A Covenantal Cause

Gracie at Jamestown, comtemplative, as is her usual way. Actually, when she was little, we sometimes called her Spacy Gracie, not realizing this is how the Lord works His gift of creativity into her heart.

I promised several people to post Grace's wonderful poem about her Scots Covenanter forebears here. It has blessed her family so much, and I trust it is a blessing to you, too. (If you need a translation, let me know!) I hope to post other of the grandchildren's compositions soon. My heart overflows with gratitude to the Lord for the precious gifts our grandchildren have -- and are.

A Covenantal Cause

"When the King of England said tha' he wished tae be the head
Of the whole united church of our dear Laird,
Then we put up quite a fight, for we knew it wadnae richt,
Nor the loss of God could Scotland's church afford.

For a king of man to make of himself a god, an’ take
Frae Christ Jesus His authority an’ crown
Was profanity in full, an’ tae sic ungodly rule
We, as children of the King, wadnae bow down.

Sae then we, as loyal Scots, put aside dividin' thoughts,
An' we joined taegether in the common cause,
We a' came taegether an’ wi the sword an' pen in hand
We each signed our names withoot a siccent pause.

Then wi' blood an' firebrand, Charles spread throughoot the land
Sic a multitude of horrors, dark an' grim.
But, when put tae fire an' sword for the sake of Christ, our Laird,
We stayed true an' took our strength an' pow'r frae Him.

There were some, indade, wha bent, an' the way of Judas went,
Tae these few the trials were tae hard tae bear;
Yet those raised with Him on high, frae the fire tae the sky,
Would repate a joy, worth any pain tae share.

Wi' the cry of "Christ an' Kirk," clasping claymore, shield, an' dirk,
We, the Covenanters took our richteous stand;
For tae keep God's banner pure, bitter hardships we endure,
Sae we gladly gave up a', an’ clasped His hand.

An’ the few wha lived tae tell how the foes of Jesus fell
Had a story where God's richteous wrath was known;
For when wicked men assail God's beloved – no avail
Will divest frae them the harvest they hae sown."


By Virginia Grace Discher
in honor of my Scots Covenanter forbears

Oh, I Wanted to Add . . .

. . . I am sure that much better pictures of the regional convention, strawberries, and the Littles' visit will be posted at the Dischers' and Stricklens' blogs:

http://www.thedischerfamily.blogspot.com/
http://www.thestricklenfamily.blogspot.com/

And maybe when they get settled in Arkansas, we can convince the Millers to begin a family blog and keep us (sad and lonely) folks back in Florida updated ???

One more thing: I haven't even mentioned the fact that son Jason, his wife, Ashley, and their little bundle of sunshine, Savannah, are looking to move to Ft. Lauderdale very soon. The Lord seems to have opened the door for them there in a move that will help them be debt-free much sooner than otherwise. Oh, my poor, poor granny-heart! More on that later . . .

Updating . . . well, trying to

It seems that every time I post an update, it begins "Life has been busy around here!" And it has been, once again! We returned Friday from a week at the older grandchildren's regional student convention and competition (A.C.E.). Almost all of the family went, and what a blessing it was! I have been trying to upload pictures, but keep getting error messages, so maybe that will wait until tomorrow.

THEN, with one night in my own sweet cuddly beddy-bye, we got word that strawberries were available! That means get out the buckets and go! One of our family of homeschooling friends near Plant City (strawberry capital of the world :) ) has connections with one of the growers, and call goes out when the growers are ready to burn off and turn under their fields. They give us the opportunity to glean, and we try not to miss it, no matter how tired everyone is.

Off we went on Saturday -- the Dischers, the Stricklens, the Millers (even though they are moving way away), and even Granddaddy! We met lots of sweet friends there, and with so many hands, the work went quickly. Every cooler was filled in a couple of hours, and yet there still were more berries by far than we had picked -- how sad it was to leave the field with beautiful red fruit calling out to us, knowing it would soon be brown and dead.

Not only is it a wonderful way to have delicious and nutritious treats for months to come (free, aside from the outrageous price of gasoline) but it is always fun. The fellowship in the fields and at Sonny's restaurant afterward is something the young people look forward to every year. Strawberry season -- thank you, Lord!

THEN -- Sunday evening, we were blessed to meet in real life the Little family. I had "met" mother Daisy on the Patriarchs' Wives group online. We discovered that we both live in Florida (they live way down south) and that their family does Civil War re-enacting, as do many members of ours. They were at the Narcoossee event this past weekend and found that they could stop by our house on the way home. What a wonderful time of fellowship we had! All our families were able to be here, and the children enjoyed each other as much as the adults did!

Our rowdy bunch was probably a little jolting at first, but it seems that their boys soon were chasing chickens with everyone else! (No, not in a bad way!) They ended up spending the night with us, and after a country breakfast, made their way back home Monday morning. We really loved meeting you, Littles, and hope you will make your way back up to central Florida soon!

Now for a day or two of restful. peaceful life -- uh, oh! Who's that coming in the driveway . . .??

Joey and C.J. showing the sweet, sweet fruits of their labors. If you could see more closely, you would see that they had already experienced some of those sweet fruits! Lots of other youngin's in the background picking lots of gallons of strawberries!

Two of my sweet daughters and I doing a little showing off ourselves!

Here I am with Daisy Little from the Patriarchs' Wives group. What a blessing to meet dear sisters in person! Daisy, I am so sorry my camera is acting up! I had to use the "fix" feature because the picture came out so dark, and it always distorts the image a little. Otherwise, why would my hair suddenly look so . . . snowy?? (As grandson Daniel used to say with "air quotes", "yeah right!")

Some of the ladies at the end of the table -- Granddaughter Kitty standing, Daisy Little (left), Beth and Molly (my daughters) on the right. For the men in the foreground, serious conversation just keeps going on, in spite of cameras!

Some of the Miller, Discher, Stricklen and Little "littles" doing art projects together. We got quite a lovely collection for the refrigerator gallery last night!

The perfume of March

What a good Heavenly Father we have!! We have been blessed for the last few days with the sweet perfume of March ... orange blossoms! Well, around our house, it is grapefruit blossoms, which smell so sweet and almost intoxicating. Up and down our country road, it is almost like snow has permanently taken up residence on the trees in the groves. And the perfume is inescapable and pervasive. How we would miss it if we went away!

We had the sweetest Resurrection Day service in our little home fellowship -- family and friends and several visitors shared the beautiful remembrance with us and the fellowship meal afterwards. The children shared their music and preparations for the regional student convention of A.C.E., for which we will be leaving tomorrow. It is a busy time of year, but always enjoyable.

After we come back at the end of the week, the Millers will be making final preparations for their move to Arkansas the next week. What a huge cavern their absence will create in our family times, and in my heart! I have not let myself believe it is a reality yet, but it is beginning to dawn . . .! The Lord knows the heartaches we go through and understands our deep sadness, but I sure don't! God, give me grace and make me truly thankful for the time we have had together!

Hopefully, we will be able to share some of the week here -- it is always fun, and most of the family goes along, even though only the older children participate. This will be a sad time in another way -- it is Kitty's (oldest granddaughter) last convention before she moves on in her life as an adult woman. She has been so consistent over the years in her desire the let the Lord develope the many talents He has given her, and she will also be sorely missed when that time comes!

May we, like the citrus blossoms, be a sweet perfume this week for our Savior, sharing the precious scent of His anointing with all who cross our path!

Keeper of the Flame

My Uncle Pete, my daddy, and my Uncle Bob, during WWII. Uncle Pete was in the Navy, Daddy in the Marines, and Uncle Bob in the Merchant Marines. Daddy was 15 when he joined the Marines, thus his veteran status of 3 major Pacific campaigns, including Iwo Jima, at age 18.
My mother and daddy -- not sure if this is before or after their marriage at age 17 and 18 in 1945.
Newspaper article about Daddy's service in the Pacific theater of war.
The Keeper of the Flame, Uncle Bob, with me.

On our recent trip to NC for the National Center for Family Integrated Churches' Expository Preaching conference, we stopped in Charlotte to visit my Uncle Bob Harris. Uncle Bob has always been the family character. He is number 11 of 12 siblings, and always entertained the children at family gatherings with silly stories and witty sayings. We love Uncle Bob.

In his later years, he has become what I like to call the Keeper of the Flame. He has stacks of pictures and stories about our family, and he is eager to share them, so that his family heritage will not be forgotten by the coming generations.

On this trip, we stayed with him overnight and spent the next morning just enjoying all he could share with us. He and my father were just a year apart and were constant companions as they grew up on the farm. He told me a story about Daddy that I had never heard before. He said that the day for Daddy to start school came, and Daddy told my grandfather,

"If Bob isn't going to school with me (Bob was 5 and not old enough at the time), then I'm not going!"

Granddaddy Harris said, "Well, son, Bob doesn't have any lunch!"

Daddy was carrying a little brown bag, and he held it up and shook it and said, "I got a few nubbins in here -- I'll share them with him." So Uncle Bob went to school with him! Daddy had used the word "nubbins" all my life, and this was so like him to want his brother right beside him in a new situation.

Thank you, Lord, for Uncle Bob's devotion to our family and carrying on the faithfulness of many generations. God bless you, Uncle Bob.