Month: February 2013

I remember one snowstorm when I was about 7. The yard and trees were completely covered with snow, blinding white snow. My younger sister and I stood at the window, awe-struck with the sight of all that snow. Our little brother Ross reached between us to pull our heads apart, and his little fingernail scratched my eyeball. I remember crying and crying, inconsolable, partly from the pain and partly from the face that my angelic baby brother had inflicted the pain on me.

I remember another snow storm in 2001 when the weathermen said we would have light snow, but we had 14 inches. I had to go to work anyway. From the time I started working as a waitress in 1965 until I retired in 2003, I always went to work, rain or shine, snow or ice.

Now I find myself wishing for snow so I could have a good excuse to stay home, inside, reading or doing genealogy, or sewing, or crochet.

 Something is wrong when you are hoping to be snowed in, for solitude, to be able to be alone, especially for someone who is known as the Huggy Lady, Lovey-Dovey Lavon. “Any excuse for a party,” is what I say. Of course, when I say, “Party,” I don’t mean drinking or carousing and carrying on. I just mean, getting people together to visit, with a few refreshments.

The weather forecast for this week predicts 3-6 inches of snow in northeast Oklahoma, with much more for Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. It’s hard to know just how much we will actually receive, but I do know this is a perfect excuse for hiding out in the house.

Jesus often went away by Himself. “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.” Matthew 14:13.

If Jesus needed to be off by Himself sometimes,  then surely we do too. He is our example and it is good for everyone to be alone now and then, especially in a snowstorm.

Dad loved to fish and spent many hours of his long life sitting quietly waiting for the fish to bite. If the fish were biting at all, Daddy could catch them, even if no one else did. And most of the time, Mom was right by his side.

He knew the spawning patterns of fish and how the fishing was affected by the weather. He could talk on all aspects of fishing, along with the experts. He had probably fished for most fresh-water fish of North America, but never fished in the ocean. He would fish from the creek bank, from a bridge, from a heated dock, or a pontoon boat, not matter, as long as he was close enough to the water to drop a hook in.

One of my earliest memories is of playing along the shallow bank of the creek, where the rocks were smooth from endless years of water rippling over them. And I remember lying in the back of a station wagon at night while my grandparents, Mom, and Dad talked and fished by moonlight.

When I was very small, Dad caught a giant catfish in a creek near our hometown. I remember that when he held it out at arm’s length, the tail dragged the ground, meaning that since Dad was about 6’2″ tall, the catfish was about 3′ long. When I mentioned it to him once after I was grown, he said, “But you were too little; you couldn’t possibly remember that fish.”

Maybe I just thought I remembered it because I saw pictures of it, but I don’t think so. Research has proven that memories are formed in the smallest of child.

In Jeremiah 31:34, God says, ” For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.”

In Psalms 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

And in Psalms 105:8, “He remembers His covenant forever.”

It isn’t that God forgets our sin, as much as He remembers His covenant to forgive us. When God forgives us, He chooses to remember our sins no more.

My Valentines from first grade showed up at Mother’s home a few years ago. What a treat! Names I hadn’t thought of in 30 years showed up wishing me Happy Valentine’s Day. Be Mine. U R sweet. With love. Best friends.

In 1999, Mother’s home was flooded with 3 feet of water, the third time since she has lived there. The first two times, in the 1960s, were disastrous, but this time was a blessing in disguise. Mother never throws much of anything away, so as we started going through the wet things in her home, we ran across items that would normally have been discarded.
Most people of our generation only get to go through their parent’s home after a death or a move to the nursing home, so we felt privileged to be able to do it with Mother still alive. (She will be 95 later this month.) We made a party out of it. We could laugh and cry over things we found; some could be salvaged, some could not, so the things we had to throw away we treasured for that moment, then tossed in the trash.

We discovered that the valuable items were not hurt by the flood. Letters from my daddy when he was away in World War II dried out nicely. Most photos were not ruined by water; they were separated and allowed to dry naturally. The edges curled, but the images were fine. The old solid-wood furniture wasn’t damaged; the cheap pressed wood stuff fell apart. The stuffed furniture and bedding had to be replaced, but most appliances dried out and worked fine.
During that time we discovered just where our priorities were. Mother was fine, after being taken out of her home by two nephews walking a rowboat through her yard up to her doorstep. Even if she had lost everything, we have her and that is all that matters.

You cannot take your first-grade Valentine cards to heaven with you. Your pictures, your antique furniture, your knick-knacks and fine china will pass to someone else. Your money will be left behind.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I Cor. 13:13
What can you take to heaven with you? Only the ones you love.

 

In Acts chapter 27, a great storm came up on the Mediterranean Sea when Paul was a prisoner, being taken to Rome. He had tried to tell the captain of the ship that there was a storm coming, but they decided to chance it and sailed anyway.

According to some recent studies, this was the worst storm that ever came on that sea and was recorded by the local historians. This was a killer storm.

 As the ship tossed and rolled on the waves, Paul was fasting and praying. He came to the deck and told them, “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost.

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.

.And I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” Acts 27:21–25 NIV

Some of the men tried to leave on lifeboats but Paul told them “Unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved,” so they cut away the lifeboat and let it fall. Then he urged them to eat, because they hadn’t eaten in 14 days and again he said, “Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

 Paul had a destiny and the destiny of all those on that ship with him was tied up with his. Because Paul must live, they would live too. Paul had enough faith for them all.

 Who is sailing through the sea of life with you? Your family, your friends, your neighbors. Their destinies are all tied in with your destiny. Remember this promise when you are praying for them.

 God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.