Tuesday, March 27, 2012

We have a loving God who heals the pain and keeps us going!

This came to me this morning from my sweet daughter-in-law Traci and touched my heart deeply.  Just what I needed today.  


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

 

Grandma'd prayed and prayed and prayed.
No answer was in sight.
Her hope was dim, she couldn't see
The way through the black night.


Grandpa seemed no closer now
Than when she'd first begun
To bend her knee and make her plea.
What good had pleading done?
  
     "Don't give up," the pastor said,
     "Now's the time to pray.
     When Satan tempts you to turn 
          back
     You know you're nearing day."


How she'd longed for his salvation
Pled with God for light;
She asked for grace, to seek His face
Prayed faith would become sight.


Two more weeks she cried and prayed
She braved the bitter fight
The conflict grew, her prayers got through;
Then Grandpa saw the light
    
     "Don't give up," the pastor'd said,
     "Now's the time to pray.
     When Satan tempts you to turn back
     You know you're nearing day."


My heart is heavy, weighed right down.
Incessant darkness drums.
I've prayed so long, hope's almost gone;
That's when God's Spirit comes.


Reminding me of Grandma's prayer
And how things came out right.
When she withstood, His promise could,
Turn her faith to sight.


     "Don't give up," the Spirit says,
     "Now's the time to pray.
      When Satan tempts you to turn back,
      You know you're nearing day."    
   
     "Don't give up," the Spirit says,
     "Now's the time to pray.
      When Satan tempts you to turn back,
      You know you're nearing day."   

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Grandbabies!!!

Our sweet Destiny Grace

Oh, I love my grandbabies!!  Time with them is treasured time!  Here are a few pictures from our recent stay with our daughter-in-law and David and the new twins.





Gabe and Destiny sleep best when they are cuddled together....











Gabe has a sweet and placid personality.  He likes to sleep and seems relaxed and easy going.











David reading The Very Busy Spider by himself....



Rachael holding Gabe and Destiny

David loved watching his new fish with their bright orange bodies
and black and white tails.
David's new goldfish



Sarah was comfortable with both babies
So, there you have it, the proud grandma's portfolio.


Friday, March 9, 2012

Gold Refined

The date is penned in beside the Psalm, the date I asked the LORD to refine me that I might be pure gold.






I'm not sure I could have asked had I understood the refining process.  I've since learned what it takes to refine gold.






Often gold is found in solid rock.  The rock has to be broken up into movable chunks. "Removing the gold-bearing rock from the ground is just the first step.  To isolate pure gold, mining companies use a complex extraction process.  The first step in this process is breaking down large chunks of rock into smaller pieces.  At a mill, large machines known as crushers reduce the ore to pieces no larger than road gravel.  The gravel-like material then enters rotating drums filled with steel balls.  In these drums, the ore is ground to a fine slurry or powder."  (This quote is from the article listed below).  Have you ever felt that life was pulverizing you?


The slurry then goes through a chemical process where water is added followed by the addition of the chemical solvent cyanide.  Next the dissolved gold is removed using an electric current and positive and negative terminals.  Stripping circumstances often reveal what is really in our hearts and cause us to let go of those things which are temporal and cling to the eternal.


The final stage of the process is the actual refining where the gold is heated to 1,600 degrees Celsius (water boils at 100).  It is now poured into a mold and is ready to be formed for whatever use the master chooses.  Are you "going through the fire"?


The almost violent intensity of this process brings forth the beautiful and valuable gold.  I've been thinking that sometimes life brings experiences our way that seem to crush us, to strip us, to be an almost unbearable fire.  God must think that transforming a human heart into the valuable and beautiful soul He desires to fellowship with and to use for His Kingdom is also worth the intense and often painful circumstances required to bring about that purity.  When we go through trying circumstances our values are changed, our ways of thinking and seeing life are refined, Heaven becomes more precious, our motivations are purified, we are softened and our countenances are made clear and radiant.




When I want to run from the pain, hide from life, stop this awful process I need to remember that God is doing a purifying work in my heart that cannot be done with any less force.  May we yield and be pliable and beautiful in His hands - refined gold.


You may enjoy the following article, Extracting Gold and video The Process of Excavating and Refining Gold.