Washington DC

Yesterday, we went to Washington, DC to celebrate Daisey's 21st birthday. In my sixty-one years on this earth, I have never seen Washington or it's monuments. I ended up in tears as we exited the tunnel and I saw all the homeless people. I had to reassure Zhenya that I was the Queen of Hearts. Daisey had the day planned. She was excited to find some discounted tickets through Groupon for the Spy Museum. Right before we entered, Daisey asked the time and Zhenya flashed his watch. It was 11:11. My heart skipped a beat as I have not wanted to be a  part of this scrutinized phenomena. http://www.11phenomenon.com/bible_prophecy_the_11_mystery.html
                                    
We had a fun time and then went to a lovely lunch at an Irish Pub. After lunch, David decided that we had time to walk to the White House. The entire walk resonated with the constant sound of emergency sirens and flashing lights. It reminded me of Las Vegas where you can never escape the sound of a slot machine. David pointed out the armed men on top of the buildings. There were police everywhere in uniform and in plain clothes. They didn't hide that they were corresponding with one another as they raised their wrist as if they
were speaking into their watches. This all seemed normal routine but from my vantage point seemed more like an espionage movie. It is quite the land of marvelous brick architecture and history of a Godly country that once stood.

We finally made our way to the Washington Memorial. A large white tent with clear windows sat adjacent. A masculine voice resonated the song, "Mighty to Save".                                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
I walked down the bricked path joining in singing and paused to speak with David. We grabbed hands and prayed that God would elect a Godly President and He would restore our nation to, One Nation Under God. It was a powerful day...

I Know You Not

We live in world that is bombarded by flash. We are blurred by the acceptance of Pagan ideology and have covered our sins by calling it grace. We have overshadowed the gospel so that we may live with new found set of rules that are no more than the Better Homes in Gardens of Christianity. It's acceptance increases each year like the publishing of a new translation. We have forgotten what Godly looks like and sounds like. The American blonde haired, blue eyed Jesus has substituted the dark skinned Jewish Messiah that was said to be unbecomingly. He walked blamelessly and left us with His example and also with His unchanging word. The words we are to live by. Why is it, that we no longer question a culture beyond look good, smell good, and taste good. We have been immersed in consumerism and emotionalism and are flushing the remainder of our Christian values into the abyss. The strength of His spoken word resounds through out the ages, "Do not fear: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" Mathew 5:18 (KJV). We should shutter that there will be those who say, they believe and even call Him by name and He will answer: "Verily I say unto you, I know you not" Matthew 25:12 (KJV).

Submit - Resist & Flee

               

This past week I read one of many devotionals. One in particular was stored neatly away in the archives of my mind to be retrieved when God deemed to bring it to fruition. The basis of the topic was that God brings people or topics continually until we acknowledge the point He is trying to make in our lives.
Yesterday, I was waiting at the front of the grocery store for my daughter when a man approached me. I had never met him or seen him before. He smiled graciously and said, Would you mind turning around?" Because of his pleasant demeanor, I decided to play along. My hair was neatly placed in a braid and he began to give it a light tug. I turned around and said, OK with a questioning tone in my voice. He began by telling me that this all correlated with a sermon he heard recently in church. Now, he had my attention! He proceeded with his tale as a young boy reaching for the pigtail of the young girl that sat in front of him in school. He would then place her pigtail under the wooden top of his desk causing her to let out a yell.This of coarse alerted the teacher who would proceed to discipline him by smacking his hands with a ruler. All this didn't seem to deter him from trying this same escapade from time to time. He always received the same reaction from the young girl and his teacher. Alas, he moved away but returned four years later. Upon his arrival, the teacher sat him behind the same pigtailed girl. His absence had not found him to mature in his thinking or his actions. His first thought was, "Here we go again"! Once again, he proceeded to grab hold of her pigtail and shut it in the top of his school desk. Although this time, he received a different response. She ignored him! He tried a few more times but to no avail. As he came to the end of his story, he correlated his rambunctious youth with the sermon he had heard, "The Devils Temptation". He glimmered with one last smile and said,"Just like that girl, we often get better results if we just ignore him and he will flee".
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (NIV)

On Bended Knee

On Bended Knee

    I often ponder of the vast changes my Grandmother witnessed while walking on this earth. Being raised in the 1800’s and growing up on a farm homesteaded by her father.  She knew that each day contained time, and they used it wisely to provide for their existence. The wood from the trees would build their homes. The wheat was planted, thrashed and sold. The cow was milked and the garden planted and harvested to be canned for their survival. Her mother would spin wool from a spinning wheel and all of their clothing was handmade. Their lighting was by candle or a lantern. They used plow horses for their fields and drove buggies for their transportation. My grandmother saw the first motorized car and many, many years later would fly on a jet airplane.
   I have had a glimmer of what it was like to be without electric. I was glad I had some provision of wood, water, and food to sustain my family during that short week’s time. It’s never been a bad idea to be prepared. I was prepared to play Little House on the Prairie, but grateful when all the conveniences returned.
   I never thought that I would witness the changes that I have seen take place within these past years, months, and days. The Biblical foundation of our country and its beliefs are being washed away. So much has been taken away before my very eyes. These changes echo the words that I read years ago, "If we can change the minds and hearts of one generation, we can change the course of history”. "The Humanist Manifesto"
  With all of this, I still hold dear to the example of this little couple from Sweden that rose early to read their Bible. The sweet memories of the rumblings that were heard by my mother in the stillness of the night; as she peered into the candle lite room to witness her grandfather on bended knee… talking to God.

Swiss Cheese

A ten week summer hosting with a young teenage girl from Ukraine taught me many valuable lessons. God prompted the visit. He was with us during the visit and God continues after we said our farewell or in this case, until we meet again. Even though she was returning to her homeland, she had become a part of our family unit. Above all, she had become a part of the body of believers.

The last week of our hosting adventure brought about some extreme and heightened responses from the new member of our family. They became so drastic and outside the lines that I felt it was necessary to contact the hosting agency. I was promptly reassured that others were calling in on this last week of their stay. It was summarized that the bizarre acting out was a way of making us dislike them. This way, it would be easier for them to leave their new found love. It was time for unconditional love. They referred to them as, “Swiss Cheese Kids” and in the next breath explained, that we are all really Swiss cheese. I must admit, this analogy has helped me sit in my church pew with a bit more comfort. There always seems to be that sense of security when we know we are not alone.

I often think of the stack of Swiss cheese that has been neatly sliced from the deli counter. As you peel away the slices each hole does not match the other holes in the adjacent slice but each contains their very own unique pattern of holes. Yes, we all have holes. We are all imperfect people, in an imperfect world just being refined and perfected for our journey home. We are all simple Swiss Cheese…

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

The Most Important Lesson

Photo by: Lynn Johnson

When we first moved to Pennsylvania, we relocated to a quaint Amish area outside of  New Wilmington. There was not a day that I didn’t find delight in traveling the dirt roads through the scenic Amish countryside. Their pace was slow in comparison to the world that surrounded them but full of life’s purpose.

Their fields were planted with plenty for them and enough to feed the animals that would forage for their existence. I enjoyed creeping along at the slow pace behind the buggies. I drank in all the quiet   splendor of their way of life.

There were many days that I would pass as the Amish children were walking along the country roads. They would be walking on foot to their little one room school house. There were other days that I would catch a glimpse of them playing tag in a group ranging in age and height. An older student would sometimes be near watching them play; as the backdrop of billowing smoke rolled from the schoolhouse chimney. This stuck me as a scene from yesteryear before our days became so complicated and cluttered.

As I traveled down the dirt road and passed the Amish man behind his large framed draft horse, I would stop as a herd of Holstein cows crossed the road to make their way to the adjacent barn to be milked by hand. New Wilmington had its own cheese plant and this provided another means for the Amish family’s income and survival in the modern world that encroached their simple and plain existence.

Nearing the end of the dirt road was one of my favorite stops. As I pulled in, I would park my pick up truck next to one of the buggies that was tied to a hitching post. It took sometime for them to except me as not a tourist but a local who lived among them. This did not usually mean total acceptance, but what once seemed cold and skeptical was exchanged for a friendly encounter. The Amish tack shop was lite by kerosene lights that held an ambiance of warmth and tranquility. There seemed to be something relaxing as you meandered through the boots, saddles, and a small section of household goods. There was a quiet bustle as the older Amish men repaired a variety of leather goods at the front of their shop. As the yellow hue of lighting flickered, you could hear each step as you walked across the wooden floor. Something about that lighting and the hollow sounds with an occasional creek that made me want to return time and time again.

I learned much from these people. Probably one of the most important lesson was, they were never in a rush.

Maybe the similarity was Jesus. Even when His life was complicated, He never rushed. He embraced people with gentleness, truth, and compassion.

Lord in the business of my day; teach me to reflect and embrace on the simplicity of your ways. Let me remember to take a breath, focus on your character, embrace those around me, and not be in such a rush.

C.A. Bresin

My Country Tis of Thee

My country tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty of Thee I sing….So today I learned that I should not identify the years as BC or AD. The Christian terminology that we as a country have used all of our lives. I must learn another politically correct term of BCE or CE. This means  Before the Common Era or Common Era . Somehow this all strikes me the same as the term INTOLERANT. Wait, I’m intolerant for not being in agreement with the way my country has always valued what it was founded on. It only takes the re-altering of the minds of one generation to erase and replace core values for our new… One World Government. This government does not stand on, In God We Trust. That would not be politically correct. So, as we have chosen to no longer place our values on Gods word. As we have (not so slowly) taken God’s word and Gods name from public view and dismissed them from our public places and public schools. Let us not be surprised, that we no longer stand with the protection of His almighty hand. For a Christian nation does not tolerate the removal of the name of GOD or His standards and still call themselves a Christian nation. As times get tough and we cry out for God to save us from our own destruction. May we realize that He never turned away from us but we have turned our backs on HIM…

Lyrics
1. My country, 'tis of thee,


Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountainside
Let freedom ring! 2. My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above. 3. Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong. 4. Our fathers' God to Thee, Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King
Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in 1831