Greetings of love because of our dear Saviour!
It is with some regret that we have begun writing this letter for the
November/December 1996 issue of “YWSH”, on January 11, 1997... It feels
quite weird to be printing Thanksgiving articles and pictures so late after
Thanksgiving Day... but then again, shouldn’t we be thankful all year ‘round?
Certainly! :-)
Anyway, we hate to say that we are behind once again on sending this
magazine out, but we assure you that it just couldn’t be helped! You see,
we just went through two very busy months of looking for another house
to live in, moving, etc...
Because the story of our move is a somewhat long and complicated one,
we’ve decided to wait and tell you about it in the next issue. However,
as you read “Days At Our Home” in THIS issue, you will catch at least a
glimpse of what our search for a house was like.:-) We praise Him that
He has already answered our prayers and has given us a place to live. He
is ever faithful!
First, we just want to thank all of you dear sisters so much for the
testimonies you have sent to us in recent days. They have been such a blessing
and a great encouragement to us! We really want to encourage all of you
to continue writing and sharing your hearts with us, as we plan to continue
writing and sharing our hearts with you...
As our lives on earth are ones of continuous battle with our own evil
natures, and with the devil himself it always helps greatly, of course,
to know that you’re not the only one out there fighting the same battle.
Yes, there are MANY out there who may be on the edge of despair... Maybe
you once fought a hard battle with sin in your life. If so, perhaps God
is calling you to write and tell about it, in order to encourage others
who are there fighting it now!
And... if it is you who is there this very moment, just remember that
you are not alone in you convictions and your struggles to do what is right.
We are all the same: filthy, wretched human beings who cannot do a speck
of good were it not for God’s grace! Let’s praise Him together for His
mercy, and lean on Him alone for strength!
In the last few weeks, we’ve had more than one reader ask if we would
be interested in receiving her writings.. In case any of you are wondering
the same thing, we’d like to exclaim that we would be thrilled if
any of you dear sisters in Christ were to submit a testimony article,
poem, etc. for possible printing in “YWSH”!.. You don't have to be a subscriber
(just a reader), nor is there an age limit whatsoever. (So far, we’ve received
submissions from girls and women aged 8-90.) Mothers and grandmothers,
you’re not exempt!:-)
Titus 2:3-5 says, “The aged women.. That they may teach the young
women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that
the word of God might not be blasphemed.” So please, please
feel free to pick up your pens and share your hearts with us younger sisters
if you feel led of the Lord to do so. There’s a lot you can teach us, and
a lot we still need to learn!
Other things we are also looking for (in addition to testimonies, articles
and poems), include: spiritual stories, recipes, herb articles, crafts,
penpal requests (and other ads), cute things that your little siblings
have said or done, sewing, canning, and gardening tips, book reports, and
suggestions for this magazine!
Well, while we’re still here on this topic of writing for “YWSH”, might
we not go ahead and mention what the two special themes are going to be
for the upcoming January/February issue? :-) They are: “Surrender to
God”, and “Prayer”. Please write and send in any articles, well-written
stories, poems, etc., having to do with these two subjects.
Some writing suggestions on surrender... Has there ever been a time
in your life when you felt God was calling you to give something up? Perhaps
“that thing” (whatever it was) didn’t seem to be God-honoring, or perhaps
your parents merely didn’t want you to “do it”, or “have it.” What was
your response? Was there a struggle in your heart? Oh, please write
and tell about it!
Or perhaps you felt God was possibly calling you to do something for
Him, whether it be then, or in the future. (I, (Summer), can remember
an experience I had with surrendering my will to God in a certain area
of my life when I was about 8 or 9... My dad had been talking for a while
about wanting to go to Israel as a missionary, but in my heart, I was screaming,
“No! No! How can I leave all of my friends here in America?!” Well, God
wrestled with my will until finally I surrendered to Him and wrote in my
special notebook, the words, “I will go to Israel,” with a colorful sunset,
and huge hearts in the background.J:-)) If you’ve had an experience
like this, or similar, please do share it!
Or maybe you wish to tell about the greatest surrender that can possibly
be made (only by God’s grace, of course). That being... the surrender of
your heart to God. Yes, please do write about your salvation experience
if you feel the Lord is leading you to!
Some writing suggestions on prayer... Oh, please don’t miss out by
not writing on this subject... Prayer is so essential for the growing Christian!
We would love to have you write a testimony, either telling what prayer
means to you, or telling about a prayer of yours that God answered (either
with a “yes”, or a “no”).
(I, (Summer), absolutely cannot refrain from writing this very moment
about an extremely faith-building experience I had with prayer...
again, when I was younger (about 9 or 10 years old). Well, it so happened
that I used to get terribly disturbed by storms whenever they occurred
in the middle of the night! I would wake up and not be able to go back
to sleep because of the loud, vibrating thunder and the brilliant flashes
of lightning streaking outside of my window.
Well, one night when a storm blew up and I couldn’t sleep, I decided
to pray and ask God if He would please make the storm stop so I could get
some rest. As I prayed, the storm immediately began to abate, until finally,
it was hardly anything at all. Needless to say, my young heart was filled
with wonder and awe!
The most amazing thing, however, was that the next time a storm
woke me in the night, I prayed again... and the same thing happened!...
hmmm..was this mere coincidence? I firmly believed it was God who had stopped
both storms, but did He actually do it in direct answer to my earnest prayer?
The next time a storm woke me, I decided to do a little
test. Instead of praying, I waited....and waited....and waited for the
storm to abate. Instead of eventually passing, however, the storm only
continued in its furious assault till I began to grow quite anxious. Finally,
I gave up and prayed, and guess what?... The storm abated! After this,
I was thoroughly convinced that God had answered my prayers directly.
What a mighty God we have!)
Perhaps your answer to prayer wasn’t quite as direct as that
one. Please write about it anyway! Many times God will answer our prayers
with a definite “No!” or a “Wait awhile..” In these cases, we must surrender
our wills to God. It seems that these two topics of “Prayer and “Surrender”
just go hand-in-hand, don’t they? :-)
Well, here’s one last suggestion on what to write about on the topic
of prayer... We would love to receive heartfelt anonymous
prayers written by many of you, our dear sisters! (If we receive enough,
we may print them all together in a special section.)
Here are a very few suggestions for your prayers: a prayer for your
future husband, future children, or courtship; a prayer that God would
work holiness in your life and cause you to step heavenward; a prayer that
God would give you the grace to be patient with your siblings; a prayer
asking for forgiveness; a prayer of confession; a prayer of praise, or
a prayer that God would reveal His will to you in a certain situation or
area of you life, etc... Just pray what’s on your heart, and God’s
sure to bless it to someone else’s heart as well as your own!
Now... to change the subject entirely; we have two more stories to
tell. One of these stories is quite unpleasant, while the other may seem
to be somewhat amusing to you. I think we’d better go ahead and get the
unpleasant story over with, so here goes...
Title: The Dreaded Has Happened!
Now, don’t hold your breath so tightly... It’s not quite so bad as
you might think.:-) It’s just <gulp> that we <blush>
lost some... (out with it!)...sticker address labels when we
were sending out the last (Sept./Oct.) issue of “YWSH”. Since we had no
way of finding out just which address labels were the ones that disappeared,
it means that about 10 or 11 of you have not yet received the Sept./Oct
’96 issue! Please, please don’t fail to write and tell us about it, if
you are one of those “ones!”
Now for the second story... and no, we don’t have to tell it to you,
but just thought you might find it to be somewhat interesting.:-)
The title for this story is:
The Infamous “N”
Now, as we begin this story, you may wonder what in the world an infamous
“N” has to do with it. Well, keep reading, and you’ll soon find out!:-)
This story begins when two sisters by the names of Summer and Melody
Chapin were running around, trying as hard as they could to get the Sept./Oct.’96
issue of “YWSH” ready to print and copy. Talk about hurrying around fast!
Melody was literally pacing back and forth, wringing her hands, and Summer
was so lightheaded and dizzy that she could scarcely paste the pages together.
The reason for so much haste was that Melody had already called the CopyMart
to come pick up the original manuscript for copying, and they were already
on their way. Summer and Melody judged that by the time CopyMart got to
their house, they would have the whole manuscript ready. Well, it turned
out that they misjudged a little... The CopyMart’s manager waited patiently
in the driveway for about 5-10 minutes before Melody was able to grab the
manuscript from Summer and run it out to her...
Well, obviously Summer and Melody didn’t have the time to do a last
minute check to be sure all the pages had even printed out properly!...
Yikes! When they got their copies back, they realized with horror that
on Hayley Weikert’s testimony (on page 10), the title that was supposed
to say “I Will Never Leave You!”, instead said, “I Will ever
Leave You!” They debated for a while whether or not they should just leave
it that way, or whether they should take a pen and write a capital “N”
on every one of the 120 copies. Finally, they decided that they
just couldn’t leave that title to say, “I Will ever Leave You!”,
and so Summer resignedly sat down and started to write in all of those
“N”s!...
To tell the truth, Summer doesn’t know how long she sat there, but
she does remember that by the time she finished, her right index finger
was numb!
The End :-)
Anyway, we hope this explains to “Curious Georgina” just why there
was a handwritten “N” on her issue. :-) And... don’t worry... we replaced
the original copy of that page, so everyone who receives (or has received)
a copy from our second printing, doesn’t get to see that infamous “N”!
Oh well... :-)
One more thing before we go... (and we’re sorry we have to go, but
we’re running out of time here...)
It is our great desire to get back on track with this magazine! We
sure would hate to have to send the next issue (Jan./Feb.’97) out at the
end of March... (Are you beginning to see where this is leading
up to? :-) ) Yes, we need your help - so desperately! Our hope and
prayer is that we will receive enough submissions in the next 2 weeks,
that we can go ahead and start formating the Jan/Feb issue. We have already
told you what we need, so we won’t repeat ourselves. Please, please sit
down and write something if you feel the Lord leading you to... Be a blessing
to someone else today, and the Lord will bless you in return.
And “finally, [sisters], farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort,
be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with
you.”
Only Because of Him,
Summer Joy and Melody Hope
P.S. Please note that all submissions are subject to editing and revising
as we see fit. Also, we would appreciate it if you would only submit articles
that have not yet been printed in another publication. However, if you
do submit an article that has been printed, we would appreciate knowing
when and where that was. Based on this information, we will decide whether
or not to include your submission in "YWSH"...
*******************
We would personally like to thank all of you who have helped in making
this issue possible!... Dad and Mom for reviewing and proof-reading it;
Jana Baldridge, Crystal Rae Nelson, Christy Baum, Naomi Valine, Hayley
Weikert, Amanda Davis, Esther Pinzur, the Molines, and all our other wonderful
friends and subscribers who have been encouraging us with their prayers,
support and donations (of both time and money) , and all of you other dear
dear sisters who have submitted articles, testimonies, etc...!! We love
and appreciate you all very much!!
