“Sometimes all you

can do is NOT think,

NOT wonder, NOT

imagine, NOT obsess.

Just breathe and

have FAITH because

miracles do happen.”

_________________________

A Matter of the Heart

by Debbie Allen

When I was only a young teen, I remember my Pastor peering over the top of his Clark Kent-glasses and addressing the congregation on ‘faith in difficult times’. In an effort to cement in our hearts a clearer picture of what that faith might look like; Reverend Massi finalized his message that day, with this quote by Corrie Ten Boom.

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

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“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” – Corrie Ten Boom-

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I’ve never forgotten the wisdom in those words to this day!  My own heart has dredged them up countless times over the years, especially while journeying through my own tunnels in life.

A few years ago, I sat confidently on the edge of a cardiologist’s examination table; awaiting the results of an echogram on my heart. I started coming to see Dr. J as a precautionary measure only…or so I thought.  But she discovered I had two heart valves showing signs of leakage.  Still in shock that what I deemed my perfectly good heart, didn’t receive the clean bill of health I’d expected; I winced at her next words to me.   

“At some point in time…those valves will need to be repaired.”  

 I asked her if there was anything I could do on my own to strengthen those valves in any way.   

“No…” Dr. J replied in a very cut-and-dry tone. “Once the damage has been done there’s really nothing you can do to reverse it.”

The finality in her voice left my mind reeling and my heart pounding. Out of nowhere, Fear lurched forth to see what chaos he could contribute. Slipping-in close, he murmured his own flawed words of encouragement to my heart. “Hopeless…Hopeless…H-o-p-e-l-e-s-s!”  he jeered, at least a hundred times before I reached my car.  Collapsing down into the warmth of a patch of autumn sunshine on my seat, made me feel as though I’d just climbed into the Lap of Jesus.  In that safe place I prayed, shedding a few reluctant tears and pouring out the matter of my heart to Him.

“Lord?  Here I am. Your child…Your broken child.  I know that nothing is hopeless with You in it.  But please…show me the way through this!”

By the time my car reached the edge of the parking lot that day, my heart heard His gentle response to the tune of my own quickened pulse; “My child… sit still… and trust… the Engineer.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Through these familiar words from my teen years, the Lord let me know that my life’s tracks had led me into a tunnel.  Though my eyes couldn’t see past the darkness of right now, the Engineer could.  My part on His Train was to ‘sit still’ and ‘trust Him’.

Five-and-a-half years have passed since my first visit to see Dr. J. In all that time, her diagnosis of my heart hasn’t changed, and the cardiograms all read about the same. Even her words to me after each check-up remained the same.

“We’ll just keep an eye on things and see you next year!”   

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“Though my own eyes couldn’t see past the darkness of right now, I knew The Engineer could. My part on His Train was to ‘sit still’ and ‘trust Him’.”

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This year, however, something did change.  Dr. J entered the room in silence, studying my cardiogram; frowning, and shaking her head.  Used to being in the dark by now; I chose to use her silence as the backdrop from which the Engineer’s words resonated down inside of me, “Sit still…Trust Me…Sit still…Trust Me!”  

When she finally spoke, her words startled me.

Still scratching her head, she shared, “Your cardiogram reading this time was r-e-a-l-l-y good! I can’t understand it.  It makes no sense.”

Somewhere between shocked and elated, all I could think to say back was, “What do you think caused that?”

 Dr. J turned towards me, still pondering the results, and clamoring for the right words.  “I…honestly… I don’t know,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Knowing the answer to my own question at that point, I offered back,

“Must be the Grace of God!”

My words ushered a great silence into the room.  Though I knew she heard me, I watched Dr. J continue trying to make sense out of solid medical facts that weren’t adding up, and the plain truth of my miracle results. I honestly believe that Dr. J left the room that day feeling more perplexed than I ever did!

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 “Often, He takes you to unwanted places, in uncharted territories for our frail hearts; just to expose His Love in you, to the empty and unbelieving souls that pepper life’s way.”

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Miracles, even small ones, and the stories connected to them draw a stark line between the doubts and denials of the unbelieving world, and the undeniable Truths of believers in Jesus.  Riding the rails of Life with Jesus as your Engineer, He promises you will see some amazing sights along the way. The mountains are high and steep, but Beauty often resides where the air is thinnest.  Countless times, He takes you to unwanted places, in uncharted territories for our frail hearts; just to expose His Love in you, to the empty and unbelieving souls that pepper life’s way.   There will be tunnels, too.  I have learned to look upon them as the Shafts of His Grace, carved by His Hand into our mountains, which reflect a picture of Jesus, carrying us through the darkness in His Strength.  In the place where our hearts can no longer see clearly; we are given an opportunity to learn what it is to ‘sit still’ and ‘trust the Engineer’.  His purposes are far greater than any mountain we will ever encounter in our life. As far as tunnels are concerned… God’s calling on the lives of His children doesn’t stop, even inside the tunnels we enter into.  Wherever we are, we are called to show the difference God makes in our life in a manner that points others to Jesus. For, sometimes we discover that it’s in the act of ‘trusting the Engineer’ in the darkness, that we become the miracle He’s performing in another’s life!

“[We are] God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you…” (2 Peter:10 b)

Father in Heaven, You are Lord over our lives whether in darkness or in light.  We will never know or appreciate Your Faithful Love in our lives until we learn to take it seriously. King David describes Your Love “as high as the heavens are above the earth.” (Ps. 103:11 CSB) It’s a Love way beyond our comprehension and ability to understand it.  But You do not ask us to make sense of it…just to ‘sit still’ and ‘trust’ in You.   Strengthen our frail hearts to see Your Hand at work in both our tunnels of darkness and our brightest of days. Teach us to see each of them as a chance for Your Miraculous Love and unfailing Strength to shine through us, into the unbelieving world! In Jesus Precious Name…AMEN

 

“All the best sands

of my life are

somehow getting into

the wrong end of

the hourglass.

If I could only reverse it!

Were it in my power

to do so, would I?”

–Thomas Baily Aldrich–

The Wrong Side of the Hourglass

by Debbie Allen

There is nothing more frustrating than watching a loved one in a nursing home, being cared for by someone who may, or may not…genuinely care for them. 
After breaking a hip, due to a fall, my mother ended up in a care facility for a short time of rehabilitation. Though she wasn’t there for an extended period of time, her stay was long enough for me to observe that there is a definite difference between truly caring for someone with love…and caring out of obligation or duty. 

My dad stayed ten to twelve hours by my mom’s side every day she spent in that care facility.  He had A LOT to say (not so nice sometimes) about every pill she swallowed, every meal delivered, and every nurse and therapist who dared to cross the threshold of her room. Though his brazen tones with the staff embarrassed me more than once; I soon realized that perhaps I was watching my dad’s own rough-cut version of love in action.  After spending a lifetime together, he understood my mother well. When the nurses came in every morning to throw the blinds open and flood her room with bright sunshine; they thought they were doing mom a favor. On the other hand, my dad, who darkened the room again when they left; understood my mom’s heart and knew the anxiety (due to Alzheimer’s disease) it caused her when she perceived the whole world was suddenly watching her.   When the physical therapists came in, their methods often meant with a few of my mom’s adamant “noes” when it came to finishing her exercises. But instead of chiding her for her lack of cooperation, my dad reached up and stroke her arm to calm her down; telling her in a mild tone, “Just one more time, Shirl…one more time, for me.”

To everyone’s surprise, though with great difficulty, she managed to finish a set of six different exercises!  Why did mom do them for my dad, and not for the therapists? I believe she knew she could trust dad to take care of her. Multiple times he’d proven himself to be for her not against her.  In her own childlike way, mom still sensed the stark difference between being on someone’s checklist…and being in someone’s heart.

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“When it comes to how we’re being treated in life, the heart knows the difference between just being on someone’s checklist…and being in someone’s heart.”

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One of the most endearing scenes I witnessed during mom’s stay in this facility happened around dinnertime one day.  I stood in the doorway while a nurse set a tray of dinner down on a bedside table.  I watched my dad, who was sitting in my mom’s wheelchair, roll himself under that table until he sat knee-to-knee with mom. In any other setting, a stranger walking by would’ve perceived this scene as a romantic dinner for two.  Soft music played in the background… low lights in the room…fresh-cut flowers on the table…and both their hands lovingly, entwined. But given a second glance, one would soon have noticed that in the dimly lit room of this care facility, there was no candle light; there was only the truth to shed its light on the unplanned reality of this tender moment between them. 
Dad reached over and tucked a napkin under mom’s chin; and placed a straw in her glass of milk. Her sunken, brown eyes watched his every move. Making no effort to eat or drink on her own, dad began to cut her food up and feed it to her one spoonful at a time.  Five or so bites in, a scowl, pursed lips, and arms folded across her chest let him know she’d had enough.  Though he again offered her a bite of everything on the plate before he finished-off the rest of it; mom spoke a firm “no”.  That’s why it came as such a shock five minutes later, when she cried out angrily at my dad, “Stop! You ate it all…where’s mine?”  

Because mom was so used to seeing dad split a plate of food between them in restaurants; as she watched him take that last bite, she assumed he’d just eaten up both halves and forgotten her altogether!  As I explained to her that she’d already eaten, my dad only had one thing to say, shaking his head at the irony of it all.

“Sure seems like all my sands are gathering in the wrong end of the hourglass.”

One week after speaking these words, my dad pulled mom out of the care facility and took her back home to recuperate in familiar surroundings…or so he thought.  The first morning they were home, mom sat sipping a cup of coffee across from him at the kitchen counter.  All seemed as it should be until she looked up with a blank stare and asked my dad, “Do you know where my husband is?”

Though mom snapped out of this momentary lapse of memory later that day; her words still continued to haunt my dad because he knows it will happen again.

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“Sometimes it seems like the shifting sands of our life are gathering in the wrong end of the hourglass.“

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There is nothing more devastating than being forgotten after pouring your heart and life into another for the span of a lifetime.   Sometimes, the sands of our life can feel like they are falling down into the wrong side of the hourglass. Though it may feel like time is slipping away from you, every grain of sand falls with great purpose and at just the right time. God is the Keeper of our sands and is aware of every tiny grain that falls through our hourglasses, from conception to old age and beyond.   Especially when we are facing heartrending circumstances and watching the pieces of the life we once loved and deemed beautiful… slowly turning to ashes. Though we on our own, cannot make sense of the painful circumstances pulling us under; God uses such times to make space within us…the space He needs to expose our helplessness and capture our attention; in order to speak a little deeper to our writhing hearts.

When I consider the pain of the moment my mom forgot who my dad was even after a lifetime spent together; it brings to mind the depth of pain God must feel when He looks down upon us and sees the Spiritual Alzheimer’s that grips our hearts and how often we forget Him in our life.  You and I are so important to God that He can’t stop thinking about us!  We are told in His Word that God’s thoughts are as numerous as all the grains of sand on the earth! (Psalm 139:17-18).   The One Who pours His Goodness into your life from conception to your last breath, also has you in His Heart. His greatest desire is that you choose to let Him (Jesus) live inside your heart.  It’s the most important decision you will ever make in your life.

Sometimes our life’s sands can feel more like sink holes.  But the more we struggle in our own strength and wisdom to try and save ourselves; the greater our chances of being consumed. Whether you have 60 minutes of sand sifting through your hourglass, or 60 years’ worth; you still have time to reach out and take hold of God’s Hand.  His is the only Hand that offers you Hope for your hopelessness, Peace for your life’s pieces, and Beauty beyond measure in exchange for your life’s ashes. Don’t forget God…He’s given His whole life for you. Time is so precious. Live and love in it wisely or someday you won’t just feel that life has left you on the wrong side of the hourglass; you may discover that all of your life’s sands have piled-up on the wrong side of Eternity…for an eternity.

“Know God, Know Peace!

No God, No Peace!”

–author unknown–

PRAYER:

  Dearest Heavenly Father and Lover of our souls… Help us to recognize when we allow Spiritual Alzheimer’s to overtake us.  Forgive us for forgetting You, the most precious of our treasures in life.  My heart knows well that you hold each of our life’s sands in your Mighty Hands.  Out of Your Love and Abundance, You’ve poured just the right amount of time into each of our life’s hourglasses.  No more and no less…for the things You have called us to do in this life.  Your greatest desire for us is that we choose to walk with You for all the days of our lives.  Help us to choose wisely, and grant that as we look back over the horizon of our life’s sands, we will see two sets of footprints in the sands where we walked…for You walked beside us from the very moment we invited you to journey through life together.  Thankyou, Jesus…for the priceless Gift of Your Presence, now and for all eternity. 

In Jesus Precious Name…. AMEN

“Every detail of our lives of love

for God is worked into something

good.”

Romans 8:28 MSG

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The Works of His Hands

by Debbie Allen

My eighty-eight- year-old parents have lived next door to my husband and I for nearly twenty-five years.  I do my writing from a garden-level library with a window that overlooks the front of my parent’s house and their driveway. Though I don’t consider myself to be a peeping neighbor; I do often see their comings and goings throughout the day.  More than once, I’ve looked up from my desk to see my dad take an unexpected fall; and had the chance to run over and help him back up on his feet. Other times, if I see their cars haven’t moved from the driveway by noon on any given day; I know the chances are good that one of them is under the weather. That’s my clue to pop-in, unannounced, with a meal or a loaf of banana bread. The times I see my dad backing his car up the driveway, I know the backend of it is loaded with groceries; that I can easily unload and carry-in for them. Over the years, I’ve come to think of my library window as my “window of opportunity, because through it, God provides me a divinely inspired glimpse into my aging parents’ world; revealing unexpected opportunities for me to meet some of the immediate needs they struggle with. Things my dad would never consider asking for help with.

Most recently, I peered out that window and saw a strange sight.  My dad’s old, Mazda van was abandoned at the bottom of their driveway, its hood facing the street. Alongside it were fresh tire tracks in our lawn; indicating my dad’s rushed decision to make a new way in and out of his driveway for their second car. Though I cringed at the very thought of him driving on the lawn, I hoped it was only a temporary solution! Two days later and still there was no sign of “AAA” towing.  By the time the third day rolled around, Dad hinted to my husband, Jim, it would be alright for him to do some troubleshooting on the deceased Mazda. Graciously, Jim accepted the challenge, as he always does.

Toolbox in hand, Jim popped the hood on Dad’s van, staring into the ocean of possibilities it might be.  He checked the battery first. Each time he tried to start it; nothing happened.  Jim shut the hood, perplexed; came back to our house to research old Mazda maladies on the internet. Nothing helpful turned up.  As I watched him through my library window, attempting a second round of troubleshooting; I prayed God would “give him wisdom to diagnose the problem and eyes to see more clearly.”  I barely uttered, “amen” walking back to my desk, when I heard the Mazda hood slam and the humming sounds of that lifeless engine running!  Jim came bounding in the front door, brimming and shaking his head. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! The battery was the first thing I checked…but I only wiggled one of the cables; and it was the other cable that was loose!”

Sharing a moment of laughter together, and the words of my prayer; neither of us could deny the reality of the miracle of answered prayer we’d been a part of.  There is an unquestionable beauty to be found in every answered prayer…no matter how great or how small.  Beauty that points us straight to the Heart of God; highlighting His complete willingness to step away from running the Universe, to bend low and listen when we cry out to Him in need.  In light of God’s great readiness towards us; why are we, then, so reluctant to step away from the stuff we fill our days with; to become the small miracle God asks us to be in the lives of those He sets before us?  Perhaps it’s because we know that God’s Agendas often lead us further out from our comfort zones than our hearts, on their own, are willing to venture?

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“Why are we so reluctant to become God’s miracle in another’s life? Perhaps it’s because we know that God’s Agendas often lead us further out from our comfort zones than our hearts, on their own, are willing to venture.”

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Over the years, what started out as just a library window on the north end of my house; has proven itself to be my own personal window of opportunity.  More specifically, it’s served as both my doorway to good deeds, and my gateway to prayer.    Somewhere between all the earthly struggles I’ve witnessed there, and God’s faithful answers to the prayers I’ve uttered before it; my faith has been strengthened over and over again.

As we enter into the Easter season, I challenge you to think of the one-of-a-kind, Window of Opportunity that Jesus looked through, while He walked on this earth.  The level of distress concerning what He saw when He peered through His Window, drove him to His knees one night.  There, in the Garden of Gethsemane, prostrate over a rock; He trembled as He prayed.  Jesus wept. He sweat great drops of blood, in anguish over the thought of facing death on the cross for the sins of all humanity. He pleaded with His Father in heaven saying,” Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42 NIV) Jesus never once, considered pulling the shade down on His Window, because of what He saw on the other side of it. Your face and mine.  He chose to trust God’s will over His own, and because of it… you and I can now have eternal life for the asking!

As we face our own windows of opportunity in this life, I pray we daily find the strength to keep our eyes pointed Godward; trusting that His divine agendas should always supersede our own calendars.  Jesus calls us to run toward those in need, not shut them out. Never will we be any more like Jesus in this world than when we willingly go where He sends us; stepping into the lives of hurting people, lifting up the fallen, and reflecting love and restoration to the broken.  Biblical Love can only be measured in sacrificing for the good of others. Jesus put it this way:

“…yet not my will, but Yours be done.”

 (Luke 22:42b CSB)

PRAYER: Most Gracious, Heavenly Father…As I enter into every new day; grant me eyes to see the work of Your Hands in my life and in the lives of those You’ve surrounded me with.  Send me the strength I need to walk in Your Footsteps…to do what it is You’ve called me to do.  Teach me to recognize Your very Presence in my life.  Instill Your Love for others in my heart; especially where my own family is concerned.  Fill me with courage enough to lift up the fallen, lighten their loads and restore the broken. Keep us all from the temptation of pulling the shades down on our windows of opportunity.  Thankyou Jesus, for the life-changing privilege of being Your Hands and Your Feet on earth; so that others might know Your Sacrificial Love too.  Bless the work of our hands for the good of others and for Your Glory!

In Jesus’ Beautiful Name we pray…AMEN

    

“Love is our greatest gift,

not just for a season but,

for a lifetime!“

by Debbie Allen

  Every New Year, I am filled with fresh hope for what the coming year will usher into our lives. Living in a world whose foundations and people, are growing evermore unpredictable and unstable; I’m grateful to God for His unshakeable Words to my heart, concerning all my life’s paths.  He promises this: “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil; to give you a future and a hope…” (Jeremiah 29: 11a).  In spite of this world’s threats of growing evil and chaos all around us, I believe God’s Hand always offers us hope; for the simple reason that we can know that His plans always come to us with our highest good in mind.  This promise alone, gives me the peace of mind and heart I seek, to step confidently into an unknown, 2022.

The first week of January, it’s always been my tradition to ask the Lord to give me a word, a thought, or an inspiration to guide me into the new year.  Something I would recognize as ‘clearly and plainly’ from His Heart to mine.  He’s never failed me yet.  On January 2^nd, I lay watching one last Christmas movie on Hallmark (Please don’t judge me!), Even though I’d seen this movie, a couple of times before, I’d missed the words that so captured my attention that day.  The heroine, distraught over a decision she needed to make right away, was being advised by a trusted friend that: “You don’t need to see the whole staircase…to take the first step.”

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“You don’t need to see the whole staircase…to take the first step.”

(Hallmark Movie “Five More Minutes”)

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With those words still echoing in my spirit, an image also flashed across my mind. It was a picture of my son and daughter-in-law’s decorated, staircase; on the night Brian proposed to Andrea.  I hadn’t thought of it for many years.  I remembered that night was also Brian’s birthday.  He wanted to heighten the element of surprise for Andrea; knowing she’d be so preoccupied making birthday plans for him, she wouldn’t have time to suspect something else was going on. While she was at work that day, he meticulously, placed a 5 x 7 glossy, photo of different moments shared together, on every stair.  Alongside each of those memories, Brian laid a red and a white, long-stemmed rose. To finalize this romantic gesture, he dressed-up in a black tuxedo and stood, out of sight, at the top of the staircase, anticipating this long-awaited moment. Hearing the front door open that night, I’m sure his heart raced as did Andrea’s when she caught sight of that staircase.  Ecstatic… spontaneous tears… heart swelled with unimaginable joy… dazed with delight… all these words together can’t begin to describe the expanse of emotions pulsing through Andrea’s heart in that moment.  As she climbed those stairs, one-step-at-a-time; savoring every memory shared through the years, she didn’t’ need to see Brian to know he was there, waiting for her at the top of those stairs.  If the handsome groom-to-be wasn’t already down on one knee, I’m sure he dropped down at the sight of the love-of-his-life, running towards him.  After a formal, “Will you marry me?” and an elated “YES!” from his joyful, yet tearful, bride-to-be…Brian slipped the engagement ring onto Andrea’s finger, and love’s journey for them both, began all over again. They were married one year later; and that journey is now approaching the ten-year mark!

No one can deny the beauty that surrounds the moment when one soulmate finds another…when we find ourselves saying “yes” to the love-of-our-life! No regrets…no looking back…just trusting in the promise of love and stepping forward together into an unknown future.  Perhaps stepping into the New Year is somewhat like that.  Every year we are given an opportunity to begin again; to step into our own new beginning.  It’s hard to imagine what things in this next year we will be drawn to saying “yes” to.  But it’s important to remember, our “yeses” are what propel us through our life; one moment…one day….one week…one month…and one year at a time. Even our time, talents, and treasures are driven by them, to one degree or another. Saying “yes” to all the right things is important but, it’s even more crucial who we are saying “yes” to.

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“Saying “yes” to all the right things is important but, it’s even more crucial who we are saying “Yes” to.”

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With that in mind, I think again of the wisdom of my Hallmark quote: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase…to take the first step.”  

And I don’t have to see the whole year ahead of me ….to take my first step, either.  How do I know that for sure?  Because of Who I’m trusting as I step into this new year.  The little slice of Brian and Andrea’s story reflects to the eyes of my heart, the stark reality of an unseen staircase I see stretching from earth towards Heaven. At the top of that stairway stands my Heavenly Groom, Jesus. He longs for the day when I, His bride-to-be, will be called to step into His Gaze and run into His Arms.  Though I can’t see Him now, I sense the reality of His Beautiful Presence.  Every step I climb toward Him is marked by the Fragrance of His Love. As I stop to linger over memories we’ve shared, I think of this. Spans of both laughter and tears…in sickness and in health. Precious prayer and worship times together. I have come to relish the sounds of His Voice in my ear…the Whispers of His Breath, breathing new life down into moments threatening to steel my breath away. When this world’s ways try to crush me, I seek the Lovingkindness, Grace and Healing He offers in His every Touch.  From the joys of mountain-top experiences to the sorrows and heaviness of the valleys; I sense His gentle Heart beating next to mine. Every beat overflows with Sacrificial Love… Love willing to die for me so my heart can know Him fully. To know and to be known in that sense… speaks to my soul’s deepest longing.  The Lover of my soul tells me, “I am Yours and You are mine.”  Without hesitation, my heart responds, “yes;” for it loves and trusts, beyond a shadow of any doubt, the One Who promises His beloved bride, “There is no greater Love than Mine!”

And there is no greater Promise than this to lead us into the unknown future of a new year. I have said “yes” many times to many things, and many people over the course of my life; and no doubt, in the coming year I will do so again. However, I don’t want to be pushed-and-pulled through the new year as merely a consequence of my “yeses.”  Instead, I want my “yeses” to become the steps leading my heart towards new growth and change, a deeper faith, and greater love for others. Above all, my desire is that my highest “yes,” be reserved for my Groom, waiting at the top of that unseen Staircase. He has chosen me, loved me unconditionally, forgiven my sin, and planned a life for me that is filled with good not evil, with a future and a hope. To Him, in this next year, my heart cries out “hineni!” This expression is a word from the Hebrew language, speaking our English “yes” in a much deeper and richer way. It means, “Here I am!”  A word which says, “God, Here I am,” to do whatever You call me to do, whatever the cost or consequence.” 

The beautiful thing about this expression is that God, in order to reflect back to us, the same level of devotion He desires from us, also speaks “Hineni” to our own hearts.  As He does, His Heart is reminding our own frail hearts, “I Hear you… I See you…and I Know you!”

What more could any of us ever ask, or say, or want, as we step into this new year?  There is no greater Love than this!

“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: “Here am I.”

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PRAYER: Father in Heaven…Your Love truly is the greatest Gift our hearts could ever receive; not for just a season in our life but, for all of Eternity. Knowing a Love this Deep is its own reward. Help us, Lord, to take Your Hand, believe Your Promises, and step into the unknowns of this new year fully trusting that Your plans for our lives come from the inexpressible Goodness of Your Heart. You are for us, not against us. Sustain us. Embolden our hearts. As we offer You our highest “yeses: in the days to come; and as our hearts cry out, “hineni” to You…may we thrill at the Sounds of Your Voice in response, assuring us “I Hear you…I See You…and I Know you!” There is no greater Love than this! In Jesus Precious Name…AMEN

by Debbie Allen

“It was the best of days; it was the worst of days.” One summer day, back in the early 1900’s…no one could tell the two little girls left sitting at the kitchen table on their family’s Missourian farm, any different! Breakfast was over but, Hazel, 9, and Nina, 6, lingered behind the rest of their siblings; who’d marched off routinely to knock out their chore lists so they could play. Giggling non-stop, the girls recounted chasing the chickens around the coup that morning before gathering-up enough eggs in a basket to feed the twelve of them.

“Mama wasn’t pleased,” confessed Hazel, looking down in an effort to hide her uncontainable half-grin.

Little Nina lowered her gaze too, adding, ” Daddy was mad when I dropped the milk pitcher he just filled for me. He told me not to skip…but, I love skipping.”

A moment of silence reigned between them in an attempt to mourn their most recent poor choices. However, as soon as their gazes locked, this inseparable, duo-of-girlish-whims, wriggled and giggled their way back to the kitchen sink where Mama’s stern expression and towers of dirty, breakfast dishes awaited them.

“I’m the oldest so I’ll wash and you can dry!” Hazel chimed in, tossing the dish towel towards Nina.

Before the towel landed on Nina’s face, Mama caught it in mid-air, glaring at both of them.  Her patience now gone, Mama grabbed a pencil and the girl’s chore lists. With every new giggle or accidental, playful gesture between the girls, Mama added a new chore to their lists.

Eyebrows scrunched by now, and dresses dishwater-soaked, Nina and Hazel protested, “But Mama…that’s not fair!”

 “I’m too little for this big chore list!”

Without another word, Mama handed each of them a revised chore list.  Then she laid her apron aside and walked out the back door; knowing she’d struck the Achilles heels of these two little trouble-makers.  Her troublemakers… the two little girls whose hearts always beat in unison when it came to knowing how to turn serious work into play.

Before it was all over, Mama wore her own half-smile; for not only had she gained the upper hand…but a whole day off!

“It was the best of days…it was the worst of days!”

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“It was the best of days…it was the worst of days!”

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The two little farm girls pictured in the story above grew up to become my Dad’s Aunts from Missouri. Though their childhood antics followed them on into adulthood, both Aunt Hazel and Aunt Nina grew up to become the much-loved, faith-filled women, sisters, wives, mothers, and aunts that I, too, had the privilege of knowing and loving in my younger years. 

Hazel was tall and lean, anything but shy; creative and outspoken in all she said and did.   Nina was petite in both stature and size, quiet-natured, and soft-spoken to all. They were like vinegar and honey.   Each of them offered their own unique flavors to this world; but when you combined the two of them together; they became their own sweet remedy for turning anything serious into play. 

In their later years, long after their children were grown, husbands passed away, and great-grandchildren were too numerous to count; they sat across from each other visiting in the same kitchen at the farm house where they grew up. Aunt Nina was working on a sewing project and ran out of the color of thread she needed to finish it.  Determined to get it done that day, she turned to Aunt Hazel.

“Sis…is there any way we could drive into town to buy more thread?”

Almost without hesitation, Aunt Hazel responded.

“Yes…I imagine anything is possible; but we both know it’s going to take a little doing to get us there!”

After this conversation, both of them headed for Aunt Hazel’s old blue Ford, Betty; parked in front of the farmhouse.  It’d been sitting there since Uncle Ross passed away a year earlier.  Aunt Nina climbed into the passenger seat.  Aunt Hazel positioned herself behind the steering wheel.  Feeling along the steering column for the ignition, she turned the key and held her breath. 

“Come on Betty, give us one more time!” Aunt Hazel pleaded, before the engine sputtered and coughed, and finally cranked over.

Then…just as she’d done so many times when they were little girls, Aunt Hazel took charge; issuing Aunt Nina some final instructions for their roles in this grand adventure.

“Now remember, you do the talking and I’ll do the driving. Just keep me centered in the road and we’ll surely get there!”

Putting the car in gear, they coasted down to the single-lane, country road at the bottom of the driveway.  Aunt Nina hollered “LEFT…NOW RIGHT…LEFT AGAIN!” and Betty and the girls headed for the craft store; more than ten winding, miles of dirt-road away!  This is probably the only time in her life Aunt Nina ever hollered at anybody. 

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“It may be the best of drives…it may be the worst of drives, but…none of us can make any of those drives on our own.”

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For this 80-some-year-old, duo-of-girlish-whims, this day had the potential of becoming the best of days…or the worst of days.   You see, at the time, Aunt Hazel was totally blind…and her guidance system, Aunt Nina, had never driven a day in her life!  Miraculously, Betty and the girls made it to the craft store that day, bought the thread needed, and returned home unscathed; but not without a few near-ditch experiences!

 This story is tucked-away deep inside the pages of my family history.   It was only by accident that my Dad happened to share it with me. The thought of it still captures my heart! It’s so much more than just a story of childhood antics following these two dear, ladies into old age. It’s a tale of two sisters who, over the course of a lifetime; found a sweet, abiding contentment in each other’s presence.  I see one risking all… for the sake of another’s needs.  I see a heart willing to embark on a journey with only the sounds of another’s voice to guide them down an unseen stretch of road. I see unwavering obedience and blind trust in that same voice to keep them centered, in spite of near-ditch experiences all along the way.

If you look a little deeper, you also see the beauty of Heaven woven in and out of this tale. It’s a reflection of Jesus’ Heart.  His Desire…He longs for us to find contentment in His Sweet, Abiding Presence. His Love… always intentional and sacrificial, with our highest good in mind.  Hope…He gave us His all, His Life; so that we could have one.

Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us are blind to what the road stretched out in front of us looks like. If we choose to make the drive on our own, life will be one white-knuckle, near-ditch, experience after another; with no guarantee of ever reaching home. Consider the wisdom of two little farm girls from Missouri. Let’s invite Someone to sit next to us on the journey. Then choose to tune the ears of our hearts to the Sounds of His Voice for Guidance. His Love and Faithfulness demand and deserve our blind trust. Jesus is the only one who is able to keep us centered in our own life’s journey. “It might be the best of drives…it might be the worst of drives but…none of us can make any of those drives on our own.”

PRAYER: Dearest Father in Heaven…Thankyou for loving us through every journey we embark on. Forgive us for being so short-sighted in so many ways. Give us the courage to admit how blind we are when it comes to finding our own way around in this life. Help us to faithfully tune the ears of our hearts to the sounds of Your Voice. May we not miss hearing Your instructions for the drive we are making in this life. Fix our eyes and our ears upon You. Thankyou for being the God Who is always with us and Who never fails to Rescue us. We love You. In Jesus Name…Amen