Dim Mirrors and Dull Glasses

A dirty mirror

" For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,

even as I have been fully known."  

1 Corinthians 13:12

Have you ever looked into your makeup mirror and seen little but hair spray or a conglomerate of hair spray and dusty makeup?  Or better yet, how many times have you picked up your mirror and seen messy little hand prints all over it?  Needless to say, you looked through a mirror "dimly."

As I grow older I become more and more aware of how true it is that we only see the shadows of what is to come.  A few things hit me as I read this passage:

First, I see youth, vibrant and with the idea that they are pretty smart, quite wise, and know much.  They often think that mom and dad are really out of the loop, not too smart, lacking in wisdom, and don't know much at all about the important things.  It's just the bent of children to underestimate the distance that their elders have traveled.  They haven't been there yet.  Their mirror is dirty, but they don't realize it.  When they look into it they think they see a pretty cool reflection.  (Is "cool" cool anymore?) 

Then I realize, sadly, how little I know, how much there is to learn, and how little time I have left to learn it.  My daughter reminded me yesterday that I could have 30 years left; my mother did when she was my age.  But at the same time we don't know the span of our years.  The Proverbs encourage us to "number our days so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom."  Proverbs 90:12.  So I want to make the most of the years that God has prepared for me.  And even yet, I see only through a mirror dimly. 

Hopefully as I mature in Christ my mirror gets rubbed a little cleaner, but it is still dim.  Someday--Praise God!--I will know even as I am known.  As Grandpa Persson says, GLORY!

"But, as it is written,

'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him;'”—

1 Corinthians 2:9-11

This is my husband's eyeglass collection.  He goes to Dollar Tree and buys them for a dollar.  When a pair breaks he takes them back and gets another pair.  When he needs a new strength, he goes and buys another pair--or two or three.  When those become too weak, he.....you can guess the drill.  He tends to lose them, so he buys more, or stronger, or..........I'm sure this isn't all of them.

Anyway, no matter how strong our glasses are, and no matter how "clean" our mirror is, we still see dimly and cannot imagine what God has prepared for us who love Him.  I have a feeling we would all be clamoring for heaven if we could only imagine.

While we wait to see the big "reveal" we have much to do.  Let's work on cleaning those mirrors and getting our prescriptions right.  Let's fulfill God's purpose for us as we "glorify Him and enjoy Him forever."  Let's learn and teach and obey as we prepare for GLORY.

Cleaning my mirror and adjusting my glasses,

Gloria

My Favorite City--For Now!

From Tripadvisor.com

The Champs Elysee (Tripadvisor.com)

 Notre Dame Cathedral

I can assuredly say that my favorite city in this world is Paris.  Having been in the United State Air Force for 20 years allowed us to both live in and visit many places abroad, for which I am thankful.  Why do I love Paris?  I love the museums, the Champs Elysee where one can sit at a sidewalk cafe and watch the people scurry by, the beautiful cathedrals, the shops, the Latin Quarter with its quirky bookstores and crepe stands, the Seine River that runs through it, the quaint hotels..........oh, enough about Paris.  It was just my way of luring you to my post! I really want to describe to you the city that I look forward to living in forever.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place^a of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,  and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

Revelation 21:1-5

"And he [an angel] carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."

Revelation 21:10-11

"The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.  And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."

Revelation 21:18-23

There is no way to show a picture of heaven that would adequately display the glory that is to someday be revealed to us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.  But that is where my mother and father, and my wonderful mother-in-law and father-in-law are residing right now.  And someday that will be my permanent place of residence.

Don't you want to join me there someday?

Looking forward to seeing my favorite city someday,

Gloria

Teaching the Younger Women with a Playroom

"Older women...are to teach what is good, 

and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, 

and submissive to their own husbands,

that the word of God may not be reviled."  

Titus 2:3a-5

A messy storage room

to

a fun playroom

Enjoying a rest on the front porch

The dolly that one of the girls made likes the porch, too!

Sorry.  I can't seem to turn it upright!

The "bedroom"

Work area.  A trip to Ikea in Dallas in a couple of weeks should help finish it out.

A chalkboard for working and a place to eat!

Perhaps we should call it a "training room."  We have them for our bodies; why not develop a "training" room of a different sort for young women?  The Scripture says little about training women to be single.  That's not to say that God does not call some to be just that.  He does, and I know some single women who are making a great impact in this world.  My friends Mary the physical therapist, Lesley the missionary to Ivory Coast, Angie my precious disabled blogger friend, and others are "blooming" where God has planted them, and very beautifully, I must say. 

But all in all, I believe that our responsibility as moms and grandmoms is to train the younger women as in Titus 2.  I spent many years teaching younger women in Bible study.  My calling now seems to be with much younger women--my granddaughters, of whom I have a regular class-sized group!  

The playroom is an old storage room which is connected to the house--a safe haven for the little girls.  We aren't quite finished, but it is taking shape.  Hopefully it will be just another means of training them to be the women God has designed them to be--loving, kind, keepers at home, not reviling the Word of God.

You are in my prayers, little ones,

Gloria

Today I'm joining Linda at Prairie Flower Farm's

Building our Homes Together

http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/2011/09/14th-building-our-homes-together-with.html

Provocation

 Father and daughter --best friends!

"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.  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Ephesians 6:1-2

Over the past few weeks I have had some interaction with some dear friends who are struggling with adult child/parent relationship.  I know we all struggle to be good parents and obedient children, but this has become a very difficult dilemna for both child and parent.  Unfortunately, I see both sides and can understand the problems that accompany the situation.  I know, and they all know, that this relationship stems from both past and present actions and perceptions.  In Ephesians 6:1-2 two commands are given:  Children honor and obey; fathers, provoke not and nurture in the Lord.  Not too difficult, huh?

Unfortunately, the "do not provoke" part historically is so often abused.  In one way or another, we tend to overexert our authority or display our wrath in such a way that our children become angry (or exasperated, as the NIV puts it.)  That anger may be expressed in fear, or in avoidance, or in retaliation in wrath, but it will be there nonetheless.  And many times it progresses into adulthood.  It is not easy for a parent to change his methods or for a child as he becomes an adult to lose the feelings of anger--or fear--or avoidance--or all of them.

Parents, grandparents, please seek the Lord's wisdom in your lives as you deal with your children.  Seek to nurture them according to the Scriptures.  Go to the passages that refer to teaching your children.  Go to the Proverbs; emulate the teachings of the writers to their sons and daughters.  Do not deal with them in such a way that it will leave permanent scars on their lives.  And when and if you do, repent and ask that child for forgiveness immediately.  Children are quick to forgive.

Children, obey and honor your parents! 

With a heavy heart for broken relationships,

Gloria

Are You Ready?

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
2 Corninthians 4:10

Dwight Lyman (D.L.) Moody
1837-1899
American evangelist

Biography

Why God used D.L. Moody - by R. A. Torrey

"Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.

I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever."

Yesterday much of our church, which began as a family church, lost their beloved mother.  Gracia Persson had 8 children, 6 of whom were sons.  One became a missionary, four are pastors, and one ran a Christian camp.  As they spoke of their beloved mother, it was obvious what their inheritance was:  they inherited a love for the Lord Jesus Christ and a desire to make a difference in the world.  She left them nothing of earthly goods.  At 90 years of age, she lived in her daughter's house and had very little--except the rich, rich bounty of a family who loves the Lord Jesus with all of their hearts.

What more could a mother desire?  I'm sure that right now she is in full agreement with D.L. Moody as she is rejoicing in seeing her Savior in His fullness.  The tears shed on earth could never bring her back, even if that was possible.  She is in GLORY, as her husband shouts it. 

I wonder:  Are you ready?  Does heaven draw you?  I often become so enamored with this world that I forget that this is not my home, only my place of preparation for my true home in GLORY.  Let's not be so pulled by the lures of the world system that we are not well prepared for the day when God calls us home.

If you have a few moments, listen to this wonderful message, "Hell's Best Kept Secret."  It may just change your life.
 

Hell's Best Kept Secret

Eternally thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ,

Gloria 

A Barn in Need of Repair

A barn on Hwy.5 in Central Arkansas

"My son, if you will receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

Proverbs 2:1-5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight." 

Proverbs 3:5-6

The older I get (and trust me, I'm getting older!), the more I contemplate the past.  Don't do it if you can avoid it; it's painful.  But hopefully my past mistakes will help someone else to avoid them.

 

As I was reading Proverbs 2 today, I was reminded of one of my favorite scenes as I drive now and then along Highway 5 between Benton, Arkansas, and Hot Springs Village.  This beautiful old barn is so picturesque, so compelling, such a lovely backdrop for the sky.  And yet there is something very melancholy about it; someone has left it for the elements.  Someone has failed to nurture it, to maintain it, to keep it purposeful.  No longer does it do what the builder constructed it for.  It merely sits there year after year, becoming overgrown with vines.  I drove by it the other day, and it is more dilapidated than it was when I took this picture a couple of years ago.  It has outlived its purpose. 

 

Maintaining the kind of trust in the Lord that enables us to learn wisdom is not the simple task of simply saying, "I trust in the Lord." If it were, most people would have it all together, because most people would say, "Yeah, I trust in the Lord."  But more importantly, we are not to "lean on our own understanding."  Oh, my, that's the hard part! 

 

Proverbs 2 tells us to seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure.  Once we find it, we must maintain it.  If we let it go, as the owner of the barn has done, we will be no more useful than we were before we began.  

Does your barn need repair?  Mine does, it seems, all the time.  I thank God that He is patient; I need His longsuffering in my life.

 

Hammering and scrubbing, and praying that I never outlive my usefulness,

Gloria

The End of the Matter

 

"The end of the matter; all has been heard.  

Fear God and keep His commandments, 

for this is the whole duty of man.  

For God will bring every deed into judgment, 

with every secret thing, whether good or evil."  

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

I said yesterday that I find the book of Ecclesiastes somewhat depressing.  It seems that the king spent many years searching the things of life, and at this point in his life, he saw much emptiness.  Have you ever felt that way?  I certainly have.  It seems that many times our efforts just don't pay off, that the things we work for come to nothing in the end, the people that we put our hearts and souls into turn from us or just plain don't appreciate what we have sacrificed for them.  

So why go to all the effort?

Solomon wraps up his soliloquy by turning to the reader and giving the final bit of wisdom.  The duty of all mankind is two things:

• Fear God.
• Keep His commands

Why?  Because God is the judge and will judge.  Our deeds will be exposed, whether good or evil.

Our efforts to please God are not in vain.  There is purpose in our worship, in our learning, and in our acts of service.  Ultimately it is for His glory.  In this we can rejoice!

Pressing on,

Gloria