Nancy Parker Brummett

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Nancy

For the Love of Hearts

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TM Willow Tree

My friend Andrea loves hearts. You may be thinking, “Well, don’t we all?” but you don’t understand. The majority of Andrea’s home motif is heart décor. Heart-shaped placemats and throw rugs, heart candleholders, heart tree ornaments at Christmas, heart wreaths and wall hangings, all abound in the Colorado Rockies home she shares with her husband—who, when he proposed years ago, presented her with a heart-shaped diamond! The girl loves hearts.

My younger sister Mary was born on Valentine’s Day. Each year my mom would bring out her heart-shaped cake pans to make a birthday cake for Mary, usually chocolate with Mom’s memorable, fluffy white Seven-Minute Frosting. If Mary resents having to share her birthday with Valentine’s Day she never says so. She’s very lovable and loving so it just works.

This time of year we see hearts wherever we go. On T-shirts and hoodies, on paper plates and napkins, in the candy aisle at the grocery store and on a lot of the advertising in newspapers and online. We all probably remember folding red construction paper to cut out hearts to paste on a shoebox for collecting valentines, or for making our own valentines out of red hearts and doilies.

But hearts aren’t just for Valentine’s Day. Google informed me that the heart icon is the most popular Emoji by far, which is not surprising given that millions of people use it to express their agreement, affection, maybe even love for, someone’s Facebook or Instagram post. And what if we could collect every type of heart Emoji used in texts since that form of communication emerged? We would need many heart-shaped silos to contain them all.

Where did our love for hearts begin? The earliest designs go back centuries and many were crude representations of the anatomical heart, of which today’s heart icon has only the slightest resemblance. A simplified version appeared on Victorian-era valentines and now the heart symbol signifies love of all kinds—as well as heart-healthy choices on a menu!

So do we love the heart symbol, or the sentiment it represents? Both, for sure. As we see hearts this year we may think of romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, one friend’s love for another, or even our love of pets.

And then there’s the strongest love of all: God’s love for us which is expressed through His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. I Corinthians 13:13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. And so we cherish the love He extends to all human hearts and thank Him for comforting the broken-hearted.

Wishing you and those you love a heartfelt Valentine’s Day this year!

Gentle and Lowly

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Some books land in your lap at just the right time. That’s what happened when I read Gentle and Lowly, The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortlund.[i] My granddaughter recommended the book, but it wasn’t until it was offered by our women’s ministry at church last fall that I signed up to read and discuss it.

You know a book was worth the read when it lingers with you long after you close the cover for the last time. So it was with Gentle and Lowly. Ortlund takes the verse in Matthew 11:29 where Jesus says, “I am gentle and lowly at heart,” and makes it the basis of a whole book drawing the reader closer to the heart of the Savior. He points out that within all four gospel accounts of the life of Jesus this is the only place where Jesus describes the condition of His heart. From those seven words come a wealth of encouragement and love for those who trust in Him.

Of course, the book includes references to many other relevant Scripture verses and also presents quotes from some of the most articulate and insightful writers of the past: men like Thomas Goodwin, John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon. I probably won’t ever get around to reading their collected works, but I’m grateful for the exposure I got to their deep theological understanding in Gentle and Lowly.

As we came in to the Christmas season I realized so many of the words in the old familiar carols had more meaning because of Ortlund’s book. The story of Christmas is the story of a gentle, helpless baby being born in a lowly manger on a mission to save us all.  In “O Little Town of Bethlehem” we sang, “No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” How blessed are those who are meek enough to welcome Him in to their hearts.

The strains of “O Holy Night” brought more passages from the book to mind. “His law is love and His gospel is peace.” Yes, Lord, I want to fall on my knees before You. Your love is never-ending. You long to pour out Your love for us.  And You are forever the desperately needed Prince of Peace.

“First Moment in Heaven,” (c) Christian Photoshops

What will I bring in to the new year from this focus on the heart of Jesus? That He is neither surprised nor repelled by my sin, but that when I sin His heart pours out not condemnation, because that score has been settled, but understanding, compassion, mercy and forgiveness.

And in those times in 2026 when I might feel unworthy, invisible, washed up, and useless, His heart will reveal how He sees me—as a beautiful daughter of the King, a soul with a reservation in heaven, and a friend of His. He won’t let me disparage or discount one of His friends, not for a second.

Then there’s the suffering. We all pray the new year will be void of the kind of pain we’ve endured in the past, but we don’t know. What we can be sure of is that Jesus, because of His sacrifice for us, is acquainted with our pain, relates to our suffering, and will be with us in the middle of it to hold us close to His heart and get us through it.

I realize this is heavier than most of my posts, but just as I need to clean off my desk before I can work productively, I needed to share what was on my heart before writing anything else. Needless to say, I recommend Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. The cover is beautiful! The chapters are short enough to add one or two to your daily devotions, and the truth you learn about the heart of Jesus will stay with you always.

Happy New Year!

[i] Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020).

 

Seek the Sun

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If you ever long for more sunshine in your life, follow a cat around. These feline finders never miss the chance to bask in a burst of sunlight, and all of us will need to do that more as the days grow shorter and the sun sets earlier this winter.

This has been a year of valleys and peaks for our family. If you’re a regular reader and you’re just now realizing you haven’t heard from me for a while, it’s because the valleys seem to have drained my creativity so my writing and my cooking, which l came to understand is also a creative endeavor, have suffered. And yet we’ve also had a joyful wedding, a new baby born, and an engagement this year! In all of it, we know God is good, now and forever, and that we are richly blessed.

But like a plant turning toward the sun to soak up as much as it can so it can grow and bloom as designed, we can’t grow if we just sit in the dark. That’s no way to thrive. Those of us who are blessed with sound mental health (well, most of the time) realize that grief is not a destination. It’s not a place to stay, but a place to travel through in time, incorporating the loss into who you will now be but not letting it define you completely. And as we travel, we look for the sun, the positive, the eternal hope that lifts our heads.

It takes discipline to turn away from the dark into the light. And it takes a full reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible passage I often turn to when I need to shift my perspective is Phil. 4:8—Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The fact that you’re reading this means healing is happening. I’m especially grateful for Thanksgiving this year as the timing of the celebration is nothing less than perfect. As Chuck Swindoll wrote: Thanksgiving is a time of quiet reflection upon the past and an annual reminder that God has, again, been ever so faithful. The solid and simple things of life are brought into clear focus, so much so that everything else fades into insignificance.

So if you are feeling down this holiday season, seek the sun and seek the Son, Jesus Christ. Bask in all the blessings for which you are grateful. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

We Pledge Allegiance

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Our culture is quick to slap labels on people. One of the most recent is “Christian Nationalist.” It is used by some as an insult, but as I look at the definition of each word I’m proud to say, “I guess that’s me!” I’m a follower of Jesus Christ and I am a patriotic American. So slap a label on me if you must. I’ll wear it proudly as I praise God for preserving our country against enemies domestic and foreign and celebrate Independence Day on July 4th!

Most of us can remember beginning each school day standing by our desks with our hands over our hearts and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. We stood a bit taller the first day of school in our plaid dresses and stiff jeans as we recited those well-revered words.

Patriots among us still watch for opportunities to stand and say the pledge, even as we sadly see those opportunities dwindle. First there was an effort to remove the words “under God” from the pledge, then fewer and fewer schools kept the reciting of the pledge as a part of each school day. Yet those words forever in our hearts still sound out every U.S. citizen’s allegiance to his or her country.

It’s said if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. What we need to remember, however, even in our later years, is that it makes a big difference for what we choose to stand. We need to choose our loyalties carefully, and then put our hearts and souls into defending those choices till the end of our days.

Our allegiance to our Lord God can co-exist quite convivially with our allegiance to our country. But we must never forget which allegiance is greater—which allegiance carries with it an eternal citizenship and the guarantee that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6). That’s our loyalty and allegiance to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Granddaughters Fran and Amanda, now all grown up, with the cake they made!

Yes, it’s important for us to pledge allegiance to our country, and never take her freedoms and benefits for granted. But even more important is our allegiance to the God under whom our country was created. As a common slogan says, we “stand for the flag and kneel for the cross.” Our true allegiance, our undying loyalty once we are believers in Him and His Son Jesus Christ, must be always and only to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. To Him we pledge our allegiance. After all, our true citizenship is in heaven.

It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.

–George Washington

The Day After

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(Readers, if you weren’t able to open and read my April post, “Sunrise Hope at Easter,” due to a glitch in the system of the host provider, you may read it now on my website.)

As many of you read in April, I have not been able to write very much recently due to the loss of our 9-month-old great-granddaughter from complications of the flu in February. But when I heard the writing prompt for a writer’s workshop sponsored by Academy Christian Church, my imagination soared. I thought it might just be the opportunity I needed to get the creative juices flowing again. I was right.

What was the prompt? To choose a person in the Bible who had a personal encounter with Jesus and write about what they did the day after. Attendees were provided with a list of 30 such encounters, but we were free to choose anyone we wanted. I chose the woman at the well from John 4:1-45.

This woman is unnamed, so I named her Marta. I imagined her returning to the house she shared with a man not her husband, experiencing a sleepless night remembering the life-changing things the Messiah had said to her, a sinful Samaritan woman, and strategizing how she would leave her life of sin. The next morning, she rises before dawn and begins to prepare one last meal for this man I named Jamal when she realizes she left her water jug at the well. She goes to retrieve it and returns to find he is awake. She calmly explains why she can no longer live with him; he explodes and leaves.

That is a short summary of the three pages I wrote, but I like the ending another writer in the group imagined better. In her version of the story, the woman leaves, not knowing what will happen to her, but she encounters a group of people who tell her, “Join us on the road! We are going to follow Jesus!” Just imagine.

Another attendee wrote about the woman with the issue of bleeding in Mark 5:24-35 and Luke 8: 42-48. As you may recall she had suffered for over 12 years and, in desperation, worked her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe and be miraculously healed. The day after? This writer imagined she wakes realizing that she doesn’t have to deal with the bloody rags that have been the bane of her existence for so long. She is clean. She tells her caregiver that she has the energy to go fetch the water at the well herself, where her amazed friends are so happy to see her. Hearing that a woman she knows is ill, she takes water to her, too, so thrilled that she can now minister to others again because her Lord ministered to her.

Other writers imagined what happened the day after to the man possessed by demons that Jesus transferred to the pigs (Mark 5:1-20), to the Centurion whose servant was healed from a distance (Matthew 8:5-13), or to Lazarus, who was raised from the dead (John 11:1-44). The writer speculating about Lazarus wondered, assuming he had been in the presence of God, if Lazarus was really that happy about being brought back to live on the earth again? Of course, his sisters Mary and Martha were thrilled and grateful that he was back, but was he? We can only imagine.

I’m grateful to the ladies of Academy Christian Church for welcoming me to their group with open arms, and grateful to discover that grief couldn’t permanently rob me of a gift the Lord graciously gave me so very long ago.

What about you? If you’ve had an encounter with Jesus, what did you do the next day? Who did you tell? How were you changed? I can only imagine.

Sunrise Hope at Easter

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Dear Readers, you may realize I didn’t post anything in February and March. That’s because we lost our almost 10-month old great-granddaughter, Anna, to complications of the flu on Feb. 12. I haven’t been able to write much since, but when I can I will post more about sweet Anna. For now, this repeat message on hope at Easter seems appropriate for us…and I hope for you. God bless.

No wonder so many people love to attend Easter sunrise services. A sunrise represents hope, and so it is the perfect representation of the hope we find in the message of Easter.

Few events can be counted on to occur day after day, but the rising of the sun is one of them. Even on a cloudy day, when the heat and light of the sun may be minimized, we can still see that the sun did indeed rise once again!

And how grateful we are for the blessing of the sun in our lives. Without it, we would be in perpetual darkness. Without it, plant life on the earth, including the flowers and trees that bring us so much joy, would shrivel and die. All the beauty we look forward to this time of year when spring begins to bloom would cease to exist. In fact, all of life would eventually disappear from the earth, all because we lost the sun.

Our life on earth is marked by the number of sunrises and sunsets we experience, but do we really experience them? Do we appreciate the sun and the majesty of the Creation that allows it to shine day after day, or do we take it for granted? The first rays of a sunrise are subtle at best. Slowly the darkness begins to fade as the sun makes its way toward the horizon, but then as the giant orb of fire climbs up into view the entire sky changes color. The sunrise can look different each and every day, but because we can count on it to happen without fail, it’s a wonderful symbol for the hope we have in Jesus Christ—the hope that is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).

It was a dark, bleak day when Jesus was crucified on the cross—the worst day His followers had ever known. And yet when the grieving women ran to the tomb early in the morning of the third day, after the sun had risen, they were greeted with the glorious news of the resurrection! Praise God we can be sure that those who believe in His Son will also know the glory of everlasting life. We can be even more certain of that than we are of the sunrise! For no matter what darkness our life holds, one day we will be bathed in the light of heaven forever.

The next time we are blessed to watch a sunrise, and especially on Easter morning, we should bask in the hope that it represents. It’s a hope that never fades, and never disappoints.