Why can't I just bring a salad?

I learned several years ago that if you say, "Whatever need me to do, just give me a holler" can come back to haunt you. Well, perhaps not haunt, but definately change your life. I casually said that to my Bass guitar player in my worship band. Then, he called and for 9 months I babysat tripletts. It was a wonderful, but tiring experience. So the other day when I said, "Just let me know if you need me to do anything", I did mean it, just not that. My friend from growing up years was losing her earthly fight with cancer. I went down to visit and had a wonderful 90 minutes of bonding, praying and left knowing it would be the last time I saw her on this earth. I said the "whatever" bit and then they called. The "whatever" they needed was a bit more than my heart wanted. I'd really just have preferred, "can you bring a salad or babysit during the funeral", but no it was, "Can you sing a song you wrote in 1979 at the funeral?" My memory is poor, and I could only remember about the first 2 lines and went through all my music in vain. Then I remembered that I recorded a whole bunch of songs and they were in the basement on cassette tapes. Thanksfully, that song was there. So Tuesday I will go and give honor to someone who battled breast cancer. I will go and share from the heart and this time it will be a bit more painful than babysitting the tripletts. It will cost more than bringing potatoe salad, but it will warm the heart a lot longer. For you see, God taught me years ago to make the offer and let Him give me the power to fufill my promise. That for God is a piece of cake; for me it will be a faith building, character walking to the piano experience but also a time to bless dear friends. And the song... It's called Sunny Side of the Mountain. It was written after my second cousin was killed and my uncle died the next day. I don't think I have ever sung it since I sang it in church in Owatonna in 1979. I will sing it again; it's now recorded and God will be honored and Sherill remembered with love and devotion and we are living not for what we see on this side of the mountain but for what's on the Sunny Side of the Mountain.

God's plans

GOD'S ACCURACY How lovely to think about the way our Creator God plannedeverything socarefully and perfectly, everything with a plan. As Hishighest creation, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.' God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.For example, the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days; Those of the canary in 14 days; Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days.The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days. (Notice, they are all divisible by seven). God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. Thefour legs of thisgreat beast all bend forward in the same direction. Noother Quadruped is somade. God planned that this animal would have a huge body,too large to liveon two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums sothat it can risefrom the ground easily. The horse rises from the ground onits two frontlegs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hindlegs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!God's wisdom is revealedin His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as inthe number of grains. Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. Each orange has an even number of segments. Each ear of corn has an even number of rows. Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains. Every bunch of bananas has, on its lowest row, an even number of bananas,and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an evennumber and the next row an odd number.The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to theminute in all kinds of weather.All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks. The Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold,and a hundredfold - all even numbers. God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specifiedtimes during theday, so that Linneus, the great botanist, once said thatif he had aconservatory containing the right kind of soil, moistureand temperature,he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers thatwere open and those that were closed!Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the lifethat is entrustedto His care in such a way that it will carry out Hispurposes and plans,and will be fragrant with His presence. Only theGod-planned life issuccessful. Only the life given over to the care of theLord is safe.

Hymns never leave the heart

We took off this past weekend and headed for Illinois and the chance to play with my brothers three darling daughters. On the way, one of our goals was to stop in Iowa City and visit Bro. Dale. I've known Bro. Dale since probably about age 15. He has always been this quiet, unassuming gentlemen and as a minister he lived with a heart of gold and a faith that radiated. We've kept in contact through the years of changes in my life but in the past about 10 years we have kept better contact and many times traveled to Iowa to visit. One time we went up the road to Herbert Hoovers birthplace, other times hit McDonalds for lunch and spent lots of time visiting. One time I took Baihley out of school, made a pot of soup and headed for a 7 hours of driving and 3 hours of visiting. Lately, Bro. Dale has had a few set-backs, starting with a broken hip and then pneumonia. Our goal was to stop and visit at the Rehab Care Center where he has been staying. We found him excited to see us and after moving him into a wheelchair we went for a tour of the center. Talking was a bit of a challenge due to his cough. What does one do when one visits? One usually talks. I knew we needed to come up with plan B or it would be us wearing him out even more. We sat in the hallway for a bit, then as the activity room cleared out we went down the hall and I sat down at up the piano. There was Tyler, Baihley, Dale and I and a piano. What a great alternative to conversation. I'd play a hymn and Dale would tell us the name of it. There were more than a few times when I had to play through to the chorus before he came up with the title but most of the time he had the words on the tip of his tongue. I noticed a few more voices behind me and then someone called out, "Can you play Whispering Hope?" There were several more people in wheelchairs and the aides were pushing more people in all the time. I played; they clapped and called out more titles. I could play them all except I'm sure I didn't do Maple Leaf Rag justice; but no one seemed to care I heard, "Greensleeves" and after that I played "Oh Danny Boy". By this time we had quite a large crowd gathered. These elderly people weren't shy; they just kept calling out names of hymns. What is it about a hymn that never leaves the heart? Some of these people probably have dementia challenges but when it comes to hymns, they would begin humming, singing and words seemed to come to mind. There is something about how a hymn is written that it's form has the kind of structure that is easy to remember musically and soothing. Bach understood form. Beethoven understood form. Mozart understood form and how to write a melody so that it is etched in the mind. The words of the Wesley's, Philip Bliss and others in the early years of hymnal sharing painted pictures that are written in the heart in a way that they don't go away even though the mind may wander and the memory may fade. I wouldn't have played more than three notes of "The Old Rugged Cross" and I could hear the humming behind me. The first five notes of Amazing Grace had the lips singing and the tears starting. There is something about a Hymn that it never leaves the heart. Years of living, troubles, struggles and disappointments can be forgotten in a phrase that starts out so simple, "Oh, Lord My God." I played for over 40 minutes. More wheelchairs came and parked along the edges. No music, no books, no notes; it was just me at the piano playing from memory, from the gift that God gave me and the favorite hymns and songs that came to the minds of the hearts sitting at the Greenwood Care Center in Iowa City.
Today we stopped on the way back home to say hi once again. I had knit a scarf on the way from Peoria to Iowa City this morning and I took it into the Care Home with me.. As we left, one lady was getting ready to leave for the day and I asked her if she would like a scarf? She smiled and tried to talk to me. M.S. had taken most of her ability to communicate but I understood somewhat. As I wrapped the scarf around her coat, she said haltingly, "I loved the music. I loved to hear you play," She was one of those sitting in the room Friday when I played. A few minutes sitting at a piano bench sharing from the heart, had made us friends. I tucked the scarf around her smiling face and marvelled that as I had knit the scarf on the way from Peoria to Iowa City, I prayed that whoever needed a scarf would be put in my way. She was so much in my way we couldn't walk without moving her wheelchair! That was an easy sign to recognize. Blessing others has to be one of the funnest things we're told to do in our daily walk. This is what Jesus meant by giving a cup of cold water. Just be who God created you to be, wherever you find yourself. It was so simple; a piano, hymns and hearts just waiting to be blessed. And the scarf; well that was just the ribbon on the package. Live each day so that you always have a scarf to wrap around someone's neckor a hymn to leave in their heart.

The Wounded Tree

I took my college daughter and flew to Florida for a week with my sister and parents. Normally it's good to take a break in the middle of winter, but when it's below zero and blizzards, it's even better to go to Florida. We would call home and the wind-chill would be quite below zero and we were trying hard not to rub it in sitting in the sun on the beach. Mother and Dick live in a retirement community and one day we went to Shalom Park which is a part of the development. It's designed to be a peaceful place for thought, beauty and toward the south side of the park they had a mediation walkway; I believe it's called a Labyrinth. You go in one way and continue the entire walk. This walk had little signs with different sayings about nature, peace, thoughts of the heart and statements to make you think about your life. We weren't taking it too seriously because we were just having too much fun, but I did take pictures and one of the parts really hit home; the wounded tree. The first sign was right below a tree with a very ugly knot and growth on the side.
The sign said,

" The wounded heart tree. What may have caused such a wound? All of us are wounded, even the greatest among us. Notice how this tree still stands strong. How did this tree learn to deal with his hard times?"

Looking at the tree you see the huge trunk and then about 10 feet up is the gnarled knot and beyond that the tree resumed it's growth and was at least 40 feet tall. As you walked past the tree on the other side there was another sign. This one was what touched me the most. As you looked at the tree from where the sign was placed it was as if nothing had happened to the tree. You could not see even a small difference from that side. The sign said,

"Can you position yourself in such a way as to not see the wound? Is that how we as people choose to show the world our wounds? In so doing are we not withholding the lessons of life from them? Isn't it in overcoming our adversities from which our strength and resolve drives roots deeper into the ground?"

Two thoughts come to mind; number one is he is right and number two is he is wrong. How he is right is that we need to learn from our wounds. We need to grow through it and keep growing. The wounds teach us about our selves, our hearts and our relationship with God.
How he is wrong is though we need to let others know of the wounds in our lives and show them how we have overcome them, so many times we are proud of our wounds and position ourselves so that others see only the wounds and not the growth. We want sympathy, special treatment, attention, spotlights and pats on the back. Using our wounds to teach others how to grow is healthy. Using our wounds to benefit ourselves is self centered. I would much rather meet someone who is growing tall and strong, the other side of the tree and then find out later after I have learned to love and respect their walk with God that they had a wound that made them grow through it rather than meet someone with a walking wound and that's all I see is the wound. God wants us to persevere. That doesn't mean ignore the wounds, that means grow through them. That means when people see us, they see a strong, tall tree. Eventually there will come a time when hearts open up and we show others our wounds.

Romans 5:3
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations (wounds) knowing that tribulation (wounds) produce perseverance;
and perseverance, character; and character hope."

So when you look at people, I pray that you see where God has led them and what God has done in their lives; eventually they may share the wounds and the valleys along the way that God has led them through. And always be willing to show your wounds when it's appropriate to those who can benefit from them. It's a great feeling to be struggling and someone you love comes along side and shares that they too have been there and God led them to be stronger in their faith.

Love Through Wrinkled Eyes

I looked at love through wrinkled eyes today. I meant to get over before Christmas but with our wacky weather and snowstorms I didn't make it until today. It's a short drive to where she lives. I walk up the gradually elevated wheelchair ramp and look in the window. When I get her attention I wave and I can always guarentee a smile and wrinkled eyes. Her name is Rose. I have known her almost 50 years although that's not really knowing her in a personal way since I was too little for a few years to "know" anyone. You see, Rose named me. She lived next door to us on the farm and was greatly perturbed that my parents brought me home from the hospital with no name. It was day after day that she would ring the party line phone and ask what my name was and finally she started tossing up names. Obviously, Marette hit a chord with both parents. I used to think life could be no better than walking up the gravel road to grandma's, crawling through the barb wire fence and walking down the "old road" to Rose and Walt's farm. If there were cattle in the field I took the highway since I was scared of the "bull". I would crawl through the fence by the big barn and go up to the house and ring the doorbell. I was always welcomed as if I was the most important visitor they had had all day. Of course I was offered food, after all that's what we did back then, but more importantly I would go in time to "help" sort eggs. I learned several lessons sorting eggs however the one I will keep forever is that it's not so important what you do as it is important that you are with people who care about you. I'm sure I was of no value sorting eggs, but I was never made to feel that way. I remember breaking one and my worth didn't go in the wastebasket with the egg. Rose has a smile that warms her entire face; wrinkles and all. Her eyes squint back as she smiles and it's love through wrinkled eyes. I pulled up a chair, tried putting in her hearing aids but ended up going and getting the aid to help. I knitted and we talked. We talked alot about things we both remembered. It was then that Rose asked me if I ever missed the old farm? "Yes," I had to admit. I wished the house and the barn were still standing and I could spend an afternoon in the woods. Our woods shared a border with their woods and we loved to wander. We tried not to go in "Walt and Rose's" woods because often their cattle were in their but there were times we'd jump the fence and go down farther where the river went around a bend.
We talked about the family, especially how my family was growing and changing. We talked how she and Walt met, when they bought the farm and how it was they ended up at the Concord Church. We talked about High School, the great depression, her playing basketball and then she'd ask again, "Do you ever miss the old farm?" We'd start all over again and about the third time around I realized that it was just like the egg sorting. This conversation wasn't going anywhere except in circles and just like I didn't really help sorting eggs it was the time spent together with people you care about that made the difference. Each time we discussed "how much we missed the old farm" it was a bit different angle and a few new memories and what God had done for our families. In the Bible if you really step back and look, it's kind of like Rose and I; the same discussion just with a different angle. People basically did the same thing in the Bible from generation to generation. We begin life, we live life, we make mistakes in life, we change life, we influence people, we make mistakes in life, we change life, we influence people, we make mistakes in life, we change life, we influence people, and the years go on. The one thing that has held our faith through generations is the love through wrinkled eyes. The love of Moses as he led the people; through wrinkled eyes. The love of Job as he started his family over again confidant God loved him; through wrinkled eyes. The love of David as he watched his grandchildren grow and as he listened to Solomon give advice to his sons; through wrinkled eyes. The love of Paul as he encouraged the churches; through wrinkled eyes. It all comes back to the questions in life that change our heart. Questions like, "Do you ever miss the old farm?" And as we share the answers with the people who care about us it's the love that comes through wrinkled eyes that give us the courage and strength to keep the faith and influence others in life. So as you make New Years Resolutions, which by the way is very Biblical except it should be daily resolutions, commit to yourself to spend time with others and bring up questions that prompt the memory and look for love; through wrinkled eyes.

Christmas Love Chapter

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style©By Sharon Jaynes

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family - It profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.Love doesn't envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure.
Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, that starry night in Bethlehem. Like the Shepherds, I am still amazed at Your great love. May I not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas, but celebrate Jesus' birthday with joy!In Jesus' Name, Amen

Little girl and the map.

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his littlegirl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printedthe map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it toShelby and said, ' Go into the other room and see if you can put thistogether. This will show you our whole country today.' After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctlyfitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how shehad finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, ' on the other side of thepaper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where Hebelonged, then our country just came together.'