This post is by our Dear Fiend Lynn Stoneking of Delft, Minnesota. Lynn took part in the Windom Revival in November, what an awesome singer for God! Thank you Lynn for allowing us to share your post with the world! Happy New Year to you all at Maranatha Ministries! We love you all!
What’s on my mind?
AN ORANGE.
It seems to be a theme through out my Christmas celebration this week.
Last week, the children and I made treat bags for their teachers at school. In the bottom we placed a Cutie orange. Evelyn’s kindergarten teacher looked the bag over, saw the orange, and gasped.
“My mother used to wake up as a little girl to an orange on her breakfast plate, every Christmas! It was such a treat for her!”
Christmas Day, I kicked back in my recliner here at home, as the rest of my family napped. I flipped on the TV and landed on a movie – dated around the early 1900s – about children who lived in an orphanage in the U.S.
Their Christmas treat?
An Orange. A ribbon strung through it, hung on the Christmas tree.
They savored ev-er-y bite.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about that Orange, about how special it used to be. I find myself feeling guilty because my children eat oranges every morning! They are in plenty around our home….
And then I talked to my 92 yr old Grandma Muriel today on the phone. I told her about this ‘orange’ thing and asked her what she remembers.
She shared how fruit was so scarce in the winter or too expensive in the store, when they were children. She remembers getting an orange at Christmas time at her school. And her older sister worked in Mankato for a husband & wife, who would go to TX for their winters. The couple would send my grandmother’s family a fruit basket for Christmas; grandma said it was soooo good, and they would try to make that fruit last as long as they could!
This week, I have been reminded and convicted of the things I take for granted – because they come so easy. May I always be grateful – for the ‘oranges’ I eat daily, and the other ‘oranges’ in my life that I do not deserve, but am blessed to receive.
May I savor the ‘flavor’ of each moment, and thank God for each sweet blessing…even the sometimes sour moments – as those will be the ones to define my character, strength, and courage.
Thank you Lynn!
Please now read this story about Lynn’s Dad, Gene and his awesome testimony! Gene Duerksen Story