Comfort

Praise be to the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The Father of compassion

and the God of all comfort,

Who comforts us in all our troubles,

So that we can comfort those in any trouble

With the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

II Corinthians 1:3-4

Thank you, dear friends, for your prayers and love expressed during our time of loss. Your comments and emails have meant much to me and they are read often and cherished greatly. The Everlasting arms of the Father are holding me close. He is leading each step of the way.

Sunrise

When I shall come to the end of my way,

When I shall rest at the close of life's day,

When "Welcome home" I shall hear Jesus say,

Oh, that will be sunrise for me. . . .

When in His beauty I see the great King,

Join with the ransomed His praises to sing,

When I shall join them my tribute to bring,

Oh, that will be sunrise for me. . .

When life is over and daylight is passed,

In heaven's harbor my anchor is cast,

When I see Jesus my Savior at last,

Oh, that will be sunrise for me. . .

Refrain

Sunrise tomorrow, sunrise tomorrow,

Sunrise in glory is waiting for me;

Sunrise tomorrow, sunrise tomorrow,

Sunrise with Jesus for eternity.

In loving memory of my dear friend who slipped quietly into the presence of Jesus last evening. This morning she saw the sunrise from the other side. The battle is over. Peace at last.

Hymn: "Sunrise"

Words by W.C. Poole

Melody by B.D. Ackley

A New Day

. . .As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Deuteronomy 33:25

The fog of yesterday lifted. The Son shone into our lives and brought His peace. Reality was faced. Decisions were made. A plan is in place.

I accompanied our dear friend to her appointment with the doctor who has been treating her for nearly a year. What we knew in our hearts was true - the days ahead are short for this precious one. She can no longer stay alone in her apartment. She has come to terms with the path God has laid out for her and she is at peace with the choices and decisions. No struggle. No fear. Just a calm assurance that God was not surprised by the words of the doctor or the view of the days ahead. Many phone calls were made. Plans are in place. For a few days she is here in my home. Secure. At peace. Surrounded by each of us who have loved her for so many years. We are family. She is at rest here. God opened the way for her to move into the Elder Care facility where our dear daughter, Mrs. M. is in charge of resident care. Our dear one will soon move into the apartment next to Mrs. M's. office where her needs will be cared for by a competent staff who truly value and love each resident. My heart is at peace.

The days ahead will be a challenge for me. Today our dear one and I will be at the hospital all day as she receives a blood transfusion to give some respite from the severe anemia that has overtaken her. Her doctor explained that this will give a bit more strength for a short time so she can enjoy a bit of time with her friends and family. Relief was evident as she heard the doctor's words telling her that she doesn't have to eat or drink anything she doesn't feel like having. Blessed sleep filled most of her day after she arrived here. My sweetheart quickly altered his hunting plans in order to meet the needs of the next day or two. Our dear friend is a special person. Her life has touched more people than she will ever know. Tears are on the faces of many as they hear the news. It will be our loss. Her gain. Heaven's gain.

Through The Fog

We woke this morning to fog. What a contrast to yesterday's gorgeous sunny fall day - a day to get out and enjoy the colors and feelings of fall. Today is a different day! So like life. It seems that we go along in a pattern at times, in a routine. Nothing difficult, nothing exciting! Then, suddenly, we are walking in the fog - we can hardly see one step ahead and we know we must proceed with caution. What is just outside our view? Is our perspective true? These are the times we need to hold tight to the hand of our dear Heavenly Father and follow closely so we can hear His voice saying, "This is the way - walk here." This is one of those days that I need to hear Him say, "My child, don't be afraid. There is nothing ahead to frighten you if you stay close to me. I will tell you what you need to know so you won't get lost in the fog."

Our dear friend is declining rapidly and can no longer care for herself. It seems her life here with us will soon be over and it won't be long until she walks into the presence of the Saviour she loves and has served so long. While it's hard to watch, I have taken the legal responsibility to be there to help her and care for her through the days ahead. She has tried to stay in her home of many years - living alone. The time has come to make hard decisions that will mean big changes for her. This morning I will take her to see her doctor to ask tough questions and seek the assistance needed for the difficult choices that must be made. Over the last few days she has not been able to deal with the changes that so obviously must be made now. My dear daughter, Mrs. M., will go with us. She works in the medical world, specializing in elder and end-of-life care. She will hear what the doctor says and can interpret it in a way that will make the necessary choices easier to sort out.

I will have to make most of the decisions. Our dear friend trusts me and relys on me to do what is right. I only want God's best for her! I don't want to run ahead of Him - and I don't want to lag behind. I want to hear His voice and take one step at a time. His time, not mine. Today we need to hear His voice - clearly in the fog.

A few minutes ago the sun broke through the fog. The skies are blue and clear. No clouds. No fog. I rest assured that God will do the same in our situation today - no clouds, no fog. Just the Light of the Son shining into our lives!

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged,

Why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely,

And long for heaven and home,

When Jesus is my portion?

My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,”

His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness,

I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth,

But one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted,

Whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing,

When hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him,

From care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I'm happy,

I sing because I'm free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

Song: His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Words by Civilla D. Martin

Music by Charles H. Gabriel

Photo: Sparrow, Central Park, NYC

Photographer: Rudi von Briel

Photo compliments of Art.com

Storm's A-Brewing'

The weather forecast this morning says a storm is coming. In just a couple of hours it will 'hit' the Oregon Coast and it will be here in the Valley about 2 hours later. Heavy rain and high winds. It has been raining for several days. At times it has been like buckets of water were being poured down on us. I looked out the front window a couple of days ago and saw this. (Can you see the rain pouring down?) Then I looked out my kitchen window into the back yard. The sun was shining and this is what I saw.How can that happen? My little ranch-style home is only 2 rooms deep. There is not much distance between the front and back yards. How can it be raining so hard on one side of my house while there is sunshine on the other side? It isn't the first time this has happened - it probably won't be the last.

Look What Happened. . .

when I wasn't looking! When I left the house yesterday morning my big tree near the front door had most of it's leaves - hanging on the branches, right where they belonged. After being away most of the day I arrived home to find that someone had stripped many of the beautifully painted leaves from my tree and they had carefully laid them all over the ground and the sidewalk below! Now who would do that when I wasn't looking?

A Treasure In My Hand

A very dear older friend is dealing with a terminal illness and my dear little mother and I have been helping her downsize and make her home accessible and safe for her now that she must use a walker. We want to help her stay in her home as long as possible. In the process she has given me several wonderful things that I treasure. She has known me since I was 3 years old, and she has always been like a big sister to me. She has had a special place not only in my life but also in the lives of my children and grandchildren. She was a missionary in Viet Nam for 16 years during the Viet Nam war era and she has many stories to tell of God's protection and provision for her and those she worked with. I'm sure there is much she doesn't tell! She was one of the last American missionaries to leave View Nam before it fell to the Communist regime. A few days ago she gave me a gift that I treasure.As soon as I saw it on her bookshelf I knew what it was even though I couldn't read the title -- I recognized the insignia on the cover. My father was a minister (he was her pastor in her younger years) and I grew up singing from a hymnbook with the same insignia. Hymns of the Christian Life. This book was her copy of the same hymnal in Vietnamese. While I will never be able to sing from this book it is a rare treasure that has special meaning to me.
Just inside the cover is the instruction from Scripture that tells us to "be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. . ." (Ephesians 5:18,19) I would love to have heard the missionaries and the Vietnamese congregation as they sang from these pages.

Page 245: "My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less." I don't recognize the words but the melody is familiar.In the back, Responsive Reading 537 is from Galatians 6:1-10, 16, 18. Verse 9 tells us not to "be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." I can't help but think of my dear Vietnamese Christian brothers and sisters who read these words. Many of them were required to stand strong and firm in their faith through unthinkable circumstances. How many of them lost their lives because they refused to "faint not" and remain true to their knowledge that they would reap Heavenly rewards?

A few days after I received this special hymn book I discovered an inscription in the front that brought back memories and moved me to tears. It says, "BLH from Ardel" - it was a gift to my dear friend from her friend and co-missionary, Dr. Ardel Vietti. Dr. Vietti was a single lady, a surgeon who was caring for and treating leprosy patients at a leprosarium located in dense jungle terrain near the provincial capitol of Ban Me Thuot, South Viet Nam. My dear friend, BLH, was stationed there during the early years of her missionary service before she was later transferred to Saigon. After she moved, on May 30, 1962, a group of about 12 armed Viet Cong entered the Leprosarium compound and abducted Dr. Vietti, Rev. Archie Mitchell (the Administrator) and Mr. Dan Gerber (a Mennonite peace missionary). It was believed that they were taken in order to treat injured Viet Cong forces. While the U.S. Government and their mission organizations worked fearlessly to locate and free them they were never able to do so. All three are listed as Viet Nam Prisoners of War.

I will never forget the morning I heard the first report of their abduction on the radio as I was getting ready for school. I went out into the living room and told my father what I had just heard. He immediately turned on the radio and searched until he heard the news story. As he listened he began to sob - his heart was broken! This news story touched close to home -- Rev. Archie Mitchell was my dad's roommate in Bible Institute, and he was a dear friend. Our family prayed daily through the following years for these three dear ones and their families who sacrificed so much for their faith.

Each time I hold this special book in my hands my mind goes to the dear people who lived and died for their faith in Viet Nam. I realize again that I know nothing of the real meaning of sacrifice. I am grateful that God keeps the records. He sees and knows those who do not get weary and 'faint' in well-doing and He rewards their faithfulness.

Teach Me Your Paths

Show me your ways, O LORD,

Teach me your paths;
Guide me in your truth and teach me,

For you are God my Savior,

And my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:4-5

We Give You Praise

The colors outside my window are absolutely gorgeous!

I just can't get enough.

For the beauty of the earth

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Hymn - "For The Beauty Of The Earth"

Written by Folliot S. Pierpoint

Will You Marry Me?

The Proposal
by F. Muschamp

Today is a very special day for my sweetheart and I. Thirty-six years ago this evening he surprised me by asking me to marry him. I wasn't surprised that he asked me - the day and the place he chose surprised me. After my initial ecstatic "yes" he asked when I would like to get married. I said, "Tomorrow!" We considered a Christmas wedding but decided there would not be enough time to have the big church wedding we both wanted. We finally chose to have a January wedding.

My dear sweetheart and I lived three hours apart at the time and we had not known each other very long. But we knew that God had brought us together and we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. He asked me not to tell anyone of our engagement for THREE WEEKS! He had already met my mother but had not yet met my father who had been out-of-state during the weeks since we met. My sweetheart wanted to meet him before we shared the joy of our wedding plans with our families.

Imagine asking a girl to marry you and then telling her she can't tell anyone she's going to get married soon! It was very hard - but I did it! I did not tell a soul - not even my very best friend. For the next three weeks I went to work as usual every day but during my lunch hour each day I was busy running around and planning all the details of our wedding. Several times during those weeks my family and friends would speculate that I would have a ring by Christmas. I couldn't tell them I would have a ring before the end of the month and that I would be married shortly after Christmas!

Would I marry him again? No doubt about it. Yes, absolutely yes!

Fog

I like fog—it's a mystery

You never know what you might see.

What might appear quite suddenly

From out of the mist.

You never know just what's in store:

A dragon or a dinosaur;

A giant or a mighty king.

It might be almost anything

From out of the mist.

Fog by Mabel Chandler Duch

From Poems to Grow On

What God Hath Promised

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God hath not promised we shall not know

Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;

He hath not told us we shall not bear

Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,

Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;

Never a mountain rocky and steep,

Never a river turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help from above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

- Annie Johnson Flint -

Along A Country Road

Every Tuesday I drive to a town a few miles south of my home to share Scripture and Song with the folks at a care center there. I can take different routes - the freeway, the old highway and a few different country roads - but my favorite is a country road that is beautiful no matter the time of year. I often wish I had my camera along and the time to stop and savor the beauty I see. Last week I decided to return home at a slower pace so I could stop, enjoy and capture some of the sights with my camera. Our area of the Willamette Valley has rich, fertile soil that produces thousands of acres of vineyards, fields full of produce, sod for residential lawns, gorgeous flowers of every variety and all kinds of trees. Scattered all through the countryside you will find tree farms - trees for Christmas and ornamental trees for the landscape. Over the past few weeks I have watched with wonder as the trees began to display the drama of fall in preparation for the winter to come. At first the changes were subtle and then the momentum changed and now your eyes can feast on a riot of color everywhere you look. Along the way you will see autumn greetings at a farmhouse gate . . .

Pinks . . .

Yellows . . .

Greens and reds . . .

Paintbox colors . . .

Rows and rows of red . . .

And a jolly ol' pumpkin.

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools. - Henry Beston

Back Of The Clouds

We have had several days of stormy weather - rain, wind and dark clouds. When I opened the curtains early this morning I was delighted to see that last night's storm had passed and the world outside my door was calm once again. There was no rain and I wondered if we would have a nice day today. A few minutes later I looked out across the back yard and, much to my delight, I saw blue sky and beautiful clouds. I quickly put on my shoes, grabbed my camera and stepped outside to try and capture what I saw to share with you. As I stood there drinking in the beauty of the moment, I began to recall the words to an old gospel song my dear parents sang when I was a child. It seemed I could almost hear their voices singing it in harmony once again.

Never fear tho' shadows dark

Around your path may fall,

Do not let your heart be troubled;

From His throne in heaven,

God is watching one and all,

He will ever care for you.

Back of the clouds the sun is always shining,

After the storms your skies will all be blue;

God has prepared a rosy-tinted lining,

Back of the clouds it's waiting to shine thru.

My mind immediately filled with thoughts that had been heavy on my heart in the early morning hours -- my dear mother's visit to her doctor today, a very special cousin and her husband who are dealing with fierce storms in their lives and a treasured older friend (like a big sister to me) who is dealing with a terminal illness. Each of them so dear to me. But so much more precious to God! And I was reminded once again that He Who allows the storms shines eternal behind the storm clouds. Yes - behind the clouds the SON is always shining!

Song - Back of the Clouds - author unknown