Extreme Faith

I was nine or so when my Mom first told me the story of a young Jewish girl. She was about my age when the Nazis came and dragged her family away to a brutal concentration camp. Within weeks her family had perished, their smoke curling gray from the prison stacks. Somehow, one day, she found her way to a hole in the mighty, concertina covered wall, and faded through it like a ghostly shadow when the officers weren’t looking. She stumbled across a cave some miles away and crept gratefully into its blackness. Who knows what happened after that? Maybe the rains caused a landslide that buried the cave mouth. Or perhaps, she backed further and further in, terrified eyes fixed on the light until it grew too small to be seen. Then her hands could not feel their way back out.

 

Whatever the case, someone stumbled on that cave long after the Liberation. They found two things: one was the fragile skeleton of a child. The other was etched on the opposite wall, “My God, you are my all in all…”

 

What if God held out His hands and asked you to give up everything? If serving Him meant that you would live without light, love, happiness, and security. If it meant suffering day by day, never to marry, find friendship, or enjoy security: in short, to give up on all that humanity values, what would you say? How far will you take your faith?

 

“If any man comes after me, He must deny Himself, take up His cross and follow me.” God has called to to absorb ourselves in Him, burning our will as a sacrifice before Him. No personal goal shall supersede Him in our thoughts or activities. God loves us more than we can imagine and will not willingly cause us to suffer, but someday, He may allow persecution, physical suffering, and such relational tumult as may never be resolved in this life. We will have waived the right to even ask ‘why’.

 

Now is the time to evaluate our priorities. Are we holding tightly to a possession, relationship, or career? If so, we will resist God when He removes it from our grasp, instead of responding with trust and poise. When you lay down their last dream to follow hard after God, you might break. It’s like dying. Then, you will feel the breath of God like you never have before. Suddenly, He will be your all in all. Neither riches nor poverty will be able to move you.

 

So if God takes our dearest desires, and even the basic elements that seem to be unalienable human rights, if He beckons us into a labyrinthine cave, never again to see the light of day, will the skeleton of our will be found to testify, “You are all in all…”?

 

Note: I have researched the story in this article and cannot easily locate evidence to back it, so I make no claims regarding its authenticity. However, its effect is certainly a poignant one.

The Last Hope

Shattered, his eyes, molten butterflies
Wings stilled, on the waning bloom
One flicking flame in the ‘croaching gloom
And the sun fallen from the skies

 

Comrades’ shadows stained with red

Surround him where he stood

Where victory and life had fled

In the fields stained with blood

Why would death spare one man
While better warriors fell?
Never forget…only from ashes can
The golden Phoenix swell

So as the lonely soldier there stood
Final guard in the battle for good
And the evil vanguard crossing the ford
His eyes flickered alive as he raised his broken sword

 

From "On the Ship of Dreams" by Hannah Terrell

If

 

By Rudyard Kipling

"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
If all men count with you, but none too much
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty second’ worth of distance run
Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!"

Introducing...Piggybank Portfolio

While politicians are busy plunging into the fiscal abyss, the average Joe (not to mention Jane), is discovering new ways to pinch the penny so tightly as to flatten Honest Abe. In honor of this praiseworthy endeavor, this blog is introducing - drum roll please - Piggybank Portfolio, a monthly post containing nutritional tips for the malnourished wallet.

For the month of January, having worn out the almighty dollar on turkey and cranberry sauce, chefs and moms may have sticker shock when it comes to store-bought cooking oil spray.

But wait!

Snag a half-gallon of veggie oil on sale price. Mix 5 oz. of oil with a grain alcohol (such as vodka, if you don't mind having it around the house for cooking-only purposes.) Give the mixture a shake and decant into a spray bottle. Same ol' Pam for approximately .50 a pop.

A penny for your thoughts. Drop me a line and maybe I'll put your frugality wisdom into the Piggybank Portfolio!

Some of these ideas are mine, some are time-honored money saving schemes. Some I heard, but couldn't tell from what source, for the life of me.

Tears





How can I smiling fly
Into eyes shattered
And keep my heart dry,
Where your tears
Should nestle here
And find rest from fear?

How can I, singing, sight
Your waning heartlight
Yet glide on like a careless kite
When my shoulders
Bowed beneath your boulder,
Should be your upholder?

How can I curiously touch
The mournful diamonds on your face
And shake them off with no such
Tenderness as treasures them in God’s vase?

When comes the dawn
Like blushing bride
Of time un-terrified
Sorrow will be gone

But until night is washed away
From day’s own shore
Awake, my heart…this throbbing, aching fray,
Your brother’s pain; take as yours…

The Nose Stroke and Other Infant Drowsiness Techniques

Sometimes it’s easy to get a baby to sleep. Sometimes it’s not. Once I cared for a 3 month old who had vaccinations and started teething all in one week. He wasn’t a happy camper.

After a day or two of this, I settled on a routine that seems to settle every baby I’ve cared for. The Nose Stroke is a particularly magical technique, and is widely known and followed by baby care professionals and mommies.

The First Ideal of Baby Sleepiness is rapid responsiveness to cries. In some cases, letting the baby cry is a necessary part of sleep training, but for young infants 0-8 months, catching them early de-escalates what could otherwise turn into a prolonged wailing session. When baby’s eyebrows pinch together and its face turns into a little red prune, jump into action and practice the Diaper, Hunger, Gas, Contact routine. If baby is dry, fed, deflated, and cuddled, catch its attention with a rattle, mobile, or wiggling fingers. Keep doing this every time it starts to cry. Encourage it with soft phrases whenever it’s quiet, even for an instant.

The Second Ideal of Baby Sleepiness is comfort and warmth. Most babies with a milky tummy will get drowsy if someone holds them close in their favorite position, ideally in a very warm, dark room. Once I see a yawn or two and drooping eyes, I quickly transition them to their sleeping location.

The Third Ideal of Baby Sleepiness is to lay baby down correctly. Dumping a fussy baby in a crib with a blanket usually won’t cut it. For young babies, skillful swaddling provides security and lessens startling. Mats with built in pillows cradle the baby’s head and add stability. Stability mats can be replaced with a rolled blanket placed on one side of the baby (usually an infant has a specific side it rolls onto most). Another rolled blanket beneath its legs will provide more support if it tends to kick a lot. Bouncy seats with a vibrate feature are really wonderful too.  After getting baby to sleep in one of those seats, a super adept baby handler can usually transfer the infant to a cradle or crib.

The Fourth Ideal of Baby Sleepiness is white noise. This needs to be a somewhat harsh, medium volume sound so that it mimics the noise a baby hears in the womb. A loud gurgling ocean or wind sound is pretty effective. For less technologically advanced situations, singing also works.

The Fifth Ideal of Baby Sleepiness is my favorite. Rub some baby powder on your pointer finger to reduce friction and gently stroke between the baby’s eyebrows. Let your fingers pass over its eyes without touching them. At first, some babies don’t like this, but gradually their eyes will close and eventually stay closed. Often a baby will transition directly from complete alertness to a deep sleep within two minutes when I play my cards correctly! Even when the baby is crying and its brows are crammed together; rubbing that spot will calm the baby by releasing a lot of tension.

There you have it. An expanded statement of my favorite sleepiness techniques. Did it put you to sleep?

Got some favorite tips and techniques to add? Please drop me a line. I can use all the help I can get!

Agere Vitam!

Life is an amazing miracle, isn’t it? Sometimes, I forget that no matter how hard some days can be, God gave this life to me as a gift. Lately, I’ve been learning that every complaint I make about something that frustrated me or a person that’s reeeaaally been trying my patience, is a slap in God’s face. Right now I’m thinking about all the blessings that are a part of my life.

I have a family. Ok, that sounds corny and obvious, but so many people and children around the world either have no living relatives or no supportive nuclear family. In my family, I find support and encouragement, and learn things that will make me a better person. I don’t need to travel far to find opportunities to serve either. Many chances are right here, existing in the people that have known me since my first cry. If I can’t effectively serve and support my parents and sister, how can I expect to be a great wife, mother, or servant of God?

Friends have been such a blessing. Especially one young lady whom I have known for over 5 years. Last year, I got to help with her lovely wedding to a great guy, and this year, I’m will soon get to meet her very first little girl! She’s been supportive and encouraging, and has exhorted me to grow in Christ. We’ve cried together, laughed together, and worked through some conflicts too. Our enduring friendship gives me hope!

This morning, at about 6:30 a.m., I went out to say hi to my puppy, Kirby. We’ve relocated her from the porch into a large enclosed run, so she’s been missing me. You should have seen her face! She stood up on her hind legs, tail and bottom wiggling frantically, and her front paws were reaching for me. What a blessing to have a sweet little dog with boundless energy!

Even though I haven’t found a way to do college yet, God has supplied many learning opportunities and chances to serve. So maybe I’ll never get my B.A. in early childhood development or Accounting, but through life experience, God is building me for a purpose. Though, I do feel envious sometimes that so many my age are getting the knowledge and job opportunities that go with college, this is one of those areas where I’m just going to do my best and let God decide the outcome. This chance to trust and submit myself to His will is a blessing in disguise.

I get to teach at a preschool. Everyday I hold a newborn baby or read the Bible with another 4 year old, I thank God for the gift of life, which every day is growing and being shaped in the hearts and minds of these kids.

Thank you so much for reading this post. It probably wasn't amazingly informative, but writing about my blessings really helps me keep my eyes peeled for more!