Treasures to Ponder

Luke 2:19 "But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart."

For generations Mothers have stored treasures in their hearts, thoughtfully pondering significant moments in their lives. 

Mary had many things to ponder:

The strange course her life had suddenly taken as she was chosen to bear the Messiah, 

The message of the Angel, 

The pregnancy of cousin Elisabeth, 

The dream of Joseph, 

The unusual call for a worldwide census prompting the trip to Bethlehem,

The visit of the shepherds who, in response to an angelic choir, came seeking the newborn child. 

And I wonder -

What are some of the things I treasure in my heart?
What causes me to ponder?

The older I get the more treasures accumulate, until I sometimes think my heart cannot possibly hold any more.

Memories from my early years at the Bible Camp my father directed,

Fun in our family home at the foot of the mountain,

Youth for Christ choir,

Church youth group,

Nursing school,

Meeting my husband, Pete, and the journey we've taken as a married couple - from PA to Illinois, to Tennessee, back to PA, to Nigeria, to PA, to Kenya, and to Kansas - each stop filled with moments to treasure and to ponder.

God's provision

God's protection

God's direction

The hurts

The healings

The helps

And with the birth of each of our children and grandchildren came many more moments to treasure and to ponder.
Each child, a unique treasure, dearly loved and wanted. 

Each memory like a shining pearl on a strand of best-loved pearls.

Sometimes life gets so crazy and hectic that we don't take time to ponder. 

Maybe now - in this last third of my life - it is good to think back, to remember and to recount, to lift my voice in thankful praise to God - who in His miraculous grace and mercy - gave me much to treasure.

How about you? What treasures will you ponder?

O Come let us adore him….

  

 First written in Latin in the 1700’s, the words of the carol, O Come All Ye Faithful, still resound throughout the world as Christians gather to celebrate the birth of Christ.  

I looked up the word “adore” and found this meaning:  ‘to worship or honor as a deity or as divine, to regard with loving admiration and devotion, to love or admire someone very much, to take great pleasure in.” (Merriam Webster online dictionary)

So when we sing the refrain we are saying, ‘Come let us worship Him, let us give him honor, let us recognize that He is divine! Let us admire Him with unhesitating devotion’.  And I wonder if we really mean what we sing.

Jesus said if you love me you will do what I say. So if I truly adore Him my life will reflect a humble obedience to His lordship in my life.

Ah, so what is there about Him to adore?  I challenge you this Christmas season to make an A-B-C list of qualities you admire about the Lord Jesus. Maybe it could be a family activity.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

He is Almighty, Benevolent, Compassionate, Defender …

What will your list look like?

  

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,

and fell down, and worshiped him.”  Matthew 2:11a

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dad and Mom Haken with the Grandkids

Today was my Dad’s birthday. He’s been gone 25 years already and I still miss him.

I can still hear him praying with me on the telephone whenever we talked.

I remember him witnessing to the nursing staff when he was in the hospital having chemo.

I remember him telling me from his hospital bed that I "married a good man.”

His love for people was only exceeded by his love for God. Although as a child I did not always appreciate it, I remember him reading the Bible at the table after supper and leading the family in prayer. I remember hearing him pray out loud with Mom in their bedroom at night and hearing my name as they prayed for us kids.

I remember him bringing unexpected guests home to have a meal with us, often at the last minute. I remember his love for missionaries and mission work.

I remember how much people loved his Bible teaching and I recall the hours he would spend in his downstairs study preparing. I remember how much he loved doing “the Lord’s work.” No task was too menial or too great – whether cleaning gutters at the Bible Camp, or preaching from the pulpit at various churches, or visiting the sick and imprisoned, or counseling those in troubled marriages, or leading a board meeting – it was all the Lord’s.

And I wonder why God took him so early? Why after only 68 years? And I don’t know.

Had he lived we would have celebrated his 93^rd birthday today. But he is more alive now than ever before because he believed it when God said, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish” and “Whoever has the Son has life.”

So, Happy Birthday, Dad. I couldn’t have asked for a better Father. God blessed me when He put me in your family. I love you.  (And yes, I still remember that you didn’t put up with us showing any disrespect to our mother. J)

And I sometimes wonder what my children will remember about me when I am gone.  What will yours?