Firewood or Furniture--Dead Pine Trees Transformed

A little over a week ago, we spent Saturday sawing and loading firewood at a spot in Black Forest where Jonathan got permission to cut.

The trees were beetle-ridden and dead, but not as dead and rotten as the burned trees around them.

We stood far away as Jonathan sawed down this very tall tree.

Timber! There she goes!

Then Jonathan sawed it up.

And the older children and I hauled the firewood chunks to the truck and trailer.

This third tree Jonathan sawed down was about to go down when wind kicked up and sent the tree in exactly the opposite direction of where it was supposed to go!

Whew!

Thankfully, it did no damage that direction.

The limbs were growing every which way, and the guys had to climb clear up to saw them.

Carrie sat on the end of the log to keep it steady for her dad. 

We were also able to load a heaping little trailer full of firewood for the Frenches who came out 

and brought their trailer and helped saw and load.

These beetle-kill trees went into firewood, but other people have found more value in beetle-kill logs than to merely use them for firewood.

A few weeks ago, Jonathan reserved a room for him and me at Tudor Rose Chalet near Salida,

on our way to a funeral.

That room had furniture made from beetle-kill logs: bedstead, night stands, and mirror.

They were beautiful!

I had taken along our own supper--leftover rice with a stirfry on top, 

and an electric skillet to heat it in our room!

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast.

This was such a lovely place, with a goldfish pool to welcome you as soon as you step in the door of the B&B.

Ever seen an aloe vera plant this enormous??

I loved the antiques hanging around the sitting room.

And the plants growing in the window.

Other people had rooms upstairs.

The outside of the place.

Scene from Tudor Rose B&B, as we headed off to the funeral at Monte Vista.

Beetle-kill trees teach us a lesson.

They can be useless to some. "Sure, come cut them down and take them away for firewood."

They can be useful to others--for firewood. We gained heat from them.

But then they can be approached by others with a dream, with an eye for making treasure out of trash. 

And the next thing you know, you have beautiful furniture built from what others throw away or burn.

What already dead idea or hope is lying dormant in our lives?

Maybe it just requires a renewed vision and a dream and the touch of the Artist's hand!

The Questions on the Bus Go Round and Round

"If you ask God for something, He will give it to you, won't He?" the lady on the bus asked, looking eagerly at me, sure that I was going to say yes.
This was another of those church bus situations where it would be so comfortable to just say yes,
just say the answer they are expecting.
After all, Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you," right?

When I didn't say yes right away, the lady looked at me a little more anxiously.
I turned around in my seat and said gently,
"Well, God will give us what we ask if it is His will, but sometimes, He knows that what we ask is not the best thing for us."
The shock on her face was obvious.
My answer had not been what she expected.
"Let me tell you a story," I went on quickly, and proceeded to tell a story on the bus that I have told over and over because it touches hearts everywhere.

 It's about a little girl who wanted blue eyes like her mother had, and she was just sure that if she prayed and asked God for blue eyes, she would wake up in the morning with blue eyes.
But when she got up the next morning and looked in the mirror, what do you suppose she saw?
Brown eyes that filled with tears!
God had not answered her prayer!
But then the little girl heard a voice, and it said, "Isn't 'No' an answer?"

No was an answer when her mother or father said it.
No was an answer if God said it, too. God had answered her prayer. He had just said no.
Years later, the little girl became the missionary Amy Carmichael in India.
And one day she was dressing in an Indian sari and staining her face with coffee so that she could enter, disguised as an Indian, into an idol temple unnoticed in order to learn more about how to rescue child slaves.
A lady helping her said, "It's such a good thing that you have brown eyes and not blue!
If you had blue eyes, you would never get into the temple because they would know right away that you are English!"

Right then, Amy remembered her prayer as a little girl and how disappointed she had been that God had seemed to not answer.
In fact, He had answered, but in His own beautiful way. 

His answer had been, "No."

God had a perfect plan for her brown eyes, and because of them, she could slip into the Indian temples and learn ways of rescuing children.

****

The lady on the bus was very quiet. 

I believe sometimes a story explains a concept so much better than explaining theology.

This story is from a story series about Amy Carmichael with visuals, which I bought from CEF Press about 30 years ago and have used over and over, as you can see in the pictures above.

In Ukraine, when I told this story one Sunday morning to a large church, it seemed as if the whole congregation melted into tears. In Ukraine, it seemed as if the answer they received most of the time from God was, "No."

Everywhere I looked, people were crying.

The second time I told this story to another church, a young woman came to me in tears afterward, thanking me fervently.

I have told it to children in North Caicos and to native American children in South Dakota.

I recommend this story to anyone working with children.

But it is a sweet and gentle story for adults, too, on a bus on a Sunday morning in Denver.

Overheard on the Church Bus

When Jonathan and I take folks back on the church bus to their assisted living home, we always try to be friendly and strike up some conversations, but last Sunday, the time turned into more than small talk.

One of the ladies was worrying about her mother who is battling cancer and about her desire to go see her, something she cannot afford to do since her mother is out of state.

"What about sending her a card?" I suggested.

"I hadn't thought of that," the lady said, sounding almost relieved. "I could do that."

"Do you have a card?" I wondered. 

"I can't afford one," was the answer. 

 "I have a card!" the lady opposite the aisle chimed in. "I can give you a card!"

"What about just a letter?" I brainstormed. "Do you have paper?"

"Yes, I could write a letter. I have a piece of paper."

"Do you have a stamp?"

"No, I don't."

"I have a stamp!" the lady across the aisle chimed in again.

"Do you have her address?" I asked.
There was a bit of a moan. "No. But I can call her. I have her phone number."

"I would encourage you to write that letter," I told the lady. "Or call her. Express that you feel bad about how your relationship hasn't been the greatest. Or perhaps don't say anything about that. Just let your mother know you care and are thinking about her."

"I'll write her a letter!" the lady decided with conviction.

Whether she will follow through or not is up to her, but this is just one thing discussed during those twelve minutes on the bus that day. When we finished our picnic lunch Sunday, Hannah and I made two homemade cards to give this lady so that she would have something to send her mother. Unfortunately, we weren't able to touch base again that day as the lady didn't come to Kids Club as she usually does, but Friday night we were given a whole pile of cards for free, a couple of which I want to send this lady with stamps so she will have a way to reach out to her mother.

We don't always know why the Lord has us where He does, and sometimes it doesn't seem all that important to simply drive folk home after church to their assisted living place.
But then you get in on someone feeling helpless about mending a relationship or reaching out to someone staring death in the face.
And God asks you, someone who understands about trying helplessly to mend something, or someone who can't afford to fly all over the country to see a suffering relative or friend,  to help them find a way to reach out.

Sometimes He uses the lady across the aisle who has suffered a stroke but is eager to pitch in and help with a card and stamp.

You never know what a trip on the church bus will bring forth!

Ladies retreat

A couple Saturdays ago, there was a Ladies' Retreat in Denver hosted by Denver God's Missionary Church.

It was held at Anythink Library--so named for a company who rebuilt it!

My friend Tammy Hallam was the main speaker. I didn't know she had such a sense of humor and was such a good speaker!

Another friend, Maria Hunt, volunteered to take part in an experiment of trying to blow up a balloon that was stuck inside a bottle. It would not blow up! But taken out of "the world's mold," it blew up just fine!

I enjoyed walking outside for a few minutes during lunch break.

There was a lovely lunch.

The Denver Bible Missionary pastor's wife, Mrs. Gutierrez, provided the craft in the afternoon.

For their privacy, I am not putting pictures of the ladies, but there were about 35 in attendance from about 9 different churches! I enjoyed visiting with Melissa Johnson, whose husband Aaron pastors in Lakewood, CO.

Some people are just plain artistic!

We had a good time decorating our little flower pots.

Young and old alike decorating .

There was potting soil to fill the pots.

And herb seeds.

Here's mine.

I thought the retreat was important enough to travel an hour and a half to attend, 

because we conservative ladies need to encourage and support one another.

Here are some thoughts my sister Iva shared today on Facebook about women in power stooping low in America this week,while some in Smalltown, USA, reached high. The rest of this post is by Iva.

"In America—where women have been freed, educated, empowered, and equalized in ways women in almost all other countries of the world can only dream of—in America this week, women with power and prestige were a reproach to noble womanhood.

From JLo to NP.lo.., women stooped low. 

But not all women stooped low. Some women without power and prestige reached high:  reached arms around their returning Army husband’s neck; reached high to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom; reached high to seek a better school for their child; reached high to save their premature baby’s life.

And the nation over, women are making America greater. I met 2 wives this week who giggled with their husbands as they checked out their groceries at a Walmart in small-town, USA. One wife, after her husband checked out his groceries separately (because he cooks a weekly breakfast for his work buddies), told me emphatically that the secret to their 31 years of marriage was buying groceries separately! Then she laughed so hard she ended up coughing and said just kidding! The other husband teased his wife the whole time they rang up their groceries and she laughed and blushed the whole time too! (They were in their 40s, don’t assume these were silly 20 somethings.)  Those women are making America great because they are making solid homes for their families. 

I saw more great women this week in small-town USA. I saw women caring for elderly parents. I saw women caring for babies and young children. I saw women caring for special needs adults (how I loved the joy and compassion I observed flowing between the caretakers and their charges!) I saw women communicate through extremely tense moments to diffuse a volatile situation. I saw women speaking with respect to others who had treated them disrespectfully. I saw women fighting illness and pain still showing up to work because that’s what great women do. 

I saw great women in a church at small-town USA teaching Sunday School and reading the Scriptures and leading the music. I saw great women praying with tears for loved ones and for their government. I saw women make coffee and bring goodies to feed hungry bellies. 

I received emails this week from great women whom I love:  my mother (won’t catch her pole dancing); my sisters (the poles they know are fence posts for goats and pigs); and dear friends, all of whom are fighting soul-draining battles for hope and joy in a world where selfishness, cancer, and pride have sought to destroy lovely, great women. 

But sin is not winning in great women’s lives. I know great women whose humility would make them the last to guess that they are great. My mother, Carolyn Morley, is one of them. Imagine her being known as CMo! When I was deeply disappointed in how powerful women represented themselves this week, I kept reminding myself of my mother and sisters and daughters and nieces and friends who bring honor to the title of “woman.” Beautiful, honorable women. Women who make America great.

Alexis de Tocqueville, mid 1700s:

“As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked...to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of [the American] people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply:  To the superiority of their women."

Nick--the Man Born Without Arms or Legs

Friday night our family was part of an overflow crowd in the balcony of a church that hosted a youth even featuring a speaker who had no arms or legs.

His name is Nick Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-chick), and he was born in Australia to a family that was part of the Apostolic Christian Church, the same denomination of church that home school friends of ours attend.

In fact, my friend remembers seeing Baby Nick at age one year old, with his parents who were visiting a church in California. My friend, at a young age herself, felt sorry for him and his parents.

We learned Friday night from Nick himself, now age 37, that America would not allow his family to immigrate due to his physical issues, but as Nick grew up and became a popular public speaker, he himself applied to have his parents join him in America!

How the tables can turn when a person chooses to overcome disabilities instead of be overcome by them!

After enduring nearly a half hour of "worship" songs in a style that was well beyond our comfort zone, we were intrigued with the message of this amazing speaker.

"If God can use someone with no arms and no legs to be His hands and feet," Nick said, 

"what can God do with you?"

It's kind of a paradox, because those of us with arms and legs don't have the issue to overcome that he did, and so, had a Lucas been up on the platform that night, probably nobody would have come to hear us!

But the point was, all of us can overcome and find our niche in God's plan for us--

a plan of hope and joy.

Nick is even married now, and has four healthy little children. He's 37 and must have gotten married about seven years ago to a Japanese-American whom he affectionately calls a Jamerican!

*****

Then Sunday morning we heard a rich message about prayer from another speaker who has overcome great odds to be in the position he is in today.  Dan Durkee grew up in a godless, Harley motorcycle home, and hardly knew who his real father was. But someone invited him to Sunday School, and he would come on the church bus. 

At fourteen years old, he gave his heart to God and before long was attending Penn View Bible Institute where he sat in the same class I did!

Dan Durkee went on to become a pastor, then PR man for Penn View, and now he is the president of the Bible College he came to about 35 years ago. 

When his birth father called him recently to tell him that he had been diagnosed with cancer, Dan told him, "Dad, this cancer is a blessing! You aren't ready to die! You could have been in an accident or had a heart attack and died all of a sudden, but God allowed you to have cancer to give you time to get ready!"

And Dan Durkee had the privilege of praying later with his father and leading him to repentance and faith in Christ!

This was a wonderful answer to prayer!
Brother Dan asked us Penn View alumni and our families to pose with him for a picture after service.

Dan quoted Billy Graham who said, "There are many answers to prayer in heaven that have never been asked for."
What prayers do we need to be praying today whose answer is in heaven simply unasked for?