No More Night

"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God...And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever"

(Revelation 21:10; 22:5).

As I seek to live now in the realization of this future glory, I am inspired to sing with the hymnwriter Frances Havergal,

"Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise."

Snippets from Proverbs 3

"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

"Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."

"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding . . . Her [Wisdom's] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

"Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous."

Bernhardt Family Happenings

I shall begin by giving reasons for my blogospherial silence over the last several weeks.

1. A violin recital extracted much practice and preparation from various Bernhardts.

2. Our family hi-tailed it out of Illinois for a week.

3. Plans and auditions have been under way for this "very exciting" development.

4. A violin-piano concert in early June is being prepared for.

I shall now expound and explanify on Reason #2.

Last fall, we received the happy news that our cousin was engaged to be married! He and his fiancee had planned their wedding for Memorial Day weekend 2009. To make a long story shorter, when the Georgia Bernhardts visited the Illinois Bernhardts a few years ago, Stephanie "fell in love" with Josiah and Joy, and later requested them to be ringbearer and flowergirl in their wedding. So, Memorial Day weekend found us celebrating, visiting, talking, laughing, playing games, eating a lot, and just enjoying being together with Dad's entire immediate family. There were 15 people staying in the same house, all with the last name Bernhardt! As you can imagine, that only happens once in a blue moon! We had a wonderful time on the road and with family, and simply relaxing and enjoying a vacation.

The happy couple at the rehearsal dinner.

Our other cousin and his fiancee.

Joy did very well at the wedding, and succeeded in charming the entire wedding party!

Together.

The night before we left, we enjoyed some singing with Brian on the guitar.

On the way home, we swung by the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky. What a spectacular presentation of the gospel! The pictures we took inside didn't turn out very well, so you'll just have to visit the museum to see what it looks like. :)

The grounds are absolutely beautiful.

This picture reminded me of a verse of Scripture:

"But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." Amos 5:24