A Legacy

It's been a while since I have posted on here, and it's probably because I haven't had much of anything to post about, but I have now.

This morning my grandfather passed away into glory to meet his Savior.

This past June all of us kids that are still living at home were able to take a trip with my parents to go visit some of our relatives on the eastern side of the US.  We made a point to see my grandpa and grandma while we were there.  Grandpa was doing pretty well and we all really enjoyed cracking up at his still hilarious "Grandpa" jokes.

Some of the things he said and did were so funny:

- "Kamatanah!" *slaps forehead*

- "He's a baaaad boy."

- *makes chair move up... then makes chair move down*


This morning, hearing he died, made me think more on his life and my memories of him.  My sister reminded me (all of us in an e-mail) of how much he loved the song "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder."

Here are the lyrics

When the Roll is Called Up Yonder
By James Black

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

 

Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.


I remember the time when he was visiting and we were all sitting around having a hymn sing and he told us how much he loved that song.  The last verse in particular describes my Grandpa well.  He labored for his Master, raising his children to truly love God and furthering the kingdom of God.  He also spoke of God with reverence, sharing His love with almost everyone that he met.  Now, his work is done on earth and he has gone into glory. I am so happy when I think of how he is now safe from pain and cares with his Lord. 

Leaving behind Grandma Dorothy, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, Grandpa Parke has gone forward to meet his heavenly Father, to spend eternity praising God.

I am sorry for those of us that Grandpa leaves behind.  For the great-grandchildren that won't remember his smiles or his jokes or his sweet words of encouragement.  But I am excited.  Excited that my Grandpa Parke is finally getting to meet his Lord and Savior

Grandpa in uniform

 

Grandpa visiting in '92 I think

This was in '95 or '96

Our trip out to PA in 2010

Our trip this past June

Me with Grandpa and Grandma

"I'm one of those 'higher power' people."

"I'm one of those 'higher power' people."

Well, it's only week 3 of my Nutrition class and already I'm being asked why I think humans need to eat to survive and "why our nutrients aren't built in like plants."  I actually REALLY enjoyed answering this question and thought I'd share it with you.

Question as posed by professor:
"After reading Chapter 3, I hope you come away with how amazing the human body really is.  And yet, there are some short-falls in our bodies which include the inability to produce many of the essential nutrients for ourselves.  Plants have us beat in that department.  Why do you think nature (or "higher power" if that is your belief system) has made us so reliant on FOOD in order for us to get so many of the essential nutrients needed to survive?  In other words, why can't our BODIES produce and provide these nutrients for us?  (Saying that the higher power simply "made us this way" will not suffice as an answer).  Realize this type of question does not have a right or wrong answer....the purpose is for you to really stretch your thinking to try and figure out why humans are built to be so vulnerable upon our environment."

My answer:
"I’m one of those “higher power” people.  I believe that the perfect world was created by God in 6 days and that He created everything exactly the way He did with a purpose.  God created man to work, to cultivate the ground and to eat the fruit of the ground for sustenance.  When we are comparing ourselves to plants and saying “in order to survive we need the right balance of nutrients from the food we eat, but plants don’t have to do anything,” we are incorrect.  Plants “soak up” nutrients from the ground as well as absorbing nutrients from the sun, they have to rely on another source just like we do.  Some plants even have to eat, such as the Venus Fly Trap and other plants of that kind.  Plants need different nutrients than humans do, because we are not the same.  I have always been in awe of how amazing the body is, and chapter 3 just served to uphold that belief.  If someone chooses to believe in evolution and that it is a matter of chance that our bodies work and function the way they do, that is their choice.  I, for one, am struck with how intricate our bodies work, and how we need specific nutrients to survive, nutrients that have been provided for us through plants.  We don’t even need to eat meat, but we can get protein and other nutrients from milk, eggs and beans.  It is my belief that we are built to rely so heavily upon our environment because by doing so we rely heavily on God to sustain and provide for us."

Interested to see what type of feedback I get, and praying that I can answer anything Biblically and without reproach. :)

Disobedience

Today in my bible reading I came across a section I hadn't really noticed before.  I mean, of course I had read it plenty of times, but for some reason it seemed like something I had never read before.

Romans 1:28-32 says "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do the but give approval to those who practice them."

Well, of course we are supposed to be obedient to our parents, I mean, not only was it one of the 10 commandments, but it is also repeated in the New Testament.  Obedience is implied in Matthew 22:39, "and a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  We are to love and respect others as we would like to be loved and respected or how we would love and respect (and treat) ourselves.  I personally feel that this would imply obedience to parents.

More clearly stated, we see that Ephesians 6:1-3 says "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."  We are promised that if we honor our parents, things may go well with us.  Now, what exactly does it mean to "honor" our parents? Lets see what Webster has to say about it, shall we?  One definition is "a showing of usually merited respect," such as recognition. Another definition is "a gesture of deference," and the example was to bow. I personally liked how Bakers Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology put it, "While honor is an internal attitude of respect, courtesy, and reverence, it should be accompanied by appropriate attention or even obedience. Honor without such action is incomplete; it is lip service."

Back to Romans.  Most people would come up with many of these things if they were asked to make a list of things that were "sins."  Action sins are often rather obvious, while the internal sins of thought and attitude are a lot more difficult to perceive. I often don't even realize when I am sinning inwardly.  Fortunately I have learned to realize when I am having an inward attitude problem and check is for a better outlook. 

Wow, back to Romans again.  (I tend to think about way too many things at once, which leads me on a tangent around and I end up writing about those other random thoughts instead of what I set out to think about.)  Anyways... many people don't look at honoring and obeying their parents as important, or as something they need to put time into, but for me, it's really important.  I end up seeking my parents advice and council about nearly every big move I make in my like, and even though I don't always get the advice or instruction that I hope for, I know that they are truly seeking to help me make the most God honoring decision, as well as what's best for me.

Anyways, all that from reading a few chapters in Romans today for my devotions.  Funny how something so small as a verse can spark something as big as this thought tangent of mine.

The Scariest Thing

One of my relatives posted this on Facebook and I thought it was so good that I had to share it.  Now I want to read the book.

"The scariest thing a woman ever offers is to believe that she is worth pursuing, to open her heart up to pursuit, to continue to open up her heart and offer the beauty she holds inside, all the while fearing it will not be enough.

"The scariest thing a man ever chooses is to offer his strength without knowing how things will turn out. To take the risk of playing the man before the outcome is decided. To offer his heart of strength while fearing it will not be enough."

[from "Love & War" by John & Stasi Eldredge]

From a Book

I read a book by Janette Oke while I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law this past week.  I don't notice many great truth's that are written in plain ol' fiction books very often.  I found this book to be an exception.

Closer to the ending of the book, a new pastor comes to the church the main character, Berta, attends.  His introductory sermon basically runs as follows:
    
     "Why am I here? I am here because I believe in God. I believe in a God.  I think it is perfectly reasonable to believe in a God. Not MANY gods.  Many gods would result in chaos.  Lesser gods, greater gods, warring gods, self-seeking gods.  Can you imagine such a world? It wouldn't work. If a god isn't really God of all, then he is no god at all.  Therefore, I believe in one god, the God, the reason for all that is and all that ever will be.  So, to me it has been settled. Forever. Clearly. I believe in one God, Creator and Sustainer of all things."
     "Since the Creator God has given us His Word, then it follows that I must also believe that the Bible, which tells us of Him, is truth.  It is His revelation to mankind.  The oldest and most accurate of religious documents, revealing who He is and what He stands for. So, I believe in one God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, and I believe that the Bible is His revelation to mankind of who and what He is."
     "If I believe that Bible is given by Him, and He is God, the God, then I must accept this Book as it is.  all of it. To dissect it and choose this and throw out that would discredit it all. To pick my own passages to please my own theories or personal pet doctrines, or pattern my own philosophies or religion on what tickles my ears or pleases my fancy, and reject what else it says, would invalidate the whole. So I must believe and accept it all for what it says throughout.  Thus, I believe in one God, the God, One, though triune, Make and Sustainer of all things.  I believe the Bible is His revelation to mankind. I believe the Bible must be accepted and obeyed in its entirety. It is the written Word of God."
     "So all my sermons will come directly from these pages.  We will study together what the Word says.  We will pray for understanding and His wisdom.  We will pray for willingness to accept with open hearts and minds what that means for you, for me, in our everyday.  We face hard questions in our modern world, but the answers are here in this Book.  To find the answers we must first know the Source, God.  God the Father, who loves us.  god the Son, who redeems us.  God the Spirit, who leads us.  On God, yet three in person, in working, a mystery beyond our human comprehension, but one God."
     "Our purpose for meeting here from Sunday to Sunday is to get to know that God.  To know Him better and better so that we can worship Him more fully."

Okay, so I didn't fully agree with the last sentence.  I feel that the purpose of study throughout the week is more to get to know God better, and the Sunday to Sunday meetings are to worship Him with fellow believers. Although, the Sunday sermon is a time to get to know God better.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share with ya'll.  this book wasn't written all that long ago, but I just love the way Oke explained that we are facing mysteries (trials and people outside the church questions or beliefs and trying to shake our foundations, Genesis specifically) and that we MUST go back to the Bible to stand firm.

What a Joke!

We have three dogs

A Blonde

A Brunette

&

A Red Head

Music

Funny story.

I just went to go listen to a CD on my laptop, and the first song that came on was titled "Music For Silent Movies." I immediately imagined the kind of music you hear when you would watch a silent film.  Here's an example:

"Silent Film Music" Link

Yeah, well, that wasn't what came on.  I clicked play and there wasn't any sound at all.  I started laughing immediately and wondered why in the world they had actually played a joke on the person listening to this CD! Of course it didn't sound like anything cause it was for a silent movie, which is silent! So I laughed for a minute and went on to the next song.  This was from Singing In The Rain, and it too was completely silent.

Needless to say, I had been mistaken about the first song and the sound just wasn't working on my laptop.  So, I restarted the computer and played the song again, and sure enough, it was a song very similar to that in the clip I added.

I'm VERY glad I got the whole sound thing worked out, cause I then got to talk to friends from JHBC for over an hour! Yahoo!! :)