Thursday, September 21, 2006

Random Ramblings

It is a gray, drizzly fall day in Colorado. I love fall in Colorado. It's not as colorful as Minnesota or the Ozarks, but the weather is wonderful. It is usually very sunny, but we're not complaining because we had about 10 drops of rain all summer. The main color of fall here is a bright yellow. The aspens are nested among the evergreens in the hills and when the sun catches the patches of yellow, it is a wonderful sight. We do have a few red bushes and trees, but not too many. Midwestern transplants are not impressed with the coloring.

We've had a very busy few days. Saturday was a great celebration of our beloved DIL's graduation with her second bachelor's degree. The family, about 18 of us, got together for lunch and all of her favorite foods, at least American foods. She's from Kenya and misses the foods of her childhood. But we did manage to get a beautiful Black Forest cake which was just as she remembered. That evening we cheered her on as she graduated. The ceremony was so touching, with stories of hard fought victories to achieve this goal. God was glorified in several of the stories. It was awesome.

Monday evening we went to Denver to attend the first-ever banquet held for the Teen Challenge program down there. We attended the banquet last year at this time in Massachusetts, visiting our son there for the first time in 9 months. It is a wonderful memory. We owe so much to Teen Challenge. Our delivered prodigal son and his faithful wife went with us to Denver and it was wonderful to watch him see TC from this side. We heard great speakers who had graduated from TC years ago and have gone on to excel in their fields. We also heard wonderful testimonies from current and recent students. I love their mission statement:

To provide youth, adults, and families with an effective and comprehensive Christian faith-based solution to life-controlling drug and alcohol problems in
order to become productive members of society.

By applying biblical principles, Teen Challenge endeavors to help
people become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well, and spiritually alive.

All of this was accomplished in our son's life and we are so grateful to God for his mighty grace.

I told you this was going to be random.

I'm re-reading books that I read years ago. They were written in the 80s and 90s by Boede Thoene. They chronicle Hitler's march across Europe as the Jewish people were forced to leave. They make me angry, but I can't seem to put them down. The first book in chronological order is Vienna Prelude. There is a conversation between a mother and her son in the one I am currently reading, Jerusalem Interlude, that really struck me:

"I do not doubt God's future justice . . . I only wish it would come now. Today."

"We mortals have a small and troubled view of time, Samuel. . . If the wicked could have one glimpse of their eternal future, perhaps they would repent. . . And if the righteous could have one glimpse of their eternity with God, they would no longer fear what evil men might do to them in this life. No. I think we might pity the wicked man for the price he will pay for his sin."

But we're like the son, I fear. We want to DO something. We (at least I) often have a hard time waiting for God's timing.

Finally, in this smorgasbord of thoughts this morning, I am again going to quote a song from choir practice last night. I wish you could have the music, too. It is "A Heart of Praise," by Kenn Mann.

One priceless gift,
Your life you gave,
There's no way on earth I ever could repay.
You've always been my closest friend,
Lord there are no words that I can say.
So I'll offer up to You all I have,
A heart of praise.

Lord, I'm forever grateful
For the ways You've blessed my life,
You've proven You are faithful.
In laughter or in sorrow,
Every tear You've wiped away.
Lord I'll worship You forever,
And give to you a heart of praise.

Lord, with my voice I'll always sing.
Let my song become to You my offering.
A sacrifice, Lord, I give my life
To the One who gave His precious life away.
So I'll offer up to You all I have.
A heart of praise.

When all is said and done,
and my life on earth is through,
Let me please be remembered as Your servant
Who gave to You,
A heart of praise.

Lord, I'm forever grateful
For the ways You've blessed my life,
You've proven You are faithful.
In laughter or in sorrow,
Every tears You've wiped away.
Lord, I'll worship you forever,
And give to you a heart of praise.

Have a wonderful day with a heart full of praise!

13 comments:

someone else said...

Those are good words in that song.

We don't have any colorful trees here yet.

Pamela said...

Congratulations to your beloved DIL. Wow! Already graduating with #2. woohoo!
Teen Challenge sounds like it was a God send for your family. I love any organization that is based on biblical principles. Thank God, that they were able to help you and your family, and a big "woohoo!" for your son ~ way to rise above it! I said a little prayer that the future will be brighter for you all! :)
Love the song.

Sherry said...

Luke and I were thinking yesterday we would love to take a drive up to Estes right now and see the trees. Maybe another time. Congrats to A!

Carole Burant said...

Congratulations to your DIL...what an achievement and I'm glad to hear the celebrations went well:-) I had never heard of Teen Challenge so thank you for bringing that up...it always interests me to find out new things:-) I loved reading the words to that song, very meaningful. Hugs!

Linda said...

Dawn, I am so happy for you and your family. What wonderful celebrations. God really is so good, and so faithful.
I'm reading a Bodie Thoene series right now too - the Zion series. I've had it in my closet for years and decided I'd better start making a dent in that huge pile before I buy any more new books!!!

Barb said...

I couldn't get blogger to let me comment here yesterday. Errggh.

So before I forget, if I haven't told you yet, your site is so pretty now.

The fall colors are gorgeous in the mountains here in Colorado of course. But as I'm sure you know, the color only last about two weeks and boom, all the quakies are bare. Of course the mountains look like a Christmas card once the snow starts falling. We live in a beautiful state, don't we?

And congratulations to your DIL.

Diane Viere said...

Who wouldn't be praising after reading your post today! Please tell your beloved DIL, "Congratulations!"

Rejoicing with you, still, for your son's victory!

And, yes, the lyrics of the song are beautiful. If we could just figure out how to upload music onto blogger...we could post music clips of the actual song! Argh! I've been searching the web all afternoon trying to learn how to upload music! It's frustrating...I see it (hear it) on other's blogs--I want it on mine! O.K. enough of the whining!

I'll just have to practice some of that patience you wrote about. Although--I'm a little like a toddler when it comes to waiting! Just can't! Maybe that's why God allows so many "waits" in my life--he's working it out in me.

:) Diane

rena said...

Love the words to that song/poem. Congratulations to the graduate.
Teen Challenge are an awesome group. Have been supporting them for several years now.

Have a great weekend

Tammy said...

I love your random thoughts...congratulations to your DIL!
(And your site does look beautiful!)

Unknown said...

Love the words of the song! Congrats to your DIL, that is wonderful! Teen Challenge is very special, what a neat thing! Colorado must be beautiful in the fall, we don't get much color here, the weather changes to quickly. Thanks for stopping by and for your concern, we are much better now. The Lord is good and He has sent us many blessings!

Looney Mom™ said...

I don't know if I've heard of that Teen Challenge before but those are powerful words! I love it.

I want to thank you so much for your prayers, thoughts, and kind words of encouragement. I'm gonna try to work my blogging into my daily schedule so I can still "make the rounds" - even if it's every other day! I'll still be around somewhere, sometime. You can get rid of me that easily!

kpjara said...

How wonderful your son got to experience Teen Challenge from the 'other side'! And also wonderful for your DIL!

I bet her stories of her birth culture are so interesting. I love hearing people talk about their culture and surroundings.

and OH how I remember the Aspens of Colorado and the wonderful cool of the sunset. My favorite thing about Colorado is the color of the sky which I have never seen repeated ANYWHERE on earth! It just can't be captured by anything less than your own eyes.

Beautiful lyrics and complete random post.

Unknown said...

Yay for your DIL!!
I'm so happy your son is doing so well thanks to Teen Challenge, which sounds like a wonderful program :-)