"The Steps You Took, I Take" - a Christmas Poem

               

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  Isn't this picture  touching?  Joseph wondering over the new Baby while his young wife rests after an exhausting labor and delivery...a much more realistic portrait than the typical Nativity scene!
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Now go back in Time with me...
         


                                 The Steps You Took, I Take 


                               How rich am I to have your Book!
                                that follows all the steps You took

                                to show your love and let us trace
                                the depth of your amazing Grace!

                                (Before the world, Time un-begun,
                                the Lamb was slain, Death left un-done.)

                                I hear the shout the angels raise
                                and run to hold the Babe they praise;

                                seek You with Magi, full-aware
                                that it's your Star that leads us there.

                                I listen in as You spellbind
                                the Temple teachers with your mind;

                                then join the Twelve You called apart
                                to learn the secrets of your heart.

                                I vow to own the One I know
                                and never fear the rooster's crow;

                                then stand with Mary, as hearts break,
                                and feel darkened Golgotha quake...

                                ...now spread the wonder - hope anew!
                                Your tomb's unsealed, your words come true!

                                Through your life, my new life's begun;
                                now You and I walk on as one.

                                And, though much to come is still un-penned,
                                You've told me how The Story ends!

                                                                                               (Becky Rhon)
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May you all have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas, and be filled with strength and passion to continue into the New Year, as you "walk on as one" with The Child...our Teacher...our Savior...our Friend!
                                                                       
                                                                             

Limes, lemons and saints! (a kitchen tip, plus...)

All of the limes in the photo were bought at the same time. But the ones in my left hand, which were left out on the counter, are shriveled and brown, while the rest...are fresh and still bright green, after several weeks!  Why?

I found a great way to help lemons and limes have a much longer life!

All you need to do is put the dry limes or lemons in a dry glass jar and screw on the top...then stick it in the fridge.  When I first saw this tip, I wondered about it.  But, since I don't use a lot of limes, and my supermarket only sells them in mesh bags with 15 or so per bag, it was worth a try.  And it definitely worked!
                                         
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Looking at the jar of limes in the fridge the other day, I was struck by the "object lesson" it gave.  Jesus' disciples remained a part of this world, of society, visible to all...but He knew there were dangers, and asked his Father to protect them.

"I'm not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan's power."  (John 17:15)

And the limes?  If I'd put them in the fridge unprotected, even in the crisper drawer,  they would have shriveled up and turned  brown more quickly (though maybe more slowly than out  on the counter).

When  I put them in a closed jar, they can still be in the fridge, (visible through the glass jar), part of the whole culinary scene, yet protected by the glass from the drying-out effect of the fridge, giving them a longer, more "fruitful" life, and delaying (by a lot) the decaying process.

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As long as we have to live here on Earth, we can take to heart the words Jesus prayed on our behalf, asking the Father to protect us from the Enemy who looks to "dry us out", cut short our productiveness and induce spiritual decay. The psalmist also weighed in:

"He will cover you with his feathers, He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection."  (Psalm 91:4)

 And here is one of those promises:

                                        "The Lord is faithful;
                                     and He will strengthen you
                                and protect you from the evil one."   (II Thessalonians 3:3)

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                                            Thank You, Father!

Is "Bibli-idolator" even a word?

I decided to check the Internet to see how a certain preacher is "rated", as far as sticking to the Bible is concerned.

Among other things, I found one of those forums, where people can leave their views and comments.  One fellow, obviously not a fan of this preacher, astonished me with his reasoning, on two points.
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Here's a synthesis of what he wrote:

1) This preacher is false because he believes in the Trinity...and the Trinity (according to the writer) is the heart of paganism!  Besides, it's satanic!  (He then sort of confuses things by saying that "it's not that anyone's going to Hell for believing in the Trinity, but it's the first step for going there."!)

2) This preacher is false because he is such an obvious "Bibli-idolator".  (That's the closest I can get to his term in Spanish.)  The writer "proves" it by pointing out that the preacher has "an excessive love of the Bible". After telling us the dangers of this, he adds "We must not give the Bible priority over common sense, since the latter is God's intelligence here and now."
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Wow!  He obviously doesn't know much about the Bible!  If  you ever come across someone with these off-base theories, here are some verses with which to counter, and in which to find comfort.

1) "For through Him {Jesus, the Son} we have access to the Father by the Holy Spirit."  (Ephesians 2:18) It's clear that there are three separate persons, each with his own part.

"For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father,, the Word {Jesus, the Son}, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one."  (I John 5:7) It couldn't be clearer!
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2)  Was the psalmist a false believer?  Of course not!  He wrote:  "I have thoroughly tested your promises and that is why I love them so much."  (Psalm 119:140)

Psalm 1:2 says the person is blessed "whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night."

When God was beginning to compile the Scriptures, through Moses, He went into detail about how important His word was, issuing them these commands:

"Impress them on your children...Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road...when you lie down and when you get up...Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."  (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)  In other words, maintain the Word of God as closely intertwined with your lives as possible.
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Thank You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the awesome job You did of letting us know so much about You and explaining what we need to know to follow and love You - in your Word, superior - by far!! - to our limited human thoughts and reasoning...and without which we would be lost!

                                                   Lord, You are amazing!

To sing in Tsáfiki again!

After five long months, we finally were able to return to the Tsachi church in Cóngoma.  One of the most important things we took was a new keyboard!  The Tsachi church leader's wife Tserere - in the picture with me and two grandkids - hasn't played for a long time, but was remembering bits and pieces as she ran her fingers over the keys.  (My mom had found a way to write the melody without using notes on staves, as usual.  I finally found another possible way, so we're working to see if that will do the trick; if it does, I'll prepare her a notebook with the choruses and their "music".)

They have been singing only in Spanish (I'm not sure why), as there is a "white" family that goes to help out, and they lead the singing.  We are hopeful that having a keyboard, with Tserere playing, they can enjoy praising God in their own language again.

We asked César, a believer from another Tsachi church, to come and play the keyboard and lead some choruses in Tsáfiki.  It was wonderful!!  I know you can't really see him up front in this photo, but you can get an idea of the church.  The blue writing on the front wall is its name: "Christ Jesus Lord".  Directly to its right you can faintly see a rectangle...that's the framed verse that I crafted for my Dad 46 years ago, that I donated.

César gave a lovely testimony that I'm sure encouraged the Cóngoma church to look forward to making singing in their own language an important part of their worship again.  He said he had awoken that morning feeling discouraged, but in church he entered into the singing and his spirits lifted.  He said singing to the Lord was medicine for his heart! When I thanked him for coming, he said he might come over to the Cóngoma church to help out with the music sometimes. Until Tserere gets the music down, that would be great!

Germán gave a really good message, and it was heartening to see the attention given to the teachings from God's Word!  After the service, we pushed all the chairs to the side, as usual, and prepared for the refreshments.  I like to take different flavored cakes on each visit - this time it was pumpkin!
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Thank you to all who were praying for this last weekend!  As you can see in the top photo, I was wearing a native skirt.  I had to do some adjusting, because they don't curve the same way we do!  But I think I ended up looking a bit old-fashioned!  Growing up, I was used to the ladies usually wearing their skirts below the knee.  Nowadays, as in Tserere's case, for example, they wear them shorter.  (Oh well!)

We are so grateful to God, knowing that our brothers and sisters in this indigenous church will be able to put this verse into action - in their own language:

             "...speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit.  Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord."    (Ephesians 5:19)     

44 years ago...the final of three! And the beginning...

A gift from my husband's heart:

"Happy Anniversary to my wonderful, loving wife of 44 years.  It's been a great journey of ups and downs, in which God has blessed us and always been faithful, and filled our lives with a beautiful family."
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This photo captures the stirring moments when Germán's niece Alma (one of my bridesmaids) recited a compilation of Bible verses about love (put together by my mom). Alma's delivery of the poetical words was inspiring and arresting, to such a point that my grandparents Moore, who had flown down for the wedding, had tears in their eyes...and they didn't understand Spanish!
                                         Thank you once more, Almita!

In the photo above you can see my parents(just barely) to the left; Rosita, the young lady in red, was my "maid of love"  (equivalent to maid of honor); my brother Steve is to the far right; Germán's best man beside him...and the cute little three-year-old was our ring-bearer Leslie, one of Germán's nephews.  (My sister Carol was my other attendant.)

And in this other photo, you can just barely see the head of little seven-year-old Yuri, another of Germán's nieces.  (He has a LOT of them!), who carried my train. (My dress was made by my mom for HER wedding, 23 years earlier.)
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Now I'm going to switch to Spanish:

Mi esposo me regaló estas palabras, salidas de su corazón:

--Feliz Aniversario a mi admirable, amorosa esposa por 44 años.  Ha sido un viaje extraordinario de subidas y bajadas, en la que Dios nos ha bendecido siempre, y ha llenado nuestras vidas con una hermosa familia. --
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Mi mami hizo una compilación de versículos Bíblicos, en forma de poesía, y la sobrina de Germán, Alma (una de mis damas), nos bendijo recitándola con mucha emotividad.  Fíjense que a mis abuelos paternos, que llegaron de los EE.UU. para la boda, se les llenaron los ojos de lágrimas al escucharla...y ni siquiera entendían el español!  Les tocó la manera en que, con tanta inspiración, realizó la recitación.
                                   Nuevamente te agradecemos, Almita!

En la primera foto se puede ver a mis padres, mi hermano Steve, mi dama de amor (Rosita Burbano) y el pequeño adorable (de tres años) fue Leslie - otro sobrino de Germán, que portó los aros.  (Mi otra dama fue mi hermana Carola.)

En la segunda foto, también se puede divisar - apenas! - la carita de Yuri (otra sobrina!), que llevó la cola de mi vestido.  (Que fue hecho por mi madre para SU boda 23 años antes!)
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                               And so we arrived at the end of the ceremonies...
                                           and the beginning of our journey!

                                               Happy Anniversary, my love!
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                                                Thank You, Father, for these 44 years.

44 years ago...the second of three!

You can have the most beautiful "church" wedding, with all the emotional and religious solemnity...but if you haven't gone to the Civil Registry first for the civil ceremony, you won't be legally married!

  Here in Ecuador, only the civil (secular, no-frills) ceremony confers legality to the marriage.  For this reason, couples must plan for this...hopefully in advance!  Many plan their church wedding for Saturday afternoon, and then hop down to the Civil Registry that morning...and if there are problems with paperwork or anything else, they lag way behind, and the guests in the church may end up waiting...and waiting...and waiting!

We went three days before the religious ceremony...just in case! There was a slight problem with some document I should have had but didn't, but it was worked out, and we proceeded to what you see in the photo above, in front of the officiator, with our witnesses at either side. This ceremony also has the basic vows and "do you take this man/woman", etc.  With  the filling out of all the forms, the requisite stamps and seals, etc., our names were inscribed in the official archives...and we walked out completely married!

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In a way, it's sort of like becoming a believer in Christ.  You can go to church and go through all the beautiful rites and participate in the worship and fellowship...but if you haven't  personally decided to give your heart and life to God and accept the grace of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross for your salvation, you can't call yourself a true Christian.  It is the legal transaction between you and God - not the "ceremonialness" of "religion" - that guarantees that your name will be inscribed in the official archives of the Book of Life!

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"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise."  (Ephesians 1:13)  

In case you missed my poem on "Septermber 11, 2001" ("WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?)

Wild winds, destructive floods, unrelenting rains...hurricane after hurricane...but the heart and soul of the people living through them, though battered, will not give up.  They will reach out to each other, pull each other up, instill hope, and rebuild.

I have seen this already, watching the news - about the storms, but also about the ways people are holding up, helping, encouraging...pressing on in the determination to not allow this disaster to take heart and soul from them.

In the midst of the attacks of Nature,  the U.S. , along with other countries, remember the greatest man-made attack of its history, when terrorists tried to destroy our hearts and souls...September 11, 2001.  They tried to take heart and soul...but couldn't do it.  I pray to God they never will!

I wrote this poem in the days after the event, and included it in a blog post several years ago.  Since some of you may never have seen it, or read it so long ago that you don't remember it, here's the link to that post.  (Note: when you open it, just scroll down a ways til you come to the poem.)


"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"...MY 9-11 POEM


Whatever calamities threaten, those who have learned to trust in the Almighty God and have given themselves to his keeping, can echo the psalmist's prayer of confidence in his power and kindness.

"Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in You I take refuge.  I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed."     (Psalm 57:1)