Wisdom from Mother

The following article written by my mother, Earla Dombach, was probably written between 1955-1960 and was published in Millersville Echoes, a newsletter of Millersville Mennonite Church. Those of us who knew her well would agree that she practiced what she wrote.

GIVING OF TIME

Giving of our time is one of the hardest things for us as Christians to do. We are so busy, we think, that we often feel we should do differently, but we don't have the time. Getting up a half hour earlier so we have time for Bible reading and prayer can prove to be a well-spent half hour and can prove itself to be a great blessing. For when we meet God in the morning, He goes with us throughout the day. Taking time for family worship is also a great blessing. This is especially true when your child is faced with a problem and he knows you prayed about it as a family. Even in the midst of baking your preschooler comes and takes your hand and says, "Mama, come look," do we go with them only to find it's just a dandelion flower? Do we take time to tell them of God's creation? Do we show appreciation for the weed flowers that are always in our home? Or when your elementary school child asks why everything must have a daddy, do we brush him off and not take the time to explain the simple facts of life? Or when those teenagers come home from school with problems that seem like such a little thing, do we sit down and help them or are we too busy? Do we have time to sit down and listen to the interesting little things that happen to our children during the day or evening? Taking time with the children, encouraging them, and giving them the assurance that we are praying for them gives much satisfaction, especially when they tell you, "Thanks, Mom. I knew you'd have time to listen." These little acts of thoughtfulness make a child happy and then we, too, are happy. What about that letter you meant to write to someone who needed sympathy and understanding, that visit to the sick and aged, that word of encouragement you meant to give that Sunday School pupil? Did you take time to stop and chat with the friend whose burdens were so heavy that they needed you to just sit and listen? "Oh, I didn't have time," you say. But just a moment to listen, send her away with a smile, and her load was lighter because you took time to lend a sympathetic ear. Are our homes open to our children's friends? Do our children feel free to bring their friends in and spend the evening in our home? Do we see through the eyes of our children? "Read me a story, Mommy," they cry. "I'm too busy." What a disappointed look on the face that was all smiles a minute ago. Even teenagers like to listen because they understand it better when Mother reads it. How many blessings do we lose when we don't give our time to others. I can truthfully say I received many blessings when I gave my time to others, but often I have been rebuked for not giving my time because I thought I was too busy. It's not the big things in life that count; it's the time we take to share with others that really counts. If our Lord had time to receive a visitor by night after a hard day's work, we, too, must be willing to give our time that others may be encouraged to go forth. It's the little things that will mean so much in eternity.

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it
Forced upon me--can't refuse it
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it.
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it
Just a tiny little minute--

But ETERNITY is in it.

Christmas Memories

I'm feeling nostalgic today. Looking at old family pictures will do that to a person. But the whole Christmas season lends itself to reflection and memories, I think. So I was contemplating some of the things that I remember from my childhood regarding Christmas. Here are a few of them.

Being the second to the youngest in the family made waiting for Christmas morning hard. After all everybody had to be up before the whole gift unwrapping thing could take place. And I had four older teenage sisters and brothers who went out on Christmas Eve caroling with the youth group - and yes, that was in the old days, caroling didn't start until late which meant they didn't get home until midnight or later, so of course they didn't want to get up early on Christmas morning. To a child it seemed like forever before they got up - looking back I know it probably wasn't; after all we did live on a farm!

Hot chocolate and Christmas cookies for breakfast on Christmas morning! After all, one needed to have something in the tummy before the serious business of gifts took place. And it was the one time of the year when we were allowed to have more than two cookies. (The normal two cookies only rule was, I'm sure, born of necessity - with 8 kids in the house can you imagine how fast a batch of cookies could be eaten.)

Gifts lovingly made by Mother. If I got a doll for Christmas, it wasn't just the doll, but a doll with a complete wardrobe. This wardrobe usually included coat and hat, a dress or two, and a nightgown, usually matching dresses and/or pajamas that I had. American girl dolls with the matching dresses for the doll's owner have nothing over my mother's creations. I also remember the year bride dolls were all the rage and I wanted one. My mother crafted a beautiful bride's dress and veil for my doll that year. I think I still have it in the attic somewhere.

No doll is complete without a bed to sleep in or a carriage to ride in. Mother made a mattress, pillow, and embroidered quilt for the bed and again for the carriage when I received those as Christmas gifts. Another special gift I remember (I think I was probably 9 or 10) was a beautiful dollhouse, complete with a doorbell and "electric" light, and all the furnishings. I had to wait patiently while my older brothers assembled the dollhouse so I could play with it.

One of the other treasured gifts from my childhood that I remember was from Grandma (I think Dombach). She used to give us a little trinket or something and I remember the year I received a gift similar to the "big" girls. Mine was a little ceramic watering can flower pot. I don't think it was really big enough to plant anything in - it was more cute than functional, but I had that little pot well into my married life. It may still be packed away with other collectibles that I no longer have room to display. Grandma also gave me one year a little puppy dog pincushion - with a tongue that pulled out to be a tape measure and a thimble for the tale. It went into my sewing kit for junior high home ec and I used it for many years.

Christmas was and still is a time for celebrating the birth of our Saviour with family and friends. The memories only make those celebrations sweeter.

Merry Christmas

Drawn by Earla B. Snyder, Age 14

I was going through some old family pictures for my "scrapbook" project and found this! I thought I would share, even though it is a day late. Merry Christmas to all.

Thanksgiving

We just came through the Thanksgiving season and are now into the hecticness of the month of December and Christmas. We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving at Ken and Arlene's house. For the past maybe ten years the sisters who are in the area have been sharing Thanksgiving dinner at one of our homes (it would be fun if Linda could join us as well - but she is usually not in PA). Kind of a new tradition, I guess you would say. This year we picked up Joyce at her house and drove north to the Metzlers in Northumberland County. Brought back lots of memories from the years we lived in that area especially since they now live in the same town we lived in. For more on that read Jeannine's blog entry "Thanksgiving Nostalgia."

The whole event got me to thinking about Thanksgivings when we were kids, but you know nothing really memorable stands out about this particular holiday. I do remember that we often attended the local Thanksgiving service especially if it was held in our home church. I also have some memories of my brothers going hunting on Thanksgiving. One thing I do know is that turkey was not the fowl of choice for the Thanksgiving dinner table - to my recollection Mom never even learned to roast a turkey until after she was off the farm. Seems like the bird at the dinner table was either capon, duck, or goose which we were raised on the farm. I do remember the preparation of those birds for the dinner table on the day or days preceding Thanksgiving. (Insert sigh and shudder here!) Not my favorite part of Thanksgiving preparations by any means. And I remember that Mom always made oyster stuffing and mincemeat pie - those two things at least were standard at any Thanksgiving dinner no matter what else the menu included.

Regardless of the menu or other activities of the day, the one thing that remained constant was thankfulness. Thankful that we were a family and we were together and God was faithful. Some things never change and even though we couldn't all be together on Thanksgiving, I thank God for my family and the influence of family in my life both in the past and in the present.

And just as a side note in case you didn't have an opportunity to read Jeannine's blog - imagine our surprise in driving up to Arlene and Ken's house to be greeted by a large inflatable turkey. I almost thought I was at the wrong house! But hey, in case you don't believe me, I have proof in the picture. Arlene's grandson Christian and my grandson Dante thought it was wonderful. Seems like Arlene and Ken were "turkey-sitting" for the neighbor just so the children could enjoy the big guy!