Dear Hannah Pt. 4

Well, here I sit at home, far away from my first born son.  In my mind’s eye, I imagine you sitting in your home somewhere in the hill country of Ephraim.  It seems to me that a mother’s heart is timeless and not bound by culture or language.  Did you have some of the same feelings I now have? I wonder...  Did you feel that nagging sense of dread mixed with that cautious excitement because you knew what you were doing was right?  Were you brave when you thought you’d be weak, and then did you burst into tears when you least expected it?  That’s what I did all last week when we took our son to his school and got him all set up.

One thing I forgot:  we’d be there on a Sunday.  I brought no clothes at all for the rest of us to attend church.  My eldest, of course, had all his clothes.  His whole life was packed into two bags and a guitar case.  But the rest of us brought only casual clothes.  Thankfully, the international church was a mix of casual and dressy.  As I read over 1 Samuel 1 again, I see that you were prepared.  You brought a rather large sacrifice to Shiloh, along with your son.  And while you were there, getting your son all set up and leaving him there, you worshiped the Lord.

Well, I can tell you that I did not feel like worshiping the Lord that Sunday.  My heart was not in it, though I stood to sing the songs.  And as I did, I worshiped the Lord out of the “bare bones” of my faith.  No warm fuzzy feelings, no big happy smiling, just a faith that what we are doing is right, and a trust that the Lord would take care of my son.  I was praising God because I knew the words were true and I believed them with all my heart, though that same heart was hurting.  It was not worshiping because it felt good, it was worshiping because it is true; and that made it beautiful.  We sang “Sing to the King,” and as I sang, “we belong to Jesus” I realized that we (both my son and I) belong to Jesus.  My son does not belong to me, he belongs to Jesus, as do I.  And the next words were:  “He is all we need.”  Jesus is all my son needs.  Jesus is all I need.

Hannah, you sang a song when you were worshiping.  Somehow, I always assumed that song was sung when Samuel was born.  But you actually sang it when you took Samuel to leave him at the temple.  I have to admit, it doesn’t seem very catchy.  I don’t really get your train of thought either, all that stuff about death and life, rich and poor, starvation and broken bows and thunder and enemies.  Our songs of worship may not have crossed the lines of time, but if our mother hearts do, then I imagine you sang that song out of your bare bones of faith too.  And that’s what makes it beautiful.

We worship God in the easy times.  We worship God in the hard times.

Come let us sing a song, a song declaring we belong to Jesus.  He is all we need!

Our son's school is on the coast.  A beautiful reminder of the greatness of our King!

100th Post

This is my 100th post!  Yea!  I started this blog on November 17, 2010.  I wasn't sure about all this "blog stuff," but I finally gave in and decided to try it out.  It's taken me this long to write 100 posts!

I think I'd say my favorite posts are:
CABIN FEVER
A Clammy Story
Hot Under the Collar
and
My Bucket List

According to the number of visits, I'd say your favorites were:
My Bucket List
The Plight of the Spaghetti Sauce
Dear Hannah
and
And Now for the Inside

I've enjoyed learning about blogging and one of my favorite things to do is see what countries the blog reaches.  So far I've had 7,369 hits from about 38 countries.  My biggest month was March 2012 with 1,042 hits.

So, after a year and a half, I'd say, I enjoy all this "blog stuff."  I think I'll keep doing it...

Thanks for being one of my blog readers!

Dear Hannah Pt. 3

Dear Hannah,

Well, here it is, the day before we head off to take our son to school.  This morning I am struck by a couple of things that you did when you were in my position.  First of all, you stayed home and, as far as I can tell, did your very best to raise Samuel at home to the best of your ability, until you felt he was mature enough to move away.  And when that time came, you didn't change your mind or postpone or back away...you kept your promise (1 Sam. 1:23).  So here it is, the time has come for our family.  I want to move forward and not back away, even if it's hard.

The second thing that struck me is when you said you would, "leave him there with the Lord permanently" (verse 22, NLT).  This was a permanent change for your family.  While you would always be Samuel's mother, and I imagine a big part of his life, the change was big and it was permanent.  I live in a different world than you, Hannah.  I have internet and cell phones and airplanes working in my favor.  But the fact remains that this transition for our family is permanent, things are changing and we'll never go back to the way it was before.  That's a tough pill to swallow (not that you know what pills are).  But here's the other amazing thing about what you said, "leave him there with the Lord."  Our sons are with the Lord permanently.  Hannah, your son was going to live at the temple and be in the Lord's presence permanently.  I know that had to be a comfort for you.  On this side of the Cross of Christ, we have the Holy Spirit who resides in believers permanently.  I am so thankful that my son has the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, that will guide him and be with him PERMANENTLY.  

God says in Isaiah 41:13, "For I hold you by your right hand- I- the Lord your God.  And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid.  I am here to help you."  Of all the things my son is packing to take to school, I am most thankful for the Holy Spirit!

I don't suppose Hannah marked Samuel's clothes, but I had to write my son's name on all of his stuff!

Seriously?  On socks?  He better not lose any of these after all that writing! My suggestion to you?
Name your child using letters that are straight lines and not curvy ones.  You'll thank me later. 

Ahhh, this is better.  Iron-on labels!

I don't suppose Hannah had an electric iron, do you?