A pleasant face. Have you ever thought about a pleasant face? Dick’s mom could often be found sitting or working with a glow in her eye and a half smile on her face. Dick asked her once about it. She replied that there was enough sadness and gloom in the world without her adding to it. She had purposed to wear a pleasant face to help those around her cheer up. I found myself with my pleasant face on the other day and thought of her.
Hello from just over the hilltop in Norwood where today spring feels a little closer though the air temperature is still very cold. Inside the rooms are filled with the warmth of the sun coming through the windows but outside it is still cold. There are deer tracks along the garden fence, the weekend snow is slowly melting and the banks have settled a little more, but the wind is still bitter and earmuffs still are needed. Dick brought me back a bouquet of spring’s pussy willows from his Sunday walk: a reminder of “the little things that make me love him so.”
a reminder of “the little things that make me love him so.
The bookstore was slow last week but we had several friends stop to visit, including one of our favorite former customers of the diner, who is now ninety years old. He looks great and seems to have come through the winter in good health. We both love to sit at his feet and listen to his stories of life and wisdom of experience. May God bless him and keep him healthy.
Writers’ Group met Thursday and once again I have to talk to myself about not comparing myself to others. When I do that I come up short and wonder why I think I could write anything of value. But my ability is in talking to you and this is my way of doing that. I may have to stick with this method because trying to write in another format (first person, second person, third person, etc, and I get confused even thinking of it) is very foreign to me. So, this is it. Me talking to you through writing a type of journal.
My Dad would have been eighty-seven last week and talking with my Mom that day we found it hard to believe that nine years have passed since he died. I usually listen to one of the tapes he recorded of family history and stories but left the cassette tape home and the recorder is at the bookstore so I couldn’t listen to it at home. Maybe I should get another recorder for the house. Anyway, she is doing well and I look forward to seeing her sometime this spring.
Looking back
I have been rereading some of the old farm journals and found the following section concerning our being “complete in Him” which helps me get through any trial or changes in my life. My Mom has found it to be true too. This was written after returning from a family reunion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2002.
Six of the young people (ages 22-40), claimed they were happily single. Though many of them desired to be married they are indeed content and happy as they are. I believe one of the reasons for this is due to the fact that we “are complete in Him (Christ).” Col. 2:10. Those who belong to Him and have trusted in His finished work on Calvary are complete. If I understand that word correctly it means to fill, to be made full. For me it means that Jesus as all I need to be a full or complete person. I don’t need Dick, I don’t need my children, I don’t need my friends. God has given them as good and perfect gifts for me to love and enjoy. But if they weren’t in my life, my life would still be complete.
but if they weren’t in my life, my life would still be complete
Another example is when we yoke ourselves to Jesus as it says in Matt. 11:28, there is no room for anyone else. A yoke only holds two. If one is the Lord and the other is me, we are a complete team. Realizing that I am whole in the Lord, I can release others to also become complete in Him. I don’t need to cling to them in order to be fulfilled. It was a hard lesson to learn but over the years, having lost a baby, a marriage, a home, health, a parent, and now a church along with other trials throughout, I know that He is all I need.
Many years ago when going through a difficult time and playing song after song on the piano I discovered this song written by Gary Mathena. The words were so comforting that I began to try and play the song itself. Here are the words that ministered to me so deeply during that time in my life.
“When no one cared about me if I should live or die, and no one bothered asking why I go alone and cry: When the burdens got so heavy that I could not face the day, Then I’d feel His arms around me and I’d hear him gently say,
Lean on me when you have no strength to stand. When you feel you’re going under, hold tighter to my hand. Lean on me when you heart begins to bleed, When you come to the place that I’m all you have, then you’ll find I’m all you need.
When the road ahead seems rugged and the path is getting steep, I feel that I can’t make it and my heart begins to weep: then I turn to see who’s coming to join me in the way, And I see that it’s my Savior and I hear Him gently say,
Lean on me when you have no strength to stand. When you feel you’re going under, hold tighter to my hand. Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed, When you come to the place that I’m all you have, then you’ll find I’m all you need.” Yes, I am complete in Him. We are yoked together in this world.
I pray you will know that you are whole and complete in Christ (those who know Him) and that holding His hand and leaning on Him will see you through your trials. Lovingly, Sharon