Tanna’s Tidbits

I was doing a study today on the history behind this beloved hymn and was amazed at what I found. This song was penned by a man named Horatio Spafford, a Chicago lawyer in the late 1800’s. Spafford suffered a horrible personal loss…

In 1870, Spafford’s only son was killed at the age of four by scarlet fever. To escape the pain of this tragedy, Horatio decided to take his wife, Anna, and their four daughters on a trip to England for the holidays via ship. At the last minute Spafford had to stay back due to a business problem, but promised to meet up with the family soon. While the family made their way, their ship collided with another killing 226 people aboard, including all four of the Spafford daughters. Anna’s last memory of the event was her baby being torn from her arms by the raging waters. After hearing the news, Horatio boarded the next ship out of New York to join his wife. The captian called to Spafford informed him that they were passing over the same spot where his family’s ship has sank. Horatio returned to his cabin and penned the song, "It is Well With My Soul."

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

My sin, 0 the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but in whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 0 my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget what true hardship looks like. We turn away from God and refuse to study, pray, or fellowship with other believers because we think we know what suffering is in America. I am not saying that you and I don’t experience suffering, but I am saying that we should look at men and women life the Spaffords who praised our Lord during the lowest points of their life and learn from them! Don’t blame the falls in your life on God, instead turn to Him and His word.

Hello all,

Time for another Garrett family update.

We are spending our days scurrying around trying to stick to our schedule.

Perry is back in school in Dallas, and commuting this semester! He also works three days a week at his pest control buisness and full time at the church. Two weeks ago the elders offered him the head pastor position and last Thursday he accepted. We are very excited and ready to take this next step in our lives.  Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom beyond our years as we feel very young and at times ill equiped.

Madeline is thriving! She is getting so fat, but you really can’t tell because she is so long. Her hair has fallen out and she now looks like a dog with mange! JK. She rolls, spits, laughs, and her latest… screams! Not out of anger, just out of joy. I have gotten to where I can look at her and starts laughing and she will join in, it’s so cute! I just bought her a jenny jump up, so we will see if she likes it. She spends her days laughing at the ceiling fans and smashing down bottles. She is such a joy, such a happy baby. Madeline looks a lot like me, but characterizes Perry a little more with her attitude in general. She is very social and loves being around people, lots of people. Last Sunday we had her in Sunday school and she started grunting, so I lifted up her dress to make sure she had went poop, well she had a little. Perry whispered to me that I might want to change her before she ruined her dress, I agreed. Before I could even move, she gave it one more grand push and poo started bubbling out the back of her diaper onto my lap! Thankfully I was holding a blanket under her. We tried not to laugh out loud but it was just too funny!

I am making it through each day. Although this pregnancy has gone by much quicker and I am not as sick, I am doubly tired. I find myself falling asleep all the time and snorring! I have tried to walk more to boost my energy, but no such luck. Madeline doesn’t help my energy either. But she is worth it! Not much else to mention on my part. Just here at home taking care of hubby and baby and the house. On the plus side, my studying of the Word has picked up a bit. So pray that I would stay diligent in my time with the Lord and that my energy would pick up!

The Invisible Mom
> >  
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack
> of
> > response, the way
> >   one of the kids will walk into the room while
> I’m on
> > the phone and ask to be
> >   taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the 
> > phone?’
> >   Obviously not;  no one can see if I’m on the
> phone,
> > or cooking, or sweeping
> >   the floor, or even standing on my head in the
> corner,
> > because no one can see
> >   me at all.  I’m invisible.   The invisible
> Mom.
> >   Some days I am only a pair
> >   of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you
> tie
> > this? Can you open
> >   this??
> >  
> >  
> >   Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not
> even
> > a human being.  I’m a clock
> >   to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a
> satellite
> > guide to answer, ‘What number is
> >   the Disney Channel?’  I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, 
> > please.’
> >  
> >  
> >   I was certain that these were the hands that once
> held
> > books and the eyes
> >   that studied history and the mind that graduated
> summa
> > cum laude - but now
> >   they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never
> to be
> > seen again. She’s
> >   going, she’s going, she’s gone!?
> >  
> >  
> >   One night, a group of us were having dinner,
> celebrating
> > the return of a
> >   friend from England .  Janice had just gotten back
> from
> > a fabulous trip, and
> >   she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed
> in.
> >  I was sitting there,
> >   looking around at the others all put together so
> well.
> >  It was hard not to
> >   compare and feel sorry for myself.   I was
> feeling
> > pretty pathetic, when
> >   Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
> package,
> > and said, ‘I brought
> >   you this.’   It was a book on the great
> cathedrals
> > of Europe .  I wasn’t
> >   exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I
> read
> > her inscription:
> >   ‘To Charlotte , with admiration for the
> greatness of
> > what you are building
> >   when no one sees.’
> >  
> >  
> >   In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the
> book.
> >  And I would
> >   discover what would become for me, four
> life-changing
> > truths, after which I
> >   could pattern my work:  No one can say who built
> the
> > great cathedrals - we
> >   have no record of their names.  These builders
> gave
> > their whole lives for a
> >   work they would never see finished.  They made
> great
> > sacrifices and expected
> >   no credit.  The passion of their building was
> fueled by
> > their faith that the
> >   eyes of God saw everything.
> >  
> >  
> >   A legendary story in the book told of a rich man
> who
> > came to visit the
> >   cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a
> workman
> > carving a tiny bird
> >   on the inside of a beam.  He was puzzled and asked
> the
> > man, ‘Why are you
> >   spending so much time carving that bird into a beam
> that
> > will be covered by
> >   the roof,  No one will ever see it.   And the
> workman
> > replied,  ’Because God
> >   sees.’
> >  
> >  
> >   I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall
> into
> > place.  It was almost
> >   as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte.  I see 
> > the
> >   sacrifices you make every day, even when no one
> around
> > you does.  No act of
> >   kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn
> on,
> > no cupcake you’ve baked, is
> >   too small for me to notice and smile over.  You
> are
> > building a great
> >   cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it
> will
> > become.
> >  
> >  
> >   At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction.
> >  But it is not a disease
> >   that is erasing my life.  It is the cure for the disease of my own
> >   self-centeredness.  It is the antidote to my
> strong,
> > stubborn pride.
> >  
> >  
> >   I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder.  
> > As one
> >   of the people who show up at a job that they will
> never
> > see finished, to
> >   work on something that their name will never be on.
> >  The writer of the book
> >   went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever
> be
> > built in our lifetime
> >   because there are so few people willing to
> sacrifice to
> > that degree.
> >  
> >  
> >   When I really think about it, I don’t want my
> son to
> > tell the friend he’s
> >   bringing home from college for Thanksgiving,
> ‘My Mom
> > gets up at 4 in the
> >   morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey 
> > for three
> >   hours and presses all the linens for the
> table.’
> >  That would mean I’d built
> >   a shrine or a monument to myself.  I just want him
> to
> > want to come home.
> >   And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 
> > ‘You’re
> >   gonna love it there.’
> >  
> >  
> >   As mothers, we are building great cathedrals.  We cannot be seen 
> > if we’re
> >   doing it right.  And one day, it is very possible
> that
> > the world will
> >   marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has 
> > been
> >   added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
> women.
> >  
> >  
> >   Great Job, MOM!

> >