Daddy’s Dreams

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August 12th, 2008

Dear Children and older grands,

Becky and Jim were here the other evening and we were talking about people having dreams from the Lord.  I then told Becky about Grandpa Martenson having dreams from the Lord and she said I had never told her.  You know how I am always asking, “Have I told you this a million times?”.  Well apparently I hadn’t told her and maybe hadn’t told the rest of you, so I thought this might be a good time.  August is the month of Grandpa’s birthday, Aug 23rd.  This year he would have been 104.  I loved him so much and I think of him each day as I see various pictures around here of him.  But back to his dreams.

One time I asked him why he married Grandma Martenson.  He said the Lord gave him a dream three times in a row that he was to marry her.  He told me he knew dreams were from the Lord when he had them three times.  He also said, “If I hadn’t married her there would be no Rosy, Becky, Cindy, Jane, Bart or Pollyann.”  Oh, my what a sacrifice he made for us all to be alive and have the genes we do.  We know it was not a happy marriage.

When I was about 11 years old he gave me a poem book entitled, “One Hundred and One Famous Poems”.  Oh, I loved that book, and read and reread those poems.  It was strange I was reading that poetry book, when perhaps I should have been reading “Anne of Green Gables”.  But I loved it so much and became acquainted with famous people of poetry.

Well, about one year before my daddy died he told me of some other dreams he had had.  He said he knew they were of the Lord because they came 3 times.

He said the first night he dreamed he was near the water on a cove, and a big sailing vessel was coming into the harbor.  He said the first night he could only see the first words on the bow of the ship.  It said “THAN”.

Then he said the second night the same ship came in.  It was foggy but as the fog lifted he saw the words on the front of the ship, “THANATOP”.

Then the third night the same dream came but when the ship came in he read the whole name, “THANATOPSIS”.  He said he didn’t know what the name meant.

But I did and I was afraid to tell him.  I just told him it was the name of a poem.  It was in my precious book of poems and was written by William Cullen Bryant.  It is a poem about “death”.  I don’t know if I ever told him or read it to him and I still don’t know if the poem was for him, or to prepare me.

But it pierced my heart as perhaps nothing has since.

I guess I just wanted to tell you all.

Love you all, Mom/Gr. Rosy

Email sent February 28th 2015

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Below is one of the last emails Grandma Rosy sent to her family before her stroke. This one of thousands of emails that were sent with the hope of encouraging those around her.
Hi Dear Family,
 I wanted to tell you about today and the “glad surprises” all day.  I felt very good last night and was hoping it would last until today  and it has.  The Lord had special words for me in Jesus Calling this morning,Feb.18.  As I have told you before, the Lord had been speaking to my heart the words,  “I Will Be With You”.   And I told you he said the same words to my heart when Dick was going thru the Brain tumor drama.   Not that all was going to be OK  but that He would be with me.  And that was enough then, and it was enough now.  Also He had been giving me great Peace, and Peace seemed to be the key word.  Prior to that Hope was my fixation perhaps,  but it was as tho that was not as important,  and I just felt covered in peace.
Yesterday morning, during our devotional time Bryna called and it was so good talking with her.  Her kids hadn’t come yet so she had a few min. to talk.  Then when she hung up Dick handed me a little bookmark that had been in his devotion book and it was Rom. 15:13, Bryna’s favorite verse.  “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope.”  I called Bryna right back and felt it was a confirmation for her, of that verse, but that it wasn’t really for me,  as Peace was my gift at the time.  But I soon realized that the “hope” was for me.  And that the Lord was giving me back “Hope” and it made me excited.  I still have peace but I have that with hope.  Then I told you about the day yesterday, but today was so special.
As I read Jesus Calling the first words were “I am with you,  (I couldn’t believe it and was so excited).   The whole message is so good and I know that many of you read this devotional.   But these are some of the words that stood out,  “These four words are like a safety net, protecting you from falling into despair.  Because you are human you will always have ups and downs in your life experience.  But the promise of My Presence limits how far down you can go.   ………Yet as  soon as you remember that “I am With You” your perspective changes radically.  ………. you recall that not only am I with you,  “I am holding you by your right hand.”  I told you that too yesterday that even tho I had been in a pit, so to speak I felt the Lord holding my hand. So that was such a good start to the morning.
Just wanted to you know that Hope has returned,  and Peace is continuing.  It is Well with My Soul, keeps going thru my mind and I love that song.  “When peace like a river attendeth my soul”.  And Peace and Hope are flooding my soul.  Just wanted you to know I am in a good place, and thank you all for praying for me.  
Much love, 
Mom/Gr. Rosy/Rosy

Precious Treasures and Promises

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God’s Bank Account verse:

Psalm 50:14-15 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most High; and (then) call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.”

What does this mean to me:

During the everyday disappointments of daily life- being thankful for EVERYTHING- Saying “Thank you Lord for allowing this to happen and help me to see the blessing in it” Based on Thess. 5:18 and Romans 8:28.

We raised our children on these verses. They are the key of making Jesus real in our home. It is like depositing in the Bank of Faith- your sacrifices of thanksgiving- even if you don’t feel like it. It will really build your faith as you see that “all things DO work together for good.”

Then when the bad things do come into your life, you can call upon the Lord and you have built an account of faith and you know that He will deliver you in the big things too.

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING- I Thessalonians 5:17

Pray about everything in your life, little things, big things. Ask him about all the details. Our children have said they felt one of the biggest reasons they became Christians was that Jesus was made real in our home. And this is how He can be made real. To pray about everything and allow the children to see that He does answer and He does care. We would always pray in the car as we left together to go to the mountain, on any little trip. Pray before we went shopping, that the Lord would help us find the perfect things at the perfect prices. Pray for all sporting events. Pray at the exact time of school tests. Pray for personal relationship, for disappointments, for finding things, and this could go on and on. Allowing the Lord to be part of EVERYTHING you do.

Summer

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After saying “yes” to many things during the Spring, we get into our Summer season. Oh yes, we are blooming… we are enjoying what we are doing and our self esteem is going up as we get compliments on the good jobs we are doing. But we start hearing from our children, “You’ve been gone three nights in a row. When are you going to stay home?” They start saying “Who is sick?” when they see a cake you have baked or cookies you have made, knowing it wouldn’t be for them. What started out as fun and challenging is turning out to be a drag and hard work and you start thinking “I’ll be glad when this is over!”

Do we get so busy in the Summer season that we don’t have time for our family? We begin to hear, “You said you were going to fix this…. do this… talk more to me about this… but you never have time.” They said, “I have tried to tell you but you didnt listen, you were in a hurry.” Soon we dont have quite the excitement for the job as we did in the Spring when we said yes. This is why you need to ask the Lord BEFORE you say yes. He knows what it will entail and what it will cost your family. He knows better than you how much you can handle. You might say, “Ok, I didnt ask the Lord or get his OK for what I’m doing but the results are good. Isn’t that what is important?” NO. The bible has some strong things to say about “Doing a good job but neglecting our family.”

I Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

One of the strongest examples is the story of Eli: 1 Samuel 2:11-12 “And the boy (Samuel) ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli of the priest. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, they had no regard for the Lord.” Now there was a priest at the temple of the Lord He was serving the Lord and doing a good job, wasnt that enough. He had worthless sons who didnt love the Lord, but that wasn’t Eli’s fault was it?

I Samuel 2:22-2 1 Samuel 2:22-25  “Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good.  If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.”

I Samuel 2:34-35 “and this which shall befall your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you; both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before me anointed forever.”

Do we become so busy during our summer season that we don’t have time to restrain our children or even love them properly? I shall give you a personal example of this and what the Lord showed me:

Becky was in Bible School, Cindy and Jane in High School, Bart in Jr High and Pollyann in grade school. Dick and I had been asked to be counselors at a Young Life camp and we said yes. We were done for the weekend and left the older children in charge. Monday after the camp weekend I got a knock on the door and it was a policeman. He said, “Do you know what your darling children were doing this weekend? Oh my, I didnt like the tone of his voice. My children were darling but he was being very sarcastic. He said they had pulled out a stop sign and were stopping cars and then squirting them with whipped cream and then jumping back in to the bushes. It was night time and very dark, and apparently they had left Pollyann home alone sleeping.

When the children came home I told them of the visit. They were very honest and said that yes, they had done that and also their cousin Jim Tobiason was with them. They said they had found the stop sign in the woods behind our house and the whipped cream bit was from some movie that was popular at that time. They were very sad and hadn’t meant to do anything bad. Well, I went to the police station and talked to the policeman. He really was a nice man and realized it was just in fun but he said it could have been serious and we should make the children realize that. So Dick and I talked with them very seriously and told them they had to take the sign down to the police station, and apologize to the policeman and say they will never do such a thing again. They did and it seemed like it worked out OK.

But the next day I went to Bible Study Fellowship and we were studying Genesis and it just happened to be in Genesis 34. Jacob was so busy away serving the Lord that he was not aware of what his sons and daighters were going. One of the questions was, “Are you sometimes so busy serving the Lord that you do not know what your children are doing?” Oh my, did that hit home!

It also taught us some lessons. We would concentrate on raising our own children and “do camps” for other children after ours were raised.

Love from MM “Mama Mentor” – May 2005

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The following was sent to Tanea, one of the many women Grandma Rosy has mentored and encouraged over the years…

Sent May 6th 2005

Dear Tanea,

Now I have sent the two letters to I told you about and all that is in the Lord’s hands and we shall forget about it and know he is in control. But I want to talk to you about some other things. I had a very special time with the Lord yesterday in the morning from the Retreat I was a group leader of 6 women. I told them if they would like to try to get up early each morning to have quiet time with the Lord, I would pray for them for 21 days. And Dick would too. Well, 3 of them chose to do this and we have been praying for them and they have been writing back and the Lord has been blessing them.

I don’t know if I told you, but last Tuesday I woke up at 5am and was wide awake and felt so good. My brain was alive and I had energy all day to get ready for Soup and Surprise. The day before I had my list but the Lord brought people my way to talk to and pray for and I didn’t do anything on my list. But when I just said OK Lord, this is your plan and I will roll with it…..it was a blessed day. I thought for one thing, the Lord gave me that day of energy because I followed his plan on Monday.

I did have energy on Wednesday for Soup and Surprise and prayed that yesterday I would again wake early and have a great day. Well, I didn’t and it was after 6am and I awoke tired. I was also a day of prayer and fasting for us as it was National Day of Prayer for our nation and our pastor challenged us to fast and pray and then all meet at the church at 7pm for a special prayer service. I haven’t been able to fast because of my hypoglycemia, but I tried yesterday with no food, but water, and juice and coffee and did fine. But back to my morning… I felt that I could either have a droopy day or “choose” to have a good one. I could “choose” to exercise and I could “choose” to think about the positive side of things. Years and years ago there was a song that said “You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” and that is what I “chose” to do. So as I sat with my yellow pad while praying and prayed that I could have a miracle from my devotion book to share with my ladies. I wrote on the pad “I Can Choose” and prayed something to do with that would be in the book and I could tell the ladies how so often the Lord has met my heart and need through these books, and of course the Bible. But god Calling, God at Eventide, and My Utmost for His Highest are full of notes on the side of what happened on certain days.

Well, first I opened God Calling for May 5th and what was the title of the message…..LET ME CHOOSE. I was so excited and it blew me away. Yes, here I had been saying “I” can choose in all those things, and wanted a word from the Lord. So I was able to tell all that to my 3 ladies. So I did let him choose, but he also chose to have me exercise…. darn it! Smile.

Then on Saturday morning, just before going to the Agros Training Day leaving at 8am, the Lord brought alive scripture to me that has been a blessing. I dont know if I shared that with you either. But in My Utmost for His Highest for that day, a reference to Romans 5:5 was given and as I looked that up my eyes were taken to the other side of the page where some verses had been marked and circled. What was such a blessing to me was Romans 4:19-21 and what popped out was some words circled were in verses 20-21 “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith AS he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was ABLE to do what he promised”. I loved that his faith grew strong AS he gave glory to God. He didn’t wait until the miracle happened of the promised baby, but he gave God the glory along the way, and his faith grew. We must give God the glory along the way, not just wait until the miracle happens.

And so with him being fully convinced that God was ABLE. I love that. I learned that years ago regarding healing. I would pray, believing with all my heart that a certain person would be healed and then sometimes they wouldn’t be and passed away. I thought “How can I throw myself into believing and having faith when I know He sometimes does not heal?” Then I realized that I could throw my faith and my belief totally on the fact that yes, God is ABLE. Sometimes He chooses not to heal but is able and I will claim that and believe that.

So with this trip and with your daughter, I know God is ABLE to heal her and I trust and pray for that. What he decides to do is up to him, but I throw myself on the thought that he is ABLE and he loves her more than anything and he is going to care for her.

Well, I think I have rambled on enough. Oh, I need to have you right in this room because I have so much to tell you always and it can be hard to put on paper.

Love you so much,

MM (Grandma Rosy)

Glad Surprise

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From God at Eventide November 20th Watchful Expectancy

“Can a life be dull or dreary when always there is that watchful expectancy, always that anticipation of GLAD SURPRISE, always wonder of fulfillment, joy of supply?”

From God Calling March 7th Surprises

“I loved to prepare a feast for them by the lakeside- A LITTLE GLAD SURPRISE- not a necessity, as the feeding of the multitude may have seemed. I love to give the wine-gift at the marriage feast.”

From God Calling October 28th Glad Surprises

“Bow as a child bows in anticipation of a “glad surprise” being prepared for him by the one who loves him. Bow in such a way, just waiting to hear the loving words to raise your head, and see the glory and joy and wonder of your surprise.”

From God at Eventide August 10th Glad Surprise

“Live so near to me that you may never miss the opportunity  of being used by Me….. So be very near to Me, and you cannot fail to be much used….. Remember that Love is the Great Interpreter, so that those who love you and are near to you are the ones you can help the most. Do not pass them by for others, though your influence and helpfulness will gradually spread, in an ever-widening circle. You will live in a spirit of GLAD SURPRISE.”

I use the devotional books God at Eventide and God Calling each day, along with Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Dick and I were in Bergen, Norway on March 7th, 1992 and were reading these each day. As we read the one about the Glad Surprise in the God Calling for that day, we were in anticipation of what the Lord had in store for us that day and each day we were in Norway. It was amazing. We were there, sort of on our own for a change, and He planned a Glad Surprise for us each day. When we got home we began living in that anticipation and also using that term a lot. Now it is so fun to just see what Glad Surprise the Lord has in store for us each day. Sort of an extension of Romans 8:28 that all things do work together for good and God can make glad surprises out of days that might not seem like anything special at the beginning.

Thus came the name for my email address.

 

Three small reflections

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Psalms 34:5a “Look at Him and be radiant”.

“Mom, you sound so much better, you must have been sitting under your light”, said daughter Cindy as we chatted on the phone in mid January.

This came a day or so after a letter from daughter Becky, who lives in London. She said, “You sounded so much better in your last letter, you must have been sitting under your light. We were worried when in the letter before you said how boring everything was and the most exciting thing that had happened that week was getting a new toilet.”

Because of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I sit by an “Argo” light in the mornings from January through April. I have seen amazing results because of the light therapy. However, after Cindy’s call and Becky’s letter, I began to think, “It is apparently very noticeable at least to my family when I have been faithful with my Argo light.” Psalms 34:5 came to mind and I wondered if it was as obvious to others when I have been in the presence of the “light of the world”.

Prayer: Oh Lord, today may your light shine through me to those whom I meet. May it be very obvious that I have been in your presence. May I radiate with your love today. Amen.

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Romans 8:24-25 “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Our long driveway from our house to the road was an absolute disaster and looked like a war zone. After the recent ice storm of December 26th our beautiful “Drømmegaard” (Our Dream Farm) looked more like a nightmare than a dream.

I surveyed downed trees and fallen limbs and wondered if there was any hope under all that rubble for the previous peaceful sanctuary that this farm had become. Was all of Dick’s hard work in vain? Was there any hope for the future of this place?

Then one morning in late January I noticed the wild snow drops had begun to appear along the side of the driveway. Green leaves pushing out of the ground with little bell shaped white flowers hanging from them. To me it was God’s miracle of promised spring. The life of that little flower was there all the time under the ugly rubble and ready to burst forth in God’s perfect timing.

Prayer: Oh Lord, when things seem to be falling apart around me in my life, help me to know that your life and love and hope are alive and powerful, under it all and the evidence of it will spring forth in your perfect timing.

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II Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

It was a cold and dreary day in February, 1975. As I sat at my Quiet Time with the Lord that morning I was thinking about my life at the moment. My husband, a self employed builder, was in between jobs. We had a houseful of five children in age from 12 to 20. As I prayed, I asked the Lord to give me peace regarding our financial situation. That a new job would be forthcoming and that our needs would be met.

Later that day I looked out into our backyard and saw that the bird feeder was empty and the little birds were fluttering around the feeder. I was thinking, “You silly birds, you think there is no more food and you are looking very anxious. But I know I have a big bag of birdseed in the store room and you just cant see it”. Suddenly a light when on in my head. Oh Lord, Is that what you are trying to tell me? That I am fluttering around like those little birds, worrying about our next job, while all the time YOU know where the job is, and where the food is. It is only I who cannot see it!

Prayer: Oh Lord, help me to trust you for your provision. You are so faithful and you promise that you will not let the righteous go hungry (Proverbs 10:3). Help me to walk into this day full of hope and joy in you, knowing that you care for us and will provide for our needs. Amen.

Summer at Wollochet- 1963

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The summer of 1963 was a special summer for us. We took our children and spent the summer at a little cabin belonging to Dick’s folks, located on Wollochet Bay. It was the same place Dick had spent summers when he was a child. Our children were ages: Becky 8, Cindy 6, Jane 4, Bart 2, and I was expecting a baby in November.

It was the first summer of many but took a little courage to do it the first time. We took them away from their nice house in University Place, their friends, and to a little place, with no TV, no telephone, and they were not involved in any summer sports activities. It was a very small cabin with one little bedroom that Dick and I used. The girls slept up in the attic and Bart in a little closet. It had a window and a sliding door but it was the size of a closet and just fit the crib.

It took two weeks for the children to settle into the relaxed easy life style that we wanted, and before they stopped saying, “What is there to do?” I felt sorry for people who only had two week vacation and then had to get back “into the pace”. We really had a wonderful time and below is a memory I wrote during that summer…..

September 7, 1963- It’s hard to believe it is moving day already and we have stayed a week longer than that. We have been so glad we stayed this extra week as the weather has been the nicest we’ve had all summer. It is just gorgeous today and it will be hard to leave later on in such nice weather. We have been packing and hauling all morning. Now the little ones are sleeping and Becky and Dick are walking on the breach. I thought this would be a good quiet time to do this writing and start scrubbing the cabin out when I am through. I am sitting on the cabin porch writing, look down Hales passage and it’s beautiful. Blue skies, sunshine, little breeze up here, seagulls calling, small waves lapping the beach and the sound of a motor boat once in a while.

It’s hard to find the right words to describe what the summer has meant to all of us. I know it has been the most wonderful summer I have had in my whole life. Even though the weather wasn’t too good we had such a wonderful, relaxed, restful and fun summer. Each day seemed like a precious experience that you just wanted to grasp and not let go. I had felt so close to God, to Dick, and to the children. I think we all sensed this closeness and enjoyment together of simple pleasures.

Becky’s swimming really improved this summer. She can swim about 10 strokes to the raft and swim on her back awhile. What fun they had playing in that cold water. Then when the tide came high in front of George’s house, they had so much fun playing in the sand. Digging swimming pools and letting the tide fill them up. It was so cute to see all those little bottoms sticking up in the air while they were digging so industriously. What a change in Cindy over the summer as well. At the beginning of the summer she was thin and sick from getting her tonsils removed, but now she is has gained some weight, has color on her skin, and is looking healthy. Jane had such fun too, still trying to keep up with the others but thinking of plenty of things to do on her own too.

Little Barty was such a joy to us all this summer. Running around much of the time in his short ragged jeans and now he is as brown as a berry. He has kept us amused with his singing, which he picked up from listening to us. His favorites are, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, The Bible, He lives, and Now I Belong to Jesus. We’ll always remember the fun we had on the hayride and the fun working on and presenting the Indian Pageant.

I think one of the happiest memories for all of us will be the wonderful times we had together in the evening for our family devotions. We either had these by the bulkhead fire or fireplace in the living room. Before we started devotionas I would read a chapter from the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. We are now on the 4th book. Dick and I enjoyed theses stories as much as the children. Then Dick would read a chapter from the devotional book, “Happy Acres”. We finished it this summer too. Then we would ask questions and each person would offer a prayer. It was so sweet to hear the dear prayers of these little children. Then often we would sing together all the songs the children knew, especially when we were on the bulkhead. Many times Dick sang, “The Stranger of Galilee”, for us from the Haven us Rest songbook. It was so beautiful to hear him singing in the dark, by firelight with the waves lapping on the beach. 

The kids really enjoyed the rope swing Dick made for them up in back. Not only our kids but all the neighborhood kids as well. Walking together on the beach, hiking on the country roads, swinging in the hammock, sitting on the porch just looking, going to Gig Harbor to do our shopping, are all things we have enjoyed. The kids have enjoyed riding bikes or walking to Ed’s for a little candy, playing in the attic on rainy days, playing with the Dahl girls and just goofing around in general. 

We hope we have impressed on the children too, the face that we have been so terribly happy here in this little cabin, and that if we should sometime not have our pretty house in town, we could be just as happy together in a little house…. that a home isn’t a big house, but all of us together with Christ in the center, doing His will. 

I think we all feel an overflowing of thankfulness to God for allowing us to be out here this summer and keeping the children safe from harm. It is all our prayers that we will be able to spend many more summers out here- just as wonderful as this one has been. 

Raising Your Children For the Lord

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In the early 80’s I presented a similar lesson to this one about raising godly children. After presenting this lesson one Sunday, I had all five of my children come the next Sunday, hoping they would back up what I had presented. But I remember Bart had rather shot down what I thought was important. One of the points was making Jesus real in our home. Bart said that to him it really didn’t matter that we went to church, and what it was that made Christ real to him was that he was made alive and real in our home.

So that has given me the thought to look into a little different area of this subject.

1 Peter 3:6b  “…and you are now her children if you do right and let nothing terrify you.”

Deut 31:6 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them; for it is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear to be dismayed.”

These verses are so true for mothers. It is an awesome job. Awesome for you with young children and all that is ahead of you. Awesome for me as a grandmother and walking beside my grown children. Let those verses give us courage.

Thinking of this lesson a sentence came to mind in a paper we received from the Browns in London regarding their vision for the United Kingdom. It said, “History in this country has shown that when a few committed young men and women embrace and live out the principles of Jesus Christ, the nation had not only moved, but changed for the better.” I think that is so true as we consider bringing our children up for Jesus and leading them to follow him. We first have to embrace and live out the principles of Jesus Christ in our own lives and in our home. Our first priority is to be attached to Christ ourselves, embracing him and living out his principles. As we lift Him up in our homes and in our daily life, He will draw those children to himself.

Matthew 19:13-14 “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder him, for such belongs the kingdom of heaven'”.

John 12:32  “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”

How can we lift up Jesus in our homes for our children to see? For one thing, by having Jesus live in us and through us and by knowing what Jesus would have us to do…. and then do it. I think a key thought in the Matthew 19 reference is “not to hinder the children from coming to Jesus”. What do we do as parents that ends up being a hindrance to our children seeing Jesus? Perhaps…. arguing with their dad in front of them? Gossiping? Being sarcastic, bitter or revengeful? What can we do to help them see Jesus in our actions and decisions?

We can either claim James 1:5 for wisdom in the little decisions, and perhaps help build the fence at the top of the cliff. Or wait until disaster strikes and pray for ambulance service at the bottom of the cliff. Time with the Lord is so important in raising our children and asking the Lords wisdom on decisions we need to make. If we don’t do this, we will use our human wisdom and what seems good and right to us, not necessarily what the Lord would have us do.

Isaiah 55:8,9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”

Example: When Jane didn’t want to be confirmed and instead wanted to be baptized in the water off Fox Island

Don’t let pride enter into your decisions with your children. What will the church think? What will my friends think? It is important to not only pray for our children, but with them for their personal needs.

Example: Praying for Pollyann with sports and praying for tests with Bart

Dick one time shared in a couples class about living on the edge financially, and how he felt he invested in his kids lives, not financially in their future. He didn’t save for college for them and didn’t have large insurance plans. He felt by being a part of Sitzmark Ski Lodge at Crystal and skiing and playing with them, he was investing in their lives and our life as a family. He felt boats, jet skis and waterskiing were also investments in our family, keeping the kids close to home and out of trouble.

There was a couple in the class we were teaching, who we had hoped to get to know better and who after this class asked us to have coffee. We did, anticipating they wanted to talk about the Lord or parenting. But no, he was an insurance agent and he really confronted Dick for telling people, in his opinion, to not buy insurance but rather to spend money on activities to do with your children. So, not everyone agrees with our theories.

In the 80’s when Dick lost his business and we went through some very hard times financially, some people would ask, “Do you now wish you had done things differently and had been more careful with your money?” He always said, “No, I wouldn’t change a thing.” He felt he had his children and they were close to him and that was more valuable than all the money in the world. The Lord did provide a way for them all to do to college for as much as they wanted or needed.

If we can lift up Jesus in purity and truth, not hindering our children in anyway, they will see Him and He will draw them to himself and they will follow Him.

Oh, Lord give us grace to allow Jesus full reign in our lives, to live and shine, so that He will be lifted up.

The Precious Present

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Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Don’t look BACKWARD: Phil 3:13 “…Forgetting what lies behind.”

Don’t look FORWARD: Matt 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day. ”

But look UPWARD (today): Isaiah 26:3 “Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.”

What if I don’t have things to rejoice over this day?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in ALL circumstance.”

Romans 8:28 “All things work together for good, with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:38 “For I am sure that neither death not life not… nor THINGS PRESENT… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Romans 8:18 “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

We must learn to trust the Lord each day, for our needs for that day!

Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

Exodus 16:4 “Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day….

Exodus 16:21 “Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat, but when the sun grew hot it melted.”

What is the secret?

Phil. 4:11-13 “Not that I complain of want- for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound, in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and want- I can do all things through Him who gives me strengthens me.”

Lesson: Be a more positive person, not a grumbler and complainer and also a lesson on forgiveness.

The more I thought of these I realized how they really are tied together. If we grumble and complain we often have the attitude of not wanting to forgive someone or being unable to forgive ourselves.

First I think we must ask ourselves- “Do we really believe He is ABLE?”

Able to make me a more positive person

Able to forgive me

Able to help me to forgive others

Able to care for my needs

Able to help me give up resentment

We sing, “He’s able, he’s able, I know he’s able. I know my Lord is able to carry me through.”

Jude 24 “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen.”

Romans 16:25 “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…”

Ephesians 3:20.21 “Now to him who by the power at work within is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever, Amen.”

But do we really believe it? Would we really complain so much about our situations if we really believe that Jesus could change it for us- give us peace in the midst of it- and work it all out for good?

The life verses that I claimed for my family, Romans 8:28 along with 1 Thess 5:18- I think helped me to look on the positive side of things instead of negative.

Romans 8:28 “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.”

1 Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstance for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

I really think these are companion verses and if used together and really claimed and used they will change your life and your outlook. You begin in every bad situation to think, “this is a good one Lord, how will you ever work for good in this?” And then you begin to look and wonder and your eyes are turned upon him and what he is going to do, and not on the bad things that could happen.

This is what Pollyanna did in the movie and book “Pollyanna”. People make fun of her and her name has been used with a goody-goody person who only sees the good. This is sad because being content is scriptural.

My Becky has claimed these verses with her life and family and is a very positive person and I know some people make fun of her too and call her Pollyanna but she has a beautiful life and family and spirit to show for it. It can be almost a game- looking forward with anticipation to what good shall come from this. Also, Phil 4:8,9 can be very helpful to make us a positive person and looking on the positive side of things. I use this verse in the lesson on worry and Becky uses it in talking about husbands. Even if 95% of things are bad and 5% are good, think on the 5% and the Lord will bless you and your marriage for it.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.”

We can choose to focus on the 5% good, on the one lovely thing, on the one true thing in the situation and claim Isaiah 26:3 “Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. He will give us that perfect peace as we CHOOSE to look to him, and be positive and then receive his perfect peace”. How can we be grumblers and complainers if we are experiencing God’s perfect peace? Or we can CHOOSE to grumble and complain about the situation and allow a root of bitterness to grow and allow many people- innocent members of our family- to be defiled.

Hebrews 12:15 ” See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and cause trouble and by it the many become defiled.”

The Bible talks of complaining:

  • Psalm 77
  • Jude 16
  • John 6:43

We don’t want to be grumblers and complainers. Let us look to Jesus and receive all that He has for us and believe that he is ABLE to change our hearts. Let us look to what the Bible stays about forgiveness. Usually if we are complaining it is because of a person, something someone has done to us, something someone has not done for you. If we are able to forgive that person, would it not stop our complaining about him also.

  • Matthew 5:23,24
  • Collosians 3:12-15
  • Jeremiah 31:34

Let us really try to put these verses to work in our lives- and become the more positive forgiving woman of God that He would have us be.

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