sketch by Wenda Grabau
Time marches on even for cameras. New ideas bring new facets to family life. How many family members’ images did this wee box camera capture for generations to admire?
Buy this card for the photography buff in you or your family:
Gift Card: Box Camera
Baby, who learned to obey.
Have you ever met a cat that obeyed?
Cats seem to have developed the stereotype of independent self-centeredness. If the cat is happy…life is good.
On my walk to the mailbox today I stepped out onto my front porch. The sun-washed landscape displayed clear, blue sky, lush green grass and spring blooms bursting out all over. At my ankles, up came a loudly purring, long-haired feline named Baby to greet me.
Baby came to us accidentally. Road workers bull-dozing the nearby county road, saw a lost little kitten by a stump as they worked. Since we were the closest farm, they told us about her. Word got to my daughter, who passionately saves kittens in distress.
She adopted this little bag of fur and bones. She fed, bathed and cradled her in her hooded sweatshirt. Her love and nurturing gave Baby a new lease on life. So Baby grew up in the farmhouse.
When Baby lived there, I learned to communicate with her. I used a technique that cats use to show displeasure. To let her know she should stop an unacceptable behavior, I hissed at her. It worked!
The day came when our daughter left the farm and I moved Baby to the calf shed with the barn cats. She held her own and is doing well. She is a natural mother cat and raises her kittens skillfully.
On my way to the mailbox, I must cross the road. It is well-traveled and a hazard to cats if they happen to cross it during a hunt.
So when I walk to the road and Baby is following, I say, “SSSSST!!!” Baby sits and waits for me to cross the road and come back to her. Then we go on our way together to our next task.
Isn’t it interesting how this little creature can understand a warning from a non-feline? I see the danger at the road better than Baby does. Her perspective is so limited, but if she obeys, she will be much safer than if she does not.
In this instance, one can see that obedience can be our friend and not just a slave master.
Ephesians 6:1 states, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.” Even children can obey. The Holy Bible says that this is right. How much more right is it for God’s children to obey their Heavenly Father?
If you hear His warning as Baby hears mine, do what she does. Listen, stop, obey and wait. If Baby can do it, so can you. It can keep you safe from danger and spare you the needless suffering of consequences due to a poor choice.
For Christmas this past year, I received a uniquely special gift. It came over several generations.
My daughter learned to crochet while she was still in our home. My grandmother taught it to my mother, who in turn taught it to me. I enjoyed it so that I passed it on to my daughters. Although the craft came down through my side of the family to my daughter, the tools came from her dad’s side.
Great-grandmother's crochet yarn fashioned into an heirloom gift.
Great-grandmother, Julia, graduated from a ladies seminary with a degrees in needlework and piano. At her death, her daughter, Judy, saved the many patterns, crochet yarn and other resources that she inherited from her mother. Upon her passing, my husband inherited a portion of these items. Since we wanted to pass them on to our children as soon as possible, we let them choose those items to which they were drawn.
Details of the Swan
My eldest daughter felt a special inspiration to make doilies for Christmas gifts. She had a vision to give an heirloom gift before it was made. She found a special 3-D pattern resembling and lily-laden pond with 2 swans gracefully swimming on it. The yarns she used were owned by her Great-grandma, preserved by her Grandma and given to me, her Mom, for Christmas. I would call that an intergenerational gift.
My daughter’s vision reminds me of our Heavenly Father. In the beginning, He had the vision to give us fallen creatures the gift of salvation before it was “finished”. Ages later, Jesus, on the cross, declared, “It is finished.” The gift, payment of our sin debt, was finished with His sacrifice.
At Christmas, I received the special gift from my daughter.
God’s gift of salvation can be received,too. If this is not a gift you have received, it is still available. As Jesus said, “It is finished.” It is a gift meant for you.
Have you ever found an old treasure from a garage sale? This item was such a find. Many years ago this little marvel brought pride and joy to its buyer.
This folding camera – a piece from history – is a testament to man’s creativity.
Capture this card for the photographer in you or your family:
Gift Card: Folding Camera
A conviction, according to Webster’s Seventh International Collegiate Dictionary, is “a strong persuasion or belief: the state of being convinced.” Let me share one of my strong persuasions with you.
Psalm 127:3 states, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”
I say, “Amen to that!” Our children are a gift. They are our precious reward.
Children have grown up in our home. We have provided for them. We have taught them and loved them. It may sound like all of the benefits came from us and our efforts and went to them.
Yes, we worked hard. We denied ourselves some things, but we received much in the process. My husband and I shared a common goal to work toward. In our teaching, we learned all the more. In our loving, we have been loved.
We raised them to expect to go to school after high school. They applied themselves academically and have honored us by doing just that.
The Holy Bible, in Exodus 20:12, commands children to “Honor your father and your mother.”(NASB)
I was once a child. According to Psalm 127, I was someone’s gift and precious reward. I still am. Although my dear father has passed away, I can still honor him by living my life for the Lord and honoring Dad’s wife, my lovely Mother.
If you are a child, you can still live knowing that you are a gift and a reward and can still honor your parents. It can be the integrity with which you live your life and how much you treasure the true things in life, like God and His Word. It may be providing for them and living for Jesus. I hope you realize that you are very precious.
photo credit: crdotx via photopin cc
The lack of a blanket of snow on a field of alfalfa hay, can leave it defenseless when the hard-freezing temperatures come. We have had such a winter. The balmy winter has given way to the cold March which is going out “like a lion”.
Alfalfa can freeze when the thermometer dips down into the high 20°F range. We have seen some wilting on our plants already. We are hoping that only a few leaves froze and not entire plants. If a hard freeze comes, it can winter-kill the crop.
The farmer plants a new field of alfalfa hay each year. Last year’s alfalfa seed was planted and harvested once. The second year after planting generally yields 2-3 cuttings. As dairy farmers, the main crop is MILK. The better fed the cattle are, the more able they are to produce it. The dairy cattle need lots of hay to sustain them over the coming winter, so it is crucial to have abundant hay production.
So you might see how dependent farming is on the weather. The weather is completely out of our control. The crop of feed needs good weather; the cattle need the feed for good health and milk production; and dairy farmers need the milk production to produce their annual income. Although there are many things farmers try to manage, the details are still out of their control.
Pressing the point a little further, one can see that if the dairy industry has less milk to sell, the population will have a lack of beverages, ice cream, yogurt, butter and cheeses to consume.
So, in this sense, yes, life is not in our control. We are all dependent.
Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”Matt. 6:26(NIV)
One super response to that truth, is to admit our dependence on the One who made us. Prayer is one way to express our dependence on Him.
He counts you as very valuable. He will gladly listen to you. Take Jesus’ advice, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matt. 6:33 (NIV)
I mowed the lawn today. Our yard is large and hilly so it takes real effort to complete it. One might ask, “Why do you mow so much grass?” Frankly, I used to think it was a cosmetic job. But on the farm most things have a practical purpose.
Short, mowed grass discourages snakes and other critters from making our space their own. So, though mowing is a sweaty, 8-hour job for me—I will do it.
So how is mowing done? As in the farm field, mowing starts on the outside edges of a piece of ground. These are the lines we follow to make a circuit till the entire surface is clipped.
A farmer does not want to work up his neighbor’s land, he wants to work on his own land. So he uses the lines to guide his work. The surveyors’ lines put up ages ago still guide mankind today.
Isn’t it great that we have lines to follow that guide us in our work? How grateful we can be for those who have gone on before us and established those lines.
In our computer age, many youth have technical knowledge which leaves a lot of the older folks in the dust. One might dare to think that the youngsters know more than their elders. Ah, but do they really?
Have you ever heard the mystery-type questions like, “How were the pyramids made?” Evidently, the ancients knew something that we don’t know, wouldn’t you say? It is too bad that that knowledge did not get passed down to the youths by their elders—or maybe the youths did not care to learn it when they had the chance.
Whatever the reason, it is worth learning from those who have gone on before…our ancestors and the ancients.
The real ancients’ stories are written in the pages of the Holy Bible.
Returning to our discussion of lines, let us consider the misuse of them. If one oversteps the lines that have been established, he becomes a trespasser. He takes on to himself the privilege of using land that is not his to use, which is against the law.
God has put up lines for us to follow which are also written in the Holy Bible. Those lines show us God’s dominion. Man tends to step over those lines and assume authority where he ought to not be. Man does trespass against God.
That reminds me of a special request in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Even if you cannot retrace your ancestry to find the lines they left for you, you can resort to the Holy Bible to find the lines that God has set up for you.
Mowing takes time and is useful for giving me moments to ponder on things that God has done. During that time even simple things like lines can point to Him.
As the psalmist says in Psalm 16:6, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”(RSV)
photo credit: Robert S. Donovan via photo pin cc
Wenda Grabau © 2011
Shrouded in secret ‘neath a blanket of snow,
Each singer awaits making entrance.
Nature revives resting voices although
Time must pass before the performance.
Rainbow robes, trumpets bold, smiles aglow–
Their songs burst forth not making a sound.
Look, there is a choir outside my window
Standing stately on green carpeted ground.
The silent cantata captures my gaze
When led at the Choirmaster’s direction.
Songsters–arrayed for beauty in praise
Of the Artists’s creative perfection–
Reflect their Creator’s capable style.
With joy, I drink deeply all the while.
Brilliant flowers dance on springtime's warm breezes.
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
Lanterns were used in the old days.
Although electricity makes them unnecessary in the barn, they were used there at one time. Before the power lines were put up in the rural areas, farmers who worked long days, got up early in the morning to milk the cows.
If they were up before the sun, these lanterns got them through the darkness and enabled them to do their jobs.
This design is available to you through our store.
