We know He CAN...but...will He? Here's His answer...(woven into a poem)

There are times when we wonder.  We know that God is able and  that He cares.  But what is He doing about our problems?  What is He doing?  We can't always see.  We know He CAN do what we need...but has He?...does He?...will He? 

                                                      I'll Answer You

                       "Did you think I'd leave you when the storms swept through?
                       Let Me hear you, Child, and I'll answer you."

                       I thirsted so when the sandstorms blew!
                       "I can make it rain in the desert, too."

                       I thought I'd starve when the crops were few.
                       "I can feed your soul in the famine, too."

                       I feared the danger that darkness drew.
                       "I can shine Life's Light into shadows, too."

                       I reeled, confused; doubts around me flew.
                       "I can make Truth find you in the chaos, too."

                       I bent...and I bled!  for my griefs were new.
                       "I can turn fresh scars into blessings, too."

                       I hid my tears so that no one knew.
                       "I can hear your cries when they're silent, too."

                       I stumbled as the pain of my sorrows grew.
                       "I can help you walk when you're wounded, too."

                       I have fought!...and anguish has pierced me through.
                       "Yes, you have...and each moment I stayed with you.
                       I 'had your back', never once withdrew.
                       keen to bring you peace in your battles, too."

                        I fell to my knees, reaching up to You,
                        awed by all that your kindness and mercy do.
                        Love spoke to my needs, timely words and true,
                        and Grace raised me up...heart and hope renewed!
                                                                                                               --Becky Rhon
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"I will turn the desert into pools of water."  (Isaiah 41:18)

"Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light."  (Micah 7:8)

"Even in the darkness light dawns for the upright..."  (Psalm 112:4)

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."  (Hebrews 6:19)

"Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows."   (Isaiah 53:4)

"The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."  (Psalm 34:10)

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 "The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.  The Lord has spoken."   (Isaiah 25:8)

                                                And He always will.

Sending children by parcel post?

Did you know this?  The book says, "Until 1913, children in America could legally be sent by parcel post."*  I wonder if anybody ever actually did it.  If so, how did they manage to get the kids from A to B unharmed? (Maybe they didn't!)  There must have been some who wished to avail themselves of the service, or else there wouldn't have been a law allowing it.  Just the same, I'm glad we live post-1913.  On the other hand,  if it were still in force,  maybe  we could have Dan and KC, and Steve and Debbie mail our grandchildren down to Ecuador several times a year...so we could see them more often than we do now!

However, we are so very thankful to God for our precious grandkids and for being able to spend time with them...even if only once or twice a year. 

Germán and I sitting at back, kids from left to right:  Micah (8), Miriam (5 - almost 6), Eli (5), Liliana (7) and Noe (10).

Like I, many of you grandparents agree with Proverbs 17:6:  "Children's children are a crown to the aged."

And the promises in the Bible are so heartening:

"But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him, and his righteousness with their children's children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." (Psalm 103:17)

 We should let this beautiful passage be a life-long prayer for our beloved offspring:

"My Spirit...and my words...will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever, says the Lord."  (Isaiah 59:21)
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                                 THANK YOU, LORD, FOR GRANDCHILDREN!

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*1,227 Quite Interesting FACTS to Blow Your Socks Off

Unbelievable statistics on un-used gift cards! (Also some family pictures.)

Here's what this book says:  "The U.S. retail industry makes $6.8 billion a year from gift cards that no one redeems."*  Can you imagine?  Almost seven billion dollars!!  Gift cards are given...but not all are claimed and used.  (What a waste!)
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We might say that God has given us hundreds of gift cards, as He is lavish with his promises,  "vouchers" on the basis of which we can ask for so many things...things He wants to give us.  (We don't always take advantage of them, do we?) 

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who has called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us his very great and precious promises."  (II Peter 1:3,4)
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One thing we consider an enormous gift is our family.  We had the joy of being with Dan and his family in November, then flying to Indiana to be with Debbie and Steve and their girls for Christmas.  We spent almost a month there, and thoroughly enjoyed the time with our kids and precious grandchildren.  Here are some December pictures:

We went to Steve's folks' house  Christmas Eve, and watched The Muppets' Christmas Carol. Miriam snuggled between her two grandmothers...and namesakes.  (Becky, Miriam Rebecca, and Becky)

Abuelito with Liliana (right) and Miriam (left)

A closer-up view of our granddaughters: Miriam (far left) then Liliana (with their cousins to the right).

Miriam reads a story to Abuelito.  Liliana looks on.  (Miriam is in kindergarten, but reads at a 2nd or 3rd grade level.)

God said:  "I will make a covenant of peace with them...I will bless them...I will send down showers in season, there will be showers of blessing."  (Ezekiel 34:25,26)
                                     
                                    Lord, how can we ever thank You?

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(*1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off)

Returning gifts: DON'T do it to this Person!

Long lines of people in the stores, returning gift-after-gift, things that didn't fit, were the wrong color, or any of several excuses provided...simply because he/she didn't really want the gift, and plans to get something else with the refund money!

That's part of the commercialized holidays.  Returning gifts and getting cash or credit back to use as one likes.  OK, but don't try to do that with God!  "It was nice of You, God; I mean, it's the thought that counts, right?  But I really don't think this is something I can use...it doesn't fit my life.  But...thanks anyway!"

God gives us so many gifts, but we don't always appreciate them.  Yet they are the best things that He could ever let into our lives. Do you think He loves you so little or so carelessly that He'd give you something that didn't work or was of no use?

"It doesn't fit, Lord; it's the wrong size.  And I don't really like the way it looks one me."
GOD:  Don't worry.  Once you accept it, I can make all the parts mesh together so well that you'll find it was tailor-made for you.

"It's the wrong color, Lord.  This shade doesn't really show me to advantage.  Got it in another color?"
GOD: Don't worry  Once you accept it, I can sharpen your perception so that you can see it through my eyes and wonder why you ever though it wouldn't suit you.

"Um...I'm not sure if I'll ever need that...I mean, what use is it to me?"
GOD: How about asking to what use you can put it for others?  By the way, when you use the gift to help someone else, you'll find you are blessed, too.  (It's a pretty neat side-effect, if I say so Myself.)
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Here are a couple of reasons why I think we don't always appreciate God's gifts, and either ignore them or waste them...or even tell Him He must have made a mistake:

1) His gifts don't always coincide with OUR idea of what we need and want, we're wary and we tend to stick to the more familiar and "safe" side of things.  (As if being in God's hands weren't the safest place one could ever be!)

2) We don't always recognize his gifts when they come. Our human-ness makes it impossible to fully understand and perceive what God gives us and why.

When these doubts (and, yes, sometimes excuses) about what God does through, to and for us, clear up and our soul can see a little more into the heart of our loving God, then we realize that each gift is a perfect fit, is exactly the right color, and enriches our lives (and those of others) through its use.
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As we start a new year, may God help us all be more attentive to what He's doing, so we can appreciate how He makes everything "work together for good", and neither waste nor question his made-to-measure gifts. They come from a God who loves us more than we could ever imagine.

                                                   HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I Never Saw a Purple Cowry...

We were at the beach on Padre Island (Texas) and went into a gift shop.  I have always loved cowry shells, and was surprised to see some that were purple.  I've never seen a purple cowry before.  They fascinated me, so I bought a couple.

What I found out about them was most interesting.  I don't know if it is so in every species, but in the "tiger cowry", the outer shell has the typical pattern of brown and black spots. The purple layer is underneath, and in order to bring out the beautiful color of the lower layer, the shells are dipped in acid, stripping away part of the outer layer and reaching the purple.  The purple is there, and part of the shell, but it isn't visible on the surface.  An effort must be made so that the purple will show...where it can be seen and appreciated.
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Something like that happens when God wants to refine us and bring out the beauty that He is creating in each one of us. It can't always be seen on our imperfect surface - our imperfect "top layer" - so He uses testing and trials to strip away some of the top layer so that He can work on the inner layer, step-by-step revealing our "purple".

Here's another analogy to make the same point: "For You, God, tested us; You refined us like silver."  (Psalm 66:10)

I recently read of a woman who decided to talk to a silversmith and ask him about this process.  He told her he couldn't just leave the silver boiling, checking it every-once-in-a-while.  He had to keep a constant eye on the crucible, as too much heat could ruin the silver. When she asked him how he could tell that the purifying process was complete, he replied that he knew it was ready when he could see his image reflected in the silver.

We may dislike going through acid baths, so-to-speak, (or being melted in crucibles), but we must remember that when God's purifying process in us is complete, His image will be seen reflected in us. Here in this life, no one reflects His image perfectly - though some reflect more of it than others.  But that is the goal towards which God works, the goal we should all yearn for.

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."  (I Peter 5:10)

And then...your "purple" will show!

"I always put my underwear on backwards..." (Eli...who else?!)

Eli on my shoulders (Liliana on the couch and Miriam in the background).

One morning, I realized I had put my slacks on backwards.  At the dinner table, I mentioned it to the children, saying that adults sometimes get things turned around, too...not just kids.  At this, Eli (who just turned 5) exuberantly told us, with that impish, fun-loving grin of his,  "I always put my underwear on backwards...it happens every time!"  I guess that the desire to make Abuelita feel better was more important than being embarrassed himself.  Thanks, Eli!  You made us all laugh, and you did make me feel better!
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Maybe Eli's perspective should be emulated much more frequently than it is.  Even if we know that sharing something we did wrong or messed up on might make another person feel less discouraged and that someone understands, we're often too embarrassed to admit it!  (Commiserate with the other guy...but don't let on that you've done it, too!)

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 I love II Corinthians 1:4.  "He {God} comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."  It seems like some of the trials we go through have a special purpose of helping us to understand and sympathize with others...because we've been through the same thing as they.  We know how it hurts...or frustrates...or embarrasses...or makes one feel inadequate....and we know what will probably be the most helpful things to say to them or do for them.  We know how God comforted us...and we can "pass it on".

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We have spent two lovely weeks in San Antonio with Dan, KC, Noe, Micah and Eli.  For one of those weeks, Debbie and her family were here and we had Thanksgiving,  a "pre-Christmas" and a lot of activities, laughs, fun and love. (Dan's kids were thrilled, since Debbie's girls are their only cousins.  So when "the cousins" arrive, it's a special event!)   Tomorrow we fly northwards, to spend 3 1/2 weeks with Debbie, Steve, Liliana and Miriam in northern Indiana.  (We're trying to pack things as economically as possible...can't get over having to pay for the first checked bag!)
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I hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving, and rejoice in all the preparations for the celebration of Jesus' coming to Earth as Christmas draws near!

Great-grandfather? "We had none...the line failing before it had reached so far back."

In a Mark Twain novel*, the protagonist is trying to gather data for forming armies, one of them specifically for the nobility (to keep them out of other people's hair.)  He asks each candidate about his forbears. "Father?"  Then "grandfather?"...then "great-grandfather?"  When he gets to that question with one guy, the fellow explains, "We had none...the line failing before it had reached so far back".  (The interviewer gave up!)
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It's interesting how genealogies can start at either end, depending on the situation and culture.  In the Bible, the "begats" always start with the founder of the clan or tribe and work downward.  The sequence of ancestors gets named and placed as they appeared on the vertical  family timeline.  It finally ends up with the person whose line is being reported.

Nowadays, when we want to explore our lineage, we begin with ourselves and work backwards.  It's close to impossible for us to do it the historic way, since there are few records that go back so far, and there are no bards around to recite the lengthy generation-after-generation records they had memorized.
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It's fun to know what kinds of ancestors we had and where they came from,  but there's something that's much  more important to me.  That is my spiritual lineage.  As long as I know who my Father is, I have an identity.  I am part of His history, I am a member of His family.

"But You are our Father...You, O Lord, are our Father..."  (Isaiah 62:16)

"Have we not all one Father?  Did not God create us all?"  (Malachi 2:10)

""For in Him we live and move and have our being.  As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring'.  There is one body and one Spirit...one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."  (Ephesians 4:4-6)
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Tomorrow I will travel with my husband to have a much-looked-forward-to visit with our descendants.  Our two children, their spouses and their offspring are precious to us.  They "belong".  We all "belong" to our family.  But even better, we all belong to God's family...we all call Him Father!
                                            
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*A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court