Be Thou My Vision

(This post was written a few years ago. I published it recently) I have been reading several really good books from the library. The first is "The Thread That Runs So True" by Jesse Stuart.  It is about the author's experiences as a teacher in a one-room country school beginning at the age of 17. It has fascinating details of rural life in Kentucky. The following is a quote from the front page: "If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with principles, with just fear of God and love of our fellowmen, we engrave on those tablets something which will brighten all eternity . " ~ Daniel Webster The second book is "Calico Bush" by Rachel Field. It is another excellent book. Marguerite Ledoux, born in France, travels as a "bound-out girl" to Maine. (She works for the family ...

I read a verse today in Proverbs that caught my attention.                    "Happy is the man who is always reverent,   But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity." Proverbs 28:14 (NKJV) I started thinking, how can I be more reverent in my thoughts and actions? I know that I am definitely not reverent all the time. The definition of the adjective reverent is: "feeling or showing deep and solemn respect." In the second part of the verse, it talks about what happens to one who hardens his heart.  Some people in the Bible who hardened their heart were: Pharaoh (Refused to listen to what God told him through Moses) Haman (He tried to carry out a plan to kill the Jewish people) King Nebuchadnezzar (didn't listen to Daniel's warning to humble himself) Jacob (deceived his father) Lot (decided to live in a sinful city and narrowly escaped destruction) Prophets of Baal (followed false id...

It is so easy to feel discontent with where we are right now, at this moment. But living somewhere else, getting married, having a baby, or getting a job won't change our feelings. I will end up being discontent even if those things happen, unless I learn to trust in Christ for my ultimate fulfillment.  I am learning this every day. Sometimes I think, "Finally, I've arrived!" but then hours later, I am back where I was before. Why is my pride and false humility so hard to kill? The spirit is always warring against the flesh. It seems so hopeless at times.... but there is victory in Christ!  As I pray and read His Word and seek His will, He gives me the spiritual strength I need for each day. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man  The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. " But God has revealed  them  to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of G...

W e stepped out from the stuffy, germ laden air of the airplane, to the cool breeze of an artificially contrived breeze in Glasgow Airport. Our friend drove us through narrow cobble streets, wide stretches of tarmac motorway and seaside roads, delighting me with talk in his rich Scottish brogue. A Scottish breakfast of porridge with strawberries, and hot tea awaited us at his home, nestled among the trees high on a hill, overlooking the sparkling bay sprinkled with sailboats. Our hot, buttered toast was toasted between two metal screens set on the warm red Aga nearby. This innovative European stove/oven is left on all the time, providing a warm cozy kitchen to come home to after a busy morning of shopping for groceries at Tesco's. (Tesco's is a British supermarket) We chatted in the sun room overlooking a green garden splendid with yellow poppies, a glazed ceramic birdbath, and hollycocks in pink and red hu...

This afternoon, I walked out the back door and into a wonderful spring breeze. I briskly walked to our new orchard, alive with eight trees. One for each member of the family. I remember how my sisters and I had planted the young saplings a few weeks earlier. Orient Pear, Elberta Peach, Bradford Pear, I can already imagine juicy fruit hanging from the branches, ripe for the picking. The warm sun glows behind pink blossoms, as I delightedly snap photo after photo. Pictures of beauty. Pictures of perfect wonderfulness. Spring- such an invigorating season, delighting the senses with fresh sights and delicious fragrances, almost forgotten entirely under a haze of winter dreariness. Dried grass musters up hope and starts to add green to the slowly developing landscape. Daffodils raise their sunny heads to the sky, radiating zest and joy. Imagine a world in black and white... with no seasons, no variables in creation's growth to quicken the soul and spirit towards new beginning...