Heaven’s Delight

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Lynn

My mother had a Danish expression for the feeling that surrounds us on Christmas Eve but for the longest time I couldn’t remember how to spell the word, until my cousin from Denmark sent me the correct spelling: “Hyggeaften”.

I asked my mother once what the word meant but she just said, “English words can’t describe it adequately.”  “Aften” means evening or night, but “Hygge” means: peaceful, calm, serene, homey, silent, glowing, harmonious, joyful, affable, warm, genial, sedate, placid, expectant, delightful, still, tranquil…well, I guess Mom was right…you can’t pinpoint the words to adequately describe this danish word or the feelings “hygge” evokes.

Christmas Eve: “Hyggeaften”…the sweet memories from my childhood comfort me like a soft, warm blanket.  Picture a crackling fire in the fire place.  The soft glow of candlelight, the twinkling of lights on the Christmas tree.  The warmth of a cup of cocoa.  My cat, softly purring, curled up on my lap.  Subdued sounds of Christmas carols playing on our old stereo. My mother humming and knitting beside me. My brother half asleep on the floor mesmerized by the colourfully wrapped gifts piled under the tree. My father smoking his pipe and silently watching the fire dance in the hearth.  The feeling of safety and belonging and love enveloping me in peaceful tranquility.

This is the night before Christmas.

It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, Christmas Eve for me will always be “Hyggeaften”.  It’s an emotion, more than a word.  It is peace on earth, good will to all men and its origin began in Bethlehem when baby Jesus was born. 

It begins with silent night, but ends with jubilant celebration!

People in Bethlehem had no idea what was about to happen on that dark, starry night.  The sound of a baby’s first cry would be no more astonishing to hear than a cow lowing or the mewling of a lamb, but the angels in heaven certainly knew the significance of that baby’s arrival because they immediately appeared in the night sky and sang, to the shock and wonderment of their shepherd audience, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Imagine the joy from heaven!

This special event had been planned from the beginning of time, and the angels were finally able to proclaim that the Christ Child was born!  They proclaimed Him to be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Immanuel, God with us!

At last, heaven’s darling sent to dwell amongst us.  Joy to the World, the Lord has come!  Let earth receive her King!  Let every heart prepare Him room…let heaven and nature sing!

Heaven’s excitement, our delight!

But on a hill far away, there is a cross silhouetted against the night sky.  The angels know it’s part of God’s plan, but still they sing, not in spite of it but because of it.

Come to Bethlehem and see, Christ Whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King.  Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

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Life is the Best Teacher

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Lynn

I have had the pleasure of teaching a book study unit to a small group of home educated kindergarteners over the last six weeks. My daughter, the Vice Principal of the BCS@home online program asked me to teach an in-class group that meets on Wednesday afternoons in a large church building. Hundreds of students participate in a variety of enrichment classes for students in kindergarten through senior high each week in a “hybrid” learning environment. At home, online, and in-person learning is increasingly popular now, especially after Covid. I was particularly delighted to be in a classroom again especially since she had “volunteered” my thirteen year old grandson, Jaxon to be my helper in my kindergarten class!

This past Wednesday, the last day of the unit study, I was walking my kindergarteners to meet their parents for afterschool pick up. Six weeks is such a short time together, but I prayed I had made a good connection with each of those little ones, and I wanted to tell each parent that their child had worked hard over the six weeks and they had been a delight to have in class. As I walked down the hall with my students, there was this sense of excitement mingled with pensiveness. After each of my teaching experiences, I always wonder where the Lord will take my students in the weeks, months and years ahead? I’ve been a teacher close to fifty years. I’ve taught students of all ages in public and private school settings. Teaching three year old preschoolers and all age groups through to senior high, I have enjoyed a very versatile career. Many of my students have pursued post-secondary careers and seminary degrees. Some are married and are raising their own families. I am blessed that I still have close ties to many of my former students.

I suppose I was semi-immersed in my own thoughts when I suddenly felt my right knee give way. I managed to grab a door frame, to steady me, but I knew immediately something was terribly wrong.

My kindergarteners did not notice I was no longer following them as they ran to their parents and showed the craft they had made in class. Then they excitedly thrust their participation certificates into their mom’s hands. I had spent time the night before personalizing each certificate knowing some parents like to save them in scrapbooks.

I waved from my spot, trying to look nonchalant, but my face betrayed my discomfort. I called to my daughter who was cleaning up her own classroom, and she instantly recognized my distress. “My knee has blown up!” I said as calmly as I could without parents hearing me.

There is good reason she is VP. She took charge immediately with level-headed authority. With Jaxon on one side of me and her on the other, they managed to guide me to the elevator. My eleven year old granddaughter, Kharis (Jaxon’s sister) who had just come out of her drama class, appeared with my box of teaching materials. In my pain, I hadn’t noticed that my daughter had directed them to clean up my classroom post haste.

I would have liked to avoid directing any attention to myself, but soon parents and students alike could see that Mrs. Dove was “in trouble”. As my daughter and grandson helped me hobble out to her SUV, to drive me to urgent care, my little kindergarteners came up to me one by one to “assist”. Then a tiny voice said, “You’ll be okay, Mrs. Dove. I will pray for you to get better.”

I have learned over the last few days, that parents and children have indeed been praying for me. I likely won’t be returning to the classroom until I am fully recovered, but I am so thankful for a community of Christian parents and educators who diligently pray. As I recover from a torn meniscus, prayer sustains me.

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WWJD

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Lynn

My daughter had borrowed my car while hers was having some brake work done. While transferring car seats from her vehicle into mine, my two year old granddaughter caught sight of my little teddy bear in the back seat. Demanding to play with it, my daughter said, “No, that’s Grandma’s “swear bear”. It has to stay in the car!”

I was mortified when she told me about their conversation when she dropped off my car later in the week. “It’s not a swear bear!” I squeaked with embarrassment. “It’s my ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Bear!”

Her husband raised an eyebrow, his expression begging to know the story behind my little teddy bear. My daughter giggled with mirth, and said, “This is a good one!”

When my first child was a toddler, her favourite movie was “Alice in Wonderland”. It was a VHS tape of an animated, musical adaptation of the story. I wasn’t even sure she actually watched it, because she would happily play with her other toys while the movie played in the background, but she demanded to have it on regardless.

One day as we were driving around town doing a variety of errands, she was strapped into her car seat almost asleep. I was merging onto a major thoroughfare, when a woman driving a small compact car zigzagged around me completely cutting me off in the process. She looked entirely too smug with her aggressive driving style so I loudly voiced my honest opinion of her as she zoomed by, “Stupid woman!”

From the back of the car a little voice squeaked out with gleeful delight, “Off with her head!”

I realized that day that I couldn’t vocalize my road rage with her in the car…

…and we obviously watched way too much T.V.

It wasn’t long after that incident, I went to a Christian book store and I bought a book that came with a promotional little teddy bear wearing a sweater with the letters WWJD knitted on the front. Charles Monroe Sheldon, published the book, “In His Steps” in 1896, and introduced the principle, “What Would Jesus Do?” which spawned the “WWJD” movement. To this day those initials are still found on Christian clothing, and jewelry. In my first book, “Shoot the Wounded”, I purposely had Jake, one of the main characters, wear a “WWJD” ring.

On the way home from the book store, as an afterthought, I tossed the teddy bear on the dashboard of my car. Instead of giving it to my daughter to play with at home, I decided to keep it in the car. It became a dashboard ornament with a purpose. It was a constant visual reminder that every time I was driving anywhere, someone was always watching me. Jesus was with me when I drove alone or with my children. He was watching over me, and monitoring my actions at all times. If I got into situations that triggered reactive behaviours (road rage 😡), I looked at the teddy and remembered to not say or do anything that might hinder my Christian witness in front of my children or others.

As the children got older, there may have been a few times they had to remind me to “look at the bear” when I was driving. I don’t swear, but I do on occasion voice my displeasure.

Four way stops are the bane of my existence.

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and and slow to become angry.” James 1:19

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