Darling Sister:
There is something that you need to know about me. One day, it may make a difference to you. Hear me out, please, and try to understand what I'm trying to say.
My mother had me, her first child, when she was 17 years old. Because of her young age, she got to see and experience many things in my life--she would only be 34 when I was 17, after all! It has been a real blessing to have my mother in my life, and even now, as I'm typing this, as I'm 40 and she has just turned 58, I have been SO VERY BLESSED to have her in my life, a daily part of my life!
I try to call her every morning on the way to work. I love talking to her! She is a great source of encouragement to me, an advisor and one of my closest friends. These days, at my age, she has become a dear spiritual mentor and friend of mine. (That happens sometimes, and I know that I have been richly blessed!) But much of this has been made possible because she is only 17 years older than I.
Certainly, there are certain disadvantages to starting a family early, but, looking back, I'm so thankful my mother did.
When I met your father, I had just turned 35 years old. I had never been married before that, never been pregnant. Your father was the first man to ask for my hand in marriage.
We met in November and he asked me to marry him in February. Of course, I accepted! We knew very early on that God had destined for us to be together...I believe it more now, nearly five years later, than I ever have before. God is in this.
We married on September 1, 2007. I turned 36 in October of that year and discovered we were pregnant in December of 2007. As you know, you were born August 16, 2008. That was two weeks before our first anniversary.
You are the most precious of gifts ever given to us, and within the first year of our marriage.
Two and a half months after your birth, I turned 37. I am nearly 37 years older than you, Psalmie.
Trust me when I say that I believe that everything that has happened in my life has been a GOD THING. I can look back over my life--as fast as it's gone!--and see His hand upon my entire life course. I trust Him wholly with my life, and with yours.
But I feel as if I need to tell you...to admit to you my deepest concern...that I am nearly four decades older than you are, and if you need me as much as I need my Mom right now, I just pray that I can leave behind as many words of wisdom as I can so that you will have some part of me, some part of my words, and know that I am with you, always, in spirit.
I will stay on this earth as long as God allows me to. But when it is my time to move on, when I have accomplished what I was called to accomplish here, He will call me home to be with him. The Bible assures me that I will not leave this earth one second before He allows it. So, please, darling, whatever happens to me--you need to know that God has a time allotted for all of us on this earth, and when our time is up, our time is up.
Trust Him, Sissy. Don't be angry or frustrated. Your presence on this planet is not by accident. He allowed your father and I to meet at precisely the appointed time. And He allowed you to be born to us. There is a Great and Magnificent plan for your life, I am sure of it.
That's why we named you Elizabeth Psalm. You are named after John the Baptist's mother (who was given the gift of parenthood later in her life) and my favorite book of the Bible (I hope you can discover on your own its value).
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As I am typing this, you are running around the house with a handful of toys. Your father and sisters are watching a movie in the Man Cave. When you saw me here at the computer, crying over this writing, you hugged me and said, "Mommy, don't be sad." And then you made a HUGE grin with your face and said, "Be happy, Mommy!"
I am very happy, Psalm. So very happy.
I love you, darling girl. Always.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Generationally Speaking
Dearest Psalm,
I think it is vitally important that you know "from whence you come," at least from a generational perspective. This information may not seem very important to you now, but I have a feeling that it will be very important in days to come.
Your family--on both my side and your daddy's side--is FULL of Christians. More than that, both sides of your family are dominated by ministers. Again, this may mean little to you now, and perhaps for a decade or two, but I can promise you that one day it will all make sense.
God has a way of calling families. I can't say that I understand it all, how he works in generations of people/families, but I have seen it, known it to be true, so I expect it to be something that impacts you greatly in the years to come.
Here's what I know to be true about my side of the family: My great-grandfather was a Baptist minister who was filled with the Holy Spirit and became Pentecostal. The story that has been handed down about him is that he was out in a field, under a tree, praying to the Lord, and he was filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1-2+ for more information). This happened in the early 20th Century. He was a minister of the Gospel for his whole life, as far as I know. His daughter, Robbie Jean Williams, my grandmother, your great-grandmother ("Gran Gran"), married John Carl Wainwright ("Pop Pop"), a Navy man who later became a police officer and then a Pentecostal preacher (for nearly 50 years) in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN). He and Gran pastored in Dinuba, CA, Sapulpa, OK, and Muldrow, OK, before they retired for health reasons. My mother, your grandmother, took over for Poppa when he retired, becoming the senior pastor of the Muldrow Church of God (OK). In 2007, right before your Daddy and I got married, we started ministering together as youth pastors of Poteau First Assembly of God. In 2012, we started the credentialing process in the Assemblies of God. This year, God willing, we will have our certificates.
In addition to what I've said, I thought I would add this: My mother is a chaplain at Sparks Hospital in Ft. Smith, AR. She has been called to missions work since she was a young girl. I, too, am called to missions, though the extent of that calling is yet to be known. Your Aunt Amanda (my youngest sister) is the pastor's wife at Maysville First Baptist Church (OK). I have two cousins, Brittany and Chris, who have gone on several missions trips and are in a Christian band in California. Their father is a Men's Minister at their church. ALL of my family, my aunts and uncles, attend church and work in the church in some capacity. They also lead by example on their jobs. God has given us all great favor.
Although my father's side of the family is difficult to know--my father's mom was adopted and we did not know much about her family--my grandmother, Norma, considered herself to be a minister of the Word and did evangelical outreaches from time to time. From what I have heard, she was saved in a Kathryn Kuhlman revival in the Los Angeles area. She attended the Assemblies of God as long as I knew her and had a strong faith and JOY in God until the day she passed away.
My father's father, Rex Allen Harrod, was not a spiritual man, as far as we knew. We do not know if he knew the Lord before he took his own life--due to his terminal cancer. My dad's brother discovered, when he investigated the Harrod family tree, that my grandfather was Jewish--they came from England and were tailors.
Your father's family is FULL of ministers for generations. When one of his family members did a family tree search, they discovered that there have been MANY generations of pastors and ministers in their family. The Yandells consider themselves to be Baptist--your daddy grew up Free Will Baptist. And although your daddy has discovered that there are several Assemblies of God ministers in his family, the family ministers have been predominantly Baptist and Free Will Baptist.
Needless to say, sweetheart, you are covered by GENERATIONS OF PRAYERS and PROMISES. See, Christians tend to pray over their families, and for their families "afar off," and the Bible tells us that God hears our prayers and that those prayers can last long after we breathe our last breaths.
This night, I pray over you, dear Psalm. I pray that you know the Lord for yourself, ask Him into your heart at an early age, and commit your path to Him for Him to direct as soon as possible. I pray over you right now, dear one, for your future, for your husband, for the family you will have together. I pray that you will make wise choices and ask the Lord what to do and what to be before you journey off on your own. I pray that you do not do anything until you KNOW that God has ordained it. I pray over your children, and their children, and I pray that you never stop praying, that you never stop chasing after OUR GREAT GOD who loves us and protects us and spares us from ourselves and others. He has a GREAT PLAN FOR YOU, darling. And no matter what happens to me, I have entrusted you to Him. And I KNOW He will never leave you or forsake you. I love you, Mommy.
I think it is vitally important that you know "from whence you come," at least from a generational perspective. This information may not seem very important to you now, but I have a feeling that it will be very important in days to come.
Your family--on both my side and your daddy's side--is FULL of Christians. More than that, both sides of your family are dominated by ministers. Again, this may mean little to you now, and perhaps for a decade or two, but I can promise you that one day it will all make sense.
God has a way of calling families. I can't say that I understand it all, how he works in generations of people/families, but I have seen it, known it to be true, so I expect it to be something that impacts you greatly in the years to come.
Here's what I know to be true about my side of the family: My great-grandfather was a Baptist minister who was filled with the Holy Spirit and became Pentecostal. The story that has been handed down about him is that he was out in a field, under a tree, praying to the Lord, and he was filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1-2+ for more information). This happened in the early 20th Century. He was a minister of the Gospel for his whole life, as far as I know. His daughter, Robbie Jean Williams, my grandmother, your great-grandmother ("Gran Gran"), married John Carl Wainwright ("Pop Pop"), a Navy man who later became a police officer and then a Pentecostal preacher (for nearly 50 years) in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN). He and Gran pastored in Dinuba, CA, Sapulpa, OK, and Muldrow, OK, before they retired for health reasons. My mother, your grandmother, took over for Poppa when he retired, becoming the senior pastor of the Muldrow Church of God (OK). In 2007, right before your Daddy and I got married, we started ministering together as youth pastors of Poteau First Assembly of God. In 2012, we started the credentialing process in the Assemblies of God. This year, God willing, we will have our certificates.
In addition to what I've said, I thought I would add this: My mother is a chaplain at Sparks Hospital in Ft. Smith, AR. She has been called to missions work since she was a young girl. I, too, am called to missions, though the extent of that calling is yet to be known. Your Aunt Amanda (my youngest sister) is the pastor's wife at Maysville First Baptist Church (OK). I have two cousins, Brittany and Chris, who have gone on several missions trips and are in a Christian band in California. Their father is a Men's Minister at their church. ALL of my family, my aunts and uncles, attend church and work in the church in some capacity. They also lead by example on their jobs. God has given us all great favor.
Although my father's side of the family is difficult to know--my father's mom was adopted and we did not know much about her family--my grandmother, Norma, considered herself to be a minister of the Word and did evangelical outreaches from time to time. From what I have heard, she was saved in a Kathryn Kuhlman revival in the Los Angeles area. She attended the Assemblies of God as long as I knew her and had a strong faith and JOY in God until the day she passed away.
My father's father, Rex Allen Harrod, was not a spiritual man, as far as we knew. We do not know if he knew the Lord before he took his own life--due to his terminal cancer. My dad's brother discovered, when he investigated the Harrod family tree, that my grandfather was Jewish--they came from England and were tailors.
Your father's family is FULL of ministers for generations. When one of his family members did a family tree search, they discovered that there have been MANY generations of pastors and ministers in their family. The Yandells consider themselves to be Baptist--your daddy grew up Free Will Baptist. And although your daddy has discovered that there are several Assemblies of God ministers in his family, the family ministers have been predominantly Baptist and Free Will Baptist.
Needless to say, sweetheart, you are covered by GENERATIONS OF PRAYERS and PROMISES. See, Christians tend to pray over their families, and for their families "afar off," and the Bible tells us that God hears our prayers and that those prayers can last long after we breathe our last breaths.
This night, I pray over you, dear Psalm. I pray that you know the Lord for yourself, ask Him into your heart at an early age, and commit your path to Him for Him to direct as soon as possible. I pray over you right now, dear one, for your future, for your husband, for the family you will have together. I pray that you will make wise choices and ask the Lord what to do and what to be before you journey off on your own. I pray that you do not do anything until you KNOW that God has ordained it. I pray over your children, and their children, and I pray that you never stop praying, that you never stop chasing after OUR GREAT GOD who loves us and protects us and spares us from ourselves and others. He has a GREAT PLAN FOR YOU, darling. And no matter what happens to me, I have entrusted you to Him. And I KNOW He will never leave you or forsake you. I love you, Mommy.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Wash Your Hands, Darling
There are so many germs out in the world, darling Psalm. Some are not-so-dangerous. Others are. But all of them have a way of changing you--some more gradually than others--from "clean" to "dirty."
People pick up germs in any number of ways, and almost always by accident. Nobody wakes up saying, "I'm going to do my best to pick up as many germs as I can today!" Because everybody knows that germs have the potential to be very damaging and force us to do any number of things to get cleaned up again.
Germs naturally spread, and fast. They spread by simply talking to other people (carried through the air) or by touching something someone else touched (spread by mutual touch of space). And there is no respecter of person when it comes to germs and germ spreading. Nice people spread germs. Bad people spread germs. One person in a family of five--like the size of your family--can pick up a damaging germ and spread it to his/her family in no time. The truth is that people are carrying and spreading germs all day long, every day. You are, too, darling.
Human beings are germ carriers and germ spreaders. That's why we must be very, very careful and never forget to always, always, always wash our hands.
There are going to be people in the world who believe there is nothing wrong with carrying around germs, nothing wrong with not washing their hands. They may even go to the bathroom and walk out without washing their hands afterward. Everything they touch is affected by their refusal to stay clean.
Some people wash their hands when they think of it. But if they're too busy or wrapped up in something else (muti-tasking, for instance), they may overlook it or forget. Even without meaning to, they are spreading potentially damaging and dangerous germs.
There are people, however, like myself, who are very very concerned about germs. They are careful to think about what they do, in the bathroom, in public areas where they know people are constantly going to and fro, coughing or otherwise, on most of the public surfaces. And so I take precautions.
There is a place very few go, where they go too far, and they let fear overtake them about the germs. They may wear a face-mask so they do not have to breathe the air, or gloves so they do not have to, themselves, touch publicly touched surfaces. They may avoid using public facilities because they are fearful of catching diseases. Some even may stay home instead of going out because they cannot control the germs they will see. (Please understand that you CAN catch diseases. But these people let their fears overtake them.)
Germs are out there. Everywhere. In your home or on the street. Wherever you go. And never forget that YOU carry germs, too.
To stay clean, we must wash daily. We must regularly wash our hands with soap and water. We should, once in a while, do an assessment, "When was the last time I washed my hands?" And then wash up immediately, once we think we may not have washed our hands in a while.
When we do not do these things, we become a germ carrier and spreader. We can make ourselves sick and we can make others sick. Some germs may only cause temporary illness, but others may be lasting--or even permanent. Sometimes, people have to pay a LOT of money to treat the illnesses that germs have caused.
And in all of this practical discussion, dear Psalm, there is a spiritual lesson for us. This morning, as I woke up, I knew I had to sit and write this for you. Because as you grow up and learn about the Holy God Almighty that we serve--Master and Maker of heaven and earth, Creator of the universe, the LORD--and live your life before Him, you need to know that we are incapable of purity on our own. We naturally pick up germs. Yet do not let that be an excuse to wear them around. Wash your hands regularly. If you detect a stain, wash it off of you as quickly as you can. I don't care how many times you have to wash up in a day: WASH UP. I don't care what anybody says to you, tries to make you believe about it being "okay" to wear your personal filth around. It's not okay. He says it's not. So wash up.
One verse that came to mind this morning comes from Psalm 24, and it's about why we need to keep our spiritual hands clean:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? / He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Psalm 24:3-4
Another verse that comes to mind is one found in the book of 1 John, and it tells us what we need to do when we realize our spiritual hands have gotten dirty:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
And while we must be ever mindful of our spiritual germs, we do not have to go overboard and become FEARFUL or paranoid about our germs, as some people do. I want to leave you with one more verse, just in case you need it:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
I love you, darling Psalm. With all of my heart.
People pick up germs in any number of ways, and almost always by accident. Nobody wakes up saying, "I'm going to do my best to pick up as many germs as I can today!" Because everybody knows that germs have the potential to be very damaging and force us to do any number of things to get cleaned up again.
Germs naturally spread, and fast. They spread by simply talking to other people (carried through the air) or by touching something someone else touched (spread by mutual touch of space). And there is no respecter of person when it comes to germs and germ spreading. Nice people spread germs. Bad people spread germs. One person in a family of five--like the size of your family--can pick up a damaging germ and spread it to his/her family in no time. The truth is that people are carrying and spreading germs all day long, every day. You are, too, darling.
Human beings are germ carriers and germ spreaders. That's why we must be very, very careful and never forget to always, always, always wash our hands.
There are going to be people in the world who believe there is nothing wrong with carrying around germs, nothing wrong with not washing their hands. They may even go to the bathroom and walk out without washing their hands afterward. Everything they touch is affected by their refusal to stay clean.
Some people wash their hands when they think of it. But if they're too busy or wrapped up in something else (muti-tasking, for instance), they may overlook it or forget. Even without meaning to, they are spreading potentially damaging and dangerous germs.
There are people, however, like myself, who are very very concerned about germs. They are careful to think about what they do, in the bathroom, in public areas where they know people are constantly going to and fro, coughing or otherwise, on most of the public surfaces. And so I take precautions.
There is a place very few go, where they go too far, and they let fear overtake them about the germs. They may wear a face-mask so they do not have to breathe the air, or gloves so they do not have to, themselves, touch publicly touched surfaces. They may avoid using public facilities because they are fearful of catching diseases. Some even may stay home instead of going out because they cannot control the germs they will see. (Please understand that you CAN catch diseases. But these people let their fears overtake them.)
Germs are out there. Everywhere. In your home or on the street. Wherever you go. And never forget that YOU carry germs, too.
To stay clean, we must wash daily. We must regularly wash our hands with soap and water. We should, once in a while, do an assessment, "When was the last time I washed my hands?" And then wash up immediately, once we think we may not have washed our hands in a while.
When we do not do these things, we become a germ carrier and spreader. We can make ourselves sick and we can make others sick. Some germs may only cause temporary illness, but others may be lasting--or even permanent. Sometimes, people have to pay a LOT of money to treat the illnesses that germs have caused.
And in all of this practical discussion, dear Psalm, there is a spiritual lesson for us. This morning, as I woke up, I knew I had to sit and write this for you. Because as you grow up and learn about the Holy God Almighty that we serve--Master and Maker of heaven and earth, Creator of the universe, the LORD--and live your life before Him, you need to know that we are incapable of purity on our own. We naturally pick up germs. Yet do not let that be an excuse to wear them around. Wash your hands regularly. If you detect a stain, wash it off of you as quickly as you can. I don't care how many times you have to wash up in a day: WASH UP. I don't care what anybody says to you, tries to make you believe about it being "okay" to wear your personal filth around. It's not okay. He says it's not. So wash up.
One verse that came to mind this morning comes from Psalm 24, and it's about why we need to keep our spiritual hands clean:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? / He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Psalm 24:3-4
Another verse that comes to mind is one found in the book of 1 John, and it tells us what we need to do when we realize our spiritual hands have gotten dirty:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
And while we must be ever mindful of our spiritual germs, we do not have to go overboard and become FEARFUL or paranoid about our germs, as some people do. I want to leave you with one more verse, just in case you need it:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
I love you, darling Psalm. With all of my heart.
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