Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Hello, my friends, I know we are all getting geared up for a beautiful October morphing into a spectacular fall. Most people get to October and immediately equate it with Halloween. I don’t think, “October = Halloween”. I think “October = crisp apples, cider and donuts, beautifully colored leaves raining down like multi-colored blessings from above.” But then, that’s just me.
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Hello, my friends, I know we are all getting geared up for a beautiful October morphing into a spectacular fall. Most people get to October and immediately equate it with Halloween. I don’t think, “October = Halloween”. I think “October = crisp apples, cider and donuts, beautifully colored leaves raining down like multi-colored blessings from above.” But then, that’s just me.
One thing that comes to mind from year to year is from the kids’ childhoods. When my daughter was in 3rd grade in a great Lutheran School that we loved, the week of Halloween the teacher handed out papers to be colored. As soon as she sat back down, my Princess was at her side, handing her an uncolored page. Miss P. asked if she hadn’t understood that she was to color it to put up on the wall. Yes, Ma’am, she understood. Did she take her crayons home and forget to bring them back? No, ma’am, she had her crayons. Well, then, why was she turning in a blank sheet? The girl quietly looked her in the eye and said, “Miss P., I can’t color this picture of a witch’s black cat. We don’t believe in celebrating the high holy day of Satanism.” She turned and walked back to her desk, only to be followed by her teacher with a beautiful picture of autumn leaves and fall flowers for her to color! What a beautiful way to acknowledge a child’s beliefs and keep her included in a fun project! We loved her teacher.
Another wonderful thing about fall, for me, is that we can turn off the air conditioning and open windows and hear the coyotes singing in the night air. It’s not that they only sing in the fall, but that until we get the windows open, we just can’t hear them! Unfortunately, winter follows fall, and we have to close them again!
But as I wrote last month, I have s-l-o-w-l-y been doing this or that job without thinking that I must do it all in one fell swoop. I am pleased to report that I have just three more windows to wash, and my screens will all be on for the first time since we moved here. That’s exciting!
Then I found a script I’d forgotten about that my son recorded for me to use at a women’s retreat. It made me laugh to think that 25 or 30 years could make such a difference! The script, beautifully read, needless to say, follows.
Photo by Alex Guillaume on Unsplash
Mission Impossible
Time and Expectations
Good evening, Mrs. Houk,
Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, will no doubt seem monumental. Many agents have attempted and failed, and many others have rejected this project out of hand. It has gained a reputation for its impossibility. That is why it has come to the auspices of this agency.
For this assignment, you will basically undertake an undercover operation of an average American household. But don’t be lulled into a sense of false security with this homey setting. The task may very well prove daunting.
Please access your information packet. You will notice the first folder contains photos of the people who will be your primary operatives. You will not only be living with them and interacting with them, but you must also be covertly training them, so that they can carry on this mission, should you become no longer operational.
The second item is a job description. Please notice that the following may be required of you at any time, and some of them concurrently: wife, mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, niece, aunt, neighbor, acquaintance, friend, teacher, church leader, community citizen, school supporter, cheerleader, chauffeur, beautician, banker, barber, masseuse, nurse, tutor, preacher, social secretary, informed voter, employee, historian, chef, receptionist, physical therapist, janitor, photographer, maid, organizational consultant, group leader, guidance counselor, coach, handyman, gardener, architect, scholar, policeman, writer, dietitian, waitress, purchasing agent; laundrymaid, housekeeper, investor, carpenter, interior decorator, manual laborer, secretary, bookkeeper, psychologist, veterinarian, entertainer, mentor, and prayer warrior.
You will, needless to say, be expected to perform flawlessly at all times, including those times when you are ill, depressed, tired, over-worked, underappreciated, abused, overestimated, and underpaid. You will, of course, as with all previous missions, totally memorize this publication, prior to swallowing it. Remember, the success of this mission depends entirely upon you. Any slight inattention to detail could mean an aborted mission, or even the loss of an agent.
As in all previous assignments, should you or your colleagues fall into enemy hands, or if you should fail in the course of this assignment, this agency will disavow any knowledge of you.
This tape is programmed to self-destruct.
Good luck, Mrs. Houk.
Oh, by the way, this self-destruction process typically results in quite a little mess. If you decide not to accept this mission, just leave it. Someone else will come along and pick up after you.
End item
Don’t forget
Down Home on the Farm series, book #5
A Job for Dancer
is here! Just in time for Christmas!
(CLICK HERE TO ORDER)
Have a beautiful October!
The Old Gray Mare...
The Old Gray Mare
As the song goes, she ain’t what she used to be. And some wags say, “And never was!”
However, knowing time is of the essence, we try to make the time count. What’s the old saying? “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” (I think that was some wisdom from Golda Meir.)
The Old Gray Mare
As the song goes, she ain’t what she used to be. And some wags say, “And never was!”
However, knowing time is of the essence, we try to make the time count. What’s the old saying? “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” (I think that was some wisdom from Golda Meir.)
Time is an exacting taskmaster, and as we age, we realize how quickly it goes. I know. The first 17 years or so of our marriage, Lonny’s Uncle Gus spent time with us, traveling to Florida in the winters. But in my youth, when he said, “Boy, time just flies!” I looked at him in amazement. While I was never rude enough to say it, I thought, “How can you say that? You sit and listen to ball games on the radio, play cowboys with the kids (from his rocking chair they rounded up multitudes of horses and managed the ranch with great alacrity.), read the newspaper, and nap. I’d think time would creep by.”`
But it’s a funny little twist how time changes. Mostly it changes people. But it also changes in and of itself. I used to wash all the windows, wash and iron the curtains, and still find time to deliver and pick up the kids, prepare supper, and play games at the kitchen table that night. It recently occurred to me I may not be able to do that now, but I sat down and made a little list to let me feel useful, if not nearly as productive as in days of yore.
For instance, I can wash one window, or perhaps two, and then have all my windows washed within 2-3 weeks. I can clean out one cabinet or set of drawers, and eventually they will all be finished and be neater than they were. I can dust in one or two rooms, and still have time to do laundry or water my flower beds. No, I’m not Speedy Gonzalez anymore, but I am quite capable of being a useful, productive member of society, at my own pace.
When do we decide it is time to reformulate our thinking and learn new patterns of work and enjoying life? Probably not soon enough, but if you just learn to go with the flow and not fight it all the time, life can be productive and enjoyable. For instance, since my oldest sister has moved in with us, I think I have laughed and joked more than I had in the past five years.
The day I realized this, I understood I was going through a seismic cerebral change, and that it was OK. I would waste time, energy, and peace trying to go against that flow.
Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash
Where are you now? Younger people who read my blog probably have the same look of askance on their faces that I had on mine 40 years ago with Uncle Gus. I’ve settled into the comfort of realizing that the adage, “Seize the day!” doesn’t have to mean get everything done that you can so you can get on to the next task. To seize the day, I sometimes take the time to watch hummingbirds buzzing around the feeders and flowers with my big sis on the front porch. Sometimes it means realizing I need to lie down and put my feet up for 15 or 20 minutes between tasks. Or it means embracing the moments of the day that are not filled with to-do lists or errands.
Maybe that’s what old age is all about. Learning the true meaning of “Carpe diem!”
Hope you have a great September. Enjoy your day!
PS: Two YEARS later,
(It’s been a rough two years!) I can joyfully announce that Book 5 of my Down Home on the Farm series is here! Let me know if you’d like one for a child near you or if you are preparing a Christmas gift for a child.
(Click the image to email me for a signed copy.)
A Job for Dancer
has arrived!!! Yay!
Shall We Talk?
Shall We Talk?
Do you ever talk to yourself? You know, I find I am talking to myself more and more, as I am reaching (ahem) my senior years. (As though I am still reaching…) (OK, let’s face it — I’m already there!) Sometimes just hearing words out loud makes an issue seem clearer. I’ve heard people say, “Of course, I talk to myself. I want to know the listener is intelligent.” Or my niece recently gave me a t-shirt which reads: “Sometimes I talk to myself. And then we both just laugh and laugh!”
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Do you ever talk to yourself? You know, I find I am talking to myself more and more, as I am reaching (ahem) my senior years. (As though I am still reaching…) (OK, let’s face it — I’m already there!) Sometimes just hearing words out loud makes an issue seem clearer. I’ve heard people say, “Of course, I talk to myself. I want to know the listener is intelligent.” Or my niece recently gave me a t-shirt which reads: “Sometimes I talk to myself. And then we both just laugh and laugh!”
There are some things which are taken for granted, and those include the power of speech. We have a good friend who, when we were together, never let there be a moment of silence. She simply had to fill all that silence with words. It’s obvious she never read the superior book written by Susan Cain, Quiet, the Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. She put forth that we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them proportionally. Not to say that only introverts understand the power of silence.
“The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.”
A couple of years ago, our Ladies’ Bible Study discussed the importance of remaining silent before the Lord for a short time each day. We were meeting together in homes then, and not on our phones as we do now. We tried a time of silence to calm down our hearts and minds and help us prepare to listen to what God might want to say to us. I can just hear you now, “Uh-oh, that didn’t last long. You can’t keep a room full of women silent.” Surprise. We began with just 30 seconds of total silence, just clearing your minds and listening. Then it was a full minute. Then two. Then five. What do you think? Was it a useful exercise? Somehow, once we got into the practice of a season of quiet, it almost seemed too short a time.
Listening is important. Everyone appreciates a good listener, even if it is only them talking to themselves. One thing I have read lately that just struck me was this conversation.
“How can you read and talk at the same time?” I asked. “Well, I usually can’t, but neither the book nor the conversation is particularly intellectually challenging.” (John Green, Look for Alaska.)
There! That’s the gist of it, is it not? We so often just prattle on about things, using words as though they were not important enough to think about first. I wonder if God hears our prayers when we don't really think about what we're saying. I wonder if it makes Him sigh.
So here is a challenge for you (and me) for this next month. When you get ready to pray, try going into total silence for a minute or two. Don’t think about anything. And then when you use words, think of them, assess them, weigh them, and give them devotedly to the God Who will always hear your prayers.
Have nothing to pray about? Please pray for my dear friend, Judy, (more like a sister), who is going through a rough time physically. Two years ago, she nearly died from pancreatitis. The priest was even sneaked into the ICU (this was during COVID) and gave her last rites. Twice. Please pray for her to have the courage and strength she needs. Pray that her Christian witness remains strong even in this fateful time. Pray that she is leaning on Christ’s everlasting arms.
Now. Can you think of other words that need to be brought before the Lord? Sometimes what we really need is a little quiet time with the Lord.
(By the way, tomorrow is our 55th wedding anniversary. Guess which of us is the talker!)
Have a happy August.
What Price Obedience? What Price Glory?
One of my favorite books, The Road Less Traveled, contains a truth that I have “rediscovered” several times. M. Scott Peck is talking about the discipline of being truthful to ourselves.
a cornerstone of Christian teachinG
One of my favorite books, The Road Less Traveled, contains a truth that I have “rediscovered” several times. M. Scott Peck is talking about the discipline of being truthful to ourselves.
“To have such discipline, we must be totally dedicated to truth. That is to say that we must always hold truth, as best as we can determine it, to be more important, more vital to our self-interest, than our comfort. Conversely, we must always consider our personal discomfort relatively unimportant and, indeed, even welcome it in the service of the search for truth.”
I think it is interesting, although Dr. Peck was an atheist at the writing of this book, (I understand that in writing, he came to Christianity.) that he pounced upon a point of truth that is also a cornerstone of Christian teaching.
The truth is, we are not called by God to be beautiful, or wealthy, or happy, or comfortable, or popular. We are called to be obedient. If that obedience leads to problems or pain, it is no less vital to our spiritual growth and walk. Indeed, the saying attributed to Mother Teresa,
““I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much!””
could be heard echoing in the hearts of nearly all Christians. But sometimes we forget He knows all about us, and He knows what we’re made of, and He really won’t give us more than we can bear, because we are not bearing it alone. We have Christian brothers and sisters who are helping, and we have the Holy Spirit to intervene on our behalf. He really doesn’t have to trust us all that much, with help like that at our disposal.
Sierra Leone image by Muhammad Shah Jaman from Pixabay
When we were running Feed My Lambs International, and my husband took trips to the war-torn country of Sierra Leone (along with 20-some-odd other African nations), you might be surprised at how many good church-going Christians would say to me, “I can’t believe you support his going into such dangerous territory. How can you allow that? (Laughingly, as though I had any control over him anyway!) I merely smiled and said, “Yes, it is dangerous. And we truly appreciate your prayerful intersession to God on his behalf. But if God sent him there, he’s safer there than he would be staying here.”
“If God commands something, that is the highest evidence that we can do it.””
Has God been talking to you lately about something which might seem a bit too “radical”, too dangerous, too involved, or too burdensome? Maybe He has more confidence in you than you have in yourself.
Following the footsteps of the fathers of our country may not find us stepping onto dangerous territory, as they did. But as we celebrate Independence Day here where we are safe and protected, let’s remember those who are in harm's way.
Image by Zack Culver from Pixabay
Happy Independence Day!
Springtime & Sweet Water
Springtime
People sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” during the Christmas season, but I think spring is the most wonderful time of the year. Apparently, some think the months of spring are March, April, and May, but I think spring is still April, May, and June. Nothing revelatory or scientific there. Just, as the old timers used to say before I became one of them, “I feel it in my bones.”
Photo by Sonia Nadales on Unsplash
Springtime
People sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” during the Christmas season, but I think spring is the most wonderful time of the year. Apparently, some think the months of spring are March, April, and May, but I think spring is still April, May, and June. Nothing revelatory or scientific there. Just, as the old timers used to say before I became one of them, “I feel it in my bones.”
As I sit down to write today, we’ve had beautiful rains. Flowers are blooming like crazy. Hummingbirds are comfortably visiting their feeders, beautiful orange and black orioles are visiting their (and the hummingbirds’) feeders. The breeze is gentle and pleasant, and life is good. As I wrote in one of my first DOWN HOME ON THE FARM children’s books, “How could anyone not be happy in springtime?” (My apologies to my friends with allergies.)
Sweet Water
“A cup, brimful of sweet water, cannot spill even one drop of bitter water however suddenly jolted. ”
What spills forth from the mouth in time of trial might indeed indicate what lies within. This is one reason that in our times of stress or sudden impacts, people might see (or hear) a completely different person in action.
I’ve been involved with a group of ladies in a Ladies’ Bible Study on Tuesday mornings for about 10 years now. At first, we met a month at a time in one person’s house and then another. Since we started meeting by conference call on the phone (Remember COVID?) we decided it works well to continue to do so. (Feel free to join us!) One of the things we stress is that we must try to learn Bible verses. After all, the Psalmist tells us,
“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. ”
The more “sweet water” we put in our cups, the more likely we will spill forth sweetness even in times of trouble or shock.
There is a hymn we used to sing a few decades ago. The chorus was always meaningful to me, and especially in this joy-filled time of year. It went something like this.
(Click HERE to listen and/or sing along.)
“Fill my cup, Lord. I lift it up, Lord.
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up, and make me whole.”
On a beautiful day in June, why not take your Bible out to the hammock and concentrate on a passage or two? It won’t be time wasted. In the words of James,
“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.””
Give it a shot!
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and Redeemer.”
Oh, yes, by the way, You! Yes, you in the hammock! Happy Father’s Day!
Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash
That's Faith
The Substance of Things Hoped For
Five letters. Five little letters. If you are into Wordle, you know those five letters can lead to a multiple of answers, only one of which will be the correct one. The five-letter word I am talking about here is FAITH.
It seems like a small thing. It seems like a no-brainer for the professing Christian. It seems like an absolute for the sanctified believer. But it’s not always so simple, and it’s not always so small. Faith.
In a conversation, a woman was telling me how she had advised a fearful friend that if she exercised enough faith (in the saving God — not in her ability to believe), she could beat down her fears and apprehensions. She told her it was unnecessary to live with vague fears and premonitions and apprehensions, because they were of the evil one and not intended for believers. Right or wrong, good advice or flimsy, look at the advice from the view of the one receiving the admonition: the one who must continually work to have, lean toward, and pursue faith. For some, it is not an easy acquisition.
I found some notes of a sermon I heard at Daybreak Community Church, in Lexington, KY, a few years back. The pastor had made this observation:
““You are ill. You go to your family doctor, who sends you to a specialist. You do not know this specialist. You have never seen him before, and, furthermore, you can’t even pronounce his name.
He tells you something you know nothing about and gives you a prescription that you can’t read for a sophisticated chemical compound that you don’t understand.
You take that prescription to a pharmacist you do not know, and whose last name does not even appear on his name tag. He gives you a medicine that you know absolutely nothing about and tells you how to use it. When you get home, without questioning, you take it as prescribed.
”That’s Faith.””
Our Ladies’ Bible Study this morning was entitled, “Joy in Affliction”. Where is your faith in time of affliction Let alone joy? This study is based on the joy-filled book of Philippians, but when you talk of joy in affliction, it must always come back to faith. And faith is the subject of Hebrews 11, whose writer penned:
““Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.””
Why not take a little time to read the short book of Philippians and the long chapter of Hebrews 11? Can you exercise faith in your affliction? Perhaps then you can also find joy in your faith. How’s that working for you?
Have a blessed May!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Get A Life!
I must confess my laxness in very nearly everything in my life, and especially in writing my monthly blog! (How can you call yourself a writer and not write?)
Here we go!
I must confess my laxness in very nearly everything in my life, and especially in writing my monthly blog! (How can you call yourself a writer and not write?)
The past several months, OK, 18 months, have been very trying for me. When you consider left total knee replacement and physical therapy, followed by rotator cuff repair and physical therapy, breast cancer and radiation therapy, and now left knee replacement and physical therapy, I've had a time of it.
Not complaining. Well, except for my first orthopedic surgeon retiring after the first knee (Dan, you know who you are!). And now my oldest sister is living with us. Between the two of us and our doctors' appointments, we really get around. And it takes time. And we sometimes don't get around to doing the things we are called to do and then we feel really awful. But, hey, that's life - right?
To show you how good the Lord is to provide, my husband and I spent the past two days cleaning my storage room down in the dungeon. As we were going through boxes and labeling tubs, and all that stuff, what should fall out of a box, but an early piece written 20 years ago for our Sunday School Class Newsletter! Don't tell me it was a coincidence! I know the Lord has heard all my pitiful whining about not writing my blog (since AUGUST!!!). He said, "OK, here ya go, kiddo. Maybe this will help get the ball rolling..."
I hope you enjoy 20-year-old thoughts! Some things never change.
Photo by Harley-Davidson on Unsplash
Get A Life!
How many times have we heard that phrase? How many times have we uttered that phrase ourselves? It seems to be the one thing that we are all in the middle of, all pursuing, and all in various states of success or failure within, and yet still we mutter, or yell, or hear, "Get a Life!"
When do you find it most appropriate? How about when someone is whining about his little aches, pains, sorrows, or whatever? I mean, there are people with Real problems, REAL, SERIOUS problems, and yet we whine about this guy's driving, or a sore finger, or a case of sniffles. It's when we are most into our own little world that we deserve to be brought up short and challenged to "Get a life!"
What is so significant about that? I think it might be the old saying that there is no dress rehearsal for life. What we have each moment, each day, is all there is. Why spend those precious moments whining? This life is the preparation for our souls. We need to be getting ready for our real future - the job we will have in heaven - that place where we won't have to be told to get a life! But a lot of people don't seem to realize that they are not just existing in the here and now, but that they are preparing for the great beyond. Columnist Tad Bartimus wrote: "There is only one way to get ready for immortality, and that is to love this life and live as bravely and faithfully and cheerfully as we can." I think that is a splendid idea. If we really did that, how often would we be told to get a life?
Don't breathe a word of this to him, but one of the people I admire the most is my husband, for that very thing. One could write a volume on how he loves life, and lives it as bravely, faithfully, and cheerfully as he can. Of course, he has his occasional down times when the old Houk family motto has to be dragged out: "Thou shalt not whine!", but for the most part, he seizes life by the horns and engages it entirely. He's a person who is really alive! I guess that's why he got a motorcycle.
Yeah, a motorcycle. The license plate reads: "Jn2115". I'm not sure if a midlife crisis can be gotten at the age of 52 going on 53 in August, Seems a little beyond that somehow. But a motorcycle it is. Life just can't go along serenely and smoothly. There has to be adventure! There has to be excitement! There has to be a challenge! So, he got a motorcycle. Braving African rebels in Sierra Leone wasn't enough anymore. Claiming new territory for the Kingdom in Africa wasn't enough. It's almost as though he isn't happy unless he's on the cutting edge! So, yeah, a motorcycle. How edgy is that?
I, on the other hand, am not a pioneer, not a cutting-edge person, not an adventurer. In my own little world, when I have control over my own little life, I am a safe person. I am a predictable person. (I am a boring person.) I am a nurturing person. I am a planning, careful person. I have a plan A, followed by a plan B to fall back on if plan A goes awry, and a pretty generalized idea of a plan C, just in case.
So while Lonny could be described by the above quote, I am more nearly tucked neatly into the words of George Washington Carver: "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak - because someday you will have been all of these."
Cutting edge people, movers and shakers, doers of great things don't worry about how far they are going in life, because they are in the midst of the engagement of life on their terms.
Sometimes taking time to be tender, compassionate, tolerant, or sympathetic just kind of gets in the way of the grandeur and glory involved in that riotous engagement. It doesn't mean they do not care about the young, aged, striving, or weak; just that they have mountains to climb and battles to fight and dragons to slay. And besides, there are all those other people like me who want to and can do that tender-compassionate-sympathetic-tolerant stuff. And those careful, planning people don't even want to go out and fight the battles or slay the dragons or climb the mountains. It's just not in us.
Or is it?
My helmet reads, "Feed My Lambs". Maybe it was time for another slice of life.
***
I hope you will not pass off my blog but will continue to read it. Perhaps, now that the Lord has smiled on my consternation and given me another chance, they will just keep on coming.
What's 20 years when you've got a life?
Love,
L. K. Houk
News
So pleased to let you know Book #5, A Job for Dancer, will be here shortly! You can get the Down Home on the Farm books directly from me. Contact me through my website. LKHouk.com
Books make a terrific gift!
I have four books out in the Down Home on the Farm series. You can get them directly from me. For information about my books, further reading comprehension questions on each book, and future releases, please visit my website: LKHouk.com.
Have A Beautiful Thanksgiving!
Teller of Tales
We can all use some wisdom from Tom T.
(not a typical turkey)
Tom T. - Not a Thanksgiving Turkey!
If you’ve read any of my books, you’ll know Tom T. is a family farm turkey who shares stories about other animals on the farm. Without being preachy, these books show growth of character. Learn more about these hardcover bilingual beauties on my website and contact me if you’d like to purchase one or more for Christmas this year.
Time Out
I want to let you know I’m still here and doing well. I’ve been caring for my sister, who has dementia, both at her home, and now in ours. Though she sleeps quite a bit, it is difficult to plan around her care, which is 24/7. My blogs have taken a back seat, temporarily.
I am thankful for this time with my sister and the ability to care for her from our home. Most of all, I’m thankful for Jesus and all he does in our lives - especially for salvation.
I hope you, your family, and friends are thriving and enjoy this Thanksgiving.
"Till We Meet Again"
Photo from: https://www.katieashby.co.uk/the-d-day-darlings/
A True, Golden Oldie
Do you ever find yourself thinking about music? I don't just mean music from this era; I mean music from way back. You know, from the olden days.
When I was a very young teen, my sisters and I would gather around the piano and sing songs from an old book of "popular", "modern" songs. Recently when I was with two of my sisters in Arkansas, we had great fun singing together. My brother-in-law and his wife are fine musicians and singers, so he sang and played guitar, while we sang along.
We started out with hymns and. I was happily surprised when my youngest sister began singing some of the old songs we'd learned in music class in our little country school. We had great fun with hits like "Me and My Shadow", "The Happy Wanderer", and a song where each of us sang the part of different instruments (violin, clarinet, horn, and drums). We even did Christmas songs, since we hadn't been together at Christmas in decades. The rendition of Silent Night was great fun to sing with the special descant I'd learned in seventh grade.
But, the one that keeps coming back to me is the one my (late) sister, Lynn, and I loved to sing. She had an amazing, smooth alto voice, and, believe it or not, I used to sing high soprano - with a range of three octaves, but that's long gone.
As I contemplate our singing together, and think of the words of the old song, I realize that probably nobody knows this song (from World War I), probably nobody is interested in the close harmony, and even as you read the words below, it won't mean much to a younger generation. Saying goodbye to a young soldier marching off to fight in the "war to end all wars", doesn't seem so poignant in a world where children are being shot right here at home.
I attended a funeral this week of a man who had retired from the Air Force several years ago. The photos of him with his beautiful young wife and children made me think of earlier times. As I looked around at the mostly older choir, the elderly priest officiating, and the mostly older attendees, I remembered what my husband had said earlier: "Young people go to weddings; old people go to funerals."
That being said, I am going to share the song with you. Sometimes it's good to think back on the older times, the older ways, the older music. To listen and/or sing along, click on the YouTube video for the original 1919 rendition with actress Mary Pickford. Later, Doris Day revived the old song, though it was a shorter, version. (Sing along! )
“Till We Meet Again”
““There’s a song in the land of the lily
Each sweetheart has heard with a sigh.
Over high garden walls
This sweet echo falls
As a soldier boy whispers, “Goodbye.”
Smile the while you kiss me sad adieu.
When the clouds roll by, I’ll come to you.
Then the skies will seem more blue
Down in Lover’s Lane, my dearie.
Wedding bells will ring so merrily,
Every tear will be a memory.
So wait and pray each night for me
Till we meet again.””
I hope you enjoy it.
And, I hope you have a gentle August.
"Never Alone"
“Never Alone”
Stop and think about that for a minute. Sometimes we forget that as our Lord and Savior, He is always with us. Always! When we are running late, when a co-worker berates us, when someone we love chooses not to love us, when we make the excuse, “Everyone needs to let his hair down once in a while.”
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
“Never Alone”
In a recent morning devotional, my sister writes she quoted from the Psalms.
“The wicked in his proud countenance does not see God; God is in none of his thoughts... why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, ‘the wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.’”
And of that quotation she then asks, “Do we exalt violence by what we watch on TV? What would you watch if Jesus was sitting beside you? Did we forget He is?”
Stop and think about that for a minute. Sometimes we forget that as our Lord and Savior, He is always with us. Always! When we are running late, when a co-worker berates us, when someone we love chooses not to love us, when we make the excuse, “Everyone needs to let his hair down once in a while.”
When these things happen, do we remember they are not just happening to us? They are happening to Jesus as well, because He has assured us, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” It’s not all about me. It’s Jesus and me. Jesus and you. We are like biscuits and gravy, like hearts and flowers, like two peas in a pod.
I have recently gone through a few issues. But I was never alone. I just had to remind myself that He is always with me. And underneath are the Everlasting Arms.
I was recently reading in the old classic by Helmut Thielicke, “The Waiting Father.” One quote from it I have loved for many years. I may have shared it with you before. This is his discourse on the parable of The Cost of Building a Tower. He wrote:
“That is why great theological thinkers of the Middle Ages said that half-Christianity always led to dejection. Indeed, they said that depression always had its roots in a divided heart. Only the simple and single-hearted are happy. For only the single-hearted man has a whole, unbroken, unambiguous Savior. [This is my favorite part of this quote.] The man who wants only a bit of God always finds God to be a brake, an impediment, a pain, but he who wants God wholly learns that He is the source of power, that He gives a man freedom and verve. That following Him is the most joyful thing in the world because He frees a man from all the things that tempt and torment the half-hearted, and tug and toss them to and fro. If a man is having a struggle with the shadows of sadness and depression, he must ask himself whether the reason may not be this division in his heart.”
Let us all remember that when we give our hearts to Him, it can’t be a half-hearted effort. And in that giving, it does not leave one heartless. It leaves you double-hearted! Yours and His!