Shocked. Yet honored. Placide Cappeau of Roquemaure, France, was a commissionaire of wines in 1847. Asked by the small town parish priest to pen a poem for Christmas, he was happy to share his talent with the church, even though he was known more for his poetry than his church attendance. Traveling to Paris in a horse-drawn coach, Cappeau decided to use the gospel of Luke as his inspiration and imagined he was a witness to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. By the time he arrived in Paris, he had completed “Cantique de Noel.” Moved by his own writing, …
A Mother’s Heart…A Thanksgiving Prayer
I love watching old programs and movies. I wish programs today were more like the ones in the ’50s and ’60s. Much more receptive to Christian values. It was a given that people went to church. Although the name of Jesus is omitted from the end of this Thanksgiving prayer, I still love it. I offer to you… Jim Anderson, the imitable father of Father Knows Best prayed this prayer one year at the end of the Thanksgiving episode… “Oh, Lord, we give Thee thanks from the depths of our humble hearts, for all the blessings Thou hast seen fit …
What Are You Harvesting?
Maple trees burst forth with golden-bronze highlights. Leaves dance as beechnuts fall to the ground. Red tinges the tips of burning bushes. Pumpkin patches set ablaze with orange, plump fruit. My favorite time of year. Fall. It always brings to mind the seasonal word harvest. Nature goes through its seasons, as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (NKJV) Just as nature, we, as Christians, have circumstances that bring rain, sunshine, heat, cold, storm, calm, dryness, fire, and flood. Our aim is to always work toward having a spiritual …
A Mother’s Heart…Beauty Injections
Do you know about Groupon? You probably do. It’s a website that offers a deal-of-the-day feature with a paid, discounted gift certificate for a specific amount of service or product redeemable at local or national companies. And when you sign up with them, they will send you daily announcements for your locality. I got one the other day that made me laugh out loud. In the subject line was this… Beauty Injections Wow! Now, wouldn’t that be nice? We could all get shots and be beautiful…on the inside! {giggle} What does the world tell us? Look like this celebrity. Look …
A Mother’s Heart…Heart Murmurs
Heart murmurs… * are extra heart sounds caused by turbulent blood flow, sufficient enough to produce an audible noise, ranging from very faint to very loud. * are due to functions and activities of life or of living matter (physiologic conditions) outside the heart. * are a treatable and preventable condition. If not serious, medication will improve the condition. If more serious, surgery may be in order. But what if it is spiritual rather than physical? What then are those heart sounds, from faint to loud, due to conditions outside the heart? Israel had this heart problem. What was it? …
A Mother’s Heart…Summer Daze
“It’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it! Do all you want to; take in everything, but realize that you must account to God for everything you do.”(Eccl. 11:9-10 TLB) The Baby Boomer era is said to be the years between 1946 and 1964 so that would include me. I belong in the very first year of that group, born in 1946. So, now you know how old I am! Each year, when summer comes and the school lets out, it always makes me reflect on my childhood summers that seemed to last forever. I think about all …
A Mother’s Heart…Are You Full of Dynamite?
It’s that time of year for waving the flag and patriotic songs, picnics and fireworks. Fireworks. Power. Makes me think of the scripture I’ve been pondering lately. Here’s the verse: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” (Eph. 3:20 NIV, bold mine) This stirs me to search my heart and question myself… * Am I allowing the Lord to work His power in me? * Am I obstructing His working through me? * What am I doing to clog up the …
A Mother’s Heart…All the Empty Chairs
This is my post to recognize and honor those who have given their lives, standing in harm’s way, that we all might live in freedom… Memorial Day… …originally known as Decoration Day as it was a day to honor the Civil War dead by decorating their graves. First observed on May 30, 1868 by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. Part of his proclamation says… “What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their …
A Mother’s Heart…Sweet Smell of Sacrifice
In ancient Jewish tradition, a mother wove a seamless garment for her son when he left home. Did Mary do this for Jesus? No one knows but I’m pretty sure, if she held to tradition, she must have. If Mary lovingly created it, Jesus wore it, probably wearing it before His betrayal when He went to Simon the leper’s house. As He reclined at the table, a woman came and broke open her beautiful, alabaster passion box, full of the extremely valuable, perfumed oil of spikenard. As she lovingly poured it upon Jesus’ head, it likely trickled down His cheeks, …
Woman, Why Do You Weep?
In the chilly dampness of the early morning hours, a woman gropes her way through the dark city streets of Jerusalem. Carrying only a small oil lamp to light her way, Mary Magdalene is joined by Joanna, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James. Leaving the city, they wend their way to the dew-moistened garden where Jesus had been buried. Dressed in their mourning apparel and blurry-eyed from their tears of grief, they enter the garden of the tomb, carrying the spices to anoint Jesus’ body. The first glints of sunlight peek over the horizon as they approach the tomb. …