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WHAT PATH ARE YOU WALKING?

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Sitting here at my laptop, it’s hard to believe that another year has turned every page of the 2024 calendar. Reflecting on where I’ve gone, what I’ve accomplished, is bringing back many good memories along with numerous questions such as “have I left anything undone that was a personal goal?”

In late spring we enjoyed a “road trip” to Nebraska for a family wedding which allowed us to drive north from Lincoln to see Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. On our return drive home, a last minute decision to lodge our car on the Badger allowed us to enjoy its cruise across Lake Michigan, taking in the beauty of that great lake, sunning our faces on the upper deck,  creating more memories, something to cross off our bucket list. October was another road trip, this time to Pennsylvania, for another wedding.  We were able to fill an entire day by visiting Gettysburg National Memorial, finishing our time there with a great burger in one of the small restaurants downtown. 

Summer allowed us to enjoy watching our oldest granddaughter play softball and in the fall our oldest grandson joined a soccer program. Seeing them enjoy, build on basic skills, and participate in a team sport filled some of our weeks traveling to watch, which we gladly did with no hesitation.

Rainy days were good ones to draw me into a good book, some for ministry and others for pure relaxation and enjoyment. Each book taught me new things to understand or escape from otherwise routine days and weeks not taken up with responsibilities.

Yes, 2024, has been good to me. And in a church wide devotional about 30 of us are doing together, the writings from December 24 were very insightful and encouraging. As I anticipate 2025–what will it hold–I like what the devotion’s author wrote: “We don’t need to wait to be called; Jesus has commanded all believers to go!”

So, what is my calling? What is yours? Often, I think Christians are waiting for a loud voice from the heavens announcing a grand “job description” on our life–become a pastor! Go, be a missionary to a foreign land! Give all your possessions to the poor and live a life of modesty! Run for public office! While these are all admirable vocations, in simplicity God calls each believer to walk the path of Jesus and do His work in order to bring increase to His Kingdom. When I answered the reflection question from the devotion I realized that my path usually winds through my church family, Celebrate Recovery, Kroger, Meijer, restaurants, sports fields, my social media platforms, and the privilege to write each week and be included in the Fowlerville News. My path may not be a very long one–with brief adventures like our out of state trips–but it remains one of importance with divine opportunities. 

Our Celebrate Recovery folks donated over $500 in December which we used to bless two families with Christmas gifts. These families were given to us by Angel Tree Ministries, caring for a loved one currently incarcerated. Last week I went with two other leaders to deliver gifts to our Lansing family. Spending time getting acquainted with them was priceless. Listening to their stories of love and support for their little nephew whose dad is currently serving his sentence, praying with them before we left, put a bright spot on my personal “path” that I know was an assignment from Jesus, a beautiful memory I will cherish and glean from the humble lessons I learned from that afternoon visit.

I don’t know what 2025 holds for me. I’m confident there will be more sporting events to attend…I have more ministry books to read…ministry at church and in my community will continue. Hopefully there will be a trip or two to enjoy another adventure!

I don’t know what 2025 holds for you either. As I look around our community I see wonderful families. I also acknowledge we have those living through hardships and tough circumstances. But I see organizations and churches–full of wonderful men and women–willing and waiting to meet needs. I see amazing Christ followers answering individual “calls” every day to change a life or fill a need. I am witnessing “Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did”. (1 John 2) Those words describe my variety of adventures in 2024 and hopefully continue in 2025–for me AND for you!

PERFECT LOVE

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Sitting on top of our Christmas tree is an angel. In her hands she’s holding an open book of sheet music, symbolizing how we sing carols that remind us of the good news the angels delivered to shepherds on the night of the Christ child’s birth. Angels–God’s personal messengers–played an important role announcing God’s plan of salvation to mankind through the arrival of His Son. So, it is fitting that the fourth candle on the advent wreath is referred to as the “Angel Candle”. Some sources refer to this candle as symbolizing peace while others say it is representing love. No matter which we may settle on, this candle–when lit–brings us full circle around a wreath reminding us to seek hope, peace, joy and now love.

A quick online search for the definition of “love”, primarily from the Greek language (our New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the common language in its time) revealed there are eight different definitions of this word. It’s fair to say that depending on which word was used for describing love, a reader or someone engaged in conversation would understand what was being conveyed.

I dare say, in comparison, that in our English language the word “love” is used to describe our emotions for a broad variety of things, including how we feel about another person. Here’s some examples how we throw around this word:

  • I absolutely love my children
  • I love cheesecake
  • I love the new TV series I’m watching
  • I love watching my kids play their favorite sport
  • I love my dog
  • I love seeing loving in action
  • I love…..(fill in the blank)

What about God’s love for us? How is His deep affection for us defined We can find an answer in the Greek word “agape”. Agape love is considered as selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial–the highest form of unconditional love. God’s love endures forever, too.

Words from the prophet Jeremiah tell us “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness”. 

Isn’t it amazing how God’s love spans all of time. This Ancient of Days as He is sometimes called, has no boundaries trying to hold back what He graciously pours out from generation to generation!  In another beautiful hymn written by Issac Watts the last verse sums up how one man described God’s love:

  • Were the whole realm of nature mine,
    That were a present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my soul, my life, my all.

As we move from Advent’s preparation of our hearts and minds to anticipate and greet the arrival of Jesus, may we take time to ponder God’s love. His love IS amazing. It IS divine. It is matchless, full of wonder, power, grace, mercy, and so much more…

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge in  the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 36-7)

May the love of Christ fill your hearts to overflowing this Christmas! May you respond to His love for you with gratitude and adoration. Merry Christmas!

JOY–LOUD & CRAZY ALLOWED

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Now under a soft glow of two flickering candles in the advent wreath, another candle is lit which adds more light to darkened worship in cathedrals, small country churches, or huge modern auditoriums. The newly lit candle–light pink in color–contrasts the other two candles which are purple. Why the difference in color? Dating back to ancient traditions in the Christian church, pink or rose color symbolizes “joy”.

A popular Christmas carol sung by people around the world is “Joy to the World”. This beautiful hymn was written as a poem by Issac Watts and published in the 1700s. His work was based on Psalm 98 and actually is about Christ’s “second coming”, not as an announcement for His birth among the nations. In this particular psalm the author uses beautiful word pictures to describe honoring the Lord with loud worship and praise. We find these phrases:

  • Shout for joy
  • Make music with harps
  • Trumpet blasts and ram’s horns
  • The rivers clap their hands
  • Let mountains sing

That’s quite the noisy approach for celebrating the Lord!

In our children’s ministry at my church, I have delighted privilege to help lead our young elementary students in group worship time. After the children settle on their benches, a countdown to group worship begins. A video starts at “30” and the kids join in announcing the descending numbers. When we reach “10” their small voices increase in volume with each number until at “zero” they are full volume! I love it. I love their excitement. I adore their passion. I am thrilled that our children have been given “space” to be loud and crazy for Jesus. I always think that we adults have much to learn from children who worship loudly without worrying about what others think about their silly antics. Oh, there are some who don’t fully engage…but seeing most who do…brings a smile to my face, especially when I see 4th and 5th graders–you know–the ones who are thinking it’s “not cool”– join in singing and making  motions we use for our songs.

Likewise, in my role as the ministry leader for our adult Celebrate Recovery ministry, I get to see men and women come through our doors who are hurting, some very deeply. They are wounded. Some are deep in addictive behavior. Somber and downcast faces are evidence of feeling bound in chains. But God. But worship. I am amazed that in “our” time of worship, these same men and women have hands lifted high as we sing about God’s love and His promises to give us freedom, hope, and healing from all that keeps us feeling hopeless.

I see women who have exited spousal abuse. I see women celebrating years of freedom from alcohol. I see men who have victory over pornography. I see women who are living life with mental health struggles. I see worshippers filled with hope and “joy”.

The holiday season is one of the most difficult times of year for anyone working on recovery. It’s why one of our last lessons we teach at Celebrate Recovery is titled “Relapse” which emphasizes the importance of being present at meetings and using every available support system to stay on track. Usually each week we welcome a new person to our group, someone who has reached a place of having lost all hope to be better. At CR we love newcomers. We love seeing men and women come back week after week in order to “let go” and “let God”,  restoring what life’s hurts, habits, and hangups have stolen from their lives.

At Celebrate Recovery, we offer hope, peace, and “joy”. We don’t do any of those things on our own, but only through the power of Jesus Christ. And now that we also offer Celebration Place for the children of our attendees, we are changing the very atmosphere in our families homes. Having these youngsters with us in our worship time is another beautiful sight to see–kids dancing around the room, jumping up and down–as their parent(s) also worship our Lord. 

Tuesday nights of worship are sheer “joy”. We are doing our part to bring the words of “Joy to the World” alive, following its commands to be “loud and crazy”.

If you are someone who needs peace, love, and joy–we invite you to join us. We meet at the Fowlerville United Brethren Church at 7 pm. Find us on Facebook or call 517.223.9490 for more information.

PEACE THAT PASSES UNDERSTANDING

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Peace. What is it and how do we receive this beautiful anecdote which brings silence and a blanket of calm that both forces chaos to halt and cease its bombardment of our emotions and senses.

In a letter dated August 16, 1945 written by a young newlywed, a bride wrote to her husband–”Well, at last there is peace. That sounds so wonderful. Tuesday night I was sitting on the porch when it came over the radio. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh”.

On the ring of the advent wreath, another candle waits to be lit, becoming a companion to “hope”.  This candle represents more than one kind of peace. With its flame burning, dancing in front of longing eyes, it emits promises of inner peace for us when life is overwhelming. A second promise calls us to know we can live in “peace with others”. Embodied in the Hebrew greeting “Shalom” is the very essence of peace “knowing that this is what is meant to be” and illustrates that God’s peace is a “slice of heaven”.

Therefore, what is “peace”? It’s more than a feeling. This much sought after feeling of hope and security is actually embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. 

Isaiah, an 8th century prophet was gifted by God to foretell his people some of the most beautiful words I’ve read or sung…”For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9: 6) 

700 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, the birth of the Christ child is recorded in the four gospels of our New Testament. Luke is my favorite author who recounted Christ’s miraculous birth and the people who were chosen to receive news of His arrival first–lowly shepherds tending their flocks in the dark of night. Utterly surprised by a multitude of angels singing– who broke into an ordinary night– their song is recorded for us in Luke 2: 14…”Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Our young bride continues in her letter…”People got guns out, old cans, anything to make some noise. People went wild with excitement. Ed and I got in the car and went downtown. Traffic was awful…papers were all torn up. Flags were out…later that evening Evie, Gloria and I went back downtown around 8:30. You could hear horns for blocks away.”

At the appointed time God sent His son Jesus to be born as a child, fulfilling not only His birth, but to assume every name in heaven granted to Him with proper authority. I can’t imagine the beautiful chaos in heaven as angels worshiped and celebrated His birth. In contrast, all of hell broke loose, too, as the adversary–God’s prime enemy–Satan, was faced with a reality shining off the face of an infant who would bring an end to evil schemes and demonic strongholds in the adversary’s  constant striving to steal, kill and destroy all that God created and loves.

“I guess everyone is looking for the day when all the boys come home…well, darling, I’m glad I don’t have to say ‘I wish’ anymore.’

A common living room radio announced the news tired nations were longing to hear. World War II was over. A young bride, anxious to be reunited with her husband, rejoiced between tears and laughter. My dad was coming home soon…

Heavenly angels were God’s messengers delivering divine news to ordinary shepherds. Years of waiting for a promised messiah were over. Although these men and their Jewish nation did not or would not fully comprehend the events coming in the next 33 years of Jesus’ life and ministry, one thing remained. A peace that surpassed any other form known to them had arrived … .this kind of peace, set in motion 2,000 years ago is still a force to be reckoned with in a world that needing to be reconciled to the Prince of Peace.

TRUE HOPE

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The day will come, says the LORD, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them. “In those days and at that time I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 33: 14-16)

It almost seems impossible that the year 2024 is drawing to an end. Thanksgiving has come and gone, decorations for Christmas have been stocked in stores for weeks already, and each time I’m driving on a dark evening more and more homes are displaying festive decor for this beautiful holiday. I love seeing the variety of decorations that folks choose to decorate houses, porches, yards, trees and bushes–it seems anything is fair game when it comes to lights, wreaths, figurines, etc. And, it seems that with the passing of each year there’s a larger variety of decor to choose from made available in all our major stores. At least it seems that way to me when I reflect on memories from past Christmas seasons.

Ours was a home that dad didn’t deck out with lights. I think he may have done so one year and wasn’t satisfied with too simple of a look. The Christmas tree we put up–usually three weeks before the big day–was always real and for many years we went to a local farm as a family to cut one which was to our liking. Trudging through the snow with my parents and two older brothers was great fun as we squabbled over “getting just the ‘right’ tree”. Hanging the lights and bulbs was a family affair..dad took care of the lights…us kids and mom hung the collection of bulbs, finished off with tinsel and candy canes carefully tucked in the branches.

Mom’s other Christmas decorations were carefully placed on the fireplace mantle and tables. The year dad remodeled the kitchen gave us room to hang garland and bulbs on a shelf  which ran the length of one wall, and even small trees were tucked in corners on tiny shelves he had built at the end of the soffit. My parents are gone now. Long gone are those days of decorating my family home. The tiny trees that used to adorn those tiny shelves in mom’s kitchen now sit in my curio cabinet as a reminder of childhood days. 

When I was in elementary school, we kids made Christmas advent chains. Using construction paper in red and green, we glued strips formed into circles, making a chain of 25 in all. Each day we were instructed to tear off one circle which helped us “count down” the arrival of Christmas…gifts under the tree…time off school….family dinners…ice skating at our neighborhood rink as well as sledding down hills…we found many ways to take advantage of snow that fell during winter!

One of my favorite aspects of the Advent Season is the wreath and candles for lighting during the four Sundays leading to Christmas Day.Years ago my dad crafted a beautiful advent wreath stand for my home church. Several years ago the congregation closed its doors which had been open for over 150 years. I’ve often wondered if the stand is in a closet somewhere, no longer an active item in Christian celebration.

 Each candle has its meaning. This week is the first Sunday in advent– “Hope”. I truly believe it’s an understatement that everyone craves “hope”, especially now in a world where two wars make headlines every day. Changes taking place in our own country are provoking a variety of emotions and opinions, even in our own community.

The Christ child’s anticipated arrival certainly influenced a 2,000 old culture. The Jews of that time, living under Roman rule and oppression, were looking for a king. Upon the arrival of the Christ child and ultimately in his adult ministry, many Jews continued to place trust and hope that “this” messiah was the one to overthrow the Roman government and release them into new freedom. Their “hopes” were greatly misguided and sadly, today, as many people continue to do so–trust and hope is being deferred to people and institutions rather than God.

God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, declaring “to fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah”. 

His good promise HAS been delivered and His name is Jesus Christ, the One to be celebrated at Christmas.

I’m excited for the beginning of Advent because of the holy day it ushers in during cold wintry days of December. I’m looking forward to the lighting of the Advent candles during worship each Sunday. As I drive around town and outside our community in the coming weeks, I look forward to beautiful displays…my prayer, however, is that in the midst of reindeer, snowmen, Santas, and angels–all those lovely holiday items–is the inclusion of nativity scenes with “a babe lying in a manger”.

Afterall, Christ is the reason we have Christmas as a worldwide celebration. His birth was prophesied hundreds of years before His appearance. Upon His arrival the world was changed forever, continuing with each passing year, and now believers wait for fulfilment of His return–the “second coming”.

In the meantime, in the waiting,  we light this week’s candle of “hope”. As Christians we are encouraged about 129 times in the New Testament to have “hope”. I think God knew we would need this beautiful emotion to embrace, especially when life gets hard. The disciple John ended his writing in chapter 16 with these words from Jesus–”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”.

As your family embraces the Christmas season, looking for traditions to continue or maybe begin–may you feel encouraged and drawn to join a body of believers to be in community. Together, we can wait with excitement and deep love as Christ is celebrated in the midst of beautiful decorations–but more importantly–empty or hurting hearts ready to be filled with true “hope”!

GOOD & PERFECT GIFTS

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Here we are in mid November, actually closing in with December’s arrival in a matter of days following our national holiday Thanksgiving. Holidays can trigger all kinds of emotions, not all of them warm and fuzzy. Some of us grew up in families that looked forward to being together around a festive table laden with delicious food, bantering conversations…all the things that create fond memories. Sadly, some of us grew up in homes that were full of dysfunction, brokenness, arguing…angry families unwilling to reconcile relationships. If you fall into one of those two categories, I am happy for your good memories. If the latter describes your childhood, I am truly sorry. The good news is this–merely because your childhood home was one of bad memories doesn’t mean you need to continue on that path.

My Grandpa Jewell was an angry man for the first 55 years of his life. While I can understand some of his reasons for his anger, it’s also an example of not allowing circumstances to be made into an “excuse” and setting a course for all of life ahead. Though the details are blurry for me,  I was told that when he and grandma married, returned from their honeymoon, their meager belongings were packed, placed on the porch of the Jewell family home that he expected to inherit, accompanied by the declaration that “the farm is being given to your sister Clara and her husband”. In the time it took to even breathe during that conversation, their entire future looked bleak. Can I blame my grandfather for becoming angry and embittered? 

Grandpa’s resentments, anger, and bitterness were woven into over 30 years of moving from several places in Michigan, farming, working for others and even trying his hand at owning a small business which failed miserably. In those 30 years 11 children came along. Older ones married. The boys enlisted in armed forces which took several off to war battles around the world. In the meantime grandma was steadfast in her faith, persevering in prayer for provision and salvation for her husband. 

God always provided somehow. What He did for her He will do for you and me, too. There always seemed to be “just enough” food and salvation came to grandpa when he was 55 years old.

Thanksgiving is the first opportunity in the holiday season where generosity becomes front and center in peoples’ minds. We begin to look for ways we can help someone less fortunate enjoy all that Thanksgiving and Christmas entail. In today’s current economy, sadly there are many families in need. We don’t need to look very far to find who we can help. Families and individuals are in our neighborhood, workplace, church, on your kids’ sports teams, their classrooms…all which we call community.

I’m thankful we have organizations in our community that help families. I’m grateful for the generosity I see in my own church family as we come alongside families struggling to make ends meet. These loving actions remind me of those times my parents willingly helped deliver Thanksgiving meals to families in the neighborhood that surrounded our church in Downtown Saginaw. I also recall an older memory, being told that a neighbor told my grandpa about free food he could get that was provided by the federal government. His stubborn pride kept him from going to the location that housed the goods and when he DID bring canned foods home,  he insisted they be kept in the pantry for awhile, as though opening the “first” one meant he had “lost” his will to be the main provider for hungry bellies.

As I said, I don’t know where Thanksgiving this year finds you. If you are well provided for with no worries, give thanks to the One Who has been generous towards you. If you are struggling and God sends someone asking if you need help, lay down fear or pride, and accept the generosity of others.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Yes, God is the provider of ALL. He makes generosity possible through organizations, churches, individuals, food pantries … .may your Thanksgiving Day be one of bounty, fond memories, and opportunities to mend any brokenness in relationships.

PUMPKIN SPICE OR APPLE?

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When we turn a calendar page from September to October, we are bombarded–in a humorous way–with all things “pumpkin spice” or “apple”. Whether it’s a coffee from a local coffee shop to baked goods, there’s something fun and special about the arrival of our fall favorite delicacies. Personally, I enjoy the flavors both fruits offer so I can’t pinpoint which I prefer.

If you follow me here regularly, you know that I have gleaned many beautiful memories from my Grandma Jewell. I was fortunate to have her in my life for 14 years but much of what I “know” about her has come from memories shared from my dad and his siblings. With Thanksgiving soon approaching I fondly remembered something that happened with Grandma and homemade pumpkin butter.

Life during the depression was very difficult across America and no different for my grandparents struggling to eke out a living on their farm in northern Michigan. The family always had a milking cow or two, but for some reason Grandma faced a stretch where she didn’t have cream to make butter. She did have some pumpkins which she turned into “pumpkin butter”. After all, she needed “something” hungry bellies could slather on her homemade bread.

She and grandpa had an occasion to entertain a male guest at their dinner table. Grandma was embarrassed that she didn’t have any butter to serve, yet she still placed bread on the table to accompany the meal. As coincidence would have it, their guest began reminiscing about his favorite foods. Low and behold he was quoted as sharing “boy, I sure do love pumpkin butter…..” “I haven’t had any in a very long time”.

“Hold on”….Grandma got up from the table, returning from her pantry carrying a huge bowl of pumpkin butter! “Enjoy!” she told him.

His simple memory of a favorite food was what it took to break through her embarrassment and pride, an action that brought joy to both.

I think there are many times we miss a blessing when we allow our fears, embarrassment, or pride to overshadow living authentically. I think of friends who live in big houses as well as smaller ones. Years ago I was jealous of a friend whose home was much larger than ours, complete with an inground pool. After visiting her I was envious for a few weeks until God reminded me that although she and her family had a large spacious home, they were missing one important thing in life. They didn’t have relationships with Jesus. The aftermath and new awareness that resulted from my visit changed my perspective on what truly matters in life.

Yes, I love “all things Fall”–pumpkin spice, apples, falling leaves, changing colors of trees, the fragrance of wood fires in our neighborhood. In a mere few weeks we will all celebrate Thanksgiving where a spirit of gratitude will hopefully be the centerpiece of tables laden with delicious foods.

I’ve never had pumpkin butter in all honesty. Maybe I need to change that and search for a recipe…make a “huge” bowl and serve it with confident joy to all who grace our home with their presence!

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PRAYERS & TEARS

Recently my husband and I watched an excellent movie that I stumbled upon while browsing our Prime account. I clicked on “Nicky’s Story” after reading the synopsis and in its beginning I confess I almost turned it off as I thought it was too slow moving and possibly a “sleeper”, the kind of plot that didn’t immediately catch my attention. I was wrong.

This documentary portrays the heroic and passionate events from the life of Nicholas Winton who was responsible for saving 669 Jewish children in the years of Hitler’s reign during World War II. He was able to fill eight different trains to deliver these children safely from Prague to the United Kingdom where he arranged for foster families to care for them.

At the movie’s end, photos of the actual survivors are featured, showing their name, age and the profession each had pursued in life. I was amazed at the number of professionals such as surgeons, scientists, technicians, teachers, etc. All lived to be quite aged and perhaps one of the greatest facts displayed on the screen is that from those 669 children, 5,700 descendants were produced.

In my own family–that of my father’s side–we have our own numbers to boast. My dad was one of 11 children; a baby boy ahead of my dad was born prematurely and survived for 8 days, so my grandmother actually bore 12 children. From my dad and his siblings, I counted 45 cousins. Several of those are deceased now. I’d love to know how many children each of my cousins had but at this point in my life, I honestly have no idea. The addition of  second, third and cousins beyond each generational label boggles my mind. Yet, in that uncertainty lies a fact I am confident about–I believe the prayers for my family that were uttered by my Grandma Jewell–those for the salvation of her children–also included her grandchildren as each one came along, trickling down through the next generation and into the present day.

The Bible says that our prayers are stored in heaven. In Revelation 5: 8 it states “…and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people”.

My grandmother’s prayer life was most often in the early hours of the morning. I’ve been told she was awake most nights beginning at 2 am to be in prayer. This was after a long day caring for children, preparing meals, helping with farm chores–all without many modern appliances. It was her habit to pray for her children beginning with the eldest to the youngest. As the boys went off to war, her prayers intensified. As each married, there was a new family loved one tucked inside her heart. And with each new “precious life” added into her growing family, her prayer list grew, filling a golden bowl in heaven.

As beautiful to know that our prayers are forever kept by God, there is also great comfort that He also stores our tears. In Psalm 56: 8 it says “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book”.

My grandmother surely shed her fair share of tears. There was the tragic death of an eldest grandson which happened while in her and grandpa’s care. His dad, my Uncle Bud, had remarried and while on his honeymoon his three children from a first marriage were with my grandparents. Buddy, age 4, ran into the road and was struck by a car. Because of that incident, over the years that we visited my grandparents, we were strictly told not to play by the road.

In 1953, the very day that I was born in November, my Uncle Rusty lost his oldest daughter to polio. She was merely 8 years old. I have no doubt that grandma joined her son and my aunt crying for Sheryl’s precious life, taken by a sickness that later became curable with a vaccine, only too late for her.

Knowing that God stores prayers and tears in heaven gives me a great sense of joy and hope. Nothing you or I talk to Him about or  as we sit quietly with tears streaming down our cheeks goes unnoticed by Him. I can think of no greater comfort than those two promises which are recorded for us in scripture. I can only imagine the number of golden bowls and vials God is using to capture every word, every tear from every person from generations past to now.

When I close my eyes, I can see my grandmother in her rocking chair, Bible open on her lap which is covered by her apron, soft hands folded across open pages of a favorite scripture. And while I envision worn pages from years of use, I can also see stains where tears of joy or heartache marked each heartfelt prayer to her Heavenly Father.  And I  see a golden bowl paired on a table with a vessel of tears. Both are labeled “Sadie Florence Morris Jewell”.