Thursday Thankfulness ~ "The King is Coming!"

 
Hello Friends...It's Thursday, and today I'd like to share some things I am thankful for with you.  So come on in to my "Home Sweet Home" and "Stay Awhile" and we can visit and talk about some special things and memories...

Today I went to the eye doctor for my annual check up, and I am so thankful that my eyes really haven't changed much since last year, and the doctor said he really didn't think I needed to change my glasses yet. But  he did say that probably next year I will have to have cataract surgery.  He thinks I'll be okay to wait until then. So I am very thankful for that good report!

Isn't this Coral Vine beautiful?  This is on an old dead palm tree where we go walking...

Everytime we walk past this big old palm tree there is something new blooming on it!  (Not to mention now there is a CROSS on it, made from some of the palm branches that fell down from the top and landed like that!)

Not long ago the purple wisteria was blooming:

And shortly after that it was this Cat's Claw Creeper vine mixed with some Trailing Lantana

It's really amazing how so many beautiful different flowers can climb up and grow and bloom on that old dead tree!

Looking at it here you'd never imagine that it could hold such beauty!

Maybe there's a story there for us!  Something like "don't judge a book by its cover!" There may be more to this "person" than meets the eyes. And the when the time is right, your true beauty will shine from within.

Here's some "food" for thought about this from the Bible...

1 Peter 3:3-4 NKJV

3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold,

 or putting on fine apparel— 

4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

Proverbs 31:30-31

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

John 15:5-7

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Maybe you can think of some other verses that would be appropriate there.  How about this one:

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Remember this?

Yes, that's the empty tomb and cross that our son Benton created for Easter.  Well, I was so surprised when a special person we haven't seen in probably 46 years contacted me and said that she wanted one of these to put in their church for Easter next year.  What was significant about this is this woman is from the very first church that my husband pastored, way back in the late 1970's.  We have recently reconnected via Facebook, and it has been really special to us to hear from this person and her husband, because they are the first couple that my hubby ever "married" as a Pastor.  Here he is on the left, and I'm not sure who the man is in the middle, but the man on the far right was the retired pastor from that church who had been there probably for all of this young couple's early lives.   

Now this couple has been married for about 47 years! That in itself is a blessing!

I've already shared a little about this church before HERE, which is where my hubby was ordained as a minister.  It was really exciting to us that she wanted to have our son's special Easter Empty Tomb decoration to put in this church.  When we were there so many years ago, Benton was in 2nd grade, Matthew was in kindergarten, and Scott was just a baby!   However, I think this couple is probably the only people left in that church who would still remember us. Most everyone else who was there when we were there has either already died or moved away.  Most everyone was retired, and I remember that we were the youngest couple and had the youngest children when we first went there. 

Our friend also sent this picture to us...yes, that's me, and I don't remember the fellow playing the guitar, but I was the soloist for the wedding.  I had to ask her what I sang, because I didn't remember! (It's been a LONG time, people!!)   Anyway, she said I sang "The Wedding Song", hence that is why it was best accompanied with a guitar.    

I bet many of you remember this song by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary:

The Wedding Song

Sung here by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary

"He is now to be among you

at the calling of your hearts.

Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.

The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain

for whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name

There is love

There is love

Well a man shall leave his mother

and a woman leave her home

They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.

As it was in the beginning, is now until the end.

Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.

(And) There is love

There is love

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife

Is it love that brings you here, or love that brings you life.

For if loving is the answer then who's the giving for.

Do you believe in something that you've never seen before

There is love

(Oh) There's love

(Hum)

(Oh) The marriage of your spirits here has caused him to remain

For whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name

There is love

(Ah) There's love

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul Stookey

Wedding Song (There Is Love) lyrics © Music & Media Magic, Inc.

I wonder how many of you had that song sung at your wedding?  Did that bring back memories?  

Just for laughs, she also sent me this picture...LOL. Yes, that's hubby and yours truly...we were having a "Hobo Party" (instead of Halloween)  and here we either had just bobbed for this apple,  or it was on that string and we were supposed to do some game with it...either way, you can see we were having fun! Yes, Pastors and wives can have fun too.  LOL. And no, I wasn't pregnant...my shirt was stuffed with a pillow as I had been dressed up like an old hobo before dunking my head in a bucket of water to bob for that apple.

HERE's a link to a previous old post written about this time in our lives.

It was wonderful to walk down memory lane for a few minutes there. Such special memories.  When I was looking through some of my own pictures for back in the day, I came across this one, which really doesn't have anything to do with that church, but it was probably about the same time, and this picture was taken at my parents' home. That is my Dad, me, my sister Doris, and my hubby, and we were practicing to sing at my Mom and Dad's church on Sunday.  We used to do that every so often when we could all be together at the same time.  It was so wonderful.  My mother didn't sing with us, but she was always a good alto and she could have if she'd wanted to. But I think she was actually the choir director for their church at this time, so she had plenty to do.  

We were known as "The Mursch Family Singers" singing

Victory in Jesus!  Wish we had recorded it!

  

But in case you don't know the song, here's the Gaither Homecoming Family singing it:

Victory in Jesus

Verse 1

I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 2

I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow’r revealing

How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit,”

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 3

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing and the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

So keeping in "tune" with this muscial theme...Here's a song that I'm sure most of you will remember, also from the Gaithers.  You may want to listen to it first and then I will tell you why this is "ringing a bell" with me today as I think about the music we've done in the past.

The King is Coming, with the Gaither Homecoming Family:

Fast forward quite a few years from those early ministry days, and many years later in actually the very last place where we served in the ministry, our church was blessed to host the Gaither's pianist, Anthony Burger, in a special concert.  Our church was a small country church, and I'm really not sure how we managed to have him come and do this concert, but I know we had to rent a Grand Piano and build a special platform to hold it so that he could play.  The concert was free, so many people came from miles around and filled our little church to overflowing.  Well, at that time I was actually the choir director for our church. (that was actually my first and last experience of being the choir director! LOL, but I enjoyed every minute and song!)  Anyway,  Anthony Burger was an extremely accomplished pianist, as you can imagine, since he played for the Gaithers. (And yes, that is him playing in the video of them singing above).   Anyway, his grand finale song was "The King is Coming".  He was to play through the song without anyone singing until the very end, where the choir was to stand up and sing the final chorus.  My job was to cue them in and direct them to sing it with him as he played.  Well, I was sitting on the front row watching him play, and I was so enthralled by watching him play this song that I nearly forgot about directing the choir to sing.  All of a sudden I realized Anthony Burger was looking at me as he was playing and nodding his head to remind me it was time to have the choir join in!  I literally had to JUMP up from my seat and direct the choir to stand and start singing "The King is Coming, the King is coming, I just heard the trumpet sounding, and now His face I see!  Oh, the King is coming, the King is coming, Praise God! Praise God! He's Coming for Me!!!"   

Wow! I know my face was a bit red that I'd almost missed this great ending! If I had've missed it, I would've pretty much said "Jesus, just come on and take me now!"  LOL. But Praise God! We made it, and it was truly a wonderful ending to an amazing experience!

The King is Coming piano solo by Anthony Burger:

If you don't know the story of Anthony Burger, you might appreciate hearing his testimony. This is also what he shared with us that night at the concert.  It's an amazing story, well worth listening to:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhY1k_DWU4  You may have to click on that link because the video may not show up here.

This video is so magnificent: "The Best Compilation of Anthony Burger"

I think you will really enjoy this one. I'm still listening to it while I write. Amazing gift from God. 

Here's a link to his whole life story on Wikipedia.  This is the sad part:  

"On February 22, 2006, at the age of 44, Burger died of a massive heart attack after performing aboard the MS Zuiderdam, a cruise ship chartered for a Gaither Gospel Cruise. According to eyewitnesses, Burger was accompanying Bill and Gloria Gaither and Guy Penrod when fans in the audience noticed Burger had ceased moving, his hands clenched into fists over the keyboard. Several fellow artists carried him backstage, where the cruise ship's emergency response team performed CPR for about 45 minutes, to no avail."

Yes, he passed away all too soon, and actually he died just 2 or 3 years after we had met him.  We were greatly saddened that the world lost such an amazingly gifted man, but God had a need for him to join heaven's concert hall.  I expect he's playing some truly heavenly music today.  Maybe when I get to heaven someday I'll have another chance to direct the heavenly choir singing "The King is Coming" while Anthony Burger plays on the Grand Piano of Heaven.  Wouldn't that be something?  Well, I can dream. LOL.  

I am so thankful to God for these life experiences. And most of all I am thankful that we have that hope..."The KING IS COMING!"  Are you ready?   I know I am, and I can hardly wait, but I guess we will all have to wait until everything is ready in the halls of heaven for us to enter.  Until that day, let's keep singing and praising God for His goodness to us. Amen?  Amen. 

 

Good Night my friends. I hope you enjoyed this little different  post.  You never know where we will end up when you come visiting here in my "Home Sweet Home".   Thank you for "staying awhile!".