Bring Forth Fruit

Mark 4:14-20 The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

My family is so thrilled to be successfully growing a small indoor vegetable garden. We recently purchased a neat little garden starter kit from Buzzy Seeds, unsure of how well it would do but willing to give it a try. To our delight, less than a week after we planted the seeds, tiny green sprouts began to arise from the beautiful rich soil. Now, less than a month later, our bell pepper, tomato, and lettuce plants are thriving and are daily growing fuller and larger. I find it so thrilling! =) Gorgeous green plant life excites me, especially since our snow began to melt only a month ago and we're just now seeing our first shoots of grass in the cold ground outdoors.

I have created a public folder in my Google account to share photos of our garden's progression; click here if you'd like to see it. We're hoping that the plants continue to do well and eventually bring forth edible fruit for our nourishment and health. Under suitable indoor conditions, we hopefully expect to continue our garden through the winter so our family will not have to go three months without eating a single fresh vegetable as we did last winter. What a blessing such provision would be during the cold, dark months! I shall update my Google album regularly as I take new photos.

From Veggie Garden Way Up North

A Nation's Piecemeal Demise

This is a research report I wrote for school this year.

There is no doubt that socialism is consequential to virtually every nation in the world. It is often unacknowledged and unrealized, hidden in the recesses of national decisions, but has unceasingly influenced governments for centuries. Is there any basis for believing socialistic government will provide aid and bring improvement? William Lund stated, “We study the past to understand the present; we understand the present to guide the future.” Therefore, we should consider history to accurately determine the answer to the above presented question.

America was established upon the principles of free enterprise. Capitalism is the sole reason America has so long endured and become a prosperous, mighty nation. We are shown by history that the rejection of personal responsibility and dependence on the state is a surety to disaster. Without the ability to seek one’s own happiness and pursue a chosen career, America ceases to be the land of opportunity.

As English civilization was being established in America during the 17th century, those in authority believed a communal system of provision would be beneficial. However, the history of our country clearly shows us that the opposite was true and that only a man’s freedom to personal enterprise will promote success.

In the year 1607, the first permanent English settlement, Jamestown, was settled in a low-lying land. Due to much hardship involving malaria, contaminated river water, and a lack of laboring initiative in the settlers, half of the people died by the end of the first winter. The main cause of Jamestown’s demise was its common-store system, required by the colony’s royal charter by the English king, James I.

Because of this system, the fruit of every man’s labor was placed in a common storehouse and all were entitled to receive food and supplies according to their personal need. Quintessentially, the welfare of the idle was secured by the labor of the industrious workers. Everyone was gratified by the common storehouse but few rendered to it and, therefore, the food supply was soon exhausted. Thus, America’s earliest attempt at Communism ended in great failure.

The distressed colony of Jamestown was delivered by Captain John Smith. He initiated a policy, Biblical in principle (2 Thess. 3:10), denying food to any man who refused to labor. This enforced rule was not only fearsome to the lazy, but an encouraging relief to the hard-working. As historian David Henry Montgomery rehearsed of this colony, “Those who tried to live without working soon found that they must also try that harder thing--to live without eating.”

D. H. Montgomery also said of Jamestown, “Considering this discouraging start, the wonder is that the colony not only lived, but lived to lay the foundation of a prosperous, powerful, and independent State.” The communal storehouse system was, in time, thoroughly overcome by a will to work and personal responsibility, the only way for any prosperous country to operate. These principles laid the foundation for a mighty nation, rising through the combined vision and effort of earnest men.

Capitalism is an economic system in which each man possesses the free will to pursue economic gain as he believes right. It is the only economic system compatible with personal liberty and responsibility, rights secured by our Constitution. Capitalism is referred to as free enterprise because it makes one free to improve his life as he has the enterprise (energy and initiative) to make possible. A nation holds true liberty when its citizens assume the obligation for their own welfare. When the people yield their duty to the state by necessitating government services and regulations, the nation unwittingly rejects its freedom.

Audible Behavior

Your actions speak. What do they say of you? Do they express that you value that which is good and pleasing to God? Are your deeds kind and gracious extensions of your heart? What unspoken utterances do others hear from you?

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Information concerning painting:

Genuine Grace: "The Shell," artist unknown [original]

A Card for My Mother

 

I made this card for my siblings and I to give to our mom on Mother's Day. I had not creatively played with Mom's stash of rubber stamps, myriad of delightsome patterned papers, and other pretty doodads in quite some time, therefore my evening of construction was most enjoyable. I performed this deed sneakily so as to prevent Mom's beforehand discovery. When we presented it to her, she hadn't a clue as to when it was made. (giggles with glee)

I also crocheted a bitty purple flower to tie about the envelope. By the by, purple is my Mom's favorite color, and it is mine, as well. =)

I thank the Lord for my wise, loving mother who has been a faithful helpmeet to my dad and has followed him as he has led our family in God's will. She has been cheerfully flexible and has willingly "made do" and "done without," a priceless attitude for a missionary's wife in the Arctic. She takes joy in serving God and reaching out to the people He has called us to. "Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." (Prov. 31:20) I'm thankful for her constant prayers, instruction, and encouragement. I love you, Mom!

Proverbs 31:28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Flat Tire on a Gold Mining Road

Several years ago, my family lived in Ruby, Alaska, a small village on the Yukon River where we were previously missionaries. A century before this time, Ruby was a booming gold mining town of the Alaskan Gold Rush. Men and families, hoping to strike it rich, ventured into the wilderness of mountains and spruce trees outside of Ruby by way of a forty-mile dirt road. Even today, the hills are rich with gold, but presently just a few folks, hoping to make a profitable living, mine in the area of Ruby.

We were good friends with a true Alaskan gold miner named Mike during our years in Ruby. Mike's place at the end of the forty-mile road was truly rustic. His yard was scattered with mining machinery and vehicles. Besides his house, other buildings included several sheds and an outhouse. All of his electricity came from a gas-powered generator.

Mike's property was inhabited by his numerous “pets.” Mike befriended the creatures of the wood, luring them with crackers and pancakes until they learned to trust him. They were frequent visitors, sometimes the only other living, breathing creatures he would see for months. Among his little friends were a porcupine, furry rabbits, and birds called camp robbers. Mike trained the birds to "steal" crackers out of his shirt pocket. He had an amazing way with animals.

Mike kept us quite entertained whenever he came to visit us at our home in the village. He told us many humorous tales of his pets and experiences of gold mining, hunting, trapping, and encounters with bears just outside his front door. He once shot a bear between his home and outhouse. It was a good thing he kept a rifle in the smaller building! =)

Safety Is of the Lord

I wrote this for a college English grammar assignment last semester. (My older sister and I are taking Bible college classes by correspondence from Landmark Baptist College of Haines City, Florida.) I hope this imaginary, descriptive account based on true occurrences will lend some insight to the ways of the Eskimo people and the Arctic tundra.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

It was early spring. The lone Eskimo man hunted for caribou on the vast, snow-covered tundra. The constant hum of his snow machine's motor was carried by the frigid air. Two weeks ago, the world would have been dark at this time of day. However, as the sun's span widened across the horizon each day, the land was growing brighter. The sky was clouded and rendered more snow to the land as the mighty wind, rushing unhindered across the tree-less landscape, swirled the shower about. These elements, however harsh, were no hindrance to the caribou hunter. When he was a boy, the men of his family -- father, uncles, aapa -- had expertly taught him to take notice of the barren tundra's every significant landmark, indistinguishable by the untrained eye. Traveling along, his dark, narrow-shaped eyes peeking out of his fur parka. he scanned the frozen wasteland for dots on the landscape -- indications of the hunted animal. Pulled behind his machine was a large sled which was waiting to be laden with two or three caribou to feed his family. He could already taste the hot, steaming bowl of delicious caribou soup his wife would prepare for him when he would returned home. Successful and proud. That was how he would feel as he walked into the door of his home.

Suddenly, the man’s snow machine sputtered and died. He quickly bounded off and he struggled to restart it, but to no avail. After some time, disappointed and upset at the turn of events, he began walking back to his village. His mukluks crunched in the snow at a steady pace. As the wind began to blow with ferocity, he pulled the hood of his parka around his face more tightly, sensing the need to retain body heat. In mere minutes, his range of view greatly diminished until nothing was discernible; he could see only a gray-white blank, like a curtain, in every direction. Surely any man, however experienced, could lose his direction in such a storm. Fear gripped his heart but determination held his senses. He plodded on, leaning into the massive gusts of wind that carried snowflakes. The frozen crystals stung his face and caused tears to fill his eyes, blinding his vision. His head pounded from the blasting cold.

After agonizing hours of confusing trepidation, the frozen and exhausted man saw a glimmer of light far in the distance to his left. The wind had abated slightly for a mere moment, enabling him to see the streetlight from his village. With a thrill of fear, he realized that otherwise he would have passed the village to wander endlessly in the blizzard. His eyes lit in hope. His steps quickened as he neared the village. His breath issued from his mouth in white puffs. He felt such gratefulness as he realized he was safe from the hand of the Arctic. He walked through the streets to his home thanking God for deliverance. As he opened his front door, the warmth from within hit the Eskimo man’s frozen face, bringing sensation back to his flesh in a sharp, tingling manner. As he greeted his wife and she asked him about his hunt, a short grunt and brief reply were his only outward indication of irritation towards the unsuccessful trip and the unfortunate weather. Tomorrow he would ask a friend to drive him across the tundra to the place where his machine broke down. Tonight he would rest.

That Christ May Live through Me

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 
"Dying to Self"

 Author Unknown

When you are forgotten,
or neglected,
or purposely set at naught,
and you don't sting and hurt
with the insult or the oversight,
but your heart is happy,
being counted worthy to suffer for Christ,
that is dying to self.

When your good is evil spoken of,
when your wishes are crossed,
your advice disregarded,
your opinions ridiculed,
and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart,
or even defend yourself,
but take it all in patient, loving silence,
that is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently
bear any disorder,
any irregularity,
any unpunctuality,
or any annoyance;
when you stand face-to-face with
waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility--
and endure it as Jesus endured,
that is dying to self.

Brother Barzillai

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green

II Samuel 19:32, 35 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. ... I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

Brother Barzillai is a wonderful man mentioned briefly in the Bible. The aged saint ministered to King David and stayed loyal to him throughout David's absence from the throne. Brother Barzillai also recognizes his frailty and limited future and desires to help another (v. 37). This helpful consideration was a lifestyle and pattern for this senior saint.

Sometimes, if not careful, younger folk take for granted or overlook the older folk about us. To look at one's wrinkles and not realize that they are roadmaps of righteousness is foolishness. The faltering step is really the walk of faith patiently following our dear Lord. The dimness of eye is diminished interest in the sorry sights of this old world. Their weakened strength is the disguise that teaches the truth that "all flesh is as grass."

God help us to realize the immense value of those among us who have reached a superior age and also recognize that if God tarries and our health holds up, one day, and that all too soon, we shall be the Barzillais at our churches or in our families.

Beaded Blooms and Butterflies

I've been meaning to share these photos for some time. These different barrettes, featuring native beadwork and tanned moose hide, were created by different Athabaskan Indian ladies of an Alaskan village on the Yukon River where my family lived for a few years. I have admired the lovely designs and bright colors of these barrettes so many times. I enjoy wearing them, too. =) They are very intricate and so skillfully made.

Flourishing Old Age

Psalms 92:12-15 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The roses that my dad gave to my mom a few days shy of one month ago have long since withered. We haven't had the heart to throw them out, so I reckoned I could just trim them down and arrange them in a smaller vase. As I studied them in appreciation, I realized how truly beautiful their rich, deep colors were, much like the garb of autumn. How good the Lord is to cause these gorgeous works of His creation, rarely enjoyed by my family, to last for such a long time. As I continued my arranging, I was delightfully surprised to behold a new little sprig of greenness flourishing from the stem of a rose in its old age. The Lord immediately brought this passage to my mind and heart.

Though the body may wither with the wear of years, if  the spirit abides always in Him, a dear aged saint can be filled with life and the power of His might. They can thrive and unceasingly bring forth fruit for God's glory. There is a great need for us younger folk to appreciate the high value of such dear aged saints, still keepin' on for the Lord Jesus. We could hardly do better than to emulate their loving, devoted hearts upon which the fire of God still burns brightly.