Imagine the garment

Since I was about 8 years old, I've been looking at fabrics.  It was at that age, my mother enlisted me to darn socks, sew on buttons and mend tears.  She had an old treadle Singer, but broke out in a sweat if she had to try to use it.  Before long, I was helping with the mending and also, making doll clothes.
I, out of necessity, made my three little girls' underwear, dresses, nightgowns, even coats.  I recall buying yards of lingerie fabrics and elastics from bins on the second floor in the garment district in downtown Minneapolis.  The two older girls would play quietly under the bins while I shopped with another on my hip.  Munsingwear was the 'cadillac' label at that time and I could buy silky lengths for a nickel or so per yard.
I learned to make wedding dresses, drapes, even shirts and ties for my husband.
So, when I began my quilting business for 15 years, it was a natural.  God gave me 'an eye' for coordinating fabrics and colors.  I used this to help my husband with his weaving enterprise when he lost his hearing.  I thank God for the many years I've worked with lovely fabrics.
When I saw a photo of the recently retiring Pope, my imagination kicked in:  who might be the farmers who grew the crops or raised the animals used to make these?  where might the weaving looms and shops be located?  are the craftsmen and women famous now because of their role in dressing the world famous Pope?  What fine fabrics,! and what about the embroideries?  real gold?  precious jewels?  what does the pressing room look like?

Then I thought of the only garment Jesus wore that was fine enough that men gambled for it.  The seamless robe He wore to the execution site.  Why was it seamless?  I gather from John 19:23, it was unusual or valuable:
"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece"
In my mind, I can see a man or woman sitting on a dirt floor of a house in Jerusalem, before a loom, weaving a single piece.  But, to construct it without seaming?  Not getting that image....

The tunic is believed to be the garment worn by Jesus Christ prior to his crucifixion, quoted in the Gospel of St. John as “seamless.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/04/christs-seamless-tunic-on-display-for-first-time-in-16-years/
...ummm, I don't think so.  (My opinion)

Took a 'long winter's nap'...

from Blogging.  Perhaps you didn't even notice...but, I've thought about it.

One of my many grandsons gave me a book for Christmas.  His pastor wrote My One Word.  The concept is to choose just one word that represents what you most hope God will do in you, and focus on it for an entire year. He explains how that one word may lead to character building and gives personal illustrations as evidence.

Well, I thought about it and MY One Word is IMAGINE.  I've used my vivid imagination in relating scenes in the Bible to myself and others over many years.  The scripture jumps out to me when I imagine the scene, sounds, sights, characters. 
This week, I've been thinking about how it might have gone when Jesus' body was lifted down or off the cross. We begin to think about the Bethlehem scene weeks before Christmas.  It's the same with Easter, for me, and Lent begins on February 13; that's a sobering time preceding a day of great joy:  RESURRECTION-FREEDOM-VICTORY DAY.
My IMAGINATION worked this past week on what took place that day there.  We know only men could prepare the body for burial.  Only men had the strength to carry Jesus' body down and away.  Joseph of Arimathaea took down his body and prepared the body, then buried it in his own burial space.  Luke 23:53
He must have been a man with resources, surely he enlisted help to this.  Did the disciples help?  Were they not present, that they didn't take charge of this themselves?  We know John had been there because Jesus made him 'caretaker' of His own mother.  Did the men wash and prepare the body in the cave that held the tomb?  Did they weep?  Did they worship Him for the first time?  How did they tell the event when they shared the scene with friends and family? 
What a life changer that would be.  It so greatly changed MY life, and I wasn't present then, but since...in my heart and mind.

I don't intend to take another 3 month hiatus.  Please 'pop in' often to see where else my IMAGINATION takes me?

Above:  roomful of ossuaries in a Nat. Geo. article: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/episodes/in-search-of-jesus-tomb/

Heads up!

I've often read in the OT the phrase, "lifter of my head."  Just now I was in Psalms 3:3 where David announced that.  John Gill says it is when God lifts my head, pulls my chin up maybe, when I am depressed or troubled abut something.  I might walk along with my head down...grumble, grumble, grumble...and then I remember, "Ah, but my God is bigger than my trouble...".  My spirit is lifted, the light is brighter when I look up, not down.  To look down, my head is down, facing the ground.
Gill also mentions 'lifter' when I put on the helmet of salvation or when a soldier puts on his.  I can't place the helmet on when my head is bending low...it would fall off, wouldn't it?
Lastly, he mentions how my head is lifted, held high at judgement.  I can face my Lord with head held high for I have been cleared of any wrongdoing at the cross.

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.   Ps. 3:3

 

Don't wave back!

The "Perfect Storm" of 1991 measured waves of over 100 feet; another storm off the coast of Norway in 1995 measured  an 84 foot wall of water that hit an oil platform. Another off Portugal in 2011 measured 90 feet tall.
Hurricane Sandy: New York Harbor's surf reached a record level when a buoy measured a 32.5-foot wave. That wave was 6.5 feet taller than a 25-foot wave churned up by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
The former two hit out in the ocean; this storm struck a highly populated area...er,er country.  The power of it sloshed around in Lake Michigan also.  The death and destruction is unfathomable to me.

I thank God everyday that our home and family escaped it.  We are safe and warm and dry.  There's not a doubt in my mind that He created the oceans and is Master of the waters...He knew about the storm since time began...we didn't learn of it until October of 2012.  Our God is powerful and awesome!

"...even the winds and the sea obey Him."   Matt. 8:27

Throw Down

It's been many years since I dealt with or thought about our Laundry Chute.  We had one in the two-story home where we raised our kids.  It was in the floor, as I recall, and the size of a smallish heat register like we have now.  As the kids stuffed the dirty garments in, they traveled down through 2 floors to the basement.  Occasionally they would put a playful item down...the cat (just kiddding), hair brush, a shoe...then run down and retrieve it. 
Hadn't thought of it until just now overhearing my daughter ask her son if she should "throw down his dirty uniform".  We don't even have one in this house.  Mostly, the throw down I heard recently was in referring to Bobby Flay on the Cooking Channel.

 

          

How many words left in my Word Bank?

One speaks only a certain amount of words during their lifetime and then they're done.  When the 'breath of life' has left, they're done speaking.  Right? 
I've lived alot of years; too many to waste any that's left...or my words, either.  I will spend some words writing in this blog.
It's raining and dark as I write in mid-morning on Sunday.  While listening to Alistair Begg's message (really good on gospel), I thought of this illustration on Redemption and Reconciliation:
Years ago, before charging items on a credit card and immediate possession, we would put the item on 'lay-away'.  Put down a small amount, take home a payment book, pay regular payments until the price is paid.  On the day I paid the last bit, handed in the book and received the item I had hoped for, waited anxiously to use or wear.  That day the item was paid in full: REDEEMED !  I finally owed no more...it was mine.
(Almost 50 years ago, I dealt with Jesus concerning my sinful life and pledged a lifetime allegiance to Him: I was redeemed, purchased by His payment).
Let's imagine my item was my mixer or  toaster oven.  I would hug that long waited for box, take it home, rip off the box and enjoy getting to know how to use it.  It was mine!  It had been redeemed and I could wear it out if I so chose.  Getting to know all it could do, becoming 'friends' with it, showing it to others or using it to share with them...that's the reconciled part. 
Just so, Jesus has become my 'friend'...and He calls me His friend, also.  This is a pretty simple illustration of redeemed and reconciled, but I'm hoping it might be helpful to someone reading this.
Oh...my mixer isn't my best friend, just my kitchen friend.  Jesus is my very best friend.

Please email or comment if this isn't clear or you have questions.

Sleeping through the storm

I've had this short story in my Bible pocket for 10 years or so.  It makes me smile every time I take it out to read.  Can't credit it as I cut it out of a book or magazine.  Hope it encourages you.

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.   He constantly advertised for hired hands.  Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic.  They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.  Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age approached the farmer.  "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.  Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.  Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.  Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters.  He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up!  A storm is coming!  Tie things down before they blow away!"  The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir.  I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the old man's response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.  Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.  To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarps.  The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.  The shutters were tightly secured.  Everything was tied down.  Nothing could blow away.  The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, and he returned to bed to also sleep while the wind blew.  When we are prepared, we have nothing to fear.  We can secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves firmly in God's Word and God's love.