Carried on His Shoulder

Does not the Good Shepherd carry us at times on His shoulder?

 It's not just about the lost sheep that the shepherd brings home rejoicing, or one of the baby bunnies that Timmy brings inside.

It is also about any child of God's that needs

a shoulder to be carried on,

somewhere to be safe and secure.

And while the world, the flesh, and the devil shout in bedlam round about us,

we need not be dismayed, because we are

carried on His shoulder.

Here are a few more pictures from Precious Moments Chapel.

There were many older figurines with the stories behind them.

This one is called, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?"

 I loved this mural, of which this scene is just a part.
Along the side was a plaque telling what the swans symbolized.

 In case you can't read it, it says, "The pair of swans symbolize the unity and loyalty we should have for each other as Christians. Once they mate, swans leave each other's side only when nesting and there are young ones to protect. When one is threatened, it will fight to the death to protect the other."

 This one is called, "We're in it together."

 I can't remember exactly what was said behind this one, but it symbolizes how anything we can paint, write, or do, isn't worth much compared to what God has done. All we can do is frame His own handiwork with our poor paintings or words.

 This one is "You can't spell success without You!"

And the letter block "U" is missing.

 The sweet figurine on the right is called, "Time Heals." The artist had shared this comforting word with a wife and mother who had lost a daughter and whose husband had left her for another woman.

She was bitter and afraid.

It does take time to heal from deep wounds.

At the bottom left corner is a little boy celebrating his 100th birthday!

This mural depicts the time we long for, when the lion will be at peace with the lamb, and when, as Scripture says, a 100-year-old will still be a child. 

See the pink birthday cake with the number 100 on it.

 The plaque below touched me the most. I stood there two different times, reading it and crying.

It told of how Mr. Butcher's influence brought peace to an anguishing war vet.

"Sissy, do you think Jesus loves me?"

It's the story of a World War vet, who had gone to fight for his country as a small town boy. He had become commander of his platoon, whose job was to clear mines, build roads, and do night patrol.

 It was his job to make decisions that sometimes ended in fatalities.

 He was left sometimes second guessing himself, and when he came home, he carried wounds on the inside that refused to heal.

 His daughter wrote that she was so proud of her daddy, and thought him so handsome, little knowing how he was suffering on the inside. 

He turned to drink, finding only in his fellow vets the understanding that he needed

about what was so painful on the inside of him.

If the daughter had not met Sam Butcher, designer of Precious Moments, who shared God's love with her, she would not have been able to share that love with her father, who upon his death bed was still asking the "burning question: "Sissy, do you think Jesus loves me?"

Because of Sam Butcher, Sissy wrote that she was "ready, ready to tell him of God's love and of Jesus' sacrifice, so that we all can be forgiven."

 He would have died a lonely old man, with unhealed wounds deep down inside, 

but  she wrote, "Daddy died in peace, the first peace he had known in 52 years. 

He is healed; wounded no more. His war is finally over. 

He is home at last.

Yes, Daddy, Jesus loves you. The Bible tells me so."

I stood by that plaque, and I cried

and cried. 

I thought not only of the people who very literally fill the same shoes as this war vet,

but also how that sometimes we all carry wounds deep inside of each of us,

battle scars that we can't share with many others.
Maybe sometimes in the heat of life's battle we have taken risks
or made decisions that left situations or relationships feeling like fatalities, 

and we've second guessed ourselves over and over.

Perhaps we blame ourselves over and over for everything that went wrong.

Perhaps we wonder, "Sissy, do you think Jesus loves 

me?"

 He does.

And Sam Butcher painted this little blue face, minus a body, up on the sky scene on the ceiling of the chapel,

far away from all the angels elsewhere on the ceiling, 

to represent and remind each one there that God is not finished with us yet.

He is still working on us.

And He still loves us.

Here is a photo of Sam Butcher with the pastor who led him put his faith in Christ.

 

 May each one who reads this feel 

carried on His shoulder today.

Precious Moments Chapel in Missouri

Because the price of gas had come down so low out west here (and Jonathan had enough fuel points earned that we even got $1 off per gallon most of the way and back besides, making it about 75 cents per gallon!), we were able to go to my nephew's wedding in Missouri the last weekend of January. (See recent blog posts of his wedding.)

From there we had hoped to meet with our friends the Goodwins who live at Mansfield, but Bro. Goodwin ended up with some severe physical problems which kept him at home in a lot of pain. They had planned to meet us Saturday noon at this Outdoor World Bass Pro store, the biggest in the world (picture below).

We really missed getting to see them. Sis. Goodwin, our former fill-in pastor's wife, has kept up faithful correspondence with our girls, and they are great friends. She encourages them with their Bible memorization and writes them the most interesting letters you ever read. 

We spent most of an hour there at Bass Pro, and then hurried on to Carthage, MO, near Joplin at the Kansas border, where our friend Tonya Sickler had recommended we visit the Precious Moments chapel.

Little did I know what a treat we were in for!

More photos of that following. But here really quick I'll post a couple pics of the church we attended with Tonya Sickler Sunday morning--Altamont Holiness Church where Chad and Amy Snider are pastors. (Amy is Dan Stetler's oldest daughter.)

We really appreciated the warm fellowship hall out back in which to take showers Sat. night and cook breakfast Sunday morning. Tonya was so kind to bring in a lovely meal for us, the pastor and wife, and John Cunningham, dad of Steve. It was so good to see Tonya again. She is such a wonderful young lady. Some wonderful single man out there in his mid-thirties really needs to find this girl.

She is a great cook, a faithful worker, and has a good heart.

Inside the church, I snapped photos of these lovely decorations on the piano and organ.

The Sniders had just announced last week that they were finally expecting a baby after about ten years of marriage and longing for a child. The church is so excited.

I caught sight of this monument along the freeway, and Jonathan said it said, "Praying Hands, Peaceful World."
I'm always glad for any emblem of prayer and faith in God along our highways here in America.
Faith is not dead. 

And now we're back to the Precious Moments Chapel. This is the sign when you walk into the entry of the grounds.

I have to admit I do enjoy Precious Moments style decor, esp. these older styles of art.

Here is the entrance to the world's largest Precious Moments gift shop.

Some scenes in that first building.

Here was a little memorial to the children who perished in the Oklahoma City disaster.

There is a crystal tear on the fireman's face.

Along the walls was European Village decor, scenes like this one, with animated Precious Moments figures.

I could only imagine how beautiful this walkway to the chapel would be in the spring and summer.

The name of the walk is Avenue of Angels.

If you want to see more, you simply must go there yourself! I could put hundreds of pictures on. 

Here we turn to go to the chapel.

This block reads, "Erected by Sam Butcher--To God Be the Glory. Dedicated to the Lord, etc."
The chapel includes 84 hand painted inspirational murals which cover 9,000 sq. feet, and
30 stained glass windows with Precious Moments design

 This beautiful engraved wooden door opens into the chapel. The verse on the top says, "The Lord is in His holy temple..."

 Inside, there is a little entry way with these colored glass windows on doors. Sam Butcher designed all the colored glass windows all around the outside walls of the chapel.

 We listened with great interest to the tour guide, during the free tour of the chapel. She told about Sam Butcher's life, how he had grown up in a poor family of seven children, 

how he began at an early age to show a gift with art, 

and how God led him later on to begin Precious Moments designs and ministry, a venture which not only brought him success as a businessman,

but also ministered to people worldwide. 

Below is one of the many sets of murals that were painted here by Sam Butcher's own hands (while on scaffolding), this one being the seven days of creation. We were not allowed to use flash.

 Of the many sets of murals, I chose to take a snap of these three of ladies of the Bible--because that is what I relate to.

On the left is Ruth choosing Naomi and Naomi's God while her sister-in-law Orpah turns her back and goes back to her gods. 

In the middle is Hannah, keeping her promise to God and bringing her very own son to give to God.

To the left is Esther, who risked her life to save her people.
It was a blessing to have a tour guide who was unashamed to share about God and the Bible stories, when so many places around us are being hushed about talking about God.

 The atmosphere in this chapel was so sacred, I wanted to stay so much longer, but it closed at 4:00, so we had to hurry a bit after the tour guide finished the stories behind the murals. 

I loved this heavenly scene mural on the front of the chapel.

 Sam Butcher lost two sons to death, one in an accident, and I can't remember how he lost the other, but he understood sorrow. Yet his murals do not leave you feeling sad. 

Somehow, there is a sweet sense of hope, mixed in with a bit of humor, that is amazing in how it comforts.

 Sam Butcher's purpose behind this chapel was to create a place for rest and comfort for those who were in need of it, including himself. It was a way to share his faith in God's love.
 I think God helped him to meet that purpose in an extraordinary way.

I loved his own rendition of the famous painting of a praying couple.

 On one outer wall of the chapel was a row of stained glass windows, one for each verse of the Shepherd's Psalm. This example is "Thou anointest my head with oil."

 On the other outer wall was a set of stained glass windows of the Beatitudes. 

This one was "Blessed are the peacemakers."

 I can't begin to say how touched I felt, or how badly I wished to stay longer to just soak in the beauty and the comfort and the inspiration.
There was such a sense of God's sacred, sweet, comforting presence. 

 There was something so charming, 

so peaceful,

so endearing. With the struggles in life that I am facing right now and have faced for a long time,

I just wanted so badly to linger and drink in the peace, the beauty, the comfort and the restful atmosphere.

Here in a room off the back of the chapel were three windows full of doves.

I often return to a blog post I've written, just to encourage my own spirit and remind myself to rest and trust. I know I will return to these posts that I am doing--

and remember this beautiful place and what it represents.

Below is a figurine called, "Praise the Lord Anyhow." 

 It shows a little boy who has just dropped a lot of his icecream cone on the floor, and his puppy is about to share it!
It reminds us that we don't have to get bent out of shape when something goes wrong.

Is there a reason why Jonathan's wife suggested that he buy her that figurine someday if he finds it inexpensive?

Down from the chapel terrace was a little play castle Sam Butcher built for his grandchildren, down in the middle of the big stream behind the chapel.

 Hannah begged to go down to it, but I had to explain that it was not for everybody!

Don't we wish???

But there is a commandment that says, "Thou shalt not covet."

And so we look, and enjoy, but we go on back home to our little wooden, half-tumble-down play set and we thank the Lord that we have what we have--and especially that we have love in our home--

even if we don't have much money or talent in our pocket.

Our home can be its own little castle--full of love and laughter and contentment--even if the linoleum is worn and scratched, and the oak table needs a makeover and there are messy spots here and there.

 Behind the main chapel is a quiet little chapel room dedicated to Sam's son Philip, who had died at a young age. 

You can see all the children gathered around the empty bed, while the angels welcome the young person home. 

Sam's paintings are done in such a way that anyone can relate, regardless of nationality or color.

 Just before closing time, after the children had gone on outside, Jonathan and I took a few sacred moments in this area of the chapel building to remember friends we lost this year. 

The purpose in this room is to provide a quiet space to remember lost loved ones and to cherish that memory. 

There are heavenly scenes depicted on the glass doors.

 Jonathan wrote a few lines in memory of Dave Weaver.

 Then he asked me to write a few lines in memory of Dale O'Maley.

 And so, in the reverent stillness, we remembered.

 I would have loved to stay longer, looking and looking at these beautiful scenes,

and remembering that someday there will be

"No More Tears."

No more tears.

No more pain. 

 Goodwins won't have to suffer with pain and nerves and year after year of sleepless nights. 

The good, kind, giving man from my sister Iva's church will not have to suffer anymore from radiation burns over his whole body from mistakes nurses at the hospital made during his cancer treatment recently.

Grandpa Lucas will not suffer anymore with hip replacements gone bad. 

There will be no more diabetes or dialysis or cancer..

Persecuted Christians will be comforted instead of tormented.

No more tears in the middle of the night when a mom of seven children

is up looking out into the moonlight, with the only words she can manage being,

"Lord, please remember your little brown sparrow!"

No more menopause.

No more exhaustion, no more dizziness, no more depression.

No more struggles, no more temptation, no more heartache.

Is it any wonder I wanted to linger

just a little longer here in this sweet place?