New Baby Calf on the Ranch--and Ye Must Be Born Again

 Recently when a happy surprise happened to me--an order coming in from my second cousin Anita Siedel for five of my recently published books--that got my sisters and my parents reminiscing. My sisters were emailing back and forth about which of my dad's cousins it was who asked him long years ago if he had ever been born again. 

"Born again? What was that?"

 Turns out it was Shirley Critchlow who asked that question of my dad. Shirley was the daughter of the youngest of thirteen Critchlow siblings, my great uncle Warren.  Shirley had gone to Asbury College, at that time a more conservative college in Wilmore, KY, where, years later there was a notable revival. But at this time, Shirley was talking to my dad, because she knew he was interested in spiritual things.  But when she asked him, "Have you ever been born again?" my dad had no clue what she was talking about.

My mom, a college graduate who secured a teaching position in Grove City, PA, had just moved into the second story apartment that my dad's mother was renting out. My dad was doing a small remodel of that apartment, and he and Mom began talking.

 Both my dad and my mom grew  up in urban Methodist churches where they were each active in their church.  My dad was even teaching an older youth Sunday school class--without ever knowing what it was to experience the gift of salvation, or knowing what it was to be born again. In my mom's final

year in college in Indiana, PA, her heart began to awaken to spiritual things, and she was searching before she arrived in Grove City.  She and my dad would discuss spiritual things, but neither of them know much of anything of a true Christian life.  My dad would suggest different churches, which my mom would try out, never finding what she was searching for.  But finally, as a last resort, my dad suggested the local Baptist church, within walking distance of their house. Another of my dad's sixty or so cousins, Bernice and her husband, lived in Harrisville and attended this Baptist church in Grove City.
 

My mom attended a morning service, feeling deeply convicted by both the message and more so by the moving special song sung by the pastor and a young lady, both with excellent voices. My mom, who is deeply touched by music, walked home deeply convicted of her sins and knowing she needed to be born again. She made her lunch, eating it alone, realizing all the while, that despite her best efforts at church attendance and doing the right things, all that, after all, was simply not the way to heaven. She was a sinner, as the preacher had shared from the Bible, a sinner who was NOT on her way to heaven, but on her way to hell if she kept on going as she was. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

 

  Never had my mom felt so miserable!  Yet at the same time, as she walked back to church that night, she also felt a great hope. The Baptist preacher had not left her without hope. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) "And if you will confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Christ is risen from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9)

 

    "I truly believe," my mom relates, about sixty years later, "that if I had been hit by a car and killed as I walked to church that night that I would have gone to heaven because I had already 'repented' in the only way I knew.  But after the evening message, I responded to the altar call and went forward and told the preacher that I had never been born again.  He motioned to one of the ladies, who came up and directed me to a prayer room just off the sanctuary."

There this lady continued to share the good news of the gospel with my mother and then prayed with my mom. This was the beginning of a new life in Christ. My mom had been born again!

"I walked home on clouds!" my mom remembers. 

So, boy oh boy, now it was Dad's turn! My mom had found peace and pardon for her sins, and my dad knew that was what he needed, too. 

Finally, in a little church revival in Harrisville, the Methodist evangelist gave the altar call and Brenton, my dad, was the first one to the altar. My mom was almost 22 when she was saved, and my dad was 26 when he was born again.

 

Having Christian parents or not makes no difference in whether or not each of us must be born again, too.  I was twelve when I began to really seek the Lord for forgiveness of my sins. I was a sinner, too. But one day I was born again, when I surrendered everything that I had and everything that I was to the Lord. 

What joy when there are newborns on the ranch! What greater joy when a sinner is born again into the family of God!

A Different Kind of Ministry--The Prayers Behind a First Responder

When I was expecting our oldest son Sam twenty-three years ago, I gave him to the Lord, every bit as much as Hannah in the Bible gave her Samuel, except that I did not give mine away to a priest. Hannah's was a unique situation that God redeemed. I told God that I could not give my baby away, that I was willing to be the one to raise him and train him for the Lord rather than expecting someone else to raise him.

I was willing for my son to go into the ministry and hoped and prayed that he would.

And he did.

It was just a different kind of ministry. It turned out to be a very real, very practical, and sometimes very grueling ministry. It is a ministry that meets people in some of the worst and most awful times of their lives. 

As a volunteer fireman and EMT, he has been called to everything from rescuing a dog in a crawl space to suicide threats to diabetics who have fallen and can't get up on their own, to fatal wrecks. 

There were five wrecks in less than 24 hours a little over two weeks ago, on a day that our family was away. Two of the wrecks were fatal. Sam was on scene where one driver had died, another was life-flighted, and another passenger refused treatment, waiting for a friend to take him to the hospital. 

Sam was on scene again the very next evening after a car went out of control on the snowy roads, resulting in the death of a child. Sam was one of three who tried to save the child's life, to no avail.

We were in this cabin near Gatlinburg, TN, just after the last service, when we got Sam's call. 

About the time of the accident, we had been in a service where a Spanish Pastor, with his  daughter as translator, exhorted us all not to fear what was going to happen ahead of us. He urged us to know that God has his angels all around us and will deliver us from all evil even if he chooses not to deliver us from death or suffering. The Stetler trio had just sung a beautiful medley of songs about heaven. This medley was all the more touching since the pianist and singer, Paul Stetler, had only recently lost his new bride in a terrible accident. 

"Just think of walking on shore, and finding it heaven!

Of touching a hand--and finding it God's!

Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial!

Of waking up in glory, and finding it Home!"

As they were singing that, I could almost feel the hand of God reaching down! How little did I know that truly it was reaching down--and taking to a Much Better Place a young child on a snowy road in Colorado only a few miles from where we live.

How little did I know that my son was involved in trying to save this child's life--but couldn't.

And how little did I know that only a few hundred feet or yards away from both accidents was another mother of a first responder, another mother who knew me and my son. As soon as she saw the first wreck, she began to pray for the responders, naming our son Sam by name! To think that God let that accident happen right in front of the home of Christian who would immediately begin to pray!

How good God is!

He is our help in time of trouble, a refuge in sorrow, a strength when our heart is broken.

 

              Yes, deep in my heart, I wanted my first boy to go into the ministry. And he did. Now I am part of that group of mothers who pray for their own son or daughter--and those of others, too--as they work in this noble ministry of being first responders in times of trouble.

A Mother's Best Birthday Gifts

My family made sure I had a lovely birthday--complete with bargains from a store at which Jonathan stopped today, and another bargain he got at Home Depot! (I love bargains! Those are the best birthday gifts--except for ones that a person really did spend money for just because they cared about you!

But the best gifts I had could not have been bought with money.

I got to choose a favorite Psalm, Psalm 113, and remembered how the Lord lifted the lowly missionary girl over in Kiev, Ukraine, from her loneliness 27 years ago, and gave her a family!

Jonathan suggested that during prayer time, each of the children thank the Lord for something about their mother, and Sam was the first one to pray.

"Thank You that Mom was such a good teacher," he said simply. "Thank You for her raising us in the way we should go."

And his mother was sitting there with that kind of trouble with her throat that happens to moms sometimes, when their adult sons are grateful to God for the way they were raised,

instead of reminding God about all his mom's faults.

 Daughters were asking God to bless their mom's writing and her new book, that it would be a blessing to many. And another daughter was saying, "Thank You that we can have a big, happy family. And help those with broken families. Help them to find comfort in You."

And the mom kept just squeezing and squeezing the dad's hand, because, really, what is a mom supposed to do when prayers like that are prayed?

The mom is grateful that her children aren't just thankful for their blessings, but also think of others who don't have those blessings. 

And then after supper dishes, Carrie and Crystal try out a couple piano duets--and that is a gift for Mom, too!

Crystal's dog had to get right in on the music, if you can find her tail!

I got such a kick out of that dog wanting to be right in on the action! 

Another gift is daughters who get along and help each other. Crystal is supposed to be in charge of a time especially for the young, unmarried girls at the ladies' retreat in South Dakota this weekend.

The girls were trying to figure out some paper flower crafts.

Dogwoods and Music in Missouri and Tennessee

It has been a long time since I've seen so many blooming dogwoods--and all along the long but fast trip to Missouri and Tennessee there they were!

These were on the grounds of the church and school where Crystal had been contacted about teaching this fall. After meeting with the board, Crystal 's application has just this week been accepted for this coming school year.

This is also where our family stayed overnight Saturday night and where we woke up to violets, blooming dogwoods, horses, cows, birds, and friendly people.

Our friends the Goodwins have been after us for years to come and speak at their church in Missouri about our Mission Helps ministry. So this year we were finally able to make it happen--on our way to the Interchurch Holiness Convention that moved from Dayton, OH, to Gatlinburg, TN,  this year. 

The Goodwins' church had these beautiful tulips and violets near the door.

Sunday school was taught by a man who had been converted out of a life of sin about 9 years ago.

 Our service was definitely not boring due to us  stumbling over chords, a microphone stand with a long arm falling over onto the music stand, and the computer falling on the floor! Some of the pictures Carrie had put on to show on our projector about Slovakia were accidentally and dreadfully mixed up. However the people seemed to enjoy it despite our flubs.

It was very nice to have a bunch of my family in for the service, including Fain and Regina's family, Joella's family, Elon, and Jed and Rosalie's family. We had a great time of fellowship at the dining hall with way more than enough food.

In the evening, more flubs awaited us. Nobody stumbled over chords, no microphone stand fell, and the computer stayed intact. Nevertheless, after transferring our photos onto a flash drive to show with the church system on the church's own screen, as had been requested, all the vertical photos ended up sideways! Thankfully that evening the live stream at the church was not working so at least that disaster did not spread around the world! I was embarrassed, worried, humiliated, amused, and horrified by turns at all the sideways pictures and one was even upside down, the one where Jonathan was working on live electric wires on the metal pole in Guatemala.

 We aren't used to this! Here is Timmy sharing about our trip to Grand Bahamas to replace the damaged roof on the church we worked on in January, just before the big shutdown.

    Thankfully most of the pictures were horizontal, so those were correct.

 Of all things, Keith Lavery, new President of Society of Indian Missions, was staying there in the dorm over the weekend on his way to IHC, too, and Jonathan asked him to share briefly about what Mission Helps teams had meant to him in his ministry to native Americans in South Dakota. He had some very kind and positive words to say.

 The children did a great job of playing "Are You Washed in the Blood" for an offertory.

Timmy on the guitar, Carrie on the bass guitar (she and Timmy take turns on the bass), Hannah on the ukulele, and Rose on the mandolin (she sometimes plays banjo, too). Others in the church played so pretty together for the prelude and hymns, on baritone horn, trumpet, clarinet, and two accordions! Even the pastor played an accordion up front!

So nice that mustaches and God-given, manly beards are permitted!

 Monday morning we spent some time with my parents, playing the children's music for them.

Carrie is playing the bass here, but on "As the Deer Panteth for the Water," she played her violin.

 The Tennessee governor himself welcomed the convention to come to Gatlinburg. 

Here I am with my table of books. 

 

The beautiful flowers out front.

A couple quick photos inside the cabin we rented for three days near Cosby.

 This cabin looked like it belonged in Colorado! I liked the old fashioned phone hanging on the cupboard.

 

Something Beautiful--When the Last Puzzle Piece Is in Place

 On our way home from Tennessee last week, we managed to squeeze in just a wee short visit to see my niece Amaris and her mother Anita at the home where they have been staying during Amaris's three-month stay at a lyme clinic near Kansas City. It was a joy to bring just a little joy to Amaris who has been practically bedridden with Lyme and co-infections for years. Her charming little white dog gave us a royal welcome, and then curled back up at the feet of his beloved mistress.

One of Amaris's friends had sent her a wee water fountain which Anita could not get to work. She wondered if Danny could take it apart and take a look at it. 

Well, Danny discovered that there was a nearly invisible piece of plastic keeping the water intake covered, which, when removed, was the missing link to why that fountain was not working!

Now the water began to ripple and flow alongside the wee lights, a little piece of cheer for Amaris.

****

Anita has not allowed the missing links in her life, or the sorrow of the inability to find a cure for her daughter's lyme, to keep her from being useful.

She spends many hours piecing baby quilts together to give to Lifeline Gifts for layette bundles for moms who choose life. 

I had to take a picture of just a few of those quilts that Anita has pieced together while there at the little rented house. 

What else can one do with life's pieces--than endeavor to bravely make quilts?

And that Anita is bravely doing, one silent, gentle square at a time.

One beautiful baby quilt at a time--with prayers that the babies enfolded by these quilts will find the grace of God sufficient for every earthly trouble and sorrow.

Underneath the dining room light (half covered with a towel so that the room is darkened for Amaris's weakened eyes) Anita asked if the children wanted to help her finish the puzzle she was also working on.

In no time flat, the children had helped put those last stubborn pieces in, and the beautiful puzzle was all done--a perfect picture of Knitters Delights--a kitten with every color of balls of yarn!

Sometimes life is a puzzle that we don't really know how to put together 

Some pieces fit together quickly and perfectly. Others, with much trial and error, work out after a while. And then there are those last miserable, stubborn, difficult pieces.

Often we can't manage to figure them out on our own.

Sometimes we just don't figure them out at all--we need help.  

God's help. 

Without Him, our puzzling life would be left with many gaping holes, many missing parts, and many annoying pieces.

But then He comes along, whispers His love and care and purposes in our ears, and we put one more piece together.

One more piece,

 one more answer, 

one more understanding of a hard thing, 

one more surrender of what we will never understand. 

Like a piece of quilt, and a piece of puzzle, we just ask God to make something beautiful out of the pieces of our broken but surrendered lives.

My New Website: Sparrows and Roses Books!

 Crystal and I, both of whom are somewhat artistically challenged, wished we could have had the help of Carrie or Susanna or Candace or some other cousin who could have come up with a stunning arrangement of sparrow and roses! Instead, we just came up with a simple little scene with my little ceramic sparrow that I purchased a few years ago at the Celestial Seasonings gift shop after taking the free tour up there at the tea bagging plant in Boulder.

The roses are ones I've kept and dried from different bouquets.

We tried different arrangements and backgrounds and even different ivy plants, but settled for the scene above for the header image for my new website advertising my new book!

Here it is:

https://sparrows-and-roses-books.square.site  

Many thanks to my sweet niece Susanna for staying up late on the night last week when we passed through Missouri, teaching me how to get started setting up my web page. And she keeps having to help me, such as tonight when I could not figure out how to add more customer testimonials!

My book would never have been published without the willing help of my dear nephew Ezra and now Susanna who has had a little experience setting up a website or two.  

Susanna just landed a job at a local florist shop which was needing someone who could drive, who had computer skills, who was a nice person (who is nicer than Susanna?) and who could in general help the florist shop with delivering flowers all over the place.

Susanna's family is growing their own flowers, besides. They had planted many bulbs last year, hoping to sell homemade bouquets.  

Here are some of those spring bulbs now! 

First Printing of Roses in Kiev Done!

 When I called Country Pines Printing about my books today, they verified that my first printing of five hundred books has been printed, and the books are set to be delivered to IHC [Interchurch Holiness Convention] at Gatlinburg, TN, Monday or Tuesday!

A couple days ago in my devotions these words stood out to me, "Bring the cloak that I left...at Troas when you come--and the books." II Tim. 4:13 

 Bring the books!

I sat down just a bit ago to read my Bible, and instead of reading in I Thessalonians where I was, I opened to Psalm 56. There I was reading and suddenly, there in verse 8 it says, "You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?"

I sat there and I looked and looked. "Are not my tears in Your book?"

I thought about the tears I wrote about in my book Roses in Kiev. 

The waiting.

The wondering.

The working. 

The way God worked for me in exactly the right way and time.

If our tears are important enough for God to write each one down in His book,

do you think He wastes any of them?  

If our tears are that important, He has a purpose for every tear we shed. 

The tears I shed in Kiev 27 years ago have turned into rich fulfillment!  

I have my display table cover and decor put together and price signs made. Our friends the Goodwins have been after us for years to come to their church to tell about going as laymen to help on missions. So they arranged two services at two Church of God Holiness churches in Fordland and Ava, Missouri, this Sunday, (at our friends the Goodwins' church, and then at Mt. Zion with our friends Ward and Naomi French, a church which has services live-streamed in case you want to watch all our flubs Sunday night!--on the other hand, maybe you DON'T want to watch) our family is planning to be at IHC by Tuesday around noon. Musical instruments are being practiced and packed; clothes figured out and ironed (and unboxed from the basement when I find out Danny only has two good shirts and no good pants except black jeans!) ironed, and hung on the hooks on the back seat of the van. 

Crystal is driving down from Pennsylvania, where she has been attending the Penn View Missions Convention, to join us at IHC. And Sam is staying home to do the chores.

I wish he could come, too. But he decided to stay home.

Thoughts about my book from my sister Dorcas

"Good morning! Just can't say enough about your book! I sat down before breakfast and couldn't stop reading. The eggs got cold and the coffee perked for 1/2 an hour instead of 10 minutes! :)

 

My sister Dorcas got one of my proofs of my book, Roses in Kiev,a few days ago, and that was what she had to say. She is eager to share the book with her German Baptist neighbor who has a bulk food shop and a shelf for books that she shares out. I may soon have my first seller of books, thanks to my sister! Dorcas felt that this book would appeal across denominational lines--something I also hoped it would do. I did not write this book just for people who share my own personal beliefs in doctrine and standards. I wrote it for anyone who loves God and loves a unique love story in a unique setting with unique happenings!

I was also blessed to hear Dorcas say that the gospel was shared so simply in this book. It just went into the story so simply as I told story after story of what happened that year in Kiev as an English and Bible teacher. I want to be able to give this book, for example, to some friends from Malaysia for whom our daughters worked. If our friends read our love story, they will also read about the gospel--and all without preaching!

Well, I must get back to packing!