Ann Brubaker Greenleaf Wirtz
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“Better Yet”

6/14/2015

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Picture

I placed the small china cup on the shelf above the kitchen sink, and there it has remained. While there have been different shelves these forty years, and often a window sill, as now, the small china cup has been a faithful kitchen adornment ever since, always in easy view near the sink.

The little white cup, rimmed with a thin blue line, was purchased one summer day from an old, weathered antique store on the side of an isolated country road in southeastern Wisconsin. Written in gold on the back of the cup were the words "Souvenir of Luxemburg, Wisc."

Situated not far from Green Bay, home of the state's beloved NFL football team, the Packers, Luxemburg is on the lower half of the peninsula that tips with the quaint villages of Door County. At the time, I didn't know my geography well-enough to place the location, but I did know a find when I saw one.

Nestling the small cup in the palm of my hand, I studied the design on the front. Two little Dutch boys in wooden shoes and traditional garb pointed to a message bannered between them; a windmill faintly edged the canal in the background. Claiming a bit of Dutch heritage through my grandmother, a Vandivert, I was immediately drawn to the colorful drawing. It was the wise saying, however, that especially spoke to my heart.

In light script across the banner was a proverb written in the dialect of the Netherlands:

"It iss mutch better yet to shmile efen if it hurts your face."

Smiling in response, I immediately agreed with this bit of charming wisdom. So much so, it has guided my perspective a count beyond number over the years. There is a Bible verse I also love with a similar truth I have embraced, eloquent in the King James Version:

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Proverbs 17:22).

These are wise words, both those printed on my little cup and those in the Bible. I strive to live my life accordingly, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not.

Perhaps I could pen a companion proverb to sum up my efforts:

"It iss mutch better yet to try efen if I fail."


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Reflections on Memorial Day, 2015... A Letter from My Father

5/22/2015

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Picnics at the park...
watermelon, hamburgers, fried chicken in a bucket;
Swimming at the local pool...
diving, splashing, stroking down the lane;
Visits to the cemetery...
flowers, prayers, memories that abide;
Flags of red, white and blue...
the Stars and Stripes of our great land.
This is America on Memorial Day.

Why the celebration?
Insight from the words of a soldier...
excerpts from a letter to my aunt and uncle;
Germany, May 22, 1945...
my father, Ken Brubaker;
Once a farm boy from southwestern Kansas...
now driving a tank across Europe.

"Folks, it's a business that is hard to describe, for me anyway...
When you move into a burning town
throwing everything you have at it...
and you see little kids the size of Kenny Lee on up,
scared to death and trying to get out of the way,
you realize that war is really hell.
My earnest hope is that the American mothers and kiddies
never, never have to go through anything like it.
It's strictly no good...

"We were the first ones to hit Hitler's most dreaded Concentration Camp
which was right north of Munich called Dachau.
Folks, there is no way of describing that place.
There were 32,000 prisoners there, more dead than alive
and on one railroad siding there were 39 box cars with an average
of 50 bodies on each one, some more, some less.
You could smell the place easily 10 miles away...

"After seeing things like that
one realizes what an unhuman [sic], ruthless,
nasty bunch these monkies are.

"The S.S. guards were really taken care of at Dachau
by the American soldiers in one big way.
If anything the taking care lasted too shortly.
Anything was too good for those birds.

"Needless to say we are all glad it is over over here
and wished we could say the same for the Pacific.
It will be a great day when things have settled back to normal again.
I for one will be plenty tickled to be with the wife and son again.

"Well folks 'tis past bed time so will sign off.
Hope all of you are well.
Personally I feel like a million.
This rugged life in one sense of the word is quite the thing
for an old "35 year older" I guess. Ha."

Memorial Day, 2015, seventy years later...
I pause to reflect;
The history of the American celebration...
to honor the veterans who died during the Civil War;
The remembrance beginning in 1866...
with flowers, with colors, with prayers.

Today, we honor all who've served and continue to serve out country...
grateful for soldiers who have fought for the freedoms we cherish;
Those who lived and those who died...
each one fighting to keep free the faith and traditions we hold dear.

So, in memory of my father...
this poem;
Thank you, Dad, for your brave sacrifice and service...
I miss you so much!
Your loving daughter,
Ann Brubaker Greenleaf Wirtz


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The Old Photograph

4/12/2015

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Invocation for the Henderson County Genealogical and Historical Society Meeting, April 11, 2015; Ann Greenleaf Wirtz
  Program:  Unlocking the Hidden Treasures of the Baker Barber Photo Collection; Presenter, Ron Partin

Give me an old photograph, any day,
Life captured in black and white;
The lines, the edges, and curves
Clearly defined by the dark and the light:
The natural world a seeming silhouette, simple and pure, wild and epic;
The structure a declarative statement, sturdy and bold, grand and poor;
The people a reflective study, somber and joyful, family and stranger;
Our curiosity taking hold,
We pause to contemplate:
What was life like back then?
How were challenges met?
Did faith make the difference, as now for some?
Our imagination is set to wondering,
For color gives clues and color gives facts,
But black and white is a mystery waiting to be told.


Dear Father, Life has many mysteries that arouse our curiosity.  When we contemplate the past through the old photograph, through the old writing, through the old keepsake, we are struck by the scope of time and by all that has happened...and by all that has changed.  We are grateful that You alone are unchanging, Your love ever constant as events unfold, and time marches on, and mysteries mount.  Thank You for clues, for memories, for faith that protects and saves in the darkest hour.  Thank You for life abundant through the ages, the thread of life that has overcome war and famine and disease.  As we contemplate the past, we pray for Your continued guidance and mercy on the future.
In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.







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April 05th, 2015

4/5/2015

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a F.I.N.D. ~ Choosing Hope

 
Happy Easter!

As I contemplate the wonder of Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb ~ Hallelujah! ~ I seek a greater understanding of what it means to believe in this Day of days… what does it actually mean to believe in Jesus?

Why Jesus, anyway?

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12 NKJV).

Light brings clarity: 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 118:105 KJV).

The Word of God brings us clarity about Jesus:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5 NASB).

How is it possible to love and hope in Him?

We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19 NKJV).

Why believe in Jesus?

We believe because our hope comes from Him:

My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold, I shall not be shaken (Psalm 62:5-6 NASB).

Happy Easter, indeed!

 

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a F.I.N.D. ~ The Beginning

3/29/2015

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This is the beginning… and why not? It’s Easter, after all, and Spring, the time for new beginnings. The rebirth of the flowers, the trees in bud, the overall awakening to light and warmth as the sun makes its way into the Northern Hemisphere. Darkness lessens its hold and nature responds. Seems a good time to begin a blog. Hope you’ll join me in this adventure of thought, story, and message penned for your pleasure.

My offering is titled a F.I.N.D., an acronym for my Faithful, Inspirational, Nostalgic, Devotional blog. Let’s journey together through the brighter side of life, especially as our world today holds many sorrows and much despair.

Easter week is upon us, the week that begins with Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus entering Jerusalem to hallelujahs, riding on a donkey, humble and very aware of the horror that would unfold. He knew where this ride would take Him… but first the rejection of His followers… the multiple lashes and the crown of thorns… His feet and hands pierced with nails. He hung upon the Cross to die a shameful death, in agony, abandoned by God the Father, our sins upon His back.  

Why?  
For you and for me.

But why?  
To bear our sins on the cross, the thoughts, words and deeds that separate us from God;
To become the sacrifice that cleanses us and makes us righteous before God;
To give us eternal life with Him, for those who believe and receive Christ as their Savior.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16 NKJV).

How?  Christ rose triumphant from the grave on the third day, denying the power and sting of death.


Hallelujah, He is Risen!!


Now He [Jesus] said to them,"These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all these things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."


Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:45-47 NASB).

Let the adventure begin!

March 29, 2015


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