Three Friends at Thanksgiving

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

This month, I want to share how three friends spent their Thanksgiving holiday. Though they know each other, they chose to spend the holiday apart. Let’s call them “Patrick,” “Katie,” and “Bill.”

Bill received two invitations to dinner. First, he ate lunch with “Paula” and “Ricky,” two people he knew very well.

Bill lives alone. Both of his parents have passed away, and he eats out most of the time. Paula is actually Bill’s sister. She lives in an assisted living facility and enjoys going out with Bill when she can. They are close.

Ricky lives alone as well and has difficulty telling time. He also does not drive and is considered “slow” by some. Over the years, these three getting together for the Thanksgiving meal has become a tradition.

Bill’s second invitation was from a high school friend named “Judy.” She wanted to cook dinner for 19 of her family members and wanted Bill and another high school friend, “Dierdre,” to join her. Judy gets together with Bill and Dierdre to plan high school reunions, take vacations, and such. They’ve been close for many years.

Katie had an invitation to share her Thanksgiving with her pastor and his family. He and his wife enjoy putting together large dinner parties for the community, and Katie feels at home with them.

Patrick had five invitations to Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, he couldn’t eat five full meals, so he ate like a bird all day. Patrick actually works at the local Senior Center. He spends his days helping people with health forms and making sure they’re contacted on a daily basis. On Thanksgiving, he went to the Center and shared a meal with one of his co-workers, who prepared dinner there. Later, he ate with some very close friends, then, he too ended up at the Pastor’s house.

Patrick's second meal was what I think showed what Thanksgiving and serving others is all about. Patrick helped a local church deliver meals to those who would not otherwise have cooked or have left the house that day. This involved many weeks of preparation, making calls to those who regularly attend the Senior Center, sending out flyers to the community about the delivered meals, and simply talking about the project by word of mouth.

On Thanksgiving Day, while many of us were putting up the Christmas tree or sitting down to lunch or dinner with friends and loved ones, Patrick was delivering meals. And he wasn’t alone. There was a team who worked together to get this most important job done. More than 100 families were able to get a hot meal delivered to them on Thanksgiving Day. That might not sound like a lot of people, but, to a small town of 2000, it is.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with spending Thanksgiving with family and friends. I’m just saying that Patrick was probably the one who received the biggest blessing that day, for he truly used a time of “thanks giving” to actually “give thanks,” to share a meal with others, and to take Christ at His Word and spend the day in service to others.

I enjoy Thanksgiving, because it is a time to get together with loved ones, spending precious time with one another. What Patrick did was very humbling to me. And what God did for me was also quite humbling.

I have a special “thanks” this Thanksgiving. My uncle, who is 80 years old and is like a daddy to me, is recovering from a congestion and coughing illness that put him to bed for two weeks. I would wake up each day, thinking I might find him already gone. I did not think he could survive such an illness. He has congestive heart failure, and his heart is only working 20% (of a normal 100% heart).

But God has granted us to be together another Thanksgiving. For this, I am truly grateful. God is truly great, and I humbly thank Him for every answered prayer.

Sometimes Love Means Getting Attention©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

Sometimes love simply means getting a little attention. I know, because I felt that love this past weekend from a town in Ohio called Twinsburg.

Many of you know that I have a twin sister. Every year we go to Twins Conventions with the International Association. Every year, we also think about going to Twinsburg, the largest gathering of twins in the world (and it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records as such). Every year, our plans get upset, and we never make it to Twinsburg. This year was different.

Upon our arrival on Friday night, we felt the excitement of the whole town of about 15,000. There were “Welcome Twins” signs outside virtually every business, and banners were all over the Town Square.

The first event, a hot-dog get-together and registration, was at the local High School. Surprisingly, we saw four or five sets of twins we already knew from our other convention. We enjoyed our little “family reunion” and found where we needed to go the next morning for the Twins Days Parade.

Once we got to the parade, we met more twins. The theme was the ‘50’s, so there were lots of costumes and floats appropriate to the theme. We learned the Be Bop Soda Shop “double-dips” twins. Did I mention the whole town being involved in this thing?

This parade was at 9:00 in the morning, and the townspeople lined the streets to watch. It was incredible. First, there were the local police cars, followed by the color guard, then the large local high school band, followed by 1,800 sets of twins. It was unreal.

The parade led us to the grounds of the Middle School, where there was a makeshift “fairground” of the weekend, complete with souvenirs, clothes for twins, and vendors of products of all kinds (not just for twins). There were tents with entertainment, twin look-alike contests by age group, twin talent shows, and food vendors. There was even a twins research section.

This was an all-day event that continued throughout the weekend. On Sunday, there was a pancake breakfast and an inter-denominational service, where my twin and I were part of the volunteer choir. Also at 3:00 on Saturday and again on Sunday, there was a “group” photo.

Did I say the entire weekend was simply amazing?

That brings me to the point of this article. The people of this town are proud of the celebration of twins, and, in fact, the town was founded and named by a set of twins.

I think the whole weekend showed what people can do for one other, maybe not by way of outright helping each other with tasks, but by taking the time and effort to shower a little bit of attention on someone. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it just makes you me good to just get some attention.

This was a time where families could enjoy each other and spend time together in an environment that celebrated family itself. We even met our first quadruplets and met twins as far away as Japan. There was even a set of twins married to a set of twins that wed in Twinsburg in 1983. Each year, they celebrate their anniversary at Twins Days.

God established the first family, and I think Twinsburg this past weekend was testament to family time together as God intended. He told us to love each other, and I think this event displays that love. There are many, many ways we can show love. I know I felt that love in Twinsburg.

Can I Really Forgive My Loved Ones?©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

I was asked to include forgiveness in this month’s article about love – and I struggled with it. It took a great deal of thought for me, because what I want to share is a very personal story – but one about forgiveness that I will never forget.

Let me begin, though, with the words of Jesus, lest we forget. Jesus said, “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments.” One of those commandments certainly is to forgive. And how many times are we to forgive others their wrongs to us? Are we to keep a record of those wrongs and then one day, just stop forgiving people? When Jesus was asked how many times we are to forgive, and He replied “seventy times seven,” I don’t think He was talking about a literal number.

As you probably know if you’ve been reading my articles, I have a twin sister. In fact, we’re the only children in my immediate family. Therefore, we’ve always been close - and I never thought we were ever in competition “against each other” for anything – I was about to get the shock of my life!

My twin and I lived in NYC for awhile and, when we came back home, we went to a personnel agency to help in the job search. During the course of the initial interview, I was asked if my twin and I ever competed against each other. I said no, because, to my knowledge, we never had. We never had that friction in the least! I was taken aback when she said, “That’s funny. Your sister said you do.”

Over time, I realized just how wrong I was.

By the time our mother passed away, several years later, my shock turned to utter and complete hurt and devastation.

I was cleaning up Mama’s wardrobe in her room and came across some letters – oodles of them – that my sister had written her. Now, you should know that we both lived with Mama, and, in addition, she called us every afternoon at work (about 30 miles away). And – to help you understand my situation better (or to add to the confusion) – my twin and I had always had this unspoken “twin code” between us.

Now, remember we’re the only children. Let me explain – when we were in college and also when we shared an apartment, we always called Mama once a week. Sometimes we wrote also – but we always wrote separate letters and mailed them together.

When we went to work, we talked to Mama in a conference call together. This probably sounds super silly to many of you – and I don’t know if it’s a twin thing, or a Southern thing, or a mental thing, or just plain my family thing – but that’s how we did things.

And those letters that I found especially hurt – because every day, my sister would ask me if I’d talked to Mama, and I’d say no, and sometimes I’d ask her, and she’d say no.

After Mama died, I realized my sister had lied to me as far as you can go. Not only had she written those letters – but, as I cleaned up further – and quite by accident - I found out that, not only had she written letters – she had kept diaries where she called Mama every day at a certain time – sometimes more than one time – and she’d bought clothes and shoes, etc. and given them to Mama, telling her not to tell me, that those things were only from her.

She even made pictures of the Christmas presents Mama gave her and intentionally left mine out of view – and they were right there! Maybe I shouldn’t have read the diaries or looked at the pictures, but, I was the “appointed” one to go through Mama’s things and clean the house and there those diaries were – staring me in the face.

What can I say? My “humanness” got the better of me. And, sadly, over the past decade, I’ve come to realize that my twin and I quite possibly have the worst case of sibling rivalry known to mankind – bar none! But – we do love each other. And I don’t say any of that lightly.

I don’t know how each of you deal with this sibling thing, but sometimes, it’s hard. And we’re adults acting like children!

I think it was the lying and sneaking around that really got me. Now, I know I’m not perfect. But, it HURT. It really hurt. I felt totally and utterly betrayed – and I could never get that time back – it was gone forever. Mama was gone, and I’d never get to do those things for her. I had foolishly listened to my sister instead of to my own heart. I cried and cried and ran – ran – to Mama’s grave – time had gone – there were calls I never made – letters I never wrote…

I searched and searched the Bible for answers. I was so upset, but I knew that God had the answer for this. And, of course, He did!

I learned through my prayer and Bible reading that the person wronged needs to go to the one that wronged him and make things right. I had to make the first move! That was hard!! Then, another thought hit me!! In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said, “forgive me, AS I FORGIVE OTHERS.” Ouch. That one really stung. If I don’t forgive this, God won’t forgive me – and I need a lot of forgiveness. I’m far from perfect…If God can forgive me, I certainly should be able to forgive anything.

So, I confessed everything to her. Of course, she got really angry that I had found everything and initially denied most of it. To bring this long assorted story to an end, we’re slowly learning to trust each other again – every day is a struggle.

But one thing I know and keep coming back to -- we MUST love – and we MUST forgive from the heart!

Love Given and Received

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

Love is simply giving. October 11 was my and my twin sister’s birthday so, of course, this is fresh on my mind. As I pondered what to give her, I was reminded of some of my readings on gift giving.

Sometimes I read GOD CALLING. It's a book by "Two Listeners" (edited by A.J. Russell) and it's short daily devotionals about life. One of the devotionals described the joy of a mother wrapping a Christmas present for a child. As the mother wraps, she thinks to herself, “Oh how she will love this. Oh, how she will love that.”

The joy is in the giving, in seeing the reaction of those you love.

I began thinking about gift giving and what it has meant to different people at different times.

There once was a mother and her daughters who were presented with the challenge of putting together items for a gift bag, which the church would give to a predetermined needy family. Though this mother didn’t have much materially, she and her girls worked diligently to make their items for the gift bag very special to the recipients.

It took a lot of time and quite a chunk of the mother’s financial resources, but helping others and giving from the heart was what was of most importance. Finally, they were ready. The following Sunday, they added their items to the gift bag. As they did, they felt that joy and delight that only comes in giving to others. And they thanked God for the opportunity to give to someone else.

The next morning, as she opened her door to greet the day, the mother found the gift bag on her own doorstep. She never knew she was poor until someone told her.

I think sometimes we have to be very careful about how we give to others. We don’t want them to feel “poor.”

This brought me full circle to Samaritan’s Purse and the shoebox ministry. I’ve made mention of this project in my articles before, and I’m always amazed at the stories of answered prayers while showing children around the world that God exists and that He loves them. They realize God was thinking about each and every one of them personally at creation, that He knows them, and He loves them!

My friend was given a tour of Samaritan’s Purse and was told this story by one of the assistants there.

A young girl in one of the countries of the Samaritans Purse visits did not want to go to school one day. She had holes in her shoes, and all the other children made fun of her. After arguing with her mother, she finally agreed to go.

Unknown to her, this particular day was the day shoeboxes were to arrive from Samaritan’s Purse.

That day, that little girl got some prayers answered. Guess what her shoebox contained. That’s right, a pair of shoes – exactly her size. Don’t tell me God isn’t still in the miracle working business. He works miracles every day. We’ve just lost sight of them, or become too jaded to see them, but they’re there, just the same.

Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given to you.” I think when we give gifts of love, the joy we receive in return is worth much more.

I hope the next time you are blessed to share a birthday with someone, that you take a moment to thank God for that person, for the opportunity to share a gift with them, and for His love that He first gave to us.

Love After the Storm

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, North Carolina, USA)

Last week, a swift storm traveled through my county. It arrived and was literally gone in an instant. I heard the wind and rain as it passed briefly over my house and thought how forceful it seemed.

Within five minutes after its passing, my pastor called my house and informed me that we were not having Prayer Meeting that night. (It was the usual Wednesday night prayer time). When I asked why, he said, “You know that gust of wind that just blew over?” Innocently I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, it took the roof off the church.” I didn’t know how to take this, so, as I called as many people as I could to let them know our Wednesday meeting was canceled, I tried to downplay the incident – telling people a part of the roof had blown off the church or something to that effect and that I really didn’t know how bad it was.

When my sister got home from work, we drove the short distance to the church. Even as we turned into the parking lot, we were stunned. Our eyes fell on what looked like the roof rolled back like a tin can. We were shocked beyond words!

The rain was still pouring down as we got out of the car and walked into the building (one of three buildings that make up our church). There were about 20 people already there, trying to see how they could help. I told our pastor it was much worse than I thought. He said, “Didn’t you believe me?” I said, “Yes, but I thought you meant a part of the roof was lifted up or something.”

As we examined in our minds the task of cleaning and repair that lay ahead, we realized we had much for which to be thankful. There were no injuries. This event happened at 5:00. Two hours later, 50 children would have been upstairs where the brunt of the storm’s damage took place. The parking lot would have been full of cars and people – the same parking lot where a two-ton air conditioning/heat pack unit had been dropped by the wind from the roof.

Four days passed and, on Sunday, our pastor brought home our focus when he said, “We’re worried over a roof and getting it fixed. The roof can be repaired. This is a building. We would still meet and be the people of God.

Even as we take a mental inventory of our damage, we should not lose focus of who God is. Some people said the storm was caused by the devil when he saw how well things are going in our church. But, in reality, this is to remind us that God is all-powerful, and He Alone guides the wind and rain. God is in charge – no one else.

And we should not lose sight of who He is. Even as we repair the damage to our church building, a few miles away, a husband sits by the bedside of his wife as she is on life support from complications from surgery.” As he asked that we pray for this man and his wife, it simply took those minutes to re-focus our priorities from ourselves to God.

We realized again what was important.

When we get to Heaven, God is not going to ask us how we repaired our church building, but He will ask us how we used our time for Him, and ministering to this man and his wife – especially when our own back yard is falling apart – should put us squarely into His Presence.

This experience brought us closer as a church (not a church building, but a church body of believers) and as a people of God.

In our bulletin each Sunday is written, “We are a people of purpose, and our vision is to know God and make Him known.” This should be our focus every day.

It’s important that we got through the storm, but, more important, is how we got through it. We learned to trust God and depend only and totally on Him alone, and we learned to love and help each other, putting others’ needs before our own.

"The Triumphant Sound of Music"©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

I know I use events in my church to coincide with this article, but after all, love is the heart of the Christian message. This month is no different, since I want to talk about the music program at my church!

I’m very excited about it, since we just voted on a new Music Director who is quite gifted by God. Fact is, we’ve gone through several years of searching for a music director.

I don’t know how many of you have music directors anymore, but we’ve had them in my church since I was in the youth choir (which was quite a while ago). By having a music director, I mean that we have someone stand in front of our choir and “direct” us. I might add that, over the years, we’ve had many accomplished musicians in our midst, and I’m thankful for those good memories and that great training.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, my church has been through a rough time with leadership positions and, sadly, to be truthful, we nearly closed the doors. But now, thanks be to God, we are on the upswing!

Anyway, while we did have a good director of music for the past four years, he was not a “trained musician.” I don’t mean to sound as if we’re too good not to have a “trained” professional or anything like that, but we’d always had someone who helped us understand what was on the written musical page and that helped us with our musical sounds and pronunciations of vowels. Those southern words can really stand out in a musical composition – and not in a good way!

To cut a very long and quite involved story short, yesterday we voted on this new director, who, as I mentioned, God has truly gifted in music. It is truly a joy to hear him play and to watch him as he plays. You just know he is “called” in the field. It’s just a world of difference from the past four years.

And looking back even further than that, I can see that music has always touched my heart. As a child in church, I always enjoyed the music more than the preaching (all pastors out there, I apologize).

I even considered majoring in music in college – but I’m so shy, I could never get up the courage to take any of the classes where you had to perform in front of people – singing or playing – and I nearly died when I had to play a child’s song on the guitar for one of my music appreciation courses for elementary school teachers. I did everything I could to try to get that teacher to let me play that piece in private.

And, come to think of it, “The Sound of Music” is my favorite film. For someone who is not an accomplished musician, music has had a very important part of shaping who I am.

Anyway, our new director is also our church accompanist. He is proficient in organ (holding a degree in the area) but plays a clavinova in church. I don’t know if any of you have ever heard of a clavinova, but I didn’t even know the word existed!

Anyway, when we voted to call him as our Music Director, we also voted for the church to purchase one of these clavinovas. We already have a baby grand and an organ that, I’m sure, were given by past members to the church as gifts, and I’m sure the organ has been there since I can remember. Since the church was built in the 1800’s, there’s no telling how old it is.

I am humbly thankful for God sending our Music Director to us. Let me just add one more thing before I end this article. One of the things the new director is seeking in a church – even more than the opportunity to play – is a church family, a place of love. Every Sunday, we sing “The Family of God” as a church before we depart. I hope he can find love and acceptance in my church, and I’m so thankful for the people that have gone to him and hugged him, talking to him and thanking him, after services each Sunday. By the way, he was voted in unanimously. Praise the Lord. Discord has turned to joy!

Minister While Partying

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC)

This month, I had an invitation to two birthday parties for seniors in my church, so my mind has been on ministry, especially ministry to the elderly and homebound. I hope you don’t mind, but I want to take a moment to pause and reflect on what the words “ministry” and “homebound” might mean.

Medicare defines “homebound” as someone who “experiences a normal inability to leave home, one whose physical condition and/or limitations are such that it would be a considerable and taxing effort for that person to leave home.” Meals on Wheels sees the “homebound” as “individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals.” Our Franklinton Senior Center checks on our senior citizens regularly through Meals on Wheels and, especially in bad weather, to see if they are all right and if they need anything. Loneliness is a bad thing, and I applaud individuals who work with Meals on Wheels and who work with the Senior Centers, reaching out to others to share of themselves.

In my church, we have what we call a “Homebound Committee,” which ministers to those who are unable to get out on their own. I just want to share this month about some of the wonderful people who are considered “homebound” and the great ministry THEY share about the love of Jesus.

The first of the birthday parties I mentioned earlier was for one of my church’s homebound members who turned 85!! Her family gave her a party at the lake, which is about an hour and a half from my house. What a beautiful day it was!! There were about 100 people there, and we ate outside. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with a pig picking, but it is huge here in the South!! I just couldn’t bring myself to eat the pig though, so I “pigged out” on chicken and vegetable goodies. Oh, and of course, I walked down to the lake and sat out on the pier for awhile. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and, I know Ms. Senter enjoyed it tremendously.

I have to let you in on a little secret about Ms. Senter. She is diabetic and recently had to have one of her legs amputated due to this disease. But, never once have I seen her down or complain about it. That is a testimony in itself. She is just a fun-loving, Christian woman who values what’s important in life and continues to share her time and love with her family and friends.

The second party was given by the Homebound Committee to one of our church members who is in a rest home. He turned 96, and is as spunky as ever!! I have to say that, as you well know, smiling is contagious, and I think it’s also a healthy thing to do. Besides, it warms the hearts of all those around!!

This all got me started to thinking about ministry to others – just what is “ministry” and how can I be a minister to others in the name of Christ? After all, Jesus said, in Matthew 7:20 (New American Standard), “So then, you will know them by their fruits.” We will be known by our love. As the song goes, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…” In II Corinthians 8, we also see that the churches of Macedonia were poor financially, but gave liberally to others of what they had. I believe this included time and love.

Forgive me, but I also have to mention that in my church, we are preparing to elect Deacons into our what we call our Deacon Family Ministry. We have 12 Deacons that divide the number of church families on our church roll among them so that they can have one-on-one ministry opportunities with family members. It’s really great and gives you comfort knowing there’s someone you can call on at any time that will always be there for you, representing the cause of Christ. A Deacon is a minister, a servant. Of course, other qualifications for this servant office are spelled out in I Timothy 3. I’m going to give you a brief Greek lesson here. The Greek word “diakoneo,” coming from a word meaning “waiter” or “minister to others” means to “serve,” and it’s where we get the word “Deacon.” So, I believe on of our privileges as Christians is to be a servant to all we can, in the name of Christ. And I believe that to serve others in this way is to love them.

The Miracles of Christmas

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

As Christmas approaches, literally hours away, I want to take time to jot down what some miracles of this time might be.

This Christmas alone, I’ve already experienced quite a few. To begin with, I want to take time to talk about those people who might not only be without presents this year, but perhaps without a place to call home. It seems the cost of just living day to day becomes more difficult with each new day, and the miracle of Christmas to many might just be the miracle of having enough money to pay the bills.

I’m more mindful of this right now because a lady in my church is fearful of losing her home, because she worked more than the allotted hours allowed by Social Security, and now she’s in a bind.

Before all the hustle and bustle began tonight, with the “technical” beginning of Christmas, I sat and just quietly spent time with God. It was nice. It wasn’t a long time, but it was peaceful.

I let my mind wonder back to Bethlehem and that night so long ago. Oh, to have been there! I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be in Mary’s shoes. What was it really like for her that night so long ago? She was just a teenager, with real teenage problems, who was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. Our finite minds simply cannot grasp such a concept.

That was the first Christmas miracle. The angels lit the sky with a majesty we just cannot comprehend. It is beyond our understanding, so we have to understand with our hearts. Scripture says that ALL the angels in Heaven were there at the Birth of Christ. ALL the angels in Heaven! Wow. Can you just imagine?!

Then, in the midst of this miracle of Birth alone came the miracle that the Wise Men and shepherds even found Jesus. I know they followed a star, but they also had to have tremendous faith. If Jesus would have been born in today’s world, do we have astrologers who would follow a star and recognize Jesus as God’s Son? It is my hope that we do.

There is much to praise Jesus for this Christmas – and one of the reasons to praise Him is for the miracle of salvation. If Mary had not accepted God’s call to bear His Son, God would have simply chosen someone else. Mary would never have experienced this miracle first hand.

In the past few days I heard about a miracle in one of the missionary families in an unknown location. A two month-old baby was seriously ill and airlifted to a hospital in another country. We literally held our breaths on a daily basis waiting to hear word, anonymously, of course.

The miracle is that the baby was literally at death’s door and had to be resuscitated, with little hope of survival. The last few days, we’ve watched as the Lord has answered prayers, and this child now has improved slightly, but significantly, and it looks like he will survive. God has answered another prayer, and another miracle is born.

There are many more miracles of Christmas. Just look for them. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but just a thought of something good that happens to you or just a warm hug or smile from someone. You never know – you might be part of someone’s Christmas miracle.

The Things We Do For Love©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

When we’re little, our parents take care of us, love us, feed us, etc. We’re virtually helpless. In turn, as time goes on, and if God allows, we have the opportunity to return some of that love by taking care of our parents.

And, now I’m speaking about what’s going on in my own life.

My uncle, who’s like a daddy to me, has had congestive heart failure for quite a number of years, since 2001, when he had a heart attack six months after my mother passed away.

God has indeed been good to us, and he has not had any major problems up until now.

Since around November of last year, his congestive heart failure has been steadily, but surely, worsening. He was hospitalized in January of this year, and, not long after that, he became nearly helpless, nearly bedridden. Some days he sleeps 22 out of 24 hours. Other times, he feels like riding in the car or sitting up and watching TV. And, sometimes, he feels like going out to Wal-Mart or out to eat. When he returns from these day trips, he is completely exhausted and sleeps the rest of the afternoon, sometimes into the night. I thank God for every “good” day he has and hope he has many more.

I also believe nothing is impossible. God can turn all this around in His grace and mercy so that my uncle can once again become the vibrant, fun-loving, active man that he once was.

I’m sure many of you have gone through this same thing with those you love. It’s very hard to see someone you love become such a different person. My uncle loved to go in his workshop and use his table saw. He loved to hammer and build and plant a garden of tomatoes or whatever he wanted at the time. He was always “on the move.” In a nutshell, he simply liked to “go.”

Now, all that has changed. His days now are spent with little energy, for he has very little energy to give.

Another factor in this is that he was unable to renew his driver’s license in February. Back then, he wasn’t like he is today. He was still driving and getting about well on most days. He wasn’t the kind of careless driver that continues way past capability. He was still a good driver with a clear record and a conscious desire to keep one.

A following doctor’s appointment didn’t go well. That seemed to be it for him, and he seemed to almost give up. He began using a walker or wheelchair and developed a tremendous fear of falling.

I don’t know if any of this comes with age or not, but I hope I have my uncle around for a very long time to come. I take care of him as best I can. I love him, and I do all I know how to do. My prayer is that one day God will allow his strength to return. In the meantime, under God’s strength, I will do all I can for as long as I can – and I thank God for him and for all the times we had, still have, and will have together.

Thank you for allowing me to share my little corner of love with you.

He Loved Me With a Cross

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

This month, I wanted to share more about the celebration of Easter and the reason Christ came to earth in the first place.

At church Thursday night, we had what we call a “Maundy Thursday” service. It’s essentially a remembrance of Christ going to the Cross, along with the events that led up to it.

Our pastor did a wonderful job of examining characters in the Bible and showing Jesus’ Love for each of them, no matter how “good” or “bad” they were or what part they played in the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

I’m going to explain just what our pastor – David - did, because I think it’s quite significant. It certainly gave me a new outlook on the whole event.

First of all, there were four “stations” represented on center stage at the front of the church, which was dimly lit, with most of the lighting directed on the stage.

David walked to the first of three stations he had set up prior to the service. This first station consisted of a cup of “wine” and a large “loaf” of bread. He began, saying, “My name is Judas.” He proceeded to describe what he, as Judas, felt the night he shared the Last Supper with Jesus. He emphasized the seeming sincerity of Judas’ words at the table when he asked, “Is it I?” in response to the question of who should betray Jesus. After the betrayal, Judas was convicted and filled with remorse. He ended up killing himself – but still found that with remorse, confession, and repentance, there is still forgiveness at the Cross.

The next person to be portrayed was Peter. David stepped to the second display, a water basin and pitcher. He spoke as Peter, very outspoken, and very humble to have his feet washed by Jesus, the Master. As Peter, he expressed his surprise at Jesus wrapping a towel around Himself and washing the disciples’ feet. It should have been the other way around.

The next person to be portrayed was James, and David stepped behind a makeshift Garden, complete with the large rock on which Jesus prayed. As James, he expressed his remorse at falling asleep. Jesus had only asked him to do one thing, to stay awake and pray, but he could not even do that. After all the things he had asked of Jesus, he could not even complete one in return. He stated how he would love to have seen the drops of blood that fell upon that rock as Jesus prayed, but, alas, he had been asleep.

Finally, David stepped to the final display, the Cross. As Barabbus, he expressed his delight that the crowd had chosen him above the Messiah. He also expressed the glee that they even shared the same first name – Jesus. Barabbus was his last name. He knew he was guilty of murder and knew what his punishment would and should have been. He also knew that Jesus took his place, just as He took our places on that Cross.

We left the service in silence, after singing one verse of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” as David draped the Cross in black. We may have left in silence as Jesus was crucified on that Cross, but we will return on Sunday morning at a Sunrise Service of joy as Jesus will rise from Death and the grave. Hallelujah! What wondrous love is this!

Adopted in Love

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC,USA)

My uncle is like a father to me. I don’t know how I would have made it in the world if it weren’t for his love and attention to me through all my growing years. So, naturally, when Father’s Day arrives each year, I shower my uncle with presents. He is my father, my “adopted” father. And I love him like a daddy.

In the same way, those who are parents of adopted children love these children just as much as they would if they actually gave birth to them. I have never adopted a baby, but I’ve often thought about it. It would be a tremendous responsibility, but it would be oh so rewarding.

Those of you who have children can attest to the incredible feeling of love received from a child and given back to a child. It makes us realize that we can’t even begin to fathom the love our Heavenly Father has for us.

As great as this love is, sometimes, no matter how much we might love someone, they are taken from us. I think we’ve all experienced this. And yet, we must keep in mind that God has said He will turn all things to good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (New American Standard Bible)

I am reminded of two specific instances where good came from the loss of such love. In the first, John Walsh became host of “America’s Most Wanted” following the abduction and murder of his six year-old son, Adam, in 1981. From that horrible experience, he led us in the capture of over 1,000 criminals and the finding of more than 50 lost children through the creation of his television project.

In another instance, Kyle Petty, former race car driver, lost his son, Adam, in 2000 to a car crash at one of the tracks. (By the way, he credited Jesus Christ and his relationship with Him as the sole reason he got through this experience. I admire him for this public confession). Out of the loss of Adam was formed the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

The project had actually been a dream of Adam’s, who had seen a camp for seriously ill children in Florida in 1999 when he participated with his family in a charity motorcycle ride benefiting Camp Boggy Creek. Adam wanted to start such a camp in his home state of North Carolina.

Following his untimely and tragic death, his parents worked harder than ever to make his dream a reality. The Victory Junction Camp first opened its doors in 2004. During the five years since, it has helped more than 10,000 chronically or seriously ill children from 47 states and 3 countries, helping children enjoy camping experiences despite their medical conditions.

The camp is specifically for children who are unable to attend “regular” camps. Further, its camping opportunities are completely free of charge to the families of these children.

Week-long opportunities are available to children during the summer, while family weekends are offered during the rest of the year. This is made possible through countless contributions and donated volunteer hours. The camp also provides the proper medical environment and personnel to accommodate each child. What an amazing and incredible service.

As my thoughts of loving and caring for “adopted” children come to a close, I want to make just one more point from Ephesians 1:5 from the New Living Translation:

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Spending This Mother's Day with Mama

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, North Carolina, USA)

Actually, this title is somewhat misleading. I am spending Mother’s Day with Mama – but through my memories only.

As I’ve mentioned in this column before, Mama passed away from breast cancer in 2001. I miss her terribly. We were very close, best friends. I’m sure many of you can relate.

That said, I’ll get right to it – sharing some of my most precious memories with Mama.

First, there was the shopping. One of our favorite places to go on Saturdays when I was growing up was Fayetteville Street in Raleigh. At that time, there was a Lerner Shop, a Belk, and a Dime Store (if I’m remembering correctly).

On one of my favorite shopping trips, Mama bought my twin sister and me two dresses from the Lerner Shop – one was pink, and one was purple. (My twin and I dressed alike at that time). I thought they were just about the prettiest dresses I’d ever seen, and I still remember them vividly.

It wasn’t until years later, when we were recalling childhood memories as people do, that I found out Mama spent her whole paycheck on those dresses. I think her paycheck at that time was about $57 for the week at the Hosiery Mill. And she had just been paid.

Mama worked hard for her money, and it broke my heart that she spent all her money like that. She gave everything she had for my sister and myself to have something nice to wear to school. She loved us so much.

And I’ll never forget the good times we had. We were “friends” from the start. When my twin and I were in the Junior Choir at church, Mama would pick us up after practice on Wednesday nights, and we’d go to a local family-run restaurant for French Fries. We’d sing in the car and just enjoy being together.

It always bothered me that Mama never seemed happy. I know this sounds silly, but she never really had a life of her own. We lived in the house Mama was born in, and I think she felt obligated on some level to stay. We lived with my Grandmother and Great Aunt.

I really can’t explain it. I know love kept my family together. Yet, I think Mama wanted something more. I think she was afraid to be independent – even if it was with my dad. And he couldn’t stay. So, even though they loved each other dearly, they never spent their lives together.

In fact, I don’t think Mama’s life ever had as much meaning for her as when she was in school. In school, it seems she felt like “somebody” - and she was good at schoolwork, graduating Salutatorian. I think it was a place she felt accepted. I don’t think she ever did anywhere else.

I remember when she died, I told one of my cousins I didn’t think she was ever happy. He contradicted me and let me know in no uncertain terms that she was happy when she spent time with my twin sister and me. We were her life. I think he was right. During her funeral, our pastor looked straight at me and said, “Your mother loved you, and she knew you loved her.” He went on to say that my sister and I were worth more than gold to her. He captured her so beautifully.

I think my sister and I were the friends she never had, except when she was in high school. We did all the “friend” things. We shared secrets and pretended to have the same hobbies. I remember how shocked I was to learn that Mama didn’t really like hot chocolate. She just drank an over-abundance of it in the winter – complete with whipped cream topping - simply because I liked it. We shared favorite television shows and movies – “The Young and the Restless,” Christmas shows, “101 Dalmatians,” “The Sound of Music,” “Pretty Woman.”

It’s still difficult for me to believe she’s gone. It’s been 8 years now. Our last Mother’s Day together was in 2000. I remember handing her a rose at our church that day, wondering if it would be our last Mother’s Day together. I don’t know why I thought of that – but it was our last one together.

She passed away the next year, the weekend before Mother’s Day weekend. When I saw her, she looked like she was asleep. I never got to say goodbye. I told her how much I loved her and simply said, “I’m sorry,” not because I was sorry for anything I’d done, but because I was sorry she had lost her battle and God had not healed her physically on this earth as I thought He would. I miss her.

The Cross of Christmas

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

Those of you that know me well know that I play Christmas music year round. I love it. I’ve come to realize that Christmas isn’t a time of year, but a feeling in your heart.

This Christmas, more than any prior, I have felt more of an emphasis on the Cross. I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but I think it’s wonderful.

This year, my Christmas celebrations began with going caroling with the choir, something my church hadn’t done in years. Our Music Director, in fact, didn’t want to do it this year, but let’s just say he was coerced. In the end, we visited 19 homes, and I think all of us received just as much of a blessing as those to whom we sang. This became a ministry for us, a gift to our listeners.

I also participated in my church’s Christmas cantata, “Emmanuel (Celebrating Heaven’s Child).” This cantata integrated traditional Christmas songs with messages appropriate for any time of year. And the emphasis was on Jesus, not just the Babe in the manger, but the Savior of the world.

May I share some of the words with you:

“The angels must have missed Him as they sang Him to sleep,
but they marveled at the promises this Baby came to keep.
His Father must have felt at once great sadness and great joy
as He watched His little baby Boy.”

and,

“I wasn’t there at the manger
the night You came to earth.
Angels appeared, but I didn’t hear
the song that announced Your Birth.
Just as the shepherds came searching
and wise men came to see,
I come to You -
trusting You’ll come to me.”

Then, when I was shopping for Christmas cards, this verse (by Ray Lessin) caught my attention:

Little Baby in the hay,
soon there’ll be another day
when nails shall pierce Your Hands and Feet
as You provide our sin’s defeat.

Risen Jesus on the throne,
we lift our praise to You alone –
for You’re the gift that we receive
the moment that our hearts believe.

Then, I was impressed with the following verse:

This Christmas, as you consider
all the awesome things
that have come to you through Jesus,
God’s perfect Gift,
remember that it is but a taste
of all the good things
that are yet to come.

And, finally, this:

When you get right down to it….
the only thing that really matters is Jesus.

With my heart already brimming over with blessings, I began reading THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS, a free Rick Warren book that I had received in the mail. (I have read THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE and like Rick Warren very much). As of this writing, I’ve only read a few pages, but I’ve already been touched by the Spirit of God. I understand already that God cares about ME, personally, and that God IS love. Why else would He be born to die on a Cross for ME, for ME?

Love is Being Together©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

On this July 4th holiday, I am reminded that love is simply being together and just enjoying each other’s company. All over this country, I’m sure, friends and families are gathering to celebrate this holiday. They’ll be going to the beach, going on picnics, and going to huge fireworks displays. We never went to fireworks or anything when I was a little girl, but we’d hear them explode all over the neighborhood. Now, they’re organized events all over the world. I think that’s great!

I want to tell you about the gathering in my small hometown (population about 2000). It only began last year. The American Legion hosted it (and they are doing so again this year), and they invited local musicians to entertain us while we ate hot dogs and sno-cones and waited for dusk and fireworks! I remember what a success it was and how great it was to see so many people come together in this family-oriented atmosphere.

This year, it’ll be the same. It’s a chance to see old friends and meet new friends – friends from my hometown and friends from neighboring towns. And it’ll be the same with you. I don’t even have to tell you.

But I do have to tell you a little about my hometown so that you will understand why participation in this event was somewhat of a surprise to me and so that you will see why it meant so much to me.

Main Street in my hometown had begun to crumble and had been doing so for years. The movie theater I visited as a child completely fell in. There was literally nothing left but the front door. To tell you the truth, there was nothing in town anymore. What was once a booming town turned into a virtual ghost town. People started leaving town to go shopping in malls in larger cities, and no one was moving in. I even heard there was a couple who came from out of state to discuss buying some beautiful property and a very large columned home near town but were so turned off by the looks of the town that they turned back toward home!!

It’s funny, but it’s not! But I’m so thankful for a Revitalization Committee and for a local couple who believed in this town and its people enough to actually roll up their sleeves and try to put the town back together. They recently cleaned up one of the store fronts and opened the “Philling Station,” which has the theme of the old-time gas stations – only it’s a coffee house and tea room of sorts, at least that’s how I describe it.

There’s lots of flavors of coffees and sandwiches on the menu. And it’s gradually becoming a gathering place for townspeople. It’s great to see people come together and talk and just be together – and that’s love, that’s showing people you care – spending time with them.

Sunday we dedicated Deacons at my church, and one of the lines our pastor said is that we serve the Lord by serving one another. And that’s love too. It also makes you feel good inside.

There will be a lot of serving at the ball field this weekend, where the fireworks are being held – hot dogs, hamburgers, and sno-cones - giving of time and food because members of the American Legion cared enough to think of this event for us to share time with each other and just be together.

Jesus said he who wants to be great should be servant of all.

He also said in I John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

GOD IS LOVE.

There are other ways we can spend time together this holiday too. We can read to our children (as a writer of a children’s book, this is what I like to do), play with the children and family pets, bake something with our children – the list goes on and on. Look around. Opportunities to show love are everywhere. We can’t outgive God, especially where love is concerned.

Holidays like July 4th are times many people give in to depression. And that’s an easy thing to do. You’ve heard it said, “If you want to feel better – do something for someone.” I think I’ll give that a try this weekend. I can give something as small as a smile or a good word.

God loved us before we were even born. How can we not love and serve one another?

The Greatest of These Is Love

by Cheryl Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

The Lord commands us to show His Love to a world starving for it. I was never more reminded of this than a couple of Sundays ago when my pastor talked about the boy who shared his lunch with the crowd of 5000 men. He simply brought what he had to God – and God multiplied it. He talked about how that little boy probably went home and said, “Look what Jesus did for me!”

I was reminded over the next week of several circumstances where people – especially children – could say the same as we share God’s love with the world – because love truly is meeting each other’s needs – where they are (which is, of course, one of the concepts in Dr. Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” study). This month, I want to share three wonderful examples of how to show love.

I remember in years past reading a testimony from a woman whose only duty in her ministry was to hold, to rock, to love newborns and other babies with Aids – to simply and literally love them until they died. She told the story of a baby who died in her arms as she was rocking him.

I never forgot that story and how heart-wrenching it would be – how it truly touched my heart. I don’t remember where this story took place, but it was not America. However, in my research on the subject for this article, I was surprised that missions of this type do exist in this country as well.

One such ministry is Caring for Babies with Aids, and it’s near Los Angeles. The children here range from newborn to 6 years, and the goal is to ultimately re-unite the families or find homes for the children.

From what I understand, these children do not actually have the Aids virus, but are HIV positive. The volunteers and workers do their best to make this a home away from home – they do it all – they “become” parents to these children - they potty train, provide the children with toys, playgrounds, and even a wall mural donated by Disney! The volunteers sometimes even have baby showers in their homes as a way of accepting donations of diapers and other necessities.

I also read about a place called Beautiful Gate – for babies and children, newborn to 4, abandoned in Lesotho – sometimes literally “thrown away.” This is actually a residential/hospice care for babies that do have Aids – and it may be the one I remember reading about. It was begun by a missionary and her husband and is named for the story in Acts 3:1-10.

Sometimes the children at Beautiful Gate return home, sometimes they are adopted, sometimes they die.

To me, both of these places offer a “sanctuary” of sorts – a place for safety, stability, and love.

Another small instance that shows big love is demonstrated in a wonderful project called Operation Christmas Child, of which I am sure everyone is aware.

This past year, and a couple of years prior, my church has participated in this Franklin Graham ministry. This year, as we got our shoeboxes together and filled them with small items – soap, toothbrushes, a small Bible or New Testament, a doll or other toy – we were reminded by our pastor that, to us, this may just be a shoebox with small somewhat “insignificant” items, but it will be everything to a child that has nothing – think of that, everything. It is a small act, but an act of love – another small opportunity to show the Love of God.

I want to share one more story from a testimony at my church. One day, a man went to a hamburger “pit-stop” called Checkers for his lunch break. As he was waiting for his order, he noticed a man not far away, next to the street. He was sitting on the ground, his feet resting in the ditch in front of him. He looked quite dirty, sad, and homeless.

When the first man got his hamburger, he went to the other man, sat down beside him, and shared his lunch. He didn’t offer him money. He didn’t ask any questions. He just quietly shared his lunch. When they were done, he reached out, helped the man up – and told him the story of Jesus.

He does not know what ultimately happened to that man, but he took one small opportunity to share the Love of God and to emphasize that the God of Love one day literally drew him “out of the ditch” as well.

We are all on the mission field for God. I remember once reading a sign as I was visiting a church. As I left the parking lot, the sign simply read, “You are entering the mission field.” At my church, we also have a sign out front. It reads, “Come to worship, leave to serve.”

Blackaby also says in “Experiencing God” that we are to find out where God is working and join Him there. I only hope I can show love in some small way as the special people in this article have shown their love as true servants of God.

Now abideth these three – faith, hope, and love – but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:13).

Easter's Sacrifice of Love

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

The cover of our bulletin at church this week had a picture of Jesus in prayer prior to going to Calvary. The heading read, “The Greatest Sacrifice Reveals the Deepest Love.” It was quite meaningful and quite thought-provoking.

I began thinking about sacrifice, what it means, even in our families, and especially at this time of year. At Easter, we sacrifice time we would have perhaps spent going to a movie to spend time with our children in Easter egg hunts and such. I know why we as Christians celebrate Easter and that it is significant because of Christ’s Death and Resurrection for our salvation, but, did the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunting concepts come from the Bible?

What I found out during my quest for information on this topic was quite interesting. I found that, indeed, the pagan holiday of “Easter” has its origins in the book of Genesis. I don’t know why that should have surprised me, since the Bible is the story of the beginning of everything, but I was surprised.

Anyway, according to these findings, Noah’s grandson, Nimrod, was married to Semiramis. After his death, she turned him into some kind of god in the minds of the people. According to this research, he became the god Baal, and his followers believed in demon worship, human sacrifice, idolatry, etc. Then, she gave birth to an illegitimate son, Tammuz, and actually had the people of that day convinced that Tammuz was not only Nimrod reborn, but that he was the promised “messiah.” People began worshipping Tammuz – and Semiramis as the fertility goddess. In some cultures, she is known as Ashtur, Ishtar, and Eastre (sound like Easter?).

When missionaries came to the Anglo-Saxons and they were converted to Christianity, around the 7th century, these paganisms combined with the Christian celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection, and the name “Easter” was born! I was surprised to learn that the Easter Bunny and Easter egg can actually be traced back to Semiramis and his “rejoicing at springtime” practices. Rabbits, because of their fertility, became associated with the goddess, Eastre, and the Babylonians believed she was dropped from Heaven in an egg into the Euphrates!

We still keep some semblance of these pagan practices in our Easter today, and, through what they have become, we can share love with others.

For instance, there are Easter egg hunts all over the world, even at the White House. These are times for us to watch our children as they gleefully search for those ever-alluding eggs. Sometimes we paint those eggs, make them chocolate, or whatever. These are just gestures of our love to our children. We love them, and we love spending time with them at Easter hunts, Easter parades, and on visits with the Easter Bunny.

Family and just spending time together as a family are still top priorities in our world, as mixed up as it may seem sometimes, or much of the time. We join together as families and watch these events at Easter. Mothers and daughters share special time as they shop for that special Easter dress.

I know we don’t place nearly as much emphasis on Easter as on Christmas, but I think all these Easter things we’ve talked about here relate to love and giving of ourselves to others.

The women at the Tomb in Christ’s day also gave – and very generously. They went to the Tomb and greeted Resurrection Day with spices and anointing oils for the Body of Christ. They loved Him so, and they wanted to be as near to His Body as possible.

They also gave a sacrifice of love, a costly sacrifice in fact. In my research, I found that in modern times, the frankincense given to Christ at His Birth would have cost $500 per pound, and the myrrh, $4,000 per pound! Imagine giving up that much! I never really found a figure for the spices for the Burial of Jesus, but you know these women gave up a great deal. And they probably didn’t have that much to begin with! I think this teaches us that when we love, we are to love with our whole hearts, giving unselfishly and generously of all that we have.

God's Reaching Out to Others

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

This month, especially with Thanksgiving coming up, I am constantly reminded of the needs of others. My church is asking for volunteers to help serve Thanksgiving Day dinner for the Food Pantry in my town. We have never been involved with this project before. As a matter of fact, it’s new to my hometown.

One of the area churches started it and asked received an overwhelming response from the neighborhood as well as other churches.

I’ve also been thinking about the sacrifices our missionaries make every day. I never really thought about it this deeply before.

While we’re all sitting around having Thanksgiving Dinner with our families, there are missionaries who may not even get a meal that day. And I admire them. I admire them for the sacrifices they make for the Glory of God. It makes me feel very humbled. They have given up house and home, some of them the own possibility of having their own family, to serve the Only Living God, Lord of all creation. It makes me feel so small. I realize one has to be called to be a missionary and that all people are not called as such, but I admire so much those who answer that call in a positive way.

Last night, I was watching television and there was a lady pushing a shopping cart as the homeless do, and she would gather things during her outings to bring home to her five year-old child. I guess we never really know who the homeless are. It’s like we don’t really make a connection or see them as “ordinary” people for some reason. But they are.

This woman was probably no different than you or I at one time. She probably had a thriving job and a house, perhaps a husband. My pastor is always saying you and I are one paycheck from the same. He’s right.

On this television show, one of the main characters was offering the lady some toys for her son. He had befriended her through a chance meeting and had, over time, gotten to perhaps gain a bit of trust. However, you could still see the disbelief in her face that someone would really care.

In addition to the toys, the gentleman said he hoped she didn’t mind, but he’d taken the liberty of speaking with his cousin about her and had set up a job interview with his cousin’s company, if she would be interested. At first, she seemed pleased, then said she couldn’t because she had no one to keep her son while she went on the interview. The gentleman quickly responded without batting an eyelash that he would stay with her son. She then hesitantly smiled. She was beaten. He had unexpectedly out-given her with God’s Love.

I think that’s how many of us respond to others’ kindness. We have a difficult time seeing it as genuine and, when it is, it takes us a few steps back.

I think this winter will be more difficult than usual for a lot of people. With gas bills on the rise, people will have to choose between eating their homes or driving to work. I know we can’t help everyone, but if we are able to just help one person, maybe that person can in turn help someone else.

We also have the Christmas Toy Ministry at my church. It is a ministry by our local Baptist Association to provide for children who won’t have much or perhaps not anything, as far as toys go, this Christmas. This ministry has met the needs of numerous families through the years. Not only does it help meet physical needs and wants, but there are counselors who speak to each applicant for the ministry about the love of God and about the gift of salvation.

I pray we all accept the love and forgiveness of God this Season and always.

What Does It Mean to Love Someone?

by Cheryl Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

I learned a new word at church last week – it’s storge!!!! I know, it looks like a letter was left out to spell “storage,” but that’s not it. It’s the Greek word for the love between a parent and a child. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I thought that would be a good word to use in my article. My pastor taught me that word. Actually, he taught a whole roomful of us that word at one Wednesday night Bible study.

The study was actually on the different types of love – which fits right in with my article. The three other types of love he talked about – other than storge, of course – were what we’ve always heard: agape, philios, and eros.

The last night of our study was on the eros type of love. My pastor took an unusual turn in his study when he spoke of this last type of love. He did define it to be the kind of love between a man and a woman, but he went a bit further and talked about how that kind of love fits in to the love we have for God.

We love our husbands, right? We love our boyfriends. (Hopefully, we don’t have both at the same time!) But, when we experience that love with someone we’re just crazy about, someone we would like to date or get to know, we want to be with that person. We want to know all about them. We want to hold hands. In comparing this to our relationship with God, we see how close we felt to God in the beginning and how much we enjoyed just being in His Presence. We wish that it would be that way again. And, it can!! We just have to put God first in our lives and keep Him at the center.

What I really want to speak about, though, is the kind of love that is philios – brotherly love. We should love our neighbors as ourselves. I want to focus on a project that I think is wonderful, but in which I have never participated myself. Perhaps some of you have.

It’s Habitat for Humanity. Though I don’t know anyone who has been on the receiving end of Habitat for Humanity, I do know a woman in my neighborhood who is so very grateful just for some yard work that one of our local companies and our youth did for her.

Novo is the name of the local company. Though it is international and pharmaceutical in nature, the people of this company aren’t so lost in chemistry and formulas and such that they don’t recognize and see “people” and do what they can to meet their needs.

My neighbor is one of those people. She is an elderly woman, in her eighties, and has lived in the same location for many, many years. She is the type of person who would never ask for help. In fact, she has no desire to even make any repairs on her house. Her niece lives in D.C. and has no desire ever move into the house herself. But just the thought of someone taking the time to clean up her yard and plant some flowers was so meaningful and personal to her. And she can’t stop talking about it – she can’t stop telling others how wonderful everyone is. And they keep coming back – not just to plant flowers, but to decorate her house for Christmas!

That’s going that extra mile – doing for others what they can’t do for themselves, sharing the love of God, and letting others see Jesus through us.

The youth in my church also decided to clean yards, and someone put this lady’s name on the list. She was simply overjoyed. And, as far as I know, she’s the only person who actually wrote a thank-you note to the youth director.

Since I started talking about Habitat for Humanity, I might as well add a bit more. It is simply a ministry, a ministry that fits right in with what that local business in my hometown and what the church did for my neighbor.

I went to the Habitat website and found the following: “Habitat's ministry is based on the conviction that to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ we must reflect Christ's love in our own lives by loving and caring for one another. Our love must not be words only—it must be true love, which shows itself in action. Habitat provides an opportunity for people to put their faith and love into action, bringing diverse groups of people together to make affordable housing and better communities a reality for everyone.”

I admire the founders of Habitat and went on to research a bit more about them. Their names are Millard and Linda Fuller, and when they began this ministry by literally selling all they had and giving the money to the poor. Sound familiar? Isn’t that just what Jesus asked the rich man to do? That takes a lot of courage – and even more faith.

Their giving and witnessing have touched the lives of literally millions of people worldwide. And their giving continues. I also read that Linda led in planning the Nazareth Village Project, which I had never heard of, but which apparently is a recreation of Nazareth at the time of Christ and whose project aim is to help people understand the times and teachings of Christ through something concrete. Wow.

I only want to sum this up in the words of Millard Fuller, “I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help His people in need.”

God’s Love Through Nature’s Beauty©

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC 27525)

This month, I was thinking about all the many ways God shows his unbelievable love toward us, a love which we actually cannot begin to fathom, and I decided to write about some of His incredible blessings to me, which I accept simply as His Love.

First off, I want to say that God gives us so much. He blesses us with people who love us, and He blesses us with the quiet moments and time we spend with Him, often through just sitting and enjoying the great beauty of the earth He has allowed us to be a part of for a short while.

I love the winter, and I love pictures of winter scenes. I also live near the Blue Ridge Mountains, so some of the most beautiful places on earth to me are in the Blue Ridge.

I also love animals. Anyone who knows me is well aware of that. And the Blue Ridge Parkway is full of them, especially bears and, in particular, the Black Bear. I remember reading about Hugh Morton and his quest each year to take the first photos of the new bear cubs at Grandfather Mountain.

Look around every day, and you can see the gifts of beauty God has given us. I really understand how Heaven can be more than we can ever think, or dream, or imagine. (I Corinthians 2:9).

In recent years, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to spend more time at home, in my own backyard, and I’ve had the chance to really appreciate nature’s beauty. I’ve even actually learned some things.

For instance, I learned squirrels seem to get agitated quite easily, and when they do, boy do they squawk. I always thought that particular sound belonged to birds. Now, I can distinguish it from all others.

And sometimes I wish I had my camera on the ready. This morning, there was a cardinal just outside my bathroom window, and I would love to have captured that moment on film.

Since I’ve had this wonderful time at home, I’ve come across “wild” cedar trees and re-planted them, tried to “root” flowers (which I really don’t do well), picked flowers for a dinner bouquet, enjoyed sitting on the front porch and watching a summer rain, and contemplating on an unexpected rainbow.

I love listening to the crickets on quiet nights and the birds early in the morning. Time is no longer rushed. I’ve learned to slow down and appreciate the little things in life.

One morning, though, my “routine” was interrupted when I heard a cry from what sounded like a cat. Some weeks earlier, I had come upon a litter of 4 kittens in my workshop shed. I was completely taken by surprise and had not noticed that one of my outside cats was expecting.

Of course, upon this little discovery, I just had to cuddle each one. Anyway, the cry I heard was coming from under the stairs at my back porch. I “re-found” those 4 kittens, now a couple of months old, but the one that cried out was much smaller than the others, by almost three times.

He was small and dirty and looked hurt. I unscrewed the lattice under the steps, because I was going to get to that kitten no matter what. Gingerly picking it up, I held it close and couldn’t identify the source of its screams.

Panicked, I called the vet and then carried the kitty to the vet’s office. Wrapped in a towel, he appeared near death. The vet told me it was probably too late to save him, but I just couldn’t go home and watch this kitty die. I asked the vet to do what she could.

I tried not to worry, tried concentrating on helping my uncle paint the porch swing, and I tried to simply put this in God’s Hands.

Upon calling the vet at the appointed time, I was told this little cat was surprisingly better. I picked him up that afternoon to take home and feed every 3 hours. (He had apparently never drank any of his mother’s milk. He was always pushed aside by the other hungry kittens).

When I picked him up, I hadn’t even thought of the fact that I didn’t even know what he looked like, since he was so dirty when I took him to the office. He was tiny and orange and peacefully sleeping when I saw him. He was absolutely precious.

The next day, the vet released him totally into my care. Today, he is a healthy, very spoiled, 4 year-old named Cocoa. And I never would have found him if God had not opened his beautiful world for me to explore.

Amazing Love

by Cheryl Faye Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

We just had our Thanksgiving service Sunday night, and one of the songs that was shared was “My Tribute.” I don’t know how many of you are familiar with that song, but, for the first time perhaps, I sat and listened to the words. One of the lines goes something like, “The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude.” Just think, a million angels! Even that many angels couldn’t convey my utter, humble attitude of thankfulness for God’s gift of Salvation. That is so true!

Anyway, hearing that song got me thinking, and I thought about one of the songs in our Christmas cantata this year. It’s actually my favorite song in the entire presentation (except , of course, for the excerpt of “O Holy Night”).

Anyway, the cantata itself is entitled, “The Love of God at Christmas,” and this particular song is “More Than Wonderful.” The music in this piece is absolutely beautiful, and the chorus goes something like this, “He’s more wonderful than my mind can conceive, He’s more wonderful than my heart can believe. He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams. He’s everything that my soul ever longed for, everything He’s promised, and so much more; more than amazing, more than marvelous, more than miraculous could ever be. Oh, He’s more than wonderful. That’s what Jesus means to me.” And the four-part harmony of this piece is out of this world! Gorgeous!

Okay, then I got “on a roll” and started to think about other songs and hymns that have so touched my heart over the years about God’s Love. Of course, we can’t think about Christmas without thinking about Easter – the real reason Jesus was born. And one of the most moving and meaningful songs we sing around Eastertime is “What Wondrous Love Is This.”

Think about it. What amazing love! I mean, would you go to a Cross, allow nails to be put in your hands and feet, and die a cruel death of embarrassment and horrible suffocation as an innocent but convicted criminal so that someone else might live? Now, I don’t know about you, but I think that’s love!

After I had my heart filled with these beautiful songs, I began thinking about how we actually show love at this time of year. I found examples all around me of people reaching out to others.

This Thanksgiving, some people in my community are working with a local church to cook, prepare, and deliver meals ON THANKSGIVING DAY to those who would normally be alone or without. I live in a small community, and there are plans to feed more than 100 people! More than 100 who wouldn’t have or feel love otherwise.

Also, we recently had a family visit our church. They had moved here about two months ago from Tennessee. This family is made up of the parents and four children, and at the end of October, the 19 month-old baby of this couple was diagnosed with cancer.

Since then, she’s had a kidney removed, along with the tumor, and has 23 more weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. It just breaks my heart. And, yet, this is the sweetest child. She never complains. I’d like everyone to pray for her healing and recovery.

Anyway, my church family reached out in love to this couple and their children and gave them a monetary love gift. They didn’t ask for this money. That was just one example my church could use to show this family even a small part of the amazing love of God.

There’s a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. There’s much sadness around us, especially with the shape of the economy, and there’s much sickness. People are hurting, alone, afraid, cold. And I know it seems that one little person can’t make that much difference and one little person can’t do that much. But if one little person reached just one more little person, the love of God would spread and grow – and, that’s another song, “Each One Reach One.”

This brings me to Revelation, where Jesus said to feed the hungry…. You know the words. If our love doesn’t reach out to someone else to meet their needs, then we need to examine if our love is real.

As children of God, that is one of our foremost commandments – that we love one another. True love without works of kindness and giving is dead. I hope that we can join together as a family believers and reach out to someone --- even just one person --- this Thanksgiving and show them God’s Love, praying that He will open their hearts to accept this amazing gift.

Sacrifice is Love

by Cheryl Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

With Easter weighing heavily on my mind, and the fact that Jesus made the greatest sacrifice of all when He died for our sins and rose again, I wanted to write something this month about what it means to “sacrifice.”

In my quest for a subject, I thought about the many ways people sacrifice for each other - in time, money, and other ways. During this period of thought, I watched an episode of “Murder, She Wrote” – does anyone else watch that show? – about a woman who worked three years so that her husband could go to medical school. That’s sacrifice. I was also reminded of my twin sister quitting her job a few years back so that she could move with me to New York so I wouldn’t be alone. That’s sacrifice. Then I thought of my dear mother who, many times I’m sure, gave up the notion of buying something for herself so that my twin sister and I could have the best Christmas possible. I am also sure most mothers do the same. And that’s sacrifice.

I also thought about my heroes. One of my missionary heroes is Amy Carmichael, who spent her entire life in service to others in India. Her books still amaze me – and she wrote several of them after she was bedridden for the last twenty years of her life! She is once quoted as saying, “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.” That is so true.

Fanny Crosby was another missionary hero of mine that came to mind. She was blind but didn’t stop to think about her own needs. After leaving the New York Institution for the Blind when she was 50, she eventually wrote more than 9,000 hymns – 9,000 – and still found time to dedicate her life in service to the poor and needy. Though not quite the same thing, Billy Graham made many sacrifices when he preached God’s Word all over the world instead of staying home, leaving his wife to do most of the rearing of their children.

And, this past Wednesday night at Bible Study at my church, a visiting pastor spoke on Jesus, caring more about the needs of others than of His own needs, even as He hung on the Cross.

I finally came upon one lingering story in my thoughts that I want to share with you. I’m sure many of you already know it. I read it some years ago in an Arthur Maxwell BEDTIME STORIES book. I think it was entitled, “Mother’s Hands.”

The story goes that whenever this little girl – I’ll call her Peggy – and her mother went out in public, her mother always wore gloves. Many people, I am certain, wondered about the mental well-being of this woman who constantly had her hands covered, even on the hottest summer days.

Peggy was glad, though – because, you see, her mother had ugly scars on her hands. And Peggy was ashamed of them. In fact, she told her mother on many occasions – when she’d come to the school or whatever to see Peggy in a play or to speak with her teachers – “please make sure you wear your gloves to cover your ugly hands.” Peggy made no secret of how she felt about those hands.

One day, as her mother was washing dishes and Peggy was drying them, Peggy’s curiosity got the better of her. She had never actually asked her mother what happened to her hands, to make them so ugly. So, she asked.

Her mother told her the simple story of how, when Peggy was just a baby, she went next door to visit a neighbor – just for a moment. While there, the fire alarm of the town sounded, and she heard the approaching sound of sirens, of firetrucks. She didn’t really think anything about it until the sounds became near deafening. She peered out the window in shock! Her own house was on fire – with her baby inside! Her legs felt like rubber as she ran as hard as she could to her house, which was already completely engulfed in flames.

A fireman grabbed her as she ran past, but she was able to wriggle free from his grasp. Running without fear into her burning house, she headed straight for her baby’s crib. Her baby was crying, but alive and unscathed. She reached quickly in, took the child, and, cradling her gently, ran back toward the front door. But she was overcome with the smoke and fell to her knees.

As she struggled to breathe, she felt the arm of a fireman, who had made his way into the house with another fireman and a water hose. He helped her to her feet and led her toward the door as his partner sprayed water in their path. It wasn’t until after she got outside, when she and her baby were safe, that she realized her own hands were hurting and badly burned.

There was a moment of silence as Peggy tried to grasp in her heart what her mother had just told her. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was that baby. It also didn’t take her long to realize how much she must have hurt her mother over the years with harsh words, brash even, about those hands. Her mother had never said a word.

Impulsively, Peggy reached out for her mother’s hands, held them tenderly to her face, and said, “Oh, Mama, please don’t ever hide your hands again. They are the most beautiful hands in the world!”

I don’t know if this story is true or not, but it could be. I know I’ve never forgotten it since I read it years ago. And it shows me that we never truly know what people go through and what they sacrifice for others. And sacrifice is truly an act of love.

A Lesson About Helping Others

by Cheryl Hollar
(Franklinton, NC, USA)

Webster’s defines “service” as “contribution to the welfare of others”…”a helpful act.” When Jesus was on earth, He spent His time helping and serving others. As His children, we are to do likewise. John 13:35 says, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

So, the Bible says we are to minister to others, right? It says in Matthew 23:11 that we should serve others – “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” I thought I was doing just that – being an obedient servant – when I began doing odd jobs around the house for Josephine, the mother of a friend of mine.

It seemed simple enough. Nothing to it, right? And my duties were simple. If there were dishes to wash, I washed them. If the bed needed to be made, I made it. If there were clothes that needed washing, I washed them. But I didn’t count on the company….. The company with Josephine was great – fulfilling, even peaceful. We’d sit on the porch while we shared ice cream (which she loved), or we’d sit in the kitchen at the table and eat her favorite cookies. And we talked.

I found her to be easy to talk with, this hard woman with the rough exterior and a reputation for being an ornery, constant complainer. (She and my uncle would even fight over dominoes at the Senior Center). I felt like I could talk to her about anything. To my surprise – and quite quickly - I didn’t see that rough exterior anymore.

I saw a lonely woman who loved me, who enjoyed my company. I truly felt like I was unwrapping a gift - a wonderful surprise – a woman who always greeted me at the door, walker in tow, with a smile on her face. A smile!? Was this really Josephine?

As circumstances would have it, I only worked for Josephine for about two or three months. What everyone thought was a temporary sickness ended with her leaving this world. But she kept on smiling til the end. And her son noticed her rough exterior begin to melt. She no longer complained but accepted what God had to offer. And she was thankful! She thanked God aloud continuously – for her friends, for her life, for her Lord.

You never know what’s going to happen or what God has planned – and that’s part of His wonderful surprise!
I believe God let me see another side of Josephine and get close to her so that I could learn what service to others really is. I thought I was doing a good thing helping her in her home, but it was she who was ministering in service to me.

I learned to take the time and “enjoy the cookies and ice cream.” I’ll cherish our time together – however brief it may have been. And I will never forget that woman’s smile as she came around the corner to greet me every day.