Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15: 12-13 (ESV)“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
I John 3: 16 (NLT)“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20: 28 (NLT)
Tomorrow, June 3, is the 58th Anniversary of our wedding day.
And to this day, I embrace the truth that every day that Lynda lets me back in the house, is a good day for me.
She has never missed, but that is to her credit, and her heart of grace, and ever-growing well of forgiveness and mercy.
What is remarkable is how it all began. We were always the best of friends, until one day I saw her differently.
And soon thereafter, for some wonderful reason, in a small green guest bathroom in her parents’ home—she said “Yes” when I asked her to marry me and presented her with a tiny four-tenths of a carat engagement ring.
Honestly, it was even more than I could afford on my US Air Force salary, after also selling some clothing, and then having to borrow $100 from the USAF Credit Union.
And 58 years later it remains on her finger.
In his first letter, the Apostle John shared—
“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” I John 3: 16 (NLT)
Over 2,000 years ago Jesus said “Yes,” and gave up His life on the cross for our salvation, with the choice for our one path to eternal life in Heaven.
Those who we remembered this past Memorial Day weekend, and remember every day of every year, said “Yes,” as they stepped up and gave up their lives for our freedom, so we can sit here in peace and security.
My bride said “Yes,” by sharing her life, saving my life, and always seeing the potential in me that I could not see then, and even at other times throughout our fifty-eight-year journey.
I have attached the link below to the beautiful anthem “The Mansions of the Lord” written by Nick Glennie Smith and Randall Wallace.
It is performed by the West Point Glee Club and Band, and points us to that ultimate place— “The Mansions of the Lord”—where a “Yes” from us for others just may lead them to a better place, and ultimately to that eternal place with God—
“To fallen soldiers let us sing,
where no rockets fly nor bullets wing.
Our broken brothers let us bring
to the Mansions of the Lord.
No more bleeding, no more fight.
No prayers pleading through the night.
Just divine embrace, eternal light
in the Mansions of the Lord.
Where no mothers cry, and no children weep.
We shall stand and guard though the angels sleep.
While through the ages safely keep
the Mansions of the Lord.”
I wonder who out there needs a “Yes” from you or me.
A “Yes” without judgment, to help them through a tough moment, a frightening time, a mountain seemingly too big to climb, or a dark tunnel with light at the end hard to see.
Who around us needs a “Yes” from us, without judgment, reminding them of all the good they have done, while helping them continue to move even more toward all who God created them to be for themselves and others.
As Christ did for our salvation, as those we remember on Memorial Day did for our freedom, and my bride did for me personally—all saying “Yes,” God also calls us to find others to whom we can say “Yes” with a lift up in life for their good, and all for God’s glory—as we look toward our eternal resting place where we will together be in— “The Mansions of the Lord.”
In His Name–Scott
You will be blessed each time you listen to “The Mansions of the Lord” performed by the West Point Glee Club and Band.
