Wind,Rain,Winding Roads & Sunshine, The By-Ways of Life

Going Home - Article 1 - Death of a Patriarch - Jacob

The time had come––time for him to go.  The old man had been looking forward to it. 

• He wanted to get rid of the way of the human frailties that were holding him back.
• He wanted to rise above those stumbling blocks, which were keeping him earthbound.
• He wanted to walk through the door of eternity 

But He had one more task to do.  The job was not yet complete, and so he waited while they assembled around him.

As he lay there waiting, his memory went back to back then, and he began to examine the priceless treasures he had stored in his treasure chest of memories.

Yes, he thought as he saw the first memory popped out of his trove. What a precious jewel it was––the stone he had laid his head on. It was the cornerstone of life, and he had slept there without knowing. The revelation came in the form of a dream, and he had seen the stairs and heard the voice. Frightened he had awoken and sat thinking about the dreadfulness of what he had seen. As the acknowledgement of what it was came into his consciousness, he took up the stone he had laid his head on and built an altar, and  he dared to make a vow:

If God will be with me,

And will keep me in this way that I go,

And will give me bread to eat,

And raiments to put on,

So that I come again to my father's house in peace,

Then shall the LORD be my God:

And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house:

And of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

And he called that place Bethel, the house of God.

The old man smiled. Had he, the liar, the cheater, really dared to bargain with Creator of the universe, the Creator of all mankind?  And yet God has taken him up on his dare and had fulfilled his part of the bargain.

A weary sigh escaped his lips, and he turned his head to the left.  As he looked toward the wall of the tent he saw another priceless memory, and his tired heart was revived.  His eyes saw how he was weighted down with the burden of the upcoming encounter with his brother.

He had spent twenty years away from his homeland 

Twenty years,

• Working for a man that had tricked him into marrying his older daughter first,
• A man who had made him worked an additional seven years for his youngest daughter,
•  A man who had made him worked six more years taking care of his cattle and farming his land. 

Twenty long hard years!  

He had had

• No contact with his homeland,
• No mail,
• No ideas of what had taken place in the land of his birth.

He had only a Vow.

His wives and his children he had brought to safety. It was here where the most precious of his stones would be gathered. He was alone and isolated. He had no one when the man appeared. He wrestled for his life. The battle was heated, fierce and hard, yet the man continued to wrestle with him. Daybreak was about to appear, the sun was beginning to rise when the man touched the hollow of his thigh and knocked it out of its joint. Yet, he was determined not to let him go. 

"Let me go, for the day breaks."

"I will not let you go, except you bless me."

"What is your name?"

 "Jacob."

"Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince have  you power with God and with men and have prevailed."

Jacob asked him, "Tell me I pray, your name."

 Wherefore is it that you do ask after my name?  And he blessed him there.

Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.

The old man chuckled.

• Peniel  was where  he discovered it was not all about him.
• At Peniel,  he found true repentance.
• It was at Peniel when he discovered the faithfulness of the God he had made a vow to twenty years before.

The day had finally come. Home going and the old man received the strength to sit up, and he sat on the side of his bed.  Standing around him in a semi-circle was the nation of Israel, twelve tribes and the old man prophesied.  This was the final stone to go into his treasure trove of memories. This stone he would look at when he walked over.

Can't you see him people? Jacob, the Father of a nation fulfilling his last mission before crossing over. He sat up and begin to bless:   

The nation, which was chosen by God to be a blessing to anyone who blesses it,

The nation that God chose as his entry into the world forty-two generations, later, The nation that is the cornerstone of salvation for all mankind.  

Look at those twelve sons standing before their father as they received their verdicts for their future!

Jacob said, "Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob; and listen unto Israel your father."

Reuben you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed; then defiled it: you went up to my couch.

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self will they dug down a wall.  Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise:  your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: you stooped down, you couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse you up?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.  Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 

Then Jacob called out loud, "I have waited for your salvation, O LORD."

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naptali is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words.

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel). Even by the God of your father who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of the deep that lie under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb; The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Can't you see Jacob sitting on the side of his bed fulfilling his last task on his list of things to do?

Can't you see him, when he finished prophesying?

A smile came on his face. He had finished his commands.

He took one more look at all of them, and then he gathered up his feet and laid them on the bed.

With one deep sigh, he looked towards heaven and yielded his spirit up to the LORD.

O Death, where is your sting?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shalom,

 

Pat Garcia

An Introduction to a New Series - Going Home

Recently, people who I treasure dearly had to say goodbye to loved ones, and I had to say goodbye to a friend. This week, a dear friend of mine, Carolyn Shanks had to say good-bye to her eighteen-year-old nephew. He had cancer. Almost a month ago, another dear friend and writer, Peggi Tustan, whom I cherished, had to say goodbye to her mother, and yesterday, I learned of the departure of a dear writer and defender of children, Sandra MacLeod Humphrey and her husband Brian Humphrey, killed by a fire that broke out in their home.  As Christians, we all know this earth is not our home, but during the hectic, which rages in our lives, we tend to forget how close we walk next to the portal called death.

The fact is there is a door all of us have to face, and it is the door of death. Some scientists call it the final frontier, but I call it the final door before crossing over into eternity unless the LORD returns soon.

Another fact is no one can predict how he or she will leave this world. Strange things happen, events take place, which we cannot explain, and we have to walk through that door. We do not have a choice.  However, the reality for me as a Christian is that when my time comes, and I have to face that door and walk through it, Jesus will be on the other side of it. He'll be waiting at the end for me.

That is my blessed hope and the hope of every Christian I know. Our faith is built upon this blessed hope. Thus, the sting of death does not lie upon us, but the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. The victory over death has been won, and we march forth, not worrying about when we will die, but resting in the assurance that when we are absent in this body, we will be present with our LORD.

As said in a passage of Scripture I love so dearly,

Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your sting?

O grave, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which give us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.[1]

I don't know how often a new article will appear in this new series, but I have named it, Going Home, and it is and will be a biblical story and dedicated to all those Christian warriors who have finished their journey and have walked through the final door into eternity to be with the LORD.  The first article will appear shortly, and I hope that it will be a comfort those who are seeking comfort.

Be Blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shalom,

 

Pat Garcia

---

[1] 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.  The Bible. King James Version.

Here I Am Again

At one-minute pass midnight on November 1, 2012, NaNoWriMo began. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and there are authors all over the world who participate. 

This was my third time participating.  The first two years I did not finish.  I would start only to tire out or become disgusted with what I was writing.  Besides due to being frustrated with the whole challenge, I was unwilling to put in the time and energy one needs to take to complete such a project. I thought I could do a thousand other projects and still meet my goal.  That is not possible, at least for me it is not.

So, this year, I planned it differently.  Why? I got tired of having a guilty feeling resulting from my not giving NaNo my best shot. Sure, I know NaNo is a fun type of thing, but even in fun, you don't want the joke to be on you, and that is how I felt the first two years after not reaching my goal of 50000 words.

Determined, this time I was going to go all the way, I prepared myself mentally. I informed every person I had built a relationship with, husband, friends, writing groups, and even animals, just kidding about the animals, I was doing NaNo, and would perhaps disappear for some days, but if something significant happen to them that was earth shaking, they could reach me on my computer through email. Having my notifications on, I could see when emails came into my mailboxes without opening up the email.

I had already developed my main characters in my novel and became friends with them. We got to know one another, and I fell in love with them, and I had a topic I wanted my characters to handle.  It worked. They are handling the topic wisely. My novel is not yet complete, but I had the word count validated yesterday at 57026 words. 

Am I happy? You bet.

NaNo is coming to a close for this year, and I have begun to get back into the flow of writing my own blogs, catching up on blogs I follow, preparing for a singing engagement, and participating in my writing groups. 

I truly enjoyed NaNo.  Completing it successfully made me aware of a few things about myself, I did not know.

NaNoWriMo comes again next year. Maybe, just maybe, I'll participate once more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao,

Pat Garcia

Thoughts On Thanksgiving

They say the winter was extremely harsh that year. The people had just endured a sixty-five day travel across an uncontrollable ocean, and their strength was depleted. 

 

• No charter,
• No law enforcement,
• No township,
• No help,
• Only faith!

Upon boarding the ship, no one thought about the complications and complexities they would face. They were looking for a land where they could live out their faith as they believed.

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land, I will show you.[1] 

It was winter when they arrived. Unable to reach the Hudson River because of tumultuous storms, their forced landing danced in their minds as they thought about an incident, which had happened thirty years before their arrival. Another group of people had also landed.  They disappeared.

• No trace,
• No grave markings,
• No messages left behind,
• Only their shelters and three letters engrave on a tree, CRO.

Although thirty years had passed, it was an unforgotten occurrence that plague people until this day, and it has been recorded in history with the name, The Lost Colony.

Contrary to many myths, the women and children stayed on board the ship as the men scouted out the land and found the appropriate spot to build a shelter. The Captain who had been persuaded to stay and leave in spring, after threatening to throw them on shore, soon became a blessing––the shelter they built, caught fire and burned down,  and his ship once again became the home for all.

Tests of endurance usually come in packages and follow in sequence and not intervals. Soon, they would be struck down with what was then called the General Sickness and forty-six people died.  

During this period of sickness, the settlers were alone. The Native Americans had already had unpleasant experiences with some of the first visitors. They had captured them for the lucrative slave markets in Europe to be sold as human goods. One or two of the Native Americans managed to escape, and through many hardships had found their way back to their own country, only to find out their tribes were wiped out.  So, they were skeptical of the settlers landing on their shores.

Sign languages as shown in most Hollywood films with Native Americans were not needed. There were some who through their enslavement had learned the English language.  One of these men, Squanto, would be the key to the people's overcoming a harsh winter.

It was after this harsh winter and their survival that Governor John Carver called for a special celebration to give thanks for being survivors. The event was held only once.

In 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale set out to make the memory of this event a national holiday.  Her pleas, however, fell upon deaf ears, until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it as a National Holiday, in 1863. Lincoln called for it to be a day of celebration on the last Thursday in the month of November.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday in November, and so it has been ever since.

On this day, people from all over the United States of America come together to celebrate Thanksgiving.

1. Have you forgotten the origin of its history?
2. Have you taken the time to examine yourself and give thanks?

Yes, I know, some people think Thanksgiving should be an everyday practice, but there is something unique about taking the time to consider the difficulties, the joys, and the sorrows you have faced, there is something remarkable about the wisdom gained and knowledge acquired when you realize you were not alone when you thought you were. These are those memorable moments when the peace that surpasses all your understanding comes upon you and your heart begins to declare:

 

Yes! It is a good thing to give thanks unto you LORD,

It is a good thing to sing praises to your name, O Most High,

To show forth your loving kindness in the morning,

And your faithfulness every night.

 

For you have made me glad through the works of your hands.

I will triumph in the works of your hands![2]

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Everyone!

 

And to those men and women of the United States, regardless of whether you are African-American or Caucasian, Hispanic or Native American, African or Asian, Jewish or Arab, who are serving in the United States Armed Forces, or the Ambassador Core as Foreign Diplomats, or as Medical Personnel trying to save lives in foreign countries where medical services are rare and unheard of,  and to all the others who are working in a foreign environment that I have not mentioned, whatever else your specialty may be,  you are representing the United States of America outside of its borders, and your dedication and  your tenacity to do your duty are two of the characteristics of integrity that make the United States of America the country  it is. I thank you!  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao,

Pat Garcia

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

---

[1] Genesis 12:1, The Bible, The New International Version, 1984 Edition, ZONDERVAN

[2] Psalm 92:1,2,4,  The Bible, The New International Version, 1984 Edition, ZONDERVAN