Today I was confronted once again with the brevity of life here on earth as I sat next to a dear friend who was reeling from the news that he lost both his parents in one day. I do not think it a coincidence that earlier in this week I was sent a link to a video clip of a young wife and mother of two who, though diagnosed with terminal cancer and just a few short weeks to live, chose to speak to a group of women about her priorities.
To say Rachel Barkey's message is touching does not begin to communicate the impact I am CERTAIN it will make upon your life. In fact I know for a fact that I will watch it again (and again). While "Death is Not Dying" will take an hour out of your day, I believe it will be the best hour you will spend.
Click here to view Rachel's message.
I'd love to hear your thoughts after viewing the video...please post them in the "comment" section of the blog...
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Write Away
I started writing in my Bible over a decade ago when speaker/author Becky Tirabassi encouraged me to take time on a daily basis to underline the verses in God's Word (The Bible) that "pop out at me." Since then I have not only highlighted verses I have marked significant dates in the margins, I have also written down short prayers on those sacred pages, and signed names of family and friends next to verses that I was claiming on their behalf.
I've seen numerous benefits come from this act of writing in the Bible and I'm going to briefly highlight three of those today...
1. A Reminder of What God Has Done
In 1 Chronicles 16:12 it reads "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones."
I don't know about you but I am pretty darn forgetful, even of the amazing wonders God has done in my life...miracles that I prayed for that He answered. Noting the ways that God has answered a prayer by writing the date and the answer to prayer next to a corresponding verse is an excellent way to "remember." Just think, every time you open the Bible and read that particular page you can offer up yet another prayer of praise and thanksgiving for that answer to prayer and as you do so you will be reminded that the God you serve is FAITHFUL and certainly hears the concerns of you heart each day.
If I turn to Psalm 126 I see written in red ink "Scott and Gabi's verse, she got this verse from God at the beginning of the summer before the transplant. She told Scott 'this is our theme for our summer, and when we look back on this time this is what we'll say'." These words refer to my friend Scott who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis for almost forty years before being completely cured by a double lung transplant. A miracle? Indeed.
2. An Opportunity for God to Speak Again
Writing in your Bible offers you the opportunity for God to speak to you again and again. Sometimes when I'm at church and the Pastor is preaching I'll write what I feel the Spirit is speaking to my heart that day right next to the passage. When I open the Bible at another time and see those words, not only am I reminded of what He spoke to me that day, it offers Him an opportunity to speak again, either expanding on that same theme or showing me how he's changed me or the circumstances since the initial inscription.
As I mentioned in the introduction, I often write down significant dates in my Bible next to corresponding passages. This simple exercise had an amazing impact on me this very week. I received an email reminding me that it was the anniversary of a dear friends passing and inviting me to join a group of friends to go to her graveside. Unfortunately, by the time I read the email my friends were already en route to the cemetery and I was still in my pajamas. I sat down and began journaling and praying about my sweet friend and all that had happened since she died. As I opened my Bible I "happened" to turn to Psalm 62 and saw that I had written my friends name at the top of that page along with the date and time that she died. I had also underlined and circled the following verses next to her name "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
3. A Legacy for the Next Generation
Writing your thoughts, prayers and significant dates in your Bible is a gift, a legacy for generations to come. Take a minute to think about something with me...imagine you have passed on and are now living eternally with Jesus. You are no longer with your loved ones here on earth but your Bible remains. Imagine how your children, grand-children, nieces, nephews, friends will feel as they gaze upon their names in your Bible. As they read about all the ways God faithfully answered your prayers. As they see date after date of that which was significant to you. Imagine how the simple act of taking pen to THE page has the potential to bolster the faith of the next generation!
WRITE AWAY Ladies, WRITE AWAY!
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
P.S. Winner of "Face of Faith" book giveaway is Andrea...Yay!!!
I've seen numerous benefits come from this act of writing in the Bible and I'm going to briefly highlight three of those today...
1. A Reminder of What God Has Done
In 1 Chronicles 16:12 it reads "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones."
I don't know about you but I am pretty darn forgetful, even of the amazing wonders God has done in my life...miracles that I prayed for that He answered. Noting the ways that God has answered a prayer by writing the date and the answer to prayer next to a corresponding verse is an excellent way to "remember." Just think, every time you open the Bible and read that particular page you can offer up yet another prayer of praise and thanksgiving for that answer to prayer and as you do so you will be reminded that the God you serve is FAITHFUL and certainly hears the concerns of you heart each day.
If I turn to Psalm 126 I see written in red ink "Scott and Gabi's verse, she got this verse from God at the beginning of the summer before the transplant. She told Scott 'this is our theme for our summer, and when we look back on this time this is what we'll say'." These words refer to my friend Scott who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis for almost forty years before being completely cured by a double lung transplant. A miracle? Indeed.
2. An Opportunity for God to Speak Again
Writing in your Bible offers you the opportunity for God to speak to you again and again. Sometimes when I'm at church and the Pastor is preaching I'll write what I feel the Spirit is speaking to my heart that day right next to the passage. When I open the Bible at another time and see those words, not only am I reminded of what He spoke to me that day, it offers Him an opportunity to speak again, either expanding on that same theme or showing me how he's changed me or the circumstances since the initial inscription.
As I mentioned in the introduction, I often write down significant dates in my Bible next to corresponding passages. This simple exercise had an amazing impact on me this very week. I received an email reminding me that it was the anniversary of a dear friends passing and inviting me to join a group of friends to go to her graveside. Unfortunately, by the time I read the email my friends were already en route to the cemetery and I was still in my pajamas. I sat down and began journaling and praying about my sweet friend and all that had happened since she died. As I opened my Bible I "happened" to turn to Psalm 62 and saw that I had written my friends name at the top of that page along with the date and time that she died. I had also underlined and circled the following verses next to her name "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
3. A Legacy for the Next Generation
Writing your thoughts, prayers and significant dates in your Bible is a gift, a legacy for generations to come. Take a minute to think about something with me...imagine you have passed on and are now living eternally with Jesus. You are no longer with your loved ones here on earth but your Bible remains. Imagine how your children, grand-children, nieces, nephews, friends will feel as they gaze upon their names in your Bible. As they read about all the ways God faithfully answered your prayers. As they see date after date of that which was significant to you. Imagine how the simple act of taking pen to THE page has the potential to bolster the faith of the next generation!
WRITE AWAY Ladies, WRITE AWAY!
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
P.S. Winner of "Face of Faith" book giveaway is Andrea...Yay!!!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Face of Faith Book Giveaway!
Hello Readers!
Today I am pleased to introduce you to Candi Wood Lindley, a woman with an amazing faith story. I pray you are inspired by her interview. If you'd like a chance to win a copy of her book please "comment" via the blog and leave me your email address and I will post the winner next week. Have a "Magnificent" week!
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
Candy, you have written Face of Faith. What is it about?
When I was thirty years old, I was hospitalized for the removal of a pea-sized cyst in the nasal cavity. Instead, I was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant tumor the size of a baseball situated underneath the brain in the center of the head in an inoperable area of the head. Grade-three bone cancer is not receptive to chemotherapy or radiation. They told me that I could lose the right side of my face.
I had always thought that I was a Christian, but I had never really surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the hospital room that night I was finally at the end of Candy - emotionally, mentally, and physically. I ask God to totally take over my life.
My circumstances didn’t change, but God began to change my heart to one seeking His will only for my life whatever that might be.
Two weeks later I met with a craniofacial surgeon at the Mayo Clinic. He was very upfront about my surgery and my prognosis. No sugar coating.
He explained that he would cut across the top of the head and down the middle of the face enabling him to peel back both sides of the face and remove the greater portion of my face including the forehead bone, the right cheekbone, and the nose. He could hopefully remove the bulk of the tumor, buying me some time. He would not replace the bones to the face. I would wake up severely deformed and blind in the right eye, probably the left.
Miraculously, he instead attempted to remove the tumor in its entirety, and it worked. Even more miraculously, he took the bones to the face that had been thrown in the trash and reconstructed my face. I had a new face. And was cancer free.
What goes through someone’s mind when they are told they have an inoperable tumor in the center of the head and could lose the right side of their face? You were thirty years old. That’s pretty overwhelming.
For me, the will to live took over. That stubborn will to fight no matter what the odds.
There were complications after that first surgery. What did that involve?
Seven months after the first surgery, infection spread throughout the forehead bone and forehead skin. I was put in isolation. Five weeks later and four more surgeries, I returned home weighing 79 pounds with a shaved head, sunken in forehead, and two skin graphs on the front and back of the head.
Two years later on a routine check up trip to the Mayo Clinic, the tumor recurred. Same place. This time the size of a raspberry. So they did the whole first surgery again
During those three years of nine surgeries and frequent trips to the Mayo Clinic, did you ever ask God “Why me?” Were you ever angry with God?
I never asked God “Why me?” I did ask what was going on? I didn’t understand. I asked why He was allowing so much in my life, but not so much why it was happening to ME. Yes, I was angry with God often. Thankfully someone informed me that God could handle my anger.
How do you address the importance that society has put on beauty?
There is nothing wrong with wanting to look the best that you can look. I personally have always enjoyed experimenting with makeup and getting professional makeovers, especially now that I am facially disfigured. I want to make the most of what I have. But at the end of the day for me, the make up comes off and the hairpieces come off. If my confidence depended on beauty, I could be devastated. And many facially disfigured people are.
In a world obsessed with perfection of the outer appearance and makeovers of every kind, God is more interested in a different kind of makeover – one that lasts – a makeover of the heart.
That’s what happened with me. He began a makeover of my heart. And He’s still working on me!!
How did your husband handle the stress of your illness and the new Candy?
Unfortunately ours was not a happy marriage before I was ever sick. It was an emotionally abusive household. After twenty-four years of marriage, Lee filed for divorce.
Candy, you have experienced emotional pain and physical pain. Which is more difficult?
Physical pain is difficult– especially chronic pain. It is wearing and can affect a person emotionally as well. But there are medications for pain.
But the emotional pain of abuse is sometimes more difficult, I think. You can’t take a pill for it. It requires a lot of time and counseling. Only the Lord can heal the broken heart and enable us to forgive.
Where can we find out more about you and this book?
Please visit my web site at faceoffaithbook.com. Thank you
Today I am pleased to introduce you to Candi Wood Lindley, a woman with an amazing faith story. I pray you are inspired by her interview. If you'd like a chance to win a copy of her book please "comment" via the blog and leave me your email address and I will post the winner next week. Have a "Magnificent" week!
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
Candy, you have written Face of Faith. What is it about?
When I was thirty years old, I was hospitalized for the removal of a pea-sized cyst in the nasal cavity. Instead, I was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant tumor the size of a baseball situated underneath the brain in the center of the head in an inoperable area of the head. Grade-three bone cancer is not receptive to chemotherapy or radiation. They told me that I could lose the right side of my face.
I had always thought that I was a Christian, but I had never really surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the hospital room that night I was finally at the end of Candy - emotionally, mentally, and physically. I ask God to totally take over my life.
My circumstances didn’t change, but God began to change my heart to one seeking His will only for my life whatever that might be.
Two weeks later I met with a craniofacial surgeon at the Mayo Clinic. He was very upfront about my surgery and my prognosis. No sugar coating.
He explained that he would cut across the top of the head and down the middle of the face enabling him to peel back both sides of the face and remove the greater portion of my face including the forehead bone, the right cheekbone, and the nose. He could hopefully remove the bulk of the tumor, buying me some time. He would not replace the bones to the face. I would wake up severely deformed and blind in the right eye, probably the left.
Miraculously, he instead attempted to remove the tumor in its entirety, and it worked. Even more miraculously, he took the bones to the face that had been thrown in the trash and reconstructed my face. I had a new face. And was cancer free.
What goes through someone’s mind when they are told they have an inoperable tumor in the center of the head and could lose the right side of their face? You were thirty years old. That’s pretty overwhelming.
For me, the will to live took over. That stubborn will to fight no matter what the odds.
There were complications after that first surgery. What did that involve?
Seven months after the first surgery, infection spread throughout the forehead bone and forehead skin. I was put in isolation. Five weeks later and four more surgeries, I returned home weighing 79 pounds with a shaved head, sunken in forehead, and two skin graphs on the front and back of the head.
Two years later on a routine check up trip to the Mayo Clinic, the tumor recurred. Same place. This time the size of a raspberry. So they did the whole first surgery again
During those three years of nine surgeries and frequent trips to the Mayo Clinic, did you ever ask God “Why me?” Were you ever angry with God?
I never asked God “Why me?” I did ask what was going on? I didn’t understand. I asked why He was allowing so much in my life, but not so much why it was happening to ME. Yes, I was angry with God often. Thankfully someone informed me that God could handle my anger.
How do you address the importance that society has put on beauty?
There is nothing wrong with wanting to look the best that you can look. I personally have always enjoyed experimenting with makeup and getting professional makeovers, especially now that I am facially disfigured. I want to make the most of what I have. But at the end of the day for me, the make up comes off and the hairpieces come off. If my confidence depended on beauty, I could be devastated. And many facially disfigured people are.
In a world obsessed with perfection of the outer appearance and makeovers of every kind, God is more interested in a different kind of makeover – one that lasts – a makeover of the heart.
That’s what happened with me. He began a makeover of my heart. And He’s still working on me!!
How did your husband handle the stress of your illness and the new Candy?
Unfortunately ours was not a happy marriage before I was ever sick. It was an emotionally abusive household. After twenty-four years of marriage, Lee filed for divorce.
Candy, you have experienced emotional pain and physical pain. Which is more difficult?
Physical pain is difficult– especially chronic pain. It is wearing and can affect a person emotionally as well. But there are medications for pain.
But the emotional pain of abuse is sometimes more difficult, I think. You can’t take a pill for it. It requires a lot of time and counseling. Only the Lord can heal the broken heart and enable us to forgive.
Where can we find out more about you and this book?
Please visit my web site at faceoffaithbook.com. Thank you
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Happy Mother's Day
Mothers,
You are doing something of GREAT worth
You are preparing the next generation
Your kisses, hugs, and words of encouragement
Your discipline, instruction and listening ear
Your cleaning, cooking and shopping
Your stories, songs and reminiscings
Your provision, protection and perseverance
Your laughter, tears and prayers
Are pouring into your children which they in turn will pour into their children.
Mothers,
You are doing something of GREAT worth every single morning that you wake up and MOTHER.
THANK YOU and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY from your friend,
Tracy Klehn
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Ways to Pray for the U.S.A. this Thursday (National Day of Prayer)
One night at dinner (my son was five and my daughter was almost four) my husband asked our kids if they knew who the President of the United States was. My son immediately shouted out with confidence "GEORGE WASHINGTON!" My daughter smiled and said "New York!"
I'm sure if he asked you the same question you would get the answer right but what if he asked you if you knew when the National Day of Prayer was? Don't worry if you don't know, I'm not only going to let you know it is always the first Thursday in May (which happens to be in just a couple of days) but I'm also going to give you a few "ways to pray for the U.S.A." on that day. These are taken right out of my book "Prayer Starters for Busy Moms" in the chapter that contains over thirty different prayer starters for our Country. I hope you find one or two ideas that work well for you and/or your family. I always find it exciting to think that so many are calling on the Name of the Lord on the same day!
"Flag a Prayer"
Ask your children to be on the lookout for the "stars and stripes." When they point out an American flag, agree in prayer for our troops. Pray that the soldiers would be protected, that their eyes would be open to danger, and that they would seek the Lord during this time of combat.
"Pledge Allegiance"
As you stand and recite these familiar words, pray that your nation would always be "one nation under God." Teach your children to pray for a spirit of unity to grow among the citizens of this country and for many to become worshipers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
"Committed"
Pray for revival in the heart of this nation. Pray that your children would be a part of bringing that revival to pass. Pray that your children would have hearts that are committed to the Lord, committed to prayer, and committed to our nation.
God Bless You and May God Bless America,
Tracy Klehn
P.S. CONGRATS to Iris who is the winner of the Book Give Away ("The Secret Holocaust Diaries"). Way to go Iris!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My Plan was the Walk, God's Plan was the Watermelon
I'm currently enrolled in my first college photography class (with 4 other mom friends of mine and a bunch of college kids!) and our assignment for this week was to take a "Series" of pictures. I pondered all the different ways I could go about accomplishing this broad assignment before settling on a church event that was to happen over the weekend. The church our family attends just had their last service at their rented, strip mall facility and was scheduled to walk, as a congregation, the four miles from the old facility to the new.
It was a bright, sunny Sunday and I was sure that I could get some neat shots. I was right. I captured the picture of the painting in the window of the old facility that reads "WE'RE MOVING!" and shows a truck towing a church. I got pictures of the stream of young and old leaving the parking lot and heading down the sidewalk in brightly colored patches of joy. I got shots of a little boy on his dad's shoulders, a shot of a pony-tailed girl with her arm wrapped around the neck of her Labra-doodle, a shot of friends arm in arm on their way to their new church home. I really did, as I had planned, get some good options for my assignment.
Hours and hundreds of pictures later, as we stood in front of the new church having finished our walk, toured the new facility, and reveled in all the Lord was accomplishing I decided it was time to put my camera away. As I turned to get my camera bag a snip of red hair caught my attention...
Today I marvel once again at the fact that God's plans are always so much better than my own plans. My plan had been to get a series of pictures of a momentous day in the life of our church, a series of pictures of our own "Grand Exodus" and subsequent entry to "the Promised Land" and indeed, for the most part my plan worked out (this time) but God's plan was for me to capture an even better series of pictures which included one of His littlest children "bearing fruit."
When God captivated me with "Claire" He also reminded me how brightly He can radiate in the youngest of children and how wonder often comes in small packages and how the best "fruits of our labor" come not only in buildings and accomplishments but in lives that are nurtured.
Oh mommies, I pray for you and I that the Lord would open our spirit eyes that we would not miss "the watermelons of life." That God would alert us to those moments when His irresistible beauty shows up in unexpected places. That God would help us remember that He greatly values our role as mothers and that His light shines most brightly in the lives of the little ones...and that we will always be His little ones!
"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5
"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Blessings,
Tracy Klehn
Monday, April 20, 2009
"The Secret Holocaust Diaries" Book Giveaway
Here is a soon to be classic. If you would like to have the opportunity to win a copy of this book please just "comment" and leave me your email address.
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings to you,
Tracy Klehn
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings to you,
Tracy Klehn
Introduction
Nonna Bannister appeared to be a typical American housewife. She married Henry, the love of her life, in 1951 and together they raised three children in
Tyndale House Publishers announces the publication of The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister, the haunting eyewitness account of Nonna Lisowskaja Bannister, a remarkable Russian girl who saw and survived unspeakable evils during World War II. written by Nonna Bannister with Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin (April 2009, Tyndale House)
1. The Secret Holocaust Diaries is written by Nonna although she passed away in 2004. Did she write the book before she died?
Yes, she slipped up into the attic each night, translated her diaries (from several different languages), and recorded them in English onto yellow legal pads. Much later, after she told her husband, Henry, about her incredible past, she showed him the stacks of yellow legal pads on which she had translated her diaries and recorded her thoughts about her past, and he typed them up into a manuscript.
2. Would Nonna have liked to see her book published before she died?
Nonna translated her diary into English and her husband, Henry, typed the manuscript. However, she requested the diary not be published until at least 2 or 3 years after she died. Henry honored this request. (She died in 2004.) The story was very painful and reminded her of the suffering her family endured. When she came to
3. Nonna came from a privileged family. Are there any interesting stories of people her ancestors knew?
Nonna's family "ran with" the upper crust in the
Nonna writes in her diary of living on the ”
The family also visited often the boy Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (nicknamed "Sasha") and his mother, Taissia. She and Nonna’s mother, Anna, were good friends. They enjoyed giving concerts and playing the violin and piano. Nonna writes of eating ice cream with her mother and Taissia, and spending the night in the Solzhenitsyn home during a thunderstorm. Alexander was older that Nonna, studying at the university.
4. Many people assume most of the people killed by the Nazis were Jewish. Was Nonna’s family Jewish?
Although it is estimated that approximately 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, other nationalities experienced suffering and death, also. Nonna's family was Russian and owned seven grain mills and homes in southern
5. Nonna saved many documents from her time at Nazi camps; what are these artifacts?
In a small ticking pillow she kept tied around her waist, she kept many one inch square photos of her family and friends in the
Later she kept all these in a small trunk, which she painted bright green.
6. When Nonna finally revealed her secret, was her family shocked?
Henry knew there was something about her past that she didn’t want to talk about. Being a patient man, he never pressed her to speak about this secret. As they grew older, he asked her to write down some things about her family—so their children would know their heritage. After months of secretly translating her diary (written in several different languages) she took him to the attic, open the little green trunk and showed him her family’s photos and the yellow legal pages of the translated diary. Henry was astonished at what he saw.
7. Why did Nonna keep her devastating secret for so many years?
Nonna kept her secret past from her family/friends because she had, at last, found such happiness with her husband, Henry, and her three children. She didn't want to express her past pain--she didn’t want it to interrupt the family's happiness and cast a shadow of despair over them.
8. The diaries themselves were written in several languages and some were on scraps of paper. How did she go about transcribing them?
Nonna learned English after she came to
The miniature black/white photos, the diaries, the notes from the prison camp, her mother’s letters from the concentration camps, and other documents were organized and put into chapters for a book—one she hoped would be published after her death.
9. What can people of Christian faith or Jewish faith/descent take from The Secret Holocaust Diaries?
That grave injustice exists--Nonna learned that from the Red Army (who killed many of her family members) and Hitler's army (who also killed many of her family members and imprisoned her in a labor camp). But that God's love and forgiveness for those who hurt us are stronger than even Hitler's evil and injustice. Nonna came out of the whole experience with her heart still filled with love. She experienced none of the bitterness and hatred that some Jewish Holocaust survivors have held onto. She was able to marry, raise children, and bring them much joy and happiness through her own love and through introducing them to God's love.
10. Why did Nonna feel it was so important to share her story?
The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister is a true story of a young Russian girl whose family was caught up in the Russian Revolution and in World War II. In spite of the injustice inflicted on her family and millions of others, it is a story of love and forgiveness. Nonna wanted others to know the horrors that occurred during the Hitler and Stalin era so that it might never happen again.
Nonna felt compelled to tell her story because she was an eyewitness to many dramatic events, and she was the only survivor of her entire family.
Conclusion
Late in life, Nonna unlocked her trunk filled with memories from World War II first for her husband, and now for the rest of the world. Nonna’s story is one of suffering, torture, and death—but also of incredible acts of kindness that show the ultimate triumph of faith and love over despair and evil. The Secret Holocaust Diaries is in part a tragedy, yet ultimately it’s an unforgettable true story about forgiveness, courage, and hope.
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