Terrie's Tender Touch

One of life’s greatest joys is having grandchildren. The Bible says in Proverbs 17:6, “Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” I am so very privileged to have 12 crowns named (in order) Mark, Micah, Brooklynn, Alexis, Dominic, Corban, Ethan, Marissa, Haylie, Jaclynn, Gianna, and Jaydon…whew! (and since this was originally written we now have twins Madelyn and Colton, and Connor). One of the definitions of a crown is a distinction or reward for achievement – I would like to liken having grandchildren it to the icing on a cake. I had the wonderful privilege of being a mother, (that's the cake part) enduring the pregnancies, labor, sleepless nights, teething, illnesses, disciplining, and teenagers! Thankfully I have also enjoyed the immense pleasure of seeing them saved, grow in grace, develop a walk with God, get married, and become parents…giving me my grandkids - the “crowns” mentioned in Proverbs 17. One of the blessings ...

It has been such a long while since I have written a new “Tender Touch.” I have been very busy studying for my Ladies’ Sunday school class, Ladies’ Bible Study, and for our Wednesday night Bible Pals. This morning I have been considering how great it feels to be able to give, and also the importance of seeking, so that you’ll find. I am sure you’ve all probably figured out the reason those thoughts are flooding my mind is because it is December and Christmas is upon us! I love this time of year. I especially love being able to spend extra time with my family – I love my kids and grandkids so much, they are all so precious to me. We were able to have 3 of our married children and their families with us for Thanksgiving. We had a great time together on Thanksgiving, and then on Friday we went to cut down the Christmas tree…all 18 of us went to cut down one Christmas tree! (How many Italians does it take to get a Christmas tree?) On Saturday, as the kids were on their way out of...

One of my greatest desires and concerns as a young mother was to see my children grow to fulfill God’s will for their lives. I always wanted to be as good a mother as I could possibly be – my children are my heart – no matter how grown up they are, they are constantly on my mind and in my prayers. Now I am not a young mother – I have eight adult children and 12 precious grandchildren. As I write this my eyes are welling overcome with love for each one of them. I want so desperately for each one to have “good success.” There is only one verse in the Bible that promises just that…good success. It is in Joshua 1:8 which says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” I can’t say I’ve arrived, but I am happy to say that it looks like we’re on the right path. A...

Recently my husband and I had the joy of keeping 3 of our precious grandchildren with us for a few days while our son and his wife went to a conference. We had a lot of fun with the kids, and of course as grandparents we wanted to spoil our grandkids. On one of the days we decided we would take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for lunch and most especially to play the games. We had to run a few errands to complete a few church related tasks. Well, the boys started to get restless – they were so excited that they just had a hard time containing themselves. After being warned a few times, my husband finally resorted to warning them that if they would not behave they would not be able to go to Chuck E Cheese’s. Unfortunately the boys committed the final act that forced my husband to keep his word. When I got in the car, (I promise I was only in the store for 10 minutes – tops), my husband informed me that we were not going. I felt badly, but honestly he felt worse! He then told me th...

On May 5, I had the tremendous privilege and blessing of having my daughter be our guest speaker for the Mother’s Day Banquet. Our Theme was “Will you Say I Do?” The evening was much like a wedding. We had 4 ladies in the church model wedding gowns, we had special music, and then we had special and touching moments that brought tears to our eyes. Through tears I reminded the ladies that just like a wedding we were shedding tears at the ceremony and then we would have fun and games at the reception. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, played the "Newlymet" Game (like the Newlywed Game)...and topped it all off with a wedding cake. We had a wonderful turn out and a lot of fun! My daughter, in keeping with the bridal theme, gave us some beauty tips – TRUE beauty tips. As she was speaking she used an illustration that has stuck with me. She likened allowing the Word of God to enhance our beauty by responding to the instructions found in the Bible. She gave the analogy that i...

We have all heard the saying, “The Lord moves in mysterious ways.” That is not in the Bible verbatim, but the idea or concept is definitely true. God has His way of getting things done – and of course His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are higher than ours. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9 One thing I do know is that I am amazed at the way the Lord works things out – especially when we’re so often afraid of the very things that become our greatest blessings! Today my husband is performing the first wedding at Lighthouse Baptist Church since its inception on February 21, 2010. The circumstances that led to this day are very unusual to say the least. We received a call from a lady that we met while out door knocking before the church began. That in itself is a pretty amazing story because when we knocked on her door, she was in her...

This past weekend we held our first banquet! It was exciting for many reasons – it was our first, we had a lady in our church organizing the entire event, we had a couple that are new Christians cooking the meal, and every table was being decorated according to a different theme by the host and hostess of each table. That took such a huge load off me…I thought:) As the week progressed I found out that we were having an overnight guest – the speaker staying at our home – after having 6 of our grandkids stay with us for a few days during spring break. Now – really that was not an issue, but it did add a little work. We also decided to keep 3 of our grandchildren with us through Sunday as we were planning to be at their house for our grandson’s special Grandparent’s day at school on Monday…so on Sunday in addition to having the house ready for lunch for 7 guests, and taking all the table decorations to church to set my table after the morning service, I did also have to make sure th...

I am a very sentimental person – for that reason I find myself doing certain things, holding on to certain possessions, and even practicing traditions that some would consider silly or frivolous. “Why?” you might ask and this morning in my Bible reading I found an answer that helped to see why these things might mean so much to me. “And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.” Joshua 4:5-7 Throughout the Bible we see the Lord...

In continuing with pondering what moms can learn from Moses – I feel I must first qualify why I would even compare Moses’ role to that of a mother – he is a man of God, BUT – he was the one leading the children under the direction of God, the Father! So, with the relationship being the “go between” from the Father to the children of Israel – the natural connection is to that of a mother. In considering the things mothers can learn from Moses I saw several lessons that I find not only insightful, but really helpful – even for mothers like me that no longer have young children to train. In my last posting I left off really at the beginning – making sure that a mom realizes that she should instill the ordinances, rules, behavior, and responsibilities she expects from her children. I would like to interject that Moses listened to the counsel he received from his father-in-law – he really could have been proud and said something like, “look, I spend a lot of time with God – and He is lea...

As I sit to write today’s blog posting I realize that it has been such a long time since I have posted. I have been praying about today’s posting for several weeks and the true prayer of my heart is that it will be of help and a blessing to the ladies the Lord leads to read this. If for no one else, I pray it will be something my own children and grandchildren will one day read and find a glimpse of the thoughts that cross my heart as I read from God’s precious Word. Every year I read my Bible cover to cover – at least once and many years I read it at least twice. I always follow a schedule of sorts – a number of pages a day (right now its 10) and sometimes I read it in alphabetical order (Acts to Zephaniah); this year I am reading it in order of “types” of books… Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, Gospels. Interjected with that I have been doing a study on Proverbs 31 – so I am reading that every day. I find amazing the different things I have learned simply by...

I didn’t get the email…but God gave me the message. This past Saturday there was a baby shower given for my daughter-in-law Mary celebrating the coming birth of my 12th grandchild. He will make the score an even 6 boys to 6 girls! It was a very nice intimate shower held at the Olive Garden, and all 12 of us ladies enjoyed our time together. After we finished eating I overheard my daughter-in-law’s sister and mother discussing who would speak first. I really didn’t know what they were talking about and then when they looked at me I realized that they were expecting both moms to give a few words of encouragement and wisdom to Mary. When they noticed my dumbfounded look Elizabeth (Mary’s sister) said, “Didn’t you get my email?” Now, here is the funny part. Earlier in the week Elaine (my daughter-in-law’s mother) told me that she wanted to ask me something and that she would be sending me an email, and I suspected that she might ask me to give a devotion, but when I received a mess...

On New Year’s Eve we spent the evening with the family at my daughter’s house, but we actually slept at my in-law’s home. Our son Jon and his family stayed there with us as well. They of course had their children with them – Corban, 4 (on December 26) and Marissa 2. When we left my daughter’s house the kids were sleeping and slept the whole ride home and did not even wake up when we got to the house. Jon and Rachel put the kids to bed in the guest room that was set up for them. A couple hours later in the dark of the night we heard Corban calling out to his dad (a few times), “Daddy, Daddy, where are you? I’m here in the room.” The kids had never spent the night there and so were not familiar with their surroundings – I was so pleased that he did not cry because it told me that he was secure - he knew that his dad was within the sound of his voice. I am sure he must have been at least a little afraid; it was dark, he didn’t know where he was, and he couldn’t see where his parent...