A Providence

A couple years ago, a friend at church was scheduled to sing and asked Ken and me to join her for a trio and sing a song which had been written by Daniel & Angie Edwards (one or the other or both--I'm not certain exactly). I struggled to sing it not because of the range or difficult harmony, no, no. I struggled because it hit me dead center in my heart! We postponed singing the song for several weeks "for no apparent reason" until I had prayed enough that I could finally sing it.

When I posted yesterday morning (see Faith on faith, below), this song was running through my mind, and I thought about posting the lyrics but didn't feel like digging through our notebook to find them. Interestingly enough, last night we watched the evening service of Sea Breeze Campmeeting in Hobe Sound, FL, (http://www.hobesoundbiblechurch.com/livestreaming.php) and Dan & Michelle Durkee and their oldest son sang this very song! That did it. I decided the lyrics need to be posted!

I CHOOSE TO TRUST

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus;
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise;
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Have you ever been beaten low,
The doubts and questions are lurking so?
That is when the tempter always comes.
You wonder if our God's the same;
You wonder if He knows your name;
In spite of all your doubts just say to Him:

• I choose to trust the God I cannot see;
  I choose to walk the path He chose for me;
  I choose to love the One Who gave His life for me;
  I choose to put my faith and trust in Christ.

God said in His Word so dear,
"Draw nigh to me, and I'll draw near;
Resist the evil one, and he must flee."
So then, my friend, take up your shield,
To Satan's darts we must never yield,
Take courage, lift up your heart to God and say:

• I choose to trust the God I cannot see;
  I choose to walk the path He chose for me;
  I choose to love the One Who gave His life for me;
  I choose to put my faith and trust in Christ.

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus;
Just to take Him at His word.
I choose to trust the One Who gave His life for me;
I choose to put my faith and trust in Christ.

He's arrived!!

Earlier this evening the phone rang, and we saw were excited to see "Pamela Stence" on the caller ID. Only one reason Daniel & Pamela would be calling right now: Baby Jared Ian arrived!! He had a rough trip into the big, wide world, so he has a few bruises, but isn't he just perfect?!!

Welcome. Baby Jared!

Congratulations, Daniel & Pamela!

Faith on faith

Blessed is the person who not knowing what to say, says nothing. :) (That sounds like a plausible explanation for not posting the last couple of weeks!)

I've been spending a LOT of time looking for a suitable house at a suitable price in a suitable area near a suitable job for Ken... Satisfying needs for church, home, work, and finances is a challenge!

I've also been reading "Your Best Life Now," written by Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood Church in Houston (and watching his sermons on his website!). The book was a Christmas gift (straight off my wish list!), and I started reading it right away. It's easy reading, and I found myself so encouraged as I read that I finished the book much too fast. The words are easy to read, but the concepts take time to "own" and apply. So now I am re-reading it (something I rarely do [my philosophy on books is that since there are so many good books out there that I will never get to read all of them ONCE I shouldn't waste my time reading one of them TWICE]).

My name being Faith (and that for 47 years now), I find it a bit embarrassing to admit that the light bulb about faith finally switched ON. I'm familiar with praying about a matter, trusting God to "work everything for good," thanking Him for what He is going to work--praying and then watching, wondering, waiting for God to work. In "Your Best Life Now" and/or in his sermons, Osteen encourages readers/listeners to pray in faith and with thanksgiving, shifting the focus from the problem to the answer.

Applied, instead of praying/pleading, "God, please help us to find a suitable house at a suitable price... Thank You for your help. Amen," we pray/praise, "God, thank You for a suitable house at a suitable price...!" Instead of "Please provide the money for this need," "Thank You for providing the money for this need..." (Praying like this puts skin on "His praise shall continually be in my mouth..." Psalm 34:1, doesn't it?! )

As I was praying from this new perspective, it hit me: Praying in faith is more than praying, watching, wondering, waiting for God to work. That's FORWARD praying, future-tense praying (sorry, the grammar surfaces spontaneously!). Praying in faith is praying knowing that God has already worked. It's BACKWARD praying--past-tense praying! It's skipping the request step and going straight to the thanksgiving. Exactly!! Faith is the actuality of things of which we are certain, the reality of things not yet real. (aka Hebrews 11:1) If we are certain of things not yet real, then we can patiently wait for it because it's only a matter of time. (aka Romans 8:25)

Duh! (the smack on my forehead dented my enthusiasm a little) This is no "new" concept. I've known this for most of my life. ("...in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6) But that knowledge just morphed into a breathing, living thing! :)

The issue isn't prayer or thanksgiving. It's faith. Faith is easy when I pray in future tense... and NOT so easy when I pray in past tense! Praying in past tense puts me "out on a limb," makes me "stick out my neck." Reminds me of a poster I have that reads, "Faith isn't faith until it's all you're holding on to." Also of an object lesson my dad used to present about trusting. If you are visiting somewhere and someone brings you a chair to sit on that you don't trust. How do you sit? On the edge. Muscles tensed, still bearing some of your weight, because you are poised to jump up. Not an enjoyable experience!

And when they bring you another chair that you trust? You sit down and relax--perhaps even prop up your feet, allowing the chair to bear your full weight. There's no "poised to jump up" posture. If this chair goes down, you are * splat *! I can sit in faith. Can I pray in faith?

Thanksgiving in January!

I was working hard at my computer this afternoon, when Ken called with a question prior to heading home from work. At the end of the conversation, I told him I was nervous because I had been hearing a bunch of bumping and banging around (at one point it sounded like perhaps someone had been on our porch but they hadn't knocked on our door), people talking loudly, and a rumbly vehicle that was parked somewhere nearby and running, running, running... I just wished that the people who were banging and bumping and talking loudly would get IN the vehicle and drive away!

He asked, "Well, have you looked out to see what might be going on?"

"No," I answered, "because with all that noise, I didn't think sticking my head out the door was a bright idea!"

He suggested that I stick my head out the door while he was on the phone with me. To my surprise, those loud-talking people were firemen and policemen, and the rumbly vehicle was a hook-and-ladder truck parked at the end of our trailer! A police cruiser was parked half in our parking spot, half in our lawn. Lights were flashing. People were milling about. Down the hill was parked a smaller fire dept SUV. I hurried to look out a window on the other side of the trailer--there I saw a mid-size fire truck, another police cruiser, another large fire truck, two ambulances, and a conglomeration of civilian vehicles.

I looked up and down the street, but didn't see any fire, smoke, or burning or burned building, so I wasn't certain what had happened. I reported that to Ken and then added, "It must be a trailer down beyond what I can see."

We hung up, and I went outside to see if I could see what the source of the excitement was or find someone who might know what had happened. A lady across the street, on the other side of the fire truck, pointed at the trailer directly across the street from us, so I walked over to and around the fire truck. My eyes popped open! I hadn't been able to see the trailer because of the fire truck blocking my view. All the windows were broken out, and we could see the blackened inside of the trailer! The firemen predict it to be a total loss.

Another lady, our next-door neighbor, told me that she had been out for a little walk earlier and had noticed what she thought was steam coming from a vent. On her return, she thought she smelled smoke but assumed that perhaps someone was grilling and went back inside her house. A few minutes later she thought, "Wait a minute, I don't think anyone was home. I better check that trailer across the street again." When she looked out her front door, the trailer was completely engulfed in flames. She immediately called 911, then rushed over to the burning trailer. (She's the one who had been on our porch, but she thought nobody was home and left without knocking.) Another neighbor, a man, was already there, breaking windows and trying to get a door open so he could spray his fire extinguisher.

And to think... I was sitting quietly at my desk diligently working on my project wishing the whole time that the people who were banging and bumping and talking loudly would get IN the vehicle and drive away!!

The young lady who lived there was at work. We all sympathize with her. What a dreadful sight to come home to! Her sister also lives here in the community, so she was going to meet her and tell her about the fire and then accompany her home. Her sister also has room for her to stay with her until things get worked out.

Needless to say the community (on our street especially) is full of thanksgiving to God that no people were hurt (the ladies' three cats perished--I won't say trilogy :) ), that the strong winds we have been having this week weren't blowing this afternoon, and that the fire was contained quickly and didn't spread to other trailers. "Thank you, Lord, for Your blessings on me!!"

Thanksgiving knows no season.

A trilogy of Life!

Okay, so trilogies are still on my mind, but this trilogy has been on my mind for several months already, so I can't write it off just like * snap *: We are awaiting the arrival of THREE new family members!! Wait, not Ken and me --good grief! That's the stuff that gets rumors started!! No, we'll merely be grand uncle and aunt (our variation of grandpa and grandma). :) Two of my nephews and their wives and a niece and her husband will be the button-popping parents:

• Daniel & Pamela Stence - a boy any day now! - #1
• Rhoda (Stence) & Luke Grout - a girl in May - #1
• Philip & Jennifer Stence - a boy in late April-June (depends on who is right: mommy, midwife or doctor [trilogies are everywhere!]) - #5

That will bring the "grands" total to 22! We can't wait for them to make their arrival. Hopefully Daddies and Mommies will stop popping their buttons long enough to email us some pictures. (Yes, that is a HINT!) ;)

Perspective makes all the Difference

* sigh * Today (Tuesday, I mean) has been a sad day...from earth's perspective. My friend called to let us know her mother-in-law had passed away this evening. Later we received an email that a dear friend of Ken's family had also passed away tonight. (So much for my trouble with trilogies ponderings: the last email makes four.) I'm thankful, however, that I was reminded today of the poem that had comforted me, and that I took the time to share it. Yes, it was a sad night here--and tears are in order! We don't sorrow for these ladies who have gone on--we sorrow for those who are still here. But even through the tears, we rejoice that
"...just at the moment when someone at my side says,
“There she goes!”
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
“Here she comes!"

Today was an awesome day in heaven! :)

I DO have words to say! :) May they be a comfort.

I've been checking my friend's blog so many times every day and praying for the family, and every time I want to say something, want to comfort, but I don't know what to say or maybe how to say it.

Today, however, when I read something she posted, "the life that this amazing, Godly woman has lived, and it's come down to this...numbers, temperatures, procedures, pain medicine, phone calls, tears. She is SO MUCH more than all this!" my heart started thumping!! I knew immediately something I could share!

That was exactly how I felt sitting at my dad's side those last days before he passed away. This person who had blessed us with his wisdom, wit, teaching, singing... This mind and these hands that had incredibly produced music on every instrument he had picked up (except the flute!)... On and on. How could so much "person" evaporate?

Then someone gave me a poem that changed my perspective and really comforted me. It comforted me again when my mom passed away. So I posted it in her comments hoping that they will gain perspective and, in that perspective, find some comfort too.

Parable of Immortality
by Henry Van Dyke (1852 - 1933)

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, “There she goes!”

Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
“There she goes!”
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
“Here she comes!"