Diamonds from Isaiah 1:27-31

Zion will be delivered with justice,

    her penitent ones with righteousness.

But rebels and sinners will both be broken,

    and those who forsake the Lord will perish.

“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks

    in which you have delighted;

you will be disgraced because of the gardens

    that you have chosen.

You will be like an oak with fading leaves,

    like a garden without water.

The mighty man will become tinder

    and his work a spark;

both will burn together,

    with no one to quench the fire.”

 

Father, I know that you are powerful and just. All evil will be punished, and those who turn to you will be lovingly cared for.

A Children-Friendly Car Museum

My friend Nina told me a fun story about spending time with her daughter’s family, helping them get ready to move.

 

I just returned home from a last trip to Phoenix.  I won’t miss the stressful 2 hour trip up there but I’m sure going to miss the little guys.

 

I helped my daughter take another load to donations.  “I feel like such a bad mom, taking all these toys…but we won’t have room in CO,” she told me.  I assured her she wasn’t a bad mom, the boys had outgrown the toddler riding toys and the plastic toy BBQ grill, unused Tonka trucks and more.  “Think of how thrilled some mom is going to be, someone on a tight budget who would love a tricycle for their little one, finding a great deal on this one.”  

 

We took a break to go to the Martin Auto Museum and Event Center in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix.  Remy and Elden (five and three years old) could not stop talking about this wonderful place. And I am not a car person, but why not?

 

Oh my goodness they had so many vehicles and even better, they let people sit in a lot of them.  A 60s convertible?  I slid across the front bench, remembering back to my childhood, a world without seatbelts and safety features.  I ran my hand over the rounded curves of a car from the 1940s and wondered how this one managed to avoid the junkyard and be lovingly restored.

 

Remy sat forever in a gull winged BMW sports car telling me, “Grandma, this one is the best! The seats are so comfortable.”  

 

Then we came across a long skinny racecar, close to the ground.  The staff said, “Oh if the kids want to sit in this we can move the steering wheel!” And into the little seat climbed Remy, and he just fit, peering down the long long nose to the two little wheels 8’ away.  

 

The man said, “This racecar is for straight racing for kids ages 5-17.  Its top speed is 85 miles an hour.”

 

The world is more curious than I imagined.  Who lets a 5 year old drag race?  Not this grandma! The car museum helper said that usually racing runs in families and the kids start pretty young.

 

Who knew? But we went from car to car to car.  And there was even a curious bicycle made by John Deere, the front wheel replaced by the rotating blades of a hand lawn mower.  How hard would it be to peddle back and forth on the lawn to mow it, I wonder? 

A Few Special Books

Some books to touch your heart, in many ways.

 

A piece of the moon by Chris Fabry. A bunch of broken souls come together around a small-town radio station in 1981. They face their past, join with unexpected partners, and find acceptance and forgiveness and hope. I read this as an audio book read by Chris Fabry himself. I think he’d make a great radio DJ.

 

Waiting for Christmas by Lynn Austin. A story of hope and miracles in early 1900s New York City.

 

A Constant Love by Tracie Peterson. A great story of Wyoming ranching in the late 1880s, wonderful truths of God’s love and forgiveness. “But there was no way to turn back time. Somehow, they all had to move forward.” And, the author takes a brave stand on the issue of suicide by Christians.

 

By Irene Hannon:

Vanished. I’ve enjoyed books by this author before. I search for them. This is a fun story. Faith. A little romance. Well-developed crime and criminals. A group of buddies who love to give each other trouble and always protect each other. What I’d forgotten about this author’s stories was the down to the last minute, breath-grabbing, fist-clenching danger.

And, Dark Ambitions. Some of the same characters, wonderful suspense and mystery. Both excellent reads.

 

Mother Emanuel: two centuries of race, resistance, and forgiveness in one Charleston church. By Kevin Sack. A fascinating history of the Black church. It begins by telling of the murder of nine church members in 2015 Charleston, South Carolina. Then moves back to talk of slaves being brought to America in the 1500s; slavery; the fight for emancipation and abolitionism, including in churches. The discussion of whether to evangelize Blacks; the Civil War; the growth of the Black church. It talked of pastors who were elected into government, and of the church helping with marches, demonstrations and classes in non-violence. It told of the life of Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, the pastor who died at the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel. Then of the trial of the murderer, and of the struggle for forgiveness and healing, for Mother Emanuel and the families of those killed and the surviving victims. 

At the Feet of Jesus

I had fun writing this song recently. I hope to use it in a story I’m working on. To encourage myself to write more, I’m going to store it in a folder called “Songs by Kathy.”

 

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my sorrows.

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my sin.

You bend down to me,

Wrap me tight,

Rock me in your loving arms.

Let me know that you’ve been waiting all along.

 

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my worries.

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my fears.

Sit me up,

Raise my head,

Help me breathe again.

Let me hear what you have to say to me.

 

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my hopes.

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my dreams.

Lift me up,

Spin me around,

Walk beside me as I go.

Because I don’t want to go without you,

But I want to go far.

 

At the feet of Jesus,

I lay down my failure.

At the feet of Jesus,

I cry and say “I quit.”

But there you kneel before me.

You smile and take my hands.

You say, “Let’s try again,

And maybe this time, we’ll go farther.”

 

At the feet of Jesus.