A Grandbaby!

A Grandbaby!

Just one year ago today I took my mother, Mary Lloys Himes, to my son’s house because John and Rachel had a surprise to share with her.  The surprise was Mikaela Jocelyn Lamb. My first grandbaby had been born September 19.

            Mother sat in a rocking chair holding Mikaela and talking to her.  We videoed her, we took pictures, including the four generation picture of Mikaela, John, me, and Mom.

            I took Mom back to the assisted living and it was the very last time she left the building.  A little more than a week later, Mom left her home again, this time for a heavenly home.  But she got to see her great-granddaughter first.

            I was very close to my grandmother, Lloys Rice, but she has been gone for more than twenty years.  My children have no grandmother, as of a year ago.  But now I have a chance to be a grandmother, one like my grandmother, a major influence in my life.  I have the chance to  influence Mikaela.

            I was reading this morning from II Timothy 1 where Paul says to Timothy,

            “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.  For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

            What did I learn from my grandmother that I want to pass on to Mikaela?  The first thing is I knew Gram loved God supremely and she told me I needed to view every individual as someone Jesus loved.  And because Jesus loved them, I should love them.  I knew Gram loved the Bible.  She is the one who taught me how to use a Strong’s Concordance and find verses on a particular topic.  She was memorizing Scripture when she was in her nineties and taught me to value Scripture.

            I want to treat people the way Gram treated people and I want to teach Mikaela to do the same.  Gram listened to everyone with every fiber of her being.  She was riveted on my Stephen when he told her the story of “The Three Little Pigs,” just as she was riveted on me when I talked about the heartache of being rejected by the one I loved.  (She gave me a ring to replace the one I no longer had and told me he just didn’t know what he was missing!)  She was my biggest cheerleader, believing, and almost convincing me, that I could do anything.  I never felt I had to perform to earn her love or that if I failed in any way, she would reject me.  I learned unconditional love from her.

            I know that the years ahead will bring great joy, tears, and fears as I watch Mikaela grow.  Just after the verses I quoted come the words, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  I am not sure why Paul put those words together in the same paragraph, but I can apply it to myself and my relationship with Mikaela and any future grandchildren.  I will be tempted to fear the heartaches and trials  Mikaela will encounter and even the choices she may make, but I will love her unconditionally, encourage her, and try to be an example for her the way my grandmother was for me.

                                                                        ~~Faith Himes Lamb

REGRET

This time of year was once my very favorite...the colors, the cooler weather, pumpkins and all the beauty that comes with autumn.  I loved it and still do to a point.    However, it is now also the time of year that my husband’s once strong body began to give way to the wretched cancer that had engulfed every moment of our lives for the past two years.  When the beautiful season of autumn should bring excitement for the expectation of Thanksgiving and Christmas, it now leaves my heart in fear of the approaching “anniversary” and what might wash over me from that great loss we have endured.  And in the midst of this survival mode and sadness, I long for what was good.  And I regret....

 

Regret is a terrible thing to endure and it needles into spaces of your mind that are worn out from grief.  I should have, I could have and why didn’t I?  I’m not talking about the skinny girl “I ate a doughnut and now I’m puffy” regret, (that’s not a regret for us healthier girls) or the “Why didn’t I pick the black Mercedes instead of the blue one” (not a particular worry for me either).  I’m talking about the life regrets...the regrets that tell you that you could have made a difference had you chosen well.

I don’t have too many from my life with Dan. He and I lived our lives with short accounts, but the little ones plague me...I should have read Scripture to him when he could no longer hold his Bible, or stayed more in his “world” at the end instead of trying to make people feel comfortable, or just laying next to him a little longer and listening to every precious heart beat...if only. 

But regret is useless.  It is simply another way to allow Satan to turn our focus onto our pitiful selves and away from the Lord who knows how human we are and that sometimes we do all that we know to do, and despite our human-ness still chooses to give us grace to learn and move on. I know that in my head but it’s difficult to accept.

That being said, I would like to reach the end of my life with no regret....better looking, but with no regret.  And from what I can figure, we do that by living every day as if it were our last, not just living but living intentionally, living for a future we will have after we draw our last breath, living to hear the words, “well done” from the Lord.  I want to hear that.  Who wouldn’t? 

So...... just in case this is my last day, custard filled or glazed?

Joy Dilts

II Timothy 4: 7 & 8: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Surrounded by Love

I stood next to Renee Haston on Sunday morning, blending my voice with hers and a few hundred others as we sang this familiar song:

                Hold me close,
                Let your love surround me.
                Bring me near;
                Draw me to your side.

As we sang, I felt myself surrounded by love. I looked around at the dear faces of people I see week after week—many of whom I rarely talk to.  Yet I know if I am in trouble, these people will help me.  If I were in a foreign land—or stuck at the side of the road—it would be a joy and comfort to see Mike McDonald or Judi Summers, Becky Gorsline or Don Sandberg come around the corner.

It is so easy to take people for granted, but in some ways, it’s a compliment. It’s not a bad thing to be considered faithful. I want people to know that I will help them if I can. It would hurt my feelings more to think that someone wouldn’t ask for help because they’d think me too indifferent. To be always available is to be like God.

We had this verse on our bulletin Sunday: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”  (Lamentations 3:22-23).  Because God is faithful to keep the big world turning and our puny hearts beating, we may forget what a wonder it all is. But when we have a scare—a health problem or a car problem—we know we can call on him, and he will help because he loves us.    

I want to be that dependable, you-can-count-on-me kind of person. And I am so glad to worship with a whole slew of folks who I believe are also loving and trustworthy enough to be there when it matters.

Let his Spirit lead us on---In the power of his love!

--Sherry Poff

God's Perfume

God’s Perfume

            Gram and Miss Fairy (practically an aunt, only better since she had no children of her own and lavished her love extravagantly on me—and on my other siblings and cousins, too, of course) both used Youth Dew perfume by Estee Lauder.  Gram always smelled so good to me and Miss Fairy used the same perfume.   I used to get hand me downs from Miss Fairy and there was always the scent of Youth Dew on the clothes I got from her.  My closet smelled like Miss Fairy.  After they were both gone on to Heaven, a whiff of Youth Dew brought them back.

            Because I loved the two of them and wanted to be like them, I tried to make that Youth Dew my signature scent, sure that more of them would rub off on me.  But, alas, it was too strong and did not represent who I was.  I switched to Beautiful by Estee Lauder, because it still hinted of them.  But even that did not suit me.  But I wanted some smell that reminded others of me, something that would instantly bring me to mind, so I kept looking.  Eventually I found Moonlight Path and made it my own.  I love it when someone says, “You smell so good.  What are you wearing?”

            I admit in my search I had some major goofs.  Perhaps the most dramatic one was the perfume I sprayed liberally, then desperately tried to wash off as I gagged and threw up!

            If you read the fashion expert’s advice about how to choose a “signature scent,” you will read that it must fit your personality.  There are little quizzes that claim to help you choose the right scent.  According to them, you must consider the food you love, the kind of music you listen to, the kind of movies you like, the places you like to go for vacation.  All of these answers will help you choose the fragrance that will still smell amazing hours after you have applied it.  Of course you want to choose something that others will not find overpowering or irritating.  You want just the right one.

            This week I read in II Corinthians 2 these verses: 

            “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”

            That concept of God’s perfume has for many years captured my imagination and my longings.  We are to be the fragrance, the perfume, of Christ, to both other Christians and nonbelievers. Our presence should remind others of Him.

 Do we evoke sweet smells and memories?  I mentioned Gram.  Gram drew others to her, in a cliché, like bees to honey.  I wanted desperately to be like her.  I knew that her love for God and for the Bible and for others was what made her unique.  I even took as a life verse the same one she used.  It was Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt show me the path of life.  In thy presence is fullness of joy; At thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  I knew that her secret was found in Him.  She was God’s sweet perfume to those she met.

Unfortunately, I know that just as I sometimes have violently negative reactions to certain aromas, so sometimes we are not a sweet fragrance of Christ to others.  Sometimes we stink.  I spoke to a young man the other day who, because of the “fragrance” put off by his father, is nauseated by his father’s conception of God.  He isn’t sure what he believes now, but he knows he does not want to believe anything his father believed.  His father and others who claimed to be Christians have filled his nostrils with the smell of death.  I cry almost every time I think of him. 

So what kind of perfume am I to others?  Am I Christ’s perfume, wooing others to want to love Him and know Him as I do?  Or am I stench in their nostrils, a strong, irritating odor, pushing them away from the God I claim to represent?  Oh, God!  Help me to be a sweet perfume, drawing others to You.

                                                            ~Faith Himes Lamb

FRIENDSHIP

(You are about to read the 100th post on the Cup of Grace blog! Help us to celebrate by leaving a comment below or on Facebook!)

FRIENDSHIP

Every morning for 940 days in a row, I have awakened to a verse on my phone....EVERY MORNING! No, it's not some auto verse or Joel Osteen dial-a-prayer system, it's an actual verse sent from an actual person - one who has discovered early on the power of God's Word.

At the beginning of my "journey" with Dan through cancer, my sweet, faithful friend Amy began sending me verses during the night. With the Home-going of her father several years ago, she knew my pain and despair. And some mornings when I had no strength to face the day, I would pick up my phone to a verse only God could have given her. It is amazing how many times the verse she sends covers the particular concern that is in my heart. Dan loved that she did that for us. It strengthened us in a way that's unfamiliar to those who have not been through a difficult time.

God used this very special gift, not only in my life, but others as well. She began a "text" ministry to several other cancer patients and in searching for the verses to send, she told me how much reading through the Scripture had encouraged her.

Sometimes we think that we just don't have what it takes to encourage someone in their time of need...but that little verse, pushing its way from her finger to my heart was and is a true gift. And during the wee hours of each morning, a little bell on my phone reminds me that someone is still praying for me and sending me the amazing power of God's Word.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.....Hebrews 4:12

Joy Dilts

Working Together

Some days I think I must have the greatest job in the world.  (Other days I question my own sanity! A topic for another time.) Consider this:  I get to show up every morning and talk about a subject I totally believe in to people I completely adore.  In addition to that, I work at a school where I’m not only allowed but encouraged to emphasize the sovereignty of God and his personal involvement in our lives.  Also—(Can you believe there’s more?)—on a fairly regular basis I get to see or hear from some of the people I’ve taught and find out how God is working in their lives.  It’s such a joy.

One of my former students is currently teaching at a school in the Philippines; one is planning activities at a nursing home; one is teaching English at Grace; another is teaching math. Several have gotten married in the last couple of years and, with their spouses, are making good biblical choices for their families. I could go on, but you get the picture. I am so proud of them!

When Dr. Euler talked to us about intercession on Sunday morning, my mind was just flooded with the many people I am privileged to know and pray for. Think of all the missionaries we know and whose joys and sorrows we get to share. We hear it often, but it is worth thinking of again. The work of the ministry has many facets, but we have a single goal.  Paul reminded the Ephesian church that “there is one body and one spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (chapter 4)  “Men work together,” says Robert Frost, “whether they work together or apart.”

We may not get to go to Japan with Sarah Reese or walk the path in Togo with Bea Ward, but we can share in their work through prayer.  Don’t you love it?! When we build into the lives of others, our own ministry expands exponentially.

One of my particular joys this week was reading Diana Patrick’s blog. Yes, I got to teach her in both fourth grade and twelfth grade. How amazing is that?  She spent a large part of her summer in Philadelphia and tells some wonderful stories of her experience. You can read it and cry for yourself.  http://dianacpatrick.blogspot.com/

Keep working, praying, and sharing.  God is in it.

--Sherry Poff

Pain Hurts

The woman who needs a friend,
The woman who misses family,
The woman who feels alone,
Pain hurts.
The woman who desires a new career,
The woman who is without a job,
The woman whose job is all she has time for,
Pain hurts.
The woman who longs for a husband,
the woman whose husband is distant,
the woman whose husband is gone.
Pain hurts.
The woman who longs to have children,
the woman who can't have children,
the woman who has lost children,
the woman whose children are lost,
Pain hurts.
The woman whose parent is dying,
The woman who is dying and leaving children,
The woman whose parents are gone and she needs them,
Pain hurts.
The woman who thinks no one cares,
the woman who bears so many others' burdens,
the woman who pushes others away,
the woman who is pushed away,
Pain hurts.
Your greatest joy is my deepest desire,
My biggest complaint is your greatest longing, 
Pain hurts.

These women go to my church. They are part of my family. They are women sinking in the despair of sin and can't break free from the strongholds in their lives. They are women longing for husbands and children. They are women going through divorce. They are women who have lost their husbands or children. They are women who have children that are hurting or making poor choices. They are women who are lonely and long for friendships. They are women who have lost dear friends. They are women whose loved ones have hurt them. And the list goes on. Oh, how we're hurting.

This summer at VBS, we studied the story of Lazarus' death. Mary and Martha didn't understand why Jesus waited to come, and it appeared that Jesus did not care. We see, however, that He cared so deeply that he dealt with Mary and Martha individually to meet their needs, and then He wept because of the sorrow that comes with death. Oh, how He cares.

As we hurt, may we wait upon the Lord who has promised an Isaac, and for Whom nothing is impossible! "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23)!"

~Rebecca Phillips