June 16

Tomorrow is June 16, a big day of celebration for our family.

My baby boy’s cheerful “Happy birthday, Pappy!” runs through my head and makes me smile and make me cry.

My little boy loves sharing a birthday with his Pappy.

Pappy said I’d never top that birthday present. 

And now the day has come to celebrate that little boy, and his Pappy isn’t here with us.

But oh how Pappy is in a place of celebration!
We cannot fathom the joy, the peace, the happiness.

So while we are sad, and that’s okay, we can turn our hearts to Heaven and praise God for eternity.

We can keep celebrating birthdays on earth and thank God for every day we have here and also remember that this earth is not our home and we are looking for the one to come, our forever home purchased with the blood of Christ.

“For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭

Grief

Grief is such a fickle feeling,   

Waning and waxing like the moon, 

And sometimes sitting still like fog, 

Hovering, hindering sight. 

Sometimes it trickles down upon you; 

Sometimes it rains down hard, 

Flooding, drowning, carrying you 

To where it seems so dark. 

Then the sun shines through the rain 

And memories resurface, 

Those puffy clouds of happiness 

That turn your countenance. 

Yes grief is such a fickle feeling, 

But Jesus is the same today

And yesterday and tomorrow.

He changes not. I’ll rest in Him.

Pappy

Gone from us but not gone forever.

Though we mourn today, we’ll rejoice forever,

For earthly death is not the end of his story. 

He has a Savior that gives life eternal.

He loved his life with his wife and children.

His grandchildren were truly his crown of glory.

United in love because our God is love,

We will treasure this life and the one to come.

Roger Kevin McLennan

June 16, 1955-January 29, 2023

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬ 

Incarnation: Glorious Manifestation (Christmas 2022)

Oh think of the blessed Incarnation;

Ponder the great majesty of Christ’s birth,

Oh that glorious Manifestation,

God’s love in human form brought down to earth.

The Prophecies told how Jesus would come.

The shadows and pictures were drawn of Him,

On David’s throne and over his kingdom

The Lord of hosts, glorious diadem.

But humbly He came as a baby boy,

And meekly that child grew into a man.

That man laid down His life for the joy

Set before Him and according to plan.

The sovereign King died that we would receive

Eternal life and calls us to believe.

He Came to Save (Christmas 2021)

Our Sovereign Savior came to earth.

Glorious ones announced His birth.

They came to shepherds keeping sheep.

The message made them run and leap

To see the Babe, to see the King,

The One Who came to save.

They beheld the Lamb of God.

These lowly shepherds gave Him laud.

He came to do what man could not,

To walk our road, to take our lot.

To keep the law, to die our death,

The One Who came to save.

The invitation: come believe,

Come by faith and come receive

Salvation from Christ our Lord

Jesus the One by shepherds adored.

Because He loved, because He paid,

Because He came to save.

Christmas 2020

 I AM: Before time began He was.

CREATOR: Without Him nothing was made that was made.

IMMANUEL: God with Us is His name.

SON OF DAVID: Prophecy fulfilled, He’s King of Kings.

FRIEND OF SINNERS: Praise God for His mercy to us.

SAVIOR OF MAN: He came that we might live.

SACRIFICE: His love held Him on that cross bearing our sin.

RISEN: Sin’s price has been paid, and He lives. 

LORD: Every knee will bow and declare that it’s true.

JESUS: He came to deliver His own.

CHRIST: He’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Praise His name! 

Oh praise to the Father, the Spirit, the Son!

2019 Comes to an End with Deliberate

        At the beginning of 2019, I decided to walk through the year with the word deliberate.  I had successes and failures throughout the year, but the goal was to walk out the year deliberately walking out the good works God has so mercifully prepared for me as Ephesians 2:10 says,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good 

works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should 

walk in them.

And God is so good. The failures are not for nothing. The hurts are not for nothing. The good, the bad, it’s all for His glory. It’s for our good. It’s all filtered through His great love for His people.

               I was driving a few days ago and thinking about this year, about how I walked out the year with deliberate. I was thinking about how I didn’t really think about the word a lot during the year. I just wanted to live the life God has for me and to live it for His glory. I fail daily, but I know that I must keeping walking forward in faith, knowing one day He will make all things right, knowing He is still working in me. I thought about past years and the words I have chosen and how this is not about me; it’s always about learning more about God, more about His great mercy, his faithfulness, etc. And this year was no different. It hit me: God is always deliberate. Through sermons from Judges, Ruth, and a series on evil and suffering, the truth is there that God is deliberate. He is sovereign over all of His creation.  His purposes are good. It can be an incredibly hard truth to wrestle with, but in it is found great peace. It was His deliberate plan and by His foreknowledge that Jesus Christ was handed over to be crucified (Acts 2:23). It is for great good that Christ came into this world to save sinners. It is for great good that through suffering and evil, we see God’s great goodness, mercy, and grace.

               2019 was a good year. God is growing our family in knowledge of Him in our new home. I look forward to what God has planned for 2020. May we walk it out for His glory.