Remembering

We visited cemeteries on Friday to decorate the graves of our beloved ones. It is always a sad time of remembering and missing those who are gone. If I pause there too long, I will cry, mostly for my parents. I miss them so much and wish I could tell them all the family news that has happened since they passed. They would be so proud of their grandchildren and the great grandchildren and and great great grandchildren that they haven't met.

Losing a parent is devastating. It is the biggest part of your life that is gone. I miss my parents very much. The grief of losing my mother almost did me in. I suffer from depression and this loss put me through a deep dark place of grief. It took me more than two years to recover. I wasn't ready to let Mama go. I still needed her to talk to and comfort me. 

Daddy died eight years later. It wasn't as hard as losing my mother yet, the shock of becoming an orphan was difficult to handle. Daddy and I had lots of time to prepare for his leaving and he missed Mama so much. He was such a good man and loving father.

"They asked her, "Woman why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."  Jesus said to her, "Mary,"" (John 20:13-16a NIV).

Today we remember all those we loved, those who fought for our freedom, and those who died for our country. We also remember Jesus and His life and His death. We remember Him giving His body and His blood for our salvation.

Thank you, God for all who have gone before us. Thank you for the sacrifices they made for us and for the life we live because of them. Thank you for sending Your Son to save us. Help us to never forget. Amen.

Garden Therapy

My garden used to be my therapy room. Digging in the dirt is soothing and healing. I loved our garden on the farm. The rich dark soil would grow everything and anything I planted. Unlike our city soil which is mostly clay. I think they forgot to spread the topsoil back over our lawn after they built the house. It's taken John five years to perfect his grass and it wasn't easy. 

There is a square of soil left mostly unplanted in our back yard that the only thing that grows there is milkweed. I have tried to plant rhubarb there three times. The plant will look good for a while and then suddenly gets sick and dies. I persisted and tried two more times and the same thing happened. So we gave up on rhubarb.

There is nothing more disappointing than having a plant die or a seed not come up. Expectation is high when we plant something. It is a practice in hope to plant a seed or a seedling. We have gotten some perennial flowers and grasses to grow with the help of bagged topsoil and fertilizer. But here our expectations are lower. 

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground -- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," (Genesis 2:8-9 NIV).

We use potted plants with rich top soil we buy from the store for tomatoes. They do pretty well, nothing like the soil on the farm, though. But it gives me something to get my hands dirty with. Life is better with rich dark soil and a plant or two.

Thank you, God for creating gardens for our physical and mental therapy. You are so good, Lord. Amen.

Every Day Use

I have a mug mat on my desk that is more than ten years old. It is still like new and is made of a fabric tube filled with sand and coiled into a solid mat about six inches across. The fabric is blue with tiny pots of sun flowers that say "Good Friends". I don't remember where it came from. Usually if it is a gift I remember who gave it to me. This time I don't. I use it all the time to hold my beverage, hot or cold water. 

It's funny how some things just become part of daily life. I don't think about my mug mat very often but if it was gone I would miss it. It protects my desk from getting rings from moisture. It is supposed to help retain the heat from hot mugs, too. I use it every day. 

There is another thing that gets daily use: prayer. I pray every day, usually many times a day, as needed. I even have a prayer app, Echo, on my phone that reminds me of some people and things I want to be sure to pray for everyday. I always pray for these things again when I go to bed. Prayer is even a bigger part of my daily life than my mug mat. I issue pop up prayers all the time as a day goes by and the need arises. I think many thank you prayers throughout my day for the beauty of nature, for flowers, trees, birds, and the sky and rain clouds, too. 

I believe in prayer and I use it every day.

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective," (James 5:15-16 NIV).

God's Loyal Love

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loyal love endures. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loyal love endures. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loyal love endures, to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself, for his loyal love endures," (Psalm 136:1-4 New English Translation).

I've been reading through the Bible using the New English Translation this time and I ran across this different wording that caught my interest: "his loyal love endures." This is used in place of "His love endures forever," most commonly found in other translations. The American Heritage Dictionary defines loyal as: steadfast in allegiance or faithful. I take this to mean that God's loyal love endures means He is steadfast in allegiance to us or faithful to us.

Doesn't that make us think about how important or valued we are in God's sight and His love? I'd say most commonly we are loyal to our spouse, our boss, or our faith. I think this translation, "his loyal love endures" brings out that God is loyal to us with His love forever. God is faithful in loving us. God is steadfast in His allegiance to His beloved ones. God's love is loyal to us forever.

Perhaps as we consider this phrase it will deepen our understanding of how much God loves us. That is a good thing. God loves us loyally. "His loyal love endures."

Lord God, we are so thankful that your loyal love endures. We are thankful that you will always be faithful to us, loving us through our sins, forgiving us and still loving us. Thank you God that we can depend on you always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Bring May Flowers

It's time for the flowers to start blooming, yet in Iowa it seems things might be running a little late. It's been so cool this month things aren't growing as fast as normal. Maybe I'm just too anxious. Flowers do a lot to brighten my days. I see my iris are budding now and a friend showed beautiful white blooms already on her iris, so maybe timing is just right.

I love flowers. I was blessed by a beautiful bouquet from son Brent for Mother's Day and it had many star-gazer lilies in it that are just blooming on my dining room table. They are so fragrant, filling the house with their scent and their beauty. 

I am missing the flowers I've planted at other homes through out my life. I think of how beautiful my lilac bushes must be by now. And the perennial flowers I planted. Especially the peonies and blue iris from my Mama's garden. I wonder if they are being cared for and loved. But that's not my business any more. We left our acreage five years ago almost to the day.

"Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance." (Song of Songs 2:12-13 NIV).  

Spring is a beautiful season; new birth is everywhere I look. It is exciting for the rhubarb and asparagus to pop forth from the ground and to watch the trees become lush with their leaves. 

Thank you God, for filling our world with beauty and wonder. Thank you for bringing May flowers. Thank you God, for sending Your Son to save us. Amen.

Graduation Girl

Our first grandchild became our first grandchild to graduate from college over the weekend. Paige Nicole Stewart braved the cold, gloomy weather to receive her degree outdoors at Iowa State University. She received her Bachelors degree in Communications and also completed the coursework for a Leadership certificate. All this as a student who is challenged by studies, nothing came easy for her.

Paige is a go-getter in everything she does. She is our Rodeo Queen and finished sixth in the Great Plains Region standings for breakaway roping. She started her college career at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge where she was part of their rodeo team. She received her AA degree after two years and enrolled in Iowa State for her final two years. She became part of the very small rodeo team at Iowa State and helped the team grow during the years she was there. She was the only one to score points for

Iowa State Rodeo.

Paige worked sometimes three jobs while she was going to school to earn money for the very costly rodeo entry fees. She also worked all summers while participating in numerous rodeos across Iowa. She and her horse Marco excelled in breakaway roping together. 

Perhaps the most significant thing about Paige is the bravery and grace she has shown since her riding partner Marco was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Together they achieved the perfect partnership that suddenly came to an end. Paige finished her rodeo season using borrowed horses she wasn't familiar with. 

We are extremely proud of the young woman Paige has become and look forward to watching her move ahead with a new horse and a new career. She has been offered an additional year of rodeo (due to Covid) at Iowa Central where she will take a diploma program in photography to complement her Communications major.

"Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed," (Psalm 112:1-2 NIV).

(Photo credit to Hailey Hepperly Photography)

Mom Memories

I went to sleep last night thinking of all the moments of motherhood I have enjoyed and I felt so blessed. I bore two sons who are now successful men and good fathers. They were good sized babies when they were born and now stand tall. Brent was born with curly hair and was an adorable toddler with ringlets that I let grow too long because they were to beautiful to cut. He now keeps it very short. Brady's hair is as straight as can be. They are opposites in most other things, as well. 

I remember moments of joy and sorrow: the first day of preschool, the first bus ride for kindergarten, the love of tractors and machinery and the discing of our living room carpet, the baseball games in the front lawn, and yes, the crashing of the picnic table backstop down on Brent's head resulting in stitches, Brady's appendicitis attack and surgery, Brent's broken arm from freshman football, Brady's broken collarbone from playing with the big boys at a football game, the handfuls of dandelions and violets, the hugs and kisses at bedtime, story time in the rocking chair, the summer nights without air conditioning or a fan in the mobile home and a cranky baby, tear duct surgery on Brady when he was a month old, high school graduations, college graduations and on and on.

Life with my two boys has been a delightful experience and I'm so proud of them both. It has been an honor to be their mom.

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; and give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations," (Psalm100).

A Book of Stories

John got such a special Christmas present from our son and daughter-in-law and family. It is one of those unique things that I wish I'd thought of it. Every other day or so John gets a question or a subject to write about. When he is finished writing for the day he sends it off and in the end they will compile the stories into a book. That's the way to get something done; spend a little time every day and it will become something great.

John may not admit it but he seems to enjoy writing down the stories of life that he remembers. It is a great way to capture the history of a person for posterity. I'm so proud of him for working so hard at it. Especially since he probably wouldn't have considered himself a writer before this all began. He has a talent for thinking of funny things to include and he always ends with a life lesson.

In the same way, the Bible is a book of stories compiled for us to learn and grow with. We learn history and the right way to do things. We learn values and morals; we see what happens when people do wrongs and we see how good people live and learn. The book of life is rich with wisdom and wonder. We discover the truth and goodness of God.

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and this is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life," (1 John 5:11-13 NIV).

A Prayer for Rain

I waited all of April for good showers but I missed the one chance I had. We only had one April shower all month but the April blooms were some of the prettiest I recall. The flowering trees have been stunning, lasting as long as one could hope.There were plenty of windy days, even so the blooms lasted. Now it is May and we haven't had the moisture we need so many of us have started the watering process. Maybe today we will get the predicted rains sent by God.

We saw the first corn up in a field between Ames and Ankeny yesterday. Most farmers have gotten a portion of their planting done and are waiting on the rain to do the rest. 

"You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing." (Psalm 65:9-13 NIV).

Lord God, we ask for Your grace upon us this day. May You send showers upon the earth to moisten the newly planted seeds and flowers. May You bring Your rain gently upon the ground, to provide sustenance. We thank you for this blessing, in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.