Straight From The Hart

  My dad died 4 years ago today.  He was 96 years old and he died just two days after I had my 76th birthday.   He was born at Brice Missouri in January 1923.  Brice was situated near the Dallas and Laclede County lines and close to the Niangua River.  The name was changed from Brice to Bennett Spring when the State bought the land from the Bennetts and began to build a  state park in the 1920s and 1930s.  Old-timers still call it Brice sometimes and to my dad it was always Brice.  (And yes that is why we have a Brice Street in Lebanon.) My dad whose full name was Francis Herschel Rowden, preferred to be called Fritz.  He was married to my mom, Wilma Lorea Dame on November 9, 1942 and I was born on August 27, 1943.  My sister, Lois Rowden Nichols, was born in 1945 and shortly thereafter my parents were divorced and my mom took us home to live with our maternal grandparents, Everett and Nellie Dame. So I missed out on knowing my dad for several years, seeing him rarely because he lived

  Amazing Grace. Marvelous Grace of Jesus. Grace Greater Than Our Sin. (Composed August 29, 2021) Our hymnals contain so many lyrics about grace, and the older I get the more I appreciate God's grace. And the more convicted I become when I fail to extend grace to others of God's children. I really believe that the “sin that so easily entangles us as Christians, or trips us up,” is when we are judgmental of others instead of extending grace to those who might have fallen by the wayside. There is an old saying about the church which is often referred to as the army of God - that it is the only army that shoots its wounded.* One of my new favorite preachers, Jentezen Franklin, has a fantastic sermon taken from a rather obscure passage in the Old Testament - Zechariah 4:7 about “grace, grace”. Reminds me a little bit of John’s writing in his gospel where he says: And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. John 1:16 Grace is like the waves of the ocean

  MARVELOUS GRACE OF GOD God’s grace is unlimited like the waves on the shore An ocean so boundless, rolling in evermore. God bestows it upon us although we are flawed We can’t comprehend it, but receive it with awe. That marvelous grace, so wondrous and free So full and complete that it reached even me It’s God love everflowing, Unconditional love As high as the heavens and the sky far above It rings with the music of sins all forgiven It’s hope for redemption when life’s not worth living It’s poetry with lyrics that speak to my soul It’s just what I need to be completely made whole. It’s food for my spirit, cool water so sweet It’s rest when I’m weary, a soothing balm for my feet Yes, this grace is amazing, and so undeserved It’s knowing my home is in heaven reserved. Written by Joan Hart, January 2019 Copyright January 2019 Joan Rowden Hart