A Chance to Die...

"One day, in this woman's hearing, something was said to a younger helper which almost drew from her a flashing, angry remark.  But at that moment, a word was spoken to her inwardly: 'See in this, a chance to die.'

"And though spoken inwardly, it was far more clearly heard than many a word addressed to the outward ear.

"'See in this'-- this provoking, this rebuke that should not have been-- 'a chance to die.'  To self, and the pride that comes from defending self.

"'See in anything'-- anything that rouses you to claim your 'rights', or even to consider them at all-- 'a chance to die.'

"Welcome anything that calls you to your only true position: 'I have been crucified with Christ...' (Galatians 2:20).

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive.  It cannot protect itself.  It cannot be startled into resentful words.  The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

-Amy Carmichael, Gold by Moonlight

Just Miscellaneous Happy Things :-)

Today I went to JoAnn Fabrics and was able to pick up some fun things for my "Etsy" sewing.

Let me show you some up-close shots of some of the items. I'm pretty happy with them! :-)

Iron-on applique for a doll-sized polo dress that I'll be making:

Decorative fabric roses to trim some Colonial-style doll dresses (I noticed several of Felicity's dresses are trimmed with fabric flowers, especially on the sleeves, so I followed suit :-) ).

Frog closures for a doll-sized Spencer jacket:

An awl for setting eyelets (unfortunately, the JoAnn's we went to doesn't carry eyelets so I may have to order them):

Two white-on-white prints:

They're not so bold as that, but I took the picture with flash so that you could see the difference in the prints. The one on top is for a Georgian/Colonial doll dress, the one on the bottom for a Regency doll dress.

Then I got home and found a lovely package in the mail for my dear sweet friend and sister in Christ, Leah!

And this was what was in the package:

I Come Quietly To Meet You: An Intimate Journey in God's Presence
Devotional Readings by Amy Carmichael, Arranged by David Hazard

That was so sweet of her! I LOVE Amy Carmichael and just devour anything I read of hers. Thank you so much for the book, Leah! I love it!! (((HUGS)))

Another happy thing--

A sneak peak of the dress I drafted some time back and sewed on Saturday. I need to get better color pictures before I list it on Etsy.

Now, one more happy thing:

I ordered a new "model"/"investment" for my Etsy shop! I'm debating whether I should show her to you or not. Shall it be a surprise when I get her, or should I tell you now? Hm...........

No, I won't tell you. You'll have to wait til she arrives! :-D

Thanks for letting me share! Remember to rejoice in the Lord today and thank Him for all His blessings-- "forget not all His benefits", not only the material benefits, but the amazing spiritual benefits as well.

Gold Cord

"The Dohnavur Fellowship is a group of Indian and European men and women who work together in the South of India. Its friends wanted to know how it began and they asked for something that would link up the stories already written; the beads should be strung on some sort of cord, they said. Others asked for another kind of cord. "What holds you together?" they asked; and we answered, "A gold cord."

Thus came the inspiration for Amy Carmichael's book, Gold Cord. This book, originally published in 1932 in the middle of Amy Carmichael's ministry, has been republished by Christian Literature Crusade and is available through many Christian book catalogues.

This book recounts the beginning and the growth of the Dohnavur Fellowship of India. It's foundation was "gold, silver, and precious stones" (chapter 1). God used that verse and many others to encourage Amy to commit her life to service for the Lord. An encounter with a runaway temple girl named Pearleyes made Amy and her fellow workers aware of the atrocities done to children in the Hindu temples of India, and launched their mission to rescue children from the temples and dramas of Southern India. As the fellowship struggled to grow, the Lord brought them through deep lessons to teach them to trust Him completely, and over and over again He showed them His power and grace in amazing ways.

Gold Cord is much more than such a collection of stories. It is a display of the grace of God and an amazing challenge to the readers to seek God with their whole hearts. In Miss Carmichael's words, "we are not here...for trivial purposes. We are here to prove to angels and to men

That life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And heated hot with burning fears
And dipped in baths of hissing tears,
And battered with the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

"We are not here to be overcome, but to rise unvanquished after every knockout blow, and laugh the laugh of faith, not fear." She also reminds us, in the words of another author, "It matters nothing at all what we are, provided we are entirely willing to be made the instruments of His will, His agents in this world. I do not think we know the meaning of the word strength until we have fathomed our utter weakness." Through recounts of times that God intervened and answered prayers and blessed, Miss Carmichael shows to us the struggles and yet the subsequent joys of Christian life, the blessing of knowing Christ, and the importance of reaching others for Him, to give as Jesus gave, "holding nothing back".

This is no lazy read. It took me several months to read through it, as I preferred to take only one or two chapters at a time to let her words sink in. I must say, as I have read, I have been so challenged and encouraged to not live a complaisant life. Our time on earth is too short and too trivial to live for, but that which is done for Christ will last, the "gold, silver, and precious stones"-- those are the works that will abide.

If you are seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus and desiring to "climb" in your walk with Him, read Gold Cord! If you are happy with the way you are and aren't interested in being told to move forward in your walk with Christ, well, you might not be interested.

Poem by Amy Carmichael

From the love that like a screen
Sheltered from the Might-have-been;
For that fire could never burn us,
Deeps could never drown or turn us,
For our daily blessings, Lord,
Be Thy name adored.

For the gentle joys that pass
Like the dew upon the grass,
New each morning, lighting duty,
With a radiance and a beauty,
For our daily blessings, Lord,
Be Thy name adored.

Many a storm has threatened loud
And then melted like a cloud,
Seeking to distress, confound us,
Met Thy great wings folded round us,
For our daily blessings, Lord,
Be Thy name adored.

~Amy Carmichael
Note: I never cease to love Amy Carmichael's writings. I am nearing the end of her book, Gold Cord, and don't know what I'll do when I'm done with it! :-o Amy words things in such a way that few can do, and her writing is really encouraging me to surrender all to the Lord, to not live for trivial matters and temporal things but to live for God's Kingdom. I'd post a bunch of other quotes and lines of poetry, as there are so many good ones, but I won't overwhelm you. :-)

Words of Encouragement from "Gold Cord"

These are some quotes I found in Amy Carmichael's book "Gold Cord". Some are written by her, and some are gems she's passed on to us. :-)

"It matters nothing at all what we are, provided we are entirely willing to be made the instruments of His will, His agents in this world. I do not think we know the meaning of the words strength until we have fathomed our utter weakness."

-Josephine Butler

"A lost battle is a battle one believes lost. There are three courses: you can retire, stand fast, attack. I forbid the first. You can take your choice of the other two."
-Marshal Foch

"'May you obtain strength and support to walk in paths unworn, at the edge of precipices where God alone can keep us in safety,' Didon wrote from his prison in Corbara. How salutary such a walk must be to the soul, for look where one will, in books and in life, those unworn paths are trodden. Unworn? That is not a true word. Never do we go far on any path of perplexity or pain without seeing the footsteps of Him who is invisible, leading on before."
-Amy Carmichael

"The steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath."
-Anonymous

"Beloved, should the brook run dry
And should no visible supply
Gladden thine eyes, then wait to see
God work a miracle for thee.
Thou canst not want, for God has said
He will supply His own with bread.
His word is sure. Creative power
Will work for thee from hour to hour,
And thou, with all Faith's host, shalt prove
God's Hand of power, God's Heart of Love."
-Margaret E. Barber

~*~*~*~*~*~

In the section of the book that I am reading now, Miss Carmichael is talking about how they prayed for many years about extending their ministry to rescue and reach out to the boys, as well as the girls, who were sold to the temple and to travelling theatres. She told an absolutely heart-breaking story about how a Christian Indian man set out to rescue two little boys, brothers, in particular, and how, even though he almost rescued the younger one twice, he was never able to succeed. "The impenetrable silence of India has swallowed up that woman [who owned them] and those boys." It was so tragic that I would have been crying if I had not been aware of three other people in the car who would have looked at me and made comments.

Following the story, however, Amy talks about God's care over us, who are over more value than sparrows. She then says, "And a story of comfort comes to me, as I think of those little brothers and of others over whom we would write "In vain" if it were not for that glorious "Not in vain in the Lord" that cannot be refuted by anything that can ever happen....At the end of the day, shall we not find them all [the children they were unable to rescue]? Will not all our forlorn hopes look different then, all our winters turn to spring, all our nights to dawn? In this fight for the souls for whom Christ died, may we ever say, 'In vain'?"

Though I have never had such intense spiritual battles for a soul as Miss Carmichael and her co-workers had, I have had opportunities to leave behind gospel witness in the form of a tract or a word, and have even had a chance to witness online to people I've met through blogs and forums (like Jessica, who commented on Hooks and Needles, and some athiests whom I met on the sewing forum that I am on.) Sometimes I, and we all, may wonder if the words I/we said made any difference, whether the devil just snatched them up as soon as they hit the ground. But we have the assurance that our labor is never in vain in the Lord, His word never fails what He sent it out to do. We may never know what happened to those people we attempted to reach, or how the Lord has worked in their hearts, until we arrive in eternity. Should that discourage us? Never! "Not in vain"; Amy Carmichael emphasizes that very clearly in her book. Let us continue to serve the Lord, and leave the results up to Him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you have been encouraged as I have! :-)

Comforting Thoughts from Amy Carmichael

Lately I have been reading Gold Cord, a book by Amy Carmichael, meant to give the basic history of the Dohnavur Fellowship, but, more than that, sharing the amazing truths of God that she and her fellow-workers learned during those years. Miss Carmichael is such an amazing authoress; the way she shares her heart and God's heart with us truly hits home and helps me to see things in a whole new light. Here are some excerpts from Chapter 23: "And A Light Shined in the Cell".

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Home of our hearts, lest we forget
What our redemption meant to Thee,
Let our most reverent thoughts be set
Upon Thy Calvary.

We, when we suffer, turn and toss
And seek for ease, and seek again;
But Thou upon Thy bitter cross
Wast firmly fixed in pain.

And in our night star-clusters shine,
Flowers comfort us, and joy of song;
No star, no flower, no song was Thine,
But darkness three hours long.

We in our lesser mystery,
Of lingering ill, and winged death,
Would fain see clear; but could we see,
What need would be for faith?

O Lord beloved, Thy Calvary
Stills all our questions. Come, oh come,
Where children wandering wearily
Have not yet found their home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Years later, in an hour of need, the Everlasting Comforter came through the Septuagint version of Psalm 105:18, 'His soul [Joseph's] entered into iron.' It was not that others put him in irons (though they did, they hurt his feet with fetters), it was that he himself acquiesced in, willing walked into the unexplained trial of his God's dealings with him. 'His soul entered,whole and entire in its resolve to obey God, into the cruel torture,' is Kay's note on that great matter; but what fathomless depths it must have held for our Lord Jesus when He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, Gethsemane, Calvary, and certain it is that whatever way of pain may open before any on of us, we find as we walk in it the marks of our dear Lord's footsteps leading on. He walked alone on that road so that we need never walk alone."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Light-- there is something in the word that is not of earth. On a day when it brought us the very tenderness of God, a cable came from Australia: And a light shined in the cell. The words turned to song, such simple song that it would not be written here if it were not hat so often very simple, almost infantile things carry little cups of comfort:

And a light shined in the cell,
And there was not any wall,
And there was no dark at all;
Only Thou, Immanuel.

Light of Love shined in the cell,
Turned to gold the iron bars,
Opened windows to the stars;
Peace stood there as sentinel.

Dearest Lord, how can it be
That Thou art so kind to me?
Love is shining in my cell,
Jesus, my Immanuel."

~Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord, chapter 23

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


With these thoughts in mind, may I ask you all to remember the Ripleys, the Wagoners, the Floras, and the Hopewells in prayer this Christmas, as they go through the season without some of the dearest people in the world to them? The pain of losing a child or a wife is great, beyond what some of us can imagine, but Jesus had trodden that path before-- so please pray that He would make His presence very well known to them during this season and fill them with His peace and comfort. Thank you all!

I am so sorry for my lack of posts! I do have a lot to write but my brain is just FRIED this evening because I wrote all morning and raked all afternoon! (I wrote about 3,000 words of my book today, trying to get ahead!!) So I will just share a poem from Amy Carmichael with you and talk more tomorrow or Monday, Lord willing.

And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine.

And work in me to will and to Thy pleasure,
Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,
Tarry content my Well-Beloved's leisure
At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

Moss for the Master's Feet

"What did it matter if we were noughts? It was for the Lord our God to write the figure to head that row of noughts. He Himself was the Figure. And we saw our calling, how that we were truly of no account ("like a shell disinhabited") that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Nothing anyone thought of us could reach lower down that that, no one could ever count us less than we were. But he that is down need fear no fall. He that is down cannot get between God and His glory. And we knew then that there was nothing that He could not do through us if only we were nothing.

It was then that a prayer came that we have often used since in our Fellowship life,

Oh, we're too high, Lord Jesus, we implore Thee,
Make of us something like the low green moss
That vaunteth not, a quiet thing before Thee,
Cool for Thy feet, sore wounded on the Cross.

And it was then, too, that those fathomless words became our very own: "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and tings which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.' "

-Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord, pages 60-61 (italics from the text)

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

-Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord

Heartrendingly Beautiful!

" "Trust Me, My child," He says. "Trust Me with a fuller abandon than you ever have before. Trust Me, as minute succeeds minute, every day of your life, for as long as you live. And if you become conscious of anything hindering our relationship, do not hurt Me by turning away form Me. Draw all the closer to Me, come, run to Me. Allow Me to hide you, to protect you, even from yourself. Tell Me your deepest cares, your every trouble. Trust Me to keep My hand upon you. I will never leave you. I will shape you, mold you, and perfect you. Do not fear, O child of My love, do not fear. I love you." "

-Amy Carmichael

P.S. I found this quote on Ana's Blog.

Out of the Abundance of the Heart

"If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing about Calvary love.

For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted."

-Amy Carmichael, If

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45).

Directed Prayer

O God, Thy thought is far above
My utmost thought of Thee,
And yet Thy thought to me is love;
And Love comes near to me.

O Love, come near and nearer still;
Fold me in quietness
Till all the movements of my will
Thy conquering power confess,

That so, of Love alone aware,
Love flowing over me,
Thy Spirit may direct my prayer
To that which pleaseth Thee.

-Amy Carmichael, Wings, Part 1

So Near

Below, above, around thee everywhere--

So is My love, like clearness of blue air.

To find the air so high, and yet so low,
Tell Me, beloved, hast thou far to go?

************************

So high, so low-- but I had thought Thee far,
Remote, aloof, like glory of a star.

And is the way of love so near to me?
Then by that way I come; I come to Thee.

-Amy Carmichael, Gold By Moonlight