn’t have to end in divorce. I wondered like much of the rest of the world why she thought God wanted her to be happy at the expense of her children’s pain.

I almost turned down Mosaic because of my thoughts and feelings. What if she showed no remorse, no awareness of the sanctity of marriage? What if she lightly dismissed the damage done to her children? How could I recommend this book? Then my daughter reminded me that I don’t like to sit in judgment of others and I love people who screw up daily, and that I have to look into the mirror and see behind my own eyes. I needed to give Amy’s book a fair reading.

I’m sorry, Amy.

Amy’s divorce is as much a symptom of America’s brand of diluted Christianity as it is a picture of our pathetic human weaknesses. Why should she, though in the public eye and ministering to thousands through her music, be held to a higher standard of holiness? A standard that a full half of professing Christian married couples can’t meet? I, myself, am still married only because God held me in place. Everything in me wanted to be divorced and free of the pain that my husband and I inflicted on each other.

Mosaic starts like a feel-good anecdotal “Chicken Soup” style of book full of sweet stories inspiring song lyrics which end each chapter. A section of names and events details Amy’s relationships with celebrities and treasured encounters with them.

Had the book been just this feel good celebrity stuff, I wouldn’t recommend it. But as the book progresses Amy begins to dig deep. The promotional quotes from Mosaic have been light and chatty, friendly and homey. What dug under my skin and into my heart was the poetic poignancy with which Amy described the events and people that have shaped her through much pain and loss. Those are the entries that contain the lyrics from some of the songs that haunted me from Behind the Eyes. Amy shares her thoughts on depression, faithquakes and the death of innocence. She left me feeling like I hadn’t been reading the words of a spoiled celebrity, but instead, hearing the confessions of a hurting friend.

Fame doesn’t save us. A good spouse, wonderful children, great friends, history, and money can’t save us. If we could each grasp how much we are loved by the Creator of the universe, maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to run away from Him to find our own way. We all grab for worthless bandages. Most of us don’t have the burden of the spotlight of fame to complicate our paths.

And now, I have one copy of  Mosaic to give away!  Tomorrow (Friday) I will be announcing the names drawn for each of the books that were reviewed this week, including this book, so you only have a short time to get your name in the comment section below!  As with the other books,  $2.50  towards shipping of this hard-covered book (within continental USA) and full amount needed for outside USA, it would be greatly appreciated.

This post and review are a part of the The Ultimate Blog Party, so come back again tomorrow for an update on the winners and the prizes “I” am hoping to win!

In Other Words: Being a Woman

“But remember, for all your adult life you’ll be a woman. And how you live your life as a woman, all by yourself before God, is what makes the real you. Nothing on the exterior can touch or change that precious inner sanctuary—your heart, his dwelling place—unless you let it. And God, who loves you very much, has tailor made all your outer life—your circumstances, your relationships—to pressure you into becoming that beautiful woman he’s planned for you to be.”

~ Anne Ortlund ~

this quote can be found in
Disciplines Of The Beautiful Woman (p. 123) &
The Gentle Ways of a Beautiful Woman: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Beauty (p. 96)

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am late in posting for this week’s In Other Words.  We have had the flu here for the last several days.  You moms know how wearing this can be.  I’ve got our baby sleeping in his bed next to me, and I am listening through the night for that cough – which follows with the throwing-up.  I’m past exhausted, and just when he seems to be getting better, it hits the next one.  She ran for the bathroom, but did not make it, so the hallway, bathroom floor and all around the toilet had to be cleaned up.  After the Pine-Sol aroma permiates the house, I am back to holding little ones with bowls on our laps.  I look around the living room at the unusual silence, as kids are sprawled out on the couches and chairs, covered up by quilts and munching on rice crackers. 

No, this week has not gone at all as planned.  Yet, I am a woman  . . . a blessed mom, holding children on my lap reading books as they fall asleep in between the next bout of sickness.  In being diligently deliberate in living my faith, it’s showing my girls especially the beauty of being a woman and a mom, even with cleaning up after the kid’s sicknesses, and washing sheets every day for the past several days.  With the daily drudges of life, from sick children, to things that just seem to happen in our home – (like a toothbrush being stuck WAY down into our sink, overflowing the water, which then leaked down into our lower bathroom, ruining the ceiling tiles.  Or those brand new jeans we just bought and our son skateboarded in the church parking lot and tore a hole in them less than 24 hours later.)  Though yes, kids need to know the boundry rules, I want them to know it’s not going to steal my joy, and that despite the ups and downs of life, it IS a joy to be not only a woman but a mom as well.  Despite the challenges, hardships, life losses, joys and triumphs, I want my children to know and see my faith.  I want them to seem my assurance that I know God loves me and life circumstances cannot steal that away from me.

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This week, Elisa is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, Extravagant Grace.

Be sure to visit her site and the links to the other women who have commented on this quote. 
Be blessed.

A “Straight Away” Prolife Story

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ou may have seen this story on some blogs in the last week, as it fit in so well with marking the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. 

Lorraine Allard found out she had cancer when she was four months pregnant.  She was encouraged to abort so she could begin chemotherephy immediately and possibly save her life.  But she stood strong, wanting to give her son life, aiming for a c-section when the baby would be old enough to survive.  The baby was born a week before the scheduled c-section, on November 18th.  She died two months later, on January 18th, as her husband held her.  She left behind four children, including her newborn son.  This complete article here shares her story, along with several other pictures.

But a few words really struck me when I read the article.  You don’t read about them having considering an abortion, even for a brief moment.   I appreciate what the husband said of his wife:

“The doctors said they couldn’t do anything because she was pregnant,” said Mr Allard.

“She told them straight away they were not going to get rid of the baby. She’d have lost the will to fight.”  (from Daily Mail article)

I love that – “straight away”.  There’s no hesitation.   When it comes to decisions, how often are we “straight away”?  It just made me think . . .

A Simple Birthday to Remember

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n Bethlehem that day, God came not as a King, but as a simple, helpless Baby, made of flesh but still God.  

There stood a simple makeshift cradle – a manger, made of rough hand-sawed wood – which animals just hours before ate out of – certainly, not an ornate bassinet for a King. 

A new quilt or cotton receiving blanket were not prepared for this Baby.  Instead, only simple bedding made of hay padded the manger and plain simple cloths swaddled the Infant.

The background noise was not a CD or a TV playing – instead, animals were neighing, mooing and bahhhing, as they grazed – maybe pausing for a moment when the Savior was born.  

No phone calls were made from this simple birthing room.  No digital pictures were taken or a blog quickly updated to announce His birth. 

Yet, angels gloriously appeared to simple shepherds in a field for them to help spread the news.  These shepherds did not need GPS or a new electronic compass to find their way to the barn.  They followed a simple, bright star leading them to a humble place to worship the God-child. 

As the simple new mother, Mary, pondered all these things in her heart, what do we tuck away what God has given us or whispered in our ears?  Do we remember the simpleness of the way this Gift arrived for us or are we caught in the whirlwind of life forgetting why we celebrate this day?

May this day be a day of reflection, remembering the greatest birthday of all and the greatest Gift ever given. 

It was a simple pre-arranged birthday given and fulfilled by God, yet, an awesome, unmatchable, incomprehensible Gift, the Gift of God – Who gives us the gift of Life – with our simple faith in Him for eternal life.  John 3:16

Death Threats Can’t Stop Me Being a Christian, Says Imam’s Daughter

From The Times Online – December 10, 2007 by Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

 Death Threats Can’t Stop Me Being a Christian,
Says Imam’s Daughter

An imam’s daughter whose family threatened to kill her after she converted to Christianity at the age of 16 has told The Times that, because of her faith, she is not afraid to die.

But Hannah, now 32, has been forced to live under police protection for the past month since her brother told her that he could not be responsible for his actions if she did not return to Islam. Hannah, who hopes to marry a fellow Christian next year, uses a pseudonym and has moved house 45 times since her conversion.

She said: “Yes, there is a possibility I will be killed, just as there is for anyone that they can get run over by a bus. My faith means that I am not afraid to die. If I was to focus on that, I would spend my life at home, trapped. I am not going to let it stop me being who I am, from being a Christian.” She said that her freedom was made possible by living in Britain. “We are protected by the law in this country, which means I should be free to live the life God has called me to live.”

Hannah was speaking to The Times after the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, launched a new charity last week called Lapido Media, which aims to improve “religious literacy” about world affairs. Dr Nazir-Ali said that although the Koran did not specify the death penalty for apostasy, the four main Sunni and two Shia schools of Islamic thought agreed that this was an accurate interpretation of the hadith, or the oral tradition.

However, two of the world’s leading Islamic scholars suggested recently that the death penalty was intended to be carried out only in the next life.

Hannah, who was born in Britain but whose father is from Pakistan, said that she had a strict religious upbringing. She prayed five times a day and wore the full hijab from the age of ten.

Although she attended a Church of England primary school, 80 per cent of her fellow pupils were also Muslim. She learnt to read Arabic and had read the Koran by the age of 8. “I did not really know what was beyond that Pakistani community.” When she started secondary school she became more aware of the outside world – and when, aged 16, she overheard her father on the phone arranging her flight to Pakistan to marry a cousin whom she had never met she was shocked into action. “I went to college and did not go home,” she said. “I had nowhere to go. Everyone I knew was Muslim and knew my dad. I was on the street for about a week.” She slept in bus shelters until her religious education teacher offered her a bed. Against the teacher’s wishes, she started going to church.

“I watched everyone and saw how they lived their lives. I heard about God’s love, about how Jesus died on the cross. I was totally blown away by it. I asked someone how I could get to know Jesus. They said, ‘Ask him to come into your life. Ask for forgiveness’. So I did and that night I became a Christian.”

Hannah was still in contact with her family but they did not take her conversion seriously. Three years later she was baptised and invited them to the ceremony. They told her she was bringing shame upon them and the death threats began. At one point, 14 men with stones and knives came to her door and shouted at her to come out. When the threats became more serious a month ago, she went to the police. She said: “I pray that one day there will be a reconciliation with my family. But I have no regrets, not one.”

From The Times Online – December 10, 2007 by Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

In Other Words – Words Blowing in the Wind

“Let us learn to discern whether the words spoken against us or against God or against the truth are merely for the wind – spoken not from the soul, but from the sore.  If they are for the wind, let us wait in silence and not reprove.  Restoring the soul, not reproving the sore, is the aim of our love.”
By John Piper in “A Godward Life”

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he old childhood saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me” certainly is not true. I am sure many of us remember things that still sting from our childhoods or in recent years that crushed to the depths of our hearts.  And, I know I have been guilty of saying things that bitterly stung, if not immediately, soon afterwards, wished I could take back.

For a good 18 months after our son’s death, not only did I not deal well with relationships, especially with my husband, but other relationships suffered as well.  Friends and family alike were at a loss with what to do and/or say, and words were said that hurt.  Words that came from deep wounds, not truth from the soul.   Protective gear was on, and the words bounced back and forth quicker than at a volleyball tournament.  Time . . . and restoring the soul was certainly needed for healing words to take root, rather than the hurtful words blowing in the wind.

This week’s quote came from John Piper’s book, “A Godward Life“.  I almost used the first paragraph from the chapter the quote came from for today’s quote:

“When in grief and pain and despair, people often say things they would not otherwise say.  They paint reality with darker strokes than they will paint it tomorrow, when the sun comes up.  They sing in minor keys and talk as though that were the only music.  They see only clouds and speak as if there were no sky.”

When hurtful words are said from a discouraged, distraught one, the first instinct may be to correct, or give Scripture verses, rather than listening to the hurting heart spill out.  The truth may be known, and how “all things work together for good to them that love God”, yet, it’s just probably not the right time to quote that when the soul needs healing.  Job understood this:

“How painful are honest words!  But what does your argument prove?  Do you intend to reprove my words, when the words of one in despair belong to the wind?” Job 6:25, 26

We need to learn to let those words blow in the wind, and give compassion with listening and understanding. 

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Pray for my husband . . .

I just ask for needed prayers for my husband. As we were told by several, sometimes with men the grief hits more, later, and he has gone through several waves of this. The last couple of days, his grief has been very deep. He is a very hurting man, missing his son very much. Not many will understand a man pained like this. Not many men show their emotions or know how to reach out to another hurting man. Today was the first day of Junior Hunt Day, that kids under 18 have “their days” just for under this age, but an adult has to be with them. Norm missed it last year with Matthew, and was going to try to get out another time with him. It’s one of those things – you get so busy, you plan on doing it, you put if off, and it never happens. Norm hurts greatly from that missed opportunity with him. And now he has the opportunity with another son, but he is hurting so much too. Several times in the past few days, his eyes have just welled up with tears, and I can see the pain. He’s been through a lot, even in the past couple of months with misunderstandings that have hurt relationships, and not seeing the grief and pain this man carries. He just needs some compassion and understanding, for some to walk beside him and just share with him – not judge or tell him how he should or should not grieve. Like many of us in our family have felt through these last months, sometimes we need a “FRAGILE” sticker on.I am not leaving the opportunity for comments. I just ask that you pray for him, and continued healing for our family in many ways.

From Diapers to First Day of College

It seems funny and would never have imagined, to have one child in diapers, 7 children in between at different stages, and then our oldest off to college! Stephen (18) started his first class at our local community college yesterday, taking an automotive suspension class. He was very talkitive about it when he got home last tonight. Norm has met the teacher, who owns a local car repair place. Stephen found out today that the teacher is the top person in Michigan with ASE certification in automechanics. He seems to really like teaching and has a lot to pass on to the students. It’s only 10 students in the class, several quite older because of the big layoff/closing of Electrolux here, and wanting to start a new career. I am sure Stephen will learn a lot and it’s kind of exciting seeing this new phase in his and our lives.

Again, we are still trying to find that “new normal” and now getting back into another school year. We started after Labor Day. It seems good to be getting this schedule going again. It was so hard the months after Matthew died, and we did not have our whole hearts into it. Even the children seem to like the schedule more and am thankful to see them being more helpful and encouraging with each other. I am often asked, “how do you do it all?” I don’t! The older ones help out with the younger ones; the children exchange certain subjects to have each other correct. The younger ones need a lot more one-on-one from me. We have also started AWANA which the kids like and give them time out and really are motived to memorize the Scripture verses.

I’ve had so many e-mails asking how we are doing, and it’s still taking a day at a time. Some days seem so much better. Norm just said the other day how we definitely laugh more. There was not much of that the first few months. But the tears still come and the firsts are still arriving. Norm just in the last week also rearranged his whole workshop/garage area that he does his small engine repair work in. He moved everything around and is even in the process of painting the floor. There were so many reminders of Matthew working with him, and still coming across his things, and it finally came down for him to make these changes.

We are still so slowly working on “our bedroom”. The girls are still all tightly squeezed in one room, but with the busyness of our two home businesses, and wanting to be outdoors more and doing gardening and canning, not much has gotten done for the remodeling. It still needs to be done, but I think too, Norm needed a break from it, as it was very overwhelming at times. I know we both wish it could just get immediately done, and have this overwith, but this too takes time. We still come across things of Matthew’s and wonder what to hold on to, and what to part with. Some of it just hurts too much to keep and other things we can tuck away for awhile. The kids seem to be doing well for the most part, but then, all of a sudden, something will hit one of them. Today, Melody (5) came in with one of Matthew’s red sweatshirts wrapped around her, asking why it was outside. She recognized it as his, which surprised me. Jayson actually has been wearing some of his sweatshirts to his job at a horse stable. Melody had it around her for quite a few hours today. At times we think things don’t hit the younger ones as much, but then something like this surprises us.

I am still having problems with my bloodpressure, and even spent 5 hours in ER Monday night because of the pressure I was feeling on my chest. I had checked my blood pressure several times throughout the day, and at one point it was 198/88 which is way too high. So we went into our local ER and they did put us in a room right away because of how high it was. Thankfully, all the tests they did (EKG, x-rays, bloodwork) showed my heart strong and no signs of a heart attack or pending one. I did have to give in to starting on blood pressure medication. Today I saw our family doctor for follow-up and because I am having dizziness from BP medication, he’s cut the dose in half, and take it at night. It definitely has lowered my BP, but hopefully the 1/2 dose will do as well.

So, we continue on this road of healing. It’s not been easy and many ups and downs. But, some days we find ourselves breathing easier, and able to get on and some things seem more “normal”. There’s been long nights . . .and we know there still will be, but we are seeing glimpses of joy in the morning. The sunrise is coming but know there’s still the varied storms to deal with and many firsts to get through yet.

This was a devotional sent to me that was an encouragement to me, from Back to the Bible: Joy in the Morning.

This song was also sent to me. I believe Selah has sung it in the past:

Trading My Sorrows

2 Corinthians 4:6-9

I’m trading my sorrows
I’m trading my shame
I’m laying them down for the joy of the LordI’m trading my sickness
I’m trading my pain
I’m laying it down for the joy of the LordCHORUS

We say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I’m pressed but not crushed- persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I am blessed beyond the curse for His promise will endure
That His joy’s gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning.

“Weeping may endure for a night
But joy comes in the morning.”

Psalm 30:5b