2021 Highlights

The beginning of the year I quilted this quilt. I had embroidered the blocks earlier. 

In February we replaced our landline with a smartphone.

Leroy worked for Shank Door for 48 years, from March 5, 1973-March 5, 2021. They made this huge poster of pictures from his years with the company. On the table in front of the poster are some of his old tools, canceled pay checks, and work orders. Retirement changed our lives. It was a good feeling for him to leave with two of our sons working for the company. Daryl (left) does service work and Gene (right) is in management.

Our third great-grandchild, Elijah Stauffer was born May 20.

We took a five-generation picture in June.

We celebrated our 54th anniversary in July by going on a one-day train trip to Jim Thorpe.

We had a mini-split installed in the kitchen on July 26. For the first time in our lives we have air conditioning in the living area.

On August 20 I took Grayson and his mother to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm. They went down the giant slide. I couldn't resist and did it too.

We helped celebrate Abigail's first birthday on September 24.

In October, Cheryl had a full house when we, all of her brothers, sisters-in-law, and some nieces and nephews made the trip to Ohio to celebrate her 50th birthday.

I started my first winter project for this year on October 1, embroidering a tablecloth. I finished it on November 22.

And of course, we wound up the year with Christmas dinner. It was on December 18 this year.

It's been a year of change, challenges, joys, and sorrows. Pretty much sums up life, doesn't it?  Tonight, we close the books on the year and step into a new one. Only God knows what it will hold, but we will follow as He leads the way.

Joy To The World

  The traditional Christmas carols are so familiar we often sing them without thinking about the words. There is a lot of theology in the words we so glibly sing. Consider these:

• God and sinners reconciled (Hark the Herald)
• Word of the Father now in flesh appearing (O Come All Ye Faithful)
• His law is love and His gospel is peace (O Holy Night)
• He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse [of sin] is found (Joy to the World)
• He came down to earth from Heaven who is God and Lord of all (Once in Royal David's City)
• The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight (O Little Town of Bethlehem)
• For lo the days are hastening on by prophet bards [inspired men] foretold (It Came Upon the Midnight Clear)
• He will bring us goodness and light (Do You Hear What I Hear)
• Son of God, love's pure Light . . . the dawn of redeeming grace (Silent Night)
• The King of Kings salvation brings (What Child Is This)

   Think about these words as you sing this Christmas. Jesus came to earth on a mission trip, for a specific purpose. His birth was the "dawn of redeeming grace" but it cost His life for "God and sinners [to be] reconciled."

Shalom - Peace

Resolution Kept

   Did you make any New Year resolutions this year? I don't usually make a list of person improvement resolutions, but this January I did decide I will read through the Martyrs Mirror as part of my devotional time. I had read portions of Martyrs Mirror, but never read the entire book. I found a complete version online and began reading it in January. I read about three pages per day although there were times I skipped a day or two. I read page 1141 this morning.

 The gigantic book contains graphic accounts of more than 4,000 Christians who endured suffering, torture, and a martyr’s death because of their simple faith in the gospel of Christ. It includes more than 50 finely detailed etchings by noted Dutch artist Jan Luyken. 

   The accounts call believers to follow Jesus in all areas of life, even unto death. Come what may, true Christian commitment demands supreme discipleship and steadfast adherence to the teachings modeled by Jesus and his apostles. Songs, letters, prayers, and confessions of faith appear with the stories of many “defenseless Christians” who were able to love their enemies and return good for evil.

   Written and published in 1659 by a Dutch Mennonite, Thieleman J. van Braght, to strengthen the faith of his fellow believers, the book was treasured by Mennonites for generations.

   These are some of the impressions I got from reading the entire book:

1. Unregenerate man is utterly wicked. They were worse than animals in the ways they tortured human beings. It's too horrible to repeat here.

2. The great patience of the martyrs in their suffering is amazing. Over and over they repeated that suffering was to be expected. The letters they wrote to family and friends while in prison contained few descriptions of their sufferings and torture. Instead, they assured the readers they were remaining steadfast in the faith and encouraged them to do the same.

3. The joyful anticipation of the martyrs of their deaths. It was often referred to as "offering my sacrifice." Frequently they expressed joy that they were counted worthy to give their lives for His sake.

4. The great price nonresistant Mennonites paid for their faith. Those who were arrested had their property confiscated and the proceeds from the sale went to either the church or the state or was simply pocketed by the authorities. Those who were exiled from their homes and shipped out of the country left everything they owned behind. 

5. The beliefs of the Mennonites that differed with the state church were infant baptism, nonresistance, no swearing of oaths, transubstantiation, the role of Mary, and ability of the priests to forgive sin.

   Both the Catholic and Reformed churches persecuted Mennonites for their faith. Persecution continued in Switzerland after it had ended in Holland. The Dutch Mennonites helped their Swiss brothers, writing pleas to the authorities to let them live in peace and helping them to leave the country. When hundreds of Swiss were deported and sent to Germany in 1671, the Dutch sent relief funds. They also helped Mennonites emigrate to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Some of them brought with them their treasured copies of Martyrs Mirror. It was translated into German in 1748 at the time of the French and Indian War. In 1886, Martyrs Mirror was translated into English to continue to challenge generations of Christians in North America.

   It took me nearly a year, but I kept my 2021 resolution and read the whole thing.

Martyrs Mirror printed in German at Ephrata, Pa., in 1748

A Stitch At A Time

   In September I seized the opportunity to take a tablecloth from a pile of things my brother-in-law was giving away. His wife (who passed away last year) had bought this tablecloth and only got a few stitches in it. Summer was winding down and I was looking for something to do this winter. I took it thinking it would take me all winter to do it.

   On October 1, I put the first stitches in it. I had not done any embroidery for a long time and enjoyed it so much I couldn't let it alone. I'm not writing a book this winter so I had lots of free time and kept stitching away. I put the last stitches in it this morning. I surprised myself by finishing it in one month and twenty-one days. I have no idea how many hours I have in it.

   I chose the colors to go with my kitchen. It is on the table now but covered with a piece of clear plastic to protect it from spills and stains. We've come a long ways from the days when I used a terry tablecloth because of the frequent spills! Can two old fogies be trusted to keep it clean?

center design

corner design

Led Captivity Captive

   I have read the Bible ever since I could read and memorized passages. I grew up with the King James Version and it is still my preferred version, although I do use other versions for study. Being so familiar with the KJV, I can read over words and phrases without stopping to think what it is really saying. 

   I was reading Ephesians 4 yesterday when the phrase "he led captivity captive" grabbed my attention. Ephesians 4:8 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." 

   The verse is a quotation of Psalm 68:18. "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men." Clearly, this is a prophecy of the ascension of Jesus and coming of the Holy Spirit. But what do the words "he led captivity captive" mean? Maybe you already know and I am just exposing my ignorance. A little study revealed the meaning and I'll never read over it so lightly again.

   At the time when the Bible was written, great conquerors rode in their triumphal chariots with their captives led in chains on public display.  It is a phrase used in the Old Testament to signify a conquest over enemies, especially over such as formerly had led others captive.

    Jesus conquered the things that had conquered us---sin, the devil, and death. He triumphed over these on the cross; but the triumph was completed at his ascension, when he became Lord over all, and had the keys of death and hades put into his hands. 

   Today there are seventeen missionaries being held captive by violent gang members. If someone would go in and capture the captors, the hostages could go free. That's what Jesus did for us. He captured our captors and set us free from the power of sin and death. The captors are now in captivity.

Tarnished Silver

   We received a pair of silver candle holders for a wedding gift more than fifty years ago. I really liked them and had them on the coffee table for a long time. But, as it goes with silver, they became tarnished and no longer were attractive. I tried to clean them but the silver cleaner I had did not do the job so I put them away. I thought about them once in awhile but didn't remember where I had put them.

   In my fall cleaning this month I found the poor neglected pair of candle holders. Ignoring them had not solved the tarnish problem; they were more black than ever. This time I used a different cleaner and the tarnish disappeared like magic. With their shine restored, they resumed a place of honor on the coffee table. 

   The restoration of the tarnished silver is an illustration of what happens when the proper cleaning solution is applied to the soul. We are pure and innocent at birth. As we grow, human nature begins to appear and the tarnishing begins. The longer the problem is ignored, the worse it becomes. 

   We may resolve to reform and change our wrong behavior, but that does not solve the problem. Not until the blood of Jesus is applied will the tarnish of sin be removed and the heart and mind transformed. With the shine restored, we are useful and a glory to God.

   Knowing the nature of silver, the candle holders will need polishing regularly to maintain their shine. In the same way, human nature keeps cropping up after our initial cleansing. We need a spiritual maintenance program to maintain our shine. The polish is daily Bible reading and prayer. We need the Word of God in us to purify and cleanse the way we think, which in turn affects our actions and prevents tarnish.

   "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word" (Ephesians 5:25b-26.