GentleTouches

Be All My Joy

2012-01-20T09:59:00.001-05:00

Be Thou my Sun, my selfishness destroy,
Thy atmosphere of Love be all my joy
(GERHARD TERSTEEGEN)

I do not know when I have had happier times in my soul, than when I have been sitting at work, with nothing before me but a candle and a white cloth, and hearing no sound but that of my own breath, with God in my soul and heaven in my eye... I rejoice in being exactly what I am,--a creature capable of loving God, and who, as long as God lives, must be happy. I get up and look for a while out of the window, and gaze at the moon and stars, the work of an Almighty hand. I think of the grandeur of the universe, and then sit down, and think myself one of the happiest beings in it.
(A POOR METHODIST WOMAN, 18TH CENTURY)

"a poor Methodist woman" .... methinks she was not poor at all, in the ways that really matter.

I love it when you visit ....thank you

frances

Never

2012-01-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

" .... oh, I do believe it is the sin I dread and not the suffering of life -- but I know not; I may be deluded. My love to my Master seems to me very shallow and contemptible. I am astonished that I love anything else. Oh, that He would this moment come down into this room and tell me I never, never shall grieve Him again!"

(Elizabeth Prentiss ... 1800's)

never, never

When More Than One Wins ....

2012-01-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

Did you notice the word "winners" .... meaning more than one? Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR treasured friends will receive a set of the two towels and one placemat offered in my giveaway.

and the winners are ....

kati

heather

gina

lori

Kati, I will give you your package in person. Heather, Gina and Lori ... please message me your mailing addresses and your gifts will be on their way. Thank you so much for your sweet friendship.

My love to all who participated in this giveway. If your name was not drawn this time, please try again on my next gifting, which will take place soon.

“And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love” ― William Blake

thank you for your visit ....

frances

Come Down in Pity

2012-01-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

Be still, sad soul! lift thou no passionate cry,
But spread the desert of thy being bare
To the full searching of the All-seeing eye;
Wait! and through dark misgiving, black despair,
God will come down in pity, and fill the dry
Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air.

--J. C. Shairp

"But God always answers us in the deeps, never in the shallows of our soul."

Amy Carmichael

what should I do, what should I do without You?

(with a prayerful heart today for someone I love)

A Time to Give ...

2012-01-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed that owls are currently "in"? I seem to be seeing them everywhere. On shopping bags, on journals, on mugs, even on Valentine placemats and towels ....

such cuteness .... can you bear it?

I will be giving away two kitchen towels and one placemat (as shown). The plastic tag on the placemat just peels off ... I will do that before mailing (the placemat is plastic, not cloth). There will be one each of the two towels shown. And who knows ... I may even throw in one or two extra little things as a surprise.

If you are interested in entering, just leave a short comment on this blog letting me know (the comment needs to be here on the blog, not just on Facebook). I will announce the winner on Monday, Jan. 16th. I'm sorry, but due to shipping costs, I need to limit this giveaway to U.S. residents only.

"it's so happy to love"

thank you for visiting ...

frances

Things Too Small To Tell

2012-01-09T13:47:00.000-05:00

"I have come more and more to watch for those minute touches of the love and forethought of our Father which is shown in the smallest things of life, such as the coming of a flower, a message, a picture, a letter, a book, the touch of a loving hand, the look in loving eyes, the tones in loving voices --- things too small to tell, but making such a difference to our day."

(Amy Carmichael ... "Thou Givest, They Gather")

what loving little touch can you add to someone's life today?

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts ....

(2 Corinthians 3:2)

All That Waits ....

2012-01-07T22:53:00.000-05:00

she could hardly believe all that was waiting when she finally opened her heart ....

exceedingly precious promises

"To Give This ...."

2012-01-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

(wide open arms)

"God so loved that He gave. How much do you love? Do you love enough to give --- this? To each of us there is a different "this," but the question is the same and there can only be one answer .... 'Let Him take all.' We may be put off from the joy of giving by the thought of the smallness of what we have to offer. But our Lord does not think anything love can give is too small to take. There is nothing small to God; even our little "this" matters to Him."

(Amy Carmichael .... "Whispers of His Power")

"Dear Lord .... yes!"

As a new year begins, may He enable us, enable me, to say .... "Take all .... take this"

Ever So Hopefully ....

2011-12-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

For my dear friend, Linda ....

She learned to cup possibility in her hands ...

(a little doll that sits in my guest room ... come visit me some time and she will watch you sweetly sleep)

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved. And that you will be wise, and that you will always be kind.”
― Neil Gaiman

"Is He not Love?"

The School of Love

2011-12-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

Love knows how to do without what it naturally wants. Love knows how to say, "What does it matter?"

(Amy Carmichael ... "Edges of His Ways" ... December 28th)

The Fire Within

2011-12-26T11:24:00.000-05:00

"She hath neither rusted out, nor burned out. She is burning still." I read that in an Australian magazine and I prayed that it might be true of each one of us. We want most earnestly not to rust out; we would gladly be burned out ... but till that day comes, the Lord keep us "burning still."

Perhaps some of us are sorely tempted to think that just now there is not much that is "burning" about our lives. Some are ill, some have duties of a very simple sort -- where does the burning come in? Where did it come in when John the Baptist was shut up in prison? He could not do anything but just endure, and not be offended, and not doubt his Lord's love. But when our Lord Jesus spoke of him, He said he was burning and shining -- "a burning and shining light".

It is not the place where we are, or the work that we do or cannot do, that matters; it is something else. It is the fire within that burns and shines, whatever our circumstances.

(Amy Carmichael ... "Edges of His Ways" for December 17th)

A friend of Ann's read the above selection on the day of her memorial service, which was held on December 17th. I thought it was most appropriate.

"It is the fire within that burns and shines, whatever our circumstances".

My Dearly Beloved and Longed-For in the Lord

2011-12-18T22:55:00.001-05:00

A flower ... for you ... as you walk through this Christmas week

I shall not again quarrel Christ for a gloom, now He hath taken the mask off His face and saith, "Kiss thy fill" .... and what can I have more when I get Great Heaven in my little arms?

(Samuel Rutherford)

(For my sister Nancy, who likes to know the process:
I scanned an old greeting card, extracted the girl and put her onto scrapbooking paper. Did lots of editing to try to make her blend in. Added framing in Photoscape to give it the look of a sketchpad. Added text. Click to enlarge)

Let Your Mercy Spill

2011-12-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

On the morning of Friday, December 9th, I left home about 8:10 a.m. to head towards Harrington to pick up my sister Georgia.   When I reached the end of Downing Road, where it intersects with Parsonsburg Road, I looked to the right and was captured by the scene before my eyes.    I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, grabbed my camera, and took a few shots of the sun's rays streaming through the trees.   I'm not often out my door early enough to see such morning light.

About forty-five minutes later, when I pulled into my sister's driveway, she met me at her door, telling me Gary had called to tell me that my long-time dear friend Ann had been called Home, after seven years of living with ALS.    I was taking pictures of this scene about the time of Ann's passing.   It was such a beautiful scene, but nothing at all like the scene that awaited Ann's eyes that morning.

During Ann's last couple of months confined to bed, she began to love listening to the music of Leonard Cohen.   She loved his deep mournful voice.    The following lyrics are to a song that particularly ministered to her heart, as she struggled with the knowledge that she would soon be losing her voice.

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will.

If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will

If it be your will.

http://youtu.be/hNfNdflTs5E

Ann shared this song with her fellow sufferers in the ALS forums. Many wrote and told her how much the lyrics meant to them. They take on so much more meaning when you try to put yourself in the place of those who are dealing with such a horrific disease, wanting an end to this night. For Ann, that night has ended. I will always remember caring for her as she laid in her bed, unable to move yet always longing to have a surrendered spirit, even in the face of the dread of losing her voice. I will never be able to listen to this song without thinking of my Annie .... and of the One she supremely loved.

All My Lordly Self

2011-12-08T11:07:00.001-05:00

Jesus, cast a look on me;
Give me sweet simplicity;
Make me poor, and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know.

Weaned from all my lordly self,
Weaned from all the miser's pelf,
Weaned from all the scorner's ways,
Weaned from all the lust of praise.

All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside;
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet.

http://youtu.be/HOE9BTcuBtI

(from the CD "Depth of Mercy" by Red Mountain Music)

"Weaned from all the lust of praise" .... what hard, hard words

My Alone Only Heart and Breast

2011-12-05T19:18:00.001-05:00

"When anything intercepts our view of Christ, may we feel what loneliness is."

(Andrew Bonar, mid-1800's)

''Christ is my only head,
My alone only heart and breast,
My only musick ... "

(George Herbert, early 1600's)

(photo was taken in the yard at my Grandmother's house .... she passed away in 1986)

Even Me

2011-12-01T22:29:00.001-05:00

Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,
When in His beauty I see the great King,
This shall my song through eternity be,
“Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!”

Jesus loves even me.

I genuinely underline those words. Even me? I'll never consider the thought without feeling the need to throw myself at His feet. Such a depth of mercy that I could never begin to comprehend it. So undeserved. Even me.

How Can I Keep From Singing?

2011-11-26T14:56:00.001-05:00

My life flows on in endless song;

Above earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn

That hails a new creation;

Thro' all the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing;

It finds an echo in my soul--

How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comforts die?

The Lord my Saviour liveth;

What tho' the darkness gather round?

Songs in the night He giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

While to that Refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,

How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near,

How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile,

Our thoughts to them go winging;

When friends by shame are undefiled,

How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin

I see the blue above it;

And day by day this pathway smooths,

Since first I learned to love it;

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his--

How can I keep from singing?

(On the way home from church a couple of weeks ago, I heard a current rendition of this song sung by Enya, with a change of words. I searched for it on the internet and found that the song was an old hymn. I find the words so beautiful, as the tune sung by Enya goes through my mind.)

When Faith Shall Be Sight

2011-11-24T09:27:00.001-05:00

“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my Country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.”

(C.S.Lewis ... Till We Have Faces)

For Our Annie .... whose longing will soon be fulfilled

Is He Not Love?

2011-09-10T13:21:00.000-04:00

He is ever our portion, our inheritance, our peculiar treasure, our own, our Christ.

(Carolyn S. Blackwell, 1863)

(background photo is mine, taken on the fields of Gettysburg, PA. ... the girl was extracted from an old art site and pasted into the scene)

From Thy Presence Falling

2011-09-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

Grant us Thy peace, down from Thy presence falling,
As on the thirsty earth cool night-dews sweet;
Grant us Thy peace, to Thy pure paths recalling,
From devious ways, our worn and wandering feet.

(E. Scudder)

God Cometh In That Cloud ....

2011-08-26T15:42:00.000-04:00

"Hast thou a cloud?

Something that is dark and full of dread;

A messenger of tempest overhead?

A something that is darkening the sky;

A something growing darker bye and bye;

A something that thou fear'st will burst at last;

A cloud that doth a deep, long shadow cast,

God cometh in that cloud.

Hast thou a cloud?

It is Jehovah's triumph car: in this

He rideth to thee, o'er the wide abyss.

It is the robe in which He wraps His form;

For He doth gird Him with the flashing storm.

It is the veil in which He hides the light

Of His fair face, too dazzling for thy sight.

God cometh in that cloud.

Hast thou a cloud?

A trial that is terrible to thee?

A black temptation threatening to see?

A loss of some dear one long thine own?

A mist, a veiling, bringing the unknown?

A mystery that unsubstantial seems:

A cloud between thee and the sun's bright beams?

God cometh in that cloud.

Hast thou a cloud?

A sickness--weak old age--distress and death?

These clouds will scatter at thy last faint breath.

Fear not the clouds that hover o'er thy barque,

Making the harbour's entrance dire and dark;

The cloud of death, though misty, chill and cold,

Will yet grow radiant with a fringe of gold.

GOD cometh in that cloud."

(Selected, from "Streams in the Desert")

Invitation

2011-08-21T16:41:00.003-04:00

"How is the niece you spoke of as so ill and so happy? For my part, I am confounded when I see people hurt and distressed when invited Home. How a loving Father must feel when His children shrink back, crying .... 'I have so much to live for!' or in other words, so little to die for. It frightens me sometimes to recall such cases."

(Elizabeth Prentiss -- 1800's)

I find these words so convicting. I think of them often. I have been grief-stricken by the loss of loved ones. Have shrunk back. But Elizabeth Prentiss's words reflect the way I want to feel when called Home. I don't want to have "so little to die for."

Symphony

2011-08-14T18:16:00.000-04:00

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully. In a word, to let the spiritual unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

— William Henry Channing

A Mysterious Tenderness

2011-08-06T09:04:00.000-04:00

When I look like this into the blue sky, it seems so deep, so peaceful, so full of a mysterious tenderness, that I could lie for centuries and wait for the dawning of the face of God out of the awful loving-kindness.

G. MACDONALD

(Photo taken at the Woodland Ferry on a very hot summer day)

My Shut Eyes ...

2011-08-01T09:28:00.000-04:00

"If my shut eyes should dare their lids to part,

I know how they must quail beneath the blaze

Of Thy Love's greatness. No; I dare not raise

One prayer, to look aloft, lest it should gaze

On such forgiveness as would break my heart."

(H. S. Sutton)

The Beams of Love

2011-07-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

"And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love"

— William Blake

(The girl in the back in the pink is my sister Nancy's granddaughter, Ellie. She is comforting a friend who became a bit overwhelmed at her Princess Birthday Party. Photo taken by Nancy and edited by me)

Hearts That Endured

2011-07-24T10:19:00.000-04:00

"Write me of hope and love, and hearts that endured."

— Emily Dickinson

Within

2011-07-20T14:02:00.000-04:00

"A great hope fell

You heard no noise

The ruin was within."

— Emily Dickinson

This, and my heart beside ....

2011-07-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

It's all I have to bring today –

This, and my heart beside –

This, and my heart, and all the fields –

And all the meadows wide –

Be sure you count – should I forget

Some one the sum could tell –

This, and my heart, and all the Bees

Which in the Clover dwell.

(Emily Dickinson)

(Top photo taken at Jill's .... bottom photo taken at a sunflower field on Little Lane near Hebron)

Great Gaps

2011-07-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

"Where God tears great gaps, we should not try to fill them with human words."

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In sympathy for dear friends who have just lost a beloved father

Set Down By Someone Else

2011-07-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours."

— Alan Bennett

Redemption

2011-07-08T19:10:00.000-04:00

"I was dying when You came."

Clothe This Ragged Soul in Humility

2011-07-07T16:55:00.002-04:00

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/07/what-in-the-world-should-christians-wear/

Fragile

2011-07-05T13:14:00.003-04:00

"Mortals are such fragile things. Just tender feelings walking around exposed in their delicate shells...Easy to crush."

— Melissa Marr

I looked up to the heavens once more, and the quietness of the stars seemed

to reproach me. "We are safe up here," they seemed to say; "we shine,

fearless and confident, for the God who gave the primrose its rough leaves

to hide it from the blast of uneven spring, hangs us in the awful hollows

of space. We cannot fall out of His safety. Lift up your eyes on high, and

behold!

-- G. MACDONALD

The Things We Give ...

2011-03-20T18:49:00.000-04:00

A little thought will show you how vastly your own happiness depends on the way other people bear themselves toward you. The looks and tones at your breakfast-table, the conduct of your fellow-workers or employers, the faithful or unreliable men you deal with, what people say to you on the street, the letters you get, the friends or foes you meet,--these things make up very much of the pleasure or misery of your day. Turn the idea around, and remember that just so much are you adding to the pleasure or the misery of other people's days. And this is the half of the matter which you can control. Whether any particular day shall bring to you more of happiness or of suffering is largely beyond your power to determine. Whether each day of your life shall give happiness or suffering rests with yourself.

GEORGE S. MERRIAM.

Our Uttermost All

2011-02-16T08:23:00.002-05:00

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. --- Isaiah 43:2

"Our waters are shallow because His were deep. In Psalm 69:2 we see what He suffered: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow Me. For us, there is no overflowing; they shall not overflow thee is His promise. For Himself those awful depths.

Is there anything we can keep back from such a Savior? O Lord, take our all, our uttermost all; do with us what Thou wilt if only Thy name be glorified, Thy heart satisfied."

--- Amy Carmichael (Whispers of His Power)

Too Long

2011-01-17T10:06:00.001-05:00

"I've spent too long wanting what was taken from me and not what I was given..."

(Prince Caspian ... "Voyage of the Dawn Treader")

No Other Stream

2011-01-12T22:23:00.002-05:00

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion."

— C.S. Lewis (The Silver Chair)

Dayspring

2011-01-08T15:12:00.002-05:00

"Let Him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east."

— Gerard Manley Hopkins

DaySpring: This beautiful English word is found in the Old Testament as the translation of shachar, "Hast thou .... caused the dayspring to know his place?" (Job 38:12). This is no doubt intended literally for the dawn. The "place" of the dayspring is the particular point of the horizon at which the sun comes up on any given day.

May His coming to us be like the sun coming up on any given day. "A Dayspring to the dimness of us ...."

Things Hoped For

2011-01-03T10:14:00.000-05:00

"I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear." — George Eliot

For a very dear and precious friend ... May Hope flood your world!

"I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear"

And It Dazzled Me ...

2010-12-30T15:59:00.003-05:00

A prayer for the New Year .....

"Tend your sick ones,

O Lord Jesus Christ;

rest your weary ones;

bless your dying ones;

soothe your suffering ones;

pity your afflicted ones;

shield your joyous ones."

-- Augustine of Hippo

________

"In my deepest wound, I saw your glory and it dazzled me."

— St. Augustine of Hippo

Christmas Past

2010-12-16T11:30:00.001-05:00

During the Christmas season, our thoughts often return to days of childhood. I don't have many photos of Christmases from those long-ago days, but I do have a few. Thought it would be fun to share some of those with you ....

I think the year may have been 1958 .... pictured are my brother Albert, my sister Betty in front, my sister Georgia on the floor and then that is me at the back. Don't you love the curls? During my years on the farm, my mother always took me to Hebron, to Mrs. Nesbitt's, for a cut and perm. I can still feel myself walking up that sidewalk to Mrs. Nesbitt's parlour.

My sister Bonnie in the back ... Albert with his airplane, Georgia in front of the tree. My sisters and I were just talking about placing icicles on the trees as we were growing up ... each icicle had to be positioned one by one. See the dresses hanging from the curtain rod on the back wall? I just love those ...

My brother Albert with his new train. I remember he got into a bit of trouble because he woke up in the middle of the night and went out into the living room and discovered this gift before everyone else was up and moving. Of course, Albert was ALWAYS getting into trouble at this age. At this point, he was the only boy in the midst of five girls.

Christmas at our Aunt Mary's, who was more like a grandmother than a great-aunt. Seated in the very front is Nancy. I am peeking out from behind her. Next to me is Georgia, and next is Bonnie holding our cousin Cheryl ....

I lived in this house for the first thirteen years of my life. My father was a farmer, and he drove a local school bus, just like his father before him. We left the farm in the mid-1960's and moved into the small town of Mardela Springs. That is where I eventually met Gary. His father owned a filling station just a short block from our house.

Nancy and Betty, at our home in Mardela ....

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

— Thornton Wilder

"Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it -- every, every minute?"

— Thornton Wilder

Sit Gently Down

2010-12-06T13:24:00.002-05:00

Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.--JOB xxii. 21.

Unite, my roving thoughts, unite

In silence soft and sweet;

And thou, my soul, sit gently down

At thy great Sovereign's feet.

(P. DODDRIDGE)

Quietly Being Filled

2010-11-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."

Into Thy Depths

2010-11-18T10:05:00.001-05:00

Yea! In Thy life our little lives are ended, Into Thy depths our trembling spirits fall

Where then is our God? You say, He is everywhere: then show me anywhere that you have met Him. You declare Him everlasting: then tell me any moment that He has been with you. You believe Him ready to succor them that are tempted, and to lift those that are bowed down: then in what passionate hour did you subside into His calm grace? in what sorrow lose yourself in His "more exceeding" joy? These are the testing questions by which we may learn whether we too have raised our altar to an "unknown God" and pay the worship of the blind; or whether we commune with Him "in whom we live, and move, and have our being."

(J. MARTINEAU)

(This picture is a blending of two separate pictures. The little girl, sitting and holding her dress, was extracted and put into this abandoned room .... dark but yet with sunlight streaming in through the broken window. The room represents what we have to offer in ourselves ... nothing. Broken, yet wanting to be clothed. To be clothed with Christ .... )

The Valley of Vision

2010-11-08T23:10:00.000-05:00

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

(Isaiah 9:2)

"The Valley of Vision"

"Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin, I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime, stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley."

(Taken from "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions", edited by Arthur Bennett)

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

(Isaiah 60:1)

Pilgrim Path

2010-10-27T16:52:00.000-04:00

"... As she watched Him, she remembered her long journey up to the High Places, and how from start to finish, it had been the gracious gentleness of His manner towards her, His perfect understanding of her weakness and fears, as though He felt with her all that she suffered, which had wooed her to follow Him, even up to the grave in the mist-filled canyon on the mountains ...."

(Hannah Hurnard ... "Mountains of Spices")

"Grace and Glory, have you ever thought of what joy it is to me to be a Savior? To be able to take something which has been marred and spoiled and ruined by evil and to produce out of it something lovely and good and enduring -- something which can never again be spoiled? No cost can possibly be too great in order to accomplish such a triumph as that."

("Mountains of Spices")

(Click on photos to enlarge for better detail. First photo taken at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Last two photos taken at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington DC)

Everything She Saw ....

2010-10-14T23:17:00.000-04:00

"Her heart - like every heart, if only its fallen sides were cleared away - was an inexhaustible fountain of love: she loved everything she saw. "

— George MacDonald (The Day Boy and the Night Girl)

Scars, Brought From Some Well-Worn Field

2010-10-05T11:29:00.000-04:00

Judge not; the workings of his brain

And of his heart thou canst not see;

What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,

In God's pure light may only be

A scar, brought from some well-won field,

Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.

(ADELAIDE A. PROCTER)

Life Held A Different Meaning

2010-09-27T10:34:00.000-04:00

"Anne walked home very slowly in the moonlight. The evening [with Ruby Gillis before her death] had changed something for her. Life held a different meaning, a deeper purpose. On the surface it would go on just the same; but the deeps had been stirred. It must not be the same with her as with poor butterfly Ruby. When she came to the end of one life it must not be to face the next with the shrinking terror of something wholly different--something for which accustomed thought and ideal and aspiration had unfitted her. The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must begin here on earth."

(L. M. Montgomery)

(Photo taken inside the old church building in Furnace Town near Snow Hill, Maryland)

The Day That Changed My Life

2010-09-19T10:36:00.002-04:00

Thirty-one years ago today, on September 19, 1979, I closed myself up in our den, sat on the floor in the darkened room, drowning in the sin of my life. I knew I needed to make a decision ... would I continue the way I had been going, or would I give my heart to Jesus and turn around and go in a completely different direction. It meant death to things that I loved .... but those things were killing things. And I had been brought to a place where I wanted Peace more than I wanted anything else. His voice was calling ... and I said "Yes." I said "Yes." And I became His. And that has made all the difference. Echoes of mercy ... whispers of love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYPQl93zro&feature=related

It's All Grace

2010-09-16T00:44:00.000-04:00

Even If Only In Your Heart

2010-09-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart ....

Welcome Home, Kati ....

2010-09-07T17:24:00.001-04:00

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there? But am I talking too much? People are always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn't talk? If you say so I'll stop. I can STOP when I make up my mind to it, although it's difficult."

— L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables

Rejoicing with my dear friend, Cheryl, whose daughter Kati is returning home tomorrow (Wednesday), after spending the summer visiting her brother and his precious family in California. Kati had her first job experience while in California, working at the bookstore/giftshop in the Park where her brother works. I'm looking forward to having Kati back at church ... and hearing her stories of her special summer.

Welcome home, Kati ....

Kati has her own blog at http://katislittlecorner.blogspot.com/

(click photos to enlarge)

And Love Thee Evermore

2010-08-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

Is it for me, dear Savior ... Thy glory and Thy rest .....

For me, so weak and sinful? O shall I be so blest?

Is it for me, Thy welcome ... Thy gracious "Enter in" --

For me, Thy "Come, ye blessed," --- For me, so full of sin?

O Savior, precious Savior .... My heart is at Thy feet ;

I bless Thee, and I love Thee .... And Thee I long to meet.

I'll be with Thee forever .... And never grieve Thee more ;

Dear Savior, I must praise Thee ... And love Thee evermore.

O Savior, my Redeemer .... What can I but adore ....

And magnify and praise Thee ... And love Thee evermore?

(Frances R. Havergal)

The Voice

2010-08-24T09:52:00.001-04:00

"Lucy woke out of the deepest sleep you can imagine, with the feeling that the Voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name."

— C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)

One Ruling, Never-Ceasing Desire

2010-08-18T10:40:00.002-04:00

Thou art my King--

My King henceforth alone;

And I, Thy servant, Lord, am all Thine own.

Give me Thy strength; oh! let Thy dwelling be

In this poor heart that pants, my Lord, for Thee!

(G. TERSTEEGEN)

When it is the one ruling, never-ceasing desire of our hearts, that God may be the beginning and end, the reason and motive, the rule and measure, of our doing or not doing, from morning to night; then everywhere, whether speaking or silent, whether inwardly or outwardly employed, we are equally offered up to the eternal Spirit, have our life in Him and from Him, and are united to Him by that Spirit of Prayer which is the comfort, the support, the strength and security of the soul, travelling, by the help of God, through the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. Let us have no thought or care, but how to be wholly His devoted instruments; everywhere, and in everything, His adoring, joyful, and thankful servants.

WM. LAW.

Such Forgiveness As Would Break My Heart

2010-08-16T10:30:00.000-04:00

I feel as if I have lost touch with the blogging world over the past couple of weeks, as I've struggled with an abscessed tooth and root canal. I've also had a sister visiting, and it's difficult to focus on computer things when there is another person in the house. When our bodies are free of pain, it's easy to get caught up in one passion after another. But let that cold touch of pain intrude, and everything else pales in comparison. It's easy to forget how weak we are ....

These words from "Daily Strength for Daily Needs" were in my mailbox one day last week. I thought I would share them this morning ... I am so thankful for His great compassion.

If my shut eyes should dare their lids to part,

I know how they must quail beneath the blaze

Of Thy Love's greatness. No; I dare not raise

One prayer, to look aloft, lest it should gaze

On such forgiveness as would break my heart.

H. S. SUTTON.

O Lord God gracious and merciful, give us, I entreat Thee, a humble trust in Thy mercy, and suffer not our heart to fail us. Though our sins be seven, though our sins be seventy times seven, though our sins be more in number than the hairs of our head, yet give us grace in loving penitence to cast ourselves down into the depth of Thy compassion. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord. Amen.

C. G. ROSSETTI.

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.--ISA. xliv. 22.

The Slender Thread of Life

2010-07-29T10:20:00.000-04:00

I sometimes feel the thread of life is slender,

And soon with me the labor will be wrought;

Then grows my heart to other hearts more tender.

The time is short.

(D. M. CRAIK)

Oh, my dear friends, you who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day; you who are keeping wretched quarrels alive because you cannot quite make up your mind that now is the day to sacrifice your pride and kill them; you who are passing men sullenly upon the street, not speaking to them out of some silly spite, and yet knowing that it would fill you with shame and remorse if you heard that one of those men were dead tomorrow morning; you who are letting your neighbor starve, till you hear that he is dying of starvation; or letting your friend's heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy, which you mean to give him some day,--if you only could know and see and feel, all of a sudden, that "the time is short," how it would break the spell! How you would go instantly and do the thing which you might never have another chance to do.

(PHILLIPS BROOKS)

(This photo was taken at a cemetery in Pocomoke City, MD. These parents buried seven children)

Tears In His Heart

2010-07-27T17:27:00.000-04:00

"The lover went through a city and asked if there were none with whom he might speak of his Beloved as he wished. And they showed him a poor man who was weeping for love and who sought a companion with whom to speak of love." (Ramon Lull)

Sometimes there is a poor man quite near us and we do not recognize him. He may be in disguise. He may not seem poor, or as though he had tears in his heart, and yet he may be longing for just what we are longing to give. Often a shyness, a reserve, some veil of our own weaving comes down between us and we speak of the work of our Beloved but never of Him Himself.

Let us ask that our eyes may be opened to see the poor man in the city. He may be a little child, a difficult person, a fellow-worker, a guest, a stranger who drifts across our path perhaps only once. He may be a friend whom we could reach by a letter.

A little while ago, one who had only just come to know the Lord said .... "Isn't He delightful?" She spoke of Him. Do we?

(Amy Carmichael .... "Whispers of His Power")

(Photo taken on the streets of Coney Island)

Keith Green - My Eyes Are Dry

2010-07-22T09:48:00.001-04:00

I was listening to an old Keith Green CD yesterday afternoon and had to pause in what I was doing when he started singing this song. It's hard to listen to it without tears coming into my eyes and longings coming into my heart.

My eyes are dry

My faith is old

My heart is hard

My prayers are cold

And I know how I ought to be

Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done

For an old heart like mine

Soften it up

With oil and wine

The oil is You, Your Spirit of love

Please wash me anew

With the wine of Your Blood

(For anyone who is not familiar with Keith Green .... he and two of his children were killed in a plane crash in July of 1982 ... I remember hearing the news on my way to work, and I was devastated)

"I am in a manner imprisoned and grievously fettered till Thou refresh me with the light of Thy presence. And then? But who can tell it? Who can tell what Thou art, O Lord? Who can tell what Thou doest? Who can show to another what Thy large grace can be?"

When You Wonder

2010-07-21T09:02:00.001-04:00

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/07/letters-to-wounded-when-you-wonder.html

Powerful, Moving, Honest, Raw ............

Softness

2010-07-19T11:16:00.002-04:00

"Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,

And for thy maintenance; commits his body

To painful labor, both by sea and land;

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,

Whilst thou li’st warm at home, secure and safe;

And craves no other tribute at thy hands

But love, fair looks, and true obedience-

Too little payment for so great a debt.

Such duty as the subject owes the prince,

Even such a woman oweth to her husband;

And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,

And not obedient to his honest will,

What is she but a foul contending rebel,

And graceless traitor to her loving lord?

I asham’d that women are so simple

‘To offer war where they should kneel for peace,

Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,

When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.

Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,

Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,

But that our soft conditions, and our hearts,

Should well agree with our external parts?

"Kate" — William Shakespeare (The Taming of the Shrew)

(There was a time when I would have rebelled at these words, but now my heart wholeheartedly embraces them and finds them beautiful)

Whose Dearest Name Is Love

2010-07-13T10:17:00.001-04:00

There will be many things in our prayers today, but let us give five minutes for God to tell us what He thinks about kindness. Will five minutes be enough? We may find we need longer. Now the God of peace make you perfect ... to do His will. Are we perfect in kindness? Peter tells us, as though we need to be reminded of it, to add kindness to godliness (2 Pet. 1:7). Paul writes, in Weymouth's translation of Colossians 3:12 ... Clothe yourselves, therefore, as God's own people, holy and dearly loved, with tender-heartedness, kindness. Here again, holiness and kindness are set together.

Are we living according to this, the revealed desire of our God? Do we want to please Him more perfectly

"by kindness"? Then let us sweep away any thought of unkindness that may be lingering in any corner of our heart. Let us ask Him, whose dearest name is Love, to fill our hearts so full of love today that kindness will flow out all the time, and never anything else.

(Amy Carmichael ... Whispers Of His Power)

To Be Visited By God

2010-07-11T16:10:00.001-04:00

"Whether God come to His children with a rod or a crown, if He come Himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what way soever Thou come, if we can get a sight of Thee! And sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw by the curtains and say, "Courage, I am Thy Salvation," than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never to be visited by God."

(Samuel Rutherford .... 1630)

(The photo is a portion of an angel statue in a cemetery in Chestertown, Maryland)

Walk Tenderly

2010-07-07T11:19:00.003-04:00

"It's a very fragile world," she told us ... "so walk carefully everywhere you go"

________________________

I have always been glad that the Psalmist said to God that some things were hard. There is no mistake about it; there are hard things in life. Some beautiful pink flowers were given me this summer, and as I took them I said, "What are they?" And the answer came, "They are rock flowers; they grow and bloom only on rocks where you can see no soil." Then I thought of God's flowers growing in hard places; and I feel, somehow, that He may have a peculiar tenderness for His "rock flowers" that He may not have for His lilies and roses. --Margaret Bottome

Forever and Ever

2010-07-05T10:05:00.001-04:00

“One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands alone and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty ... "

(Frances Burnett)

"I saw Him and sought Him ...

I had Him ...

and I wanted Him."

(Julian of Norwich)

The Faithfulness Displayed Of Old

2010-07-04T08:34:00.001-04:00

My Father! see ...

I trust the faithfulness displayed of old

I trust the love that never can grow cold-

I trust in Thee.

Be not so much discouraged in the sight of what is yet to be done, as comforted in His good-will towards thee. 'Tis true, He hath chastened thee with rods and sore afflictions; but did He ever take away His loving-kindness from thee? or did His faithfulness ever fail in the sorest, blackest, thickest, darkest night that ever befell thee?

I. PENINGTON.

Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did any abide in His fear, and was forsaken? or whom did He ever despise, that called upon Him?

(Ecclesiastes 2:10)

This Sunlit Land

2010-07-01T07:35:00.001-04:00

"It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different - deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more."

— C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia ... The Last Battle)

Flight

2010-06-28T13:33:00.002-04:00

They are happy forevermore who are head and ears in the love of Christ, and know no sickness but love-sickness for Christ, and feel no pain but the pain of an absent and hidden Well-beloved. We run our souls out of breath and tire them, in coursing and galloping after our night-dreams, to get some created good thing in this life and on this side of death. We would fain stay and spin out a heaven to ourselves on this side of the water; but sorrow, want, changes, crosses, and sin, are both woof and warp in that ill-spun web. Oh, how sweet and dear are those thoughts that are still upon the things which are above! and how happy are they who are longing to have little sand in their glass, and to have time's thread cut and can cry to Christ ... "Lord Jesus, Come; Come and fetch the dreary passenger!" I wish that our thoughts were more frequently than they are upon our country. Oh, but heaven casteth a sweet smell afar off to those who have spiritual smelling! God hath many fair flowers; but the fairest of them all is heaven, and the Flower of all flowers is Christ. Oh! why do we not fly up to that Lovely One? Alas that there is such a scarcity of love, and of lovers, to Christ amongst us all! Fie, fie, upon us, who love fair things, as fair gold, fair houses, fair lands, fair pleasures, fair honors, and fair persons, and do not pine and melt away with love to Christ! Oh! would to God I had more love for His sake!

(The Letters of Samuel Rutherford)

this selection written in 1637

Fully Agreed

2010-06-24T17:43:00.001-04:00

"Now for myself: Know that I am fully agreed with my Lord. Christ hath put the Father and me into each other's arms." (Samuel Rutherford ... 1637)

And The Winner Is ....

2010-06-23T08:27:00.001-04:00

Okay ... the worst part about having a Blog Giveaway is that I can only pick ONE winner, whereas I would love to give the item to every person who entered. When I purchased this cup at Marshall's, there were about four others just like it. Last week, I went back with the intention of buying all they had left so that I could pick as many winners as I had cups. But alas ... they had all been sold. I was so disappointed.

This morning, I wrote the names of each person who entered the contest on little slips of Mary Engelbreit paper. For those who had left comments on this GentleTouches blog within the last two weeks, I wrote their names twice. I folded the pieces of paper, put them into a vintage yellow Pyrex bowl, reached in and pulled out a name.

And the winner is ...

LEE ANN

Congratulations, Lee Ann .... I hope your dear grandchildren will love using this mug the next time you visit them and read them the story .....

Please visit Lee Ann's beautiful blog at

http://encouragement-is-contagious.blogspot.com/

I will be having another Giveway soon. Please don't feel discouraged if you haven't won one of my contests to date. Keep trying, and I'm sure that one day, YOUR name will be the one that comes out of that bowl. With love to each and every one of you ....

SHE ASKED ME TO DANCE by KEN MEDEMA

2010-06-21T10:34:00.004-04:00

SHE ASKED ME TO DANCE

She asked me to dance and I'd never tried dancing before.

I had visions of everyone laughing us right off the floor.

"No!" I protested ...

"It just wouldn't be any good."

She gently insisted, and finally I told her I would.

Unforgettable. She was a fresh breath of Spring on a cold winter's day.

Unforgettable. She taught this singer to sing in a whole new way.

Well, He asked me to dance and I'd never tried dancing before.

I had visions of saints and angels laughing us right off the floor.

"No!" I protested.

"It just wouldn't be any good."

He gently insisted, and finally I told Him I would.

Unforgettable. Well He was the coming of Spring on a cold winter's day.

Unforgettable.

For He taught this singer to sing in a whole new way.

(Ken Medema ..... born almost blind in 1943 ... began playing piano at the age of five ... this is a song written by him the late 1970's and has always been a favorite of mine.)

The video link is from YouTube .... if it hesitates towards the beginning, just wait about 20 seconds and it will start playing again ... I think the loading of additional graphics causes the hesitation but it's fine after that, at least on my computer)

Love Notes From The Heart

2010-06-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

things cherished

beloved friends

golden echoes sweet

lovely moments

gentle thoughts

This child is someone's Princess ... do you know whose?

(Inspired by a sweet story on Facebook .... smile)

Until It Rests In Thee

2010-06-14T08:34:00.003-04:00

Grant to me above all things that can be desired, to rest in Thee, and in Thee to have my heart at peace. Thou art the true peace of the heart, Thou its only rest; out of Thee all things are hard and restless. In this very peace, that is, in Thee, the One Chiefest Eternal Good, I will sleep and rest. Amen.

THOMAS À KEMPIS.

Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord; and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.

ST. AUGUSTINE.

(Photo taken at Brookview Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY)

A Mother's Letter To Her Daughter

2010-06-10T23:40:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Carmichael's letter to her daughter ...

From her mother to Amy, in firm clear handwriting, dated January 16th

MY OWN PRECIOUS CHILD

     He Who hath led will lead
     All through the wilderness,
     He Who hath fed will surely feed ...
     He Who hath heard thy cry
     Will never close His ear,
     He Who hath marked thy faintest sigh
     Will not forget thy tear.
     He loveth always, faileth never,
     So rest on Him today .... for ever.

Yes, dearest Amy, He has lent you to me all these years. He only knows what a strength, comfort and joy you have been to me.   In sorrow, He made you my staff and solace; in loneliness, my more than child companion; and in gladness, my bright and merry-hearted sympathizer. So, darling, when He asks you now to go away from within my reach, can I say nay? No, no, Amy, He is yours ... you are His ... to take you where He pleases and to use you as He pleases. I can trust you to Him, and I do -- and I thank Him for letting you hear His voice as you have done. I shall not speak of your dear loving letter or my feelings. How weak we are. But He knows our frame, and remembers. "Go ye" ... my heart echoes.   "O send forth Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me -- let them bring me into Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles", met my eye as I opened my Bible -- do you see what the holy hill and tabernacles meant to me in this connection? I never saw it before -- and then in the next pages comes, "Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." All day He has helped me, and my heart unfailingly says, "Go ye". He only knows what this means and will mean to me -- to you -- to us all. I dare not think -- but His grace is sufficient, Amy. Let us keep our eye on Him -- and then no wave will swamp us -- and He will bear us up in His arms. Oh, isn't it strange we are not more cheerfully willing followers -- to think of His wonderful everlasting love to us, and how little He ever asks in return. Amy, darling, today I got a moment's glimpse of it all, and how small this life seemed. When we are dying, how very little will it seem that He has asked us to give up for Him. So, my precious Child, I give you back into His loving arms, saying from the depths of my being, "Take her, dear Lord -- Thou wilt take the most loving care of her, use her in Thy service and for Thy glory now and where Thou pleasest, for Christ's sake. Amen."

For dear Mr. Wilson, I feel so much, perhaps more than for myself, but God has his happiness in His keeping. He cannot and will not make a mistake. All other points are minor and must wait -- the one thought has been enough today. One step is all that I am equal to -- all else will clear. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." "Goodness and mercy shall follow me" -- and those who trust -- "all the days of my life", and we shall all gather from the north, south, east and west in His Home above and will cast our crowns at His feet, saying ... "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing." Till then may we each one be found faithful.

Ever my darling child's loving MOTHER.

Mothers and Daughters and Temporary Partings

2010-06-09T22:47:00.002-04:00

Today, my friends Cheryl and Ron drove their daughter Kati to the airport to spend the summer months in California with Kati's brother Ryan and his dear family .... read this heart-touching posting by Cheryl, as she was preparing to face this "leaving" .... http://thinking-about-home.blogspot.com/2010/06/fledging.html

In thinking about all of them today, I remembered the letters written back and forth between Amy Carmichael and her mother, in January of 1892, as Amy received the call from God to go to the mission field. Today, I want to share Amy's letter to her mother .... tomorrow, I will share her mother's letter back to Amy.

From Amy to her mother, dated January 14th, 1892 ....

MY PRECIOUS MOTHER,

Have you given your child unreservedly to the Lord for whatever He wills? ....

Oh may He strengthen you to say "Yes" to Him if He asks something which costs.

Darling Mother, for a long time, as you know, the thought of those dying in the dark -- 50,000 of them every day, while we at home live in the midst of blazing light -- has been very present with me, and the longing to go to them and tell them of Jesus has been strong upon me. Everything, everything seemed to be saying "Go" ... through all sounds, the cry seemed to rise, "Come over and help us." Every bit of pleasure or work which has come to me has had underlying it the thought of those people who have never, never heard of Jesus; before my eyes clearer than any lovely view has been the constant picture of those millions who have no chance, and never had one, of hearing of the love which makes our lives so bright.

But home claims seemed to say, "Stay", and I thought it was His Will; it was, perhaps, till yesterday. I can't explain it, but lately the need seems to have come closer and I wrote down a few days ago, just to have it in black and white, why I am not going.

1. Your need of me, my Mother.

2. The great loneliness it would mean to my dear second Father.

3. The thought that by staying, I might make it easier for the others to go if He called.

4. My not being strong.

But in His sight are these four things worth staying? You have given me three-quarters up as it is. My dear old Fatherie is the Lord's wholly; he would not let me be kept just for him. The other two things surely I could trust about. Still they seemed to say ... "Stay."

Yesterday suddenly, the impulse came to have a good talk with my dear Fatherie -- I can't call him "Mr. Wilson", he is too close for that now -- at any rate to you, Mother, and after it I went to my own room and just asked the Lord what it all meant, what did He wish me to do .. and, Mother, as clearly as I ever heard you speak, I heard Him say ... "GO YE." I never heard it just so plainly before; I cannot be mistaken, for I know He spoke. He says, "Go" ... I cannot stay.

Mother, I feel as if I had been stabbing someone I loved. It is Friday now. I could not finish this yesterday; and through all the keen sharp pain which has come since Wednesday, the certainty that it was His voice I heard has never wavered; though all my heart has shrunk from what it means, though I seem torn in two, and just feel one big ache all over, yet the certainty is there -- He said to me, "Go." Oh, nothing but that sure word, His word, could make it possible to do it, for until He spoke and I answered, "Yes, Lord", I never knew what it would cost.

Mother, I know that very few of our friends will think I am right. Those who don't know the Shepherd's Voice themselves will be quite sure I am very wrong and mistaken, but He has said, "Walk before Me and be thou perfect." He knows, and He won't let me dishonor Him by making a mistake and following my own fancy instead of Him.

There isn't much of gladness in this letter, I'm afraid, but I don't feel anything except sore at the pain this must bring to my loved ones.

Goodbye, my Mother. May He come very near to you and strengthen and comfort you.

YOUR OWN AMY.

(From 'Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur' by Frank Houghton)

Cheryl, I'm so thankful Kati made it to Ryan's safely. Often when we read something powerful in a book, we are moved and touched by the words. But then when we are faced with similar circumstances or emotions as those being expressed in the writing, we receive a whole new revelation of what the love of God has enabled others to endure and the stories take on new depths. I know that Kati's summer trip is not similar to Amy Carmichael's trip to the mission field and that the time involved is short ... but yet I think the cost on the mother's heart, to trust her child to God, is the same. May you know His gentleness in the coming weeks.

With much love from my heart to yours ....

Such Very Little Ones

2010-06-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

Love's secret is to be always doing things for God, and not to mind because they are such very little ones.

F. W. FABER.

(Artwork by Joan Walsh Anglund .... Frames by Raspberry Road Designs)

"Real" .... It Lasts For Always

2010-06-02T09:30:00.002-04:00

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

The Skin Horse Tells His Story

"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

(I know this excerpt from "The Velveteen Rabbit" has been quoted to death. But I stumbled upon it again today and was reminded of its powerful message and wanted to share it for those of you who haven't read the words in a while)

To One Unsatisfied

2010-05-31T09:47:00.001-04:00

When, with all the loved around thee,

Still, thy heart says ...

"I am lonely" ...

It is well; the truth hath

found thee:

Rest is with the Father only.

(George MacDonald)

Sometimes, Sweet Sister

2010-05-27T12:17:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I need you to be tough

Solid as a wall of stone,

When my enemies gather outside

And I cannot fight them off alone ...

Let me hide behind the wall

So the arrows don't get through to me,

Like a fortress strong and tall,

That's what I need for you to be ...

Sometimes, brother, sometimes.

Sometimes I need you to be sharper

Than a two-edged sword,

When my heart and mind lead me astray

And you know I cannot find the way.

When I stumble and fall

And temptation makes a fool of me,

Upon you I will call,

Restore me in humility

And love, sister, sweet love.

Sometimes I need you to be tender,

Soft as a baby's skin

Warm as a mother's smile,

When my fears attack me from within.

When you hold me, let me cry

So I know my tears get through to you ...

To sing a gentle lullaby,

That's all I need for you to do ...

Sometimes .... sometimes.

Sometimes I know it's hard to tell,

And it's hard for me to tell you.

Tough or tender, I'll try to remember

That you need me, too.

And I will do the same for you ...

Sometimes, brother ...

Sometimes, sweet sister ...

Sometimes.

This song was written by Nancy Honeytree in the late 1970's and brings back so many memories for me. I was a new believer and was just beginning to listen to Contemporary Christian music. Honeytree and Second Chapter of Acts and Don Francisco and Kelly Willard were some of the artists whose music spoke so sweetly to me of Jesus. I haven't listened to this song in many years. Just reading the words takes me back to those long-ago days ....

Blog Giveaway on my Little Birds Blog

2010-05-25T11:02:00.000-04:00

I'm having my first-ever Blog Giveaway on my "Little Birds" blog .... if you are interested in entering, visit .....

http://thelittlebirdsareurgingme.blogspot.com/

Sweet Peace to you ......

For Annie

2010-05-24T09:34:00.004-04:00

For my friend, Ann ... who is living each day with ALS

I was looking through one of my old journals over the weekend and came upon a page where I had written out the lyrics to Joni's Waltz ... and I thought of how applicable these words are for Ann.

Though I spend my mortal lifetime in this chair,

I refuse to waste it living in despair.

And though others may receive

Gifts of healing, I believe

That He has given me a gift beyond compare ....

For Heaven is nearer to me,

And at times it is all I can see ....

Sweet music I hear, coming down to my ear

And I know that it's playing for me.

For I am Christ's, the Savior's own bride ...

And redeemed, I shall stand by His side.

He will say, "Shall we dance?"

And our endless romance

Will be worth all the tears I have cried.

I rejoice with him whose pain my Savior's healed.

And I weep with him who still his anguish feels.

But earthly joys and earthly tears

Are confined to earthly years.

And a greater good the Word of God reveals.

In this life, I have a cross that I must bear ...

A tiny part of Jesus' death that I can share.

But one day I'll lay it down,

And He has promised me a crown

To which my suffering can never be compared ....

That's why Heaven is nearer to me.

And at times it is all I can see.

Sweet music I hear, coming down to my ear

And I know that it's playing for me.

For I am Christ's, the Savior's own bride

And redeemed, I shall stand by His side.

He will say ... "Shall we dance?" ...

And our endless romance

Will be worth all the tears I have cried.

(Joni's Waltz ... by Nancy Honeytree)

I love you, Annie ... your life is such a witness to the words of this song.

To learn more about Lou Gehrig's Disease ....

http://www.alsa.org/als/what.cfm

Abbygail Marie

2010-05-20T09:59:00.000-04:00

Last week, I received a letter from Summer Robinson, the mother of little Abbygail Marie and a twin sister. Here is an excerpt from that letter:

"I have 2 year old twin girls, and one of them is fighting 4 brain diseases. She's been through 11 brain and brain related surgeries, and is scheduled to undergo her 12th on June 11th for skull reconstruction. Abby has beautiful long curly hair, and she'll be having her head shaved for the surgery, so my husband and I would love to have a picture done of Abby with her beautiful hair."

To read Abby's story and to receive updates on her treatment, please visit http://abbygailmarie.blogspot.com/

What a story of courage and grace. Our hearts and our most tender prayers are with your family, Summer.

(click photo to enlarge ... and click again to enlarge even more)

To see more photos of this precious family ....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbygailmarie/

"Songs without words are still songs to Him."

Amy Carmichael

Enflamed

2010-05-19T19:36:00.000-04:00

so incredibly moving ....

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/05/enflamed-by-forgotten-god.html

Go Down Death

2010-05-18T10:53:00.002-04:00

Weep not, weep not ... She is not dead;

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

Heart-broken husband -- weep no more.

Grief-stricken son, weep no more ...

Left-lonesome daughter, weep no more;

She's only just gone Home.

Day before yesterday morning,

God was looking down from His great high heaven,

Looking down on all His children.

And His eye fell on Sister Caroline,

Tossing on her bed of pain.

And God's big heart was touched with pity,

With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on His throne

And He commanded that tall, bright angel

Standing at His right hand:

"Call Me Death!"

And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice

That broke like a clap of thunder:

"Call Death! -- Call Death!"

And the echo sounded down to the streets of heaven

Till it reached away back to that shadowy place

Where Death waits with his pale, white horse.

And Death heard the summons,

And he leaped on his fastest horse,

Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.

Up the golden street Death galloped,

And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold,

But they didn't make no sound.

Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,

And waited for God's command.

And God said: "Go down, Death, Go down ...

Go down to Savannah, Georgia ...

Down in Yamacraw,

And find Sister Caroline.

She's borne the burden and heat of the day;

She's labored long in my vineyard ...

And she's tired --

She's weary --

Go down, Death, and bring her to Me."

And Death didn't say a word,

But he looped the reins on his pale, white horse,

And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,

And out and down he rode,

Through heaven's pearly gates,

Past sun and moons and stars;

On Death rode.

And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky;

On Death rode,

Leaving the lightning's flash behind;

Straight on down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,

She turned her eyes and looked away ...

She saw what we couldn't see ...

She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death

Coming down like a falling star.

But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline.

He looked to her like a welcome friend.

And she whispered to us: "I'm going Home."

And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,

And she lay in his icy arms,

But she didn't feel no chill.

And Death began to ride again --

Up beyond the evening star,

Out beyond the morning star,

Into the glittering light of glory,

Onto the Great White Throne.

And there he laid Sister Caroline

On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took His own hand and wiped away her tears,

And He smoothed the furrows from her face,

And the angels sang a little song,

And Jesus rocked her in His arms,

And kept a-saying: "Take your rest,

Take your rest, take your rest."

Weep not -- weep not.

She is not dead.

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

(By James Weldon Johnson )

__________________________

For a friend who is desperately hurting .... "Lord Jesus, please help my friend"

Everlastingly Chained

2010-05-17T11:16:00.002-04:00

Christ is an unknown Christ to the young ones; and therefore they seek Him not. Bid them come and see, and seek a kiss of His mouth; and then they will find His mouth so sweet, that they will be everlastingly chained unto Him by their own consent.

(Samuel Rutherford, Scottish Minister 1600's)

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

(Song of Solomon 1: 2)

And to have your heart touched today .... such sweet pictures, such gentle thoughts, such depths of truth

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/05/best-way-to-open-up-life.html

The True Nurse

2010-05-14T11:38:00.000-04:00

This past Wednesday, May 12th, was National Nurses' Day .... so this posting is in honor of the most compassionate and "true" nurse I know, my sister Bonnie ....

TO THE TRUE NURSE

By: Amy Carmichael

God's own true nurse is she who knows

"By constant watching, wise"

Just where the scalding current flows

That, hid from casual eyes,

Makes life an arid wilderness

Then does the true nurse bless.

For she, without the noise of words

Most lovingly will do,

Till, like the song of happy birds,

The joy of ease pours through

That which was arid wilderness ---

So does the true nurse bless.

And when the spirit drifts afraid

To strange and unknown lands,

Then does the true nurse, undismayed

(Her dear love understands),

Follow and comfort and caress --

So does the true nurse bless.

O nurse, God-given, your ministry

Is something all divine;

With all you do, in all you be,

His love will intertwine

The gold threads of His gentleness --

So will His true nurse bless.

I love you, Bonnie ..... not just as a sister and a nurse, but for WHO YOU ARE

Layla Grace Marsh

2010-05-12T09:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I received an email from a new follower of this blog, sharing with me the story of Layla Grace Marsh, a precious little girl who was embraced in the arms of Jesus on March 9, 2010. She had been suffering from Neuroblastoma. To read her story and to receive updates on the new foundation created by her family, please visit http://laylagrace.org/about .

Vanessa requested that I do a page as a gift to Layla Grace's parents. I want to do more than one, but this is the one I was inspired to create last evening, based on the lyrics of Mercy Me's song "I Can Only Imagine." In the original photo, Layla was wearing a hospital arm bracelet. I removed that, as she no longer has need of it .... click on the photo to enlarge, and then click one more time to enlarge even more. (Background paper by Lily Designs)

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk

By Your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes will see

When Your face

Is before me

I can only imagine

____________________________________________________

the shirt says it all .....

To Not Be Offended

2010-05-11T11:36:00.003-04:00

All of us are sometimes troubled by questions. Why is the secret of healing not opened more fully? Why is that key not put into wise and loving hands? Why does He whose touch has not lost its ancient power not come immediately and touch and heal? Why have the wicked such awful power? Why are we ourselves sometimes like the little ship on the sea of Galilee beaten by the winds? And even after we have heard our dear Lord's 'Peace, be still,' why is it that there is not always instantly a great calm, a lasting calm? Why do the winds return again? We could go on forever, piling question on question. Why? Why? Why?

But faith is not "trusting God when we understand His ways" -- there is no need for faith then. Faith is trusting when nothing is explained. Faith rests under the Unexplained. Faith enters into the deep places of our Lord's words ... 'And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.' Faith, having entered into those deep places, stays there in peace.

(Amy Carmichael ... Whispers Of His Power)

(Photo taken at the Coventry Parish ruins in Rehobeth, MD .. I was struck by the contrast between the old ruined walls and the fresh blue sky ... a sense of eternity)

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:37:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone has had a beautiful Mother's Day .....

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

(Wanda L. Smith ..... 3/08/1930 to 3/14/2006)

"The death of a mother is the first sorrow wept without her”

More Love To Thee

2010-05-08T19:39:00.001-04:00

To love Christ more is the deepest need, the constant cry of my soul ... out in the woods, and on my bed, and out driving; when I am happy and busy, and when I am sad and idle, the whisper keeps going up for more love, more love, more love!

These were the words of Elizabeth Prentiss, wife of a Presbyterian minister and author of this hymn. She was often described by her many friends as "a very bright-eyed little woman with a keen sense of humor, who cared more to shine in her own happy household than in a wide circle of society." Although Elizabeth was strong in spirit, she was frail in body. Throughout her life, she was almost an invalid, scarcely knowing a moment free of pain.

"More Love To Thee" was written by Mrs. Prentiss during a time of great personal sorrow, following the loss of two children in a short period of time. For weeks, Elizabeth was inconsolable. In her diary, she wrote ... "empty hands, a worn-out, exhausted body, and unutterable longings to flee from a world that has so many sharp experiences."

During this period of grief, Elizabeth began meditating upon the story of Jacob in the Old Testament. She noted how God met him in a very special way during his moments of sorrow and need. She prayed earnestly that she too might have a similar experience. While she was meditating and praying one evening, these four stanzas were born -- words that have since become a universal prayer for believers everywhere:

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee! Hear Thou the prayer I make, on bended knee. This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee ....

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest; now Thee alone I seek -- give what is best; this all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to Thee ...

Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain; sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain; when they can sing with me ... More love, O Christ, to Thee ...

Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise; this be the parting cry, my heart shall raise; This still its prayer shall be ... More love, O Christ, to Thee.

(Excerpt from "Amazing Grace ... 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions" by Kenneth W. Osbeck)

Elizabeth Prentiss ..... 1818-1878 Best known for her book "Stepping Heavenward" and author of the book I am sharing with you, "Little Susy's Six Teachers".

Wounded

2010-05-05T13:02:00.002-04:00

This is so powerful ... can you read it without a breaking of your heart?

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/05/wounded-spirits-how-to-stop-bullying.html

Little Susy's Six Teachers -- Chapter 2 (Learning To Smile)

2010-05-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

LITTLE SUSY'S SIX TEACHERS .... Chapter 2

When Susy was born, Mrs. Love came with her, as I have told you. She took the little baby gently in her arms and smiled upon her tenderly. Then Mrs. Love dressed her in soft, warm clothes. She put on a little tiny shirt, a flannel petticoat, a white frock, and such wee morsels of socks that when Susy grew up she gave them to her doll. I don't know whether you had on any socks or not. Perhaps your Mrs. Love said your little feet ought to keep each other warm, and mustn't wear socks.

Now what do you think little Susy's first lesson was? Why, she had to learn to smile! Mrs. Love kept smiling and smiling, till at last Susy began to think to herself that perhaps she could do so, too. So she really smiled. Then you should have seen and heard what went on.

"I declare! this child has just smiled," said her nurse.

"Oh! are you sure?" cried her mamma. "Bring her to me; let me see!"

"Little darling!" said Mrs. Love.

When her papa came home to dinner that day, the nurse met him in the hall and said to him. "The baby has smiled!"

And when he went up to the nursery, Mrs. Love said: "Baby has learned to smile!"

And when he asked Susy's mamma how she did, she only said in a joyful voice: "Don't you think, our baby has smiled!"

So by that time he smiled, though he shook his head, as much as to say: "I don't believe it!"

After this, Mrs. Love made everybody in the house hug and kiss Susy so much that it was a wonder how the little thing found room to grow. They did not kiss her on purpose, you know, but because they could not help it. Everything she did delighted the whole family.

It was not long after this that Mrs. Love taught Susy to put up her little hand and pat her mamma's chin and cheek; and then to give her sweet kisses; and then to wind her fat, soft warms around her neck. And Miss Joy was almost always teaching her to spring and dance and to be such a happy little baby, that it was a pleasure to go into the nursery and hear her shout and laugh and clap her hands and see her face all full of smiles."

(Written by Elizabeth Prentiss, Published by A.D.F. Randolph & Company, Copyright 1856)

Nearer

2010-04-28T23:41:00.001-04:00

“Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”

(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart,

Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art;

Fold me, oh fold me close to Thy breast,

Shelter me safe in that Haven of Rest,

Shelter me safe in that Haven of Rest.

(Leila N. Morris)

(flower is from the snowball bush in my yard)

Little Susy's Six Teachers -- Part 1

2010-04-26T19:08:00.001-04:00

I'm going to begin a series of excerpts from the book LITTLE SUSY'S SIX TEACHERS, written by Elizabeth Prentiss in 1856. The book has been out of print for many, many years. When I first discovered this author, I searched for this title for quite some time ... and was so excited when I found it on an ebay auction. I picked it up again the other day ... read a few chapters ... and thought that some of you with young children might enjoy reading portions of this book together. But even if you are an "adult" with no young children in your care, I hope you will find your heart warming to the words of this endearing story.

And now, Chapter 1 ......

Perhaps you think you are going to hear that Little Susy went to school. But you are not. All the teachers she had, lived in the house with her. And all the lessons they taught her were lessons without books. I shall not tell you even the names of half of them, lest you should get tired. I shall tell you of only six.

It is a common saying that, "Babies bring love into the world with them." If you ask your mamma whether you did, I know what she will say. She will smile kindly upon you and say: "Yes, indeed, you little dear." So Susy brought her first teacher with her, and her name was Mrs. Love. She was just such a teacher as a baby likes. She had a gentle, sweet face and a soft, kind voice; her cheeks were of a beautiful rose color, and her forehead was smooth and white. Most of the other teachers consulted her before they taught Susy any lessons; and Mr. Pain, who was one of them, often staid away weeks at a time because Mrs. Love took such good care of Susy herself. Mr. Pain was not so pleasant to look at as Mrs. Love. He looked rather pale and tired. He was grave and serious, and his forehead was wrinkled. But for all that, he taught Susy some very good lessons, and even Mrs. Love sometimes sent for him.

Did you ever see a little lamb bounding over the soft grass? Did you ever hear a bird sing to another bird away out in the woods? If you ever did, you know how Miss Joy looked when she came dancing in to see Susy, and how her voice sounded when she taught her such pleasant lessons as she knew how to teach. She was a little bit of a creature, with waving, sunny hair and bright eyes, sparkling with health and happiness. I believe she and Mrs. Love are sisters. At any rate, they look more or less alike.

Susy's third teacher had several names. His easiest name was Mr. Ought. He did not look much like Miss Joy. Susy did not like him at first. He was so tall, and taught her such hard lessons; and when she would not listen, so often called Mr. Pain to come and punish her, that she wished he would go away and never come back. But the more she looked at him, the more kind and dear his face appeared. And by and by, she learned to love him with all her heart.

The fifth teacher was Aunt Patience. She looked as if she had seen a good deal of trouble. But you must not fancy she looked sad, or sour, or bitter, or any thing bad or disagreeable. There was a serene smile on her face that made you love her at once.

Another beautiful and holy teacher lived with Susy. His name was Faith. He was not older than Susy herself, and the only reason he knew any more than she did, was this: He was an Angel. He knew a good deal about heaven and about Jesus. He could tell her sweet stories from the Bible. His eyes shone just as stars shine in the sky, and his face looked peaceful, like the face of Aunt Patience, but more radiant and cheerful. Susy liked him and he liked her.

Have you so many teachers in your house? Perhaps you say, "No." But I am sure you have. And if you read on, perhaps you will see. To be sure, your Mrs. Love may not be exactly like Susy's Mrs. Love. But in most things, she is.

(LITTLE SUSY'S SIX TEACHERS, Published by A.D.F. Randolph & Company, Copyrightt 1856)

I Loved Her For Them ....

2010-04-25T22:40:00.002-04:00

Marilla Cuthbert: I'm afraid for her, Matthew. She'll be gone so long. She'll get terrible lonesome.

Matthew Cuthbert: You mean, we'll get terrible lonesome.

Marilla Cuthbert: I can't help wishing that she'd stayed a little girl.

Matthew Cuthbert: Mrs. Spencer made a lucky mistake, I guess.

Marilla Cuthbert: It wasn't luck; it was Providence. He knew we needed her.

Matthew Cuthbert: Even with her queer little ways.

Marilla Cuthbert: I loved her for them.

(From the movie 'Anne of Green Gables' )

Thoughts That Are Like Smiles

2010-04-22T18:17:00.001-04:00

From Amy Carmichael, in "Whispers of His Power" .....

My room is on the pathway, and often as someone passes by he glances in and smiles. That smile has lightened the minutes for me for a long time afterwards.

Through this very little thing, I have learned afresh how much our Heavenly Father cares for a loving thought -- a thought that is like a smile.

My thoughts of those who passed my window were many. But they knew very little, if anything, of them. Our Father's thoughts to us-ward are many. We only know a few of them, but they are flowing us-ward all the time.

I wonder whether He watches for a thought from us, just as I have watched for a smile through the window? Don't let us forget, as we go here and there, that there is One who cares very much for these little, quick upward glances that tell Him we are loving Him. How good it is, to know that He cares so much for the thought that is like a smile.

Till Perfect Day

2010-04-19T09:18:00.001-04:00

“Joy is like restless day; but peace divine like quiet night; Lead me, O Lord, till perfect Day shall shine through Peace to Light.”

(Adelaide Anne Procter)

What is your work? To help sick people, or little people, or tiresome people? To cook and clean, to make and mend, to work in office or shop or factory? To do the hundreds of odds and ends that every day brings? Does the whisper ever come to you, "What is the use?" If it does, let these words answer it. My work is for a King.

For the quiet joy of Duty,

Praise, Praise I sing,

For the commonplace and lowly,

Set with pleasure high and holy,

In each unromantic thing,

Praise, Praise to Thee, my King.

(Amy Carmichael .... "Whispers Of His Power"

The Most Precious Thing

2010-04-16T10:10:00.000-04:00

An evangelist of the Lisu tribe of Burma was so hungry for the Word of God that when he received his first copy of the Bible translated into his own language, he sat down and wrote this psalm of great joy:

"Hallelujah! Praise and thanks be to God our Father! Although He is high and great, He loves and pities us men of dust, and He has given us our Savior. Not only so, but that He may have fellowship with us men of earth and might be able to instruct us, He has given us His very precious and great Holy Book. Thanks be to Him. That which we have mourned for with tears and longing, hoping and praying, God has granted. On the evening of October 4, my own eyes saw and my own hands held His Holy Word. Hallelujah! Thanks to be God for ever and ever. My heart is filled with joy. My mouth is filled with song. My eyes are filled with gladness. My whole being is filled with satisfaction.

Everyone who heard the news came running to my house. When they saw, they jumped up and clapped their hands. So filled with abounding joy were we all that we literally jumped and hopped around, because we had received what we had longed to see and longed to touch. Thanks again to God our Father, and thanks to you our teachers.

This is the most precious thing upon this globe. Even if someone would offer me in exchange a thousand kingdomes like this whole wide world, I would never accept and never exchange.

Teacher, on the 4th of October, during the day, I wrote you a letter -- but as I was returning home from a meeting, I heard the news. I was so happy, I ran all the way home and hastily opened the package and just gazed. That night, I could not sleep ... Long before daylight, I was up reading ... and this morning, too, I was up at first light, reading and reading. Before the 4th evening of October 1969 arrives, I want to read through God's Word completely.

Yours rejoicing,

Lucius