Peg's Pearls: B is for: Books

Peg's Pearls: B is for: Books

Getting to Know You

My husband Frank and I had a wonderful experience yesterday, but I'd better backtrack so you can know the background.

In our Sunday school class, we met an Iranian Christian and his wife.   Since Frank and I enjoy learning about other cultures, we asked them over and had a Persian dinner.

I enjoy learning to cook recipes from other lands.  In addition to the pictured food, we also had a wonderful dish of chicken and almonds in a tasty sauce and saffron rice.  Our friend made us a very refreshing drink of yogurt (plain), mint and sparkling water.

After this great repast, we watched a video of their last visit to Iran.  We just couldn't stop talking.  Then, we decided to attend a service at the Iranian Christian Church.  The people were very friendly and kind to us.  Since the service was in the Farsi language, we needed earphones for translation.  Even though we didn't understand a word of Farsi, it thrilled my heart to see these people worshipping with raised hands and singing with gusto.  It made me think.  Here are people who came from much different backgrounds than we did, yet the worship was real and I could sense their love for Jesus in my soul.

When a nation is judged as a whole, we tend to forget the individuals who are decent and kind and who also love the same Lord that we do.  They face or could face shunning, or worse from their own families just because of Jesus Christ.  I found this a great inspiration.

One of the things that is very important to me is that I look around in our church to see who might be from another land.  We have organized a group of Christians participating in ethnic dinners, so that we can help them through their loneliness, their homesickness, their sense of being alienated by their own people and those of their host-country.  In this small way, I believe we are helping the cause of Christ in bringing peace on earth.

I challenge you to look around in your own church and see if there is someone of a different nationality and show some interest in them.  We have people from Uganda, Hungary, China, India,
Japan, Mexico, Germany, Georgia (formerly USSR), England, Zambia, Viet Nam and many more.

Next stop: Uganda.

And the food is an amazing experience in itself.

He Didn't Have to Make Things Beautiful

After a foggy start, sun shines through the rapidly opening leaves on the trees outside my office window.  It thrills my soul to watch new life unfolding right before my eyes.  It was 42°F this morning, but should get up to the low 60’s by afternoon.  Lovely.

            Thank You, Lord, for giving so much beauty.  You didn’t have to do that.  Functional would have been all that was needed, but You had our pleasure in mind when you painted the sunset and sunrise,

 

 

 created the myriad forms and colors of the flowers,

 

and fashioned the majestic mountains

 

 clear rivers and lakes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You for blessing Your people with beauty.

He Didn't Have to Make it Beautiful

After a foggy start, sun shines through the rapidly opening leaves on the trees outside my office window.  It thrills my soul to watch life unfolding right before my eyes.  It was 42°F this morning, but should get up to the low 60’s by afternoon.  Lovely.

 

 

            Thank You, Lord, for giving so much beauty.  You didn’t have to do that.  Functional would have been all that was needed, but You had our pleasure in mind when you painted the sunset and sunrise,

 

 

 created the myriad forms and colors of the flowers, and fashioned the majestic mountains and clear rivers and lakes.  Thank You for blessing Your people with beauty.

He Didn't Have to Make Them Beautiful, But He Did

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always Spring after Winter

Journal—March 26, 2013

            Good morning, Lord.  The sky is dark-gray, threatening rain.  Pink froth of cherry blossoms stands out vividly against the backdrop of gray.  Maple buds are bright red and look ready to burst into leaf.  Spring is so beautiful, Lord.  Thank You.

            Today many are still undergoing winter.  Snow is piled high and Spring seems like a distant dream.  Some of us enjoy the beauty of new growth, bright flowers and birdsong, while others are digging out from the frozen wasteland around them.  It’s hard to even imagine that Spring will come. 

How like life.  We all go through seasons of spring and seasons of deep winter. 

 We don’t do it at the same time as others, and sometimes, it seems so unfair that others are reveling in life while we continue to suffer.  I felt that way so often in my life.  It seemed there was no end to the crises.  I despaired of life itself.  All around me people laughed and enjoyed their lives.  They had normal families and normal lives. 

 Why couldn’t I?  Was I so terrible that You needed to crush me more?  Was I being punished?  Always on the outside, looking in at those rejoicing—at least that’s how it seemed.  As winter gradually gave way to spring, I began to realize that others also had their winter moments.  Sometimes those moments were numbered in years of unrelenting pain and anguish.  No one is immune.  Some may be more afflicted than others, but there is nothing that goes unused by You. 

Much pain in our lives is caused by other people, whose sin nature is in full control of their lives.  Sometimes, we are ill through no fault of our own.  Sometime we suffer consequences of bad decisions.

The joy I have found is that nothing is wasted if I give it to You.  The pain I’ve experienced has given me a profound compassion for those who are now in pain and anguish.  I want to share that hope with them.  I felt so often like giving up, yet, You kept me hanging on. Now, I am able to minister hope to the fearful, the anxious, those in pain, those in emotional chaos, those in terror.  I can do it because I have experienced all of those things.  Lord, I pray You will help me to reach many with this message from You.  There is always Spring after Winter.  Whatever is given to You, You will turn into something rich and beautiful.  There is hope in You.

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