Spiritual Rest - in Remembrance of Connie Hultquist

 

Connie Hultquist (1947 - 2021)

 

 Connie passed into Heaven on November 18, 2021, at the age of 74.  She was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother who was loved by many.  

Her incredible marriage testimony was first published in "Above Rubies Magazine" in the year 2000.  Her daily writings about faith, family, motherhood, and the home inspired and encouraged hundreds of readers over many years.  Her book, "Dear Kitchen Saints" is a compilation of many of those writings and includes a copy of her marriage testimony.  

She wrote from the heart, out of a lifetime of experience.  She also corresponded with many and counseled them, cheering them along to better days.  When someone came to her, weeping, sharing their troubles, she would help brighten their day with encouragement and advice and then say, with great faith, "That ain't nothing."  She knew without a single doubt that God was in control and could handle anything.  This calmed and soothed many tired mothers and got them through the hard days.  

Her life made a tremendous impact on a multitude of people.  She was a mentor and spiritual Mother to many. She will be remembered with gratefulness. Her life was a gift and a blessing to all who knew her, whether in person, or through her writings.  She will be greatly missed.

I came across one of her old letters, from the year 2013.  (I have gently edited it, to fix some spelling, but left it mostly in its original condition. To find out more about how her letters were written, using a small email machine, please see our About page.)  In this brief three- part message, she talks about her daily writings and how inadequate she felt to do this ministry that God called her to do.  The title is, "Spiritual Rest" and really helps to sum up her wonderful sense of humor and wisdom as she humbly shares about her struggles to write. 

- Mrs. White, site administrator

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters. April 17, 2013.}

 Part 1 "He is Strong in Us."

Ya know? Every time the ladies get me a new group or the ministry is promoted. . I get scared and can't write. . So the ladies tell everyone how much they will like my writings and I don't write at all. . Well . I can't help it. . I am just the type of woman that would be happy totally isolated in a cabin in Alaska.  

The audience I mostly speak to are the ages of my own grown children. And you all have a lot of energy. . I feel like I am in a race car and the ladies who are driving are going 140 miles an hour.  I am in the back seat trying not to faint, and to walk by faith ya know.  I see you alls point and I agree with ya. . But its like, "What am I doing here?" 

Well I know you're thinking, I am just a bit slower on the draw then you all are. . In my heart of hearts I am thrilled . . this is such a faith adventure. . I love it. . but its as though I am wearing a pair of shoes that are way too big for me. .  Or its like I have to grow spiritually into this position. . Its like I cry unto the Lord..."Lord I don't know how to do this,". . And yet I wouldn't miss it for the WORLD...!!!

So I go before the Lord as a hunk of clay that is all goofed up. . And I say to the Lord, "Lord please make something out of me."  I know I can't write in the flesh . . . I guess when we are weak He can be strong in us. . He does choose the foolish things of the earth to confound the wise. . I guess if I had a lot of confidence in my education or my degrees, maybe He couldn't use me. . But I guess I am just silly enough to make enough blunders and mistakes in front of God and everyone that it speaks to my readers, that if Connie can be used of God to write. . . then anyone can. . . My human weakness I think is my greatest value to the Lord. . Yet I hate it of course. . I would love to be perfect. . But that aint gonna happen. . . 

 

Part 2 "Oh Sweet Jesus"

 

 Well it helped for me to write that first part. . I can see I was looking at myself to see if I was good enough to be a writer. . But what the Lord uses me for is to show my weakness. And in my weakness He is made strong.

When Jimmy my oldest son was here we talked about my writing. .This son of mine loves getting new college degrees. . He has a good job as a light designer. . I ask him if he read any of my writings and he said no. . Then he turns around to me and says, "How do you spell 'WOULD'?"  He is full of dry humor.  . I said, "Well Jimmy I started out writing on an email machine. . They are small and you can't write much. . So that's why I spell would as 'wud'. . I said sometimes I spell would 'wd' "..... I forgot to tell him that Andrew Jackson said that he didn't think very much of a person that couldn't think of more than one way to spell a word. . Jimmy has always said about me that I write for the common person on the street. . I took this as a complement. . But Jimmy is so funny. . he makes me laugh. . He helped me with my computer when he was here. . I appreciated that. . He took Computer Science in college. . But anyway he lives in Australia. . so I don't get to see him and his family that much. . Then here I spell like a hillbilly and Jimmy's wife is an English professor. . Oh GLORIOUS JESUS come down sweet chariots and please take us to Heaven with You....

 

Part 3 "Spiritual Rest"

 

 Well I have been up most of the night . . But I am glad I got some things figured out . . Hopefully I will be peaceful now. . I can see I just have to obey the Lord. . I don't have to be perfect to write. . I just have to obey the Lord and write . . There is no rest like spiritual rest. I pray I will be like little Samuel, when he was a child.  He heard the Lord speak to him and he said, "Speak Lord for thy servant heareth."

 Love Connie

 

 {Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

 

You are invited on a HOME TOUR - a view of the inside of Connie's house. 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

Peace in the Home

Connie's Kitchen

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. October 6, 2009.}

  Ya know Jim and I went through Hell and high water, but the end of our married lives was peace.  No we didn't have perfect lives around here but we were happy.  

Oh my gosh we were poor. . . We ate lots of cornbread and biscuits and gravy, Gobs of mashed potatoes and every meal began with one pound of hamburger.  Mary still says I make hamburgers like no one else.  Well I always used the hamburger with all the fat in it, it was cheaper. . The kids now - days buy more lean meat.  Man we lived on fat.  All of my kids were thin and Jim too.  I got fatter as the kids got older.  But I was always really thin when the kids were babies.

But we as wives need to learn to be wives again and old-fashioned mothers. We are called to be home and to pray for our families.  We are to be raising priests and prophets and handmaidens for God.

We live in a rotten society.  But that doesn't mean that the Bible has changed, Or that God changed His mind on a wife's call to domestication and holiness.  

And it don't matter if the adult kids are livin' like Hell.  Who cares, we are to pray for them until they get it right.  We gotta get in the dirt with 'em and help them out.  Fear screams at us that we cant do that.  But yeah we were sinners once so we can get down in the dirt with the kids.  Well God can't.  He is holy.  But He expects us to have mercy on our own flesh and blood.  It don't matter how old they are.

Oh I want to say so much to you wives and moms as a Titus 2 mother.  I want to teach you to be equipped for every good work.  I just wanna say, "Don't look at the world and what it is doing in this age. Just do what the Word says even though it may seem out of date, it isn't. The teachings in the Word for women are true.  It says we are to be chaste, discreet keepers at home. 

Be pure in all things.  Do what is right dear moms. Give your lives to the Lord and serve Him.  Be missionaries in your homes.  Raise your children for the Lord with whatever you have.  Be Marys and Elisabeths. . . Sarahs and Ruths.  Let these Bible prophetess' be your examples. Draw and woo your husbands through prayer to be men of God.  Be their sword bearers and helpers.  Pray for them until you see His glory."

Love Connie

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

All of My Children are Taught of the Lord (Difficulty of Motherhood)

Connie's Kitchen

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. February 7, 2010.}

 

 

Part 1 -  "Dear Mothers"

 

 Dear Mothers,

Well a storm is coming again.  We missed the last one. . . I have to go to the store. . I need to make sure I have the wash done in case the power goes out.

This winter has been, um, snowy?  Yesterday Mary called on her way to work. She lives about 15 miles from town. So she usually calls me on her way into town.  I told her the news about Sissy.  And I said, "Your Sister still does her shopping at the Salvation Army.". . Mary said sadly. . . "Mom, we don't even have a Salvation Army in our town."  I said, "You're a Hultquist and you have no Salvation Army near you? That's almost a crime."

I have told the story about the wheel chair at the S.A...But I need a good laugh.  One time when Mary was about 10 we were all at the S.A. And Mary got tired of looking . . . So she went to the back of the store and sat in this old wheel chair to wait for us. . Well this Christian man was back there and he began to talk to Mary. . He told her that he knew it must be hard to be sick and in a wheel chair. . . Mary was so shy she didn't say anything.  Pretty soon it was time to go and Jim yelled for the kids to go. . . .Mary, of course, jumped out of the wheel chair and ran for the door. . . That poor astonished man probably thought she got healed or something.  Mary told all of us the story later on.  I told Mary she should have just said she was resting in the wheel chair waiting for her family. . . But Mary just stayed quiet. . . What a girl.

Another funny story was this:  Jim would pull into the Salvation Army parking lot and give the kids a lecture before he allowed them out of the car. . . He had given them each a couple bucks to spend. . . He would say to the kids,"Now when I say you can go?  Don't you all start running like crazy people for the door.". . But when he said they could go. . . "GO" they would!!! You could hear the pounding of running shoes on the pavement. . Like a fast herd of buffalo they would stampede for the S.A. 

Sis always told me,"Mom some day I want to work for the Salvation Army so I can get all the good stuff when it first comes in."  When Sis first came to NYC she would go to the S.A. and buy clothes and she would then sell the clothes at the Vintage Stores. . If you have an eye for what people like you can make some pretty good money doing that.  The first dresses she created were from old prom dresses she got from the S.A. . Jimmy lived in NY at the time too.  He said he would see women walk by down-town in prom dresses Sis had made over from the Salvation Army.  They were women who normally wore the most expensive designer dresses. Jimmy said he laughed his head off when he saw these women walk by.

Mary has a real eye too for style.  But she is much more country . . She loves the long flowing skirts and dresses.  She loves to decorate at home.  Mary's look is more Wild West. . Well sometimes, and other times not. 

Both girls could make it no matter where they were.  Sis said she would have died in NYC had she not known how to make corn bread.  And she said she lived on beans and rice too, and lentils. When she first went to NY she said she was so amazed at the pan-handlers. . She felt bad for them until she saw their expensive tennis shoes and red and green hair. . She said she thought, "Dad worked at anything and supported all of us kids. . These kids can find a job too." Sis told everyone about her Dad working and taking care of all of us on a very small wage. .

 

 
Part 2 -  "All of My Children are Taught of the Lord and Great is Their Peace"

 

And no, I didn't want Sis to run off to NYC. . . My Christian friends comforted me with a serious tone,"Don't worry Connie, she will be back. A lot of kids run to NYC after high school . .but very few ever make it in NY.  Its expensive and she won't be able to keep up with the big guns there. She will be glad to get back home." 

But as time has gone on Sis has stayed. . I had cried and prayed she would come home but she didn't. Somehow I raised her to dream and to see beyond the natural . . And at this point this is how it has played out in her life.  Now Dan is with her in NY.  He lives up the street. I wonder what he will do. Dan makes his own way too.  He works at whatever he can to pay rent. But his dream is his music. .  . I am happy to say that my kids work for what they need. Mary is pregnant ya know? And she will stay home once she has her baby. Mary is so happy.  What a miracle she is. My dream come true. There is such JOY when she phones me. How happy I am for her.  If she has a girl she is naming her middle name after me, Elizabella Constance {Connie}. . . If its a boy he will be named after Jim,"James Russel." Russel after Brads middle name.  Mary is so full of joy.  I tell her, "Mary I am so happy for you to have such a joyful thing happen to you.  God is so good.". . She and Brad are such miracles.

But boy has it been wild raising these 6 kids. .  . Its like a wild circus ride that you can't get off of. . . You yell at the guy running the ride every time you ride by him. . . "Stop this thing I want off." But he smiles and acts like he can't hear you. . And you yell, "Stop the world I want to get off." But you keep going round and round and round and round. . .

 

 Part 3 -  "Through the Valley of the Shadows"

 

 And ya know Mary Lehman my mentor taught me so much about loving my children. The older Titus mother was to teach the younger mothers to love their children.  Mary L. would tell me so often,"Connie just love those kids. . . They will do ok.". . Well I think in the old days if a kid acted up you threw 'em out as soon as they could work, and be on their own.  A rebellious son could throw the whole family off, or a daughter too. . But now a days its pretty dangerous to do that.

Jim's and my way was to walk with the kids through the Valley of the Shadows of Death.  In other words, you stay in touch with your prodigal. . . Even though you don't want to. . . Its hard when you have a kid that is hell bent to go nuts and drive everyone else nuts too.  For a Mother, its like running into a burning building to talk with a person who is calling you names. Been there and done that.  But ya know I was never willing to let the devil have one of my kids, not one.  

And no.. me and my happy band of Pinocchios are not very good examples of Christian living. . . My face is red as a beet.  Jim is tucked away in Heavenly Glory so I can't blame him for why all the kids do what they do.

But like Mary L. always told me,"Connie love is the answer," I never really got that as a young mom. But I get it better now. . . Its hard but I get it.  I read one other comment when I Googled my name the other day. . . one Lady said, "Well you can't help but love those Hultquists." I think of that often.  As my face is red and I am scared to death, I think of my life as a widow. . . How imperfect we Hultquists are.  But you-alls love, I think, has been a real healing to me.  Hopefully in our imperfections you can't help but love us. . .

 

Love Connie

 

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.*