PETUNIAS AND PEONIES

The Survivor Sagas

We look forward every April to the supermarkets, discount retailers, hardware stores, et al, to their massive displays of young plants, top soil and potting soils, and lots of garden fixtures and decorations - very tempting.

However, because it has been so cool and rainy - and "tornadoey" petunias were held off until the middle of May. And that's so very sad because petunias are Helen's specialty. In fact, if Helen doesn't have her usual fence display of showy petunias, she'll hear about from other residents in our apartment complex.

So off to W_ _ _ M_ _ _ we went, where in a short time we acquired enough petunias and geraniums to decorate the state house in Topeka, and four bags of potting soil - yeah, four bags!

It didn't take long for Helen to plant the petunias in containers, which were placed on a ledge lining the length of the outer board fence of our apartment patio. But back for more potting soil we went and I resisted telling my "girl friend," "I told you so."

And the little transplants began to grow and their pretty little blooms were smiling at passers-by - until more storm alerts and soaking rains came. They could not stand up under a pelting rain. Oh - they looked so pitiful bent over with withered blooms. We had to pick almost all of them until tney were back to "ground zero."

They were not the only flowers that suffered. Across the courtyard there were banks of peonies that had fallen in a tangled mess like party-goers with "too much libation at the ball." (I see a theme for a fable developing here with a moral that would make Aesop proud.)

Peonies give the appearance of being strong with tall sturdy stems and the blooms are amazingly spectacular. They seem to bloom overnight but their season is short. But from the latest deluge, they gave up - they just drooped over and died. They had no stamina. No amount of plant food could heal those sick plants. They just gave up and accepted their fate.

Ah, but then there's Helen's petunias. They droop in the heat, but water strengthens them and they snap back with their heads held high. They may be bedraggled from the rain, but gloom turns to bloom when they look to the sun. When petunias wilt in the hot part of the summer, they can be cut back almost to the roots but water and sun gives them new life - they become spectacular again even up into September.

Petunias are survivors, but peonies will never bloom again this year.

What spiritual moral can you draw from the last two paragraphs?

HAVE A BLESSED MEMORIAL DAY

Today in the first service, the Pastor paused to recognize those who served our nation in Military Service. I was proud to stand as the congregation applauded us.

It used to be that it was a proud honor to be recognized as having an ancestor who served in the Continental Army of the Revolution. My mother's body rests in a beautiful cemetary in Missouri. It used to be that the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) would place a marker on the graves of their members. It was a nice commemoration of our nation's proud heritage under God.

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood; And fired the shot heard round the world.

On this green bank, by this soft stream, We place with joy a votive stone, That memory may their deeds redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

O Thou who made those heroes dare, To die, and leave their children free, -Bid Time and Nature gently spare, The shaft we raised to them and Thee."
The Concord Hymn (edited), by Ralph Waldo Emerson (25 May 1803 – 27 April 1882)

I always looked forward to "Decoration Day" and stopping by Moncrief's Nursery, with my mother and grandmother, to pick up flowers to decorate the family graves in Riverview Cemetary. In the center of the Cemetary there is a statue of a Civil War soldier on a high lilmestone pedastal. It always fascinated me, but I never knew if he was a Yank or a Reb, a Blue or a Gray. He had no distinctive sign or symbol, just a neutral color. The pathos is that he represented brother against brother. But as the anthem says, " . . . when our cause, it is just."

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.

(Chorus) His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps, They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: His day is marching on.

(Chorus) His day is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.

(Chorus) Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on.

(Chorus) While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave, So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave, Our God is marching on.

(Chorus) Our God is marching on.
Battle Hymn of the Republic - Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910)

Our Prayers for our nation and military forces should be strong and with confidence as we approach the throne of grace. We will not forget those who have volunteered to take up arms to protect our way of life - and may it continue to please God for grace to preserve the principles of our heritage and to escape the pollution of godlessness, for it is your cause in which we glory by serving you, Lord Jesus, And we know that what we may not understand will be revealed to us in a different time and place, for you are God, and to you belong glory and dominion forever. Amen.

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)

INTRODUCING JOHN SCHELL

John is one of our team authors who has quite a testimony of how the Lord brought him through a quadruple by-pass surgery.John and his charming wife, Sharon live in Lee's Summit, Missouri. They have two high-achiever children. Jeremy, married to Stacey, is an accomplished concert pianist and Worship Director for the Kansas City Baptist Temple. Jenny is also an accomplished pianist and is Pipeline Association Coordinator for the same company as her father works for.

John, besides doing marketing and training for the Celeritas company, serves the K. C. Baptist Temple on the Board of Directors, Finance Committee, assists in teaching in the Way of Life Ministry Fellowship, and he and Sharon lead a home Bible study in their home.

John was born at Scholfield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father was in the Army Air Force befor it became a separate military arm.They moved to Scott AFB, Illinois and Torrington, Wyoming. He majored in English and Journalism at the University of Wyoming and graduated from the Shepherd's School of the Ministry.

Read John's Blog page. Click on "Survivor Story." He will contribute inspirational Bible studies, which are helpful, inspirational, and pertinent to our Mission Statement. Sharon has promised to "piggy back" on his page whenever she has an opportunity. Sharon's very interesting story is on "Women's Work." Click on their blog pages on the side bar to the right.