HAPPY NEW YEAR LETTER: 2012 in Retrospect

12/30/12

HAPPY NEW YEAR THE CAIN CLAN – 2012 IN RETROSPECT

I really wish I had written my annual missive on 12/12/12.  But I didn’t….  2012 was a year for which a few pictures would be better than a thousand words…but I’ll hit a few of the positive highlights.   

The first few months of 2012 Al recuperated from his 12/21/11 total shoulder replacement surgery.  I’m happy to report that went well, and he no longer has pain.  While he doesn’t have full range of movement because he waited too long to get it repaired, he is able to do everything he wants to do – including a lot most younger men wouldn’t attempt.   

April 6 he turned his little Farmall Cub tractor over on top of himself and was pinned under it for about an hour….  Everyone who might have heard him was gone, including me.  Our son-in-law, Tom, just happened to come home that afternoon – and it just happened to be a nice day out, so he had his window open and heard Al’s yell for help.   Al was very fortunate.  You’ll have to get the whole story directly from him….

Al and his chain saw have been very busy!   An ice storm accounts for most of that!  Between ameliorating the effects to our property here, he has done a lot of work at our 5 acres in Graham – with the awareness of the need precipitated by one of our maple trees getting hit by lightning, catching on fire, and creating a bit of excitement for the neighbor!   Most of the time I join him when he heads to Graham.   It’s been fun working on that project together.   We made lots of piles, which we burned one at a time as required once the burn ban was lifted – and in the process had the joy of getting better acquainted with the neighbors there.   

Kami and I took a 5-day trip to Oahu August 11–17; and Al and I hiked up to Spray Park on our 42^nd anniversary August 21.   We didn’t take any long trips this year.  But – we progressed a long way toward making the 5 acres at Graham park-like!

The biggest news for me in 2012 was completing the written phase of my long-term children’s musical project.  A Letter from G. O. D. has been in print since October. I’ve been working on it for several years – and it is a relief to have that phase of the project completed!   I still have to do a simple CD so people can hear the tunes – and complete editing the choreography – but the actual musical is done!  Hooray!   I couldn’t have done the project without Kami’s computer expertise.  We spent many hours editing and refining.  Even before the final edits were completed my friend Mary Beth directed it at Grace Foursquare Church in Centralia in April.   That was a special joy! 

Some of the other highlights of the year included various family events, wonderful theatrical productions our grandkids performed in, soccer and swim meets; the special visit of my niece and her family from Utah; involvement in worship team music, being one of the storytellers for children’s worship and being part of an amazing adult Sunday School class; and for Al – hunting, woodworking and flint-knapping.  (This year consumed way too much time in politics for my liking!  I’m still recuperating!)

Remembering the good of the year diffuses other memories – and is a reminder that whatever is good, pure, lovely and of good report is what we are admonished to think about!  We are very thankful for our kids and their families – our greatest joys!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 from the aging-but-not-old-yet Cains! 

Lola & Al;  Lola & Bud;  Yo & Pa

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I love new beginnings....  Starting over....  A clean slate....  Clear pages....  Hope....  Possibility....

What will be written on the pages of this year?  I don't know.

I'm glad for the fresh start, but I also face this year with palpable apprehension,  rooted in things that are unresolved from the past year, personally and nationally.  For my part I purpose to move forward, with the Lord as Comforter, Guide and Source.   As for the direction of my country, I have to leave that in God's hands and center on Him and His direction in navigating what lies ahead.

As much as I'd like to just leave the challenges of 2012 behind, it is impossible.  So - - I haul them with me onto the new pages of another new year.  2013.  Will this be the year of the Lord's return?   I don't know, but I know I want to live it intentionally, faithfully and with eyes open to clearly see what God is doing.  I want to spend more time in prayer and less time being worried about the direction my government is heading.  I want to resist the resultant apprehension and focus on the JOY the Lord has in store.   New pages.   New days.  New possibilities.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

This was sent to me as an email forward.   I had to share...even though I am doing so a bit late!  

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
  


My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby.  I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His Word as my guide.
  


God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son.
  
The next year God blessed us with another son.
  
The following year, He blessed us with yet another son.
  
The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.
  
My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old.
  


I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it.   As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."
  
I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him. 



I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.
  
I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom,
although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.
   
When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess. 
  In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close…. However, I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.
    
I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.
  
Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."
  


My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.
   
My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."
  
My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes."  A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.
  


I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama."  Mary ran out and grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.
  
My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur." 
  
The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation.
  


"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one," laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.   "For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold common sense and fur."
  
"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
  
  


Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.  Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.  Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.  Had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.  He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.  He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

And, just as He promised, He is coming again!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MY TALK FOR A LADIES' BRUNCH LAST SATURDAY

Lola’s talk for FAL Ladies’ Christmas Brunch – 12/8/2012

I prefaced my talk by saying I argued with God about what He wanted me to say – that I wanted the ‘fun’ talk – but He specifically told me there was one person who needed to hear what He wanted me to say today – and that I wrote what I would say, or I could talk until tomorrow afternoon.  I also mentioned that as the eldest of the 4 speakers I was there to represent the ‘older’ generation. – Lola

When tragedy enveloped me as a child, I didn’t know who Jesus was – and I didn’t know His comfort.  I was 7 ½ years old when my mother committed suicide April 3^rd  1953.  It felt like my world had come to an end….but because of her death, my dad went on a mission to ‘find us a mother’ and he remarried just over 14 months later.  My stepmother got us into church.   My heart was absolutely open to hear about the God who loved me and the Savior who died for me, and when I was 8 ½, I knelt at the altar in a little white A/G church in Wilder, Idaho and asked Jesus to come into my heart.  

Then I grew up, disobeyed God, and married the wrong person. (Which means he married the wrong person, too.)  After a miscarriage and a divorce I was so angry at God for letting me make such a horrible mistake that I decided He didn’t even exist. During the time that I was away from God I met and married Al.  When I was pregnant with our first child, I came terrifyingly close to miscarrying.  I’d already been there and didn’t want to do that again – and in my desperation I prayed to the God I had abandoned, “God, I don’t even know if You are real, but if You are, and if You will save this baby, I will recommit my life to You.”  He did and I did. 

It hasn’t always been easy – but I have been faithful.  I’ve been through plenty of other tough stuff since then – and, in fact, am going through one of the toughest right now – but now I know that no matter what happens I have to place my trust completely in the Lord.   There is nowhere else to turn. 

God’s Word is my greatest source of comfort – and Jesus' words are the most comforting of all: 

“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 11:28-29)

He tells us, “In this world you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world.”

And He assures us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 

When I cling to those promises, I find comfort and I find joy.  True joy. 

Joy is a layered word.    There is a joy that elicits ebullient expressions of delight – pure unbounded visible joy – but there is also a much deeper joy – one that is not defined by emotion – but is an inner assurance that reflects the joy of the Lord in our lives.  That joy is an attitude – and a choice.  It is not dependent on circumstances.  In fact, true joy is based on the reality of having the Lord in our lives.  It is best stated in the phrase, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” 

The joy of having the Lord in my life is what gives me the strength to face difficulty.  He is my joy and my source of joy! 

There is another way to look at that statement.  It states “the joy of the Lord”….  When I ask myself what the Lord’s joy is – the answer is us!  Everyone who has received Him is His joy.   In fact we are His inheritance.  At the end of the age, we will be presented to Jesus as His gift, His inheritance.  Everything He did, He did for us.  He paid the price for us to have a relationship with God, a relationship with Him.

It is the kind of joy the songwriter experienced when he stood at the rail of the ship and peered into the waters that had taken the lives of his 4 young daughters and wrote the lyrics of IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.   

The first announcement of Jesus’ birth was to shepherds in a field who were taking care of the sheep.  Luke tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to them – told them not to be afraid  (Don’t you just love it how angels always say, “Don’t be afraid?”) – then proclaimed, “Behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today, in the City of David, a Savior has been born to you.  He is the Messiah, the Lord.” 

That Good News of great joy is the best good news ever given – and it is good news of great joy to us as well…. 

There is enormous joy that is yet to come!   Jesus promised before He left the earth, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will surely come again and take you to myself.  His coming could be very, very soon!  We are living in uncertain times.  Every prophecy that had to be fulfilled for the Lord to return, has been – and now we are just waiting for His timing. 

One thing I have learned in life is that God deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances….   I cannot promise you a path of ease.   In fact, quite the opposite.   I have heard many people say that the Lord will never give you more than you can handle.  The truth is, not everything that happens to us is from the Lord.  Sometimes it is because of our own bad choices – or someone else’s poor choice.  (Sometimes life is a four-letter word.*)  I have had more than I could handle on multiple occasions, but I have never had more than He can handle.   He walks with us through everything! 

Whatever life brings our way, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. 

He is my comfort.  He is my joy!

12/9/postscript

I wish I had clearly stated that while He doesn’t take away the memory, He does take away the pain.

My current pain is not because of what happened back then – it is because of now….but I definitely am aware of His HOPE and comfort even in the valley. 

*This statement was not in what I originally wrote  – it was an unscripted comment….which would most likely have been better left unsaid.... 

A BIT OF HUMOR FOR TODAY

My world needed this humor this morning -- so I am sharing it!  

My Favorite Animal:

 

Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken." She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed.

My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef. 

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.

I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal's office. He laughed, and told me not to do it again.

I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am. Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.

I told her, "Colonel Sanders."

Guess where I am now?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Even so, Come, Lord Jesus

Last night my heart was heavy with a weight of overwhelming sadness - - but this morning I am encouraged by what God spoke to me following 9/11:  "Keep on keeping on.  Occupy until I come."  

The reality is, we long for the perfect world that will not exist until Jesus is the Lord of lords and King of kings - beginning with the Millenial reign, and progressing into eternity!  It's a good time to get to work for the Kingdom - - and a good time to re-read Revelation 22.  Our encouragement to others is: "Look up!  For your redemption draws nigh!"

The Revelation of John, chapter 22, ESV

  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.      No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
   “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
    I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
   And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
   “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
   Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.  Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
  “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
   The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
   He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen.   Come, Lord Jesus!
  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.   Amen.

In the meantime - for the time we have left, there is work to do!  There is a final gleaning to be accomplished - and we can be part of what God is doing in these 'last days'.  

ONE VERSE - MANY VERSIONS - edited 11/5

I grew up with The King James version of The Bible.  In fact, to my dad, there was no other Bible.  Anything else (in his opinion) fell into the category of ‘adding to’ or ‘taking away from’ God’s Word.  

With regard to the Old Testament, it made no difference to him that later translations used more ancient texts for comparison – for it wasn’t until +-1967 that scholars were able to accumulate more than a few fragments of the most ancient Scripture fragments ever found, known as the Dead Sea Scrolls (initially discovered in +-1947, but the area of Qumran was under Jordan rule at that point).  Once there was access to studying the scrolls, there was an opportunity to translate with greater accuracy. 

In addition to the age of the texts used, there is the issue of the challenge of accurately translating the Bible into modern language that purports to convey what the original texts intended.  For instance, I have been told that a given word may have +-16 different words that could be used in translation  – and certainly, some of them give a slightly different tone to the meaning.  

Those same issues carry over to the progression in translation of the New Testament.  The New Testament was originally written in Greek, as it was the universal language of the day; but the spoken language of Jesus' time was Aramaic, so what he stated was often in Aramaic - and translated to Greek when it was recorded.  Language, inflection, understanding, translation...all leave space for varying interpretation....  

So – the point of this is, I have been immersed in studying the book of James; and in looking at parallel versions, most are clear, but one verse is definitely not.  Please note the differences in the various translations that follow.

James 4:5 KJV

Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

James 4:5 NIV 1984

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

James 4:5 NIV 2011

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?

James 4:5 CEB

Or do you suppose that scripture is meaningless?  Doesn’t God long for our faithfulness in the life he has given to us?

James 4:5 ESV

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?

Yaakov 4:5 (OJB)

Or do you think that in vain the Kitvei Hakodesh attests that Hashem yearns jealously over the Ruach Hakodesh He causes to dwell in us? 

James 4:5 (WE)

The holy writings say, ‘God gave his spirit to live in us.  And that Spirit wants us for himself.’  Do you think this means nothing?

I prefer the clarification in the ESV – but find as a whole the various texts provide a complement to each other.  It just happens that in this specific verse, the King James isn’t particularly clear., so I am grateful for reading the verse in other texts, which helps me gain a much better picture of what was intended.    

My take away:   I love that God is possessive and protective of His Spirit within us.   When God is referred to as a jealous God - - this is the area of 'jealousy' referenced.  He zealously and jealously protects His Spirit within us - - Christ in you, the hope of glory!!!!!