Never Forget

One of my husband’s hobbies is studying World War II.  He started as a child interested in aircraft, and eventually, it became a more specific study.  We have dozens of books on WWII battles, aircraft, strategies, etc.

 

Several summers ago, we had the opportunity and privilege to hear a Holocaust survivor speak in a small home-school group meeting.  My heart broke as she described life in wartime Europe, the horror of the concentration camp, the loss of her entire family when she was just a young teenager.  It was beyond comprehension, but I will never forget it.

 

Last year, I decided to do a little study on my own.  Instead of studying the battles, strategies, and equipment, I wanted to study things from the human perspective – the testimony of those who survived.  I checked books out of the local library, and for several weeks, read dozens of accounts from many different countries.  The unbelievable stories of survival against the most horrific odds, stories of courage, strength, and daring.  Amidst the terrible extermination camps, men and women forged character into their souls.  My respect for these who survived, and even for those who died fighting, continues to grow.

 

I pray that kind of war will never touch our country, but I am challenged by the example of these mostly unknown heroes.  I would like to think that I would go on, fighting, never giving up, no matter how insurmountable the obstacles seemed.  When I look at my own life, I think about the things that make me want to give up, and realize how small and insignificant they are.  May I learn a lesson from those who have gone before—just keep on keeping on! 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

Let Christ be your strength.

Sit Back and Enjoy

Now that the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday is over, I plan to just sit back and enjoy myself and my family.  We had a lovely time together on Sunday – Church service in the morning, followed by a fellowship meal and then, after much waiting, came the time to open gifts.  My favorite part is watching everyone’s faces as they see the gifts for the first time.  I got so caught up in watching, that I really didn’t get many pictures.  I did get a few pictures before the chaos began, so it will not go totally undocumented!



Here is our happy clan.  We need to get a new family photo made, but one of our children has issues with group photos.  I won’t say which one, but he has to be threatened to smile in many instances. :)  We still attempt pictures, but half the time, his little face is scowling.  I just take the pictures anyway and laugh when I think about showing them to his girlfriends in 20 years or so…  I am  such an evil mother!



As we sat with the wreckage of our materialism surrounding us, I could not help but think how good, gracious, and generous our God is.  He has given us richly all things to enjoy – including those presents for which we scrimp and save.  He gave us His Son, the greatest gift ever given.  We make a habit of listening to Handel’s Messiah each year, and the phrase of Scripture, “the Gentiles shall come to Thy light”  seemed especially poignant to me this year.  In the Old Testament, the law and its type of salvation was given only to the Jews.  With the advent of Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection, the wall of partition has been broken down, and now, salvation – without the law – is available to not only the Jews, but the Gentiles, of which I am one.  Thank God for the gift of salvation!

Merry Christmas!

This has been such a busy year for us, and I know you all have had a lot going on, too.  Just wanted you to know I did get my Christmas decorations up in the trailer – with just a few days to spare!  I guess they will stay up extra long this year to make up for the late start! :)  You can see a few boxes stacked in front of the couch, too, but hopefully, those will all be gone soon! 




I thank you for reading, keeping up with me, and all of your words of encouragement over the past year as I figure out this whole world of blogging! I pray that each one of you has a Christ-honoring Christmas, filled with the joy that only Jesus Christ can bring!  Merry Christmas!

The Only Key

While my husband was out of town recently, he asked me to retrieve something out of the toolbox mounted in the back of his truck.  No problem.  I grabbed my keys, and endeavored to open the lock, but to no avail.  I might mention that this particular lock has been a source of aggravation to me for a long time.  It seems that my key just doesn’t want to turn in the lock.  Not to be outdone by a simple mechanism, I rubbed my half-frozen hands together and gave the key a mighty wrench.  To my great surprise, it yielded to my power – or so I thought.  I looked down and gasped as I realized the key had snapped off in the lock!  Not good! 

I called my husband, thankful for the long distance between us at that moment, and told him we would have to pry the door open and take the lock out.  He sighed, in an oh-so-longsuffering way, and said it was okay.  I managed, with the help of some friends to get the door pried open, and the lock taken out of the toolbox door. 

It was only after he arrived home that I found out why my key would not turn in the lock.  Several months ago, when we were escaping from being parked next to a burning RV (read my earlier posts this year), he dropped his keys in his haste.  We had duplicates made of the trailer keys and house keys, but he took my copy of the toolbox key.  I don’t think I even knew about his petty theft.  So, they key I tried to use was not, in fact, the right one.  Oops! 



There is a spiritual parallel to this story.  God has given us the only key to salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Without Christ, all our attempts to access eternal life and heaven are fruitless.  Religion, good works, doing our best – none of these work in the end.  They might fill the hole, just as my key fit in the lock, but when it comes to actually working, they fall short of doing the job.  No matter how sincere my belief that I was doing the right thing, my efforts only ended in destruction and despair. 

As we approach the Christmas season, let us ponder the true meaning of Christmas.  Jesus Christ, God Himself, humbled Himself and became human.  He lived a sinless life and died a horrible death to take our place.  Accepting His sacrifice is the only key to our eternal salvation.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

Disappointments

Have you ever been disappointed?  Perhaps it was by a friend, a family member, a lost opportunity, or things just not working out like you had expected.  Life is full of disappointments, both small and great, but how do you handle those let-downs? 

This week, I received a package in the mail – something I had ordered.  When I saw the box, I was at first puzzled – what was this?!  I had ordered something, but I had expected it to be a lot bigger package, since there were two items in the box.  Upon opening the package, my eyes nearly bugged out – in fact, I think they were bigger than the items I had ordered!  I had planned to give them as birthday gifts to my girls, but after seeing them, decided they would make better stocking stuffers.  I was rather disappointed.  The promised goods did not meet my expectations.  However, I figured it would be easier to just keep the gifts and learn my lesson, than to try to return them and get a refund.  At this point, I am all about what is going to be easiest for me!  :)

The reality is, we get disappointed many times.  I can think of several situations in which I am perpetually disappointed – things beyond my control.  The good news is, Jesus Christ never disappoints me.  He is always what He says He will be.  He will never let me down, or leave me in the lurch.  He always exceeds my expectations.  So when I am facing disappointment, I need to go to Him.  Reading God’s Word and praying help to alleviate the pain of human disappointments.  Does the situation change?  Not necessarily, but my perspective changes, and I know that with Christ beside me, I can survive anything that comes my way.  So, take those disappointments to God, and allow Him to carry you through the less-than-ideal situations of life.

                                                     

By the way, today is Mega Swagbucks Day – an awesome opportunity to earn rewards!  If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, you are missing out on a great way to save money!  I earned a lot of Amazon gift cards this year, and paid for most of my Christmas gifts with them!  All at no cost to me! If you want to save money and earn great rewards, sign up for Swagbucks today!