“Healer of my Heart!”

God of Light, take away the dark of night!

Fill me with your pure delight;

Touch me with your hand.

God of grace, flow into this holy place,

Listen as your children pray: “Take me as I am!”

 

Healer of my heart, Lover of my soul!

Maker of the stars, the earth, the sky,

Come and make me whole!

Savior of the world, my voice is praising you alone.

Healer of my heart, Lover of my Soul!

 

Emmanuel, lead me to deepest well,

Where never-ending love prevails,

Drinking from your cup!

Prince of Peace, forever live inside of me!

Keeper of eternity, O Lord, revive me with your touch!

 

Healer of my heart, Lover of my soul!

Maker of the stars, the earth, the sky,

Come and make me whole!

Savior of the world, my voice is praising you alone.

Healer of my heart, Lover of my Soul!

[Sung by Kevin Inafuku]

A Favorite Quote!

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer

  who would devour all;

  but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,

  nor the arrow for its swiftness,

  nor the warrior for his glory.

  I love only that which they defend...”

 

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, The Window of the West

Thoughts...

Endeavoring to keep up with overseeing schooling in two languages plus teaching a college-level course (involving remedial aspects and last-minute online adaptations) combined with limited internet access have all contributed to my having limited access to social media over the past four months. So, when posting my current profile picture almost a month ago, I had no idea that wearing face masks (or not) might actually imply some sort of political statement (although I had, of course, heard comments here and there about health-related pros and cons of wearing them).

“Who is that Masked (Little) Man?!”

In response to a friendly poll on how often I wore a mask, I replied that I do so “(Almost) always!” when in public and in the spirit of Romans, chapter 13, clarifying that masks are required here on public transportation, in supermarkets, and in some school settings, for instance. Conceding, for the sake of the argument, the potential lack of efficiency of masks, I observed that if my wearing a mask makes others feel better (even if that’s all it does), why wouldn’t I wear one when out and about, especially when doing so in my case (living in a relational culture) would be (as all my life really should be) a matter of Christian living?

Without hesitation, my 14-year-old, reading over my shoulder, commented: “To the masked I became as masked, if by any means I might win some...”

Yes! That’s exactly the (1 Corinthians, chapter 9) attitude I intend to communicate (even if breathing a greater concentration of my own CO2 is not in my own best interest). Deny my rights and liberties?! Yes... I personally know Somebody who gave up so much more for my ultimate good (Philippians, chapter 2), and His doing so involved death in my place on a cross...

Salmo 40:1-4

 Al SEÑOR esperé pacientemente,

  y Él se inclinó a mí

  y oyó mi clamor.

Me sacó del hoyo de la destrucción,

  del lodo cenagoso;

Asentó mis pies sobre una roca

  y afirmó mis pasos.

Puso en mi boca un cántico nuevo,

  un canto de alabanza a nuestro Dios;

Muchos verán esto, y temerán,

  y confiarán en el SEÑOR.

Cuán bienaventurado es el hombre

  que ha puesto en el SEÑOR

  su confianza...

(Salmo 40:1-4)

For the New Year | Para el Año Nuevo

Thoughts for the New Year, thoughts that echo my thoughts as I reflect on the past year, a year so intense that I’m still trying to process all that happened...

“Could we procure a telescope which would enable us to see to the end of the year, should we be wise to use it? I think not. What a mercy that these things are hidden from us! For if we knew our best blessings in advance, they would lose their freshness and sweetness while we impatiently waited for them, and if we knew our trials ahead of time, we would fret and miss the joy of our present blessings. Great mercy has hung up a veil between us and the future; and there let it hang.”

~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Pensamientos para el Año Nuevo, pensamientos que hacen eco de mis pensamientos al reflexionar sobre el año pasado, un año tan intenso que todavía estoy tratando de procesar todo lo que sucedió...

“[Si] pudiéramos adquirir un telescopio que nos permitiera ver hasta el fin del año, ¿seríamos sabios al usarlo? Creo que no. ¡Qué misericordia que estas cosas nos estén ocultas! Porque si supiéramos nuestras mejores bendiciones de antemano, perderían su frescura y dulzura mientras las esperábamos con impaciencia, y si supiéramos nuestras pruebas con antelación, nos preocuparíamos y perderíamos la alegría de nuestras bendiciones actuales. Gran misericordia ha colgado un velo entre nosotros y el futuro; y allí dejémoslo colgar”.

~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

School’s Out!

Often I meditate on Psalm 90 at the beginning of a new calendar year, and I echo the psalmist’s prayer. Today, at the end of what has perhaps been the most challenging academic year yet, these thoughts – penned by the psalmist centuries ago – seem especially fitting reminders...

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that all our life we will sing with joy. For days and years you have afflicted us, you have made us suffer; give us back that time in joy now! Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to our children! May the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. Establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

(Psalm 90:14-17)

Although both E and DJ finished the academic year with top grades, the life lessons learned – those “extracurriculars” that were not specified in the scope and sequence way back in March and the ones we wouldn’t necessarily have chosen for our lives’ curricula – have become themes of our ongoing praise!

And we are humbly thankful...

Teología y Economía Personal

Palabras de Dios para mí cuando la preocupación por la economía domina mis pensamientos:

La piedad, en efecto, es un medio de gran ganancia cuando va acompañada de contentamiento. Porque nada hemos traído al mundo, y es claro que nada podemos sacar de él. Y si tenemos qué comer y con qué cubrirnos, con eso estaremos contentos. Pero los que quieren enriquecerse caen en tentación y lazo y en muchos deseos necios y dañosos que hunden a los hombres en la ruina y en la destrucción. Porque la raíz de todos los males es el amor al dinero, por el cual, codiciándolo algunos, se extraviaron de la fe y se torturaron con muchos dolores. Pero tú . . . huye de estas cosas, y sigue la justicia, la piedad, la fe, el amor, la perseverancia y la amabilidad... A los ricos en este siglo, enséñales que no sean altaneros ni pongan su esperanza en la incertidumbre de las riquezas, sino en Dios, el cual nos da abundantemente todas las cosas para que las disfrutemos. Enséñales que hagan bien, que sean ricos en buenas obras, generosos y prontos a compartir, acumulando para sí el tesoro de un buen fundamento para el futuro, para que puedan echar mano de lo que en verdad es vida.

(1 Timoteo 6:6-11 y 17-19)

¿Por qué os preocupáis? Observad cómo crecen los lirios del campo; no trabajan, ni hilan; pero os digo que ni [el rey] Salomón en toda su gloria se vistió como uno de estos. Y si Dios viste así la hierba del campo, que hoy es y mañana es echada al horno, ¿no hará mucho más por vosotros, personas de poca fe? Por tanto, no os preocupéis...

(Mateo 6)

Beauty Every Day!

From the rising of the sun to its setting

The name of the Lord is to be praised.

(Psalm 113)

Yesterday morning, on the drive to school...

Yesterday evening, on the Montevideo coast...

¡Pleno Invierno!

¡Una de mis escenas favoritas cuando hace frío!

¡¿Trabajo no espiritual?!

“Si al hacer un trabajo que los que no disciernen consideran ‘trabajo no espiritual’, puedo ayudar mejor al prójimo, y me rebelo interiormente, pensando que es lo espiritual lo que deseo, cuando en verdad es lo interesante y lo emocionante, entonces no sé nada del Amor del Calvario”.

“IF” por Amy Carmichael, misionera de por vida en la India

[Photo credit: Heroes of Faith, Public Domain]

“¡Feliz Día!”

¡Feliz Día para todos los que trabajan! 😊

Y especialmente para aquellos que confiamos en Cristo como Rescatador, comparto las siguientes palabras de ánimo:

Y todo lo que hagáis, hacedlo de corazón, como para el Señor y no para los hombres, sabiendo que del Señor recibiréis la recompensa de la herencia. Es a Cristo el Señor a quien servís.

(Colosenses 3)

¡Me encanta este pasaje y su contexto! Cualquiera que sea mi trabajo (trabajar en una oficina o en una fábrica, dar clases en una escuela o en una institución cristiana, lavar platos o pisos o ropa), si lo hago de corazón, lo hago para EL, ¡le sirvo a EL!

Eight years ago...

We continue to be thankful, as Jona’s extended family, for you who take a moment to let us know that you not only pause to remember but also to pray – and to let us know that you’re remembering and praying! We appreciate you!

Today a former classmates of Jona’s posted on the family’s fb page:

8 years. It’s amazing how fast time flies.

I remember waking up 8 years ago around 4 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep and checked my phone to see the title of a blog “Jona is home.” My heart wanted to believe he had just made it home after another trip to the hospital, but that wasn’t the “home” being referenced.

If you didn’t know him, his obituary sums up his life as best I can find words to convey through social media:

“On his fifteenth birthday he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma cancer, which God used to demonstrate to thousands of others around the world how much Jona enjoyed the eternal life that the Lord had given him through the gospel of grace. He was a man of prayer and a warrior of the faith.”

I still remember sitting in chapel listening to his testimony through this video. A high schooler, but a young man that will never be forgotten. The memories come back every year, happy and sad, along with the joy of knowing we will see him again one day.

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

(2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

[Thank you, Joseph, for sharing these thoughts...]

Celebrating Life!

This little man, with his extra joyful personality, made a significant difference on a very difficult day, our first to leave Jacksonville to begin our route back to Uruguay, leaving the now-empty armchair in that living room...

God’s grace to our extended family was clearly on display that morning, exactly one month ago today! This precious boy’s contagious smile and joyful clapping helped to heal and fill the void I was so keenly feeling that morning...

So today we especially celebrate the gift he is to our extended family. We love you, S! 💙

#WorldDownSyndromeDay  #CrazySocks  #DownRightAwesome

¡Primavera!

¡Árbol de Paraíso!

Beauty every day!

SO thankful for the variety of plants in the back yard and on balconies.

Happy Spring!

E’s favorite is the fern, growing out of the wall.

“Diez horas con tus libros, ¡de rodillas!”

“A veces escuchamos decir que diez minutos de rodillas te darán un conocimiento de Dios más verdadero, profundo y operativo que diez horas con tus libros. “¿Qué?” es la respuesta apropiada, “¿que diez horas con tus libros, de rodillas?” ¿Por qué te apartarías de Dios cuando te volteas a tus libros, o sentirías que debes apartarte de tus libros para volverte a Dios? Si el aprendizaje y la devoción son tan antagónicos como eso, entonces la vida intelectual es en sí misma maldita y ni se podría hablar de una vida religiosa para un estudiante, incluso de teología”.

“Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. “What!” is the appropriate response, “than ten hours over your books, on your knees?” Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must turn from your books in order to turn to God? If learning and devotion are as antagonistic as that, then the intellectual life is in itself accursed, and there can be no question of a religious life for a student, even of theology.”

(B.B. Warfield)

“Prayer for Children”

Father, hear us, we are praying;

Hear the words our hearts are saying.

We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,

From the secret, hidden peril,

From the whirlpool that would suck them,

From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.

From the worldling’s hollow gladness,

From the sting of faithless sadness,

Holy Father, save our children.

Through life’s troubled waters steer them;

Through life’s bitter battle cheer them.

Father, Father, be thou near them.

Read the language of our longing;

Read the wordless pleadings thronging,

Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,

Lead them home at eventide.

[Amy Carmichael’s 19th century prayer for children in the Dohnavur Fellowship in India]

We cling to Truth!

Tomorrow, August 10, we would be celebrating Jona’s 24th birthday. This picture was taken nineteen years ago on the day of my Mommy’s memorial service. My little buddy, Jona, didn’t understand all the implications of that day, but his tender little-boy heart knew how to comfort all the same...

[I love you, Buddy, more than ever!]

Adjustment to life without him is long and difficult... We appreciate those who pray for us as we miss him – more than ever! But we rejoice that Jona is in the presence of his Savior, whom he loved and served with joy during the sixteen and two-thirds years he was given here with us. And we look forward – more than ever – to the Day when all wrongs will be right and all tears will be forever wiped away.

Today we cling to Truth!

“Lluvias de gracia...”

En Uruguay esta semana pasada...

¡Agradecidos!

¡Socorro de lo Alto!

Alzaré mis ojos a los montes;

¿de dónde vendrá mi socorro?

Mi socorro viene del SEÑOR,

que hizo los cielos y la tierra.

(Salmo 121)

Blue Ridge Mountains!