Walk in the Way of Love

 

“What was your favorite Easter basket or Easter candy?”

Really?  A Christian radio station talking about Easter candy.  Is that what Easter is about?

My husband did have a memory of Easter candy.  His mom required him to take his younger brother and sister to  a community egg hunt.  He was walking around looking cool and stopping occasionally to eat a candy egg.  He picked up a plastic egg and opened it – he read $1.00 and put the prize in his pocket.  Several hard candy eggs later – he heard over the loud speaker, “The prize egg has not been found.  Look around for the $100 prize egg.”

He looked again in his pocket– and he had misread the note.  He went to the announcer and returned the contents of the plastic egg for a $100 check.   When asked what he planned to do with the money – he responded, “I will give it to my mom to pay for my summer school bill.”

Easy come, easy go!

I watched The Passion of the Christ recently for the second time.  Incredible the suffering Jesus experienced for us.  I remember a retreat and the speaker giving a physical description of Jesus’s crucifixion – this did not include the beatings and scourgings from Roman soldiers and the rejection of his own countrymen before being nailed on a cross.

I don’t remember ever receiving a basket.  Maybe when I was very young??

My best memories of Easter are attending church with my Dad.  Christmas and Easter were the few days we attended church as a family.

Unlike the casual attire today, people dressed up for church in those days. Dad could wear his dress Army military uniform. Mother used her limited funds to make sure her children wore nice Sunday clothes, especially at Christmas and Easter, which left no money for an appropriate outfit for her.

It was kind of ironic my Dad always looked so proud and got so many compliments for his uniform and bringing his children to church.  While my mother was the one who sacrificed and covered for him and his drinking problem which caused her to squeeze every penny out of his paycheck to pay bills.

One of my best memories of Easter was the weekend my husband and I were married.

Other family Easter memories:

My brother & his children attended with us one year.

Mike,cindi,michael (2)

Easter.1972

 

 

 

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Our Teen Ranch Familyr

 

The cute blue suit is what Timmy wore when he quickly said his part on stage, popped his bow  tie and jumped off the stairs.

 

 

 

In the early years of our marriage the tradition continued of having new clothes at Easter.   I made a yellow dress for the special day.  I found a pair of yellow pumps to match and squeezed the luxury out of my paycheck.

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Can you believe lady I sat by in church this Easter had on a yellow dress and yellow shoes?

It seemed the Lord was saying to me, “You could return them and give the $20 to missions.”  I leaned over to John and said, “we can give $20.”

A few weeks before Easter, we attended a missionary banquet and the speaker, Rev. Jimmy Lentz, a powerful advocate for missionaries, made an appeal.  He realized there was only a small group of people and we were most likely giving to our church.  He asked if we would give sacrificially. My yellow shoes popped up before my mind.  I didn’t really need them I just wanted them to wear with my new dress.

Now that doesn’t seem like a lot of money – but to us in the 1960’s it was a – a car payment or electric bill???? This began our love of missions and desire to give.

New clothes are not a priority for Easter to me now.  I do cherish family attending services with us and cooking for them to enjoy.

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Little Timmy full grown with his family.
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Our son Johnny and his children and their friends.  We are still surrounded by young people.

 

Now Easter is a wonderful celebration of our faith as the highlight of the year when we commemorate our Lord’s resurrection.  As our pastor said this year, “Without Easter we would not celebrate Christmas!”

Why would we? The purpose of the coming of the babe in the manager was for God to be with us in human form so that he could show us the Father and then die for our sins and leave the Holy Spirit to be our counselor, advocate and guide.

Thank you Lord for Easter memories in my life.  May I share with my children and grandchildren that Easter is more than baskets, bunnies and egg hunts.

It’s all about the glorious resurrection of our Lord – King Jesus.

Behold our King!  Come let us adore Him!

 

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Respect and Honor

memorial day snapchat images

 

 He snapped to attention with a salute. This veteran of World War II and Korea knew the sacrifice paid for the freedoms we enjoy in this country.  This was my father’s reaction every time the U.S. flag was presented, or the national anthem was sung.

 I did not know the horrors of war that he experienced.  The only comment he made was that “There were no atheists in fox holes.”

 My father loved his country and was proud to have served. He respected military personnel and often commented about how a person spoke distinctly, showed respect or how their posture reflected their training.  He would say, “That person was in the military, I can tell by their demeanor.”

 While my father’s military experience was cause for honor and respect his life after war was less than stellar.  He struggled with an alcohol addiction.  Always employed he provided for his family financially.  He loved his wife and family; however, he caused much pain.  He was mean when he drank and we were all afraid of him. 

Many times I wondered why my mother did not leave him because of the struggles she experienced.  She also loved and respected him for the man she knew him to be, not the drunk that caused such havoc.

 Because of his family background my father also had a respect for God and His church.  Our family was one of those who went to church only on Easter and Christmas.  Dad always wore his Army dress uniform and mom made sure my brother, sister and I had new clothes to wear.   Mom did not go.  I found out years later the reason she did not attend with us.  There were no funds left for her to purchase clothes for herself.

After years of abuse, conflict and shame my father surrendered his addiction to alcohol.  He attended Alcoholics Anonymous and became a different person.  The last fourteen years of his life he and my mother experienced a good life.  Mother no longer lived on pins and needles fearful that he would be set off and go on a drinking binge and end up in jail.

They enjoyed traveling around the country camping in their little Scottie Trailer.   Volunteering at the local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) they were able to show respect and honor to those who served their country.

My father also surrender his life to God a few years before he died.  He did not attend church but God in his mercy accepted him just where he was. My husband was privileged to lead him to the Lord.

When my father died he received military honors, a gun salute and taps was played.facebook memorial day pics

 If you have ever attended a funeral where taps is played you know the chill thatgoes over your body as you hear that sound.  Dad would have been honored at the salutes of the military present.  They showed respect and honor. 

 Please show respect and honor to those who are serving or have served in our military.  We do not know the things they experienced or the nightmares they still struggle with.   Many deal with physical disabilities but it is the unseen issues that many times cause the most damage. 

Just as military personnel are recognized for their training Christians should demonstrate the qualities of their relationship with Christ.

  • Do people know we are a Christ follower by observing our lives?
  • Can people tell from our demeanor that we love and respect God?
  • Does our speech, our respect for others and our posture reflect our training in God’s Word?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20New (International Version NIV)
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Proverbs 31:23  New International Version  (NIV)  
 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

 I Peter 2:17 Living Bible (TLB)
17 Show respect for everyone. Love Christians everywhere. Fear God and honor the government.

 

 

We Will Remember Song Lyrics | Tommy Walker Lyrics | Christian Music Song Lyrics, Christian Music | NewReleaseTuesday.com

 

 

Memories

“No dessert until you play ping pong.”  That was my instructions to folks as they arrived for our Memorial Day Cookout.  I’d worked all day cleaning house and even the garage, putting out chairs for some to sit and watch the ping pong tournament.  However, no one took me up on the challenge.  Some of the men joined my husband at the grill and ladies joined me in the kitchen setting up the dishes they brought.
It was then I remembered, we are seniors.  You wouldn’t know by the food – I expected fruit instead of delicious desserts.  Many among us had serious illnesses or surgeries in the last few years.  Some had braved knee surgery, back surgery, throat cancer, pancreatitis and Parkinson’s disease.  Spouses were stretched to care for their loved one.  Our prayer lists followed each ones journey back to health.  Survivors you might say don’t need to play ping pong to enjoy one another.
After dinner, reminiscing about funny military moments for those who served in the armed forces (Army, Navy and Marines) caused all to chuckle.  The alligator story from a former Navy man amused us.  My husband digressed from the military to tell a story from his policeman days about how quick draw McGraw shot his reflection in my new mirror.
Sharing our stories, while not burning as many calories as ping pong, caused laughter to help digest our food and joy remembering the blessings of God on our lives these many years.  Then the chorus of “We Will Remember” came to mind.  Chorus and link to this song is below.
Proverbs 17:22
merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

 

We will remember we will remember
We will remember the works of Your hands
We will stop and give You praise
For great is Thy faithfulness

We Will Remember Song Lyrics | Tommy Walker Lyrics | Christian Music Song Lyrics, Christian Music | NewReleaseTuesday.com