Remembering: Beethoven, Muscle Memory and Happiness

Here's a win that surprised me tonight. Despite struggling with new glasses for the past month*, I have recently enjoyed pulling out some of my old piano music from as far back as high school. 

Tonight, I moved past the eye issues and other things weighing on the day and tried a Beethoven Sonata. In fact, I had avoided it for 19 years, thinking I could never enjoy casually playing what I had spent two years perfecting and memorizing for part of my final recital and exam. I had completely forgotten what it looked and sounded like... until I started playing. 

Here's the utterly amazing thing about our brains. I still had muscle-memory to play some parts easily! And what struck me was that the parts I remembered best were the sections that made me happiest all those years ago! They gave me the old thrill again, and I'm pretty sure I was smiling through them tonight.

This reminded me how happiness is powerful in our brains!!

TIP: Try take time to purposely remember some happy things in your past... whether years ago or days ago.  Knowing what we do about the neuroplasticity of the brain, this simple act will do more for your health than you can imagine!

Intentionally remembering - especially in light of God's goodness, provision, love... positively affects many parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. It even helps our brain release dopamine, positively impacting far more than just mood!

No wonder God told us throughout His word to "remember" as well as to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. [Philippians 4:8] Science is finally catching up to some more of what God has told us all along. 

*Yep, it was time for bifocals along with the double whammy of a prism to pull my left eye into alignment. The combination of a sledding injury 24 years ago along with the neurological complications of Lyme, mold, toxic levels of mercury, etc. these past years, made my optometrist give this a try. 

Thanksgiving Resources

A blessed Thanksgiving, family and friends! 

These two resources have been helpful in reminding our family of the deep meaning and real lives behind the first Thanksgiving. 

As this excellent Focus on the Family Radio Theatre production points out, somewhat like the history of Joseph in the Old Testament, Squanto was stolen into slavery and spent years learning and serving... which then prepared him to return home and be raised to a position of influence at the right time to help save the lives of others.

Those "others" were the Pilgrims, part of whose history is so interestingly recounted in Barbara Rainey's book (with accompanying music CD which we enjoy each year.)

Speaking of the time when the Pilgrims dropped anchor on November 11, 1620 off the shores of what would become New England, one of their young leaders, William Bradford, wrote:

"I cannot but.. stand half amazed at this poor people's present condition;... Being thus past the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles... they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies;... What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace?"

And the rest of the history shows that sustaining grace through all the hardships. How thankful we can be for such a heritage represented in this celebration! 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! 

Hypothyroidism and "Hope in His Steadfast Love"

A few weeks ago I was hiking through deep snow. Then at the end of April I enjoyed the walk in this YouTube Short.

But now it is once again hard to walk as far as the garden, so I am grateful to remember a couple of sitting exercises we learned from a PT back when Aunt Dorothy broke her neck and spent a couple months in a halo. Learn them in my newest Short: 2 Simple Ways to Get Moving! [even if stuck at a computer or couch-bound]

There were years where I couldn't even manage this much exercise. So I can be grateful for this ability even though I recently found out my current form of thyroid medication hasn't been absorbing for a couple months. And since I don't have a thyroid, [see part of that story in this post] it may take a while to get back to my normal.

As my body and brain struggle through the slough of deep hypothyroidism once again, it is a good time to remember that "[God's] delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Psalm 147:10-11)

Reading Log

Do you keep a list of what books you've read? Here are some reasons I do:

- Makes a good list from which to recommend books to others

- A place to rate how good [or bad] books are

- Easy resource for choosing a book to re-read

- Provides an overview to gauge your mental diet and what should be added or cut back

- Brings back memories years later

- The yearly totals are fun to track!

In 2021 I read a total of 99 books, 40 of which were new to me.

In 2022 I read only 82 books, but more than half (48) were first-time reads.

The only way I can read this much in a year is by enjoying audiobooks while knitting 43 pairs of mittens, cleaning, washing dishes, doing laundry, etc.

And if these numbers still look high, realize that several are little books for kids and a bunch more were written for youth - such as the YWAM biographies which are 5-6 hour audiobooks. Besides enjoying literature for the young myself, I am always on the lookout for good books to recommend to families.

No matter how many or few books you read this year, try writing down and rating each one!

Shut In – Day 20: The Man Noah

 

Today's notes ended up longer than expected. I hadn't realized there were quite so many clues about Noah in a couple chapters until my new journaling Bible inspired closer observation!

It is already feeling rather long since I first wrote about Noah and how “the LORD shut him in” the ark. But this is only day 20.

The storm is still raging – the rain still beating.

The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. – Genesis 7:18

Meanwhile, Noah and his family are safely shut in the ark they had built according to God’s directions. Why was he saved while the rest of mankind was destroyed? The history record is clear:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Gen. 6:5)

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (Gen. 6:8)

That puts Noah in a special group of people… those whom the Bible cites as having “favor” with God. The others I have found so far are:

Moses in Exodus 33:12 – Moses said to the LORD,… you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’

Samuel in 1 Samuel 2:26 – Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.

Mary in Luke 1:30 – And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

Jesus in Luke 2:52 – And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

A quick search on Blue Letter Bible will turn up plenty of verses seeking favor with God and man as well as some where God is giving his people favor in the sight of those who would naturally be their enemies (for example: Gen. 39:21, Exo. 11:3, 12:36).

But to have favor in the eyes of the LORD is obviously something special.

Genesis chapter 6 goes on to describe Noah as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation.” That reminds me of how God described Job as “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” (Job 1:8 & 2:3)

As a side note, both Noah and Job are examples of how God doesn’t keep his children insulated from all hardship, but he brings them through triumphantly in the end. 

Maybe, like me, you have long thought of Noah as uniquely protected. And it is true that he was saved from the utter destruction of the earth and its inhabitants in God’s judgement. But I am realizing more and more how his calling was far from easy. 

[Now to return from one of what I once heard Edith Schaeffer call her “parentheses”…]

We are next told that “Noah walked with God.”

That classes this man in an even more exclusive hall of fame – as far as I can find, the description being shared only by his great-grandfather Enoch in Genesis 5:24. Noah never got to meet this man since God took him away (without death) after 365 years on earth. But enough of his faith was obviously passed down through the next 2 generations to be wholeheartedly picked up by the boy born nearly 70 years later.

The next clues to Noah’s walk with God are that he:

- heard from God (6:13, 7:1)

- did all God told him (6:22, 7:5)

- was blessed by God establishing a covenant with him (6:18) – even before Abraham and his descendants were given this honor

The New Testament puts it this way in Hebrews 11:8:

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

In other words, he was not “going with the flow” of the world or trying to fit in. He was the opposite of “politically correct.” He would have been mocked, sidelined, called names (sound familiar for those who dare to stand on God's word nowadays?) ...Until it began to rain, that is.

All this may leave us wondering, is God’s favor only for these “favored few”? 

Thankfully not! God’s word shows us who else gets blessed with His favor:

For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. – Psalm 5:12

Again, the righteous sounds impossibly exclusive. And it would be… except for Jesus’ promise in Matthew 5:6* that:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” 

Are we thirsty enough to follow the example of Noah – no matter how rough or lonely the path may be at times?

*[See also Romans chapters 4 and 5]

Other posts in this series:
Part I: The Lord Shut Him In
Part II: Day 10: The Animals

Next Post:
Part IV: Day 30: The Walls

Flood Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
Rain Photo by Eutah Mizushima on Unsplash

The Lord Shut Him In

Let’s time-travel today. Instead of this being 2022 A.D., we are in the 600^th year of Noah’s life.

Which Noah? The Noah born about 1,056 years after God created Adam (assuming Adam’s age-count began then – even though he was an adult). Since life spans were so much longer before the Flood this was only the 10^th generation of mankind.

Isn’t it sobering to realize that only 10 generations after creation, sin was already so hopelessly out of control that God determined not to put up with it any longer? I just realized that it was even less than two of Adam’s life-spans - from his creation to the Flood. (Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. Genesis 5:5)

The history record in Genesis 6 paints the picture of Noah’s time briefly, but strongly: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (emphasis mine)

“And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart…. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

There is so much to ponder in these verses, but I am going to refrain and go in one specific direction today.

Remember that we are now in the 600^th year of Noah’s life. He has already spent decades working and preparing in faith that God would do what He said and wipe out every life of man and beast on the land – except those who would be saved in the ark. Again, we could learn much from those 120 years. But the time has come...

Seven days ago God told Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. … For in seven days I will send rain on the earth… and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” (Gen. 7:1,4)

So why am I thinking about this, today of all days? Because of the date: 2.17

Notice Genesis 7:11: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”

I do realize the calendar has changed, and Noah was not likely a New Year’s baby. But this is the closest I can get to picturing what Noah and his family went through when “the LORD shut him in.”

Already in 2022, I have been struck by the many accounts we have of God’s people being “set aside” or “shut in.” Many for years at a time.

Many of us can relate. (And I’m not talking about lockdowns, either.)

So I thought I would try to take notice of the length of this unique and lonely boat-ride as I continue to ponder God’s ways...

…and God’s faithfulness.

Want to join me? I’ll probably post status updates about Noah’s time on the ark from time to time.

Next Post in this Series:
Part II: Day 10: The Animals

Ark Photo by Lucas Dial on Unsplash

Of Plymouth Plantation

Do you ever wonder why you celebrate Thanksgiving Day? 

Is it for family time? Good food? Entertainment and a football game? Or to "be thankful"... without any specific object of your gratitude?

Finishing the following book last week was perfect timing to remember why we really have this celebration.

Even if only to put our own hardships into perspective, reading this first-hand account of the Pilgrims through several decades following their arrival in America on the Mayflower is eye-opening. But it also shows clearly how much these men and women of God were willing to sacrifice for the freedom to worship Him.

If you ever had the idea (like I used to) that all went well for the Pilgrims after the first good harvest and Thanksgiving festivities, this history would amaze you with year upon year of perseverance through famine, lack, danger, sickness, and injustice. And yet William Bradford, having lost his wife soon after arrival to this wilderness and under great pressure trying to govern this new colony could write as follows. 

What, then, could now sustain them but the spirit of God, and His grace? Ought not the children of their fathers rightly to say: Our fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity. ... Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies endure forever. Yea, let them that have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered forth into the desert-wilderness, out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men!

• Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement,
Rendered into Modern English by Harold Paget

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just for Fun!

Even though my posts (and life) have been heavier of late, there are always joys to be found walking through each day with our good Shepherd.

One treat I often enjoy these chilly days (yes, we have snow on the ground now!) is my own version of hot-chocolate... half cocoa / half maca. What is that? You can find this nutrient-dense, powdered "superfood" at this link: https://www.vitacost.com/navitas-organics-maca-gelatinized  It reminds me a bit of peanut-butter. 

Find my recipe in the description of this short video: Favorite Hot Drink: Hot Maca-Cocoa

And while I'm sharing video links, here's one just for fun, full of sweet memories with Aunt Dorothy: Music Therapy with Down's Syndrome

If you haven't "met" her before:
Aunt Dorothy was a gift to our family as well as to countless others who knew and loved her!

Dorothy never spoke more than a few words in all her life, but music was always a communication point between us. Dorothy loved harmony - sparkling and voicing her joy when my sisters and I split into harmony from unison singing. Dorothy disliked dissonance - getting predictably agitated and loud when around unsettling music such as the 20th century Bartok pieces I practiced during college days.

Dorothy loved to dance with music. We could just start humming a tune, grab her hands, and go. Even singing hymns at church would get her grooving!

Even in her last week of life [in 2017] she lay in her wheelchair by my piano soaking up music. When nearly unresponsive in her last last day on earth, the voice of the Hospice chaplain singing a hymn brought a slight acknowledgement. My sisters and I sang to her again as we all gathered around in her last hour, and our brother-in-law led us in the Doxology as Dorothy entered heaven, where she now has the joy of taking part in the best music ever - praising her Savior!

This video [linked above] shows one of the times Dorothy took an active part in music. Even in her 50's, she loved sitting in my lap at the piano and "riding" my hands while I played. But here you can hear her one-note rhythm inspiring an improvised duet.

Recorded February 2013

Something Very Precious

If you live with chronic illness, you can relate to this conversation in the middle of World War I:

"'And now, two years later, it is no nearer the end than it was then,' said Miss Oliver gloomily.

Susan clicked her knitting-needles briskly. 'Now, Miss Oliver, dear, you know that is not a reasonable remark. You know we are just two years nearer the end, whenever the end is appointed to be.' ...

'Would you exchange them - now - for two years filled with fun?'

'No,' said Rilla slowly, 'I wouldn't. It's strange - isn't it? They have been two terrible years - and yet I have a queer feeling of thankfulness for them - as if they had brought me something very precious, with all their pain. ... And still' - Rilla gave a little apologetic laugh, 'I don't want to suffer any more - not even for the sake of more soul growth.' ... 

'We never do,' said Miss Oliver. 'That is why we are not left to choose our own means and measure of development, I suppose.'"

And the following quote will show why this book came to mind today:

"And you will tell your children of the Idea we fought and died for - teach them it must be lived for as well as died for - else the price paid for it will have been given for nought. This will be part of your work, Rilla. And if you - and all of you girls back in the homeland - do it, then we who don't come back will know that you have not 'broken faith' with us."

"Rilla of Ingleside" by Lucy Maud Montgomery was the first book I remember bringing to life for me the heros and the sorrows of war - both in battle and at home.

While this final book in the "Anne of Green Gables" series does contain a rather cheesy and shallow romance, it thankfully doesn't take up too much of the story. In short, it follows Anne's youngest daughter, Rilla, through what she expected to be the most exciting years of her life. Little did she know that her teen years would be defined by World War I.

Whether you are an "Anne" fan or want to learn more about wartime life for soldiers and their families this Veterans Day [in the USA], "Rilla" may just stick with you (as with me) as being one of those books that brought history to life.

Happy Veterans Day!

Find the free audiobook on Librivox.org and free e-book on Gutenberg.org

"Come, Sheep!"

That is how Dad called his little flock of Lincoln-Finn sheep (who were our lawn-mowers when we moved out into the country 35 years ago). Some of my earliest memories involve our huge ewes and bouncy lambs.

I would love to have a recording of my girl-voice trying to mimic Dad's sheep-call when I was feeding them or just wanted to gather my wooly friends for a visit. No wonder I turned out to sing alto - as I did always did my best to mimic Dad's baritone call with extra stress on the second word:

"Come, SHEEP!"

For some reason, the sheep weren't fooled. I had to shake a bucket of corn if I really wanted them to come running. Why? They didn't know or trust my voice in the same way as that of their main shepherd.

This came to mind again when reading John 10:

"He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep... The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Jesus goes on to say, " I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me... and I lay down my life for the sheep."

How can we know His voice and not be fooled by counterfeits or dangerous enemies?

His words are in the Bible. Let's learn to know His voice better each day so we can follow the Good Shepherd!

Roses and Orchids from a Friend

 

As I enjoy this beautiful rose bush, I remember the friend from whose plant the root came.

We first noticed our interim pastor having trouble speaking at a Christmas Eve service some years ago. We knew he was under a ton of stress and were concerned. But it turned out to be harder for him than we could imagine as ALS took over from the head down.

His last months were a testimony to the grace of God, as are the years of adjustment and loneliness since for his widow.

It just struck me again how many prayer-warriors, including this one, our family has lost. Several who prayed for my family daily, even while they walked through their own pain and illnesses, have left the tears of this world behind.

Will we leave this kind of grateful memory behind us one day as well?

Log-Splitting and Loss

 

Strange how a log-splitter can trigger a fresh realization of loss. But seeing Dad clean up a couple trees that blew down in strong prairie winds this spring didn't look right. That used to be a family job with everyone hauling branches, rolling logs, and putting in many hours and days every fall and early winter on log-splitting.

When we heated the house from the basement wood stove, we borrowed the hefty log splitter from my uncles that attached to a tractor. One of us would sit in the cab running the direction of the wedge while watching carefully for hand signals and making instant safety decisions if we saw any knots that looked as if they would cause problems for the two hoisting logs outside. Heavy, satisfying work!

Then came the winters where one of us girls would split smaller logs in the shed while the other two did sheep chores. Over and over, we lifted and threw a weight against the wedge set on top of a log. Thankfully the weight slid along a vertical rod to keep everything safe and perfectly aimed.

And no matter the method of splitting, there were always 5-gallon buckets to fill with wood and haul to the basement.

All this kind of work came to an end for me when chronic pain set in 15 years ago.

If I let myself think too much, more than my body hurts. I can feel guilty for being unable to do the heavy outdoor work that used to be my specialty - especially because we don't want Dad overdoing it since his heart attack. I can fret watching Mom overwork in the perennial gardens. I can be tempted to mow the lawn (which was my job for years), though I know the zero-turn mower would mess up my brain even worse than a very difficult drive last week. It can feel like our family is drowning in weakness and pain with three in the house battling daily chronic illness.

OR...

I can choose to replace these discouraging facts with Truth.

As Dad is playing on his trumpet as I type:

Be still my soul!
the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still my soul!
thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thro' thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

• K.A. von Schlegel, 1752

...But Good for the Soul

Meanwhile, around the greenhouses, we helped with the endless jobs of...

Untangling plants

Hauling plants

Cleaning plants

Selling plants

Restocking plants

And even shopping for plants ourselves!

It can be worth the extra allergies, pain, and exhaustion to spend time with family. (I recently read a comment by another "chronic girl" about how we sometimes choose to do things that are hard on the body but good for the soul.)

And there is encouragement in looking back after all the effort to realize that Elsa and I have come somewhere from the years when being on our feet, interacting with customers and crunching numbers would have been utterly impossible for a minute - let alone the couple hours a day for which God gave the strength this year.

Broken bodies can showcase God's gifts!

Learning from History

Happy Memorial Day!

Begun in 1868 to remember those who lost their lives in the US Civil War, for the most part this holiday has turned into a beginning-of-summer party for family and friends. Growing up, it was the day we turned blue getting the dock into the chilly lake and cleaned the cabin after a long winter.

In later years, the weekend has included some visits to local cemeteries where the worn-out bodies of more and more of our loved ones are left behind as the Lord calls them home. Some of those graves are decorated with flags in honor of their military service, and we may add some favorite flowers.

Even if we don't have specific traditions to focus on the meaning and history behind the holiday, I believe we need to take history more seriously as we view all of life. 

True history, that is...

Those of us who are of a certain
vintage find it hard to fathom the
way in which today's students are
being encouraged to rewrite history
rather than to learn from it.

· Alistair Begg

Those that fail to
learn from history,

are doomed to repeat it.

· Winston Churchill

Our task is not to deny or to
denigrate the past but to
recognize that we live in
a fallen world and that the
transformation we long for
in America is that which
will be brought about by
the power of the Gospel.

· Alistair Begg

A Cosy Cottage

 At the end of our frosty drive was waiting a cosy cottage in a setting so vastly different than our wide open prairie that we enjoyed the novelty. 

Wildlife spotted during our 4 days at the cottage included several deer, a rabbit, chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and more birds.

Though I didn't get pictures of them, we loved seeing pastures full of sheep within a few miles! Not many people enjoy raising our old hobby-farm livestock. They are admittedly a lot of work and not the smartest creatures, but we enjoyed them much more than the angora goats that would never stay in our fences! (And then there were the angora rabbits that fought each other and had to be separated into different cages...)

I loved lambing season so much that weeks in advance I would carry an empty 5-gallon bucket into the pastures, make it into my stool, and sit waiting, watching and begging the ewes to "have your babies!" Since our Lincoln/Finn cross usually had 2-3 lambs each (and sometimes 4), we ended up with several bottle-lambs each year (pictured above). What fun pets they were!

But I have wandered far astray from our frosty drive and cosy cottage. :-)