Mary Mother of Jesus - Hero of the Bible

Mary the mother of Jesus
www.crossroadsinitiative.com

This summer my home church is doing  a series on Heroes of the Bible and so this Sunday we studied Mary the Mother of Jesus as another hero of the Bible. The basic point of the sermon was that Mary was available to God to use her however He would see fit. We see this clearly in the gospel of Luke where the angel's announcement came to Mary.
Luke 1:38  And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.


So here are the notes I took from Sunday's sermon:

Why would God choose Mary?
There was nothing super special about Mary - She is poor, she is a peasant, she has no power or influence. She is not already well established to be able to give a child the best of everything.

Just as we sometimes ask why would God want to use me she may also have asked why me? Why would God pick me? Why would He choose to use me when there are so many other people who seem to have it all together?
God chooses to work through me, I am not that smart nor am I worthy of such an honor.

Then we may also look for excuses and ask "why should I do this?" or "what is special about me, who am I that I could think even for a moment that I could do this?"

Mary is available for God to use her.

We see this at the wedding in Cana where they run out of wine. Mary sees the need and goes to Jesus for help. We find the story in John 2 - And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

When Jesus responds in verse 4 by saying Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.,  he is really asking her to slow down. She knows Jesus is come as the Messiah but His time to reveal Himself as Messiah is not yet come. Then Mary says these important words " 
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. she says this because that is exactly how she lives her day to day life - in obedience to God the Father. 
I will do whatever God tells me to do. She is available to God.
Are we available to God to use us?
When God calls - do you respond " I'm here" ?

God works with our weaknesses. We must be open to doing what God calls us to do.

Regarding the recent tragedies in our community -  ( the deaths of two teenagers in separate tragic accidents ) we do not understand why things happen but we can see how God responds in tragedy.  We are called to be available to extend love and mercy to those around us.
 Every morning start your day by praying to God making yourself available to Him. Be open to God's Hand and leading.

Last Sunday we saw how God was working behind the scenes in the life of Esther. God is working on our character to make us more like Jesus. God is setting up work for us to do.

Are we available??

Don't keep the faith to yourself.....

Sharing the Faith. That is the name of my blog. It seems simple enough because here on my blog I am sharing my faith. But the story goes a little deeper than what you see on the outside.
You see, it relates back to my childhood and growing up years. As I have posted in earlier blog posts .....( link to posts here
http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/coming-to-jesus.html

http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/baptism.html


in my family we are fans of Billy Graham. His teaching throughout the years has been a great blessing to our lives. We used to listen to the Hour of Decision broadcast every Sunday afternoon at 1:30. Oftentimes the message would be by Billy Graham himself,  preaching from a recent crusade but other times he would have other members of the Billy Graham Team bring the message. One of the Team speakers was a man by the name of Leighton Ford. He was a good preacher too. But at the close of his message, he would always end it the same way saying "Don't keep the faith to yourself - Pass it on!" That sounds like great advice, don't you think? Well my Dad didn't think it was worded quite accurately. My Dad would say " Don't keep the faith to yourself - Share it!". So what is the difference here?

I think why my Dad was bothered by the statement to "pass on your faith" is because your faith is a personal thing. None of us can redeem his brother. That is what the Bible says in Psalm 49: 7-8  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

I cannot give you faith. I can share my faith with you and then it is your decision whether to make it your own or not. An example I think of is a family heirloom - a clock that my mother passed on to me. It is a very old chime clock. See picture of it here.



The clock I inherited


My Mom's Mom  ( that is my Grandmother ) inherited it, then she passed it on to my Mother, and now my Mother has passed it on to me and some day I will pass it on to one of my boys. So in passing down something valuable such as this clock, it is completely the decision of the giver whether or not I receive the gift. I inherited it. While when I share my faith with you, you must be decide whether you will receive what you have heard and whether you will choose to make it your own.

So I kind of like my Dad's idea "Don't keep the faith to yourself - Share it!!"

My Dad passed on to glory in 2004. If you would like to read a post about him link to post here:

http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/my-dad-man-of-god.html

http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/daddy-old-time-preacher-man.html

Christmas Memories ( the story I wrote for our newspaper in 2005 )

 I wrote this story in 2005 to participate in a writing contest for our local newspaper  "The Carillon".  I did not win a prize but I did get "honorable mention" so I was pretty happy about that.

Here is the link to my other Christmas story- it is fiction, also  written for the newspaper:
 http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/12/new-beginnings-christmas-story-of-hope.html


The following is a true story from my growing up years.

My Christmas Story written in 2005

Christmas Memories from the 1970's

Even from my childhood, Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. Back then, there were no lights or decorations, just the excitement of a little farm girl looking forward to Christmas! It was the one and only time of the year when there would be presents. I was the youngest of six girls in the family.
Preparing for Christmas began early in December, when in Sundayschool I would get my poem which I was required to memorize. It was not easy to memorize a poem of High German words and verses. I would set my heart to memorizing it as soon as I could. Then my mother would begin to sew new Christmas dresses for my sisters and me. Usually they would all be the same pattern, though not the same fabric. To my mother, the most important thing was that the dress would be long enough to cover my knees.
Soon it would be time for the school Christmas party. I really looked forward to this. Here we would all share a special lunch. Some children were required to bring sandwiches while others brought cookies or cupcakes. Our desks would be placed in a circle around the outer part of the classroom. We would share the lunch and to top it off we were treated to a bottle of pop.
After lunch recess, it would be time for the gift exchange, at which time we would present a gift to the child whose name we had picked several weeks earlier. Then it was time for the parents to come to school to see the children put on the play of the Birth of Christ. The part of an angel would be mine.
After many days of waiting, Christmas Eve would finally arrive. Not only was Christmas finally here but it was also my birthday. Though my birthday was not celebrated,  I would be reminded that I was a Christmas gift to my parents the year that I was born. But now we would celebrate the birth of Jesus! Supper and chores would be early on Christmas Eve, as it was time to get ready for the Sundayschool Christmas program. What excitement as my sisters and I could wear our new Christmas dresses for the first time. We would pack all eight of us into the family car and head off to church, which was five miles away. Here we would sing our favorite German Christmas carols. My favorite was "Leisse Rieselt der Schnee" which talked of snow falling down lazily as we await the coming of the Christ Child. Then each child was called up individually to come to the microphone to recite the verse that he or she had memorized. This made me so nervous and yet it was very exciting! Then the treat bags were handed out to the children and also a gift which was either a Catechism or a Bible. Soon our happy family was ready to go back home.
Once back at home, my Dad would read the Bible. After that was done, we ( my sisters and I ) would each get out a mixing bowl. We would put our name on a small piece of paper and place it in the mixing bowl. Then the mixing bowl was set out on the couch or on a chair. After all the children were asleep, my parents would put some candy, chocolate snowballs and peanuts in the bowl as well as an unwrapped gift or two. What excitement on Christmas morning when I would hurry downstairs to see what was in my bowl! My favorite gift I remember was a mother doll that was about five inches tall with a baby doll in a small pink carriage.
Then it would be time for breakfast, chores and then off to church for the Christmas Day service. After church on Christmas Day and also on Boxing Day ( known to me then as the Second Holiday of Christmas ) , we would have a quick and simple lunch and then head off to our grandparent's house. On Christmas Day we would go to my dad's family's home, while on the Second Holiday of Christmas we would go to my mom's family's home. Both family gatherings were more than an hour's drive away and with eight of us in the car, that seemed like a long ride. Here we were expected to recite our Sundayschool verses. After this we were given a treat bag and a small gift such as a handkerchief or a small toy. The day would be spent visiting and playing with cousins and of course enjoying a scrumptious meal prepared by my grandmother. Grandmother would make so much extra we were all glad to get a jar of Plumi Moos and her special cake with bananas and whipped cream on it home to enjoy later. The next several days and weeks would be spent playing with our new toys and munching on the treats of Christmas!
These are the memories of the Christmas of my childhood which I will always treasure. What a joy it is to remember the people and places of Christmases past as we make memories for the future!

To read more about my parents, please check out the following links-
http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/my-dad-man-of-god.html
http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/04/my-moma-woman-of-faith.html

To read more about my Grandparents please check out the following links -
http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/06/grandpa-peter-and-grandma-g.html

http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/05/grandpa-hermana-gentleman.html
http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/06/grandma-anna-precious-memories.html

For the recipe for Plumi Moos please check my recipe blog - link to recipe here: http://bakeandtasterecipes.blogspot.ca/2012/11/pluma-moos-moms-recipe.html

Roll Kuchen & Watermelon and Healthy Eating....

Proverbs 3:5-6 says Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

There is really not a tastier treat than Mennonite Roll Kuchen with a slice of watermelon on the side.  Any one raised in a Mennonite family could tell you so. I am looking forward to having Roll Kuchen with the watermelon that are growing in my garden. I took the picture below a few days ago and it shows that the watermelons will still need a couple more weeks to mature and ripen. It has been a very warm and dry summer at my home here in southern Manitoba. Today the temperature is +35C ( that is about 95F) so the garden is feeling

the heat and lack of moisture today. 

But what are Roll Kuchen you ask? Roll Kuchen is a Mennonite food - deep fried sort of bread/cookie. It is made with heavy cream so it would be high in calories also. Some people would say it is not a healthy choice in one's diet but in my opinion, if you eat healthy regularly, you can enjoy special treats like this every now and then with no real health issues developing. That is my opinion. My Grandmother lived to be 95 years old and I know for a fact that she never worried about healthy eating at all. I believe the real issue is the chemicals that is in the foods we eat today. Chickens are mass produced in small enclosed areas and to keep them from contaminating one another, they are fed antibiotics in their daily feed rations. Cows are given hormones to increase milk production and farmers are growing mostly genetically modified grains and spraying the crops with all sorts of chemicals for diseases and to promote crop growth. These are the things that in my opinion are unhealthy. So in the old days, when my Grandmother was preparing food, they were eating fresh garden products and pork, chicken, eggs  and beef meat from animals that grew on their own farms and no chemicals and antibiotics or growth hormones were used. That was the real healthy way of eating.

But back to my Roll Kuchen, I want to share the recipe here with those of you who read my blog, and maybe, just maybe someday you will have a chance to enjoy some delicious Roll Kuchen with a slice of watermelon on the side. It is my hope that you will get the chance.

This is my Mom's recipe for Roll Kuchen.

SisterSparrow's Mom's Roll Kuchen

Put 1 egg ( unbeaten)  into a 1 cup measuring cup. Now fill the cup with heavy cream. Pour this into large mixing bowl. Repeat the process 1 more time. ( Put egg into the cup, pour it full of cream). Now add 1 extra egg to into the egg/cream mixture, Also add 1/4 cup of milk and 1 tsp of salt. Beat together well. Now add flour, mixing in a cup of flour at a time until you have a medium dough that is not sticky.  Turn out onto well floured table mixing in a little more flour as you prepare to roll it out the same as you would for a pie. Cut the dough into squares and put a small slit in each square that you cut. Preheat your deep fat fryer to 350-375F. Please be very careful with the hot deep fat fryer so as to not injure yourself. Gently place the cut Kuchen into the deep fat fryer, turning the Kuchen over once while frying. Fry till a nice light golden brown. Serve immediately with a slice of watermelon and ENJOY!

Note: Now that I am allergic to milk, I will not be able to have this recipe but I am going to try to figure out a recipe using alternatives to milk and cream so I can also enjoy this special summer treat.

Me and the children God gave us.....

As I have shared in earlier posts, I consider myself blessed to be a mother. As I grew to adulthood, the desire in my heart to be a mother grew stronger. I believe it is God who gave me that desire in my heart in order to prepare me for the work He had in store for me to do. God put the desire in my heart to love, nourish, cherish and cuddle our little babies and it is only in His strength that I seek to be the mom that God wants me to be - to raise my children for Him and for his kingdom work.

  Phillipians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

My experiences as a mother began with becoming pregnant and giving birth to our twin baby

 boys. That made for a very busy and a super fun time as they began to develop their own identities. Son #1  (referred to as twin A in the hospital) has brown hair and brown eyes like his father, while son #2 ( referred to as twin B in the hospital) has blonde hair and blue eyes similiar to me his mom. God made them twins, but not identical. They are both smart, both have the gift of leadership but God has lead them in differing paths son #1 into studying business management and son #2 into studying for Christian ministry. Next God gave us our baby Darcy who passed away within my womb. To have my baby die was hard for me and I confess that I do not understand why such hardships come but I do trust that my baby is safe with Jesus in heaven and someday we will all be together there. I hope to hear Darcy call me "mom" even just one time there in the sweet by and by where we shall meet on that beautiful shore. After this the Lord again blessed us with another baby boy, blonde with big blue eyes, but smart and mechanically minded like his dad. Son #3 is still in school but helps his dad in the business. Then God had plans for another baby for us, this time a baby girl, brown hair, brown eyes like her daddy. This baby is special in her own way as she was born with down snydrome and cannot do many things other little girls can. The doctor who delivered her, also a man of faith, said God had a special little girl He needed to give to someone and He picked me to be her mom. I consider it an honor and precious responsibility to be blessed with each one of these our children. We have dedicated each one to the Lord and I firmly believe that God has begun a good work in each of them and He will perfect it until the day we all meet Jesus in death or at His glorious return.
Phillipians 1:6

⁶ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

A Mother's Day Card

In a few days, we will be celebrating Mother's Day. Children are a gift from God. Mother's Day is a day to honor our moms but I also feel that it is a day that I want to celebrate the fact that God has given me the privelege of being a mom and so I like to reflect on the blessings that my children are to me.
I thought I might share some parts of a card that my son #2 made for me for Mother's Day when he was in elementary school. I like to keep special things and writings that my children have made at school. I hope anyone reading this will be blessed.

It is a hand made card with hand drawn pictures, colored with crayons, hand printed, etc.

On the front cover is a picture of a bear holding flowers and the bear says "Look Mom I picked flowers for you!" Happy Mother's Day!.
Then inside the card is : A Recipe for a Marvelous Mom
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of love
1 tsp. of spice
1 dash of sweetness
1 Tbsp. of hugs
1 pinch of patience
1 litre of kindness

Steps:
Mix the love and hugs in a bowl. Pour in the litre of kindness and tsp of spice. Throw in dash of sweetness and pinch of patience. Take out the lumps and pour it into a mould.
Turn over  the mould and out comes a Marvelous Mom!
Thank-you son #2 for this card that I treasure.

Heavenly Father, Thank-You for the wonderful children that You have given to me and have given me the privelege of being their mom. I love each one and each one is precious to me but I realize that they are even more loved and precious to You.  Amen.

Daddy - the old time preacher man

In this post I would like to share a bit more about my Dad. He was born in 1925 in Mexico but came to Canada with his parents as a very young baby. He spent most of his growing up years in the Kleefeld area of Manitoba. My Dad and his family were also among the group of Mennonites that moved to Paraguay in the late 1940's where they hoped to find a peaceful life.  I mentioned this move to Paraguay in an ealier post about my Mom. My Dad was among an early group of men that flew to Paraguay to prepare the way for the others that would come by ship later. He quite liked the adventure of going to Paraguay and had many fond memories of the time he spent out there and he even learned to speak a bit of Spanish.  After coming back to Canada, he worked for an English farmer (in the Carman area) which he also enjoyed very much. He married my mother in 1951.
My parents started farming in a very small way and gradually built the farm to a more moderate size. They started with just few acres of land and milked a few cows, sold the cream etc.  The Lord was faithful and provided all that was necessary to raise the six girls that were born to them.
My Dad always knew that the Lord had placed a calling on his life to be a preacher of the gospel. The actual call came in January of 1976 at the small country church that we attended. He was ordained as a preacher of the gospel in April of 1976 and began preaching immediately thereafter. He continued to farm on the side with the time that was available to him. The church did not provide a salary to the preachers so continuing to farm  was the right thing to do. The church denomination was involved with was is known as circuit preaching. There were churches of our denomination scattered throughout southern Manitoba and so my Dad was put on a schedule that would take him to each of these churches by rotation and thereby preaching in a different location every Sunday morning. He would spend many hours during the week preparing the sermon he would preach on Sunday. The drive to the church for any given Sunday morning ( other than our own local home church) would take about an hour or longer depending where the location of the church was that he was scheduled at that particular morning. This meant an early start to the morning chores. The cows  needed to be milked and fed before getting ready for church. It was very plain to see that Dad loved preaching. He preached his last sermon in January of 2002 at a little church at the village called Stuartburn.  At this time we already knew that Dad was not well, but we did not know that it was cancer. My husband and I took our family to hear Dad and Grandpa preach his last sermon. Our children were ages 9 and 9 and 5 and 3 when they heard Grandpa preach the last time. I don't remember much about the sermon but I know he talked some about the terrorist attacks that had happened in New York on September 11, 2001 which was just a few months earlier and that laid heavy on his heart.
I hope to post more in the next little while about my Dad, and his final message to the family. 

My Mom - Woman of Faith!

Recently in the news Ann Romney ( the wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney) was  criticized for having made the choice to be a stay- at - home mom to raise their family. She was criticized to have never worked a day in her life. Wow! I am glad that many many people came to her defense including Michelle Obama and the President himself. Raising children is not an easy task - it takes very much love, and patience, and the giving up of one's own desires for the good of the family.
So with that I want to turn my thoughts over to my own Mom who did this very thing - she has been a stay at home Mom and together with my Dad lovingly raised me and my 5 sisters.
Jeremiah 29:11 -

 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

The LORD has plans for each of us and now that my Mom is in her eighties we can look back and get a picture of some of what that was.
Before my Mom and Dad met, my Mom's parents decided to move from Manitoba to Paraguay along with many other Mennonite families. The Mennonites were seeking to find a place of peace where they would be able to raise their families.So in preparation for the journey to Paraguay( thinking never to return to Canada) my Mom, a young lady,  had to get rid of her possessions which included her "hope chest". A "hope chest" was dishes and things girls would start to collect as young teenagers which they would then hope to use once they would marry the man of their dreams. She recalls the agony of leaving it behind. Then my Mom, her parents and siblings along with a couple of thousand other Mennonites  boarded the ship to sail to Paraguay.  Sailing there took approximately a month and as she recalls she was sick most of the time sailing. As it turned out though, life was not as promising in Paraguay as they all had hoped and they headed back to Canada within six months and back in Canada my Mom met my Dad. God had it all planned.

                                        This is a picture of my parents as a very young couple.                                  

My Mom was a very hard working person not only keeping the house, cooking with a wood stove in the early days, doing laundry with the old washing machine and no dryer, she was always helping Dad on the farm however she could. She was always by his side in a supporting role whether it was with farmwork - fixing the combine, running the baler, milking cows, but even more importantly she supported Dad in his work as a preacher. Always with him at his side whenever or however she was needed. As I think about my Mom, I remember the loving care she gave to me as a little girl. She would come to help me say my prayers each night. I would kneel in bed to pray and she would kneel  beside the bed as I prayed. Then she would tuck me in so I would get a good sleep.  If at any time in the night I woke up, and couldn't sleep, I would call " MOM" and she would be right there. She would read a Bible story to me regardless of what time in the night it was, then she would tuck me in again and she would say -" I'll stay right here with you until you fall asleep" and she did too. It didn't matter if it took half an hour or an hour for her little girl to fall asleep, she stayed there by my bed to bring security and comfort.  She was selfless and loving through and through. This also showed up in her giving spirit to the neighbors. She is a truly generous and caring person.
My Mom's faith has grown strong over the years. She has been a great example to us to see her reading her Bible and other Scriptural literature. Being sure of  one's salvation and that we be ready to meet the LORD at any time is something that she stresses consistantly. Since Dad's passing, she has blossomed in showing her love for the LORD even more.
When my Dad became ill with cancer, she again stood strong with him going to appointment after appointment  with him and caring for him. The last six months of Dad's battle with cancer were spent in the hospital. Mom would go to the hospital in the morning and stay there with Dad the entire day, come home in the evening and the next day do it all over again. It seemed Dad had peace when he was so sick, just to know she was there with him and know she would be there with him the whole way through.

Heavenly Father, You have given me a wonderful Mother...Thank-you , Amen