"Carol, You Bring the Sun Out from the Clouds!"

 
      Each time Grandma Rose saw me, she would greet me with a warm hug.  She would often say:  "Carol, you bring the sun out from the clouds!"  We would then hug as though we hadn't seen each other in years.  Actually, on many occasions, it had been earlier that day that the same hugs were exchanged.  We were our very own 'mutual admiration society.'  Grandma's words were lovely to hear and the sincerity in her voice and hugs made me love her more than ever.  Even after her passing, I remembered those moments and the way my life was  blessed and enriched because of her unconditional love.

      The richness of those memories were refreshed recently at the dedication of my husband's great-granddaughter, Scarlett.  Vincent's grandchildren were there at the church to mark the occasion as well as at the luncheon hosted by Scarlett's parents, Kristal and John S.  At some point the conversation recalled the times when the grandchildren were young and each summer, together with their now deceased grandmother, Angela, they went places and did things that enriched their lives ~ Small things like rides on the train, the Long Island ferry, visits to the candy store, the ice cream shop, the pet store were times that left vivid impressions in their minds and I saw the resultant smiles, love and camaraderie and laughter in their voices.  Most of all I noticed the resultant mutual love and respect among all the grandchildren.

                                                                   Photo by Kristal S.


      The one thing that Vincent's and my families shared was our love for the Lord Jesus.  Though we came from different backgrounds, when he and I courted and eventually married, we understood how that love had shaped us and how influential that love was in shaping our families.

The Dedication Service was a tender reminder that the grandchildren remembered the importance of the commitment to teach Scarlett to love the Lord and learn about Jesus and it thrilled us!  The lessons were being passed on to the next generation!

      What a privilege we have as grandparents to pass on lessons learned, love received and relationships formed and molded with the love of Jesus at its core.  We as grandparents hold a special place in our grandchildren s' hearts.  We can 'Bring the Sun Out' when problems and disappointments 'Cloud' their way.  Sometimes, we just need to let the 'Sun Come Out' for no particular reason at all.  Even though it's difficult to set aside our own hardships, and my grandmother, like most of us, had her share of heartaches; yet, she by setting her own sadness aside and greeting me with joyous enthusiasm, gifted me an unforgettable legacy.

                                                              Photo by Kristal S.




carol castagna c 5/2014

Returning to Give Thanks

                                    


      There is an account in the New Testament, found in the book of Matthew 17: 11-17, about the ten lepers in Jerusalem.   One day Jesus was passing by, saw them walking toward Him.  They asked Jesus to heal them and He had compassion on them...He healed them of their physical infirmities of open skin wounds,  deformed limbs and multiple other symptoms.  When the people saw them in their healed state, they were astonished to see lepers appearing so changed!  They were clean and whole!  They were free from the prison of illness, shame and ugliness. People readily associated with them without fear of contagion.  The lepers were pariahs no more.

      One would think that each one would have said, as a matter of gratitude and graciousness:  'Thank you' to the One who made this new life possible.  There was, however, only one leper who returned to say, 'Thank you.' to Jesus Christ, the Great Healer.

        I have often thought that out of 10 lepers, only 1 returned to say he was grateful and to acknowledge the great miracle that had just taken place in his life.  After verbalizing a request for healing and actually receiving the gift of healing, only 1 man, a Samaritan, out of 10 people stepped out to verbalize thanks.  It seems sad and ungrateful and thoughtless of the people ~  but that is the way it happened.


carol a castagna  (c) 5/2014

HYMNS OF OLD...

BIBLE VERSE  "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands."   New Living Translation

There are old, old, hymns that I remember from my childhood.  The choruses go something like this:

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME   (public domain/ author:  unknown                 
This world, this world is not my home.
This world, this world is not my home.
This world is not my resting place.
This world, this world is not my home.

FARTHER ALONG (public domain/author: Brad Parsely                
Farther along, we'll know all about it
Farther along, we'll understand why.
Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine.
We'll understand it...
All... bye and bye.

FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS (public domain/ author: Joseph C. Ludgate       
Friendship with Jesus...
Fellowship divine!
Oh, what blessed, sweet communion.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

I'VE GOT A MANSION OVER THE HILLTOP  (public domain/ author:  Daniel O'Donnell        
I've got a mansion, just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we'll never grow old
And someday yonder
We will never more wonder
But walk on streets that are purest gold.

CHANGED IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE public domain/  author:  Fanny  Crosby,
Changed in a twinkling of an eye.                                                           W.J. Kilpatrick
Changed in a twinkling of an eye.
The trumpet shall sound.
The dead shall be raised.
Changed in the twinkling of an eye!

KEEP ME TRUE public domain/ author:  unknown             
Keep me true, Lord Jesus.  Keep me true.
Keep me true, Lord Jesus, Keep me true.
There's a race that I must run...
There are victories to be won.
Give me power, every hour, to be true.

How blessed we are to know that this world is not the end of our soul's existence.  The Lord has
promised us that our souls wrapped in a new body will live on with Him in Eternity.  How sweet,
that we can rest on the promise that we are just passing through this life and that this earthly body
will one day be transformed 'in a twinkling of an eye.'  Our trials on earth will be something similar to an eye-blink, when we reach those heavenly shores. And there will be no sadness, there.

Romans 8: 31 We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. NKJV

PRAYER:
THANK YOU, DEAR FATHER, FOR YOUR WORD THAT LIFTS US HIGH WITH HOPE THAT ONE DAY, WE SHALL BE WITH YOU AND SEE YOUR GLORIOUS FACE!  ...AND SING AND REJOICE WITH THE ANGELS!  WE LOOK FORWARD WITH JOY TO THE DAY WHEN WE WORHSIP YOU FACE TO FACE!  WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL KEEP US FAITHFUL AND EVER-WATCHING AND READY FOR YOUR RETURN.  PRAISE YOUR GLORIOUS AND MATCHLESS NAME!    IN JESUS' NAME WE PRAY,   AMEN. 

BIRDS OF THE BIBLE AND OTHERS...

THE BIRDS OF THE AIR

                                                                          Baby birds

I awakened this morning to a sweet serenade of baby birds singing and thought:  'Heaven's symphony must sound something like this!!'  It was soft and serene...peaceful and melodious...The mother had built her nest
against our home.

Above, on his cage, is our cockatiel, Sweetie Pie, seventeen years old, a speaker of words and a whistler of songs:  I now happily add to his introduction:  a composer of music!  He composes his own sweet melodies and we call him Mozart of the Air. He can sing 'Carousel' and 'The Teddy Bears' Picnic.'  It is amazing what these little birds can learn!  He is absolutely a part of the family!

Mozart sings his soft sounds as we listen in astonishment!  He seems to think that he's  quite the entertainer, stretching his little neck and looking up to the ceiling as he sings.  He appears to wear a look of accomplishment  as he whistles and turns from me to my husband!  We think he is rather grand! 

The Lord mentions birds in the Bible several times.  Mathew 6: 26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Luke 12:24:  'Consider the ravens...'   and  Matthew 8:20:  And Jesus said unto them: " Foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Psalm 104: 10 and 12, 24 25, 27,
He sends the springs into the valleys.  They flow among the hills...By them, the birds of the heavens have their home; they sing among the branches...The earth is full of Your possessions...living things both small and great.  These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season.  What You give them, they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.  They shall run and not be weary.  They shall walk and not faint.
Exodus 19:4 ...how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself.

Thank you, dear Father, for Your provision, for us and for the creatures of the field and of the air.

Luke 12: 6 and 7

All verses from: Holy Bible N.K.J.V.

I AM AMAZED!

I AM AMAZED!
 

I am amazed!  Not only am I amazed that the God of the universe forgives our sin, black as a starless night, but that He decides to remember our sin no more.!  He chooses to see us in our forgiven-by-the-blood-of-Jesus state, with hearts white as snow and waiting to see Him upon His second coming.

How likely is it for us to ignore someone's hurtful words or actions?...   Probably not very likely, at all.  That is why God is God.  He is able to put aside our sin and the sins of others...we, many times, are not.  How loving is our God!  How filled with tender mercies and compassion!  How kind and merciful!

May the Lord fill us with His great compassion so that we may emulate the love of our Father in heaven.

N.K.J.V. Psalm 103: 11-14   So great is His mercy toward those who revere Him:  As far as the east is from the west...So far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame:  He remembers that we are dust. 

Photo by Linda Porcello

JEREMIAH 31:34  N.K.J.V.   I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they will be my people...For I will forgive their iniquity,  and their sin, I will remember no more. (cross-reference Hebrews 10: 17)

How Sweet Is the Song of His Name!

How sweet is the song of His name!  The name of Jesus is our song.  The person and Spirit of Jesus comes to us as a song on a rainy, gray day as His melody flows to our soul and lifts us up, refreshes and renews.

I feel that wherever I stand is a sanctuary, a holy place where I can sing to the Lord.  N.K.J.V. Psalm 6 : I will sing to the Lord for He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 104: 33,34:  I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.  I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  May my meditation be sweet to Him.                                                                    

He is my song and He takes joy when I sing to Him...                                           
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord for the joy of Thy salvation.  Thank you for welcoming me into Your presence and for hearing my heart's whisper.  Thank You for Your joy in me, Your child.  It is with a grateful heart that I come to adore You.  Help me to walk in Your path of life-giving sustenance with the blessed assurance that Yours is the only way to live life and to reach eternity's shore.  Thank You for Your constant abiding in me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.   Psalm 19:14

In Jesus' name, Amen

THE WORK OF OUR HANDS

Our little great-grandson!

   THE WORK OF OUR HANDS...

The Lord has established the work of our hands.  Perhaps, planting or arranging flowers is your forte.
Aside from his work as a tool and die maker, my Dad loved  masonry.  I recall the stone walls, fireplaces and sidewalks that he created with care.  Mom loved to prepare meals for a holiday.  The family members were the cheerful recipients of her tasty little morsels.  I love words and notes so writing and piano music are both favorites of mine.  The Lord has blessed me with the ability to write and to create original piano music.  Every morning, I thank Him for 'establishing the work of my hands'.  Whatever work that I did as a psychiatric R.N. is praise-worthy to my Lord and King, for allowing me to have done it.

We are "enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you."  I Corinthians 1: 5 and 6.  The Lord has enriched us and He will sustain us through His Holy Spirit.  "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God."  Corinthians 2:12 ...How He loves us!  Can we take it in?  May we breathe in the gifts, "the testimony of Christ" that the Lord has bestowed upon us and bring honor to His name!

Whatever we say or write or sing or grow or sketch or paint or sculpt -and  on and on, is for His glory.  May we be worthy of the calling.  In Ephesians 4: 1  Paul writes "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called."

PRAYER:
Lord, we come before you with grateful hearts, thanking you for  the our calling.  We pray that you continue to bless and speak through us as we endeavor to live as your servants.  Touch the hearts of those who need a word of encouragement.  Help each one of us to live as you would have us live, in your strength and in your love and in your care.  In Jesus' name,   Amen.




Post note:  Please forgive the late entry this week.  I like to send an entry to each of you on Mondays.  I have been working on a completing a book of poetry, A Kiss from God and a non-fiction biography, Think Piece.  This morning, as I was washing the dishes and talking to God, the thought came to me that I could ask the people who read my blog to pray for me...and.that these books will soon be published and will bless many people.  I will use my pen name.  I will keep you informed.  Thank you for your prayers.  God bless each one of you.