Kindness is Essential

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10 ESV

This past week, the weather has been hot, humid and unbearable. My calendar has been too full for my liking, and I have not been in a happy frame of mind.   

As my mind went in the direction of frustration, the words of a Glen Campbell song from the early 70’s came to mind, “Try a Little Kindness.”  That thought was followed by a phrase I had heard expressed several times while I listened to tales of mail order brides during the settling of the west. Those male/female pairings were of two people who had never met before promising to marry out of necessity, not love. The brides often asking the same question, “Will you be kind?”

In the late afternoon on Wednesday, the gentleman who was to give me an estimate on the removal of a dead tree in my backyard arrived. After settling on a price and a date for removal of the tree next week, he prepared to leave. I told him I’d been baking cookies while waiting for him and asked if he would like some. He said he would really like to take a few to his 4-man crew who had been working in the heat all day. So I sent a dozen cookies with him thinking his crew might need a break at that time in the afternoon. It was just a simple gesture of kindness and it made me feel better as well. 

A little over an hour later, I heard the sound of powerful equipment and I went to see where the sound was coming from. The tree removal crew was in my backyard, the tree was already on the ground and they were preparing to take it away. It was almost 6 pm when my doorbell rang. One of the young crew members was at my front door. I asked if he wanted me to write a check. He replied, “Oh, no, I just wanted to know if you were happy with the work that had been done.”

I told him I was very happy and I was grateful as well because I would no longer have to worry about that dead tree falling on a neighbor’s house during a storm. I told him that I also appreciated how they had cleaned up the mess. Then I said, “Tell the rest of the crew I said thanks for coming so quickly and for their hard work. He said, “I will and by the way your cookies were delicious. They all said so.”

Was it the gift of cookies or the little act of kindness I’d shown them that caused the crew to come so quickly? I’ll never know.    

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” Proverbs 21:32 ESV

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your words that never fail us. They remind us to do as Jesus taught when He said to be kind and to love one another the way He loves us. Amen

Judy Welch

Words from Galatians

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 

Sweden

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2

Whoever loves his own life will lose it. John 11:25

I, at first, thinking of myself rather than my father, said “No” to his request. He kept mentioning the request that he would like to visit Sweden. His forefathers had come from there and he wished to see where they lived. He did not have information about them but did have a name or two.

Finally, I realized he was in his late 80s, and I was the only opportunity he had to help him travel across the ocean to see Sweden. Many opportunities had taken me to Europe so it would be easiest for me, his oldest daughter, to help him travel. We had lost my mother to brittle diabetes (she had been one of the first diabetics in Nebraska to have an insulin pump); so, I agreed and started planning the trip.

Our connection to Sweden came from Sixten Loftgren. My father, LaVern H. Johnson, had met Sixten when he was in Phelps County Nebraska at the Court House looking for his deceased brother’s farm. The worker who was helping Sixten saw my father in the room and said this man knows Phelps County very well and can show you where your land is located. LaVern and Sixten became very good friends and continued to communicate. When we told Sixten we were coming to Sweden he invited us to his home first and made us reindeer stew which was delicious.

Bryce Hastings and I were dating long distance because he was still running his Hastings and Chivetta architectural firm in St. Louis. When he heard I was taking my father to Sweden, he decided to take a vacation and join us. This was a blessing to me. Another addition came when I thought I wanted to take my oldest granddaughter, Allison, with us. Her parents were agreeable, so we became a foursome. It was easy for me to share a bedroom with Allison, but more of a struggle for the two men. Bryce was wonderful as he cared for my father.

Sixten took us to the archives of Swedish people and helped us find our relatives in Sweden. It was unbelievable that when he called them, speaking in Swedish, they wanted us to come visit right away. We drove in rain for a few hours and then the sun began to shine. As we pulled close to the relatives’ home, we saw a dozen people and cars in the road blocking it so we wouldn’t miss the relatives. It was awesome.

We have since had several of the families visit Nebraska and stay with us. My brothers and sister have had the opportunity to meet these Swedish family members and helped us show them LaVern and Pauline’s farm home.

For thou art my rock and my fortress: therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Psalm 31:3. I am so happy I quit thinking of myself and did what my father asked of me.

Sandra Hilsabeck

Words from John 10

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. John 10:27-28 

Our Wonderful World

 

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.  Psalm 104:24-25

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” Romans 1:20

The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. Psalm 104:12

I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:11

"Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:32

"Something about the very essence of birds seems impossible. They are ethereal creatures of the earth and air, unimaginably refined and complex, yet so common as to be the first animal we usually see when looking through a window or hear when stepping through a door" (from Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections by Shaun Tan). Birds are both ordinary and miraculous. How wonderful that God has chosen this incredible creature to be in so many places for us to enjoy, and to sing for us to know they're there! I agree with Shaun and have found myself in awe of the simple fact of birds when I’m out “in the field” photographing them. A creature that can fly! Truly amazing. And the fact that many of them migrate thousands of miles each spring and fall...incredible.

My intention here is to draw attention to what we take for granted, the seemingly everyday that is miraculous, God’s hand at work. I think wonder goes hand in hand with gratitude in making us realize God’s love for us and the awe-inspiring features of the world in which we live. In that vein, I would encourage you to take a walk in your neighborhood, a nearby trail, or just explore your backyard.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the miracles of our natural world. Help us to keep an open eye to the wondrous world you have created. Thank you for your bounteous beauty! Amen.

Donna Gustafson

(photos by Donna, from top: cedar waxwing, yellow-rumped warbler, common loon, indigo bunting, belted kingfisher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, female cardinal, meadowlark. Click on each photo to view larger.)

Words from Hebrews

Grace blooms like spring, therefore let's approach the throne of grace with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 

Words from the book of John

 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:19-31