A Legacy of Faith

Today my Dad would have been 96. He lived through the Great Depression and World War II. God allowed him to live to 90. Had he kept a diary, it would have recorded an incredible amount of changes during his lifetime.

Dad had a love for family, a frugal nature and an abiding faith. "A life lived for love of God and country" was engraved on his tombstone.

When I went through his belongings after he died, it was like a journey back through my own life. He kept every picture, every letter, every gift I had ever given him - sometimes making notations of how he felt when he received them. My dad took special care to express his love to me - especially in his later years.

Like many of his generation, Dad watched every penny. He didn't replace things. He fixed them. If he needed something, he often built it out of materials he already had. When my husband discovered Dad had repaired the seat in his recliner with a piece of plywood, he bought Dad a new one. Dad would probably have never purchased a new one even if he had the money.

His mother instilled in him a love for God that dominated everything he did. As far back as I can remember, Dad was looking for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. He felt confident it would happen in his lifetime. His favorite biblical subject was prophecy and he poured over every reference in the Old and New Testament to it. He was in his eighties when he wrote a book, The Unveiling: How the Symbols of Prophecy Reveal What Happens in the Last Days. 

I miss my Dad. His legacy lives on. I will see him again.

I will always remember that his favorite verse was Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Center

I am intrigued by how one word in the English language can have so many meanings. Take the word "center" for instance.

As a noun, we use that word in many ways.

We refer to someone wanting to be the center of attention; someone we deeply love as the center of our world, an important place being a center of influence, or the point or focus of discussion being the center of debate.

In sports, we refer to the middle player on the basketball team as a center. In baseball, the center fielder is the outfielder who plays defense in center field - the baseball fielding position between left field and right field. Center is a position held in American and Canadian football. He is the player who passes (or snaps) the ball between his legs to the quarterback at the start of each play. He is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense.

Centre (British spelling) is a position held in Australian rules football, ice hockey and rugby and there is a centre forward in Water Polo.

In cooking, we core the center of the apple or bake a cake or truffle with a surprise in the middle - maybe a chocolate center.

In aviation, the Area Control Center is an Air Traffic Control facility covering a large region of airspace not associated with a particular airport.

In mathematics and science, we refer to the center of mass and the center of symmetry.  A centroid is a geometric center.

We refer to a place where a specific activity is concentrated as a center - such as a center for medical research, a shopping center or a town center.

In general, the center represents the middle point with equal distances from all sides of something such as the center of the ceiling or the center of a vast territory.

The center of the Bible is Psalms 118. There are 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it.  The center verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8.

When we focus on God, everything around us takes on a different perspective. He loves us. He does have a plan. His plan is good. His perfect will is that we trust Him.

In these days of confusion and uncertainty, going to the center of God's word can get us on track again - can center us on what is most important.

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Psalms 118:8 NKJV).

The Last Shall Be First

Traveling exposes me to an interesting array of circumstances. Whatever mode of transportation I use I observe human nature at work. Watching crowds operate - and being a part of those crowds - is an educational experience.

Most of the time I board an airplane using a jetway from the waiting area in the airport. As a frequent flyer, I may be one of the first people to enter the airplane although I am often one of the last to disembark because I purchase tickets in economy and my seat is usually located in the back of the airplane.

At other times boarding requires riding a bus out to where the airplane is parked on the tarmac. People often line up early in order to get on the bus first, but I have noticed something interesting when that happens. Airport personnel require those who enter first to go all the way to the back of the bus in order to make room for the others who are boarding. The scurry to be first on often results in being last off.

Jesus knew this principle well when He said,"But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30, 20:16, Mark 10:31).

Matthew 19:30 and Mark 10:31 record the same situation. In response to Peter's statement that His disciples had left everything to follow Him, the Lord tells Peter His true disciples will have reward in heaven. He then said, "But many who are first will be last, and the last, first." I get the feeling He is telling Peter many people will be surprised.

In Matthew 20, Jesus, as He often did, was telling His disciples what the kingdom of heaven was like. A landowner needed laborers for his vineyard. Early in the morning he hired some agreeing to pay them a denarius for the day's work. He hired more at the third, sixth, ninth and even the eleventh hour. At the end of the day, he paid each one a denarius, no matter how long they had worked. When the ones who had been hired first, and had worked all day long, grumbled at the generosity of the landowner, he replied, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous? So the last shall be first, and the first last."

When all is said and done, we may be in for a few surprises. Our way of accounting and God's way are not the same. He knows who has tried to push and shove his way into heaven with a false belief that he deserves to be there. He also knows who is truly grateful for His generosity, painfully aware that without His love and grace we would not be able to enter at all.

Stand Up Straight

As a young person, I remember being reminded to stand up straight. That was good advice. Not only do I look different when I sit up straight and stand straight, I feel better.

To improve posture, a young girl might walk through her home with a stack of books on her head. In that upright position, it is impossible to look down or to the left or to the right without toppling the books. Her gaze must be forward. Her concentration is straight ahead.

The expression, "He is no slouch," means he is not lazy and doesn't mind working. Slouching gives the appearance of laziness.

Slouching is not good for your health. Slouching while standing or sitting can cause spine alignment issues. Office workers are particularly susceptible. Every inch you hang your head forward can add ten pounds of pressure on your spine.

If you work at a computer for several hours a day, you know what I'm talking about. Your chair and your sitting position are very important. As back pain is a common work-related injury, many companies have found it necessary to make sure their working environment is ergonomically correct.

I spent a few years working in a chair I loved but it was giving me a backache. My husband bought me a better chair and the problem went away.

Standing erect is not only good for your posture. It is imperative for your spiritual life. Those who are upright are disciplined in righteousness, justice and integrity. Upright is defined as an object that is vertical or erect or a person that is honorable or honest. In the Amplified Bible, the word upright is often translated as consistently or uncompromisingly righteous, one who walks uprightly, in right standing with God, or moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation.

An upright person is not perfect, but focused. Occasionally the books will fall. The posture of a focused Christian will improve with time and practice. The more determined one is to love God and please Him, the more disciplined he will be.

The upright godly person walks with wisdom, looking forward, considering the steps of the path before him and is determined not to let distractions turn him aside from the path God has chosen for him.

...His secret counsel is with the upright (Proverbs 3:32 NKJV). ...His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those that are upright and in right standing with Him] (Proverbs 3:32 Amplified). 

Look on the Bright Side

Like so many other people, I enjoy watching The Wizard of Oz. It is one of my favorite movies. There have only been a few child actors with as much talent as Judy Garland, who played Dorothy. Over the Rainbow became her signature song, but sadly she did not leave her clouds far behind her "where troubles melt like lemon drops." She went on to have an incredibly successful career, but all of her talent, fame and money didn't bring her happiness. Instead of believing “behind every cloud there is a silver lining” Judy said that “behind every cloud is another cloud.” Judy was obviously someone who thought the glass was half empty instead of half full as well.

If you can leave the clouds behind you, it makes a difference. If you fly, you know that from an airplane, you can view the most beautiful sunshine on top of a solid cloud layer. You are seeing the world from above. Before you broke through the clouds, the day may have been as dark and gloomy as any you had ever known. Although the sun was obscured for a time underneath the clouds, it was always there. The difference you feel when the sun finally peeks through the clouds and brings warmth and light is nearly tangible.

Of course, it all depends on your perspective. Dark days of depression are often lifted even when the clouds are still there and the sky is grey. Your circumstances may have even gone from bad to worse. What changed? Do grey days take the sun away or do they just tempt you to forget it is there?

God is everywhere at the same time, above and below the clouds of life. If we could see things from His perspective, it would make all the difference. He is good all the time even when circumstances seem to tell you otherwise. He has a plan and it is good. The bright side of life is there. It is found in Jesus.

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Psalm 106:1).

It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night...I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands (Psalm 92:1-4).

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NAS).

Vintage Values

I enjoy collecting antiques and have several pieces. They were made so well many years ago that they have stood the test of time. Antique furniture was often made by hand. Now most furniture is mass produced by machines. In the past, only hard sturdy woods were used for furniture. A great deal of modern furniture consists mainly of pressed wood or particle board which doesn't stand up to moisture or major usage. You can often see these pieces of furniture in front of homes awaiting pickup for transport to the city dump.

Vintage glass, especially that which was produced just before, during and for a few years after the Great Depression are of special delight to me. Although not the finest glass, they are beautiful.

Prior to the Great Depression, there were over one hundred manufacturers of colored glass. After the Great Depression ended there were less than half that number. Although bankruptcy closed many of these companies, fire was a prominent reason for shutdown. If the company was destroyed by fire, the owners could not afford to rebuild.

During the lean years, much of this glassware was distributed free as promotional pieces - placed in oatmeal, cereal or soap boxes or given away at the theater or gas stations.

During the Great Depression, companies made production of each piece last as long as possible. I have some pieces of red depression glass, which is ordinarily a deep ruby color, which are practically orange or opaque because they were cast at the end of the dye lot. The company was stretching production by producing as many pieces as possible before they had to add new dye.

Antique furniture and Depression Glass are becoming scarce. Rarity of the pieces have resulted in a spike in prices. Some people have paid thousands of dollars for

the rarest pieces of Depression Glass. In order to stock antique furniture, buyers often go to old farms where they might find a piece stored in fragments or even left out in the elements. The experts know how to put them back together but it takes a concerted effort to bring them back to their former glory.

Those who work on and collect vintage merchandise will only do so if they believe it is worth it. They believe there is value in the vintage piece itself.

Unfortunately, society's values have gone the way of antique furniture and Depression Glass. Personal standards of behavior have changed dramatically. One's principles and judgments of what is important in life is much different in the twenty first century than it has been in the past - especially in America.

A society's values are reflected in their practices in the workplace, involvement in their churches and community and the entertainment they enjoy. The traditional values of America can now be placed in the vintage category - mainly because those values were based on biblical standards.

It is worth the effort, however, to do what we can to restore America to the values it once held. Biblical standards have stood the test of time because they were given to God's people by God - who never changes.

...in the last days... men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...You, however, continue in the things you have learned...the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:1-4, 14-17).

The Necessary Ingredient for Washing Dishes

Many homeowners in America have an automatic dishwasher in their kitchen. I don't. I have had one in the past but I don't miss it. Many of my dishes don't fit in a dishwasher and my pots and pans are supposed to be washed by hand anyway. 

I do have one good looking dishwasher I really appreciate - my husband!

Over the years of washing dishes by hand, I have learned the value of soaking dishes. I run a sink full of water while I am cooking and try to keep the dishes washed up but it is not always possible to finish them. Sometimes it is necessary to leave them until a later time. Maybe we have company and we just want to sit and visit. Maybe we eat dinner and then sit down to watch a good movie. 

If I do need to wait to wash dishes, I make things a lot easier for myself if I leave them soaking in water. When I neglect to soak them, food hardens and becomes difficult to remove. It takes more elbow grease, time, detergent, cleansing powder and/or scouring pads and sometimes frustration to clean dishes that have not been soaked. I learned that lesson the hard way. Although I don't mind washing dishes, I do mind spending more effort, time and money than necessary.

Volunteer washing dishes at Our Father's House soup kitchen

Whatever method you use to wash dishes - automatic dishwasher or hand washing - it takes water to get them clean. Advertisers claim their best automatic dishwashers remove caked on food from the dishes, usually with better or more water jets than other models. If you wash dishes by hand, soaking them accomplishes the same thing.

Like dirty dishes, we are caked with the grime and dirt of the world. Occasionally, I have heard someone say they were reluctant to come to God because of some evil they had done. Embarrassed, they wanted to get cleaned up first. 

We don't come to God because we are clean. We come to God because we need cleansing. Only God can remove the sin in our lives. Through Jesus Christ, the Living Water, He did so. Those of us who trust Him as Savior and Lord get the cleansing we need. 

Without Him, we remain filthy. In Him we become clean and pure.

But we are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV). Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."... "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"..."If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (John 4:10, 7:38, 1 John 1:9)... just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27 NASB).