The Remains of the Day

Why is it a surprise to wake up the day after Christmas and be a little overwhelmed by the remains of the day? So much effort and preparation has gone into making a holiday to remember, the ordinary things of life have been neglected. Now it’s time to “face the music.” I have yet to figure out how people have enough time and energy to rush to the after Christmas sales. I've seen enough malls and stores to last awhile. However, I am tempted to visit online stores and spend my gift cards. But first I must deal with household clutter, leftover food, and paperwork. I tell myself it will be easier to tackle the unpleasant if I dwell on all the joyful and fun events of the past few weeks.

Then I remember, there are only five days left in the month of December and the beginning of the New Year. Writing my last blog post of the year suddenly seems much more important that cleaning up all the clutter. So I back away from the broom and mop and try to get my creative juices flowing.

The lead up to the holidays started on Veteran’s Day weekend when Frieda’s son and family came from Toronto, Canada for a pre-Thanksgiving visit. Since the Canadian school holidays are different than ours, we had to celebrate earlier than usual. Did you know that the Veteran’s Day sales are as good as Black Friday sales? We ate and shopped until I dropped. During the next few weekends we had visits from my nieces and grandchildren from Charles’ side of the family. At Thanksgiving, Frieda’s college-age granddaughter came to visit. More shopping, cooking, and eating concluded with the realization there were only 28 days until Christmas. And you know the rest of the story – four more weeks of shopping, cooking, and eating. 

The remains of the day are looking pretty good right now. The leftovers mean I have at least a two day reprieve from cooking; the household clutter will eventually be put in order and I have a warm, comfortable house to keep it in. The receipts will get organized and there is enough money to pay the bills. Soon all of that will be history, but the warm glow from being with family and friends will last long after the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

Thanks for following my blog “Two Late Bloomers” this past year. As I enter my third year of posting, I continue to be challenged to write fresh and interesting material. Your feedback is always appreciated. My goal is to do more writing in 2015. What’s on your agenda for the New Year?

A Christmas Tree Lesson

Childhood Christmas memories make us feel nostalgic this time of year. My childhood memory was traumatic and triumphant at the same time. I didn't really appreciate its value until later in life. It proves to me that God wastes nothing in our lives if we allow Him to work His will in us.

A Christmas Tree Lesson

I stood on the shore of Gull Pond watching the last hurrah of summer. The trees in this picturesque place were bathed in the glorious fall colors of red, orange, and gold. A perfect mirror image reflected in the sparkling waters. My eyes fixated on a beautiful sugar maple and a tear trickled down my cheek. It occurred to me that this might be my last time to see this beautiful place. One by one I watched the red leaves float on the autumn breeze and skim the surface of the water. My life was ebbing away just like the life in that tree. 

I had survived a rough year, with numerous hospitalizations and near death experiences and there were more challenges to overcome. I had come to my family’s camp in the mountains for a time of recuperation. Soon I would be added to the national organ transplant waiting list. There was no guarantee I would receive a liver transplant in time to save my life. I wanted to be optimistic about my chances, but I was having a pity party. My prayer was short and to the point, “God show me your will and your plan for what remains of my life.”

Immediately my mind flashed back forty years. I stood in our living room looking at our Christmas tree. Like any ten-year old child, I awaited Christmas with great anticipation. All my hopes and dreams were wrapped and ready under the tree, but the tree itself was unwrapped and almost naked. 

The bitter cold winds and lake effect snows had blasted my town on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was an unusually cold winter and the old oil furnace in our upstairs apartment worked overtime. My mother’s asthma and my dry skin suffered that year and the Christmas tree didn't like it either. My bedroom was next to the living room and at night I could hear the steady drip, drip of needles falling from our newly decorated tree. By Christmas morning dead needles and shattered ornaments covered the presents. 

I was devastated since our family tradition was for the tree to stay decorated and on display until well after New Year. Our naked tree just wouldn't do since I couldn't show off my tree and gifts to my friends. I carried on so that my father agreed to go look for a new tree. He drove the old car around town until we saw several trees at a roadside stand. A farmer saw us coming and probably wondered about folks out looking for a Christmas tree on Christmas morning. It was my job to explain why we were there and only had five dollars to spend. “No charge!” the farmer said as he loaded the tree into the trunk of the car. My father sputtered and fumed as he dragged the tree up the stairs and mounted it to the tree stand. I didn’t dare complain as I swept up piles of dead needles, strung the lights, and hung the unbroken ornaments on the tree.

A squawking flock of geese diving into Gull Pond brought me back to reality. I suddenly realized that like that tree so long ago; I too was on life support. Just as my earthy Father had saved my Christmas by helping find a new tree, I believed that my heavenly Father would spare my life long enough to get a new liver. I left the peaceful setting of Gull Pond with renewed hope and a confident faith in God’s provision.

Two years later when the springtime trees were in full bloom, I received my donor liver and a second chance at life.

My memoir:  Born three Times—A New Life, A New Liver, A New Love tells this story and many others from my life. You can purchase my book from Amazon.com in either paperback or e-book format. It is an inspirational Christmas gift for anyone on your list.

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Three-Times-Life-Liver/dp/1462403875/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418739200&sr=1-1&keywords=Born+Three+Times+A+New+Life%2C+A+New+Liver%2C+A+New+Love

Count Your Many Blessings

During this Thanksgiving week a song has been stuck in my head.  It was written by Rev. Johnson Oatman in 1897, but it is still very relevant today. All of us have so much to be thankful for.

From time to time I have shared an update on our new Towne View Baptist church building. Our congregation finally moved in the first week of November and shared our first Thanksgiving meal in our new facility last Sunday. We were all asked to contribute to a Thanksgiving Tree. Scattered on each table were colorful leaves and markers. Everyone was asked to write something they were thankful for on each leaf—not just generic stuff like food or family, but something specific. 

The children gathered the leaves and taped them on the tree as a reminder of all our many blessings. I wrote on my leaf “organ transplants and donors.”  I wouldn’t be here without that second chance at life.

So my challenge to you is to find something specific in your life that is a unique blessing to you and take time to thank God for that blessing not only at Thanksgiving but all year long. Here are a few words from the song chorus that inspired this blog and a UTube link if you would like to sing along.

“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
 And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fMjgS4vu4o

Here are photos of our new church building and our Blessings Tree. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Our Far Flung Family

It’s the time of year when many families are planning large family gatherings and times of celebration. Since Charles and I have only a few family members who live close by, our holiday events are usually small. This year Christmas came early and all before Thanksgiving! Frieda’s son, Stuart and his family visited from Toronto, Canada on Veterans’ Day weekend.  His wife, Ruth, along with granddaughters Rose and Belle, really enjoyed the Atlanta area shopping and filled their suitcases to the limit of their customs’ allotment. Then they filled their bellies with Chick-Fil-A, barbecue, and Mexican food which are not available in Toronto. They safely flew home before the first major blast of winter hit their area. 

Four days later my niece Sally, from Rochester, New York, came for a visit since her husband was in Atlanta for a convention. We had lunch with my other niece, Sandy, and enjoyed travelling down memory lane. They left Monday just as the lake effect blizzard was crossing the Great Lakes. They have been stranded in a Motel 6 ever since with their car buried under massive mounds of snow. They are staying warm, but food for two days was limited to the contents of a vending machine. I just received word that a McDonald's in the area opened with walking distance of the motel. With no winter clothes between them it was a very cold trek, but at least they got some hot food. It’s probably two more days before they can travel.

Today Charles’ grandson, Jesse, flies in from Hawaii to join his wife and three girls. He was able to get leave from the Air Force and, hopefully, can stay through Thanksgiving. They are staying elsewhere, but will visit with us this weekend.

Then Frieda’s college-age granddaughter, Marcella, takes a break from her studies at Texas A&M and arrives here a week from today. We will have a great time catching up with her life and doing some Black Friday shopping. 

It’s an exciting time for us to be ground zero for so many family members. This is one year I will sail through the Christmas season very thankful to have been so blessed by the presence of our far flung family.

During the holidays there is a special joy in sharing with those who hold a special place in our hearts.  Psalm 128:5 (TLB) “May the Lord continually bless you with heaven’s blessings as well as with human joys.”

                                    Nieces Sandy DuVall, Sally Weidert, and Frieda enjoying lunch

The Pumpkin Patch Gospel

Several years ago I saw this devotional that gives new meaning to the annual tradition of carving pumpkins. This story appeals to me since I would much rather celebrate life and the harvest season instead of celebrating death and the ghouls, ghosts, and witches of the season. This parable is much like the stories that Jesus told when he took common items and gave them spiritual meaning.

   

“First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. The Bible says He selects us out of the world. We are in the world, but no longer of the world.

He then washes all the “dirt” off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins. All the outside influences of our former life must be cleaned up. Old things are passed away and all things are become new.

Then, He carefully removes all the “yucky stuff” called “sin” out from the inside. Look at this! Yuk! Sin will not have such internal power. He then changes us from the inside out by the Power of His Word. That’s why it is important to go the church and learn about God’s Word.

He carefully removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, and fear. He replaces them with the seeds of faith, hope and love. After Jesus is invited inside, you begin to experience the changing power of God’s love in your life.

Then He carves a new smiling face. Our countenance is changed by the power of His presence in our life. We then become so grateful. It can even show on our face!

Now we are going to light this candle inside. Look! This pumpkin now reflects the light from inside out. So too, when Jesus, who is called the Son of Light, lives inside of us, He shines through our life for all to see. We can let His light reflect through us to reveal His presence. “Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven.”

So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin! We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us. We can say like this jack-o-lantern, “Thy presence, my light!”

Now that Halloween is almost over, I can't wait for the annual Thanksgiving tradition of eating pumpkin pie!

It's a Scary Month

October is turning out to be a very scary month on a number of fronts. When I visit my local drugstore, there is a ghoulish figure dressed in a shroud carrying a scythe standing by the front door. In addition, there is a whole rack of freakish rubber masks. The place supposedly devoted to my health tries to scare me to death. Yup! Halloween is just around the corner.

  .

The spooky stuff connected to Halloween, is not nearly as frightening as the real news I see on TV and online websites. Who doesn't get freaked over the gruesome images of ISIS soldiers inflicting terror on everyone who doesn't agree with their interpretation of the Koran? It’s hard to comprehend how humans can be so cruel to their fellow countrymen, especially innocent women and children.

The deadly Ebola virus ravishing West Africa is now in the US and proving to be more difficult to control than first expected. Granted many other viruses, like the flu, have proven to be much more deadly. But I’ll take my chances with flu any day of the week. Mel Robbins, a CNN commentator, has invented a name for a new virus “Fear-bola.” The irrational fear of coming in contact with someone who has been around someone with Ebola is becoming the real October scary event.

 

Then there is the Stock Market. I do NOT like roller coasters—the real kind or the financial kind. For those of us who are in our senior years without a lot of time to recoup losses when the markets crash, it can be particularly painful. It’s not just because we want to “tear down our barns and build bigger ones,” but because we want to have funds to contribute to our church’s building fund or other charitable causes as well as provide for ourselves financially.

So where do we turn and what can we do when life gets SCARY! Many words of consolation can be found in the Bible. Here are some of my favorites from the Old and New Testament.

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalms. 56:3

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil.4:6-7

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

We can choose fear or faith to get us through life. Faith is my best option. What about you?

An Endangered Species

While we were California, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that makes illegal the words “husband & wife” in referring to marriage partners.  Those words will be replaced with the gender neutral word “spouse” in order to accommodate those who enter into an alternative lifestyle or “same-sex marriage.” Maybe it’s just me, but “I now pronounce you spouse and spouse,” doesn't have the same ring to it.  Will the terms “male & female “or “man & woman” be the next words to be deleted and termed politically incorrect? Why should thousands of years of terminology be thrown away to accommodate less than 2% of the population?  Let them come up with new words to describe the two partners in their relationships and leave the rest of us to be a husband or wife if we so choose. You say that’s just California, but whatever originates there soon makes its way over the rest of the country. There are times that I feel like I am living on an alternative planet and am an endangered species.

One thing I always enjoy doing whenever I visit a new city is to check out the types of places of worship.  As we rode on the upper level of a tour bus in San Francisco I saw many mosques and temples, but very few churches in that area. A large banner on one prominent structure announced its name as HerChurch.org. That aroused my curiosity and I had to learn more. This group brands itself as “A Liturgy of the Feminine.” According to their beliefs, the traditional maleness of God and Jesus as revealed in the Bible, is outdated and insulting to women. Instead of worshiping the God of the Universe, Her Church members worship the goddess that lies within the individual. I copied the following mission statement from their website. The misspelling is theirs.

“The liturgy, community and ministry of the congregation reflects diverse thealogical works and voices hoping to be a part of the prophetic voice of the divine feminine that will deconstruct Christianity and other patriarchal religions so that both a new paradigm and worldview may emerge that truly creates egalitarian just society and eco-sensitivities that tend to mending the web of life. “

The goddess movement celebrates and worships the pantheon of female deities found in all world religions, including Wiccan deities, the pagan Old Testament goddess, Asherah, and the Egyptian goddess, Isis.This “church” claims to be claims to bean offshoot of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  I can imagine Martin Luther is rolling over in his grave. 

It is not my job to sit in judgment of those who choose a different lifestyle or belief system. It is my challenge to love those with whom I disagree, speak the truth in love, and pray for the work of God’s Spirit in each of our lives. It is easier for me to live in my own comfortable world than to venture out of my comfort zone and see the world as it really is. Open eyes will help me pray more effectively and be a better witness to those around me.