“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