Memorial Day

Memorial Day can be one of those days we spend enjoying good food and family with out a thought about what this day was set aside to commemorate. Years ago I went to a Memorial Day parade in my grandparent's town of Deruyter, New York.

Grandpa Johnson was a WWII Vet and my stepdad was in the Airforce so the two off them rode together down the parade route into the town cemetary. Their scooters were decked out in American Flags and we all wore red poppies. Waiting for the parade of veterens to reach us in the cemetary we stood near Uncle Tom's headstone as grandma told us stories of his time as a Golden Knight and she and the other ladies adorned the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and ribbons. They were friends and family who had served their country. Some had fallen in battle paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and others has lived to enjoy the freedom they had striven to protect.

When the parade reached the top of the hill the sad bugle call of Taps could be heard from among the graves far off honoring those who had fought. Grandpa Johnson loved this country and has now gone on to a more blessed land where war has ceased and the Prince of Peace reigns. I pray the legacy he left of honoring the brave who have fought for us, for our freedom continues and that every Memorial Day my thoughts and prayers go to those who have sacrificed and are still sacrificing for America the land of the free because of the brave!!!

In Flanders Fields
John McCrea 1915

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row by row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago.
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved and now we lie
In Flander's fields

Chasing Bubbles

Have you ever looked out across an open field on a warm summer day and seen children chasing bubbles? Just as one reaches out to grasp the delicate spheres they burst. Sometimes a bubble may settle into an open palm for just a moment but quickly even gentle movement leaves the hand empty. Chasing bubbles may bring fleeting happiness, but they don't last.

A prayer in the Valley of Vision ( a collection of Puritan prayers) compares the things of this world to bubbles. Like children we chase wildly after our own pleasure. We abandon things that last for passing whims, selfish ambitions, and vain imaginations. The moment we think we have finally grasped the thing that would satisfy our desires the bubble burts leaving our hands empty. Solomon put it this way "Vanity of vanities all is vanity" the things of this world that some spend their entire lives striving after are empty.

As Christians we don't have to waste our lives chasing bubbles. We have been called to a higher task, a greater mission to glorify and enjoy the almighty God of the universe forever. When we chase after Him our hands will never be left empty; our joy will not be fleeting. The bubbles of this world distract and seek to tear our thoughts away from the awesome view of our loving Lord. In this life He is all that matters and we must fix our eyes on Him "the author and finisher of our faith." It is only with this focus that we can move past chasing bubbles and become more than conquerors in Christ.

In Tune

I was blessed to attend a Ladies Conference at church with Kathleen Curto as the guest speaker. The theme of the conference was Keeping the Heart with the key verse Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Much of the material that she went over came from a book called "Keeping the Heart" from the works of John Flavel (a puritan pastor I'll be buying the book pretty soon :) ) and there were many illustrations that he wrote of that demonstrated the importance of keeping our hearts. He described the heart as a stronghold that is constantly under attack from enemies outside it like Satan and the powers of this world and also from enemies from within like our flesh and sinful nature. Since there is constant attack there needs to be constant vigilance to keep those enemies at bay. There must be prayer calling for God's aid in the battle, there must be Scripture reading and meditation to provide the sword with which to fight and we must ALWAYS be on guard watching our own thoughts and motivations to prevent sin from gaining a stronghold in us.

One illustration that was given was of our heart as an instrument and as a guitar player it struck a chord with me. There are many times when I sit down to play and run my fingers across the strings that my ear is hit with a grating dissidence rather than the expected sweetness of a well-tuned chord. The problem is that the strings tend to loose their tune, they do not on their own hold to the standard. So before I can continue to play each string must be tuned restored to the right tones before any melody can come from that instrument. It can be tempting to expect my life to be pleasing to the Lord without the work of tuning. Tuning is not the fun part of playing the guitar sometimes it can be tedious, but careful tuning is necessary. Tuning my heart takes work because I am prone to wander, prone to fall away from the standard. God himself tunes through His Word teaching what the standard is. I have to be in that Word not only reading it, but meditating on it to keep the strings of my heart right constantly hearing the notes God wants my heart to play. The World blasts its music at my soul making it harder to hear the melody God calls from my strings and without constant focus on the Lord it can be easy to choose new notes turning my offering to a strange song, like the strange fire God rejected.

There's a song that goes "This is my call I belong to You, This is my call to sing the melody of You." We are called as Christians to be living sacrifices holy and acceptable unto the Lord which is our act of worship. Hearts tuned to God's standard kept holy for Him offer a sweet melody to the Lord giving glory and honor to Him. How awesome that the Creator of the Universe patiently tunes us!!!

First Post

I've thought about blogging before, but have never really been motivated to do it. I like reading other people's Blogs often they write of events that are amusing or amazing, of thoughts that are profound or puzzling, of blessings and trials. I'm not sure what this Blog is going to be about exactly. I borrowed the title "Stepping Heavenward" from one of my favorite books. The book is by Elizabeth Prentiss and is written as a young woman's journal. It begins at her 16th birthday and follows her the rest of the way through life focusing in on her growing relationship with the Lord. The growth is sometimes slow, causing her mother to be in constant prayer, and sometimes it comes in bursts.

There is so much in those pages that I can relate to in my own walk with the Lord. Sometimes my faith is strong and I want nothing more strongly than to know my Lord. Too often though I turn back to the sin I've been freed from and wander from my God. Yet He pursues me!!! The Shepherd calls me by name and restores my soul. Any steps I take that lead heavenward are only because He has caused me to take them, only because He has directed my path.

I'm sure some of this Blog will recount the random adventures I fall into to the amusement of me (and occasionally those who hear the tales), but I hope if I continue to write here that it will also give glimpses of God's work in my life. I want to be constantly stepping heavenward, growing closer to the Lover of my soul everyday no matter what joys or sorrows await.