It's Great!

Well, here we are. Time moves on and we were pushed up a notch to the great-grandparent level on January 15. I always thought great-grandparents were ancient but was pleasantly surprised to find they are not. Now SOME great-grandparents may be creaky and fragile but it is not a requirement. Turns out it's only a label and does not automatically cause one to crumble into dust or senility.

Ok, here's the scoop. Our grandson and his wife produced this beautiful little girl, born right on target the morning of January 15. This six pound bundle of sweetness is named Avery Lynn Miller.

A week later she is awake and checking out this great big world.

She doesn't know how special she is. She is the first child of her parents, first grandchild of both sets of grandparents, our first great-grandchild, and the first great-great-grandchild in the Stauffer family. Leroy's mother is 94 and we want to take a five-generation picture at the first opportunity. 

It doesn't seem that long ago that my daughter was this size and now she is a grandma. That's hard to grasp. Time marches steadily on and the change is not noticeable a day at a time. But when something like this happens we are forced to look back and admit the small daily increments have added up to a huge change of life.

Do I wish to go back? No. I enjoyed each stage of life while I was in it but I don't want to go back and do it all over. I'm enjoying this empty nest stage of life. Great-grandmas get to cuddle the babies and let the mamas and grandmas do the work. It's great!

Fashions

I don't spend much time thinking about fashions and clothes. I don't know what designer clothes are in style. But I do know rich and famous people wear things created especially for them that cost thousands of dollars. They take great pride in what they wear and would not wear the same thing twice in public. Being as ignorant as I am of such things, Google helped me compile this list of clothes worn by some of our American First Ladies.

• A $2,190 Roksanda "Margot" dress from Net-a-Porter paired with $675 Christian Louboutin heels.
• A $995 cobalt-blue dress made by Siriano and silver Jimmy Choo heels that cost $675.
• A $51,500 Dolce & Gabbana jacket and bag that cost $1,630.
• A $1,150 pair of Rene Caovilla sandals.
• A $540 pair of Lanvin sneakers.
• A $188 J. Crew sweater. 
• A Hermes Birkin bag estimated to cost $13,000. 
• A Michael Kors black blazer that cost $5,000 and a matching skirt priced at $4,600.

The average American woman can't afford these kind of clothes. But there are many who would pay extra for a garment that has a designer label sewed on it even if it is identical to a cheaper one that has no label. That is the mindset of the society we live in.

Now Mennonite women are a subculture and have a different mindset. We would never spend  $675 for a pair of shoes or $13,000 for a handbag. We buy used and shop at thrift stores because we are interested in how much we can save. Last evening I complimented a friend on the pretty sweater she was wearing and she promptly told me she got it at the Salvation Army store. I don't think she meant it as bragging but it made me wonder if we aren't as guilty of pride as the rich and famous. "Look what I got and it was only -----." We can almost make a sport of thrift store shopping and brag about our bargains.

We Mennonites have our own styles and fashions. I appreciate the long dresses our young women are wearing. It certainly is a lot better than the short tight skirts that were in style when I was a teenager. But when the skirts went down to the floor I made a conscious decision not to follow. I do make my skirts longer than I used to but they are not floor or ankle length. I'll tell you why. I  have lived long enough to see styles come and go and wondered from the start what will happen when short skirts come back in style. If I was going to make my skirts ankle length, then they would have to stay there when the style changed. Guess what! Skirts are getting short and tight again and, just like I thought, fashion-conscious Mennonite girls are beginning to wear shorter skirts.
I am aware that dressing in layers is now the way to go. The younger women will wear one or two tops over their dresses. Even in summer when it's hot, they wouldn't dream of going without some kind of top over the dress. It reminds me of a line from Little Women where one of the girls was torturing herself to get ready for a party, "let us be elegant or die!" I'll wear a sweater when I need one to be warm but I'm fashion-free of tops and comfortable in the summer.

About a month ago the women at sewing circle said collars are coming back in style in our circles. Coming back? I didn't know they went out of style. A young girl had asked where she could get a collar pattern and they told her to ask her grandma. Really? I don't always put collars on my dresses but have never stopped using my collar patterns. But the next Sunday I looked around the Sunday school class and guess what! Nobody had a collar on their dress. Am I going to stop wearing my dresses with collars? Nope. I don't care if nobody else does. I'm much too tight to put dresses away that are still good.
I am hopelessly out of style and I don't care. I dress the way I do because that's how I want to dress. I wear a bandanna in the winter because I tend to get a sore throat if I don't cover my ears. A couple weeks ago I was putting my bandanna on at church and a preschool girl asked, "What is that?" She didn't know because nobody wears bandannas anymore. Does that bother me? Nope. I don't care what anybody thinks. I'm the one who will suffer if I get a sore throat. Out of style or not, I'm wearing my bandanna. When you're almost a great-grandma you can be dowdy if you want to. That's one of the perks that comes with age. 

We Have An Altar

Our Winter Bible School started last evening. For years, it was every Tuesday and Thursday night for five weeks. Last year it was changed to every Wednesday night but stretched out over a longer period of eight weeks. That is nicer for families with school children. I well remember the hassle of getting a family ready to go. Living in a one-bathroom house, they had to start going through as soon as they got home from school. We rarely missed a night. Looking back, I wonder now how we did it. Now that we only have two people to get ready, going two nights a week would not be a problem. 

The subject last night was "We Have An Altar." The speaker began in Deuteronomy 27 where Moses  gave the children of Israel God's instructions to build an altar after they entered the promised land. It was to be made of whole stones that had not been touched with an iron tool. The outside was to be plastered so the law could be written on it. Joshua 8 tells how this was done exactly as God had told Moses.

The altar was built of whole stones and inscribed with the law (or Ten Commandments) which distinguished it from the altars of the heathen. The appearance of the altar was a reminder of separation from the heathen and the law was the basis of their covenant relationship with God. In the New Testament, Christians are also called to separation from the world. The Word of God is the basis of our belief and the new covenant in Christ.

The altar Joshua built was used to offer sacrifices. These were only a temporary fix until the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 13:10 says "we have an altar" in Christ that far surpasses Joshua's altar. It is for all people of all times. 

Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary, but Christians also need to offer sacrifices to God. These are two basic categories. 

1. Our lives (Romans 12:1). The problem with a living sacrifice is that it wants to keep crawling off the altar. It must be put back on and offered daily as long as we live. How that is done will vary with each person and their situation, but it affects every area of our lives---time, finances, activities, speech, dress, etc. Living by the Word of God inscribed on our altar will result in separation from the world in practice and appearance. We will look and act different than the world. 

2. The sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15). This verse says the sacrifice of praise is to be continual, daily and in all circumstances. Even in the worst of circumstances, there is always something to be thankful for because we are secure in Christ. 

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places" (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

What are you offering on your altar today?