Greater Love Hath No Man Than This

I am fiercely patriotic. I love America. I have stars snd stripes on the walls of my kitchen hanging near to a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Up until we moved to Alabama, an American flag flew every day at my home in Wisconsin (I just haven't found a place for it yet). I love red, white and blue. I love that our country has "under God" in its pledge. I admire our Constitution. And recently I painted a bird house with the words "God bless America" on it. "America is the home of the free, because of the brave," I once read on a bumper sticker. I couldn't agree more. We are a blessed nation with servicemen and women who put their lives in harm's way for the sake of our country. And I am grateful to them.

My grandfather, John Lauritzen, was one of those men. In 1945, he served in World War II, leaving behind a wife and four children ages 15, 5, 4 and 2. My Dad was the 5 year old. On Feb. 2, 1945, Grandpa wrote this letter/poem to my grandmother, Elizabeth:

My Dearest Mommy:
(never knew your Daddy as a poet, did you?)

I know I cannot write a poem
About a lovely place like home;
A home where my wife and children pray
Their Daddy soon comes back to stay.

I do know I will always feel
A love so deep, so strong and real;
That all this suffering I now see,
Will not in future bother me.

I want my mind and my heart, too,
To be reserved for all of you
To start where our lives stopped before
God, please, end all this darned old war!

How's that?

Love from your Daddy.

Two days before my grandmother received this letter, a telegram from the United States government was delivered to her informing her that my grandfather was killed in action Feb. 16, 1945. My Dad says he remembers Grandma sitting on her bed holding the telegram in her hand and sobbing. He says he knew, before she said anything, that his Daddy was never coming home again.

Grandma couldn't afford to have Grandpa's body shipped back home. Instead she was sent his belongings and what they found on his body ... which included two pictures: one of my grandmother and the other of his three preschool children. John Lauritzen was buried alongside 7,992 other American fallen in Germany at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetary in Belgium. Just recently, my Dad made a trip there to see his father's gravestone cross. It's just one in a sea of white crosses arched across the grassy field. Dad said it gave him finally the chance to say good-bye to his father ... more than six decades later.

My grandfather fought, bled and died for America. Jesus, when refering to a sacrifice He was about to pay for all our sakes, said in John 15:13: "Greater love has no man that this, that he lay down his life for his friends." I am so proud of the grandfather I've never met. And I look forward to the day when I can thank him in person for his sacrifice. When I asked my grandmother about him once, she said, "He was the love of my life."

This Memorial Weekend, I am remembering with honor Americans who died serving this country ... like John H. Lauritzen, one of the brave.

Hardiness Growing Zones

It's raining as I type this. God is watering is beautiful creation and, thankfully, my garden, flower beds and lawn. That's something I have had to do myself a lot lately since it hasn't rained much prior to this for about a month. Typically I water about every two or three days, and if I miss one watering, my Black-Eyed Susans are the first to complain, shriveling and drooping.

But one thing I have never watered, not once, in my yard, are my crepe (crape) myrtle trees. It's because they grow like weeds here in Alabama. They are everywhere and nearly every one of my neighbors has one color of crepe myrtles in their yard - white, fushia, red, light purple or pink. They are just gorgeous and start blooming right about now. The interesting thing about crepe myrtles is you can prune them to the trunk and they will spout new branches, flowers and all, each summer to just the height you want. Some have gigantic crepe myrtles in their yards, and others have several all pruned to a shorter height to keep their blossoms at eye level. Little more than a month ago, you'd find these pruned crepe myrtles everywhere and they looked so strange, with stumpy trunks all over town like someone had tried to kill them by removing all their branches. But then they sprout leafy branches and not long after those gorgeous blossoms hanging like grape clusters all over.

The crepe myrtle was made for this climate ... as are the azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias, gardenias, mimosas and roses. They thrive here, and beautifully. All these gorgeous blooms to bring a smile to my face, yet one of my most favorite flowering bushes can't grow here. It's the lilac. It's just too warm for it here. I miss seeing the hundreds of lilac bushes all over our former state residence of Wisconin. And I miss their amazing fragrance.

The crepe myrtle was designed for this growing zone, just like the lilac is for climates further north. Neither survive in the other's climate.

This got me thinking about Christ's church and how Paul compares its members to various parts of the body, each designed to do something different. He talks about it in 1 Corinthians 12. "God arranged the members in the body, each of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?" Paul asks in verses 18 and 19. An eye can't do an ear's job and an arm can't do the job of the brain and so on. He's expanding on his discussion of spiritual gifts and how God has created each person with specific gifts to do certain jobs for building up His Kingdom. Some have the gift of hospitality, service, leading, teaching, preaching, etc. Not everyone can do every gift.

Christian women's Bible study creator Beth Moore has laughing recalled how when she was first called by God to a ministry, she thought she was to be a singer. She is an outstanding Bible Study writer, and I have been blessed by her more than a dozen thorough studies. I know I am further along in my spiritual life because of her Bible studies, there's no doubt. How much I would have missed if she would have become a singer! Her success would have probably been the same as my tropical palm tree that didn't survive our 17-degree temperatures this winter.

Then I think of the late Rich Mullins whose gift it certainly was to write and sing Christian music. You are probably aware of his classic song "Awesome God." It was his song "Calling Out Your Name" that brought me deep into the fold of Christian music ... eventually leading me years later to a new ministry as a midday host of a Christian music station.

Praise God for our different spiritual gifts! Praise God for how we use those gifts to bring God's children into a deeper relationship with Him!

What are your talents? How can you use those gifts to glorify our Father and encourage His precious children? If we develop those areas, those ministries will grow and flourish ... like crepe myrtles in Alabama or lilacs in Wisconsin, just as God arranged.