The Party

On Gemma's actual birthday, we had some friends over for lunch and a playdate.  Four little girls 2 and under, with peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches shaped like snowflakes and Christmas trees, and carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting . . . yes, it was fun!  That night, we also let her open her gifts from Mommy and Daddy and the Grandmas and Grandpas.  But this past Friday we put up the balloons, family and more friends came, and we had the actual party!

Gemma opened a new baby, a bathtime book and an ABC puzzle, and loves them all!  We took a picture of the decorations the next morning when the lighting was better.

Aren't they lovely?  I made the garland back in April for a bridal shower outside, and it just happened to be the perfect length for the wall and four windows in the dining room!  My inspiration came from the path less traveled . . . once again . . . and, anyway, you can buy similar ones from her etsy shop!  

It was such a fun time that I could hardly sleep at night!  (Usually I'm a very hard sleeper, too!)  Thanks so much to our family and friends for coming to celebrate with us!

It was an evening of mixed emotions, too, as we had just heard the sad news of the shooting in Connecticut that day.  Yet another shooting.  This time at an elementary school.  We are especially thankful to have had our darling Gemma Grace for two years, and grieve with all the families up north.  I've found comfort in the words of Psalm 27:13-14.

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I wouldsee the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD ; Be strong and let your heart take courage ; Yes, wait for the LORD."

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Eternal Glory . . .

photo from outside a castle in Germany :)

 

Yesterday was November 7, which means that Gemma turned 23 months old, and my favorite sister, Heidi, turned another year older!  She's not old by any means . . . but she's past 18 and thus a true lady, so I'll leave it to the lady herself to reveal her age if she so desires.  ;)  I was looking through some old folders on our computer to see if I could find any fun photos of the two of us, but finally settled on this one:

 

 

Happy Birthday, Sis!

 

I don't like to get very political on our little family blog, but yesterday was also quite disappointing to me.  It's funny, because I had expected our current president to be reelected all along, and didn't think I was very emotionally tied up in the race . . . but there's a distinct difference between the expectation of an unpleasant event and its final realization.  I think Jane Austen said something like that.  ;)  It's true, though!  As we arrived at church for prayer last night, I was hit with memories from prayer meeting the week before, when we'd all gathered to focus on prayer for our nation.  The entire day had been designated as a day for prayer and fasting (although some people like pregnant me did not fast from food!).  Now it was all settled . . . for the worse, I am convinced.

 

I know intellectually that God is still on His throne, and meditating on that helped a little bit.

 

Then, this line from a hymn by James G. Small helped even more:

"Eternal glory gleams afar,

To nerve my faint endeavor"

 

We have the hope of eternity before us.  We have a Savior who will never fail us.  In fact, eternity is coming upon us quickly, and our lives here in our country will be but a faint memory, then!

 

I don't know how people who do not have Jesus do it.  I don't know how they get through their difficult times.  If I had to muster up my own strength all the time . . . I would be a basket case.

 

"So now to watch, to work, to war;

And then to rest forever."

A time for every purpose under heaven

I was just going to share my 24 week pregnancy photo with you all today, and tell you how well things are going (praise the Lord!).

 

 

Then, John got the call from his dad this morning that Maw had crossed the dark river . . .

 

Hopefully, now, her soul is with Grandpa Smith, and Uncle Steve, and John's other Grandmother, and with our friend Dan, and hopefully, hopefully, with our first little baby.

 

That is, we have hopes that she is now with Jesus.

 

They tell us that she went peacefully in her sleep.

 

 



"Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people."
(Genesis 25:8)


Now I further saw, that betwixt them and the gate was a river; but there was no bridge to go over, and the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river the pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.

The pilgrims then began to inquire if there was no other way to the gate. To which they answered, Yes; but there hath not any, save two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall until the last trumpet shall sound. The pilgrims then, especially Christian, began to despond in their mind, and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters were all of a depth. They said, No; yet they could not help them in that case; for, said they, you shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.

Then they addressed themselves to the water, and entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me. Selah.

Then said the other, Be of good cheer, my brother: I feel the bottom, and it is good.
(John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress)


" . . . a time to be born and a time to die . . . "
(Ecclesiastes 3:2)

Going on Walks

Does walking with my little one in a front carrier count as weight-bearing exercise?

I hope so, because I love it.  We try to go on walks every week day.  This week, especially, has been beautiful outside.

I sing as we walk, and Gemma makes the motor boat sound.  We say hello to the birdies, the ducks and the geese.  We stop to touch the tree trunks and the bushes.  And I talk to my little one,

"Do you hear the birdies, Gemma?  They're singing praises to God.  He made them to sing praises to Him, and He made us to sing praises to Him, too.  They can praise Him perfectly, because they have bird-natures.  We can't praise Him perfectly, because we have sinful natures.  Once, there were people who could praise Him perfectly.  Our first parents were like that.  They were made in the image of God, and we have God's image, too.  But they chose to sin, and now we are all sinners.  That's why we must trust in Jesus with all our hearts.  He is the only one who can take away our sins.  There's nothing we can do ourselves."

The sentences are choppy because I'm speaking as I walk.

"One day, we will live with Jesus in heaven, and it will be so beautiful.  And, then, one day, Jesus will reign on the earth and everything will be perfect and happy.  We will be able to praise Him perfectly."

*pause.* This is only half of the story.


"But if we don't trust in Jesus, we shall be apart from Him forever.  There will be nothing but endless death.  We are full of sin, and the Bible says that the wages of sin is death.  That place will be dark, and full of torment, and full of suffering.  It's very, very scary, and it's very, very real.

"That's hard to imagine, because the world seems beautiful now.  It's beautiful now because God is giving us sinners a chance to repent."

I know she doesn't understand all the words.  But she lays her head on my chest and I hug her tight and pray for her little soul . . .

Because He First Loved Us

November is adoption month.

We Love Because from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Pastor Andy preached on adoption last Sunday evening, and we saw two videos at church last night.  This was one of them.  (The other I couldn't find.)

Three couples we're friends with have also recently become licensed to be foster parents.  Three.

It got me thinking.

What keeps us from considering adoption?

To be honest, I braced myself for the sermon on Sunday night.  I didn't want numbing statistics and the hollow eyes of starving African children to leave me with a pit of guilt I could do nothing about. 

Adoption is for the infertile couples.  The wealthy.  The independent.  The super-spiritual.  Right?

But the excuses started becoming rather thin.  We have energy and time.  We have been financially blessed.  We have been utterly loved.

I wish I could have found that second video to share, because the faces that gripped me the most personally were the faces like these.  I didn't even know there were organizations that specialized in adoption for children with Down's Syndrome. 


So, we're thinking, talking, praying.  We don't feel ready to take on teenagers when our only parenting experience is with an 11 month old, but we have time.  Only let not the "time" lessen our heart's love for the orphan, Father, when You have so abundantly loved us . . .

On the Law and Me

Often, I've noticed the different spiritual influences in my life coming together in chorus on the same themes.  Only God can make that happen, obviously!  And that fact gives me reason to pause and consider those themes seriously. 

The theme recently has been the importance of God's law for the Christian.   It's one of those things that I struggle with, even though I probably shouldn't.  But Christians regard the Law differently and apply the Law differently.  Amidst all the differences, lately I was finding myself somewhat confused.

Then, Sunday night, Pastor Fortner said (and I quote as well as I can remember), "I want you to remember that Jesus died for you in order to align your heart with His." 


It isn't just about being saved, becoming joyful, and sharing the good news with others.  It's about becoming holy as Jesus was holy.  And it has to be in that order. 

Jesus kept the Law (i.e. Ten Commandments) perfectly while He was on our earth.  If we want to please Him, we will try to be like Him, yes?


And then we sang, "Love so amazing, so divine,/ Demands my soul, my life, my all."

My soul.  He died to save me.  My soul is His!

My life.  This can't just be talking about long-term missions, because not everyone is called to that.  How can I know what it means to live my life for Him?  

• "How can a young man keep his way pure ? By keeping it according to Your word."  (Psalm 119:9)
• "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15)
• "O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day."  (Psalm 119:97)

 My all.  My soul and my life . . . isn't that all I have?  If I offer these with my whole heart, following after Jesus eagerly, then He has my all!



 ". . .Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.."  Titus 2:14

Little Thoughts on Love

Yesterday afternoon found me boiling up potato chunks and trying my hand at making potato salad for the first time ever. If my mother knew it, her jaw would probably have dropped right open, because when I was little I couldn't stand potato salad. Believe me, we were expected to eat what was put before us when we were growing up, but Mom and Dad did mercifully tend to allow each of us an exception to that rule. I didn't like peas but I ate them anyway, but potato salad absolutely made me gag. I still remember throwing it up as a four year old and getting it on my Care Bears shirt! (You're welcome for that!) And now here I was, not only attempting to make it, but also planning to eat some of it. John likes it a lot. And that's what love can do to a person.

Before we had a baby, John declared that he was not looking forward to changing diapers. I was impressed that he even expected to help with that job! But I, too, certainly didn't offer to do diaper checks during my nursery duties. Now that we have Gemma, diapers are no burden. John doesn't mind changing her cloth diapers, and we even almost get to the point of fighting over who gets to do it sometimes! That's what love can do to a person!

I know of a King whose people all hated Him and for thousands of years were not loyal subjects. Yet the King finally went and lived with the poorest of them, and taught and loved and healed them. And when their crimes warranted capital punishment, He offered to be killed for their sakes and to let them go free. He endured unspeakable agony in that death. But it was necessary for them to live with Him--risen again--in paradise someday, so it was completely worth it to that King.

And that's what love can do.

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:5-11

Thoughts on Breastfeeding Now

when Gemma was about 2 months old . . . I nursed her while simultaneously eating stir-fry with chopsticks and was quite proud of myself . . . note the nursing cover to the right . . .

You might be thinking, "What more is there to say than that she loves it?" It's true; I do love it. Having to pump milk exclusively for six weeks taught me to appreciate the privilege of breastfeeding even more. But after reviewing Janet Tamaro's So That's What They're For! as a pregnant person (here and here), I thought I should give something of a follow-up now that I have a baby on the outside and have some experience of my own. It's even almost in time for Mother's Day. :)

Now for the PG part . . .

Nursing Gemma has changed how I view my body for the simple reason that I have never touched or looked at my own breasts this much before in my life. When I was exclusively pumping, I called them the "work horses."

I'm actually very glad that I wrote that post about the sexuality of breasts, because now that they're performing their other primary function about eight times a day, it's easy to forget. I can see why some moms feel comfortable nursing openly in public. We just get used to a baby needing them all the time! What's the big deal? My husband (rightly) wants to make sure that I'm discreet and use my cover. To be honest, though, if I hadn't sworn to the blogging world that I would do just that, I might have caved to doing what is easier.

Receiving blankets work for some, but not for me . . . I have to be able to see my baby . . .

Speaking of covers, it appears that my friend is no longer making them for sale. There are, of course, lots of places to get them, and some people manage completely without them, but I do not seem to be one of those people! When Gemma was three weeks old, we were at my parents' home. I was trying to nurse her using a receiving blanket for a cover, but she was having trouble latching so I ended up under the blanket, too. John decided from then on that the cover ALWAYS goes with us!

One more thing. As Christians, "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" (Romans 8:28). It's a comfort to know that tough times are for good reasons, even though we can't always see the reasons. Sometimes we get to see the reasons later on. When my arms were out of commission, I learned that I was not in control of my life, and that was good. But God graciously has already produced more good out of that trial. He wanted this little one's mother to choose life for her, and to choose a loving Christian family for her, and He wanted her to have the extra milk that Gemma didn't need.

"Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered."

Psalm 40:5

A November Rose

"We are all immortal till our work is done."

J.C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on John (7:30)

On Trials

A few years ago, my pastor's wife led me and two other young women in a study of Nancy Lee DeMoss's excellent book, Lies Women Believe. The heart-searching that ensued changed my life and ultimately opened my heart in preparation to marry John! Some time later, I started writing down another "lie" from my own perspective . . .

Lie: "God won't give me more than I can handle."

Before you bristle or despair at reading this, hear me out. I have heard well-meaning Christians tell this to other Christians who were going through hard times more than once. They mean to comfort them, but I believe that they are deceiving them and in so doing depriving them of real comfort which comes from a truth far better than this.

See, there are a few implications which come with this lie, and all of them are wrong.

1. God allows trials to come into my life and then leaves me to handle them. This kind of assertion leads one to think that God may push me right up to the edge but won't push me off. Now I'm here dealing with this by myself, and even though I'm staring down into a pit of misery, death, or the unknown, I'm somehow supposed to be comforted because God didn't let me fall in.

2. If I can handle them, then the trials really won't be that bad. They won't overwhelm me. It is rarely a comfort to someone to downplay their trials, because often we do feel overwhelmed. We do think that we can't get through something on our own. Telling me that I can is the same as telling me that I've got to academically change my feeling of being overwhelmed. I have to somehow psyche myself into thinking that I can, you know, the power of positive thinking? This is not what it means to exercise faith because it's all about ourselves. And, believe me, when I'm really down, mustering up the energy to say "I think I can" is at best a meager and short-lived kind of comfort.

3. Whoever says "God won't give you more than you can handle" is going to be tempted not to pray for me because, after all, they're thinking that it will all work out find for me.

This lie is a spin-off of something true. In the Bible tells us that "God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able . . . " (1 Corinthians 10:13). This verse has to do with the temptation to sin, not with the experience of trials. It means that God never forces us into sin; even though the world is evil, there is always a way out of sinning when tempted. This is a comfort, but it is also a reminder that we are responsible to watch and pray. There is no blaming God for our circumstances if we succumb to temptation and fall into sin.

The Bible is full of far more relevant verses for God's people who are simply going through a hard time. God does not leave us at the edge alone, only promising not to push us off, for it says in Isaiah 43:2-4:

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

For I am the LORD your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your place.

Since you are precious in My sight,

Since you are honored and I love you,

I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

The comforts go on and on. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but verse two is a pretty good summary--"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine." He is with me. He loves me, in fact. He has given up other nations just to have me. This is your real comfort, O trembling child of the new Israel. Say it to yourself over and over when you feel alone, and remember also this second comfort:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This is what Paul learned when he was going through a trial which God would not take away. The truth is that trials are hard and we often can't handle them on our own, but sometimes the whole point of the trial is to teach us that very fact. We're supposed to look outside ourselves for the abundant grace which Jesus has to offer us and with which He fills up our weaknesses. Paul goes on to say,

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (:10).

Notice also that in verse 7, we learn that Paul's trial was from Satan. Let's not allow ourselves to think consciously or subconsciously that God comes up with these trials for us. They're hard, sometimes they're awful, and they're the kind of things that Satan loves, not God. But we know that God is much more powerful than Satan and allows him to work--for a little while, not forever--all the while turning them into good.

I think I don't play the piano enough.  I love doing it for my own benefit--musical, psychological, and when I'm playing hymns, spiritual--but I also love the thought that our little one can hear it, too. 

This is the hymn I was fixed on a few moments ago.  It's so simple, and goes like a conversation between a seeker and a wise and seasoned pilgrim.

Art thou weary, art thou languid,
Art thou sore distress'd?
"Come to me," saith One, "and coming,
Be at rest."

Hath he marks to lead me to him,
If he be my Guide?
"In his feet and hands are wound-prints,
And his side."

"Is there diadem, as Monarch,
That his brow adorns?
"Yea, a crown, in very surety,
But of thorns."

If I find him, if I follow,
What is guerdon here?
"Many a sorrow, many a labor,
Many a tear."

If I still hold closely to him,
What hath he at last?
"Sorrow vanquished, labor ended,
Jordan passed."

If I ask him to receive me,
Will he say me nay?
"Not till earth and not till heaven
Pass away."

Finding, following, keeping, struggling,
Is he sure to bless?
"Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs,
Answer, 'Yes.'"

Now I've been to the OBX

John and I have been gone more than we've been home in the past week.  :-)  Last weekend, we traveled to Kentucky for a wedding, and Monday through Wednesday we were at the Outer Banks with our church's youth retreat.  I'd heard many reports of the beauty of the Outer Banks, so when the opportunity arose, John volunteered us as chaperons.  But, really, there wasn't much work to be done and we had a wonderful, edifying time ourselves.

The retreat speaker was Pastor Steve Gambill from the Reformed Baptist Church of Nashville, TN and whoever got him to come, whoa, made a good choice.  He shared with us his testimony--how God graciously took away his wife and his rock band in order to draw him toward Himself--and he preached to us the gospel. 

1 Corinthians 15 - Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures . . .

The things that are of first importance.  These are what he called us back to.  Christ, and His saving work.  Holding fast Christ, in His death and resurrection, unites all true believers and I was ashamed to think of how much of my time I spend focused on far lesser things.

Then there was excellently crafted teaching on Christian liberty--which we have, but we have in trust.  He challenged us, straight from the Scripture, to ask ourselves "Is this helpful?  Excellent?  Will it edify?  Does it enslave me?"  Our involvement with the world, he said, should be marked by discerning engagement. 

We talked about how, really, to grow in fruit without trying to do it all ourselves.  After all, it is God who sanctifies as well as justifies.  And it is the Holy Spirit's work.  We left the beach with my earnest secret prayers and desires that I wouldn't come off this spiritual high unchanged. 

It helped that when we got back, we went straight to prayer meeting.  Pastor Steve had been asked to give us a report on the church in Nashville, which he did, candidly recounting the church's history and their current efforts.  When he started telling of their recent, on-going efforts to reach out to a low-income apartment building full of needy, needy souls, my heart was full.  Christ is so real to him and He is becoming real to them.  John and I were sitting near him, and while the men closed by praying for these real people who are prostitutes and drug-addicts, that man was weeping. 

The question for us is how can we "go and do likewise"?  We live in a neighborhood, and can we not reach out to them?  John and I are trying to start by having our nearest neighbors over for dinner next week.  My fear is that we'll establish a friendly relationship and nothing more . . . Oh, for such a passion for Christ and His kingdom!

Have I Found It So?

A man that hath that experimental knowledge that accompanies salvation, will from his experience tell you 

that sin is the greatest evil in the world, for he hath found it so,                           
that Christ is the one thing necessary, for he hath found Him so,                          
that the favour of God is better than life, for he hath found it so,                         
that pardoning mercy alone makes a man happy, for he hath found it so,           
that a wounded spirit is such a burden that none can bear, for he hath found it so,
that an humble and a broken heart is an acceptable sacrifice to God, for he hath found it so,                                                                                                                                             
that the promises are precious pearls, for he hath found them so,                         
that the smiles of God will make up for the absence of any outward mercy, for he hath found it so,                                                                                                                            
that communion with God can alone make a heaven in a believer's heart, for he hath found it so,                                                                                                                            
that if the Spirit be pleased and obeyed, he will be a comforter to the soul, for he hath found it so,                                                                                                                            
but if his motions and laws be slighted and neglected, he will stand far off from the soul, he will vex and gall the soul,                                                                           


Well!  souls, remember this, that knowledge that is not experimental will never turn to your account, it will only increase your guilt and torment, as it did the scribes' and Pharisees' . . . It was not Adam's seeing, but his tasting, of forbidden fruit that made him miserable; and it is not your seeing of Christ, but your experimental tasting of Christ, that will make you truly happy.  As no knowledge will save but what is experimental, so let no knowledge satisfy you but what is experimental,  Psalm 34:8.

Romans 7, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 63:3, Psalm 32:1,2, Proverbs 18:14, Psalm 51:17, 2 Peter 1:4, Psalm 5:6,7, Psalm 48:10, John 16:7,Lamentations 1:16, Isaiah 63:10,11


Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth, p. 182-183

A Choice

Invictus

William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

My Captain

Dorothea Day

Out of the night that dazzles me,

Bright as the sun from pole to pole,

I thank the God I know to be

For Christ the conqueror of my soul.

 

Since His the sway of circumstance,

I would not wince nor cry aloud.

Under that rule which men call chance

My head with joy is humbly bowed.

 

Beyond this place of sin and tears

That life with Him! And His the aid,

Despite the menace of the years,

Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.

I have no fear, though strait the gate,

He cleared from punishment the scroll.

Christ is the Master of my fate,

Christ is the Captain of my soul.

It is one or the other.  Either you are your own captain, sharing in all the dark sentiments of the author, or you are Christ's and He fights for you a fight of victory.  Which shall it be?

If that isn't argument enough, the first poem represented Timothy McVeigh's final sentiments.  He represents some of what the human soul is capable of, unchecked.

Blessed be Christ, who has delivered us, by His own victorious death and resurrection, from all the corruption to which we natively tend!

poem source 

Comforting Little Thoughts

"And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."  Isaiah 11:6-9


"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed."  Isaiah 65:17-20

I don't know when these things will be or exactly what implications they have for me, but I know that they are true and wonderful.

"Because Isaiah's words about the Messiah's first coming [ch. 52-53] were so meticulously fulfilled, down to specific physical details, shouldn't we assume that His prophecies in subsequent chapters concerning life on the New Earth will likewise be literally and specifically fulfilled?"  Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 96

"We learn, in the fourth place, that children are never too young to receive the grace of God.  Zacharias is informed that his son "shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."  There is no greater mistake than to suppose that infants, by reason of their tender age, are incapable of being operated upon by the Holy Spirit.  The manner of His work upon a little child's heart, is undoubtedly mysterious and incomprehensible.  But so also are all His works upon the sons of men.  Let us beware of limiting God's power and compassion.  He is a merciful God.  With Him nothing is impossible."  J.C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1, p. 15 (emphasis in original)