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Sunday, March 3, 2024

Isaiah 49

  I taught the ladies Sunday school class this morning and did not have enough time to cover the lesson. I will post the outline here as a study guide if you would like to go through it yourself.
   Isaiah 49 is one of four Servant Songs in the book of Isaiah. It is a song or poem about the Messiah. Our lesson covered verses 1-17.  In verses 1-6 Christ is speaking to the world and saying what the Father said to Him. In verses 7-12 the Father speaks to the Son. In verses 13-17 God reassures His people. The fulfillment of each verse can be found in a verse in the New Testament.

Christ speaks to the world 
"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from afar."
1. The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowls of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Fulfilled in Luke 1:31)
2. He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword ((Hebrews 4:12) In his quiver hath he hid me. (Colossians 1:26-27 hidden until the time was right)
3. [The Father said to the Son] Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified. (John 17:4)
4. I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain. (Matthew 23:37)
5.Though Israel be not gathered, yet will I be glorious (Acts 2:38-39) My God shall be my strength. (Luke 22:43)
6. [The Father said to the Son] I will give thee a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth. (Luke 2:28-32)

The Father speaks to the Son
7. To Him whom man despised, to Him whom nations abhored, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship. (Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 19:16)
8. I will preserve thee, and give thee a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate places. (Acts 13:46-48; Ephesians 2:12)
9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth, to them that are in darkness. (Luke 4:17-21) Their pastures shall be in high places (Matthew 5:6)
10. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat or sun smite them . . .by the springs of water shall he guide them. (Revelation 7:16-17)
11. I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. (John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3-4--There is one straight level road to heaven which is the same for all people)
12. They shall come from afar. . . from the north . . . west. . .and land of Sinim (we would say Timbucktoo. Revelation 7:9-10) 

God reassures His people
These verses break into singing and could be considered the chorus
13. Sing O heavens, be joyful, O earth. This verse reminds us of the song, Joy to the World, which was based on Psalm 98. We think of it as a Christmas song but what Isaac Watts had in mind when he wrote it was the Second Coming. It reaches the climax in the fourth verse, "No more let sin and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found."
14. The Lord hath forsaken me, my Lord hath forgotten me, (Matthew 27:46)
15. Yet will I not forget thee. (John 14:16-18)
16. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. (John 20:27 The engraving tool that wrote your name on His palms was a nail. He looks at His hand and sees your name.)
17. Thy destroyers [enemies] and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. (1 Corinthians 15: 26, 55-57) "Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Isaiah 49:1-17 can be summed up in one verse, John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Friday, February 9, 2024

Not Made to Fly

   My newest book is in the warehouse at Christian Light Publications and distribution has begun. It should appear in bookstores next week.
   Not Made to Fly is my fourth book of stories for children. The other three are Crayonbox Collection, Esther Starts from Home, and A Chance to be Brave. The forty-one stories in this book were originally published in the Story Mates church papers several years ago. They were collected and printed in book form. The stories in Esther Starts from Home were about two sisters. All of the stories in A Chance to be Brave are about boys. Crayonbox Collection and Not Made to Fly are a mix of stories about boys and girls. They are intended for children ages 5-9, but I've had many adults tell me they like to read them too. 
   Not Made to Fly is the title of one of the stories in this book. The story is built from my own children's failed attempt to use plastic grocery bags for parachutes. 
   My grandchildren get a book for every birthday. Do you have a child or grandchild with a birthday coming up soon? Give a book!





Thursday, February 1, 2024

Man Cub

  In June we were delighted to learn that our prayers had been answered and our youngest son and his wife were expecting their second child. Gerald and Kelly were married nine years before their first child, Abigail, was born in 2020. (My post from March 6, 2020, tells how that came about.) They hoped to have a second child as soon as possible but there were multiple roadblocks and disappointments. It took a year longer than they hoped but in June they brought Leroy a Father's Day card with the news tucked inside. In July they let Abigail tell everyone with this picture.


   From July to January is a long time for a little girl to wait. They didn't want to know if the baby was a boy or girl. Things progressed well and a date for the C-section was set for January 31. At 11:30 p.m. on January29, Gerald called and asked us to come and stay with Abi while they go to the hospital. The baby did not want to wait another day. 
    Things were on hold while they waited for Kelly's turn in the OR. At 12:08 p.m. on January 30, the answer to all those years of prayers was in their arms. It was a boy! The minute he was born they sang Happy Birthday to him to announce his name, Samuel Isaac Stauffer. And then it was picture time!

Proud Papa who called him "a man cub"

Big sister meets baby Sam Jan. 31


The whole happy family


Samuel Isaac
asked of God, cause of joy and laughter


We went to the hospital to see this long-awaited grandson on Jan. 31. 
  We already have six great-grandchildren and this may be our last grandchild. Every child is a gift from God who alone is the giver of life. Still, children who are so difficult to obtain as this are living miracles. To Him alone be the praise!














Thursday, January 25, 2024

Puzzling

    Winter is the season to do things I don't have time for in the other three seasons. One of those things is putting puzzles together. The doctors tell us that keeping our minds active helps to stave off or at least slow down dementia. Puzzles make me think. I hope it's helping. Let me know if I am deceiving myself.
    Several in my family are puzzle enthusiasts. We pass puzzles around and sometimes forget who's whose. I did three puzzles so far this winter (since October) and started on the fourth (and last) one this month. When I dumped it out on the table it looked hopeless. The puzzle was three-feet long and contained many shades of blue, gray and brown. I almost gave up before I started. But then my stubborn German genes kicked in and I started putting the border together. If the previous puzzler had not put the edge pieces in a separate bag my German genes might not have been thick enough to get me going.
   I started filling in the picture with the giraffes and zebras which were the most obvious colors. I spent hours and hours bent over that thing as it slowly came together. There were other things on my to-do list but they silently waited while I fed my addiction. 
    I finally started getting annoyed with myself for spending so much time on the puzzle and ignoring other things I should have been doing. I thought of Romans 6:16, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.”  I told Leroy, "I am not going to be the slave of a jigsaw puzzle!" After that I limited the amount of time I could work on it each day and got some other things done.
   I finished the puzzle in about an hour this morning, and here it is. My daughter-in-law, who is a wildlife animal artist, said you would never see something like this in Africa. These animals do not share their waterholes.



    

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Memories Are A Treasure

 Today we reached a new road marker. It was on this day thirty years ago that Steve suddenly left us without warning. We had just eaten our belated Christmas dinner when he went to sing at a church and wound up singing in heaven instead. At the time, I thought I could not live another day and here we are thirty years later.
I have so many memories of Steve in the eighteen years he was with us. He loved books and at age of four could sit contentedly in the doctor's waiting room without getting into trouble while I had a checkup for the next baby.


Steve had a vivid imagination that created all kinds of fun. His little brother, Gene, followed him around joining in the fun and imitating him. Once day Steve set up this crow's nest in the front yard so they could play pirates. Notice the empty paper towel tube his Raggedy Andy had for a spy glass.


We had a cabin in the mountains where we went several times each year. One time, when Steve was about twelve years old, we had a long full summer day and got to the cabin well after dark. He was so tired he thought he could die. He flopped on the couch right inside the door and said, "Mom, will my skeleton be in your way here?"

My mother passed away at the end of July 1993. We had estate sale in October. Steve was about a month short of his eighteenth birthday. She had an old pool table she always used as a buffet table for Christmas dinners. Steve told me he bought it and I asked him why. He said, "Because that's where the food always was." He started trying to fix it up but never got it finished. That pool table sat in our basement for twenty-eight years and was always used for our Christmas dinners.


About six weeks after he turned eighteen, Steve put on the new clothes he had bought to wear for chorus programs and left for the first program of that year's schedule. Halfway to the church, the car he was riding in spun around and the passenger side hit a sycamore tree. Someone came to tell us the news that he was gone in an instant. When Gerald (age 9) heard it he flopped down on a chair and said, "but we still wanted him." Exactly!
In the long road through grief I learned the truth of Song of Solomon 8:7. "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." Floods of tears and death itself cannot destroy love. Though the one we love is no longer here to return our love, still our love lives on. We cherish the memories of what once was and wonder what might have been.

Your memory is a treasure
With which we'll never part;
God has you in His keeping,
We have you in our hearts.



Monday, December 18, 2023

Golden Age

    I survived a weekend of parties. We had our family Christmas dinner on Saturday. There were 34 at the tables plus two infant great-grandchildren. 



  
   We had roast beef this year instead of the usual turkey or ham. The meal was followed by the usual singing and gifts. Our newest grandchild is concealed under that red plaid shirt. He/she missed our Christmas by about six weeks. Stay tuned.


I gave Leroy a model hit-and-miss engine he was wishing for a long time.



   The afternoon ended with Cheryl showing pictures of their trip to Europe. Daryl showed his from India, and Gene from their trip to Greece. Our family logged a lot of miles across the globe this year. So thankful everyone traveled safely and was here under one roof.
   We had our dinner a week early this year to combine it with Leroy's 80th birthday on Sunday. We had not recovered from Saturday's party when we started over to do it again. Our children all came back after church for a soup and salad lunch. We were ordered to stay in the basement while the women went upstairs to get the food ready. While they thumped around up there Leroy started to understand why I was in such a hurry to get home from church. Everything was ready by 2 p.m. when the first guest arrived. 
   


Five of Leroy's nine siblings and his 100 year-old mother came to the party.
 

They gave him a box with a pull tab. He pulled and a long string of money came out. The longer he pulled the bigger the number on the bill. 


   The black and gold color scheme was appropriate for an 80th birthday. This is the golden age of life. There are pros and cons to being eighty. There's less stress but also less strength. It's just unbelievable how fast the years rolled around to reach this milestone. We know how fast ten years can go and that's scary. He is in basic good health and if he takes after his mother he could live another twenty years. We thank God for a good life and know however long life lasts on earth our future is secure in Him.










Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Ornery People

    In my post last week I encouraged listening to the words of the Christmas songs we are hearing. I am taking my own advice. 
    We listened to the Lancaster Meistersingers program on Sunday. It was a great program. One of the songs they sang was "I Wonder as I Wander." 

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky,
How Jesus the Savior did come for to die
For poor ordinary people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander, out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus, all in a cow's stall,
Came wise men and farmers and shepherds and all,
And high from the heavens a star's light did fall;
The promise of the ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,
A star in the sky or a bird on the wing,
Or all of God's angels in heaven for to sing,
He surely could have had it, 'cause he was the king.

For the first time, I clearly heard the third line "For poor ordinary people. . ." I always thought it was "ornery people." Go ahead and laugh, but it fits, doesn't it? We are ornery people in need of Someone to save us from our own ornery selves. I surely do wonder why He bothered with such ornery people. He could have washed His hands of the whole mess and left us stew in our own juice! The only reason I know is love. Undeserved and unearned love from a God who is the essence of love.

Here is the story behind the song (from Wikipedia).