Faithful Friday

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Song: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

I love the idea of "Faithful Friday", sponsored by Sallie at A Gracious Home. It will create a small reminder for me to think of His Faithfulness (which I should be dong every moment of every day). I chose the verse above because I think it so often gets overlooked, being at the end of that great hymn. How awesome are the words...Truth in rhyme.

I was reading Sally's blog shortly after chatting with my daughter on the phone. She was driving on a highway in New England with only baby Matthew with her (who has completely stolen his Grammie's heart by the way). I was sharing with her what I had just read on the Crunchy Con blog, how Franky Schaeffer has written a rather scathing book about Evangelical Christians in general and his parents in particular.

While I know the Schaeffer's were far from perfect (they admit to that in their own books), I hate to see a child have such dislike for his parents that he would dishonor their memory like that. Even if there is, as I suspect, a lot of truth to his unhappy childhood...it still does no good to speak against them.

I was telling my daughter how often I have wished I would have been a more mature Christian as a young wife and mother. I read the books by Elisabeth Elliot, Edith Schaeffer, Ruth Graham, and other godly women and I am so much in wonder at the lives they lived and the walk they had with God...even as very young women.

As for me...well, I still enjoy listening to Garth Brooks singing I've Got Friends in Low Places because honey, I have! They are called F.A.M.I.L.Y! I have shared before that I became a Christian as a result of a high school acquaintance choosing the "least likely person" she thought would ever come to Christ...and inviting them to a revival meeting at her church. That, my blog friends, was me.

Fortunately, Stephanie turned out quite nicely and I had gained some more maturity by the time her brother was born. Which was a good thing because as much as he is a wonderful and godly young man today...he didn't start out that way. No, that boy had more original sin in him than you would want to know about (and those memories are only for pondering in this mother's heart and perhaps to share with his kids someday).

God has been so faithful to me through the years, such patience He has shown as he took two very messed up parents and brought about amazing children and grandchildren! Thankfully, he continues to work on my husband and me, too. I can only do the best I can and trust His Grace to do the rest...and I hope neither of my children ever decide to write a "tell all" book. :)