Christmas Time

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. December 8, 2007.}


Many years ago when I had a lil 5 year old boy, we got kicked out of our apartment just before Christmas. . A church moved us to another apartment, thank the Lord. . And when we got there, we had no food.  It was a sad time. 


I remember my lil boy telling the landlady, that threw us out, . . "It's almost my Birthday."  I sat at the window in my new apartment and looked out . . I spoke to Jim out there somewhere in that snowy world. . . "Where are you, Jim? It's almost Christmas."  


I just thought, "Why Lord ..why haven't you answered my prayers?" God knew ahead of time what my life would be like. . I was so devastated, but the Lord knew my future. . He had it in His hands. . The Lord couldn't even tell me the glorious answers to prayer that I was about to see in the years ahead. . .


Had an angel come to see me and told me my future, I wouldn't have believed it.  But I was to go on and see 26 more years of a healed marriage. . I was to spend 26 of the most glorious Christmases I could ever imagine.


I was to see my beloved husband give his heart and life to Christ. . I was to have 5 more children. . I didn't know how good God was. .  . I was to give my story of a healed marriage, not just to my state of Iowa, but around the world. . I didn't know the goodness of God or his power. . I wasn't even a writer then. . I was young, just 25 years old. . The world just looked at me and Jim as 2 accidents going some place. . 


Years later, after the Lord gave us a miracle, a lady who was a politician's wife came to me for counseling. . She paid me to counsel her. . She was a dear saint. . That was mind boggling to me. 


 Now at this Christmas time, in the natural, looks so bleak to me.  I think back to that snowy Christmas years ago when all seemed lost. . . . And I think of how God made it all up to me and gave me double blessings. . He gives us exceeding and abundantly more then we can think or ask. . 


 As you follow Christ you will see His glory.  . Decide that you will not be defeated and that you will not quit. .


love Connie

 

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Walking by Faith - Remembering son David

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. June 2015.}


Ya know in my testimony "Bring Him Home"... I explain that when Jim came home and had given his heart to the Lord, he had asked me to have another child. . We had 3 children already ...Well I didn't want to have anymore children at the time. . Jim never stayed home over 3 months.  . and when he asked me to have another child he was due to leave me again. . He had been home about 2 and a half months. . I was trying to keep a cap on my fears. .

Yes I believed he was truly a Christian now. . But even Christians make mistakes. . I was wanting him to prove himself and be home maybe a year? at least? before we took on another baby..? 

But the Lord spoke to my heart that I needed to continue to walk  by faith. . . So I said "Yes" to Jim's desire to have another child. .  I wanted another child too. . .but I was just wanting to wait a while. .

Anyway our dear David was due on Jim's birthday, Oct 27th. . Jim got to see him being born. . Jim  hadn't been with me for the first 3 children. . Jim had been healed and was to be home with us until he died, 27 years later...

Our David was always so quiet .. A  peace maker.....He was deeply spiritual. . When I homeschooled the children, we started every day with devotions. .The children had to answer questions about the Bible. . David always knew the answers. . And when most of the kids moved away after Jim died, and they were grown. . . David never moved away. . His wife, the other day, told me that David stayed close to watch over his mother. . me. . He refused to leave.

David is our son who died a year ago on June 16th .  . He died at age 33 . . His wife had their children pick out bushes and plant them in their yard as a remembrance of  the first year after David's death. . The plants were called David. . . and they were white. . I had often written about the pure white rose with the crimson stain. . .

About a month ago, David's wife brot a pic over that she framed. . David was an artist. . Anyway, it was a pic of a Locked heart with a ribbon flowing through it that says Mom and Dad on it. . Now Jim and David are in Heaven together.

 

And I don't mean to say David was perfect. . But there seems to be a reason for his birth. . probably more than what I know. . And a reason for his death. .

 

After we had his memorial and we were all out visiting on my front  porch, carloads of  kids rolled in and came up on the porch. . I heard over and over . . . as they shook hands with me and introduced themselves. . "David was our best friend"... I fought back the tears then as I do now. . I trust in God to heal my broken heart. . . .Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. . Love Connie

 

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!*