I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Do you remember bells, Church Bells, Belfries or Carillon Bells ringing in the city when you were young?  I do!  It is one of my favorite childhood memories. The church up the street where I grew up had them ringing every Sunday and many mornings to awaken you to a new day!  And, I especially loved the bells ringing on Mackinac Island in the summers of 1971-1972 with my grandparents.  Ahhh.....they brought such joy to my heart!

If you do remember church bells ringing as a child, then some of you may remember the old Christmas Carol called "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."  It is a beautiful old carol with words or lyrics written by Henry W. Longfellow, the famous poet. 

Henry Longfellow wrote the carol in 1864 in the midst of the Civil War, one of the darkest hours in this country.  Along with that, he has just lost his beloved wife, Fanny due to her dress catching on fire from a candle.

The words are poignant. They prick our senses or they become keenly distressing to the mind or our feelings or can arouse a lot of sentiment in our hearts. See what you think:

Verse 1:  I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of Peace on earth, good will to men.

Verse 2:  I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom, had rolled along the unbroken song of Peace on earth, good will to men.

Verse 3:  And in despair I bowed my head; There is no peace on earth, I said, "For hate is strong, and mocks the song of Peace on earth, good will to men.

Verse 4:  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:  "God is not dead, nor does he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With Peace on earth, good will to men."

Verse 5: Till ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day; A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of Peace on earth, good will to men.

Here are a couple of questions to ponder this season:

1) What is wild and/or sweet in your life right now? Do you have a grandchild that runs wild and drives you crazy?  Or do you have a sweet child, grandchild, niece or nephew, or neighbor child who has stolen your heart?  Ring a Bell for that child!

2) What unbroken song sings in your heart?  Do you have a longing that won't quite go away?  Ring a bell in your heart!  Let joy flow from that song!

3) How is your mood lately?  Does despair crop us occasionally?  With all that has happened in our country and the world over the past couple of years, do you hear or feel the hate that seems to be so strong?  Have you noticed the mocking?  Ring a bell and keep the light of love strong in your heart! Share it with others!  Ring a Bell!

4)  How is your faith holding up?  There are a lot of reasons to be confused about faith these days. Listen for the church bells.  Find hope.  You might think God is dead, but guess what?  He is NOT dead nor does He sleep! He is WIDE awake!!!  All the wrong that seems to be so pervasive, will NOT prevail!  I believe that with all my heart! And, God's Word tells us so!  Take heart, Listen, and Ring a Bell!

5) Look up! Have you noticed?  The world keeps revolving!  It does not stop, even when our hearts are heavy. Listen for a voice, a chime, a chant.  Then, let PEACE rule in your heart!  

PEACE acronym: 

P = Praise: Find a reason to sing Praises 

E = Exalt God

A = Adore Him

C = Created:  KNOW that He created you, He is calling you, and He may have already claimed you as HIS!

E = Eternity - you are His for all of eternity!  REJOICE! 

Let the church bells ring in your heart! Let a little "lilt" show in your step! Let music surround you this season!  Feel the tingle of a song that gives you chills! Allow yourself to cry when you need to do so!  

Watch the movie:  "I Heard the Bells on Christmas day."  Stay up until midnight on Christmas eve and see if you hear church bells somewhere in the community!  Go to a Midnight Service! 

Pretend you are a Christmas ornament and lay underneath your Christmas tree and look up through the lights.  Let that light shine through you the next day!

 Most of all, I pray you will "hear" the church bells ringing in your heart!

 Then peeled the bells more loud and sweet:  "God is not dead, nor does He sleep!"

Let the Bells Ring!!!

An Orphan's Destiny

This past weekend, out church had an awesome Women's retreat called Restored!  It was an amazing day filled with laughter and tears!  We had wonderful music along with three speakers who were fabulous!  Each had their own idea of what "Restored" meant to them and each shared their story.  Each one was so unique and so honest.  As they gave their testimony as to what had happened in their lives, we each took away something to comfort our hearts.  And, some women felt that a part of them began to heal.  What an incredible gift it was!

I had the privilege of taking one of the speakers to the airport on Sunday and what a beautiful gift she gave me as we talked at lunch and then on the way to the airport.  Her name is Stephanie Fast and I hope you get her book from Amazon called "She is Mine." God made that statement to a mission nurse as she started to walk away from this little girl dumped in a garage heap.  The nurse named Iris' feet were like concrete.  She could not walk away and leave this little girl and audibily heard God tell her that "She is Mine!"  Wow!!  What a story she has to tell!

What Stephanie has gone through in her life was so startling and so sad on one hand and yet, she brought out the redemption that only the Blood of Jesus could bring!  I am not going to tell her story, but I am going to reflect on what she taught me through her story and her resilience!  I really hope you will buy the book or borrow it to read or learn more from her website.

I know some people have gone through so much pain and suffering as a child and I do not want to trample on anyone's heart in a negative way, so please forgive me if this blog triggers some of those feelings you thought you had worked through and perhaps healed from.  And, I hope this will not create a new fracture line in your heart.  My intention is that this writing may bring you hope and ultimately JOY!  There is so much to be grateful for even in our suffering......I hope you will agree.

If you were born in to a "regular" family, and had all the comforts of a loving home, I pray that you will stop and give thanks for those parents, grandparents and siblings that you may have grown up with over your lifetime.  If not, I pray this will encourage you to seek help with friends, prayer warriors and/or a counselor that can help you learn to work through all those rough spots in your upbringing.  There is so much to learn from our past even if it wasn't the brightest or the best.  

But, KNOW this:  You are Loved with an everlasting love that cannot be extinguished!!!  Yes, YOU!  Zephaniah 3:17 says:  "The Lord your God is with  you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Let that sink in for a few moments.....God delights in you.  He rejoices over you.  He sings over you!

Now, let me ask you a tough question:  Can you imagine being an orphan?  And, especially an Orphan of War from the 1950's???  I cannot.  Being told by your grandfather that you are NOT wanted and then having your mom forced (in a sense) to "get rid of you!" Gone from the village you were born in, gone from the young mother who loved you, gone from having anyone to care for you.  Gone.

This would be more than any little four year old heart can understand or fathom  (Or, any 67 year old, for that matter, hearing the story for the very first time.)

Imagine yourself at four years old!  Were you snuggled and held  as a child? Did you have a roof over your head?  Did you have food and water and even desserts or treats many days of your life?  Did you have a soft warm bed with sheets and blankets that kept you warm in the winter time?

Well, now try to imagine the opposite.  Imagine your mommy taking you to a train station in Korea at four years old, giving you a handkerchief with a pickle, an egg and a pad of cooked rice in it and telling you to be a good little girl and stay on the train all the way until it stops. At the end of the train ride there will be an "Uncle" who with pick you up and take care of you.  Then, imagine a little further, when the train stops and there is NO ONE there for you.  No one.  No uncle. Not anyone who will care for you.  No one.

Now imagine being half Korean and half British and not belonging to anyone.  Could you fend for yourself at four years old?  Could you find shelter, food, water, clothing, something to keep you warm at night?  Could you ask for help and stand being turned down time and time and time again because you were a half breed?  Imagine being spit on, beaten, tossed out, and treated as horribly as you can imagine.  Then, remember,  you are FOUR years old! 

What a frightening journey this little girl had!!!  Day and after day, she was treated horribly.  Hungry, tired, and scared with NO place to go and no one to help you.  Could you have survived?  Stephanie's story is compelling and riveting.  And, it is a miracle!!!  Stephanie learned through many grueling and very tough situations to survive. Now, she is around 70 years old (she never knew her birth date!) and she is living in the United States.  She survived to tell her story and what a  journey it has been!!!  She learned to THRIVE! And, she learned what many orphans never learn:  LOVE.  And, love from the ONE True God who brought her through so many twists and turns to tell this incredible story.  

I truly hope you will look up her website at:  www.stephaniefast.org or get her book to read!  It is truly gut wrenching and yet amazing!  Sad, but glorious!!!

What did I learn from Stephanie?  That hope is never lost.  A person can survive unmentionable things.  A person can heal from very, very tragic occurrences in your past.  And, a person can find God's love despite being treated very cruelly for the first 9 years of your life!

My prayer is that anyone reading this or passing it along to others, will find the Love of Jesus and put their trust in Him.  He is waiting for you.  He is mighty to save.

The MRI Club Rides Again!

Hold onto your hat - You're in for a treat!!!  (Oh!  You don't have a hat? Please go get one - you are going to need it!)

Have you ever heard of the Red Hat Club?  Well, it is a group of ladies whose are in the age range above 50 years old.  And, they wear Red hats with purple outfits and it is based on a poem called "When I Am an Old woman."  It is written by Jenny Joseph and Elizabeth Lucas.  (Is 50 really old?  Not in our club!!!)

Here are a couple of lines from the poem:

"I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me....I will sit down on the pavement when I'm tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings...I shall go out in my slippers in the rain and pick flowers in other people's gardens and learn to spit."

Basically, the poem is advocating that as we grow older we can do what we want and not care what other people think about us!  (Ha! Ha!)  Irreverent you say?  Not a bit!!!  It is called FUN!!!

Well, a NEW club is in town now!!!  We call it the "MRI club."  It is a group of ladies from my church who happen to sit in the back row at church every Sunday and then go out to lunch together.  We have a ball together!!!  We laugh and giggle, discuss the sermon from the morning and generally enjoy each other's company.  The funny part about it is the age range:  93, 85, 84, 82, 68 and two 67 year olds!  

The ODD part about it (or, the funny part) is that the 3 younger ladies of the Back Row Church Ladies, all have had to have MRI's lately for various health issues and now are having surgery for those ailments!  

What in the world?  The older ladies of the group are "healthy as a horse" as the saying goes!!!  The younger ones are falling apart at the seams..........LOL

Then, to top those ages, we have 2 other friends who do not go to the same church, but are part of our MRI Club and adventures.  They are are ages 58 and 51 who are  also having surgery!!! Go figure!!!

But, the most beautiful part about our MRI club is the commradre.  We would do anything for each  other!!!  We pray for each other, give each other rides (after surgery), ocassionally play cards together, have brunches at our homes for each other, celebrate birthdays at restaurants ( and yes, we bring our own cake!), go to movies, and go on adventures to places like the Carousel Museum in Leavenworth and Weston, MO.  You name it - we have a BLAST!!!

What a blessing this group is!  We not only have fun, but we help carry one another's burdens, pray for our health and families, and spur one another on to a deeper faith!  God has truly blessed us with these special relationships and friendships. 

I encourage you to gather a couple of special ladies around you and do the same!  We only live once and why not live it with special people who make you smile???

Watch out:  The MRI clubs rides again and more adventures are sure to come!!!!