Share Four Somethings: July 2021

Time for July’s Share Four Somethings – which usually occurs at the end of the month but, surely, July is not almost over.  Maybe it is because we still have another whole week or maybe it is just that my brain is working at a summer pace, but I am convincing myself that we still have plenty of summer left to enjoy!  The stores full of back-to-school supplies are a conundrum…but those stores already stocking scarecrows, apple cider candles and other autumn delights??  Well, I just close my eyes and walk right past.  Denial is bliss!   That said, it is the fourth Saturday of the month and time for July’s Share Four Somethings:

Something Loved.   I have had several answers to prayer this month.  Some I cannot exactly share in a blog post but, one for sure:  my son made it home from Iowa!  Such a long day as he drove almost fifteen hours but, oh so exciting to see him pull in the driveway.  It has been great having him home.  One of this month’s answered prayers would also be one of the greatest blessings my husband and I have ever enjoyed.  A goal accomplished and a dream realized that we have prayed over for years.  Perhaps I will find the best way to write about it one day; however, I wanted to publicly thank the Lord and give Him all the glory for helping us!!.

Something Read. I read the following quote on a blog this month.  I copied the quote and printed it off (for my wall of things to remember!) but totally forget which blog I found it on.  So sorry I cannot give her credit but I wanted to share the quote.  Honestly, I do not know Carl Trueman and I have never read the book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, and this is not an endorsement for either.  Actually, I don’t even completely agree that there is not a better era or age than today.  However, the reality is I live in this age.  In this day and time.  With all of its ills, troubles, and even evil.  Neither glorifying a previous time nor constantly longing for it is of any help to anyone.  I think it was the admonition to quit whining that struck me.  I can be a whiner.  Just sayin.  But, as a Christian, I need to respond differently.  And stop whining.

As for the notion of some lost golden age, it is truly very hard for any competent historian to be nostalgic.  What past times were better than the present?  An era before antibiotics when childbirth or even minor cuts might lead to septicemia and death?  The great day of the 19th century when the church was culturally powerful and marriage was between one man and one woman for life, but little children worked in factories and swept chimneys?  Perhaps the Great Depression?  The Second World War?  The ear of Vietnam?  Every age has had its darkness and its dangers.  The task of the Christian is not to whine about the moment in which he or she lives but to understand its problems and respond appropriately to them.  – Carl Trueman

Something Treasured.  Earlier this week, in my Tuesday post, I not only started a new group of posts – you can read it here – but I also rehearsed a funeral (a memorial of a life well lived!) that I attended the week before.  The friendship that brought me to that funeral in the first place as well as all that was so special about that day has been treasured and stored up in my heart.  My friend’s brother actually sang a song at his father’s funeral.  I admire him for having the courage to do so…and that song so impacted me.  I am told it is a well-known hymn but, honestly, I had never heard it before.  These are the lyrics:

When I think of how He came so far from glory
Came to dwell among the lowly such as I
To suffer shame and such disgrace
On Mount Calvary take my place
then I ask myself this question
Who am I?

Who am I that the King would bleed and die for
Who am I that He would pray not my will, but Thine Lord
The answer I may never know
Why He ever loved me so
But to that old rugged cross He’d go
Who am I?

Something Ahead.  More summer.  More soaking in the sun-drenched days.  Yea, just more summer:)  I do have a girl’s getaway next month.  Something I planned for myself and four friends. Four friends I have never “traveled” with and something new for us as a group.  I have had the best time planning it….let’s just hope it all goes to plan.  And everyone enjoys it all as much as I have the planning:)  Here’s to another beautiful month ahead.  Starting tomorrow, you can read all the Share Four Something entries here.