Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!
I started writing this last night, but just couldn't finish it. I guess there is so much I want to say, and yet just couldn't find the words, so I went to bed to sleep on it. I really wanted something to be on here on his birthday, but I am sure Matthew would understand. So here we go again...beginning with where I was writing last night:
Today (February 25, 2023) is our son Matthew's 50th birthday. However, like he has for the past almost nine years, he is celebrating in heaven.
It doesn't seem possible that it has been fifty years since I gave birth to this child. His birth was a bit scary...things weren't going well...when he was finally born they whisked him away from me and put him where they could monitor his breathing, etc. I never got to hold him and or really look at him because of the medicine I'd been given (a spinal), and to lift my head would give me a serious headache. The Doctor told my husband that our baby could have some serious problems. My husband didn't want to tell me, but I made him tell me what the Doctor had said. I told him there was nothing wrong with our baby. When they finally brought him to me I took one look at him and knew he was perfect in every way, and he was. None of the dire predictions about him came true. Either the Doctor was wrong, or God healed him right then and there. However, I did get the bad headache anyway and had to stay flat on my back for a week after going home from the hospital, which was no easy feat with an 18 month old child at home and a newborn baby...but God brought me through that too and everything was fine.
We named our son Matthew, which means "Gift of God". And he was that in every way. We had not "planned" on having another child that quickly after our first one, but God had other plans, and His plans are not our plans, but His plans are always best.
Our first two sons, Benton (2 yrs.) and Matthew (6 months)
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Matthew was a wonderful child in every way, but somewhat precocious and bold. Life would never be boring with Matthew around. He was a happy child and full of energy and a zest for living.
Matthew age 1
Our family in 1980, with sons Scott, Matthew, Benton
I don't intend to write his whole life story here tonight, but felt like I needed to write something special on this, what would be his 50th birthday. But I seem to be struggling. Maybe I will have to finish this another time.
I almost forgot...we traveled down to see our old house in Salt Springs, because I wanted to see for myself if there were any azaleas blooming in the old Memorial Garden. I had posted some pictures HERE LAST WEEK from when our son and DIL took a ride there and reported what sad condition everything outside was in. They were right...the outside of the grounds around the house are in terrible shape...no one is taking care of it even though it is listed for sale at a very high price. We have not lived there for about 4 years, and we haven't been able to get up close to see the condition until now, because it is empty. Anyway, I was pleased to see these azaleas blooming in the old Memorial Garden. It was somewhat comforting to sit in the arbor on Matthew's birthday, that we built in memory of him back when we lived there. It was kind of bittersweet, but I'm glad we did it.
(Sunday, Feb. 26th), Okay, so that's where I left off last night. I've been going back and reading older posts that I wrote over the past thirteen years...yes, that's right...since 2010, when we first got the news that our son was diagnosed with cancer. Below are a lot of different links to posts that were written throughout those years as I was dealing with impending loss and wavering in hope and praying for miracles. Some of these stories are about Matthew's life before cancer, and the other miraculous events of his life.
I don't expect you to go back and read all of these, unless you really want to. I mostly wanted to put them here for my own benefit, so I can find them more easily in the future. There are other posts beyond these that are not included that can probably be found by clicking on the topic, "Death of Child" in the right hand column of my blog page.
Matthew singing to his bride Nicole while dancing at their wedding.
He was singing along with Keith Green's song "Love With Me"
Keith Green singing 'Love With Me'
Matthew was a huge fan of Keith Green, and credits the testimony of Keith and his music of helping to lead him to commit his life to Christ when he was a teenager.
Matthew greeting his grandpa Mursch at his wedding rehearsal party, while his Granddaddy and Nanny Steiner looked on. They are all celebrating in heaven today.
Matthew dancing with my mother, his Grandma Mursch, at his wedding in 1993.
When Matthew became a daddy...1999
Matthew, me, and Noah 2013
"Deer Matthew"
Steiner men, Feb. 2014, John, Benton, Noah, Matt, Scott
Matthew and brother Benton walking together 2014
Our family, Feb. 2014
Matthew's 41st birthday party, Feb. 2014
The last family portrait of Matthew and his wife Nicole and Noah, when they were on vacation in February, 2014. Matthew passed away on May 25, 2014.
If you do take the time to read through the above posts, I hope it will give you a better understanding of just who our son Matthew was. There's so much more...but most of all, he was a wonderful Christian young man, son, brother, husband, father. He loved Jesus, his family, and was a good friend and neighbor to those who had the privilege of knowing him. We don't understand why God chose to take him home so young. But we had to accept the fact that Matthew was definitely a gift of God to us for the time we were allowed to have him here with us. Ultimately he belonged to God, and when God was ready to call him back home to heaven, we had to say farewell. The wonderful thing is we know where Matthew is and that we will see him again one day in heaven. Right now he is there helping Jesus prepare a home for us to come to one day. Jesus said,
John 14:1-6
14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also.
4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
I guess I need to wrap this up. Like I said before, I have put much of this together for my own benefit for future reference. But if you do take the time to read any of the linked posts, I hope there will be a story here that will touch your heart and help you to understand why Matthew's story was so unique and special. He was a miracle child in so many ways...and when he died my thought was that I guess God ran out of miracles for him. But that's not true. The greatest miracle of all is that Matthew is alive and well today, no longer suffering from the pain and ravages of cancer, living in heaven with Jesus and all those who have gone on before us...and we will be together again one day. That gives me great peace and joy in my heart and helps me to cope when I find myself missing him, like right now.
This song was sung at Matthew's memorial service, another one by Keith Green. It was another special favorite.
Thank you for "listening" while I ramble on. I pray you all have a blessed and wonderful day. And please take time to kiss your babies and loved ones and let them know how much you love them while there is yet time. No one is promised tomorrow.
UPDATE: In my last post HERE a couple of days ago, I asked the question "Do you practice Lent? What does it mean to you? Do you "give up something for Lent", or do you try to do something meaningful to observe the preparation for the Easter season?" I got several varied and interesting responses to this question. My thought was that perhaps there is a bit of a misconception out there about what "Lent" really means. According to "Wikipedia", (a surprising resource for something in the religious realm), this is what it means:
"Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry. Wikipedia"
Traditionally, Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on "Maundy Thursday", when we remember the 'Last Supper', the night before Good Friday, the day we remember the great sacrifice of Christ for our sins on the cross. I know that in some church traditions the season of Lent is a time of fasting and/or "giving up something for Lent"...and also the giving of "alms" for the needy. Perhaps some have had negative experiences with Lent, when they were forced to give up something special for that time period without truly understanding the significance of why they should do so. To me, if a person really doesn't understand the "why", then most likely the desired results of growing closer in their relationship with Christ probably won't happen. They will become resentful and possibly angry for having to give up something when they really didn't want to.
I was not brought up in a tradition of "giving up something for Lent". I really don't recall understanding anything about Lent at all as a child and even as a young adult. But in recent years I have found that setting aside this time, much like the season of Advent in preparation for the birth of Christ and its deep significance, Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for a better understanding of the great sacrifice Christ made for me on the cross...when His precious blood was shed for me and for my sins...so that I could enjoy the great joy of being set free from my sins, and because of Christ's resurrection from the dead...I can also look forward to eternal life in heaven, forever with my Lord and those who also have died in faith believing in Him. Certainly, I can do this anytime. I don't need to wait for "Lent", but so often we get caught up in the busyness of this life and world and we begin to get a bit off kilter...we need a "reset" and a time of reflection and renewal in our spiritual life. This is a wonderful time to do that.
Here is what I wrote a couple of years ago...interestingly these first couple of pictures were in February of 2020, and our bluebirds are here again now at the same time, and I think they are already pretty well settled in their house/nest.
(February 17, 2021) The Bluebirds came back again to their home on Still Waters Pond. I hope they will stay this time. They keep coming and going and can't seem to make up their minds if they like it here or not.
This post was originally written in 2017 on the first day of Lent from my Secret Garden at our old house in Salt Springs. I then revisited it in 2019. I wanted to write something fresh and new today, but as I re-read this I decided I couldn't really improve on this...and as it is too chilly this morning to go sit in our new "The Secret Garden" beside Still Waters Pond, these thoughts and moments from the past experience will have to do for now. I pray that your Lenten experience will be filled with moments of peace and "quietude", as you contemplate the riches of God's amazing grace and love for you.
As I have stated in my previous post linked above,
"My approach to Lent is that it is not so much about making a "sacrifice", as it is about moving forward in the right direction, a new beginning; a clear resolve to obey rather than sacrifice."
So today as I sat in the Secret Garden
(This was in "The Secret Garden" at our previous home in Salt Springs)
contemplating how the Lord would have me approach this Lenten season this year, I was directed to look at a few different scriptures:
Joel 2
12. "Now, therefore, says the Lord,
Turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
13. So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Romans 12:1-2
1. "I beseech you therefore brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
HOLY, Acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service.
2. And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
will of God."
And then in verse 6 it says:
"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
let us use them..."
Instead of sacrificing some thingfor Lent, my prayer is that I would turn to the Lord with ALL My heart...truly "rend" (tear open, look inside) my heart, and be that "living sacrifice, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE TO THE LORD; and that I would be more fully committed to using the gifts that God has given me for His honor and glory. I pray also that the Lord would transform me, renew my mind, and create a clean heart within me. (Psalm 51:10)
In the past few days I have been contemplating the word "Quietude". Click HERE for a previous post about that. I truly didn't realize that this was a real word that we use in our vocabulary. I thought it was a Latin word for quiet, and actually I believe that is where it originated. But here is the definition of the word according to Dictionary.com"
qui·e·tude
ˈkwīəˌt(y)o͞od/
noun
1.
the state of being quiet; tranquility; calmness; stillness; quiet.
My "One Word" for 2017 is "REST". It would appear that "quietude" and "rest" go together quite nicely. I'm wondering how the Lord is going to dovetail these two words as I approach His throne during this season of opening my heart before Him...
"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
'In returning and REST you shall be saved;
In QUIETNESS and confidence
shall be your strength.'"
Isaiah 30:15
"The work of righteousness will be peace,
and the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever."
Isaiah 32:17
"You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3
I believe that God is leading me into a place of "perfect peace", as I REST and TRUST in His Word, and in "quietness and confidence" be assured of God giving me the strength I need to face whatever challenges may lie ahead.
I look forward to experiencing what the Lord is going to show me during this time of "quietude", as He prepares my heart to remember Christ's great sacrifice for my sins...and the
gift of eternal life that He gave to all of us who would believe, on His Resurrection Day!
Hold on friends,
Easter is coming!
(All photos were taken as I sat in the Secret Garden today (in 2017) contemplating these thoughts and passages. I found it to be a very tranquil and serene setting watching the Cardinal and the Chickadees...as they watched me as well. God is so good! Amen?!)
Back to the Present (2023). I hope you enjoyed this journey back in time and that it was a quiet respite for your soul. May we truly appreciate this time of reflection and renewal during these next 40 days, on our journey to the cross and then thankfully, to the empty tomb! Praise God! Many of you may have already commented on this post in previous years. Sometimes it is interesting to go back and see where we were in our thoughts at that time. May we continue in our growth in our relationship with Jesus. Amen.
Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 and if it's your first time its great that you are here and helping make it fun for everyone.
1. Do you have a favorite family recipe? Would you share it?
It's not necessarily a favorite "family" recipe, but it is a favorite of my hubby's and mine. The kids never cared about it much, but we enjoy it and often eat this for breakfast when we have a nice fresh loaf. Banana Nut Bread! I can share this right now because I just baked this today! Whenever we buy a large bunch of bananas you can usually be certain that there will be some banana nut bread happening in a few days. I can only stand to eat bananas when they are still just barely green. When they start developing "freckles" on the peel, I can no longer tolerate them. Hubby might eat them for another day or so on his cereal, but if I can smell them, they're ready to become banana nut bread!
Normally I only have enough bananas for one loaf of bread, (three bananas), so I only do half of this recipe. Also, when I mix up the ingredients, I usually mix all the wet ingredients together first and then add the flour, salt, baking soda and nuts. Mix the shortening and sugar first, then add the eggs and beat them in good, and then add the bananas and continue to beat them well. Once the mixture is fairly smooth, then add the dry ingredients. This recipe is always very moist and delicious. I also always test it with a toothpick once it has baked for about 50 minutes. Often times it needs to bake for 55 minutes. I store it in the refrigerator once it has cooled. We slice pieces and hubby likes his with butter and I like mine with cream cheese. Makes a good quick breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee.
2. Do you have a favorite book? How about a movie? TV program?
Well, the Bible is my favorite book...it is more than a book...it is the only guide for my life. As far as other books go, it would be difficult for me to narrow it down to one book. I really don't know where to begin. I have some favorite old authors from way back and I have collections of their books...most of which I'm sure you've probably never heard of, they are so old.
Here are some of my favorites:
This is a series of books written by Mary J. Holmes, mostly back in the late 1800's.
I love these old fashioned romance and adventure novels...they are always written from a wholesome perspective with strong Christian values, but are full of mystery and intrigue.
Then there's a series of books written by George Barr McCutcheon that I love as well...most of them are in the "Graustark" Series, which again are high adventure, romance and mystery...and again written around the turn of the century.
This is one of the books:
And here's another book I love, written by Arthur Hornblow.
I particularly love this one because it is one of three books given to me by my maternal grandfather following the death of my grandmother. They were books that belonged to her that she loved, and so I love them. This is just one of them:
This was such a great story about a shipwreck, and this high society young woman and a young man from down in the fire stokers of the engine of the ship are both survivors and land on a deserted island. He takes care of her but doesn't feel worthy of her, and she is so helpless...they fall in love but then are finally rescued and she has to go back to her family and he knows he can't go with her...he's not worthy of her and her family would never accept him...but later it turns out that he is actually a son of a very wealthy family who had gone astray and that is why he was where he was on that ship...and long story short, it turns out they end up living happily ever after after all...but it sure took a long time for all of that to happen! It's a great story, and I love that it is one my grandmother loved and I think of her when I read it...
So you can see why I love these old books...and sadly you will not find them in any library today I'm sure. That's why I hang on to them so they aren't lost forever. Many of them are so old they are literally falling apart, but I keep taping the covers and trying to hold them together. Someday I'm sure they'll get thrown away, but it's too bad. The stories are all so good.
As far as movies go, I've told you before my favorite movie is "The Bishop's Wife", with Loretta Young and Cary Grant and David Niven. If you haven't seen that version of it, you need to watch it. It's a classic.
TV programs...Not much too good on Tv anymore, but I do love Maine Cabin Masters and Hometown., and I watch them each week. I am not the one in control of the tv remote at our house, so I really don't care that much about watching tv.
3. What is your favorite snack? Favorite sandwich?
Snacks? Hmmm, Does a peanut butter sandwich count? Or how about yogurt and fresh fruit and granola? Those are my go to snacks nowadays. Favorite sandwich besides peanut butter is probably ham and swiss on pumpernickle bread, lightly toasted until the cheese melts. I like mustard on it and a little bit of mayonnaise. I also love good chicken salad, whether in a sandwich or without bread, either way...or on a croissant...now that's good!
4. What is your favorite color for a home exterior...a car...a room ?
Favorite color for a home exterior? I guess I like what we currently have okay, a light taupe with bright blue shutters and door. But I like lots of other colors too.
A car? A deep midnight blue would be pretty, or a deep burgundy/maroon. Our current vehicle is a dark charcoal grey. We took what we could afford. Color wasn't really that important. A deal is a deal.
A room? I tend to like more neutral colors than bold. Something calming and that goes with a lot of different colors or styles of furniture. Our current walls in our house are a light buttery very light tannish color. It suits me fine. I wouldn't mind having a light pine cabin style accent wall. I love the warm feeling of a cabin, but not all walls, which can be too much wood.
Random thought:
After looking at that picture of our front porch above with the bright blue shutters and door, I realized that the blue is about the same color as this bluebird! And the birdhouse is close to the same color as our house! I guess you could say I like bluebird blue and bluebird house colors for my house! LOL.
And with that I will close this post. Tuesday is almost over and I'm just getting it done.
But it was a busy day...spent the morning at Dixie Cottage and the evening at choir practice.
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent!
Do you practice Lent? What does it mean to you? Do you "give up something for Lent", or do you try to do something meaningful to observe the preparation for the Easter season?
I try to do the latter...as I "listen" to God's Word and seek His direction for my life, I pray that He will guide me to live more fully in His presence during this special time of preparation for the remembrance of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.
My prayer is that the miracle of Christ's sacrifice for our sins and resurrection from the dead will bring me a new and refreshing hope in my walk with Him during these next 40 days.
Jesus said in John 8:12
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but have the light of life.”
May the Light of Life that comes only through Jesus guide me in this part of my life's journey.
This was quite a busy, but wonderful weekend. We continued the celebration of my hubby's 75th birthday on Saturday with much of our extended family here at our home for the day.
Here's just a few random pictures taken throughout the day. Below we were gathering for the blessing before the meal. That is a horrible picture of me, but it is what it is...my son said I reminded him of Grandma...I said, "You mean my mother?". He said, "No, I mean YOUR Grandma". I wasn't sure whether to throw something or be honored. Yeah, the curly perm is a bit much, but it's loosening up. And yes, I do take after my Grandma...but still...he only remembers her when she was already in her 80's....hmmm....Oh well...time marches on...
Here's the son who said that...gotta love him.
And here's #3 son visiting with his uncles and swapping stories...
We had some wonderful food, thanks to the great cooks in the family who all contributed wonderful dishes to share...
A pre-dinner kitchen photo...getting things ready...Always good to have helpers in the kitchen...
After we ate our sumptuous dinner it was time for the birthday party. Hubby and his brother and our niece and nephew waiting for cake and ice cream...
We are singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy...
And then he opened up some great gifts...Actually he did get some nice gifts, but these next pictures are of some of the more fun gifts:
Aren't all guys perpetually "7th graders for life?". I mean, do they EVER grow up???
My hubby collects ink pens. My sister seems to always find the most unique pens. This one is a cow.
And for some reason she also thought he'd love this "squish-mallow" honeybee pillow. Actually, he did love it, and so do I. I want one for myself now. It's VERY soft and "squishy". LOL.
Our family does know how to have fun.
Our sweet daughter in love made this delicious banana pudding because she knew it was my hubby's favorite dessert! It was scrumptious.
Funny, here's the picture my sister was taking on her phone camera in the picture above:
I love it when family just sits around the table and continues to visit. Here's our niece and nephew cutting up. We were so pleased they both came to the party.
But trying to get a decent picture of one of them smiling sometimes takes some cajoling and tickling...
And you just never know what you might get...
Again, you gotta love them...
Oh, and of course Lily Grace had to get in on the act...She was so happy to see her cousin Shannon...and we all decided the resemblance is amazing...
Many of you may remember a couple of years ago I requested prayer for our niece Shannon after she had a serious car accident that almost crippled her. But she has recovered beautifully and is now in college and doing very well. God certainly has answered our prayers in many ways. Thank you for your prayers for her back then. Of course our young people today could always use our prayers...the world is a very different place than when we were young and in college...
On Sunday we did something a bit out of the ordinary for us on a Sunday. Our son has wanted to take his Dad to a special place for a special event, which happened to take place on Sunday, today. And so we made arrangements for the Pastor to teach the Adult Sunday School class in place of my hubby this morning so that we could be 'excused' from our responsibilities at church for the day.
Where our son wanted to take us (yes, I got to go too, along with DIL Rose), was to the
159th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee, a Civil War battle that took place here in Florida on February 20, 1864, in Olustee, Florida. You can click on that link above for more information about the battle and the battlefield, etc. The location is about an hour's drive north of where we live, so we took off early this morning to get there in time for the afternoon battle. It was quite interesting and fascinating. I took a lot of pictures, as you can imagine I would, and so I will share a "few" of them here for you so you can appreciate where we were today. We did a LOT of walking, but thankfully it was a beautiful day weather-wise and really it couldn't have been more perfect. So here we go:
Here's yours truly and hubby, with our chairs and backpack and hat, all of which we had to carry with us for quite a distance to get to the battlefield. At this point we were actually sitting down for some lunch before the battle began.
Here's Rose and Benton below:
After lunch we walked through the woods and past the battle camps of the Confederates on one side of the woods and the Union soldiers were on the other side...
Soldiers getting ready for battle, and yes, that cannon was used frequently when the battle began, and trust me, it was very LOUD!
Of course I enjoyed seeing so many people in "period dress" for the event...that was fascinating.
Once the battle began things got very noisy. Of course, they could not reenact the complete battle, but some of the main skirmishes of the day.
I just loved this little drummer boy.
"The Battle ended at dusk when Union troops retreated in defeat and 2,807 men lay dead or wounded. Just fourteen months later the war ended with the surrender of the Confederate Army."
This was a great event to complete my hubby's 75th birthday celebration, and we were so happy our kids suggested it and made it happen. It was worth the trip (and all the walking) to make this happen.
P.S. In response to a comment regarding how the original soldiers who fought in the Civil War might feel about these re-enactments that take place today, this is what I said:
"I think they would be happy to know that we honor their memory and the sacrifices they made to help our country obtain true freedom from slavery and all its ills. Our history needs to be remembered so that we don't end up reliving it for real. Our nation is becoming very divided once again and we would be wise to remember what it cost our ancestors to obtain our freedom before it's too late. At least that's how I look at it."
Now I am very tired and ready for bed, but I just wanted to share all of this with you while it is still fresh on my mind.
Thank you for coming along with me on this little journey.
I hope you enjoyed "the ride."
So now I will say good night.
I know this wasn't Gettysburg, but I thought this a good time to re-read that wonderful speech given by Abraham Lincoln on that day in history:
Gettysburg Address
Delivered at Gettysburg, Pa.
Nov. 19th 1863.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. “But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
