Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
I like the snow. I know, that’s not a popular opinion to hold but it is true. I really do like and enjoy it. We have had a very snowy winter in Pennsylvania thus far and not just a snowy winter, but a rather icy winter too! While I may be a fan of snow, I draw the line at ice. You can more or less drive in the snow but ice—not so much.
We had an ice storm a few weeks ago and it threw everything off. Schools closed, the interstate had restrictions on travel, and I had to cancel a whole day of work because everything was coated in ice and I mean everything! Power lines, trees, cars, our walkways were all coated in a thick layer of glittering ice. Then we got snow—about eight inches on top of the ice.
Getting inches of snow on top of ice does not make for the easiest snow removal but you know what it does make the best for? Pictures! The ice acted as an adhesive for all the snow and the snow and ice clung to the branches of the trees, bushes, and everything else. As the sun came up, everything was glittering, shining, and silver-coated; the trees were so beautiful that you could scarcely take your eyes off of them. The whole landscape looked like it had been kissed by God’s glory.
The snow and ice in the trees hung around for a few days and the winter landscape in Pennsylvania never looked so beautiful, at least not in a while. I was marveling at the beauty of it as I was driving a few days after the storm. The snow really does make everything look better! There is an old building in need of major repair not too far from my house, but when I came around the bend and saw it covered in snow, I couldn’t tell that the building wasn’t in the best of conditions. The snow had covered, at least superficially, the building’s stains and imperfections.
The Pharisees of Jesus’s day were like the snow-covered building. They acted holy but their hearts were not pure. Jesus came to purify our hearts—not to give us a superficial covering. When we act like our good deeds will save us, we are acting like the Pharisees. What did Jesus say about the Pharisees? In Matthew 23:27Jesus says they are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but full of decay inside. We are like a crypt—before we learned how to embalm! Would you want to venture into one of those?
That is what we are in God’s sight but for Jesus. When we truly turn our lives over to Him we are no longer like the stinking tomb in the eyes of our Father but a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17). We are covered in the blood of Jesus and as beautiful as the world after a snow and ice storm.
God loved us so much that He sent His Son, not only sent but demoted His Son to this world—to a lowly station—so that we might believe in Him and thereby live with Him eternally. He could have left us to be like the rotting tombs but He didn’t. He cared and loved us too much to leave us to that destiny. Jesus willingly came to earth so that through Him the world could be kissed by God’s glory. When we accept Him and put Him on the throne of our hearts and live according to His commands, we reflect His glory to all.
Real quick! Before I get started with the actual post, I just wanted to drop in and mention that if after reading this post you decided to purchase any of these titles I ask that you consider doing so through the affiliate links provided. Doing so will not increase the cost of the book to you, and it is a tangible way you can support and help me be able to keep bringing you these posts each week! Thanks in advance, and now- on to the good stuff!
The Shape of Mercy
This was the first book I read by Ms. Meissner and it is about one of my favorite time periods—the Salem Witch trials!
Lauren wants to make her own way in the world; she does not want to rely on her family’s wealth and connections to cushion her life. This leads Lauren to take a job from 83-year-old Abigail Boyles transcribing journal entries of one of Abigail’s ancestors—a victim of the Salem Witch—Mercy Hayworth.
As Lauren starts to transcribe the journal entries, she finds herself enraptured with Mercy’s life. Lauren also realizes that the secrets contained in Mercy’s journal are still playing a part in Abigail’s life today. Lauren also realizes that she may, in a subtler way, be doing some of the same things that the accusers did to Mercy, to the people in her own life. How will she respond moving forward?
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Emily has dreams of becoming a wedding dress designer, a dream she is actively pursuing at the age of 15 when she lands a job in a local wedding dress shop. However, such dreams may have to wait as World War II is underway and Britain has come under attack with threats of bombing from Germany. Still being underage, Emily and her seven-year-old little sister, Julia, are sent to live in the country. This means Emily has to leave her job at the wedding dressmakers, which she is loath to do.
One day Emily receives a letter from her old boss inviting her to come to London to meet her boss’s brother who is a well-known costume designer and who may be willing to tutor Emily and enormously enhance her career opportunities. Emily determines to sneak away from this house in the country in the middle of the night to make this meeting—but problems arise when Julia discovers her plans and threatens to give Emily away, unless Emily takes Julia with her.
Having made their way back to England, Emily leaves Julia in their mother’s flat while she goes to her meeting. Part way through her meeting the blitz starts. Emily is frantic to get back to Julia but it is not easy to make way through a city being riddled with bombs. When Emily at last gets back to their flat, Julia is gone. Will they both make it through the blitz and will they ever be reunited again?
In America we remember the shortages and rationing those on the home front were forced to practice but the Brits had it far worse. Imagine sending away your child for their safely in a time of war not knowing if you would ever see them again, not knowing who you would lose in the nightly bombings. This novel brought to my attention more of the destruction of Britain than I ever gave thought to.
As Bright as Heaven
I devoted a whole post to this book, read As Bright As Heaven here, but to give you an overview, this is about a family who moves to Philadelphia right before the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The father has just taken a job working in his uncle’s mortuary. Then the influenza comes to their town. They are overwhelmed with the dead, dying and the ill people. It is hard to walk the line between caring for the ill and keeping themselves safe. The main character, young Maggie, and her mother try to do their part and go out delivering food to some of the people their town. It is on one of these excursions that Maggie finds an abandoned baby boy and falls in love; she wants him to replace the infant brother the family lost just before they moved. But this infant may not be as abandoned as Maggie first thought…. Will the past come back to haunt them?
As well as being a compelling story, I enjoyed the unique look at the 1918 influenza as told from the point of view of the undertaker’s family. It is so easy, when we look at past events such as this, to focus on the horrific loss of life, but we sometimes forget to look at the horrific events that the living had to endure during the same time.
The Nature of Fragile Things
The Nature of Fragile Things centers around the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. As the book opens, the main character, Sophie, is being interrogated by the U.S. Marshall concerning the whereabouts of her husband who has been missing since the day of the earthquake. The Marshall wants to know why Sophie waited so long to go to the police about her missing husband—what kind of wife waits six weeks to report that her husband is missing?
Sophie is an immigrant from Ireland, turned mail order bride. She answers an advertisement that a widower is in need of a wife to help him raise his young daughter. Sophie goes, excited to be a loving mother to young Cat, but things don’t seem quite right with her new husband. Sophie writes off his reticence as he is still grieving the loss of his late wife but as more and more things begin to surface Sophie finds it hard to ignore all of these things… . Moreover, Sophie is afraid that her husband’s secrets could be the undoing of her own secrets that she desperately wants to keep hidden.
I have always enjoyed the books I have read by Susan Meissner but this one pulled me into the story exceptionally quickly and held my interest! Over the years I have read a little about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 but this book was a good peak into what life really looked like for the people living there in the days immediately following the quake.
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Proverbs 27: 17 NIV
I’m sure you have heard of Milton Hershey and if you have not heard of Hershey himself, then I am sure you have heard of Hershey Chocolates—the company he founded—and you may have even heard of the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, where his chocolate factories were originally located and all of his chocolate was produced.
Like so many entrepreneurs, things had not gone smoothly for Milton Hershey; he had tried to start companies before and his first two companies had gone bankrupt. By the time he started Hershey Chocolates, most of his friends and family, who at one point were willing to financially back him, had had enough of his business ventures and would no longer help to support him in these ventures.
Milton Hershey had started working in a candy shop at the age of 14. He started a candy business and it flopped; he moved to Denver, Colorado and it was there that he learned how to make caramel with milk. Returning to Pennsylvania, he started making the caramels and selling them from a pushcart. After three years of selling from a pushcart, he started the Lancaster Caramel Company. He continued to work in this business and dabble in chocolate-making for the next 16 years. Finally, he sold that business and started the Hershey Chocolate Company. This business finally took off! After so many years and failed attempts, finally something was working! But then, one of his employees and friend decided to leave—to start his own candy shop. This candy would use Hershey’s same chocolate recipe but would encase a smooth peanut butter filling in the center. Hershey’s friend’s name who started this? You guessed it—H.B. Reese, maker of the Reeses cups. Instead of getting mad at his friend for using the expertise Milton had taught him to start his own candy company, in the same town yet, Milton still extended friendship to Reese. They created a mutually beneficial relationship with Reese buying his chocolate from Hershey to make his Reeses cups.
How would you have responded if you had been in Hershey’s shoes? I think I would have been mad! But Hershey had the wisdom and maturity to not overreact and instead he leaned into the friendship, and believed the best about Reese, that he was not out to topple Hershey’s empire but rather he was chasing his own passions and dreams, and it led to deepening their friendship.
Sometimes God places people in our lives to challenge us. In Proverbs we are told, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 NIV). Sometimes our friends will challenge us in ways that we like, that make us think of things in a new way. Other times being sharpened by another person won’t always make for the most comfortable experience for us, but it will stretch us beyond our comfort zones, teach us patience, and ultimately shape us into the people God has designed for us to be.
The next time a friend or acquaintance does something that you weren’t expecting and that you frankly don’t like, try to remember they are most likely not doing it to hurt you. Most likely they are just living their life. Extend a little grace, perhaps talk to them about your feelings if it is appropriate, and remember to extend Christ’s example of loving others. Look for ways in which God could use this experience to grow and shape you to be who He wants you to be—who knows what could grow from your efforts!
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I love history, I love vintage items, and I love using vintage items and antiques in my decor. But, I also think this is something everyone should do. Adding vintage items is one of the easiest ways to make your home timeless. Few and far between are the homes that can’t benefit from a few touches from the past. You may not want to add so many that your home starts to feel like an antique shop, but sprinkling in a few vintage pieces here and there will give your house a collected feel and depth that you simply can’t buy at the nearest chain store.
By adding vintage to your décor, you give your home a timelessness and collected feel that cannot be gotten any other way. Look at homes in magazines—I’ll bet just about all of them contain one element that you could not just go to the nearest chain store to purchase. That is the other thing about adding vintage items to your decor—it makes your home unique. It is very unlikely that anyone else will have the exact same vintage piece as you do and, even rarer, that they would use it the same way as you do. Is it expensive? I suppose if you are buying original antique chairs from the 18th century then yes, they will come at a price; however, so many vintage items can be found for a song at thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales. You most likely already have a few things handed down from a relative! Have I sold you yet on using vintage in your decor? I hope so! If you would like to start incorporating vintage into your decor here are a few ideas of where to begin.
Books
Vintage books are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to start incorporating vintage elements into your decor and to make your home feel timeless. You can find them at library book sales, yard sales, online, Goodwill, and just about every thrift shop. Use a couple of books as a riser for a candle. (You may want to cushion the bottom of the candle with a coaster before sitting directly on your books—we are not fans of book burnings here!) You can tie a few books together with a piece of burlap cloth and slide a faux or dried flower in the ties and use it as part of a vignette. Vintage books can also look great next to a candle on your mantle.
Vintage Candle Sticks
These too can be found almost anywhere and quite cheaply. Use them in your centerpiece, to frame a large photo or sign, or in any vignette you assemble to give dimension. Also, think of how you can use them in unique ways—candlesticks don’t have to just hold candles! In the fall they can hold a baby pumpkin, or a small bird figurine, and I have even used candlesticks to hold my air plants! (Before I killed them..)
Vintage Clocks
Does anything add feeling and depth to a house like an old clock? How much time has passed through its hands.… I would even go as far as to say it doesn’t have to work! A truly beautiful clock is a work of art and can thus be hung on a wall as such.
Old Photos
An old photo adds so much sophistication—bonus points if it’s a photo of your family and you know who the people are! You can look around and find a gorgeous vintage frame, or update the photo with a modern frame—either way will create a great talking point in your home’s décor and give your home a timeless feel!
Wall Decor
While we are talking about things to put on walls, let’s not forget old paintings and other art. Purchasing old art that may have been reproduced quite a bit during its day and has now faded from popularity can be an inexpensive way to bring taste and style to your home. Instead of opting for a sign from a big box store, do a little searching and see if you can find something older that speaks to you. Art doesn’t have to be limited to paintings and drawings—a beautiful piece of needlepoint, an old mirror—these count too!
Furniture
Antique and vintage furniture is oftentimes made so much more solidly than today’s modern furniture! Sometimes you may need to paint or refinish the piece to bring it into style, other times the patina may have aged it nicely. My large upright piano has had a hard life in its 100+ year lifespan and is no longer in pristine condition. I love how it looks worn and well loved! And as they say, if it’s been around for a 100 years or more and is still going strong, you probably won’t be able to hurt it either—at least not easily!
Kitchenware
Ironstone pitchers, wooden dough bowls, and vintage serving trays are goldmines! You can use antique pitchers and crockery to hold unsightly paraphernalia: rubber bands, twist ties, etc. A crystal dish to hold sugar will add elegance to your coffee or tea station. Also don’t overlook the antique china—you don’t need a full set! You can mix and match different pieces for an even more unique and collected look.
Antique Tins and Baskets
You can use these to store items ranging from office supplies to cotton balls in your bathroom. You can also place a plastic cup within the tin and use it as a planter. The same goes for old baskets.
Miscellaneous
Antique irons, baskets, vintage rug beaters and basically anything under the sun can add an old soul to your decor. If you see something you love, try reimagining it outside of its intended use. Maybe a vintage hat can be turned into a front door hanging. Keep your eye open for little bits and bobbles as well; an antique knob off of an old dresser can replace a modern hardware on a drawer, giving it more of a collected feel. Can you add flowers and use the rug beater as a wall hanging? Get creative! And as always—happy decorating!
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Meaningless! Meaningless!”, says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 1:2
“You have to love the book of Ecclesiastes. Here is the second verse after the introduction; “Meaningless! Meaningless!”, says the Teacher. “Utterly Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” Wow! How is that for an uplifting sermon! No wonder we only ever hear the one verse, “To everything there is a season,” quoted from Ecclesiastes. No one wants to hear that life is meaningless. This reminds me of a conversation that I had with my husband a few months ago. We had just gotten home from a lovely, weekend-long marriage retreat and were unpacking and getting ready for the upcoming week when some of those lines from Ecclesiastes floated through my mind about how meaningless the substance of this life is. Then I remembered Paul’s words in I Corinthians 7:7-8 “I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.” He wishes we could all be single, and therefore better able to focus on God’s work than this temporal relationship! He then goes on to list a bunch of guidelines that the church had requested to help them get along and live in God’s plan for them.
All this was going through mind and since I am prone to speak my mind in all things, I promptly said to my husband who was still basking in the glow of what a nice relationship-focused weekend it had been, “Do you ever think about how pointless this all is? We spend all this time and effort—in the case of marriage, a lifetime to maintain a good relationship and then we die and there isn’t marriage in Heaven as far as we know so all of this doesn’t even really matter. We could just save ourselves all this trouble by never entering into these earthly relationships to begin with.”
He was visibly, and understandably alarmed with where this all this could be going. Luckily for him, that was the end of my deep thoughts and I had no more such “encouraging” words to pour into our relationship at that time. My husband is much more optimistic than I am. He is a ‘let’s look on the bright side and see what kind of fun adventure we can get into today’ kind of guy. None of this is meaningless—it all matters! Me—I’m more like the writer of Ecclesiastes.
There are so many things of this life that seem so mundane and pointless. At the end of my life when I look back I will wonder why I ever thought they mattered. I can relate to the author of this book when he cries that everything is meaningless! Riches are meaningless, the vigor of our youth is meaningless, laughter is meaningless! The author concedes that food is for our enjoyment and we should take pleasure in eating. But as we read on, everything is still meaningless.
In chapter 3 verse 11-13 things get a little brighter: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”
The book of Ecclesiastes concludes by saying, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
So what are we to make of all this? Basically I’m right! And my husband is right too! This is all pointless; and it all matters. There are things of this life that won’t matter in eternity but were put here on this earth for our enjoyment. Fearing God and keeping His commandments are what will matter in eternity. Part of keeping His commands is to be loving and to build relationships with others. Another part of keeping his commands is being good stewards of what we own and taking care of our possessions. Striving for excellence in all we do is following His commands. The day-to-day things won’t matter in eternity, but the culmination of all these things will.
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