A Beautiful Lady

Marlene Ann Haugland Mohr

Beautiful lady. Awesome wife. Loving mom. Wonderful school teacher. Good neighbor. Great friend. Lover of good jokes. Good cook. Fantastic baker. Avid reader of thick books. Pretty good seamstress. Better than average knitter. Fair tennis player. Good bike ride giver (I remember sitting in the basket behind her seat many times). Uncomplaining cancer sufferer. Overcomer.

Today would have been her 75th birthday. She's been gone for almost 30 years. The ache of missing her is keen. I think about what an amazing grandmother she would have been. I think about the many times I would have benefited from her advice. And the gaping chasm she left in our family when breast cancer claimed her life. There is still a lot of sorrow. It is a hard day. I miss her so very, very much.

Her hand-sewn orange jacket hangs in my basement closet. Her doll is in a zippered plastic bag on the shelf above that. Her Red Wing pottery is in my cupboard. Her china cream and sugar sets are on the kitchen window shelves. A handwritten note she left me once is in my keepsake box, along with the last birthday card she gave me. Pictures of her growing-up years are in the spare bedroom. These are things I cannot part with. Her remains lie in a small cemetery outside of Brooten, Minnesota. I trust her spirit rests with the Lord Jesus in heaven, where I will meet her again some day. It will be a grand reunion, I have no doubt.

Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul; though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then you will better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe your sorrows and your fears.
Be still, my soul; your Jesus can repay
From his own fullness all he takes away.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Catharina von Schlegel

The Servant's Path in the Day of Rejection

(1) Servant of Christ, stand fast amid the scorn

Of men who little know or love thy Lord;

Turn not aside from toil; cease not to warn,

Comfort and teach. Trust Him for thy reward;

A few more moments’ suffering, and then

Cometh sweet rest from all thy heart’s deep pain.

(2) For grace pray much, for much thou needest grace,

If men thy work deride, what can they more do.

Christ’s weary foot thy path on earth doth trace

If thorn’s wound thee, they pierced Him before;

Press on, look up, though clouds may gather round,

The place of service He makes hallowed ground.

(3) Have friends forsaken thee, and cast thy name

Out as a worthless thing? Take courage then:

Go tell thy Master, for they did the same

To Him who once in patience toil’d for them

Yet He was perfect in all service here;

Thou oft hast failed: His maketh Him more dear.

(4) Self-vindication shun: If in the right,

What gainest thou by taking from God’s hand

Thy cause? If wrong, what dost thou but invite

Satan Himself thy friend in need to stand?

Leave all with God; if right He’ll prove thee so

If not He’ll pardon, therefore to Him go.

(5) Be not men’s servant: think what costly price

Was paid that thou mayest His own bondsman be,

Whose service perfect freedom is. Let this

Hold fast thy heart. His claim is great to Thee

None should thy soul enthrall, to whom tis given

To serve on Earth with liberty of Heaven.

(6) All His are thine to serve; Christ’s brethren here

Are needing aid; in them thou servest Him.

The least of all is still His member dear,

The weakest cost His Life-blood to redeem.

Yield to no “Party” what He rightly claims,

Who on His heart bears all His people’s names.

(7) Be wise, be watchful: wily men surround

Thy path. Be careful, for they seek with care

To trip thee up: see that no plea be found

In thee. Thy Master to reproach. The snare

They set for thee will then themselves enclose,

And God His righteous judgment thus disclose.

(8) Cleave to the poor, Christ’s image in them is,

Count it great honor if they love thee well.

Nought can repay thee after losing this.

Though with the wise and wealthy thou shoulds’t dwell,

Thy Master oftentimes would pass thy door,

To hold communion with His much loved poor.

(9) The time is short; seek little here below,

Earth’s goods would cumber thee and drag thee down;

Let daily food suffice, care not to know

Thought for tomorrow, it may never come.

Thou can’st not perish for thy Lord is nigh,

And His own care will all thy need supply.

J.J. Penstone

Sometime we'll understand...

A classmate of C's was killed in an accident a week ago.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/altona-students-in-anguish-after-death-of-gifted-teen-118638224.html

1. Not now, but in the coming years,
   It may be when with Christ we stand,
   We'll read the meaning of our tears,
   And there, sometime, we'll understand.
• Then trust in God through all thy days;
  Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;
  Though dark thy way, still sing and praise,
   Sometime, sometime, we'll understand.
2. We'll catch the broken thread again,
   And finish what we here began;
   God will the mysteries explain,
   And then, ah, then, we'll understand.
3. We'll know why clouds instead of sun
   Were over many a cherished plan;
   Why song has ceased when scarce begun;
   'Tis then, sometime, we'll understand.
4. Why what we long for most of all,
   Eludes so oft our eager hand;
   Why hopes are crushed and castles fall,
   Till then, sometime, we'll understand.
5. God knows the way, He holds the key,
   He guides us with unerring hand;
   Sometime with tearless eyes we'll see;
   Yes, then, 'tis then, we'll understand.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/715#ixzz1I6fwNHDW

Curling Bonspiel

Last Friday, K took part in a bonspiel hosted by her school. There were students from 6 schools involved, and 31 rinks.

Over $600 was raised - some of that will go towards cancer research, and the rest is designated for a fund to improve the school gym.

 K's rink won their first two games, but were eliminated in the third. She had a lot of fun!

 

That Small Bird

One day a sparrow, winged in flight

Looked through our home and saw the light

Across the rooms, though not aware -

Between:  a barrier, hard and clear.

It struck the glass, and then it fell

Onto the grass below, so still.

It rested there, in sleep or death.

And I was told it was for me.

“The Lord is using that small bird

To let you know that you are heard.

He cares about your path, you know,

He cares when you are feeling low

And crushed beneath a weight of dread.

He cares so much! You know it’s said

Within His Word - you’re valued more

Than that small bird, or many more.

“So that’s a sign to let you know,

Again, that you are in His care.

You need not fear, you need not dread

What may or may not come to be.

That’s unbelief, do not you see?

But only trust the One Who bore

The crown of thorns upon His Head;

The One Who suffered in your stead,

That you could fly to realms above

In faith, e’en now, but soon BE there.

“You’re safe in Him Who does not sleep

Nor slumbers, but doth ever keep

The ones who love Him, in His grip

‘til our last breath doth pass our lips,

Or, better still:  He takes us up!

“We have His spirit and His word.

We have assurance that we’re heard.

We have His tender care, until

We’ve drawn our last, and we are still.

And then, e’en then, we have much more.

We’ve life with Him forevermore.”

So why do thoughts arise within?

Why do I fret? I know it’s sin.

He calls across the waves, “Fear not!

It’s I, be not afraid, nor caught

Within those thoughts that capture you

And drag you down and cause such harm.

It’s not My will that you should be

Enslaved by such anxiety,

alarm, and worry, little bird.

 You are My own, and you’ve been heard.

“I am above all these details,

I calm the seas, I close the mouths,

I have these things in my control,

And that will ever be my role.

My angels, they do yet My will.

In time ahead, it will be still.

You’re safe! You’re clothed! There is a path

Marked out for you, and much green grass

To nourish you until I come

And take you home, with all my own.

“So look above, and look beyond

This scene around, there’s more to come

much more you should be looking for.”

Later that day, I walked outside.

I had forgotten that small bird.

Though well I know that He had not!

It was still there, the little thing.

Perhaps, later, it did take wing.

It gave me hope, and still it does.

It makes me mindful of His love.

It does remind me of His care,

The One for me, Who did not spare

His son, but gave, and gave and gave some more.

He promises to keep my mind

In perfect peace.    So if I find

It wandering away, distressed,

I will just pray, and read His word,

And ask Him to return my thoughts to His sweet rest,

That He delights to give His own.

To focus on much better things:

To look on Him, and then, e’en sing!

There is so much, in Him, to cheer the heart.

To lift us up, above the earth,

To see the view of one who soars,

And is not bound by things below.

Great Grandmother's Quilt

I've always wanted to start making quilts someday. Around the time I was married, my Grandma Eunice Mohr gave me a quilt that her mother had made. What a gift! My great-grandmother's name was Helena (Petersen) Wiese.

Arlo, Lucille, Helena, William, and Eunice Wiese

 I don't know much about her, except that she ran a little cafe in Milford, Iowa. She and my great-grandfather had divorced sometime after the photo, I guess - pretty unusual in those days. Upon checking my mom's geneology research this morning, I discovered that she was born June 29, 1884 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and died 70 years ago today, in 1940 . So it's perhaps fitting that I post about her quilt today.

When Grandma first gave me the quilt, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is so bright and cheery! Somehow I was expecting dull browns and plain squares. But no! Appliquéd tulips in bright pinks, purples, and oranges!

 Interestingly they are appliquéd onto squares set diagonally (on the point), which you can't tell unless close up because the background is all one color.

   It has colorful stripes of what I think is bias tape or something, right near the yellow binding.

It's machine quilted.

The back of the quilt is of a somewhat brighter yellow than the front.

 I love it. I wonder if she made lots of quilts, or just one. I wonder who she had machine quilt it. I wonder who she made it for, and what she thought about while she stitched on those tulips. Questions that will have to remain unanswered...

I've been thinking about this quilt since I posted about it the other day. Something is not making sense about it and I'm wondering if Grandma told me all the facts. Did ladies get their quilts machine quilted before 1940? It seems to me that back then a woman would probably hand quilt it herself. Now I'm wondering if perhaps Great Grandma Helena only made the top and Grandma (who was not a quilter, as far as I know) had someone machine quilt it later. Perhaps someone who knows more about quilts can tell me when machine quilting became common. In the meantime, I'll ask my Aunt - maybe she knows...