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Yesterday and Today and Forever

Throughout my life, the writers of songs and hymns have helped me press down big truths into simple context so I can absorb it. Added to this is the great benefit of being brought up in a Christian home where we sang as children, for it never leaves you. And so, as we come into another Christmas season, as we prepare to turn the calendar to another year, I found myself going to my childhood.

As each happy Christmas, Dawns on earth again
Comes the holy Christ Child, To the hearts of men.*

I don’t know about you, but it still draws me: Jesus, the Son of God, coming to this earth, growing up, moving among the people, transforming lives. It’s staggering.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Bible teacher Charles Swindoll wrote, “On that first Christmas, the divine Son of God took His first human breath as He entered humanity as one of us. The moment of Jesus’ birth was an event like none other in history. It changed the world forever. Its appeal was … and still is … irresistible!”

All unknown, beside me He will ever stand
And will safely lead me, With His own right hand.
(*As Each Happy Christmas, circa 1885)

Changes come and go, don’t they? When we part from family, from our friends, we don’t know what may affect us, or them, before we meet again. Yet the promise that Jesus remains beside us through the unknown is as certain today as it was yesterday.

As Each Happy Christmas Nomadwife.com blog
A Child’s Garden of Song, Concordia Publishing House, 1949

With their children all in school now, my son and his wife and my daughter and her husband are experiencing the joys and responsibilities of raising children in the 21st century. My husband I had a fun visit in October with his brother and sister-in-law from Arizona. The boys reminisced, taking us on tour through favorite stomping grounds growing up. At Thanksgiving we had one more empty chair at the dinner table that was always filled by my sister’s husband who passed away in September. Still, crawling underfoot to remind us of those who will come after us was my nephew and his wife’s one-year-old son.

All glory to the Son, Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever one, Through all eternity.
(The Advent of Our King, Charles Coffin, circa 1736)

Who is in charge of “forever”? The One who from eternity to eternity is the same yesterday and today.

We are each going through changes. The heavens and the earth will pass away, but from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s deep, abiding love is with those who fear the Lord. Because God has said “I will never leave you,” we can confidently say “I will not fear.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Cutting My Teeth on Christmas Blog

No halo graced the head of Jesus when He was born on earth in yesteryear — this baby, God in the flesh, the eternal Son of God who came to save us from sin. God continues to walk into our lives today when we least expect Him, and His surprises still bring relief.

When we say yes to God’s will for our lives, God floods our hearts with relief. And, oh, the joy that God’s peace brings to our hearts!

Have you said “yes” to the One who holds yesterday and today and forever?

Merry Christmas!

Sources:
Jesus – Always Only, Alistair Begg
The Season That Still Touches Hearts, Charles Swindoll

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Indescribable Gift

Nomad Wife - Lessons Learned Unpacking Boxes, Indescribable Gift

A writing tablet and yellow No. 2 pencil. The kind with a soft eraser. A Skooter doll by Mattel. She was the friend of Barbie’s younger sister, Skipper. White patent leather go-go boots. Whew! What an iconic fashion statement … they “were made for walkin’.” A mother’s birthstone ring and holiday dinnerware.

Each year as I have grown a bit older, the gifts under the Christmas tree have matured, as well. Each gift was intentionally selected. Each one received with anticipation and joy.

Nomad Wife - Lessons Learned Unpacking Boxes, Indescribable Gift

There is a line in one of my favorite Christmas carols that reads, “God’s Son for a gift has been sent you this night” (emphasis added). It’s a German hymn originally composed in 1798 as a poem written for children: Ihr Kinderlein, Kommet (O Come, Little Children)!

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15

Paul the apostle spoke about this gift. And, for someone who had the ability to find whatever word was necessary at whatever place in his writing, in this case Paul could not come up with a descriptive synonym. No word would adequately express the significance of this gift that God has given in His Son. So he coined a word found nowhere else in all the Bible, translated “indescribable.”1

Ah, yes. Any attempt at describing the indescribable dares to fall short of comprehensiveness. So, we tell of what we know:

No word would adequately express the significance of this gift …

Jesus the Christ, the King of Righteousness, the King of Heaven, the King of Kings.

The wellspring of wisdom, the pathway of peace,

Sovereign, eternally steadfast, endurably strong. The just Judge.

He is enthroned on high. Yet He has come near. Utterly sincere, compassionate to all.

The centerpiece of civilization, unparallel, unprecedented,

The loftiest idea in literature, the highest personality in philosophy. Courage of the weak, comfort to the downtrodden, hope to the lost.

He is perfect love. The life giver, the sin forgiver. Changeless.

He blesses the young, regards the diligent, defends the feeble, esteems the aged,

His mercy is everlasting, His goodness is limitless, His word is enough.

You can’t out live Him and you can’t live without Him.

Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him!

A Story to Tell Blog

The Son of God does not have His beginnings in Bethlehem. Indeed, He has no beginning. And so it is at Christmas time that we remind ourselves that this child in the manger is Lord, true God and true man. Jesus is God’s gift to the world. Jesus is God’s gift to you! Indescribable.

O come, little children, oh, come, one and all,
To Bethlehem haste, to the manger so small.
God’s Son for a gift has been sent you this night
To be your Redeemer, your Joy and Delight.*

Writer’s Note: Merry Christmas! This past summer, my husband and I received the gift of time as we spent a highly anticipated week in Florida with our children and their families to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. What joy!

The Gift of Time

1Jesus, The Indescribable Gift, Charles R. Swindoll

*O Come, All Ye Children, Christoph von Schmid (1768-1854)

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A Story to Tell

Johann Härtling, of the Saxony, Germany area of Pöppeln, was the father of Andreas, Andreas the father of Hermann, who immigrated to the United States of America, Hermann the father of Adolph Martin, Martin the father of Benjamin, Ben the father of Vernon, Vernon the father of three sons and three daughters.

I am one of those three daughters.

More than 235 years since Johann, that bloodline still lives on today in both my children and grandchildren.

The Hermann Haertling Family, circa 1894

Genealogical rolls trace a lineage, preserving the past for future generations. Each name represents a face, a life lived. Each one a link connecting from earlier days to what is still to come. Each with a story to tell.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.

It is with a genealogy that Matthew begins the first book of the New Testament of the same name (Matthew 1). Matthew unfolds the story of the Christ child’s coming by looking back to the Old Testament — from Abraham to Jesus. Albeit, not something you usually expect in your traditional Christmas card generally filled with angel announcements, accounts of shepherds, and images of a newborn baby asleep in a manger.

Woven within the letters of each name listed is the unfolding story of God’s faithfulness flowing from generation to generation as He fulfills the promise first made to Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3).

In linking Jesus to Abraham, Matthew brings us straight away back to the promise of God’s rescue plan for the world. Jesus is the long-awaited son of Abraham who will bring God’s blessing to all humanity.

… and all people on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:3

The promised son of David. Matthew confirms Jesus’ human origin, the royal successor and legitimate heir to the throne of David’s kingdom (Matthew 22:42-46). The King for whom all of Israel was waiting.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

Then in a rare move, Matthew breaks with tradition by listing four women. The background stories of these four make their inclusion even more extraordinary: Gentiles, widows, tarnished pasts. Matthew shines light on God’s amazing grace.

For generations God has been using all types of people to move His plan forward. Real people. Imperfect men and women who have lived flawed lives, making poor choices, living life away from God.

Three sets of names. Three key periods in history. As one biblical scholar writes, “One gets the impression that Matthew pored over his Old Testament records until he could find the most questionable ancestors of Jesus available in order, in turn, to insert them into his record and so, it seems to preach the gospel — that is, that God can overcome and forgive sin, and can use soiled but repentant persons for his great purpose in history.”1

I Never Asked Blog

What about your story? Where Scripture’s first genealogy recorded in Genesis 5 underscores death — “and then he died” — the genealogy of Jesus does not end. Matthew emphasizes that Jesus came to save “his people from their sins.”

No matter your background, your pedigree, your last name, you can be part of Christ’s inheritance both now and throughout eternity. By faith in Jesus, you can be counted as one of God’s children.

Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.2

Photo: Far left, my grandfather, Ben Haertling, is seated on the lap of his father, Martin Haertling.

1 Fredrick Dale Bruner, The Christbook: A Historical/Theological Commentary, 1987
2 Martin Luther, From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, 1535

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Things I Remember

Remembering produces hope

For years my mom woke early in the morning. Those hours well before daybreak when the night sky still holds back the sunrise. Farm work required it. As she aged and became less involved in the daily chores, her inner clock stayed right on schedule. “But now,” she said, “I wake up early and lying there I just think … the things I remember.”

Remember the days of old; consider the generations past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
Deuteronomy 32:7

I, too, am an early riser. Although a few years younger than my mom was in her reminiscing days, I also wake well before daylight and remember.

Some call it rehearsing the deeds of the Lord; others refer to it as taking a spiritual inventory. Both involve an intentional act of remembering — the process of recalling the past, especially God’s presence and activity in life.

Remembering Leads to Praise and Rejoicing

Nomad Wife Things I Remember
My twin sister and I in our family home.

No, I do not remember being seven months of age. But this photograph stirs countless memories of the room in which it was taken and of that family rocking chair still found there. Many a birthday and holiday get-togethers, quiet conversations, and a share of gatherings weighed down in sorrow.

I do remember twenty-five years later, however, after this picture was taken. The morning my daddy found me awake and curled up in that chair in the wee hours of May 1st.

“Can’t sleep, uh?” he asked.

“No, I am just lying here thinking,” I replied.

Later that same day he walked me down the church aisle to give me away in marriage to my husband.

Looking back, God’s presence was evident in all things — interwoven throughout the innocent days of childhood, in building faith, and during the routines of family life.

Nomad Wife Things I Rememer School Days
Immanuel Lutheran School, grades 1-8, John Groenke teacher, Theodore Schroeder pastor. (Photo courtesy of Joyce Versemann)

In a one-room school house on cold winter days, twenty-one children warming themselves around a huge, black potbelly stove completing their studies. The outhouse “facilities” and the woodshed from which the older boys carried in logs to feed the potbelly stove. Sunshiny days and “Red Rover, Red Rover” recess games. In end-of-school-year Play Day relays, races and tug-o-war competitions. Ribbons awarded to the winners; participants were, well, participants.  

All through Vacation Bible School stories and songs and art projects. In the red Kool Aid? Hmm, even while “enjoying” those cold, sugary drinks. (Yech!) Through influential, caring teachers — Mr. Groenke, Mrs. Mouser, and Mr. Golz, Confirmation Day preparation, and the Spring storm that took out the electric power the evening of my First Communion.

Everywhere. Seated around the supper table, the evening meal over, my brother, sisters and I reciting our bedtime prayers — “Now I lay me down to sleep …” A child’s voice echoing Grandma Haertling teaching The Lord’s Prayer in German as we cleaned eggs collected earlier from the hen house. Playing Sunday School on the little porch, the window-filled room off the kitchen. My doll students always seemed much better behaved than the rather vocal, spirited teddy bear students.

Cutting My Teeth On Christmas Blog

Every day. While working together tending row upon row of freshly planted potato seedlings, in the beauty of butterflies lighting on a rainbow of Zinnia blooms, and across fields of tasseling corn. And culling chickens under cover of darkness (separating the layers from those hens no longer producing). I still hear my twin sister’s voice, “I don’t know what’s back there breathing in that corner, but it’s no chicken!” If you know her, ask Connie about that one.

Remembering Leads to Repentance and Understanding

The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy is a book all about remembering. “On the first day of the eleventh month” of the last year of their wanderings, Moses urges the Israelites to look back and remember.

Remember how the LORD your God … to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart … that in the end it might go well with you. Deuteronomy 8:2-16

Writing a short time before his own death, Moses recasts God’s law for a new generation poised to enter the land of promise. To reaffirm the covenant God made with them, His children, the people of Israel. The covenant previously established at Mount Sinai, the pledge they broke in distrust and disobedience.

Other nations feared their own gods. The Lord God sought a renewed commitment with His people based not just in rote obedience, but an obedience springing from a relationship with God to His people. A bond based on God’s might and awe and fear. A life together drenched in His own deep, unfailing love.

Remembering Produces Hope

Moses didn’t pull any punches. His speech calls each of the Israelites to remember their stubbornness, painful memories resulting in loss of life and a 40-year long, desert education. And to realize in hope the blessings that accompany obedience.

What do we do in the early morning darkness with memories of our poor choices and irresponsible behavior? A mental notebook filled with what ifs and could haves? Heartaches stemming from impatience and bullheadedness, of harsh words spoken in anger? Of life-altering tragedies? Memories that wiggle their way in with a side of guilt and shame added.

We leave them in repentance where they belong: at the cross of Jesus Christ who took on Himself the payment for sin. And we remember His abundant grace.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:7

Remembering God’s work in the past can lead to praise and rejoicing. Remembering can lead to repentance and to understanding. Remembering evokes hope for the future. For remembering the past produces confidence in Whom we believe — Jesus Christ.

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.

But “I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”
(2 Timothy 1:12, Jude 24)

I Know Whom I Have Believed, Daniel W. Whittle, 1883

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Life’s Journey, Destination’s End and the Almighty God.

You have seen them. They are sitting in the vehicle parked in the fast-food restaurant lot, just off the highway. The car’s engine is running; made obvious by wispy smoke coming from the engine’s tailpipe.

A man, a woman, a couple of kids. Maybe a dog. Each eating their meal. Not the dog. It’s usually sleeping. The out-of-state vehicle tags confirming it: Folks heading somewhere.

That is my family. Self-described destination people. Whether the first leg of a trip traveling to visit family for the holidays or returning back home again, we are all about the place to which we are going. Our goal is being there.

My best girlfriend was a journey gal. She loved detours. Oh, her family got to where they were going. But a six-hour trip could easily become eight, improved only by a roadside excursion touring the world’s biggest ball of baler twine, the largest rocking chair, or a Great Lake’s sand dune.

We destination folks focus on the last stop. Breaks are limited, and those we do take are short in duration, which explains eating our meals in the car parked in a fast-food lot. We are skilled scoping out at a distance the best restroom facilities, the shortest drive-thru lines, and the fastest gas pumps. Journey people take it in stride; their eyes peeled for what is coming next as they are getting there.

Abraham’s Journey. Reaching Destination’s End.

When God calls Abram to leave Haran, the story of a man unfolds — a promised land, a promised people, and the response of faith (Genesis 12:1-3). At first look, it may appear that Abram’s call is about the place he is going to: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you’.” Ahhh, keep reading.

We are not told how much time transpires between Abram’s response “setting out from Haran” and “they arrived there” (Genesis 12:4-5). But those 425 miles to physically arrive in the land of Canaan, to the place to which Abram was called, is but the beginning of an enduring 100-year journey.

Remarkable experiences merged within the lulls of everyday living. Detours, trials and tests focusing not on what seems impossible, but on what is possible only through the one true God.

Decisions to wait. Others made in haste. Big messes, with even bigger fixes. And miles and miles developing obedience and trust.

In the journey, Abram fully experiences the ever-present, sovereign God as Promise Keeper. Not some bogus magical genie that appears for a time, grants a wish or so, and retreats. But the real, loving God, who is intimately involved as His words are fulfilled through people in His time and in His way.

Abram comes to know personally the God who knows all things, the God who desires to be known by His people.

The Big Three in Moving Blog

Through Abram’s journey, retold in the Old Testament book of Genesis, we also discover God. We meet the One who does the calling (Genesis 12), the One who pours out blessings on those who trust and obey (Genesis 12-25). The One who faithfully protects (Genesis 12, 14). A just God, who in His compassion, befriends (Genesis 18), who knows us by name and actually sees us (Genesis 16).

We witness the I Am, trustworthy in growing His children (Genesis 22), patiently restoring in failures (Genesis 20). The One who understands heartache and grief, who comforts (Genesis 21, 23). The immutable God who does not change; because in His absolute perfection, He always works for the good of His people.

As for Abram, he does change. No longer “exalted father” advancing and pleasing himself, but Abraham, “the father of many nations” who learns that God is El Shaddai, God Almighty.

It was a lot of years and a lot of miles, an amazing journey of hope and grace experienced in God. The same hope and grace on which we all still depend today in a world of bad news, poor choices, lapses in judgment, and wrong behavior. God’s grace that knows no limitations, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1-3).

To borrow from Bible teacher Eugene Peterson, Abraham’s journey was one long obedience in the same direction. A journey bringing him to his destination’s end: “By faith … longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:8-16).

Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou are mighty; Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven. Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

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Time to Carry the Torch

Well, it’s official. It is time to carry the torch. My uncle died a few days ago. In his passing, he signals the end of a generation.

Uncle Sonny was the last living uncle on my mom’s side of my family. He had been married to mom’s youngest sister, Viola.

His smile. That is what I remember most about him. A warm expression that seemed to go straight from his eyes down into his soul.

As the last surviving member of the “senior generation,” he had held a special distinction — an honor bearing the inherent responsibility of family and faith. My mom enjoyed the same regard when she was the last surviving aunt on the Haertling side, my daddy’s family. To some extent, those “seniors” took me off the hook.

But now, that generation is gone. It is time to carry on the spiritual torch of faith.

My mother, her sisters and brothers, with their spouses, and my Grandpa Richter, circa 1978.

A Legacy Worth Living Blog

I lived among people who were distinguished as both speaking and seeing witnesses of their faith. Parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles who by their words spoke of who Jesus Christ is. Through the hard times, in dark nights of grief, and in celebrations of joy, they sang of the Lord’s faithful love. In their prayers and words of encouragement, in their stories, and in what they taught raising and correcting their children, they spoke of what they knew.

As seeing witnesses, nothing was circumstantial, nothing indirect. Recounted in how they lived, they testified to a heritage of faith in Christ Jesus from what they understood firsthand: God is good. It was the same torch they had seen. The one the generation before them had passed on, preceded by the one previous. Flawed, imperfect people? Obviously. Faithful to God? Unmistakably.

Cutting My Teeth on Christmas Blog

In circa 67 AD, knowing his time here on earth was growing short, the Apostle Paul prepares to pass the torch. He writes the most amazing letter “to Timothy, my dear son” (2 Timothy 1:1-2).

Full disclosure: You may feel a little embarrassed reading such a personal message. It is one filled with deep emotion. (2 Timothy)

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
2 Timothy 2:1-2

A speaking witness and a seeing witness, Paul charges Timothy, “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings … the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them …” (2 Timothy 3:10-11).

It is now Timothy’s time to carry the torch: “But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

Quite a stirring message for us living in the 21st century. We are each recipients of the same Truth. Earnest remarks that Paul appealed to Timothy: to remain loyal to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to avoid godless chatter, to remain on guard of false teaching, to keep our head in all situations. To endure.

So, a generation is gone. They were people who ran with perseverance. Their testimonies remain.

I am no longer a daughter or a grandchild or a niece. But, I am not alone. Less I forget, I am in the company of four siblings and 17 cousins who each belong to the now senior group of the Ben Haertling-Hugo Richter clan (sans spouses). And what a group we are.  

The torch of faith is entrusted to each of us. It is now officially ours. And sustained by God’s faithfulness, it is time to carry the torch forward.

  • The Hugo Richter Seniors
    One cousin missing from photo. c. 2000
  • The Ben Haertling Seniors
    Vernon and Norma Haertling, four cousins now deceased. c. 2000

Let us ever walk with Jesus, Follow His example pure,
Flee the world, which would deceive us, And to sin our souls allure.
Ever in His footsteps treading, Body here, yet soul above,
Full of faith and hope and love, Let us do the Father’s bidding.
Faithful Lord, abide with me; Savior, lead, I follow Thee.

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Cutting My Teeth on Christmas

Gott ist die Liebe, Läßt mich erlösen: Gott ist die Liebe, Er liebt auch mich. Drum sag ich noch einmal: Gott ist die Liebe, Gott ist die Liebe, Er liebt auch mich.*

“God Loves Me Dearly.” Growing up in a Christian home set in a rural Southeast Missouri farming community, I cut my teeth on this beloved children’s Christmas hymn. Faith and family were the foundations of life.

On Christmas Eve, chores were completed a little earlier than usual. Cows were milked, livestock fed and bedded down, the chicken coop was secured; and we headed to church.

There in the hush of a cold winter evening, children’s voices rang out. My siblings and I, together with our elementary school classmates, eagerly told the story of God’s amazing love, of Jesus’ birth. Sentimental thoughts. Treasured Christmas memories.

Christmas with my sisters, brothers and me, circa 1960.

August Rische, a German Lutheran pastor, penned “Gott Ist Die Liebe” desiring to introduce the homeless children with whom he worked to God. First seen in 1852, the words prevail true today nearly 170 years later:

How does God love me? Dearly. Profoundly. So that I may live.
This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9-10

How does God love me? Eternally. From eternity past into eternity future, God set me free from sin forever.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

How does God love me? Completely. All the way. Jesus, the Son of God, suffered the full wrath and punishment for my sin.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

How does God love me? Mercifully. Seeking the lost, forgiving and
restoring those who repent and turn to Him in faith. Jesus Christ was literally born to die.
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

In the stillness of the night at another time in history, heavenly voices rang throughout the sky. Angels. Messengers of God announcing, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (emphasis added)

Who am I to you? Blog

Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. He took on humanity and lived a perfect life for you. He died a sacrificial death and rose to everlasting life for you. Even you. Yes, God loves you dearly!

*God loves me dearly, Grants me salvation,
God loves me dearly, Loves even me.
Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly,
God loves me dearly, Loves even me.

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A Legacy Worth Living

Nomad Wife Blog A Legacy Worth Living

Were she still alive, we would have celebrated my mother’s 91st birthday recently.

Mom lived 88 full years. She didn’t have it easy. She didn’t have a lot of stuff. But she had purpose and meaning. She left a legacy worth living.

She was the great-great-granddaughter of legal German immigrants, common farm folks who left their homeland for a home where they might enjoy religious freedom.

Her own mother died in childbirth when Mom was eight years old. A relative raised the infant sister. Her father never remarried. Mom helped her 15-year-old sister with the care of their four siblings; on the heels of the 1929 Great Depression.

Faith was central in Mom’s life. An enduring faith lived out in the everydayness of life. Belief in the One True God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus was her Savior from sin, death, and the devil. She was baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith and attended school through the eighth grade. The Scripture verse she was given on her 1942 Confirmation Day to help guide her through life was alive in her memory until her death: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. (Psalm 143:10)

1942 Confirmation Class of Evangelical Trinity Lutheran Church. Mom seated, first on the left.

As to marriage, a covenant relationship with God between one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:23-25, Matthew 19:4-6). She never entertained other options. She and my daddy were married until his death. 53 years. Sure, they had their differences. But I guess you learn how to work through those when together you trudge to the milk barn every morning at 4:30 a.m. and again in the evening and milk some 60 dairy cows. Every day. Twice a day. Seven days a week. Fifty-two weeks a year. On the coldest, darkest days of winter and the blistering, hot days of Missouri summers. Note to self: Substantial “gray matter” required.

Life was precious. Children a heritage, a gift from God (Psalm 127:3-5). Mom gave birth to three boys and three girls; one child was lost through miscarriage. The taking of an innocent life through abortion: incomprehensible. Mom silently carried to her death the grief of burying her 5-year-old firstborn son lost in a tragic accident.

My mother had a gentle, giving spirit combined with grit. She lived patiently, worked hard, and minded her own business (1 Thessalonians 4:10-12). Following her wedding day, she moved in with her husband’s parents, into their home for 20 plus years. Mom performed with grace the very delicate act balancing her roles of wife, mother and daughter-in-law in a three-generation household.

Faith. Marriage. Life. Family. My Mom left a legacy worth living. That I leave such a heritage.

Jesus lead thou on
Till our rest is won;
And although the way be cheerless,
We will follow calm and fearless.
Guide us by Thy hand
To our fatherland.

Cover photo: One of my favorite memories with my Mom. (Norma Haertling, 1929-2017)

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The Big Three in Moving

New schools? Check. Place to live? Check. A Christ-centered church? Check. The big three in moving.

My husband’s business career gave our family a grand tour of the United States — from Colorado’s majestic mountains in the West to the region of our country’s founding in the East to snowy winters in the North and the old-fashioned charm of the South. Along the way I learned the big three in moving: schools in which our children could thrive, a community in which our family might flourish, and a Christ-centered church to worship God and grow our faith. These three became intricately intertwined.

So he [Abram] built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7)

The Scriptures do not record much about Abram’s early years. Born in Ur, a Chaldean city located in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), his father was Terah, his two brothers Nahor and Haran. His wife was Sarai and his nephew was Lot.

Archaeological and historical facts identify the area of Abram’s birth as the cradle of civilization, a thriving place, bustling with culture, commerce, learning, and pagan worship of mythical gods ruled by Sin, the moon god. It was from this place, this life that Stephen (the first Christian martyr) tells us God called Abram (Acts 7).

Scripture does not speak specifically about Abram’s beliefs prior to his encounter with God; although he likely worshiped idols and accepted mythology as truth, as did his family and neighbors (Joshua 24:2). Once called by God, however, Abram went without knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).

Moving in the general direction of Canaan, Abram got stalled when he came to the city of Haran. Three main trade routes converged there offering an abundance of materials. Did Abram get sidetracked by the appeal of building his fortune? Was it the lure of Haran’s “house of rejoicing” sanctuary devoted to the worship of Sin? Maybe Terah, a lifelong devotee of the moon god, lingered and Abram couldn’t say good-bye to his father.

We don’t know how long it took, but at the age of 75, following the death of his father, Abram sets out again for the land of Canaan.

This time something different happens: Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem … So he built an altar there to the LORD. (Genesis 12:6-7) Abram then went on toward Bethel and There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. (Genesis 12:8)

The altar is a symbol of a two-fold purpose: worship, an active response to God whereby we declare His worth. And cleansing, the foundation of true worship found in the blood of Christ shed on the cross. Bible teacher Ray Stedman writes, “When we come before the cross and rightly judge the reality of our lives, acknowledging and confessing our sins to God, He cleanses us.”

As a pilgrim in the Christian life I need a daily altar experience with God. I need to connect with Jesus my Savior. Certainly in the privacy of my home. But, oh! Add in a community of fellow believers and the benefits are incomparable.

The Church, over which Jesus rules, is a calling together of all God’s people. Its purpose is to glorify God, to ascribe to Him supreme worth for He alone is worthy. To meet in a local church with fellow believers — everyday folks, like me, with broken lives — we come for worship, for encouragement, for instruction, for expression, for support. To receive forgiveness, grace and mercy to live out a God-given role that will never be matched or surpassed on earth. A Christ-centered church. An unrivaled big three!

Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee
O Lamb of God I come, I come.

Posted on by Faithfully Following

Decisions Determine Destiny

Welcome to Nomad Wife! For some of you this may be “welcome back” as I last published a post in December 2011. Since then my husband and I added one more move to our previous seven — back “home.” And it feels good!

I wonder what word Caleb used to describe how he felt when he finally “came home” to the Promised Land. You may remember Caleb got a taste of Canaan when Moses sent him to explore the land (Numbers 13). Sadly, he was one of the only two Israelite spies (the other was Joshua) who was willing to trust God to enter Canaan. The other ten spies agreed the land was good, but there was no hope for Israel to take it. The people living there were much too big, much too strong to defeat (Numbers 14).

Mutiny. Rebellion. Deaf to reason the Israelites lost their focus, they forgot the promise. In unbelief they sinned and God passed judgment: a 40-year banishment in the desert. Of those twenty years and older, only Caleb and Joshua survived and lived to enter Canaan.

What was it about Caleb? What caused him to make the decision to stand against the masses, the decision determining his destiny?

The Bible records little about Caleb, maybe some thirty verses. But in those short texts, he is recognized six times as a man with a different spirit. He followed the Lord God wholeheartedly. (Deuteronomy 1:36; Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14)

God promised Caleb that He would bring him into Canaan to make his home. That he would receive an inheritance of land. Caleb does. And, an added bonus: So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. (Joshua 14)

Following wholeheartedly: fully, completely, totally, no division. With emotion. Sincere and passionate. With endurance. For the long haul. This character trait serves one well as decisions determine destiny.

O for a faith that will not shrink
Tho’ pressed by many a foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of poverty or woe.