Change...

Today a piece of my childhood died. I just got word "through the grapevine" that they are demolishing the old Bel Air Roller Rink! This was the teeny bopper hangout for at least 50 years. My Pop Pop Henry helped install and weld the railings when it was built.

I remember going skating there from about age 13, my mother went there when she was young, there was a birthday party for Greta when she was 11 or so. We had our Julia's birthday there just a few years back(see pic).

This is yet another change on the landscape of horizon here in the county where I grew up and have lived my whole life. Just an indication that nothing stays the same.
Only God is unchanging!

Music with a Message

I have loved this magnificent song since the first time I heard it.
However it means more to me now than ever before.

Here it is sung by Geoff Moore and Christy Nockels with beautiful photographs to compliment it. You may have heard it as recorded by Brad Paisley with Dolly Parton. That video has some nice personal touches of famous people holding pictures of their dearly departed loved ones.

It sure makes you think about Heaven. Be blessed...so sorry if it makes you cry!

When I Get Where I'm Going

A teenager in my house?

It happened today...our oldest child became a teenager! I can't believe it! It does not seem possible that it has been thirteen years...it seems like we just learned that we were expecting for the first time! It was not hard to believe when he was born because I was a few days getting around to delivering him! It was a memorable event. He was a big boy of "nearly" 9 lbs!!!

I endured two boring days of induction(s) with little progress; it became a concern. So when the doc started talking c-section...Bill laid his hands on my abdomen and asked God to intervene...that very second my water broke and in several hours we held our first born -a boy!

William "Josiah" is an amazing young man. We are so elated that he knows the Lord and pursues the holy things of God. It is our prayer that he remains faithful in both the biggest and smallest challenges of life. He has many talents, is an avid reader, enjoys music and loves playing the guitar. He is a wonderful person!

He's a joy to our souls and we are thankful for his life. We praise God for sending him to us to parent and ask the Lord to help us to continue to nurture him in the day in and day out of life! Amen!!!

Forgiveness...

Do you ever hear a song and it cuts right to the quick of your soul? That just happened to me as I stumbled across this awesome song, I'm Not Who I Was by Brandon Heath! As most know, I recently went through one of the very deepest types of loss they say one can experience in life - the death of a sibling - my closest - younger sister and best friend!

My sister died as the result of a blood clot that moved to her heart. She had many medical issues, six that were identified, the main one being Systemic Lupus the most dangerous was something called antiphospholipidsyndrome which caused her to "just throw clots at the drop of a hat". She had experienced seven pulmonary embolisms (blood clots which go to the lungs) over a four year period and yet very miraculously survived each one. The "eighth" as we know it...is what "took" her from this world. However, I know on God's time-line this was her appointment with her Creator, Lord and Savior and so I am happy on her behalf...she is home and healed! The scriptures say that it is a precious thing in God's eyes when a saint goes home to be with Him and so I rejoice when I can. However, I indeed do miss her so very much and because I loved her so deeply sometimes words cannot express enough.

The days following her death were as none I have ever experienced in my life. At the time it was surrealistic. A flood of people ministered to us for several days as the news of her passing spread far and wide. We had occasion to speak with and see some acquaintances we had not seen or heard from in years!I am still recalling things about those early days of adjusting to the initial shock of it all.

During those first few days and weeks God placed His finger on areas of my heart - some of which I had even hidden from myself. Some hurts were literally decades old, seemingly "fossil-like pieces" buried in heaps of dust in my heart. God gave me a desire to want to go to certain people - individuals from my past who I had chosen to "write-off" for one reason or another. I am talking old ill will, emotional baggage, anger-riddled hurts that I had held for just, well, way too long!

God gave me a dose of courage to contact specific individuals and tell them in a forthright way that I had finally made peace in my heart...most importantly...on a personal level...very earnestly forgave them. I confessed that I had harbored wrong thoughts toward them for too long and asked them to please forgive me as well. The choice to forgive and the privilege to be forgiven was a most freeing experience for me. It was like having a huge heavy burden lifted off of me! People are the only portion of this world which will go into eternity with us. We each are objects of God's grace and should be treated as such. As believers on Christ Jesus we need to model grace more easily and often than we tend to...God does this for us on a continuing basis!

I would not wish a close and substantial loss like I have sustained on anyone. And I have to say that it should not have taken such a "slap in the face" for me to seek reconciliation with precious ones in my life. Throughout our lives, God allows us to hold certain people in a dear place, close to our hearts, and yet over time, things like a miscommunication, emotional confusion, guilt for indiscretions, a misunderstanding or just horrific pride can sever that relationship. Allowing a root of bitterness to grow into a well-established noxious weed is awful! We need to be purveyors of grace! We need to find forgiveness in Jesus..we need to favor forgiveness!

In this body of flesh I am struggling as I grieve...frankly, right about now, this lifted burden (an emotional healing for me) seems to be one of the only positive results I readily see from the loss of my sister. I know God has a woven plan and with my eyes I long to see it but I must with eyes of faith know that in time I will see that bigger picture - or as some say -the "right" side of a beautifully woven tapestry!

God is one who extends tremendous mercy (withholding the punishment we so deserve for our sin) and He extends His all-amazing grace (His favor which we can never merit/earn) so freely and in unconditional love wraps His arms around us like a loving parent does to comfort a young child. Remember to praise Him and earnestly thank Him for this sometime!

Many years ago God started a work in my heart. Unlike me, He is faithful to complete what He starts! As I prayed a prayer to surrender my life totally over to His Lordship I sensed instant forgiveness and freedom that set my heart on a straighter path - a deeper walk than I had ever experienced before. This reconciliation with people from my past is another big step of growth on my spiritual life path.

I want to once again thank my Heavenly Father for his grace and for the fact that like the song title says, I am NOT Who I Was. Brandon Heath has been innately bestowed with a gifting for putting words together that touch the deep matters of the heart that I have mentioned here. My prayer is that you will watch/listen to this YouTube video, think on it, pray about it and share it with those in your life who may be struggling with a similar situation. Think on your own past hurts, how you may be in bondage to buried pain and holding unforgiveness. Make the choice to release it to God today and pray about His timing for you to share that with the person(s) who wronged you. Also please pass this message of grace and forgiveness onto others!

From Colossians 3...
vs.- 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
vs. 14 - And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
vs. 15 - And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
vs. 16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

May you choose to walk in the light of God's love sooner rather than later. Our future here on earth is uncertain at best so we need to seek to make things right - the sooner the better!

Thanks for reading what the Lord laid on my heart...I trust it will mean something to someone's heart somewhere today. :)

Remembering Bill's Dad Today

A most amazing man...Rev. William Edward Akehurst...today would have been his 72nd birthday! He took his flight to Heaven on March 1, 2006 and that left a void in our hearts that only Jesus Christ can fill...especially on special days like today. I cannot begin to address all his life accomplishments so here is the link to his obituary which is posted on the family business website at...
http://www.akehurst.com/wea.htm

He would be so proud of how his three sons, Bill, Brian and John have stepped up to fill his shoes in the numerous areas of his very productive life! He was a man who planned his work and worked his plan in a time concious manner. As one who is challenged in that area...I really admired that about him. He was a man of consistency, integrity and faithfulness. He loved his wife, family and friends and had a contagious laugh!

I like to think that God let him know how Bill has endeavored to see that the ministry to the elderly at the Harford Seniour Housing Center and the Billy Graham TVTM has continued on. Had he seen it here he would have been very pleased to see the legacy of faith and business ethics transition to next generation of Akehursts! Proverbs 3:5 & 6

My Granddad Rev. "Kemp" Jones

Today it has been 31 years since my "Granddad" the Reverend "Kemp" Jones went to be with the Lord on July 17, 1976. I never will forget it because his death was the first close relative I experienced as a loss. I remember people trying to comfort me and telling me to "just be happy" for him. I have vivid memories of thinking how "these people must be nuts" telling me to be happy when I am so sad!

I had spent those first thirteen years of my young life under his preaching...and I do mean preaching. He was a man of tall stature with strong arms and a firm handshake. He was not afraid to get loud and excited about the good news he had to share! He preached much of his adult years life and as a planter of several churches in Harford County, Maryland and southern York County, Pennsylvania he endeavored to follow the Lord's plan for his life. One church he started was formerly an old school house and another one was a bank building. He used his inheritance to build another church - a new building from the ground up and never asked for a cent in return when he moved on to other works. He chose to work to earn a living-driving trucks and drilling wells. He liked cars and was always buying, selling or trading to get a different one.

Grandaddy loved preaching in the sawdust...which meant during the summer months he would pitch a big tent, cover the ground with sawdust, setup his pulpit, construct benches and an altar area and buy paperback hymnals. Then he would go out and invite in the common folk who would otherwise not dart in a church door!

I can still see him standing there in front of the altar area with his hands extended, tears streaming down his face as he begged people to ask Jesus into their heart(s). Many came forward to publicly confess Christ as Savior and Lord. Those last summers he preached he led many to Christ and many received Believer's Baptism in a local stream...I was among those who were baptized in the cool waters of Deer Creek! Some people baptized by him are still here serving Christ some 50 years later! One elderly lady I can recall now goes to church with us (in fact, my hubby is now her Pastor) in the Harford Senior Housing Center. She speaks highly of Granddad's early ministry days and my Grandmom Esther's devotion and sacrifice for the sake of furthering the gospel.

Grandad gave a lot of credit to his mother for praying for him when he was living far from God as a young man. He said that he would come home from "a night of drinking and playing pool". He could hear here praying out loud for him; she was a shoutin' and prayin' mama who desired to see "her boy get straightened out" and follow Christ. In time, her prayers were answered and his life was changed for evermore. He often used the example of the Prodigal son in his sermons and had a tender heart toward those caught in the web of sin.

I have fond memories of him. He loved scrambled eggs and ate shelled peanuts by the bagful! He had a beautiful steel blue eyes and a trademark way he held his hands as he sat straddled on a kitchen chair turned backwards. I recall some weekends when I was a young one, we would visit my grandparents, sometimes especially on Sunday evenings (after an evening church) service we would have a family time of prayer before parting. We would all bow on our knees in the living room and take turns praying out loud. My sister, Greta told me the account more than one time, and most recently just weeks before her death. She was so funny...she would crawl up on Granddad's back while he was kneeling in prayer and sit on him like he was a pony. She appreciated it so much that he endured her foolishness and never "told on her" because surely our Daddy would have "corrected her right then and there" for being so disrespectful to God and Granddad during prayer! WOW...don't you know that the saints are all sharing some stories in Glory right now. Just knowing how much they loved each other and that they are together now gives me great peace.

When Granddaddy passed on we laid his body to rest in the cementery of the church where he first felt called to minister and was ordained, Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Maryland. Here is the online pic of his headstone...which bears his given name, birth and death years at this link...



One life completely surrendered to Christ can have an amazing impact on eternity. I am the oldest grandchild and yet I am too young to number the many who came to a saving knowledge of God's only Son through this man's ministry. However, I am still in complete awe of the man and how he fervertly prayed, read his Bible, sacrificed and preached to the Glory of God Almighty!

Ever just wish you had stayed in bed?

Yesterday was Friday the 13th again...same as the day after my sister's death just three months back...HOWEVER I AM NOT SUPERSTITIOUS! God has blessed my life and I am sure He has spared me from so much more than I will ever know on this side of eternity!

Yesterday, I had a day sorta like this "youtube" bit! SOMEHOW...a harbinger (spring clip) on my HUGE keychain detached and I lost the remote that locks/unlocks my SUV. More importantly I lost an expensive SanDisk compact flash (media) with over 200 priceless and irreplaceable digital photos on it! I don't care about the $ part of it but the sentimental part of me is tormented that these pics of my dearly departed sister's boys (Josh's graduation and Kyle's first camp experience)as well as some Father's Day and other shots I simply cannot duplicate or restage - ARE ALL LOST!

PLEASE PRAY that someone whoever has these items will soon step forward with them! I am "heart sick" about the whole situation and just keep breaking down and crying over yet another loss! I know everyone dislikes loss...well I HATE LOSS. I have had my moments -major losses over the years and the past few months (to over a year now). Frankly, am weary like David was in the Psalms!

I recognize that this is all in God's hands...I need to accept "His ways are not mine". I have plans but He is the one WHO IS in ultimate control. I have learned a valuable lesson about guarding priceless things! I am confident that my Lord knows the location of all my losses - for sure!

If you too need a laugh...watch this clip!

The Flight...ode to 91 days!

The drive to the hospital the morning of "that" phone call - all the concern for Greta's weakened state. It was not an easy one but God was faithful to carry me to do what I needed to do - to say goodbye to my very closest friend - ever!

Even though the medical people were telling us "the next two hours would tell us whether she would survive"...I already knew in my heart that this was IT - the last time I would see her. How do you begin to prepare to say goodbye to someone who you have known most of your life? She had told me twice in the week preceding this day...that "this time" she was "not coming out of the hospital". She was "going to get her healing". She knew she was headed to Heaven to "get her new body" and where she would be free from the horrible constant pain! God was working in my heart...to let her go...to release her to the Lord's keeping and to that greater realm beyond this pathetic place!

The sky was overcast and my heart felt the same...a shadowed feeling. But I recalled the words of comfort God gave me earlier that morning about developing a heart of worship in all circumstance. As I recall the lengthy drive to Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center - the whole morning had a spiritual element very hard for me to express in words. As I said, it was a cloudy day but my heart sensed the shadow of the Almighty's presence. The Lord blessed me with the comfort of the dearest people via my cell phone. The love and prayers extended to me were a tremendous blessing to my heavy heart. It was good to know that I was being lifted up in prayer as I made my journey to Lititz.

As God would ordain, my dear friend, Corliss, would be available to go with me. It was special to have her with me for that place in time. She's a strong woman of God, also the wife of a pastor, an accomplished pediatric nurse and dearly loved person. She had been touched by the loss of a sibling herself and after losing both her biological father and the dad who raised her within a short time - quite acquainted with grief. (At that point I knew she too "would be leaving me" within a short time; I had to push that pain away to deal with the moment. Maybe I will talk about that in another post someday.) Corliss was there for me and my family for that precious time as she had been for so many other life changes in the ten years we have been close friends. She prayed, comforted and loved on my bunch. It was a blessing to have her there and I thank God for providing that time together before her inevitable move to Alabama just a few weeks later!

God's sheltering arms were evident...as I walked in the room to see Greta like that...inti-bated and just barely holding on. I stood there quiet for a bit, rubbing her arm, touching her face, stroking her beautiful hair - we had shared so much. It seemed like a very bad dream- a nightmare! How do you say those words? I prayed out loud...thanking God for giving her to me as my little sister 38 years before. I recognized that he knew when she would be born and certainly knew when she would die. Her life days were ordained and known before the foundation of the earth! I thanked Him for the blessing of her life and what she was to all she knew. I sincerely praised His high and holy name right then and there. I hugged Greta and told her that "everything was going to be all right" with us. "I love you Greta - you go be with Jesus." and she did! It was a mere three minutes after I arrived that she "took off". I know she waited for me...before taking "the flight" - she had so many times before in her dealings with me! And even now I know she is waiting for me - again.

I love all my sisters so very dearly and deeply. I never ever imagined having to experience the death of any of the three! After all I have always been and will always be the oldest. I was five years older than Greta and several years the elder of Candace and April. The reality of losing my "lifetime partner in crime, laughter and mischief" is undoubtedly one of the more difficult and emotionally painful things I have had to do in my whole 44 years of life!

I SURE DO MISS HER! Three months to the day and date (Thursday the 12th)! Thirteen weeks of shedding tears everyday - at some point! Sure some days are more painful than others...so far "time"...91 days "has not healed squat"! I have many prized memories of her time here...everyday brings little remembrances...sometimes when I least expect it...a memory is triggered...it's a miracle I have not been electrocuted for crying while using my laptop (Greta would have laughed at that comment)! Nothing seems the same...nothing is the same...and I am convinced that my life IS forever changed! I can say with great confidence that I know her life has changed too and OH how for the better...that is the only good "trade off" here. But I love her that much!!! I know I am going to be all right...just like I told her...we are going to be all right - by God's help and comfort.

Precious in the Sight of the Lord

Last Sunday evening, I had the occasion to venture back to the church I attended as a teenager and young adult. It was time to honor the life of a great man, Pastor Allen "Jack" Beck.

This awesome man of God had stood behind the pulpit of North Harford Baptist in Jarrettsville, Maryland for decades prior to 1989. He and Mrs. Jean continued to serve the Lord at their new location in PA. Over the years age and illness would come to challenge Pastor. From accounts he never waivered from reading the Word of God. On the morning of July 3, 2007 he met his and Savior face to face...and he was made whole by the very same precious Lord he had shared with so many people over the years. I am so happy for the rest this saint of God has been granted and the words he no doubt has heard, “Well - done thy good and faithful servant!"

Pastor Beck often got excited when preaching about God's provision of salvation through Our Lord's precious and only son, Jesus Christ. He spoke with God-given authority and was not afraid to call sin what it is within his sermons! Men with his forthrightness and character are difficult to find these days. He always rose to the moment with an appropriate word, whether it was in his Sunday sermon, to a young couple standing before him to establish their marriage covenant, preaching a funeral of a dearly departed friend, working on the mission field or the certain smile with a handshake at the church's homemade ice cream social! He surely was one of a kind!

He was a man who proclaimed grace and made us all aware of mercy in light of God's complete holiness. I especially appreciated his heart of compassion whether it was for missions (like the works in Haiti and at the Baltimore Rescue Mission), a caring gesture toward those struggling with the consequences of sin or prayer for a burden to lift. He desired to share the steps to peace with God to those who were burdened under the weight of sin and encouraged all of us to walk with Jesus in the everyday. I have to say that he was one man who always offered the opportunity for people to make things “right with the Lord” and make a public profession of their faith in Jesus before the close of each service.

Pastor had a unique sense of humor and one of his famous summer-sayings that sticks out in my mind was, "Do you think it's hot out today? Well, aren't you glad you not going to hell?!" He sure made you think!

I and many look forward to such a wonderful reunion with him and many other saints who have gone on before us – to Heaven’s glory for eternity. I think it is sooner than most of us realize!

Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of a saint...Amen!

P.S. There was a nice writeup in today's
Baltimore Sun.

The Dirty Dozen

The four of us girls have birthed twelve AMAZING kids! Each one is an absolute gift from above and we certainly thank God for each of their lives! Here they are standing in line by age -youngest to oldest- now 2 to 18 years old. This picture was taken at a family frisbee golf outing just a week or so after we lost Greta.

Happy Independence Day!

We are so blessed to live in the freedom that we do...that which we were born into as citizens of our great country. And more importantly the tremendous freedom we have as believers on Christ Jesus...a freedom which is our spiritual inheritance!
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!