The Power Of Patience

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

I don’t know anyone who enjoys the process of learning patience. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are a child or an adult, learning patience is a slow, tedious, and uncomfortable process. These days we have become so used to “instant” everything that even ”normal” amounts of patience seem to have become a lost art.  Our lives are moving at warp speed and we have no time to wait for anything.

We recently inherited my father-in-law’s newer computer. Our previous computer was many years old and extremely slow (and temperamental).  Our old computer was a daily lesson in how to wait, and I really struggled with it.  For someone who came to computers fairly late in life, I now spend the greater portion of my days on the computer, both at work and at home.  My computer at work is pretty fast, so when I came home to our old computer, I would fuss at how long it took to do even the simplest of tasks.  I would like to say that patience was perfected in me through this experience, but anyone who knows me well would be laughing.

Historically speaking, I have always tried to do everything fast: I worked fast, I walked fast, I ate fast, and I made decisions fast–slow was not part of my vocabulary. I was like the license plate I saw many years ago on a Ford Mustang, “No Go Slow”.  It has only been within the past two years that, as a result of a new challenge with rheumatoid arthritis, I have had to slow down, and it hasn’t been an easy lesson to learn. 

Learning patience is never a fun process.  It is true that there are some personality types who come by patience more easily, but unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them. I believe that I have empirical evidence of God’s sense of humor when I look back over the experiences of my life. Considering how many times I have had to learn and re-learn the same lessons on patience, one could think that the issue of patience in my life is important to God.  Some times I have passed the “test”, and sometimes I haven’t.  And for those times when I didn’t “pass”, that same test would keep popping up in my life.  There is a saying that always makes me smile: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  How many times have we all done this?

Each one of us have areas in our lives where patience is a continual struggle. For me it has been with computers and waiting for financial provision or employment for my husband in a volatile and ever-changing industry. The issue of patience in our lives is ultimately about trust and faith; faith that God will work all things out for our good.  As I wait for Him to work on my behalf, the ultimate challenge has been to keep from trying to solve these issues in my own strength.  It seems that the more I try to “fix” things on my own, the more messed up my life becomes and the longer God waits to move in to remedy the situation. 

We have a saying in our family about the process of waiting for God to work: “It seems like God thinks He has all the time in the world!  Doesn’t He know we need this fixed right now?” (said with a smile, of course).  In a recent conversation with my daughter, we were talking about this process of waiting and how often it feels like God has us dangling over the edge of a great abyss until the last possible moment, at which time He rides in to the rescue.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t like that feeling. That sense of “dangling” for an interminable amount of time while God works lets me know conclusively that I am not in control of the situation or the outcome.  For someone who has always been a “take charge” kind of person, this lesson has been a difficult one for me to learn.

The process of learning patience and trust in God would probably be easier if we could actually see how God was working. Most often though, we can’t see what He is doing quietly in the background; the pieces of the puzzle that He is pulling together so that our problem can be resolved.  We have to come to trust that He loves us enough to be concerned about these issues in our lives; we have to have faith that He is working on our behalf.  And, we have to bring our requests about these problems to Him, which requires a certain amount of humility and the understanding that we need His help. The ultimate irony is that we need His help in all things, not just the big problems that seem overwhelming to us.

Because God knows the end from the beginning, He knows what we don’t: how this problem or trial is important to the maturing of our faith.  I tend to look at problems as just another nuisance to get past until I can get on with “real life”, or at least that’s how I have looked at them in the past. Like some cosmic list, I have checked off each problem as it has been resolved so that I can move on to the next one. However, there never seems to be an end to my “problem list.”  It is easy to completely miss many of the simple joys of life when I am that focused on my list of problems (think Martha, not Mary in Luke 10:38-42) and it also means that my focus is not where it should be, on Him.

It is only the grace and strength of God that will work His patience in me as I learn to quietly wait. It doesn’t matter if I am waiting for the manifestation of financial provision or the restoration of a broken relationship, the process of patience and the process of learning to trust are cornerstones in my faith walk. It is time to start walking in the victory that is the result of this patience process.  Just like Aesop’s Fable of the “Tortoise And The Hare“, it will be “slow and steady” that gets the job done.  Unfortunately, there is no quick and easy way to learn the lessons of patience, trust, and faith.  Just as the tortoise slowly and methodically makes his way towards his goal, by God’s grace I want to cross the “finish line” on this one. The power of patience will be seen as I rest in Him and as His peace becomes the hallmark of my life.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Home and Hearth

“But He blesses the home of the just.” Proverbs 3: 33b (NKJV)

Here are a few more poems by Edgar Albert Guest. This time the subject is “home”; some are humorous, some more serious-minded.  The desire to go “home” is deeply imbedded in each of us.  Each Thanksgiving and Christmas we battle the wintry elements and crowded airports or busy highways to spend time with those that we love. I believe we need these times of food and laughter to keep us grounded in what’s important. The desire to love, to be loved and respected, is foundational to all nations and cultures; it is fundamental to human nature.  No matter what our families are like in reality, what we greatly desire is a home where we can feel safe; where we feel regenerated after time spent together.  It is an unfortunate fact of life, and due to our sin, that this often does not happen. So, take a few moments and spend time with the families represented in these poems. Hopefully they will make you smile and will also give you a renewed sense of hope for what can be. One day when we make our way to heaven, we shall finally be at home with our LORD and the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Path To Home

THERE’S the mother at the doorway, and the children at the gate,
And the little parlor windows with the curtains white and straight.
There are shaggy asters blooming in the bed that lines the fence,
And the simplest of the blossoms seems of mighty consequence.
Oh, there isn’t any mansion underneath God’s starry dome
That can rest a weary pilgrim like the little place called home.

Men have sought for gold and silver; men have dreamed at night of fame;
In the heat of youth they’ve struggled for achievement’s honored name;
But the selfish crowns are tinsel, and their shining jewels paste,
And the wine of pomp and glory soon grows bitter to the taste.
For there’s never any laughter howsoever far you roam,
Like the laughter of the loved ones in the happiness of home.

Edgar Albert Guest

The Kick Under The Table

After a man has been married awhile,
And his wife has grown used to his manner
And style,
When she knows from the twinkle that lights
Up his eye
The thoughts he is thinking, the wherefore and
Why,
And just what he’ll say, and just what he’ll do,
And is sure that he’ll make a bad break ere he’s
Through,
She has one little trick that she’ll work when
She’s able-
She takes a sly kick at him under the table.

He may fancy the story he’s telling is true,
Or he’s doing the thing which is proper to do;
He may fancy he’s holding his own with the
Rest,
The life of the party and right at his best,
When quickly he learns to his utter dismay,
That he mustn’t say what he’s just started to say.
He is stopped at the place where he hoped to
Begin,
By his wife, who has taken at kick at his shin.

If he picks the wrong fork for the salad, he
Knows,
That fact by the feel of his wife’s slippered toes.
If he’s started a bit of untellable news,
On the calf of his leg there is planted a bruise.
Oh, I wonder sometimes what would happen to
Me
If the wife were not seated just where she
Could be
On guard every minute to watch every trick,
And keep me in line all the time with her kick.

Edgar Albert Guest

When Father Shook The Stove

‘Twas not so many years ago,
Say, twenty-two or three,
When zero weather or below
Held many a thrill for me.
Then in my icy room I slept
A youngster’s sweet repose,
And always on my form I kept
My flannel underclothes.
Then I was roused by sudden shock
Though still to sleep I strove,
I knew that it was seven o’clock
When father shook the stove.

I never heard him quit his bed
Or his alarm clock ring;
I never heard his gentle tread,
Or his attempts to sing;
The sun that found my window pane
On me was wholly lost,
Though many a sunbeam tried in vain
To penetrate the frost.
To human voice I never stirred,
But deeper down I dove
Beneath the covers, when I heard
My father shake the stove.

To-day it all comes back to me
And I can hear it still;
He seemed to take a special glee
In shaking with a will.
He flung the noisy dampers back,
Then rattled steel on steel,
Until the force of his attack
The building seemed to feel.
Though I’d a youngster’s heavy eyes
All sleep from them he drove;
It seemed to me the dead must rise
When father shook the stove.

Now radiators thump and pound
And every room is warm,
And modern men new ways have found
To shield us from the storm.
The window panes are seldom glossed
The way they used to be;
The pictures left by old Jack Frost
Our children never see.
And now that he has gone to rest
In God’s great slumber grove,
I often think those days were best
When father shook the stove.

Edgar Albert Guest

The Cookie Jar

You can rig up a house with all manner of things,
The prayer rugs of sultans and princes and kings;
You can hang on its walls the old tapestries rare
Which some dead Egyptian once treasured with care;
But though costly and gorgeous its furnishings are,
It must have, to be homelike, an old cookie jar.

There are just a few things that a home must possess,
Besides all your money and all your success–
A few good old books which some loved one has read,
Some trinkets of those whose sweet spirits have fled,
And then in the pantry, not shoved back too far
For the hungry to get to, that old cookie jar.

Let the house be a mansion, I care not at all!
Let the finest of pictures be hung on each wall,
Let the carpets be made of the richest velour,
And the chairs only those which great wealth can procure,
I’d still want to keep for the joy of my flock
That homey, old-fashioned, well-filled cookie crock.

Like the love of the Mother it shines through our years;
It has soothed all our hurts and has dried away tears;
It has paid us for toiling; in sorrow or joy,
It has always shown kindness to each girl and boy;
And I’m sorry for people, whoever they are,
Who live in a house where there’s no cookie jar.

The Joys of Home

Curling smoke from a chimney low,
And only a few more steps to go,
Faces pressed at a window pane
Watching for someone to come again,
And I am the someone they wait to see–
These are the joys life gives to me.

What has my neighbor excelling this:
A good wife’s love and a baby’s kiss?
What if his chimneys tower higher?
Peace is found at our humble fire.
What if his silver and gold are more?
Rest is ours when the day is o’er.

Strive for fortune and slave for fame,
You find that joy always stays the same:
Rich man and poor man dream and pray
For a home where laughter shall ever stay,
And the wheels go round and men spend their might
For the few glad hours they may claim at night.

Home, where the kettle shall gaily sing,
Is all that matters with serf or king;
Gold and silver and laurelled fame
Are only sweet when the hearth’s aflame
With a cheerful fire, and the loved ones there
Are unafraid of the wolves of care.

So let me come home at night to rest
With those who know I have done my best;
Let the wife rejoice and my children smile,
And I’ll know by their love that I am worthwhile,
For this is conquest and world success–
A home where abideth happiness.

Edgar Albert Guest

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10 (NKJV)

Good source if you like Edgar Albert Guest: http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/edguest.htm

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Who Am I

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you.” Jeremiah 1:5a (NKJV)

“Who Am I” by Casting Crowns is one of my favorite songs.  I used to listen to it on the bus, and then the train, for the hour and a half daily commute that took me to work in the Texas Medical Center. There were many mornings on that very early 4:25 a.m. bus that I was grateful for the dark as the enormity of God’s love washed over me. It is difficult to fathom that the God who spoke the entire universe into existence would love us enough to be concerned with our daily problems, and yet He is; that He would love us enough to send His Son to satisfy the judgement for our sins, and yet He did; that He would time and time again extend His mercy, grace, and forgiveness to us, and yet He does. What an amazing God He is.

Who Am I

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love, and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

I am Yours
I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
‘Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Written by John Mark Hall; Singer and Songwriter for “Casting Crowns“

“Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: ’I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.’” Isaiah 42:5-9 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Competent and Capable

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. she does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Proverbs 30: 10-12

It has been said that Proverbs 31 is considered God’s “gold standard” for virtuous womanhood. Most women feel that this is an impossible goal to reach. I do not believe that Proverbs 31 is so much about what a woman must “do” as it is about what a woman can “be”.  The woman depicted here is not a “shrinking violet” or a “doormat.” This is a woman who walks confidently and boldly in the gifts that God has given her and, as for her husband, she “does him good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12). This is a woman who exhibits excellence in what she does, thereby blessing her husband and children in great measure. “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.’ “(Proverbs 31:26-29). This is a woman who has the confidence of her husband and has his blessing as she develops all of her God-given talents and abilities.

You might guess that I am a proponent of strong, competent, and capable women.  These women are resilient; they face life’s many challenges with faith, courage, and strength of character. The women who, with their pioneering husbands, settled our country and expanded its borders, are a perfect example of what I mean. They worked tirelessly along side of their husbands, building a place for their families, and helped to birth our nation. These women were no “hot-house flowers.”

Our daughter comes from a long line of competent, capable, and intelligent women: a paternal great-grandmother with a Masters in Education (she wasn’t allowed to get a Masters in Mathematics, her first choice, because it wasn’t considered to be a “woman’s field” at that time); twin paternal great-aunts with Ph.D.’s in English and Literature; a maternal great-grandmother who went to the mission field as a young single woman, not marrying until her mid-thirties; and a maternal grandmother who finished her college education over a ten-year period with three small children, graduating as valedictorian of her class. With the exception of the twin great-aunts who remained single until they died at 104 years of age, the others had strong marriages of long duration and the full support of their husbands. Each one of these women loved the LORD and served Him with their whole hearts. This is an incredible spiritual heritage and a testament to what a Godly marriage can and should be and speaks highly of their husband’s character as well.

The Beatitudes tell us that “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 NKJV). For me, until recently, meekness has always been equivalent to “weakness”.  It seems that most of the American church equates meekness with pacifism. The best example of meekness I have ever heard is that of a horse who is completely “rein trained”.  This horse is so well-trained, and in tune with his rider, that he is waiting for the slightest pressure of the reins on his neck to tell him which direction he is to go. This is true meekness: strength under complete control. This is how God desires to lead us by the Holy Spirit.

By this definition, a “Proverbs 31 woman” should be a “meek” woman. She should be walking obediently in the ways of her God, fulfilling His call on her life. She does not fear the future because she knows that God is her Protector and her Guide.  She is confident that her contribution is necessary and is ready to meet the needs of others.  Her heart is generous, and when she speaks, wisdom is evident.  She fears the LORD and ministers life to those she meets.  She passes down to the next generation a spiritual heritage; her legacy will be evident in the lives of all those that she has touched.

This was eloquently stated in 1852 by Edward Mansfield in “Woman”:

“There is a beautiful parallelism between the condition of woman in her domestic life, and the character of a nation. She is the mother of men, and the former of their minds, at that early age when every word distils upon the heart, like the dew-drop upon the tender grass. There is to that young mind no truth or falsehood in the world but that whose words flow from the mother’s lips. There is no beauty in character, nor glory in action, which has not been concentrated by her praise. There is to that climbing child no path where the mother’s feet has not trod. Her mind is to his the supernatural pillar of fire which illumines his mid-night ignorance, and the silvery cloud which at mid-day precedes him in every highway to the world.

And, even when science has conducted her pupil through the highest walls of knowledge; or when art has polished him into the accomplished citizen; or when power has dignified him with the memorials of office, she still lives in his soul, which she has imbued from her heart’s ‘pictured urn, With thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.”

Many women tend to think that their professional contribution is more important than their contributions at home. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It is easy for us to focus on ever-increasing piles of laundry and dishes or the never-ending housework. It would be too easy to overlook those “teachable moments” when our children’s hearts are wide open and ready to receive Godly wisdom.  The seeds of wisdom that we plant in those moments will bear eternal fruit. And, they will continue to bear fruit for succeeding generations as our children pass down to their children that which we have so carefully taught them.

In a perfect world (alas, I don’t live in one!) I would do all of these things well every day. Of course this doesn’t happen, but each day I do the best that I can as God enables me. The rest I must leave in God’s hands.  And when I fail, which I regularly do, His grace, mercy, and forgiveness allow me to start the next day with a clean slate.

My husband will tell you that a strong man generally desires a strong woman for his wife. He recognizes that, like two horses in harness, both must be strong or the team will fail to run the race that is set before them.  In our culture we tend to define strong women as bossy, boisterous, and pushy, but God sees a strong woman as one who has been tempered as steel and refined like silver. It is His manifested presence in a woman that makes her strong.  It is not a personality trait but a heart issue.

It is the heart of a “Proverbs 31″ woman that makes her home a safe haven for her family; a place of peace where they can find rest from the struggles of their lives.  It is the quiet strength of her heart that soothes her husband and children when their hearts are filled with pain.  It is the Godly wisdom in her heart that they turn to when confusion fills their minds and they don’t know what to do. It is her heart, completely captivated by the love of her Saviour, that is the conduit of His love for them.  It is her heart, where the King of Kings reigns, that gives her the strength to be competent and capable, thus becoming God’s “Proverbs 31 woman.”

“Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.  The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.  My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”  Isaiah 32: 16-18 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

In Honor Of Godly Men

Below are a few poems in honor of the Godly men in our lives who daily bless us with their guidance and influence. Women need the balance and perspective that men bring into their lives. These are by Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), a poet that I have recently come to enjoy.

He Who Serves

He has not served who gathers gold,
Nor has he served, whose life is told
In selfish battles he has won,
Or deeds of skill that he has done;
But he has served who now and then
Has helped along his fellow men.

The world needs many men today;
Red-blooded men along life’s way,
With cheerful smiles and helping hands,
And with the faith that understands
The beauty of the simple deed
Which serves another’s hour of need.

Strong men to stand beside the weak,
Kind men to hear what others speak;
True men to keep our country’s laws
And guard its honor and its cause;
Men who will bravely play life’s game
Nor ask rewards of gold and fame.

Teach me to do the best I can
To help and cheer our fellow man;
Teach me to lose my selfish need
And glory in the larger deed
Which smoothes the road, and lights the day
For all who chance to come my way.

See It Through

When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it’s vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don’t let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you’re beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don’t give up, whate’er you do;
Eyes front, head high to the finish.
See it through!

Compensation

I’d like to think when life is done
That I had filled a needed post.
That here and there I’d paid my fare
With more than idle talk and boast;
That I had taken gifts divine.
The breath of life and manhood fine,
And tried to use them now and then
In service for my fellow men.

I’d hate to think when life is through
That I had lived my round of years
A useless kind, that leaves behind
No record in this vale of tears;
That I had wasted all my days
By treading only selfish ways,
And that this world would be the same
If it had never known my name.

I’d like to think that here and there,
When I am gone, there shall remain
A happier spot that might have not
Existed had I toiled for gain;
That someone’s cheery voice and smile
Shall prove that I had been worth while;
That I had paid with something fine
My debt to God for life divine.

A Father’s Prayer

Lord, make me tolerant and wise;
Incline my ears to hear him through;
Let him not stand with downcast eyes,
Fearing to trust me and be true.
Instruct me so that I may know
The way my son and I should go.

When he shall err, as once did I,
Or boyhood folly bids him stray,
Let me not into anger fly
And drive the good in him away.
Teach me to win his trust, that he
Shall keep no secret hid from me.

Lord, strengthen me that I may be .
A fit example for my son.
Grant he may never hear or see
A shameful deed that I have done.
However sorely I am tried,
Let me not undermine his pride.

In spite of years and temples gray,
Still let my spirit beat with joy;
Teach me to share in all his play
And be a comrade with my boy.
Wherever we may chance to be,
Let him find happiness with me.

Lord, as his father, now I pray
For manhood’s strength and counsel wise;
Let me deal justly, day by day,
In all that fatherhood implies.
To be his father, keep me fit;
Let me not play the hypocrite!

Follow A Famous Father

I follow a famous father,
His honor is mine to wear;
He gave me a name that was free from shame,
A name he was proud to bear.
He lived in the morning sunlight,
And marched in the ranks of right.
He was always true to the best he knew
And the shield that he wore was bright.

I follow a famous father,
And never a day goes by
But I feel that he looks down to me
To carry his standard high.
He stood to the sternest trials
As only a brave man can;
Though the way be long, I must never wrong
The name of so good a man.

I follow a famous father,
Not known to the printed page,
Nor written down in the world’s renown
As a prince of his little age.
But never a stain attached to him
And never he stooped to shame;
He was bold and brave and to me he gave
The pride of an honest name.

I follow a famous father,
And him I must keep in mind;
Though his form is gone, I must carry on
The name that he left behind.
It was mine on the day he gave it,
It shone as a monarch’s crown,
And as fair to see as it came to me
It must be when I pass it down.

Ideals

Better than land or gold or trade
Are a high ideal and a purpose true;
Better than all of the wealth we’ve made
Is the work for others that now we do.
For Rome grew rich and she turned to song
And danced to music and drank her wine,
But she sapped the strength of her fibres strong
And a gilded shroud was her splendor fine.

The Rome of old with its wealth and wine
Was the handiwork of a sturdy race;
They builded well and they made it fine
And they dreamed of it as their children’s place.
They thought the joys they had won to give,
And which seemed so certain and fixed and sure,
To the end of time in the world would live
And the Rome they’d fashioned would long endure.

They passed to their children the hoarded gold,
Their marble halls and their fertile fields!
But not the spirit of Rome of old,
Nor the Roman courage that never yields.
They left them the wealth that their hands had won,
But they failed to leave them a purpose true.
They left them thinking life’s work all done,
And Rome went down and was lost to view.

We must guard ourselves lest we follow Rome.
We must leave our children the finer things.
We must teach them love of the spot called home
And the lasting joy that a purpose brings.
For vain are our Flag and our battles won,
And vain are our lands and our stores of gold,
If our children feel that life’s work is done.
We must give them a high ideal to hold.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”  Proverbs 3:11-12 (NKJV)

“I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life. ” Proverbs 4:11-13 (NKJV)

Good source if you like Edgar Albert Guest: http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/edguest.htm

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Oh, My Love Has An Eye Of The Softest Blue

This romantic poem is a bit out of the ordinary for me, but while looking up an older poem that was recently reset to new music, I came across this poem and was reminded of a conversation that my husband just had with his cousin.  About the same hour that my father-in-law passed away four days ago, my husband’s cousin became the grandfather of a new baby girl. I was encouraged by God’s blessing of new life. When those that we love leave us for Heaven, God brings new loved-ones into our lives. These babies grow into adults, marry, and have children of their own.  Some day, should God so bless this baby girl, a fine young man will woo her, win her heart , and the cycle of life will continue.

Oh, My Love Has An Eye Of The Softest Blue

by Rev. Charles Wolfeby
(Dublin; 1791-1823)

Oh, my love has an eye of the softest blue,
Yet it was not that that won me;
But a little bright drop from her soul was there,
‘Tis that that has undone me.

I might have pass’d that lovely cheek,
Nor perchance my heart have left me;
But the sensitive blush that came trembling there,
Of my heart if forever bereft me.

I might have forgotten that red, red lip,
Yet how from that thought to sever?
But there was a smile from the sunshine within,
And that smile I’ll remember forever.

Think not ’tis nothing but lifeless clay,
The elegant form that haunts me;
‘Tis the gracefully elegant mind that moves
In every step, that enchants me.

Let me not hear the nightgale sing,
Though I once in its notes delighted;
The feeling and mind that comes whispering forth
Has left me no music beside it.

Who could blame had I loved that face,
Ere my eye could twice explore her;
Yet it is for the fairy intelligence there,
And her warm, warm heart, I adore her.

“Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.” Song of Solomon 1:15 (NKJV)

 [The older poem to which I refer is “Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weap” (Mary Elizabeth Frye--1932) recently set to a new melody by Leah McHenry Smith. Here is the link. It is an incredibly beautiful song: http://www.reverbnation.com/leahmchenry]

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Our Ever-Present Hope

Psalm 46 (NKJV)

God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed,
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah  
         
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
         He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
         
The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  
         
Come, behold the works of the LORD,
         Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
         He burns the chariot in the fire.
         
 Be still, and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations,
         I will be exalted in the earth!
         
 The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  

Two days ago, my father-in-law passed from this life into the loving arms of his Saviour. He had struggled with several serious medical issues for the past three years all while valiantly taking care of his wife of fifty-seven years.  Almost thirteen years ago, on an Easter Sunday, my mother-in-law suffered a catastrophic stroke that rendered her in need of full-time care. He had faithfully provided that care, day in and day out, since then.

It was a great privilege to spend some time with him on the last evening of his life. He had entered the hospital to have a relatively common outpatient procedure to revise the fistula that he needed for his three times a week hemodialysis. The surgery had been delayed for some reason, and while my husband and sister-in-law did what was necessary to make sure that my mother-in-law was taken care of, I sat with him in his hospital room. We didn’t speak much of earth shattering importance during that time, but one thing struck me profoundly. Dad was the most at peace I had ever seen him.  He not only allowed me to do a few small services for him, but he also asked for my help.  This was unusual, as he was a fiercely independent man.  He did not readily accept help, much less ask for it, even when he needed it most.

Spending that time with him was a precious gift. I have no idea if he had any sense that his time here on earth was short, but for the first time in my memory he was asking me questions about dialysis, his fistula, and his heart condition (I had been a dialysis nurse for ten years prior to the birth of our daughter).  And, he was listening and processing the information that I was giving to him. I knew in my heart that this time he was really hearing what I was telling him and he was at peace with it.  The struggle that I sensed in him so many times in the past was not present that evening as we talked.  Peace seemed to cover him like a blanket.

There are many things that I could say in tribute to my father-in-law, but what was most evident to all who knew him was that he was a faithful and steadfast man, especially as he cared for his wife.  He was also a man of his word; when he told you he was going to do something, he did it. He faithfully kept the wedding vows which he had spoken so long ago: “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, or the Lord comes for His own, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.”

The joy for us, as a family, is that my father-in-law knew Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.  He served God with his whole heart. For us, this separation from him is only temporary. We have the ever-present hope and promise that we will spend eternity with him, and with all of our loved-ones who also knew Jesus Christ and have preceded us in death. While we will miss him terribly, we can rejoice that he is now in Heaven, lifting his voice in songs of praise to the King of Kings.

God brings family, friends, and marriage partners into our lives to be a special blessing to us. They laugh with us when we celebrate the goodness of God and they cry with us through life’s sorrows.  Their loving care helps to sustain us when we feel alone and when we struggle to find God’s direction for our lives. We have been overwhelmed these past two days with the out-pouring of love and support from our family and friends since my father-in-law went home to be with the Lord.

These events have reinforced to me that we need to be incredibly thankful for each day God gives us with those that we love; God has not promised us tomorrow.  Therefore I urge you, if there is someone who you have not recently told how much you love them, do not waste any more time. Let them know how much they mean to you. They are waiting and wanting to extend God’s grace and their love to you. Each day with them is a precious gift from the Father of all life. Do not let another day be lost.

“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  Hebrews 4:8 (NKJV)

                                                    Luther W. Johnson (1933-2011)

                                                     

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The House With Nobody In It

Image via Wikipedia

For some reason, this poem has worked its way into my heart, probably because it so aptly expresses how I feel every time I see an abandoned house.  I don’t normally consider myself to be much of a “romantic”, but whenever I see an abandoned or run-down house, I always wonder about the people who have lived in it and how it came to its present state. Nothing gets my imagination going or tugs at my heart more than an empty house does. This may be because, over the course of the last thirty-two years of married life, we have moved a total of twenty-eight times. This has been due to a combination of military life and my husband’s employment in an extremely volatile industry.

In the course of our many relocations, we have walked through, and lived in, many houses. Some of these houses have been well cared for and others have not.  It always saddens me to walk through a house that has not been taken care of.  Somehow, it seems to me, that a house almost has a “soul”;  not literally, of course, but maybe as a representation of all who have lived there.  Just as a historical site is remembered for all that transpired there, a house represents, to me, the lives of the families that lived and loved within those four walls.

And like “The House With Nobody In It”, our lives are also empty without the life-giving presence and power of the Holy Spirit. For those who have already seen this posted on my Facebook page, I apologize for the repeat.  I originally came across this poem on another blog that I have recently begun to follow. For those that really enjoy poetry, you may want to give the blog, “The Last Minstrel”, a look. The link for it is at the bottom of this post and it includes an auditory rendering of this poem which is quite well done. I hope that you enjoy this as much as I have.

             The House With Nobody In It

        by Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track
I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.
I suppose I’ve passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute
And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it.

I never have seen a haunted house, but I hear there are such things;
That they hold the talk of spirits, their mirth and sorrowings.
I know this house isn’t haunted, and I wish it were, I do;
For it wouldn’t be so lonely if it had a ghost or two.

This house on the road to Suffern needs a dozen panes of glass,
And somebody ought to weed the walk and take a scythe to the grass.
It needs new paint and shingles, and the vines should be trimmed and tied;
But what it needs the most of all is some people living inside.

If I had a lot of money and all my debts were paid
I’d put a gang of men to work with brush and saw and spade.
I’d buy that place and fix it up the way it used to be
And I’d find some people who wanted a home and give it to them free.

Now, a new house standing empty, with staring window and door,
Looks idle, perhaps, and foolish, like a hat on its block in the store.
But there’s nothing mournful about it; it cannot be sad and lone
For the lack of something within it that it has never known.

But a house that has done what a house should do, a house that has sheltered life,
That has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife,
A house that has echoed a baby’s laugh and held up his stumbling feet,
Is the saddest sight, when it’s left alone, that ever your eyes could meet.

So whenever I go to Suffern along the Erie track
I never go by the empty house without stopping and looking back,
Yet it hurts me to look at the crumbling roof and the shutters fallen apart,
For I can’t help thinking the poor old house is a house with a broken heart.

(“The House with Nobody in It” was originally published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914)

Link:  http://thelastminstrel.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/the-house-with-nobody-in-it/

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Practically Perfect in Every Way

Image via Wikipedia

We all remember the movie “Mary Poppins” (Walt Disney, 1964; based on the book by P.L. Travers). She was described (self-described, actually) as “practically perfect in every way”:

MARY POPPINS
By the time the wind has blown the weather vane around
I’ll show you if I can
No matter what the circumstance for one thing I’m renowned
My character is spit spot spic and span
I’m practically perfect in every way

JANE
Practically Perfect?

MARY POPPINS
So people say
Each virtue virtually knows no bound each trait is great and patiently sound
I’m practically perfect from head to toe
If I had a fault it would never dare to show
I’m so practically perfect in every way

Both prim and proper and never too stern
Well-educated yet willing to learn
I’m clean and honest my manner refined
and I wear shoes of the sensible kind
I suffer no nonsense and whilst I remain
there’s nothing else I feel I need to explain

I’m practically perfect in every way
Practically perfect that’s my forte
uncanny nannies are hard to find
Unique yet meek unspeakably kind
I’m practically perfect not slightly soiled
running like an engine that’s just been freshly oiled
I’m so practically perfect in every way

(Robert B. Sherman and Richard M Sherman; Composers and Lyricists)

I remember watching the movie “Mary Poppins” when I was much younger and dreaming of the day when I would be perfect and beautiful like her. She was always so kind, so wise, and so unflappable even in the most unusual circumstances.  She was the epitome of all that I hoped to be.

Strong perfectionist tendencies run in my family and I have struggled with them all of my life. As I have grown older, I have come to understand what perfectionism really is. It is a perversion of what God originally intended: the pursuit of excellence in all that He sets before us to do.  Perfectionism is deeply rooted in pride. It is based on the assumption that if you work hard enough or work smart enough, you will never make a mistake; each task, each decision, each relationship will be perfect.  This is, of course, never possible. The sin nature that we struggle with daily always prevents it.  As we come face to face with the gap between what we are and what we want to be (or think we should be), our lives become a never-ending series of disappointments. We can never achieve, never fulfill, and never accomplish what we want to or expect that we should.

Perfectionism is always destructive, despite what psychologists may believe and say, because pride is its root cause.  You are constantly aware of how far you fall short of what you expect of yourself or of what you believe others expect of you.  This becomes growing self-contempt which leads to self-punishment and then to depression or bitterness, as both real and perceived failures result in the continual erosion of your confidence and sense of worth.  When you believe that every situation’s outcome depends on what you do, the pressure to work even harder becomes increasingly more intense; you expect that your efforts will make everything “right”.

The pride of perfectionism is very clear. You act as judge and jury for each action, sentencing yourself to what you see as deserved punishment when you don’t succeed. There is no room in this pattern of behavior for the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God because you have already passed judgement and found yourself guilty. You are deceived into believing that you can make yourself ”good enough” if you just keep trying harder.

What God requires of us is excellence in each task He sets before us, not perfection.  Our behavior should reflect our role as an ambassador for Him; we need to mirror Christ’s nature and character. For those with strong perfectionist tendencies, the line between the pursuit of excellence and the drive for perfection is often blurred.  It is easy to slip over that invisible line without even realizing it. Fundamentally, this is what perfectionism is: striving to make ourselves (and others) perfect through our own efforts and will. 

Over the years I have struggled with perfectionism in many areas of my life. Some of these areas I have come to peace with, while there are others that I still struggle with.  One of my more recent struggles has been with computers and technology. I came to use computers later in life. Twenty years ago when I left the work force to give birth to our daughter, computers were just beginning to be used in nursing care for charting in the medical record. At home, I rarely used our computer, and when I did, it was for basic e-mail functions and an occassional internet search. My daughter will tell you how often she tried, over a three-year period, to teach me how to “copy-paste” something, with very little success.  I would understand her directions, but because I rarely used it, I would then forget how to ”copy-paste” the next time I needed to.  Don’t ask me why I never wrote it down– seems like that would have solved the whole problem!

It wasn’t until I returned to nursing about four years ago that I had to finally come up to speed with some elementary computer skills.  The learning curve has been pretty steep, and I still do some rather foolish things (like deleting items that never should have been deleted!) far more regularly than I want to admit.  One of the reasons that I have struggled in this area is because I have seen how easily my daughter and others of her generation have learned the “ins and outs” of computer use.  It almost seems as if they have some innate sense of what to do and how to do it. Shouldn’t they have to learn it the hard way like I did? Clearly, if I was smarter (or more perfect) I should be a computer expert by now!

Obviously, this is quite ridiculous, as anyone can see. It is however, indicative of the heart of a perfectionist. The person driven by perfectionism doesn’t see what is a reasonable goal or a realistic outcome. The perfectionist also applies to others the same standards of “perfection” that he applies to himself.  No one ever completely measures up to this standard, thus putting those relationships at risk. When our standard is wrong, our results will be wrong.  This is always a “no-win” situation. 

There is only One who is perfect in every way. The men and women in Biblical accounts that God holds up to us as examples of what He considers “perfect” and “blameless” (Noah, Moses, David, Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Solomon, Paul, Peter, and many others) shared a common determination.  They purposefully and faithfully walked with God, pursuing Him with their whole hearts; they were quick to repent when they sinned. Even though their behavior was not perfect, God judged their heart attitude as “perfect”. When we view our lives from God’s perspective, we see that a humble heart that seeks to walk with God is far more important to Him than perfect behavior.  If our heart is right with God, then our behavior will be right as well.  

The perfectionist’s heart and mind are rarely at rest.  It takes great effort to shut down that internal drive to set everything perfectly in its place. Someone driven by perfectionism never completely relaxes because he is always seeing life’s many imperfections and keeps working diligently to “fix” them. Learning to trust God and letting go is the ever-present challenge.

This is obviously something that I can not do in my own strength. With the grace and mercy of God, I renew my purpose to let the Holy Spirit push the remaining vestiges of perfectionism from my life, restoring balance to those areas of my life that are still out of balance. The older I get, and the more God reveals Himself to me through His Word and by His Spirit, the more odious the sin of perfectionism becomes to me.  When I feel that I haven’t measured up, I want to be able to say with increasing regularity (and with a twinkle in my eye), “Once again perfection slips from my grasp! Not to worry, God has things well under control.” I want my heart to find rest. I need to finally be at peace with how God has created me.

“I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’” ~ John Newton (1725 – 1807)

“Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9b (NKJV)

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21 (NKJV)

Related Content: http://americanvision.org/3881/slumbering-in-the-slough/

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Image via Wikipedia

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9 (NKJV)

There is no greater way to ring in the New Year than sitting around the piano, as we did last night, singing praises to Almighty God and thanking Him for His faithfulness to us this past year.  There is no doubt that in that group of about forty people many had, like us, faced significant challenges. And yet, He had faithfully brought each one of us through to the place where we could sit around the piano on New Year’s Eve with thankful hearts for His goodness to us.  The hostess for this rather auspicious gathering reminded us in a very eloquent way, that we need to wake up each morning grateful for another day that God allows us to draw breath; that we are not owed another day of life, but receive each day’s life as a precious gift from Him.

I was struck with how many of God’s many blessings we never even think to thank Him for.  We take so many things in our lives for granted.  I was reminded that, when we were going through the most recent loss of employment for my husband, there were many nights when I would wake up in a cold sweat with fear, thinking of the bills which we could not pay.  The only way that I could get myself to calm down enough, so that I could go back to sleep, was to start thanking God for many of the basic blessings in my life which often I forget to thank Him for: hot and cold running water; indoor plumbing; a furnace for heating and an air-conditioner for cooling; a roof over our heads; clothes to wear; food to eat; and the list goes on and on.

And then we began to sing, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

(GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS Copyright © 1923 Hope Publishing Company. 380 South Main Place, Carol Stream, IL 60188.)

As the strains of our singing died down, the presence of the Lord was very tangible in that room.  He had indeed inhabited the praises of His people.  Instead of the usual partying and merry-making that brings the New Year in, we had placed our focus in the right place, and I believe that He was well pleased with us.  

So, with a grateful heart for a husband who still loves me after thirty-two years of marriage and a daughter who is the delight of my heart,  I am aware that He has blessed me beyond measure. I would hope for all, that in this New Year, our focus stays fixed on Him and our hearts are grateful for the magnitude of blessings He gives to us every day.

Happy New Year!

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved