Photography

The Grandfather I Never Knew

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. Proverbs 17:6 ESV

The fading photograph of he and my grandmother sits on our bookshelf, and the shadow of his hat covering his eyes makes me wonder what color they were. Though our youngest son is named after him, the life he once lived is as mysterious to me as the lost continent of Atlantis. All I know is that at the ripe old age of 16, he boarded a steamer in Naples and arrived in New York to begin a new life with the help of three brothers who had come before.

All that remains behind is a 100-year-old barber kit that sits on the dresser in our guest bedroom and an antique barber chair that a local shop bought from my cousin. I never heard his voice or knew what his favorite food was. He never took me for ice-cream or walked with me to a park. But my grampa missed these things, not because he was a bad guy, rather as a result of my parent’s less than amicable divorce and his passing away just two years after I was born.

This morning as I was thinking about all I missed from never knowing my grandparents, I remembered our grandchildren. The Bible says that God has given them to us as a crown. and a crown should be on our head, just as grandchildren should always on our mind. When we give them our time, watching a movie together or playing with them in the back yard, we are giving them the memory of the sound of our laugh, the touch of our hand and the color of our eyes. As we share in every little moment – yes, even the hard ones, they will want to know why we pray with them as we put them to bed. They will remember the songs we sing as they sit by us in church and every hug when we can no longer be there to hold them. Though we may not leave them trust accounts brimming with cash, if they receive our faith then they have received our greatest treasure. Grandchildren are given us as a crown, so while we have breath let’s not be the grandparents they never knew. Instead, may our lives remind them, when they are in the middle of their own storms, to trust in Jesus and find that He is the one who has known them and loved them from the beginning of time!

Stop Your Fussing and Be still!

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

Be Still

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! – Psalm 46:10 ESV

Our eight-day trip had been wonderful, yet anything but restful. Living out of suitcases, eating from the food we had packed or from various restaurants, left us with the constant reminder that we were neither at home nor at our destination. But God had a surprise planned and I almost missed it. After the first four days in our hotel room, just as I was packing for the next leg of our adventure, I just happened to look up and then I noticed for the first time a large, framed print. It hung on the wall just above my side of the bed but I had never seen it. There two large words on a white background told me all that God had been trying to tell me for days – “Be Still!”

Have you ever noticed that while we are looking for a detailed message from God about what we should be doing, where we need to be going or why things aren’t working out, that He often gives us something far simpler? While we are preoccupied with the geography of our destination, He is far more interested in the geography of our hearts. And so, I am hearing His answers to my questions –

“Be Still” - I have your family problems in my hands
“Be Still!” - I will be a spring in your dry places.
“Be Still!” - It is more important what I think than the acclaim of people who know you little
“Be Still!” I will be exalted in your life when you stop your fussing and simply know that I am God!

God’s Banqueting Table is in the Valley!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows Psalm 23:5 ESV

None of us likes to walk through the valley – But the Good Shepherd not only goes with us. He also sets up a banqueting table for us there in the valley! I hope you enjoy our little time of sharing about that at Sunshine Christian Home. Listen carefully and you can hear the voices singing with me. It may be memory care, but they remember the words when we sing Surely Goodness and Mercy together!