Je croyais que tu devais le savoir. Ça, c'est pour toi. Oui, pour toi, la personne incroyable qui lit ceci. Tu es génial ! Ne laisse personne te dire le contraire.
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| Tu déchires ! Dessin, stylet sur Samsung Note Dessiné en Adobe Draw Steven Sauke |
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Friday, May 5, 2023
¡Eres la máxima! ¡Eres el máximo!
Creo que debes saber. Esto es para tí. Sí, para tí, la persona increíble que lee esto. Eres una persona impresionante. No dejes que nadie les diga lo contrario.
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| ¡Eres la máxima! ¡Eres el máximo! Dibujo, lápiz óptico en Samsung Note Diseñado en Adobe Draw Steven Sauke |
Thursday, May 4, 2023
You rock!
Thought you should know. This is for you. Yes, you, amazing person reading this! You are awesome. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
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| You Rock! Drawing, stylus on Samsung Note Designed on Adobe Draw Steven Sauke |
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
How Great Thou Art: God's Awesome Symphony of Nature
CRASH! The thunder was deafening as lightning lit up the sky! The wind was whipping powerfully over the meadows, and the travelers rushed for cover! They were returning home from church in Kronobäck, on the southeastern Swedish coast. Once the storm had died down, they continued their journey, awestruck by a stunning rainbow.
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| Image by IgorZh on Adobe Stock |
Upon reaching home, Carl Boberg opened the window of his house, which had a beautiful view of the sea. The church bells were playing a hymn. The birds sang from their perches in the trees. The brook rippled. It was 1885, and at that time of year, the colors all around were particularly vivid. The powerful winds had become a gentle breeze.
That evening, Boberg wrote a poem entitled O Store Gud (literally "O Mighty God"). It would later be set to music, using a Swedish folk tune.
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| Image by Наталья Евтехова on Adobe Stock |
In 1907, it was translated into German by Manfred von Glehn, and a few years later, Russian pastor Ivan Prokhanoff would translate it into Russian. In the 1920s or 1930s (sources disagree on the decade), English missionary Stuart K. Hine was in Ukraine, where he heard the Russian version of O Store Gud. He and his wife would sing it for years, until one day he translated it into English:
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r thru-out the universe displayed!Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;When thru the woods and forest glades I wander
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze,Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in –
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin!Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
As far as I know, the main change since Hine translated it into English is that in the version that I grew up singing, "works" in the first verse changed to "worlds", though some hymnals have a footnote stating the original word was "works."
Over the course of my life, I have seen so much awesome beauty and power in nature. Tropical downpours in the Philippines make a typical Seattle rain look like a little trickle. Lightning in Wisconsin (and in the Philippines, for that matter), stretches all up and down the expanse of the sky. The earthquake in Seattle in 2001 was a terrifying experience. Philippine beaches, coral reefs, rice terraces and more, are breathtaking. The French and English countryside is stunning. I have never felt so cold as waiting at a bus station in Chicago in the winter. Sleeping under the stars at the foot of Taal Volcano, Philippines, away from city lights and smog, the sky was almost white with stars. I have never seen so many stars as I did that night. It was awe-inspiring. Some friends in Surigao, Philippines once lost their roof in a typhoon. The mountain ranges where I have been (including Olympics, Cascades, Rockies and Smokies) are spectacular. I have thankfully never experienced a tsunami, but I have seen some powerful waves. The Northern Lights are on my bucket list. NASA images of planets, stars, nebulae and other astronomical phenomena blow me away. While strong weather isn't always enjoyable, it is usually awesome. Birds sing. Geckos gecko (thus their name). Crickets chirp. The sounds of the animals alone can become a stunning symphony.
To think that the God who made all that cared so much for me that He sent His Son to die for me, and I will meet Him face to face someday!
Monday, May 1, 2023
Charlie
This is my friend Charlie. He is pretty amazing, and I have a lot of respect for him. He also played Cchhär in my movies Yibvlidj Apocalypse and The Heirs of Djeek. The graphic I made of him is based on a picture I took for Yibvlidj Apocalypse.
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| Charlie Ostlie Steven Sauke Illustration 2012 |
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Blessed Assurance: Glory from Blindness
Frances Jane was born in Putnam County, New York on March 24, 1820. She was a beautiful baby girl, but at 6 weeks, a misguided doctor attempted to treat an eye infection with a mustard plaster poultice. It was a decision that would leave her blind for the next (nearly) 95 years.
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| Fanny Crosby at 25 |
When she was 9, young Fanny Crosby wrote:
"O what a happy soul am I,
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't."
Incredibly gifted, she entered New York Institute for the Blind at the age of 15, and after graduating was invited to teach there. While she was in school, Braille hadn't even reached the US yet. She would never use it. Around the age of 20, she met a talented blind musician named Alexander Van Alstyne, who came to her school. They fell in love and were married in 1858.
In 1873, she was visiting her friend Mrs. Phoebe Knapp. By this time she was known to many as Aunt Fanny. During their visit, Mrs. Knapp sat down at her piano and played a new piece she had just written. Phoebe wondered, "What does this tune say?" After a few minutes of thought and prayer, Fanny said, "It says, 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!'"
She then began to dictate words to fit in Knapp's tune:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
She took great joy in her salvation, her love, and the promise of glory. A blind woman had "visions of rapture...burst[ing] on [her] sight!" The first thing she saw after being blinded as a baby was the glory she sang about in life. Indeed, she once said, "If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."
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| From her autobiography Fanny Crosby, Memories of Eighty Years Published in 1906 |
Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 Gospel songs and hymns, in addition to over 1000 non-religious songs. She also published four books of poetry and two autobiographies. She did not allow blindness to hold her back, and in fact, she used it as inspiration and saw it as a gift from God. She is still one of the greatest hymn writers in history. Nobody has come close to writing as many as hymns and Gospel songs as she did.
"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."
- Fanny J. Crosby
Fanny Crosby was influential in the lives of multiple US presidents, including Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, James Polk and Grover Cleveland. (In fact, she dictated some of her work to a 15-year-old Cleveland to write down!) She played at President Ulysses S. Grant's funeral and wrote a poetic eulogy for President William Henry Harrison. She also addressed Congress regarding education of the blind. She spent her later years serving the poor and needy, supporting herself with her writing. She could also recite the four Gospels and the first three books of the Old Testament, as well as Ruth, Proverbs and Song of Solomon.
As I blogged previously, I very nearly joined her among the blind. God miraculously healed my eyes, for which I am incredibly grateful. My life would have been very different had my eyes followed the natural progression of retinitis pigmentosa. But I know that even if it had, I would still glorify God. Fanny Crosby is a shining example of keeping in perspective what many would consider a weakness, instead turning it into a strength. We can all learn from her determination, strength, drive and optimism, both despite and because of her blindness.
February 12, 1915 was a glorious day for Fanny. She opened her eyes and saw for the first time since she was 6 weeks old. After nearly 95 years, "visions of rapture now burst on [her] sight," as the first thing she saw was the face of Jesus. In the words of another of her hymns, she was "Safe in the Arms of Jesus."
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| From her autobiography Fanny Crosby, Memories of Eighty Years Published in 1906 |
https://www.staugustine.com/story/lifestyle/faith/2015/02/20/story-behind-song-blessed-assurance/16249006007/
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-blessed-assurance
https://wordwisehymns.com/2010/11/20/today-in-1850-fanny-crosby-converted/
https://www.nyise.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=428557&type=d&pREC_ID=936886
https://www.aph.org/fanny-j-crosby-embracing-the-gift/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fanny-Crosby
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