In Times of Trouble

  Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 (NIV)

When bad things happen, people sometimes blame God. They say, “a loving God wouldn’t let these things happen”. Or “if there really was a God, I wouldn’t have to go through these struggles.”

  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that life will be easy. In fact it says otherwise.

  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)

In times of trial, instead of turning from God, we need to lay all our burdens on Him.

  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

May God bless you all with His presence.

Spring Vacation 2019, Day 1

I debated about sharing the first day of our vacation and the long, harrowing drive. Looking at the forecast for this weekend, however, it seemed appropriate.

We left home just before eight am two weeks ago yesterday. The forecast was abysmal, as Winter Storm Wesley was bearing down on Wisconsin. We thought somehow, we could outrun it, or at least that if we drove very slow, we could still make it halfway to Virginia. Right.

We arrived in Danville, Illinois, by quarter to six, a drive that should have taken us six and a half hours instead of ten, but we made it.

Are we ever going to be done with winter?               

 Our house just before we left. You will notice as you look at my pictures that there is an apparition in all them. I'm not happy about that but was too cheap to buy another camera. But I think I'll have to. 

 We had only gone 35 miles when we stopped at this gas station.

 Accident at Westfield. 

Then next we have flooding to look forward to. 

The Present, the Past and the way Past

 This past Friday afternoon, Hubby and I returned from our week’s vacation to Virginia. I plan on eventually sharing the entire trip with you, along with many photos, but right now, I just have too many other things going on. I still haven’t looked at the nearly 700 pictures I took.

I thought I would post a quick look at the present, past and way past.

When I was in the late stages of planning this road trip, I noticed how close we were going to be to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, just outside of Charlottesville. I knew that Hubby would like it, so I mentioned it to him and then penciled it into the itinerary.  

It’s not as if I hadn’t been there before. Or that my family hadn’t been there long before that. 

 April 2019 – no one on the steps.

June 1972 – my sister Pat and I. The only thing I remember about that visit was the clock which measured both the time and the days, which hung over the front door. What a strange thing to remember. I think it was because my dad found it so fascinating.

1954 (not sure of the month) – my brother Tom and other sister Judy.

 Somethings change and some will always stay the same.

Easter Morning

  “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:6

 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6

 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end, he will stand on the earth. Job 19:25

What can you handle?

 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. (Matthew 27:32-37 New International Version)

I hate that I woke up this morning with other things on my mind. It took me a bit to remember that it was Good Friday. What do I do now that I know what today is? I can’t remember the last time I was to church on Good Friday – it is just always such a sorrowful service that I can’t handle it. Which feels like one of the greatest sins I commit. Can’t handle it? And look what Jesus had to handle for me. 

Keeping the Faith

I don’t usually blog on Tuesdays. I do usually blog on Sundays and I didn’t this week. Which I feel bad about. It was Palm Sunday and I should have written about the events of that first Palm Sunday, the triumphant ride of Jesus into the city which would condemn and kill him by the end of the week. What else could I have said?

Here it is Tuesday of Holy Week and as everyone knows Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned yesterday. I won’t recap the damage; I’m sure you’ve heard and seen pictures.

One source said something about the fall of the Cathedral is a symbol of the fall of Christianity across Europe. Others have said that, though this is an unfathomable loss, our faith lies not in any building. I would certainly have to agree with the second sentiment.

Which doesn’t change the fact that the entire world, not just the French people or Christians, has lost something magnificent. 

(Keeping with my code for blogging, I won’t borrow pictures from the internet. These are ones of places of worship I’ve visited from around the world.)

 

It's not so much where one worships, but that they keep the faith.

Hey, People, it is Spring. Really.

   As I mentioned here recently, I’ve been going to post another series of my winter pictures, along with – ta,da – it’s Spring pictures! But that hasn’t really happened here in Wisconsin yet this year, has it?

I’ve seen a little ground around my house and even water flowing in places. 

And then yesterday happened. I do not even want to take any more pictures.

  

Spring will get here. The sun will come out. The temperatures will warm up. It will truly be “shorts weather”, instead of us bullheaded northerners wearing shorts and flipflops when there is still snow on the ground and it is 40 degrees out, but we don’t care, because gosh darn it, the calendar says it’s April!

Hang in there, Wisconsin, it will happen and it will be worth it.

Never a Failure

   “Your beliefs about these things should be kept secret between you and God. A person is blessed if he can do what he thinks is right without feeling guilty.” Romans 14:22 International Children’s Bible

As I’ve already mentioned, I have been an abysmal failure at keeping my Lenten commitment this year – to find the gift and be the gift each day. A dumb thing to try to do, I now realize.

Earlier this week, I was bowled over by the following epiphany. Why am I not instead making the commitment to write something every day? Ask God to place a Bible verse on my heart and then write just a few lines, a short paragraph about it. And do it every single day. And you know what? Keep that going for a full year. And write it just for myself, for my own reflection and not feel it has to be good enough to share with anyone else. With that last thought in mind, you may never know what verses have popped in my head already this week. It’s between me and God.

Thank You, Lord, God, for continuing to follow my heart and lead me where I am supposed to go. Amen. 

Back to the UP

 On my blog last Sunday, I posted a picture of the Mansfield church and mentioned that in 1893, the mine at Mansfield was the location of one of the worst mining accidents in UP history.  

News from nearby Crystal Falls on September 30:

“With a terrific rush the waters of the Michigan River broke through a bed weakened by mining into the Mansfield mine, drowning twenty-eight men who were at work directly under the cave-in.  There were 46 men in the mine when the accident occurred, but eighteen of them who were working in the lower levels managed to escape. None of the bodies have been recovered.”  

“When the night shift went on duty it was noticed that more water was coming into the mine than usual, but no alarm was felt by those at the pumps as they managed to keep the ‘drifts’ free.  The miners pursued their work as on every night when they started in to pass the 12 hours underground earning bread for their families.  Suddenly, a few minutes after nine, there was a loud report and an overpowering rush of water, and the men felt themselves being overwhelmed by an avalanche of mud, ore and water.

            “So fast came the flood that it is doubtful whether the men on the upper levels had time to drop their tools and run for their lives to the old shaft.  Had any of them reached the perpendicular opening, however, it would have availed them nothing for the shaft known as ‘Old No. 1’ collapsed as soon as the water reached and undermined its base.  This occurred at precisely half past nine, and it was then known to those in charge of the mine that the men in the upper level had been trapped and drowned like rats by an accident which had long been expected.”

Horrible. I can’t imagine. These men were hard-working husbands and fathers, of Cornish, Italian, Scandinavian, Finnish, and Irish descent, working brutal twelve-hour shifts in horrendous conditions just to keep their families alive.

Around twenty years after this accident, the mine closed and shortly after that, the town dried up. Another UP ghost town.      

 About all that remains is the Mansfield church.