Doing The Best Thing and The Least Thing We Can Do

Grandchildren, here is a picture of some of you in our family room, but I am thinking of every one of you from the very youngest (Adam) to the oldest (Heather). There are 26 of you as of 2012.

Let's talk about prayer today. Prayer -- it's simply talking to God. He is with us always and has His ears open to us. He knows our happy times and he knows our sad times. And He is always ready to listen.

I learned to pray as a very young child. Our family was a praying family. But your grandfather taught me more about prayer after we were married. One thing that amazed me about Grampie was that he prayed about everything. For example, when we got into the car to go somewhere, we prayed before we started our trip and asked God to give us "traveling mercies" -- to keep us safe. He prayed for our children before they were born. And he prayed for the children that our children would have someday (that is YOU, of course).  He prayed when he couldn't find something. Your Grampie prayed about things that never entered my head as a matter for prayer. He helped me to understand more fully that GOD cares about every detail of our lives, whether it is big or little.

One night I was reading the Bible online. Online Bible reading is great because it is easy to go from translation to translation and to paraphrases in order to get a better understanding of the chapters and the verses. While I was reading, an old spiritual came to mind: "It's me, it's me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. . . not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, Oh Lord." Hmmm -- that made me stop and think. I pray for you and a lot of people, but how often do I really pray for ME?

I'm supposed to pray for YOU. The Bible commands it! In the Old Testament, the Prophet Samuel said to King Saul, "God forbid that I should sin by ceasing to pray for you." In this very difficult world, the very best thing that we can do for one another is to pray! And we can do that any time of the day or night. We can pray lying on our beds, driving the car, at work, at play. We can pray anywhere and at any time. We can speak aloud or direct our thoughts to the Lord because He knows what we are thinking on the inside.

There are always many needs among our family, friends, and "friends of friends": spiritual, physical, emotional, material, end-of life issues, pregnancies, stresses, and conflicts. People are concerned about their grades, where they will go to college, who they will marry. Some of those things are overwhelming to us and they motivate us to pray for each other. Those are the times when we go to God's Emergency Room!

But we should pray for ourselves, too. When we do that, we are telling our VERY best friend about us! One thing to remember is that we should be very careful that we do not ONLY pray when we have problems. The Bible says we should "pray without ceasing". That doesn't mean we have to be praying every second, but we must not neglect our regular times to pray -- daily. You know when we pray for you most often? It is at meal times when we thank the Lord for our food. So three or more times every day we are praying for members of our family. Sometimes we pray because we know you have a need. And other times pray for you "just because".

What do you pray about? If you are like me, maybe you forget to ask the Lord to teach you what you need to know for living this life in a pure and wholesome way. Maybe you forget to tell Him when you have had bad thoughts or when you have been mean or when you have used rude or crude language. He wants to hear from us at those times and He has promised to forgive us and to help us please Him in everything we do and in everything we say. If we just go our own way, we usually live very selfish lives. We need God's guidance and so we pray and we read the Bible. We go to Church and we talk to other Christians and to our family. That is how we learn. And that is how we grow as Christians.

Maybe the thing we forget most often is to praise Him for who He is -- our Lord and Savior. Or maybe we are more forgetful about thanking Him for the blessings and miracles that He freely gives to us by His grace -- especially the miracles of salvation and redemption.

So remember to pray for friends and family. And remember to pray for yourself, too. When you pray, tell God how wonderful He is. Tell Him you love Him. Thank God for His goodness and His gracious gifts. Tell the Lord when you have done wrong things. Tell Him you are sorry and that You want to not do that again. That is repenting -- turning away from those things that do not please the Lord. So pray. It is the LEAST you can do and it is the BEST you can do.

Christmas Treat From The Old Days

Nobody loved molasses more than my grandfather. It would not surprise me to learn that he ate it in some form most ot the days of his life.

I remember seeing him in the kitchen hand-grinding salt pork for this -- one of his favorites for Christmas time. And I remember seeing the proud look on his face when the finished product was ready to go with his inevitable cups of tea. Hmmm. I must ask Mom if he ever drank coffee. If he did, I don't remember it.

If there were no molasses cookies, gingerbread, or other such baked goods, he was content to finish his meal with a thick slice of home baked bread dotted with hard butter from the refrigerator and topped with a very meticulous swirl of molasses always poured from the "molasses jug" in a circular pattern that began in the center of the bread and ended at the edges of the slice. That sight was always fascinating to me -- Gramp was precise in everything he did, including the way he poured his molasses. (Funny what one remembers, isn't it?)

On Building A Camp

Having a camp on Cary Lake will fulfill a dream of mine since the 1950s. This is on property given to us by Grammie Ruth -- a portion of the land that she bought for herself and her children in 1957 after our father died in a trucking accident. This piece of land represents memories that we want to share with you and it represents the memories that we hope you will build for children of the future. It represents the importance of family love and the Christian heritage that we want to leave for our children and grandchildren (for this will be a place dedicated to our Lord and His Gospel).

Here you see Grampie Wayne and Jonathan enjoying a break from felling, sawing, loading, and hauling trees to make a building plot overlooking the lake. We worked HARD and long hours, but we believe the time and effort will be worth it in the future. Right now where 60 foot hardwood trees and smaller flora once grew is a building with a metal roof and exterior sheathing. It has no windows yet. One door is installed and the other stands inside waiting for the time that the chipboard is removed from the opening and it can take its place on the west entrance. The camp stands in the parentheses that we know as the northern Maine winter. Where the warmth of a phenomenal fall and the rustle of leaves once set the stage for our work, we see ice,  snow, a few brave chickadees and barren hardwoods. It is a time to wait and rest.

We hope you plan to spend some vacation days and weekends at the camp -- and that you might even lend a hand or an idea to this place as it continues to take on a personality that reflects who we are. 

Another Buza Is Going to Guatemala (August, 2011)!

Grandchildren: There are lots of reasons to be happy about Marcia's trip to Guatemala with a team from her Church. Foremost is the opportunity she has to go and minister to people in deep economic and spiritual need. It will be for her -- and maybe for all of us -- a life'changing event. It will be a time to reflect on the human condition and on the necessity of the Gospel being preached to ALL tongues, tribes, and nations. 

One of the joys for this family is because of the fond ties that Grandpa and Grandma Buza had to Guatemala and its people. Back in the 1940s, Robert and Dallas Buza took their three boys: Carlin, Wayne, and Joel and headed to that country to share the Good News with the people. Eventually, illnesses of Wayne (Marcia's Dad) and Grandma resulted in a physician ordering the family to go back to cold climates in order to save the lives of the mother and son. Of course, that little boy Wayne is YOUR grandfather now and he's not so young anymore! 

This picture was scanned from the family passport and was signed by Grandpa. The original photo had the whole family, but this was cropped to show your grandfather (about 2 in this picture) and his Dad. Grandpa's and Grandma's ministry was mainly in Guatemala City, where Aunt Marcia (Mom) will fly on August 17th. My nephew Zack Cain and wife Holly are part of the team as well.  We are amazed to think that they may walk some of the very streets where Gramp's family walked so long ago. We can hardly wait to see the look on her face when we see her again. We can hardly wait to hear her impression of the sights, the sounds, the scenes from a place that is very much changed since the 1940s -- or even the 1970s when Grandpa and Grandma went back to help after a devastating earthquake. God is so good to afford her this opportunity of a lifetime. We pray there will be great fruit for the kindgdom!

The other night Grampie shared some memories of Guatemala with (Aunt/Mom) Marcia. I'm asking him to repeat them and I will write what he says:  He remembers being in a boat on Lake Atitlan -- nothing more specific. He remembers there were two volcanoes in Guatemala and he thinks they are still potentially active. There was La Agua and El Fuego, literally "the water" and "the fire". He remembers being at Chichicastanengo where there was a cathedral where people could buy a container of incense. They would take the incense and pray, going up the steps on their knees. If the incense was still burning when they reached the top step, they were allowed to go into the cathedral to pray. "While we were at Chichicastanengo, I remember Carlin eating red hot chili peppers -- and Joel and I thought he was crazy. I don't believe there were any ill effects to him." He said they lived in a compound that had four units in it. The Buza's lived in the bottom left and Grandpa Buza's friends -- the Turners -- lived in the top right. He said they had a dog at the compound, but he doesn't remember the dog's name. He remembers Grandpa and Herman Turner playing with huge dominoes. He remembers that Uncle Joel was able to sing very well with Grandpa the words to "At The Cross" in an Indian dialect -- Quiche. All the family sang in Spanish.

He said he remembers seeing a man steal a crow bar from the compound. He saw the man walking down the street with nothing in his hand -- and when he came along the street from behind the compound, he was carrying the crow bar. He said that is one of the most clear memories from that time.

I, personally, remember Grandpa telling how he liked going shopping for shoes with Herman Turner. Grandpa wore 5 1/2 EEE and Herman wore a 12 AA. Just a sort of "fun memory".

We will be reporting more -- hopefully with a picture or two when Marcia returns! Please pray for her while she is gone.

Virtue

Grampie and I are so pleased that the mothers in our family all love the Lord and all want to be examples of virtue to their children. Here you see two of the virtuous women in our family -- our oldest daughter and HER oldest daughter.

So what is VIRTUE? Virtue is clean, highly moral, pure. Virtue is rare and greatly to be desired in a person. The Bible says that a virtuous woman is worth a fortune! (See Proverbs 31).

It is so hard to believe that Heather is twenty-one. We still remember that cute little munchkin that we first saw in her baby swing just a few days after she was born. What a journey she had before her to become the woman she is today. Virtue doesn't develop in a vacuum! I believe it is learned and develops in tender and teachable hearts. It comes as a result of times like you see in this picture. A loving relationship between a child and a parent who lives by and teaches the living Word of God is one of the essentials, in my opinion.

Grandparents can help, too, and we want to! We want to mentor them and help them to hear and know the Gospel. We want them to see Jesus in us. And while we know that many times all they see in us is US, our greatest desire is to be more and more like Jesus in all of our daily living!

Did you know that PATIENCE is a virtue? Have you noticed that most people really aren't very patient at all? Everyone wants to be FIRST. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Grandma Buza used to quote a little verse: "Patience is a virtue, find it if you can, Seldom in a woman, Never in a man!" Well, we would chuckle over it but nobody really believed that men have no patience at all -- well maybe some don't have any. Grampie must be VERY patient. He lives with me and never starts any "fights".

I have to share a story about patience (or the lack thereof): today I saw a phenomenal man at a store. He did something I have NEVER seen before. Amazing! Grampie and I were standing in line with nothing but a few packages of pencils we found at a great price. As we stood, a clerk opened another register, looked at me, and said, "I can help you right here." I smiled, said "thank you" and headed in her direction. Suddenly the man who had been ahead of me in the line spoke up, "Ma'am! Ma'am! It is my turn to be next." I said that she had invited me, but he said, "I know that, but I have been standing in line." So I stepped aside (not very patiently) and let him go ahead, pushing his rather full cart. Odd! More often than not, if I have just a few things in my hand and another person has a cart full (as this man did), the other person will look at me and volunteer his or her place in line saying, "Oh, go ahead. I have a lot here and you just have a few things." It always warms my heart that someone is so considerate, and not in too much of a hurry to be a little thoughtful and courteous.

Heather started learning about patience when she was really little. I remember that we bought her a little apron with a teddy bear on it. And when she stood up in a chair to help me with the dishes I put her "bear apron" on her. Sometimes she would get a little fiesty and I would sing-song, "BE PATIENT". Once she looked up at me, smiled, and said, "Be Patient Right Now!" Hmmmmm ... I think in the last 19-20 years, she has learned the true virtue of patience!

So the thought today is this: whether you are a guy or a girl, a toddler or a teenager (or beyond), ask the Lord to help you to have a virtuous life and be an example to others. A "Ringleader for Right" rather than a follower of the foolish. Love you!

Grandaughters Making Waves (Pun Intended)!

I hope you grandchildren know how much fun it is for Grampie and me to do things with you. Whether it is apple picking in the fall, eating corn on the deck, traveling across the country in a rainstorm, or being treated to displays of your talents and gifts, we love it. And we love YOU.

Last June Erika and Emily were at our house to make an anniversary cake for friends of ours and to make a graduation cake for Emily's high school class. Here, Erika displayed her talents gained at a culinary arts class while Emily got some valuable hints on how it is done! We had the greatest time that night! Not only were the cakes beautiful, they were tasty! I remember telling Erika to put two roses on the cake -- one for him and one for her. In the end, she put three roses (after all, she said, a good marriage includes the Lord). Actually, a good LIFE does, too . . .

Emily and Erika are both artistic and creative, so is it any wonder that they are pursuing beauty school? When she was a bit younger, Emily was always making the cutest thingy-dews to wear in her hair. Now she is ready to graduate from Empire Beauty School in Bangor and does truly professional cuts, styles, colors, and all the other things that cosmetologists do. I was her first client at the school and just recently had another cut (but she came to the house and treated me)!

I'm not sure Erika will never decorate and sell another cake, but she is moving on to the SAME beauty school and has her sights on August 2012 to complete her course of study and become a cosmetologist, too! (Maybe they don't know it, but they are following Aunt Iola's footsteps -- and Andrea's).

So, everybody, I am beginning to realize that I should never have an excuse to be running around with a shaggy dog hair style ever again! Not with TWO grandaughters who can make the kind of waves I need. Gramp, either -- they learn man cuts!

So Congratulations, Emily, on finishing (August 25). And to Erika, who will begin classes on the 22nd! I love you both and pray for your success at your professions -- and for lives of great godliness and joy as you find the GREAT Plan He has for you.

Trust Is Fragile But To Be Guarded and Cherished

Everyone wants to be trusted. Take Robert, here. Everyone was holding the baby and how he longed to have a turn. But when a person is Robert's age, they aren't allowed to hold a baby unless they can really be trusted to hold him correctly, carefully, and not drop him.

I don't know if Robert really thought his mom would let him hold Matthew. And I don't know if he asked or if it was his Mom's idea. But here is a picture of Aunt Michele (Mom, if you are Robert) gently guiding him and giving him a wonderful privilege that he really wanted to have. How do I know that? I can see it on his face.

And that is one of the wonderful responsibilities that GOD has given to parents. They learned things in their lives as they matured and developed judgment and wisdom that they can pass along to you children as you are on your journey to adulthood -- and even beyond!

I tell you to guard and cherish the trust that people have in you because it is very easy to LOSE trust. If you are open and honest and dependable, you will be given more and more responsibility because you are trustworthy. Your parents and others will know that you can be depended upon to obey, to make good choices, and to fulfill your responsibilities.

I remember when I was a teenager that friends would come along and ask me to do something that I KNEW was wrong. So many times they would say, "OH, your mother will never know." And maybe she wouldn't. But I usually didn't follow the crowd in these things because I loved Mom and I didn't want to hurt her. Was I a perfect kid? NO! But I was always mindful that I didn't want to do anything that would hurt my Mom (my Dad died when I was 13). What about you? Why not set a goal to try your hardest not to hurt your parents willfully?

As time went by, I realized that friends who tried to get me to do things like cheat on papers at school or go places that I wasn't allowed to go, really did not have my best interest at heart. They really didn't care as much about ME as they did about themselves. That is what selfish people do. They ignore the rules and try to get others to go along with them. They are not trustworthy -- and they are not really good friends after all.

The most important reason to be trustworthy is that God expects it of us. If we are Christians, we should be growing to be more and more like Jesus every day. And Jesus can certainly be trusted to do the right thing every, single time.

If you have ever broken trust with your parents, your friends, or neighbors, you have also broken trust with GOD. I can remember telling a teenage daughter once, "if you go out there and do something you aren't supposed to do, I WILL find out about it. God will see to it!" And she came to believe it because she saw it happen over and over again!

He knows our hearts and He sees everything we do, reads every thought of our minds, and hears every word that we say. And the most important thing to realize is that He loves us so much that won't let us get away with it forever and that if you confess it and repent, HE WILL FORGIVE!

So GUARD and CHERISH the trust that others have in you! It brings a lot of peace when you do -- and it helps preserve a good relationship with God and others.