Le Temps Apres Finis

 

3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:3-9

I wanted to share something with you that I hope you enjoy.  At our little church, we had special music last Sunday in which 3 members sang a song in Cajun French.  In our little dot on the map, many people's parents spoke French (mainly so the kids wouldn't know what they were saying!) and many people's grandparents spoke French as their first language.  It is part of our heritage that is slowly dying out.  We still often hear Cajun French words incorporated into everyday language and many know the vocabulary, but few passed this along to their kids.  They were heavily discouraged in school against speaking French.

We had a treat last Sunday morning when a trio at our church sang "Le Temps Apres Finis" as special music.  The song title means The Times are finishing or The time is nearly done.  Click on the two-minute You Tube video below to hear it:  (I have the words translated into English below the video.)

 Chorus:    The time, the time, the time is nearly done (3x)

Verse 1:    I read in my Bible the time is nearly done (3x)

Verse 2:    We must watch and pray as Jesus recommends (3x)

Verse 3:    Why not come to God, before it is too late (3x)

My Father's World

It is nice to go outside at sunset and just enjoy the colors in the stillness of the evening.  The day is done.  The chores are done.  It's time to slow down and just enjoy.  God is certainly an artist.  He created and designed it all and he just wants to share it with us.  We just have to take time out and watch.  Sadly, we often are moving too fast to enjoy Our Father's World.

"This is My Father's World" is a hymn written by Maltbie Babcock in 1901.  Mr. Babcock was a Presbyterian minister in New York, and he died when he was only 42 years old.  As I think about sunsets and enjoying God's Creation, it reminds me of Maltbie Babcock as he definitely took the time to observe His Father's World.  I read IN THIS ARTICLE the following:

"Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck noted Babcock’s practice of “taking morning walks to the top of a hill north of town where he had a full view of Lake Ontario and the surrounding country.” It was said that he had a frequent expression before leaving for these walks, “I’m going out to see my Father’s world.”  

Here are the lyrics to this beautiful, old hymn:

This is my Father's world, 
 and to my listening ears 
 all nature sings, and round me rings 
 the music of the spheres.  
This is my Father's world:  
 I rest me in the thought 
 of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; 
 his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, 
 the birds their carols raise, 
 the morning light, the lily white, 
 declare their maker's praise.  
This is my Father's world:  
 he shines in all that's fair; 
 in the rustling grass I hear him pass; 
 he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world.  
 O let me ne'er forget 
 that though the wrong seems oft so strong, 
 God is the ruler yet.  
This is my Father's world:  
 why should my heart be sad?  
 The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!  
 God reigns; let the earth be glad!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.  Praise Ye the LORD.  Psalm 150:6

In The Garden

I don't know where I got it in my head that growing roses was difficult.  Maybe it's because there are Rose Societies and other Rose organizations and that's given me the mistaken impression that rose growing is only for the erudite.  Erudite, I am not!  Anyway, a couple of years ago, we purchased 3 rose bushes - a yellow one, a pink one, and a white one.  We planted them in the flower bed in the back yard in direct sunlight and do essentially nothing to them other than fertilize them and prune them once a year.  They respond by giving us loads of beautiful flowers that we cut from time to time and place in a vase to brighten the window sill in the kitchen or the table.

The First Yellow Rose of 2015

It was a Saturday morning and Tricia and Benjamin were in Houston visiting Tricia's mom.  I woke up a little later than usual and walked around outside alone. There was a heavy dew on the ground and as I walked through the backyard in fashionable style (crocs with socks), the dew soaked my feet. But then something caught my eye.  Little droplets of dew dotted the leaves of the roses, put there by the hand of God.

...While the dew was still on the roses...

It reminded me of the old hymn we sing in church written by Charles Miles in 1913.

I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses,

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

There is beauty to behold right outside your back door when you take the time to observe.

Too many times I don't.

And as the song says, if you take time to listen, He'll speak to you.  He'll walk with you and He'll talk with you and He'll tell you, you are His own...