Letter From an Older Sister

My daughter came home with a bag full of “music books” donated by a friend. This bag came from a friend of a friend, and who knows how many hands since. Tucked in between musty music books, a pile of papers splayed out when the bag was emptied upon the table, and my eyes instantly drew to the handwritten notes. Typewritten text doesn’t celebrate a personality in quite the same way, does it?

I learned that these notes were from a 90 year old woman who had recently passed away. As I read a few here and there, I realized what a treasure lay before me.

Life happens! Does it? Life is not fair! Compare our lives and their outcomes to that of Christ…

In between the hymn notes and the musical compositions lay words of affirmation and hope in Jesus Christ, and handwritten hymns such as…

Step by step, and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

What a sweet delight! What a welcome reminder to answer our worries and our fears not with the shifting sands of how we feel or how we may think, but rather with who God is and what He says in His Word.

How many days in a year? How many promises in God’s word for us. How many of us have always made the right decisions? Some things are not worth anything unless they bless the hearers. I share my testimony with the desire that it will encourage you to know ‘you can make it’–no matter what you’re called to go through…

Many of us thirst for someone to assure us, “you can make it”, isn’t that so? Here rested pages of advice, and I wondered to whom she had written. I wondered if those hearers became repenters. I wondered if any would, today.

We grow up as children with very pleasant memories of home and parents–of childhood joys and securities. Fanny Crosby has written:

Tis whispered in the ear of God,
Tis murmured through our tears,
Tis linked with happy childhood days,
And blessed in riper years.

That hallowed word is ne’er forgot,
No matter where we roam,
The purest feelings of the heart,
Still cluster round our home.

Dear resting place, where weary thought
May dream away its care
Love’s gentle star unveils her light
And shines in beauty there.

She continues with her praise of God and of His lovingkindness in the family and in the home. Don’t we all long to hear more of the blessings of hearth and home?

Who could write more fitting words to express what home and loved ones mean…a girl who had so much adjusting to do–and so much to experience of security and love (in her sightless condition). We become adults, and plan homes of our own. We are blest, indeed, if we find a companion to cherish and to love. Our days are not just routine and drab; they are adventurous, with each day finding its rewards and its joys–as we plan our dreams together.

Yes! Not routine and drab, but adventurous!

One has written:

Home’s not merely four square walls
Though with pictures hung and gilded
Home is where affection calls,
Filled with shrines the heart hath builded!

Home! go watch the faithful dove,
Sailing ‘neath the heaven above us,
Home is where there’s one to love!
Home is where there’s one to love us!

Home’s not merely roof and room,
It needs something to endear it;
Home is where the heart can bloom,
Where there’s some kind lips to cheer it.

What is not home with none to meet,
None to welcome, none to greet us?
Home is sweet–and only sweet–
Where there’s one we love to meet us!

Is this not true? The most beautiful house cannot be called HOME without love within its walls. But from where does this love come? Unfortunately for us, we love ourselves far too much, and as a result are not humble enough to do the loving things, the one-another-ing things, the foot-washing things, the forgiving and serving. Instead we wait or expect or demand others to respect us, love us, serve us–the very opposite nature of Christ and from whom love is defined.

Two people meet, and are attracted to each other. They come from different backgrounds. Two personalities are brought into focus–each endeavoring to express itself in everyday living. It is then that we realize that we must remember to forbear, to be courteous, to seek not our own pleasure–but to consider the one we love. Hurts are felt–but easily mended–when there’s LOVE…

In Drive By Marriage, Todd Friel talks about this very concept. He rightly says that when we strive against our spouse, we ought to remember who the biggest sinner in the house is (hint: it’s not your spouse). We also ought to remember that if Christ died for our spouse, taking on his or her sins, then we have no right to withhold forgiveness should repentance come. Forgiveness ought to be readily and willingly available, because Christ died for sinners, of which we were (and are) chief in our household. A lack of love and forgiveness breeds biting and bickering, and ultimately a devouring of one another. A lack of love leads to death.

When children come to bless our homes–it is then we must be especially careful not to push each other aside–but even with this added interest–to keep the glow of love very much aflame–to keep the same consideration of each other very active–as love deepens through the years. Love is precious–but God’s love enhances all other loves. It gives to tolerance and understanding in times of stress. The song ‘I love you truly’ is one that expresses one’s feelings long after the initial vows are made. The experiences of life–and the expressions of love–tend to merge two people into one as days are exchanged for years…

Perhaps it is a difficult notion to consider the home as God’s delight, with a loving husband and a respectful wife, with children around the meal table and an atmosphere of acceptance and forgiveness. Perhaps it seems impossible, or too late. Regardless of the situation, God’s Word has not changed and never shall; and God is a bulwark never failing. He binds up the brokenhearted and heals wounds and dry bones; your heart is never without hope in Him.

We have thousands of years of faithful witnesses like this departed sister proclaiming these truths. May we hear these witnesses, and live our lives in such a way that we become them for future generations to come.