Summer has now been setting in my life for many years, and yesterday marked my tenth anniversary of writing “all about it!” With over half a million views and 2,222+ followers, I’m still incentivized to write my heart out when and while I can! Beyond that, people from 215 nations and territories have stopped by at some time or another, which is approaching most of the countries in existence, except for the heart of Africa and Turkmenistan. (This is the beginning of the “Global Map”of visitors to Summer Setting; the complete list of nations is at the end of this post.)
As I prayed about what to write for this personally special occasion, it occurred to me to look back and remember all that God has done for me as I’ve attempted to glorify Him, enjoy Him forever, and share His love with you:
From seven years ago: This is my 365th post since starting to blog three years ago, and I discovered with astonishment and joy that this site has been visited almost 30,000 times! “Summer Setting” was intended to have a double meaning, expressing both the sentiment that the setting of my life is still sunny and warm—like summer sunshine—but that I am aging and this wonderful “Indian Summer” season will transition into fall soon. Like the shimmering sun disappearing behind a vast expanse of ocean, the summer of my life is setting.
I want to thank each person who has cared enough to look in on my life and walk the pilgrim road with me a little. Thank you for this wonderful privilege! It’s my earnest desire to bring joy to you as I share what I’m learning about the life and love that God has granted me.
Because of my husband’s prostate cancer, I’ve been reading a lot about life and death issues lately. I found this touching quote from Walt Wangerin’s Letters from the Land of Cancer (written as he was preparing to meet his Maker): “Good night, good friends. The nice thing about these letters is that you can quit reading them at any paragraph. No guilt to you, no fear in me that I might have burdened or bored you.”
And so it is with me too! I will begin my “second” year’s worth of letters—casting them into cyberspace like crumbs upon the waters—with the hope of encouraging whomever God sends my way…and very eager to hear anything you’d like to share with me. May the Lord bless you!
“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1)
Fifth Anniversary: Today is the fifth anniversary of my blog. I’ve been blessed by more than 128,000 visits (nearly half of them during this past year) from 168 countries and now have 193 “followers”. . .
It’s a “dream come true” to be able to share God and all He’s done for me with people around the world. When my sister and I were in our early 20’s, we started a trek around the world to share the good news of Jesus, but our mother almost died in a car accident, and so we came home. Probably for the best. She was not a believer at the time (although she did become a Christian before she died, praise God! 🙂 ), and my naive sister and my naive self might have gotten ourselves killed on such a mission. However, the Lord knew our hearts were in it…and still are! So, now, at the tender age of 62, after having reared our brood of seven darlings, my husband has granted me the freedom to write a blog rather than get a full-time job somewhere.
I look at it as being allowed to be a self-supporting missionary of sorts, trying to reach out with the gospel of hope from my desk at home. I don’t suppose my sister Annie and I would have really made it to 168 countries in our trek or have met 128,213 people on our way. Isn’t God amazing? He hears the cries of our hearts and delights to answer. Granted, the answer has come some forty+ years later, and in a way I could never have dreamed, but God is full of surprises and has an infinite number of ways to answer our prayers and fill our hearts with joy! Bless you for being a part. I am so grateful for you and your ministry in my life, too! Thank you for being fellow pilgrims with me through this awesome life!
Eighth Anniversary: On Submitting our Passions to God Today marks the eighth anniversary of Summer Setting, and I’ve been thinking about how much I enjoy photo journalism. Actually, I love it with a passion. It’s “work” so satisfying that I look forward to it. It’s therapeutic; it energizes me; it makes me feel happy! Reminds me of my son Michael, who got totally splattered with fresh concrete once while helping build a house down in Mexico. Instead of expressing dismay (which was my reaction), he just grinned: “I never knew this mission trip was going to be so much fun!” What can I say? When you feel really passionate about what you’re doing, what’s a little mud on your face?
Ninth Anniversary: April 8 marked the ninth anniversary of my blog, Summer Setting, and it’s still one of the highlights of my daily life! Although my primary goal in writing is an attempt to be faithful to the calling I feel like God has given me, it’s been super rewarding and motivating to check in on my “Stats” page every once in a while. For instance, this past week people from over 60 countries looked at blog posts, and in the last 3 days Summer Setting was accessed over 1,300 times. That sounds like a lot to me, but given that I now have close to 2,000 followers, it also seemed like a curiously small number until I learned from WordPress’s “Happiness Engineers” that their statistics don’t include any of the followers who have asked to have my posts sent directly to their email accounts every day, since they don’t have a tracking system to know who has opened those emails.
And, those reminiscences now bring me back to the present! I’ve been struck by several verses from the Gospel of John lately. In all we do—whether it’s writing a blog, studying and trying to grow up, working at a job, taking care of children, sitting in a retirement center or trying to survive in a refugee camp— may everything we do be to the glory of God and to lift up the name of Jesus! May we seek the honor that comes from God alone, testifying to His Word and His truth, so that others too may know the joy of His salvation and eternal life.
Jesus said, “I receive not testimony from man; but these things I say, that ye might be saved.” (John 5:34) “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44).
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31).
United States |
333438 |
United Kingdom |
20172 |
Germany |
17946 |
Canada |
17192 |
France |
11776 |
Australia |
8483 |
Taiwan |
8263 |
India |
7658 |
Philippines |
4728 |
South Africa |
4030 |
Italy |
3815 |
Brazil |
3385 |
Netherlands |
3069 |
Ireland |
2661 |
European Union |
2632 |
South Korea |
2519 |
Spain |
2518 |
Russia |
2348 |
Thailand |
2345 |
Japan |
2268 |
Indonesia |
2217 |
Turkey |
2071 |
Singapore |
1945 |
Norway |
1827 |
Poland |
1690 |
Romania |
1579 |
Mexico |
1493 |
Malaysia |
1467 |
New Zealand |
1442 |
Belgium |
1425 |
Sweden |
1326 |
Greece |
1204 |
Switzerland |
1202 |
Hungary |
1176 |
Israel |
1075 |
Hong Kong SAR China |
1019 |
Colombia |
959 |
Ukraine |
946 |
Czech Republic |
910 |
Vietnam |
885 |
Pakistan |
854 |
Austria |
828 |
Argentina |
823 |
Denmark |
823 |
United Arab Emirates |
814 |
Finland |
765 |
Portugal |
713 |
Saudi Arabia |
649 |
Croatia |
632 |
Serbia |
600 |
Bulgaria |
596 |
Slovakia |
478 |
Egypt |
463 |
Trinidad & Tobago |
414 |
Kenya |
410 |
Chile |
366 |
Nigeria |
363 |
Slovenia |
351 |
Tunisia |
318 |
Bangladesh |
315 |
Lebanon |
313 |
Sri Lanka |
304 |
Peru |
293 |
Puerto Rico |
284 |
Lithuania |
275 |
Estonia |
260 |
Jamaica |
249 |
Latvia |
249 |
Kuwait |
240 |
Morocco |
211 |
Georgia |
197 |
Iraq |
193 |
Tanzania |
193 |
Ghana |
183 |
Macedonia |
181 |
Algeria |
175 |
Qatar |
173 |
Malta |
164 |
Jordan |
162 |
China |
161 |
Cyprus |
156 |
Bosnia & Herzegovina |
155 |
Costa Rica |
150 |
Cambodia |
148 |
Ecuador |
143 |
Albania |
140 |
Venezuela |
137 |
Belarus |
134 |
Iceland |
115 |
Nepal |
115 |
Armenia |
101 |
Uruguay |
97 |
Azerbaijan |
96 |
Guatemala |
93 |
Oman |
90 |
Dominican Republic |
87 |
Bahrain |
87 |
Palestinian Territories |
85 |
Myanmar (Burma) |
85 |
Bahamas |
83 |
Luxembourg |
81 |
Honduras |
80 |
Mauritius |
77 |
Uganda |
77 |
Panama |
76 |
Moldova |
74 |
Kazakhstan |
67 |
Bolivia |
65 |
Mongolia |
64 |
Zimbabwe |
59 |
El Salvador |
58 |
Paraguay |
57 |
Botswana |
57 |
Montenegro |
56 |
Barbados |
56 |
Namibia |
47 |
Ethiopia |
45 |
Zambia |
44 |
Brunei |
42 |
Guam |
39 |
Aruba |
35 |
Laos |
33 |
Libya |
32 |
Belize |
31 |
Nicaragua |
31 |
Sudan |
30 |
Maldives |
29 |
Guyana |
28 |
Monaco |
28 |
Syria |
28 |
Madagascar |
28 |
Afghanistan |
23 |
Bhutan |
22 |
Cameroon |
21 |
French Guiana |
21 |
Fiji |
21 |
Curaçao |
20 |
U.S. Virgin Islands |
20 |
Martinique |
19 |
Antigua & Barbuda |
18 |
Guernsey |
18 |
Isle of Man |
18 |
Jersey |
18 |
Cayman Islands |
18 |
Bermuda |
17 |
Mozambique |
17 |
Côte d’Ivoire |
16 |
St. Kitts & Nevis |
16 |
Réunion |
15 |
French Polynesia |
15 |
Uzbekistan |
14 |
St. Lucia |
14 |
Kyrgyzstan |
13 |
Djibouti |
13 |
Guadeloupe |
13 |
Papua New Guinea |
13 |
Macau SAR China |
13 |
Angola |
13 |
Sint Maarten |
13 |
Haiti |
12 |
New Caledonia |
12 |
Suriname |
12 |
Andorra |
12 |
Faroe Islands |
10 |
Yemen |
10 |
Seychelles |
9 |
Benin |
9 |
Rwanda |
8 |
Senegal |
8 |
Lesotho |
8 |
Micronesia |
7 |
Vatican City |
7 |
Turks & Caicos Islands |
6 |
Burkina Faso |
6 |
Solomon Islands |
6 |
Gibraltar |
5 |
Northern Mariana Islands |
5 |
Somalia |
5 |
Liberia |
5 |
Grenada |
5 |
Tajikistan |
5 |
Congo – Kinshasa |
5 |
Gabon |
4 |
Guinea-Bissau |
4 |
Vanuatu |
4 |
Cuba |
4 |
Malawi |
4 |
Swaziland |
4 |
Åland Islands |
4 |
British Virgin Islands |
3 |
Iran |
3 |
Cape Verde |
3 |
Liechtenstein |
3 |
Samoa |
2 |
Greenland |
2 |
Togo |
2 |
Falkland Islands |
2 |
Cook Islands |
2 |
Dominica |
1 |
American Samoa |
1 |
Caribbean Netherlands |
1 |
Tonga |
1 |
Congo – Brazzaville |
1 |
St. Pierre & Miquelon |
1 |
Sierra Leone |
1 |
Gambia |
1 |
Palau |
1 |
Netherlands Antilles |
1 |
North Korea |
1 |
Burundi |
1 |
South Sudan |
1 |
St. Vincent & Grenadines |
1 |
Timor-Leste |
1 |
Marshall Islands |
1 |
Mauritania |
1 |
Rise Up, My Love (259): Robes of White
Song of Solomon 8:2 What about our thoughts of Christ? I have been mulling over my impressions of Christ for the past several weeks, and right now I will pause and try to share a little with you. Today is December 27, 2001 (obviously, this post was originally written many years ago!), and I’m looking out at 28” of fresh snow. After a record-breakingly warm December with green grass and violets popping out, the Lord sent us every child’s Christmas wish…over two feet of wonderful, fluffy snow…starting on the eve of December 23 and continuing ever since.
That is what Christ has done for the world around me, but it so perfectly pictures what he has done within me also. The world of my soul, withered and brown from the failure of selfish sin, was strangely warmed and made alive again by the power of his resurrection love and salvation. But, my child-heart’s wish is now coming true…I’m being robed in the dazzling beauty of his snow-white righteousness.
I remember as a young woman feeling like such a miserable failure. I was saved at twelve and loved the Lord intensely, eventually going off to a Bible college with the dream of becoming a pastor’s wife. However, I only found one “preacher boy” who interested me, and I was much too unconventional for him. After college I dreamed of serving Christ by becoming a Christian psychologist, so I married Alan, who’d been a friend since junior high days and seemed to be heading in the same direction. We happily began graduate school together, but then Alan promptly decided that he should go into medicine instead.
When my dear husband started medical school and I began rearing our brood of children a couple of years later, I found myself feeling not only like an unclean and unworthy vessel, but like one that had become broken and cast aside. It was about that time that Psalm 68 became precious to me…almost a “life chapter” or something, and verse 13 just jumped out: “Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.”
It was as if the Lord was promising that, even though I felt like a useless, broken pot, he would transform me into a messenger of peace who could fly on wings of gold and silver. How could that ever happen? How will the Lord ever use me? I thought maybe Alan would become a medical missionary, or a Christian psychiatrist, and that I could help him with his work, but Alan never felt called to the mission field, and he went into internal medicine and began a normal practice here in America.
As the kids grew up and I saw what gems they were, I begin to think that perhaps the Lord intended for all of us to work together in some type of family ministry. Maybe. Our children are just beginning to blossom and choose careers, so it’s too early to know what the future may hold there. Still…little by little…year by year…one day at a time…with no more conscious thought than the earth gives to the changes going on within her…the Lord was working out his blessed will in me…carrying on that good work which he began so long ago.
It is God—not the earth— who ordains the weather. Oh, of course weather is inextricably intertwined with the earth, but if we get twenty-eight inches of lake effect snow, it’s because God made Lake Michigan, and God sovereignly decided that a cold front would pass over beginning two days before Christmas. “Mother Nature” is really created and controlled by Father God, and all that we are or do is because God has so ordained it for us.
And, it is also God who works out his sovereign will in us. Our job is simply to trust and obey the light he gives us, walking in the truth of God’s Word as illuminated by his Holy Spirit. It is God who changes us from a broken pot into a messenger of his love. It is God that makes us bright with the beauty of his snow-white robes of righteousness. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Thank you, Lord, for your work in me. It was not by paths I would have chosen or through ways I planned, but you are slowly sanctifying and spiritually beautifying me…which is more than all I ever knew to want! As the songwriter expresses our hearts for God: “You’re all I want; You’re all I’ve ever needed… Make me know You are near.”
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Posted in Bible Commentary, Commentary on the Song of Solomon, Encouragements for Living, Meditations on the Song of Solomon, Memoirs, Religious Issues, Rise Up My Love
Tagged How God beautifies us in his time, Meditation from Song of Solomon 8:2, Photos of winter scenes, Psalm 68:13, Reflections on God's sovereignty in my life, Tahquamenon Falls in winter