The Faith of

My Grandparents

 

 

Somewhere in time, the week before last, the paperback version of my first printed book became available.  I have a sweet cousin who ordered the book, but she thought it might be about our grandparents.  Well it isn’t, but I did use their names.  The book is set in the 30’s and they were young adults during that era, so that made me first think of their names. I also respect them, so I thought I might honor their memory by using their names.

My grandmother died when I was twelve, but I remember her from when I was young.  She used to make me special treats.  If she made chocolate pudding for everyone, she would make me a small amount of vanilla.  I’m allergic to chocolate and she didn’t want me to miss out on a treat.  She started to teach me how to sew. I made a simple elastic waist skirt under her tutelage.  She made me feel special.  She once told me I was like her and it felt nice to hear it.    

My grandfather was another matter altogether.  He didn’t spend time doing things with us.  He was a minister and I remember asking him when I was about seven years old if I could be baptized.  He told me to read the entire Bible and check back with him.  I believe he thought I was too young to make such a decision – I disagree, I knew what I wanted to do.

I was reading some memoirs he left and something stuck out in my mind.  He didn’t start out life planning on becoming a minister; the thought may have never crossed his mind.  My grandmother got really sick early in their marriage and almost died.  This caused him to really question God.  Church was something he did because he was supposed to, but now he wanted answers.  The pastor at the church where he attended couldn’t give him the answer he needed, so he went searching. 

Hebrews 11:6

 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

God rewarded my grandfather’s search. 

When my grandfather found the Lord and obtained his own personal relationship with our creator, it changed him. 

He was not perfect, but he loved God and did his best to serve him.  Because of his and my grandmother’s faith, all of his children – my father, my aunts and uncles were people of faith. Their faith impacted my generation as well. 


It’s an amazing ripple effect when one life touches others. 

When I titled my book “A Legacy for Martha” – I was thinking of the legacy left by my grandparents.  No inheritance, but a legacy of faith – and that is by far a greater treasure.

 

Whose Eyes

Do You Have?

 

 

Somewhere in time, a few weeks ago, I was getting groceries.  The store had a young man out in the parking lot gathering up shopping carts. He was heading my way and my cart was almost empty, so I called out to him.  I said, “hey, wait a minute and I’ll give you this cart”.  He never stopped walking.  I thought, well, maybe he didn’t hear me.  So I said it louder, “hey, wait” -but he just blew past me like he never heard a word I said.

This kind of irritated me.  I took my empty cart and put it away all the while mumbling under my breath. 

I have been back to that store several times and whenever I see that young man, I think – there he is, the kid who thought he was too good to put away my cart.

Then God opened my eyes.  I saw the young man was wearing a hearing aid.  He really didn’t hear me call out. 

Now I felt like an idiot.

How many times to we make assumptions because we don’t have all the facts.  We see the exterior, but we have no idea of what goes on inside.

1 Samuel 16:7English Standard Version (ESV)

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

How would our lives change, if we could see the hurt in a person who’s rude?  What if we could see insecurities in some one puffed up with self-pride? What if we could see the pain behind the sarcastic statements?

If we could see as Jesus sees, our lives would be different. If we could see people with the eyes of Christ, we wouldn’t be so quick to judge.

My prayer is that the Lord will lend me his eyes to see those I need to see.  Those I can be kind to when they are upset.  Those I can show compassion to.  Lord give me your eyes.

To Test

or Not to Test

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I was reading the Bible, when the words the “perfect will of God” took me back in time. I went to Bible Collage when I was younger.  One thing the students had in common is they were excited about pursuing the will of God. The problem was I really don’t think they understood what that was. They flitted from one thing to another always looking for God’s will.

I would love to tell you I wasn’t like that, but I kind of was.  I sometimes still have those feelings, but at least now, I don’t act on them.

This week, I was contemplating God’s will for me with a test I signed up to take. This is the second one the company I work for recommended I take and of course if I don’t pass it, I have to pay for it. 

I haven’t really been able to study because I have been working too much overtime. I also have a book out on Amazon for sale.  Even though I reviewed this book several times, when I reviewed my hard copy, I found errors. So I want to go through it again and make corrections.

I started thinking, maybe this test wasn’t God’s will – but really I was looking for a good reason to back out of this test. 

I thought to myself, my books do more for the kingdom of God than this test ever will, maybe I should back out.  The flip side of course is my company already bought my study materials, so if I backed out, they may not be too happy with me. 

I was torn. 

I think sometimes as Christians, we go looking for the will of God.  We assume just because things are uncomfortable for a while, we must be out of his will.  Me personally, I seem to think there is movement when I’m in God’s will, not stillness. To me focusing on this test was stillness.

Romans 12 King James Version (KJV)

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I had to realize that God’s will, doesn’t always involved fireworks and action, sometimes it’s just doing what you said you would do and being an honorable person. 

So ridicules test, here I come.

 

 

TobyMac - Me Without You (Official Lyric Video) from tobymac on GodTube.

My First

Book

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I published my first book.  I have written others, but this one I felt was complete. With the others, I seem to keep writing sequels.  I hope to get all of them together and published in the next year.

I do consider myself a story teller, but more than that, I am a creator of parables.  Can I tell a story that shares a truth? I hope so because that is what my goal is. 

My story is set in the early 1930’s with the beginning of the Great Depression. With this story, my character Martha is raised with plenty, but she suffers loss.  As a young adult she is trying to make a way in the world when the stock market crashes. The inheritance she thought she could fall back on is gone.

What I like about my character is she doesn’t lose hope and she never gives up.  When life does not go as expected, she still thinks there is a way or out or a way through.  She knows the ultimately God is in control.

Psalm 62:5-12King James Version (KJV)

⁵ My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

⁷ In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Of course, I hope people read my book and enjoy it. It’s meant to be light hearted entertainment with a message.  

Dry and

Thirsty Land

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, it rained.  If you live in a place where you get a lot of rain, the beauty of this may be lost on you, but I love rain.  In the summer, we normally only get rain at night, but still it’s nice.  I especially love it when it rains because I don’t have to water my grass.

 I live in a desert.  Most of the grass and trees are not indigenous to the area.  This is a dry, desert land.

Sometimes, in our spiritual life, we feel dry.  Have you ever gone through a time when your soul feels parched?  You want to cry out for help, but the words can’t make it pass the dry and brittle feeling in your throat.  I’ve been there, I think we all have.

Life is not a smooth road.  We have mountains of happiness and valleys of discouragement.  At times, in the valley we look around and all we see is the dry and thirsty land.

It’s a hard place to be. 

Psalm 63:1King James Version (KJV)

63 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Even when crying out to God is hard, it’s still the best option.  Even when we have given up, God hasn’t. 

Casting Crowns - Thrive from casting-crowns on GodTube.