Anna Daisy’s Journal

Birthdays are special days in our family and celebrated with family. Being the oldest child in our family, I watched my brother struggle to blow out his one birthday candle. After three times Mom gave me the honor of blowing out his candle to help my little brother. The next day I blew out my three candles.

Birthdays at our house meant homemade ice cream. Dad’s birthday meant apple pie with homemade ice cream and Mom’s birthday meant peppermint ice cream. I always marveled at how the world came to a stand-still on Mom’s birthday. Dad didn’t have to deliver mail, there was always a parade and lots of fireworks. Although there were always chores to do, a picnic with homemade ice cream made the day very special, because Mom was special. Later I learned that it was the birthday of our country – still, on the 4^th of July I can hear the whirr of the turning handle of the ice cream freezer.

This summer, I don’t have time to contemplate June bugs, as we plan to make a move after my dear husband’s birthday in October. In preparing to pack, I pulled a red notebook from a shelf, wondering just what it contained. The cover, in Mom’s distinctive handwriting said – Journal of the 85^th year, 1992. The first entry was date.

This is not the only Journal Mom wrote, but one with which I identify. My birthday, June 16^th, was my 83^rd. In just two years I will be as old as Mom was when she wrote the journal. What did she think about, this diminutive little lady? Her entries began January 1, 1992 and the last entry was November 26, 1992.

Quotes and Observations:

January 1, 1992 – I thank God, my Creator for giving me birth, July 4, 1907 an I praise my Lord and Savior for giving me a second birth 12 years later. These are only the basics because He showered me with blessings through the years. Christian parents tutored me in living; a husband loved me wisely; and three children taught me how to love. And their children will live out my tomorrows in future generations.

The “Basics”. Mom didn’t include where she lived, new clothes, vacations or possessions. Does this mean these are not the basics? Instead she implies the briefness of time on earth – with the phrase, “And their children will live out my tomorrows in future generations.” A continuity of the thread of faith through the generations. And any one grandchild or great grandchild of hers can break that thread of learning and teaching of faith in Jesus Christ of generations.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Titus 2:11-12

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. I Thessalonian 4:7

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

How true are her words, “and three children who taught me to love.” Love can not grow in a sterile environment, but in a shared relationship of family. Learning to love as God loves takes a life time. Sometimes learning to love the unloveable is the most difficult. Learning to love through sacrifice creates compassion and patience. And most of all, understanding of our Father God’s love for us, his children. Our four children have taught me how to love, and that love is unconditional and forever and extends to their children and their children’s children and beyond.

My thanksgiving is endless as I face this new year. I live, even though death has beckoned me many times. Yet I live to face my 85^th year with trust in God, a thinking mind and good health. Whatever this year may hold, I pray God gives me grace to walk serenely in faith. That prayer gives me joy and balance.

I read these words and can see Mom’s chin become set in a path of discipline. I can almost hear her words, “I will give Thanksgiving!” Why? Because it is commanded in God’s Word – Rejoice and again I say rejoice. No matter what happens – Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18. God’s ways are not our ways – we can not understand the answers to the important “Why’s” of our life. Rather than ask why, ask, “What is God trying to teach me?”

Anna Daisy goes on to contemplate that because of her family’s genes and health, she believes she has five more years. Actually, she died six years later at the age of 91.

That gives me five more years to breath and plan, to eat and think, to work and write. Five more years! What can I accomplish to make a difference – to leave an indelible imprint on those who touch m life? Five more years to pray for miracles in the lies of my six children. (I bore three and they gave me three more). I claim them all for God. I also want my eleven grandchildren and their spouses to belong to the Lord. I want my 26 great-grandchildren safely in my own Shepherd’s fold.

The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field. Psalm 103:15

How many times I have read the most important longing in my great grandparents and grandparents’ heart was invariably – “I want my children, grandchildren and spouses, and their children with me in Heaven.” What did they know? They knew that only through Jesus Christ can this Heaven happen for their children and grandchildren. They knew that the only security is Heaven. Not possessions or government. It is their personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ that causes them to see clearly. At 83, I understand. For our greatest desire is for all our children of various generations to be with us, and so live their lives – not breaking that fragile thread of faith.

A New Year begins: God spoke to me from the pages of Genesis and Matthew this morning and I talked to God. He knows my thanksgiving and my intercessory prayers. Although world powers tremble, the visible church falter and my children stray at times, my anchor is sure. I know the sun shines brightly behind the clouds that veil my present sky. I look forward with joy into the year of 1992.

And now in 2012, my prayer echoes Mom’s prayer of thanksgiving and continuous prayer. The world powers continue to tremble, the visible church falters in its leadership and purpose, and we and our children go astray at times, and yet God is in control. Our anchor is sure. Though the sunshine in our lives grow dim, we know who holds “Tomorrow”!

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. Psalm 50:1

My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Psalm 62:7

Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre. Psalm 150:1-3

Anna, our dear daughter, also responded to Grandmother’s Journal. http://drivingwithAnna.blogspot.com, she entitles hers “The Grace To Walk Serenely in Faith“. We wrote in the same room at the same time. I love this togetherness in writing!