MOMENTOUS OCCASIONS: Celebrations Of The Moment

Sometimes it’s easy to get so focused on celebrating the obviously big things - national events, life-changing experiences - that we might forget the value of the little moments.

We think it’s important to celebrate the little moments because in some seasons we may not have the opportunity to commemorate grand occasions with lots of preparation. (Although we very well could have impromptu parties to celebrate these moments!) As someone once said, “Sometimes life is full of awe, and sometimes it’s just awful.”¹ Those are the times when we need to remember the whispers of a moment.

What kind of bright moments are we thinking of? When Baby claps and jumps as his aunties play their violins. The sight of a glorious sunset as you’re driving down the road. The instant when a little boy gives you a dandelion like it’s a dozen roses. A warm summer evening when you and your sister sit on rocks and enjoy ice cream cones filled with scoops of Blue Moon - her favorite flavor back when she was five. 

We also think of celebrating the “small” spiritual victories because we know how hard fought those often are. Like when a group of little boys joyfully lets a long line of little girls go in the door first. Or when a four-year-old girl comes to you and says, “Is there any way I can be helpful?” or a ten-year-old girl asks for prayer that she will have a good relationship with her brothers and not tell them what to do too much. Or when you see the brightest, most popular little boy of a group befriending and helping a fellow who struggles. Maybe it’s watching an old lady keep up a cheery attitude and good sense of humor that makes everyone smile. Perhaps it’s the time you watch one of your young friends introduce herself to a WWII vet and thank him for his service to her country.

Celebrations of the moment also make me think of Longfellow’s poem “The Children’s Hour.”

Between the dusk and the daylight,

When the night is beginning to lower,

Comes a pause in the day’s occupations, 

That is known as the Children’s Hour....

In his poem, Longfellow takes a brief, potentially routine time and commemorates it. He recognizes this hour of a father with his little daughters as something precious and by writing about it gives it weight. He captures the joy, love and merriment of something we might otherwise miss in our daily lives. This is celebrating the moment.

Thankfully, we don’t all have to write poems in honor of our “momentous occasions”. One way we can recognize these moments is to communicate how we were blessed. “Oh, thank you! I just love flowers!” - even if it’s “just” a dandelion - or “Sofia, thank you for offering to help me. That was a big encouragement today.” or “I saw how you were trying to be kind to so-and-so. That really cheered me up. Even more than that, it was a beautiful testimony for the Lord.” Besides commemorating that fleeting minute, these kind of statements can mean the world to the listeners.

May we choose to rejoice in the moments just as much as in the events. Remember them. Give thanks to the Lord for them. And maybe we’ll find out that these little moments are often the big ones after all.

_________________________

¹ Finnian Jones in “The Basket of Flowers” Lamplighter Radio Theatre

Review of the White Knights

The White Knights is a jolly tale of boyhood adventures whose lessons will reach a heart of any age. Written for boys, this book teaches many values - from kindness to punctuality - but all of them fall under the standard of following the Captain of our hearts. 

Three boys on holiday in a sleepy English town ride out, like knights of old, to “redress human wrongs”*. Unlike knights in shining armor, Sir Horace, Sir Cyril, and Sir Percy don’t ride horses or fight dragons - they don’t even have bicycles - but, as they learn from their advisor, Pastor Gilbert, it’s “the spirit of the thing” and not the horse and armor that make a knight. 

I would recommend that parents make sure that their child is ready to read this book. Oh, it’s a wonderful, fast read and the vocabulary will be great to stretch anyone’s knowledge of the dictionary, but there are issues that could bother some children. For example, Horace’s mother becomes very ill and, though it’s not a big deal in the story, it could strike a tender spot. Issues like boarding school and parents leaving their kids with relatives to go work as missionaries in China might also be hard for kids to grapple with. (It is pretty clear from the story that it would be better for the parents to be with their children.) 

Are there any reasons to absolutely not read this book? Not that I know of. Would I recommend this book to almost anyone? Absolutely. Oh, I doubt that it’s something that non-Christians would understand, but it could be appropriate in some cases.

The airy, frank joy in this book was refreshing. The honest boyishness of our three heroes is thrilling. The gentle, wise manliness of Pastor Gilbert is admirable. Each picture a paragraph brings to mind is beautiful. I think I shall return to this book again and again - for lessons and encouragement. 

P.S. As I began to implement some things I had learned, I was reminded that when a person renews a fight, the enemy starts fighting harder too. If you find the same discouraging result; remember - battle scars are marks of battles won; not lost.

Title: The White Knights

Author: W.E. Cule

Setting: Eastgate, England

Main Character: Horace Mackintosh

First Printed: 1919

This Printing: April 2011

Pub: Lamplighter Publishing

Series: Rare Collector’s Series

ISBN: 1-58474-104-X

ISBN13: 978-1-58474-104-6

Chapters: 8

Pages: 185

Pages/Chapter: ~ 23

*Part of the oath sworn by knights of the round table; A Tennyson Dictionary, p 60 (Haskell House Pub., previewed on books.google.com 11/19/12)

Days of Remembrance

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Last we forget - lest we forget!

~from “Recessional” by Rudyard Kipling

Just the other night, our family gathered and opened up one of our photo books. This was part of our way to remember where we were three years ago - on a very special trip. As we studied the photos, read the notes, laughed over funny memories and sighed  with wistful thoughts, we remembered all that the Lord taught us back then and had the opportunity to realize how what He did then has impacted our lives ever since. Those moments of reflection gave us new hope for the future.

That is the point of “days of remembrance”: taking the time to look back at what the Lord has done so that we can understand better what He is doing and trust Him with what He will do. Sometimes days of remembrance are simple family moments like us looking through our photo book. Sometimes they are grand celebrations. Let’s take a look at some of them.

SIMPLE GATHERINGS

So often in life it is really the simple moments that change the course of our lives. For our family, many of our days of remembrance are inspired by our travels. “Remember where we were three years ago today? Let’s do such and such in honor of the day!” “Can you believe it has been nine years since we moved back from Guatemala? Let’s celebrate by...” 

New Year’s Eve is also a lovely time to declare as a day of remembrance. Over the past several New Year’s Eves, we have tried to carve out at least a bit of time to sit down with pens and paper (and often a yummy snack) and go through the year. “Do you remember what happened in April?” “Wasn’t it amazing how such and such happened?” “Remember how we didn’t know if we would make it through such and such? God was so faithful!” “What was your favorite part of the year?” “What lessons did we learn?” “I hope we never do X again!” All of those questions and thoughts help us to remember, to catch at least glimpses of God’s hand and to have a better idea of where we are heading in the coming year.

INDIVIDUAL PROVIDENCES

Another great time for days of remembrance is birthdays. A birthday can be a day of telling stories of God’s providence in our lives, of remembering what He has brought us through, of delighting in His care and creativity in crafting each individual life. But for the grace of God, none of us would even be breathing much less all the other things we are blessed to enjoy and do.

One of our favorite birthday memories is of Grandpa Hammer’s 93rd birthday. The two of us girls planned a little WWII-style musical show for him as a surprise and practiced for weeks in advance. When the day came, we dressed up in WWII/50s styles dresses (actually some dresses of our mother’s from years ago!) and went to the nursing home where Grandpa was. Our program included patriotic numbers, WWII favorites, cherished hymns and beloved ballads since we had tried to fit in Grandpa’s favorites. Thanks to the other residents who joined in, it ended up being quite the little event - not only a celebration of Grandpa but also a time to remember the WWII era that had such an impact on his life.

HISTORIC EVENTS

In our experience, celebrations of historic events have been rather grand affairs, but they don’t have to be. For example, on April 18th, we - especially I (Kristen) - like to read “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Longfellow and remember the providences of God that led to America’s liberty. 

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five...

As we remember America’s War for Independence, we are reminded that God works through dedicated minorities, that He “directs the affairs of men” and that Liberty before God is a priceless treasure. 

To continue along the same line and yet give you an entirely different example, on March 23rd - the 238th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech - we celebrated (partly by “accident”) by taking a self-defense class. We think Mr. Henry would have approved, don’t you?

For most Americans, October 31st is considered Halloween. For our family, it is Reformation Day, the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg chapel on October 31, 1517. A couple of years in a row, we got to celebrate this day with hundreds of others as part of a three-day event full of godly speakers, sweet fellowship, toe-tapping music, historic crafts, and, since there was a significant Scottish influence in the Reformation, our own version of the Highland Games complete with a caber toss! Oh, yes, most of the attendees wore costumes, too!

Another favorite day of remembrance was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Again, hundreds attended with us. One of the elements of the event that added so much was a children’s play. Even very young children were able to memorize two or three lines, don a costume and act a bit to portray men and women connected with Titanic’s story and in so doing to praise the Lord. Even as we think of it now, the scenes bring to mind the verse of Matthew 21, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”  Of course, you’ve already heard about the Titanic Ladies’ Tea.

By now, we hope it’s evident that these days of remembrance can come in all shapes and sizes. Perhaps your family has your own historic events you want to commemorate. Maybe you have special family birthday traditions. Quite possibly your moments to remember are when you climbed that mountain and gloried in the beauty of God’s creation or when you met someone who the Lord used to change your life. The key principle is to rejoice before the Lord in what He has done and to use that knowledge to serve Him better now and to look with hope into the future because we have seen with our eyes and heard with our ears how faithful He has been.

JOYFUL GATHERINGS: Picnics, Pies & Pastimes

Yesterday morning before our church service started, I was chatting with a few young girls. The conversation grew lively when the topic became picnics. Yes, picnic season is starting and with it all sorts of possibilities! 

Picnics are the perfect arena for joyful gatherings - whether spur of the moment or long anticipated. They usually can accommodate even a large crowd, can be as free-and-easy (or polished) as one likes and let the participants enjoy the blessings of sunshine, blue skies, green grass and shading trees. (And if it rains, you usually end up with a fun memory!) Picnics are also the perfect way to get to eat yummy foods and play outdoor games.

We got to practice all this yesterday afternoon with a spontaneous kind of picnic. It was one of the most beautiful Sundays we’ve had so far this year, our tulips are in full bloom, and it simply seemed like the perfect day to combine with an afternoon of archery, swinging on the tire swing and fellowship. Some friends were up for the idea and kindly pitched in to help with setting up picnic tables, etc. (Note: This is a great way to get help with summer-ifying your yard!) Since the event was spur-of-the moment the picnic-style dinner was pretty simple (and a tad strange?) but, well, I guess we have good friends! After all, the point was to enjoy being together and to enjoy God’s creation on a restful Sunday. That’s a joyful gathering.

Some of our past picnics have been a bit more planned. We’ve hosted or attended picnics where the hosts provide hot dogs, etc., and the guests bring side dishes. Last year, we had fun pairing picnics with pastimes like square dancing or English Country Dancing. As I have already mentioned, archery is another preferred activity as well.

For a decorating theme, we like to go with the All-American Picnic idea. Red, white and blue says picnics to us. Pinterest is of course the place to find more cute decorating ideas than any girl - no matter how industrious she is - could ever use! How do you like to decorate for your outdoor events?

Well, we’ve talked about picnics and pastimes and now we have to get to that middle item - pies! If you know us, you know that we do especially like pies. No, we don’t manage to have them for all of our picnics, but we have fond memories of a particular picnic when we had pies a-plenty. Thirty pies, I believe it was, all thanks to our Grandma H. (Obviously, we were dealing with a crowd!) Every once in a while, someone mentions that as a noteworthy time. 

I would like to share a recipe with you from the Hammerville Kitchen. Here is one of Grandma H.’s recipes. I think it might be the top favorite because it’s so refreshing on a warm day. Happily, it’s quick and simple to make as well!

Grandma Hammer’s Key Lime Pie Cheesecake

Makes 2 9-inch pies.

INGREDIENTS

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (very soft)

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 12 oz. carton whipped topping

1 cup lime juice

2-3 drops green food coloring (optional)

1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)

2 graham cracker pie crusts

Note: Use a spoon to mix the ingredients. Don’t use an electric mixer; the ingredients will aerate and will not set.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine cream cheese and condensed milk. Mix until firm and fairly smooth. (This is not easy unless the cream cheese is very soft.)

Add whipped topping. Mix until smooth.

Add lime juice and, if desired, food coloring. Combine until smooth.

Pour half of the filling into each crust-lined pie tin. 

Refrigerate to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Top with more whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, key lime slices or whatever garnish suits your fancy. Enjoy!

In summary, here are possible elements of a good picnic or any joyful gathering:

• A spirit of rejoicing before the Lord
• Good friends, whether one or one hundred, or people that can become good friends
• Places to sit and chat
• Games or at least space to play, especially if little ones are attending
• Something cool to drink
• Whatever foods say “picnic” to your crowd
• And, if possible, a pie or two, or maybe ice cream, or perhaps both!

We hope you get to have several joyful gatherings of your own this picnic season. Please feel free to share your own ideas with us!

Review of Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky is a children’s story that can capture the imagination of adults. The plot is fairly simple and there are no great cliff-hangers, but through the story of little Henry, von Schmid surprises us with a new perspective on life and the world.

Henry, the infant son of a German count, is kidnapped and hidden in a robbers’s lair - a massive cave. There the poor boy begins to grow up. He forgets about his mother, their lovely home, flowers, grass, even sunshine and rain. He never sees these things; the only understanding he has of them comes from the toys one of the robbers brings to him. Imagine his delight - his wonder - when one day he escapes from the cave and, for the first time he can remember, 

steps on grass! He is soon befriended by a hermit who helps him to understand all the wonders around him. The question is will Henry be reunited with his mother and will his father return from the wars to see his son? 

There are a few thorny issues in this otherwise wonderful story. The notion of hermits is troubling, especially when the hermit, who is so sagacious and trustworthy otherwise, says that he thinks he can best serve the Lord at his hermitage, rather than staying with Henry and continuing to help him. This idea of serving the Lord without serving fellow men, of being “not of the world” and “not in the world” was common enough in partly-Reformed partly-Roman Catholic Germany, but it is something that may require discussion. Another troubling point is the round-abouting that the Countess does when writing to her husband about Henry. Some children may see it as out-and-out lying. Depending on your point of view, they may be right. Nevertheless, the lessons Henry learns about creation make this story worth reading - and enjoying. 

Title: Fire in the Sky

Author: Christoph von Schmid

Original Book Printed: circa 1840 under a different title

This Printing: 2011

Pub: Lamplighter Publishing

ISBN: 1-58474-022-1

Chapters: 15

Pages: 77

Pages/Chapter: ~5

Additional Stories: A Lesson From the Sea (Short Story)