Snapshot of a Person of Faith~~Corrie ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom, among other things, is a beautiful example of living joyfully and casting every care upon the Lord. Many believers are familiar with Corrie ten Boom, or at least with some of her quotes. For anyone who is not familiar with her, Corrie ten Boom was a native of Holland who endured incredible suffering during WWII under Hitler’s takeover of her country and of his subsequent persecution of the Jews in Holland as well as other countries. Corrie and her family hid Jews in their home, were discovered, and she, her sister and brother and father were sent to concentration camps. Only Corrie and her brother (who passed away shortly after he was released) survived. The Lord used Corrie’s joyful witness in the midst of suffering and sorrow to speak to many countless people about the love and forgiveness of God and His peace in the midst of suffering. If someone has not read any of Corrie’s books, I would encourage you to go and find one; any one! (A list will be included at the end of this post). Her joyful, loving, down-to-earth example is like a balm for the soul. Corrie encourages her readers to trust in God for everything. She says, “Worry will not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it will empty today of its strength.” Corrie knew the Word of God; she had huge portions of it memorized and the Lord’s  joy through His Word radiated from Corrie. She believed God’s promises literally and often saw His hand at work in horrible circumstances. Corrie tells a story about one time in the concentration camp when she was discouraged and asked the Lord for a sign of His goodness. He showed her one single flower outside her window and her heart was cheered. Corrie believed God’s promises and leaned upon Him continually for strength; He was her strength and she trusted in Him. If we believe the promises of our Heavenly Father, as Corrie did, it is difficult for worry to gain a stronghold in our lives. Corrie taught that God may be trusted, even through the most difficult of circumstances. He is the living, risen Savior who holds tomorrow in His hands.

In her subsequent ministry after she was miraculously released from the concentration camp, Corrie continued to depend upon the Lord as she traveled and spoke to many people about the joy of the Lord and of His work in the lives of sinners. Often, she felt weary in the work, but she pressed on, hoping and depending upon her merciful Savior, and taking the strength for each day that she needed from Him. How many of us often need a refreshing touch from the hand of the Lord? We grow weary in the day to day business of taking care of our families and children. We love the work that God has given us, just as Corrie did, and yet sometimes we get worn down by the strain that it takes upon our strength. We can cry out to the Lord in these times, just as Corrie ten Boom did, and He will give us fresh supplies. He will put a new song in our mouth and as we press into His purposes in our lives ~~serving Him by loving and training up our children and being a servant in our family—He will refresh and revive us and cause His fresh springs of water to flow through us. Sometimes we feel like we cannot take another step forward, whether physically or emotionally. And this is where the strength of the Lord comes in. We don’t have the strength in ourselves to go forward, and so we take from the fathomless resource of His strength. And we are filled and useful to Him.

What about us? Do we trust in the Lord as Corrie ten Boom did? Do we rely upon His promises? Do we trust, as the old hymn says, that He “will lead His dear children along” or are we worried and fretful, fearing what may come tomorrow? May we rest in our merciful Savior and be filled by His sustaining, strengthening grace!

I serve a risen Saviour, He's in the world today
I know that He is living, whatever men may say
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him He's always near

He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart

~Alfred H. Ackley

Encouraging Books Written by Corrie ten Boom: 
(Clickable links to Amazon)

The Hiding Place
Each New Day
Tramp for the Lord
In My Father's House
I Stand At the Door and Knock

What I've Been Reading

Happy New Year, friends! I wanted to take a few moments to share some books and a few thoughts on some books that I've been reading in my personal reading time. 

Let me encourage you to carve out time to read~~read good books! They will nourish your mind and your soul. So many times, the Lord speaks to us in His still small voice through the pages of a book.  

Even if you can only give a few minutes to reading each day, choose one good book and chew away at it slowly; the Lord will bless those few minutes and minister to you through the pages of books. 

As a mother of two small children, I often will add a few minutes onto my devotional time to read in the morning before my children wake up. This has enabled me to read much more than I would be able to if I didn't carve out this small amount of time. 

Here are a few of the books that the Lord is using to encourage and to grow me in my faith . . . 

~~Clippings From My Notebook, by Corrie ten Boom~~

Oh, this book, this book! It sat on the shelves of my Mom's bookshelves for years and I had never picked it up and read through the entire book . . . Lately my Mom has been going through her boxes and boxes of books that she had packed away after she sold her home in Rhode Island and came to live with me. Let me tell you, her multitudinous volumes have been a rich blessing to my sisters and me!! We are discovering all sorts of treasures as she unpacks these boxes . . . :-) 

And so I re-discovered this beautiful book full of wisdom from Corrie ten Boom. I've been reading and re-reading the devotional insights and it has been such an incredible blessing to me. Corrie shares her faith simply and refreshingly without any pomp or fuss. Her simple faith in our Almighty God has daily challenged me to walk more closely with the Lord and to lay aside every weight and the sin that often so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1). What a blessing! I discovered that this book is out of print but second-hand copies may still be purchased on Amazon if you would like to get your hands on a hard copy. I highly recommend it! 

~~Honey For A Child's Heart, by Gladys Hunt~~

This is another book that was unearthed from my Mom's boxes and what a rich treasure of wisdom it is! I just began this book a short while ago and am hoping to share more insights when I am finished with it, so I won't say much here except that I am really, really enjoying Hunt's insights into reading to children and the importance of books in their lives from a very early age. She also provides a tremendous list of suggestions for books to read to children at the different ages of their lives~~such a wonderful resource!

~~Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman Behind the World's Bestselling Devotional, by Michelle Ule~~

I'm about a quarter of the way through this book and though it was "slow" reading at first, I am really starting to enjoy it now that I am beginning to "organize" all of the different people mentioned in the beginning of this book in my mind. I love missionary biographies~I have since I was a little girl~~and so this one is right up my alley. I  have read a lot about Oswald Chambers, but not a great deal about his wife, Biddy (Gertrude) Chambers. This book goes into great deal about Chamber's wife~~the woman who was used by God to transcribe Oswald's talks into the writings that are cherished today. There are so many little details included in this book and I love the author's careful, spiritually insightful research into Oswald Chamber's wife's life. This is good reading! :-)

And lastly,

~~My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers~~

Everyone should read this book~~several times!!! :- ) This is the book that the Lord used instrumentally early in my Christian life and the book that the Lord continues to speak to me through. I chose it to read again this year as my devotional in the morning~it re-surfaced after a couple of years in the basket next to my reading chair! ;-). If you have never read My Utmost For His Highest, friend, get a copy or borrow it from your church's library~~ this book will speak the Lord's deep truths to your soul and leave you desiring more, more of our Heavenly Father in the day to day comings and goings of your life. 

I pray that these reading suggestions may bless you in your daily walk with the Lord . . . 

More, more about Jesus;

More, more about Jesus--

More of his saving fullness see,

More of His love who died for Me.

~Eliza Hewitt

You might find me on these link-ups:

Inspire Me Monday, Literacy Musing Mondays, The Modest Mom, Raising Homemakers, Classical Homemaking, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Ministries,  Testimony Tuesday, Tell His Story,  Imparting Grace, Thought Provoking Thursday, Good Morning Mondays,  Counting My Blessings, The HomeAcre Hop, Mommy Moments Link Up, Grace and Truth Linkup, Faith Filled Friday, RaRaLinkup, Word of God Speak, Booknificent Thursday, Coffee For Your Heart Weekly LinkUp, You're the Star Blog Hop, Homesteader Hop, Fresh Market Friday, Heart Encouragement Thursday , Sitting Among Friends Blog Party, Fabulous Warm Heart Party, Oh My Heartsie Girls Wonderful Wednesday Linkup, Writer Wednesday, Tea and Word

Brokenness, Life, and a Tree

O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

 --George Matheson



There are so many stones in the brook that you cannot count them. Yet in every ten you cannot find more than one or two that are useable. There was no room in David’s pouch for stones which had not been polished smooth. The process of attrition was essential. In the same way those believers who have not yet experienced trials and afflictions, and who have not yet been disciplined by God, are still not ready for his use. What I am anxious to know is whether I myself am qualified to be a ‘smooth stone’ in the hand of my God.

--Wang Ming-Dao (persecuted Chinese pastor)

God uses broken things.

Broken people, broken things.

Soil that's been tilled broken, the clods pounded hard by the hoe.

Olives broken, crushed, for the oil that flows free and nourishing.

Broken bread to feed the hungry--

He uses broken things.

And so many times He breaks a heart before He heals it.

He crushes before He restores--

"For though the Lord causes grief, yet He will show compassion . .  though His hand wounds, it will yet make whole . . . "

Don't be afraid of being broken.

And I wept today because someone I love was broken . . . shattered. Lost every earthly thing of value and every support swept away like a breath punched out of their lungs.

God reaches down to broken things. He puts tears in bottles and remembers the agony of our sorrows.

And we have to be broken before God can use us, whether through our own decisions of surrender  or through the seemingly hard strokes of the Master's rod.

We must be broken . . .

Every ounce of self-reliance stripped away, every shred of pride pressed into the dust.

We must be broken.

George Matheson, Scottish minister and author of the beautiful hymn, "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go," broken by blindness and the loss of his fiancé.

Corrie Ten Boom, joyful, Spirit-filled author and speaker, broken by the iron grip of the Nazi death camp.

John Bunyan, who took up his pen and wrote the great classic, Pilgrim's Progress, broken by prison and the fear of never seeing his dear, blind daughter Mary again.

Adoniram Judson, Baptist missionary and great worker for the Lord Jesus, broken by his wife's early death, broken by debilitating depression and prison.

The Apostle Paul, broken by affliction, pain, a constant thorn . . .

My Auntie, broken in years past by the cancer that drew her to Jesus . . .

Broken lives, restored; lives that reflect the glory of the Father of the broken.

Severe mercies, that cut away whatever we're leaning on--

Because when every support is taken away, we either fall utterly, or we fall on Jesus.

Walking in the woods with my sister this week along a new trail, we saw a tree.

A lovely, great tree, lying still on the quiet floor of the forest. Its leafy branches sweeping over the path.

A fallen tree, once-great -- now broken.

Quietness all-around, and the tree spread its arching branches over the expanse of the path, making a bridge over the shady pathway

And she said, "How beautiful."

Because this broken thing became a thing of grace and loveliness, a place of shade and a home for birds and animals, a silent witness to the strength and peace of brokenness.

And over the years it will nourish the ground, its wood splintering off, rotting away, giving life from its death.

There is grace through brokenness.

And the Beautiful One, the high and lofty One Whose name is Holy, Who inhabits eternity gave life on a tree fallen, a tree dead, the instrument of torture and crucifixion and suffering and death.

His death on that tree birthed life -- free and rich and new and eternal.

Life out of brokenness, grace out of suffering.

And the Love that was broken on that tree holds us in our brokenness.

Holds us to Himself--

And pours His life into our broken-dying.

O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

You might find me on these link-ups:

Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth, Inspire Me Monday, The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, SDG Gathering, A Mama's Story, Mom's the Word, Rich Faith Rising, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Mom's Morning Coffee, Motivate and Rejuvenate Mondays, So Much at Home, Raising Homemakers, Hope in Every Season, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Ministries, Whole-Hearted Home, Testimony Tuesday, Tell His Story, A Soft Gentle Voice, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Women With Intention Wednesdays, Messy Marriage, The Charm of Home, Graced Simplicity, Theology Thursdays, Children Are A Blessing, Mittenstate Sheep and Wool, Imparting Grace, Preparedness Mama, A Look at the Book, Essential Thing Devotions, Thought Provoking Thursday, Every Day Jesus, Count My Blessings, Christian Mommy Blogger, Renewed Daily, Soul Survival, Good Morning Mondays, The Weekend Brew, Blessing Counters Link Party, The HomeAcre Hop, Mommy Moments Link Up, Grace and Truth Linkup, Faith Filled Friday, Saturday Soiree Blog Party, Tell It To Me Tuesdays, SHINE Blog Hop, Faith and  Fellowship Blog Hop, Motivate and Rejuvenate Monday Link-Up, A Little R&R Wednesdays. TGI Saturdays Blog Hop. Totally Terrific Tuesday, RaRaLinkup