"You have an amazing faith!"...
"No, I have an amazing God who has provided heaven and eternal life for His own."~me
Conversation yesterday w/my "new" dentist here in ColoSpgs. Had never met him but he walked in, shook my hand, and said my name correctly: pronounced "bear." I said to him smiling, "I'm impressed! Usually, I'm a "bore!" ...He said, "Are you Cedric Boehr's wife?" ...I said, "Yes, but he was killed about a year ago." ...He said, "I was just with someone that he worked with recently, and they told me about your husband. I'm so sorry." (And then he pulled his stool around and asked more questions of me about the accident). I told him that it was an awful accident and how it happened and how I heard the ambulances & first responders go screaming by our home not knowing they were going to help Cedric. And, then I told him how Cedric almost avoided the man careening across the road...he was about 10-12inches short of avoiding the gentleman when his body was sideswiped and the motorcycle he was on was laid over with him next to it.
....the dentist asked details, and listened carefully. I later thought if dentistry didn't work out, he could put a "shingle" out for counseling! :)))
....Anyway, I didn't want to end the conversation w/just the details of the accident. So, the Lord gave the opportunity ~ like He does (!) to bring the conversation to a place where He is given glory. And, I shared how "not even a little sparrow falls, but God knows, and how much more He cares for His own;" certainly, Cedric was one of His own, passing from this life to eternal life. This is my true and living hope.
..."You have an amazing faith! ~ my dentist ..."No, I have an amazing God who has provided heaven and eternal life for His own, and I trust Him...even w/my husband whom I so loved. "~me
...And I left the office and wept. The Lord is with me and truly with each of His own.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Music & Worship – An Integral Part of our Oneness
Music was such a part of “us!” I miss his beautiful tenor voice and blending my alto with him. What oneness we experienced in music and worship!
Nine months ago today my best friend and dearest husband went on to heaven to be with Jesus our precious Savior. As I’ve contemplated and thought about this especially in the last few days, I have been remembering all the many songs of worship that Cedric and I sang together over the 36 years that we knew one another.
We began singing together in choir at Grace University in Omaha, NE as college freshmen – he sang tenor, and I sang alto. We met on a choir retreat in September of 1977; we were assigned to the same “get acquainted” small group at the retreat, and we did enjoy getting acquainted. We had a mutual love of the outdoors and horses. Later, Cedric told me that he was also attracted to my “nice legs.” I was attracted to his smiling blue eyes. (Hmm!) Yes, we were also glad of each other’s love for the Lord Jesus and our spiritual interests! …Anyway, the Lord gave us the desire to know one another MUCH more and a fast, vibrant, delightful and inseparable friendship developed.
Shortly after we began singing in the choir, we both auditioned for one of the scholarship singing quartets that would travel and represent the university for a year. There would be two groups chosen; Cedric and I were chosen to be in the same quartet, and we began to practice with the bass, Sid Litke, soprano-Jeanne Powell, and pianist-Rosie (Harder) Rothaar. We practiced 5-6 days a week for a couple of months and then began our travel to churches, retreats, and conferences on behalf of the university often traveling with a faculty member for the weekend. We gave concerts and shared our testimonies of what God was doing in our individual lives. Grace University asked that we travel 3 out of 4 weekends each month and 7 weeks in the summer. The summer travel included 4 weeks of camps where we also served as counselors and 3 weeks of one-night concerts at various churches. Our summer tour took us to Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. ….We sang a LOT together!! And, we saw each other in every type of situation; in traveling & ministering together with the quartet we had good times as well as trying times when we had had very little sleep sometimes becoming quite “ministry fatigued!” We also had the pressure of dating steadily and not allowing that attraction to each other to be evident in public while ministering in churches and camps. Occasionally, we asked for and received permission from the faculty traveling with us to take some time alone as a “couple” away from the rest of the quartet members.
Additionally, in the fall of our freshman year, both Cedric and I took voice lessons at Grace – I took lessons from his father, John Boehr, and Cedric took lessons from Mr. Leland Flickinger. Voice students were required to do a recital each semester, and we requested that we do a duet piece together rather than the traditional solos. Our instructors happily agreed, and we received “great marks” together singing, “The Lord is my Shepherd” by Henry Smart.
At our wedding that came only a year and a half after meeting each other, we sang our “Wedding Prayer” together in a tenor and alto duet. That summer and the next summer we sang wedding duets for more than 15 couple friends of ours, traveling all around the country. What fun we had together! Over the years we continued to sing at many weddings.
In our third year of marriage, the Lord gave us the idea to put together a Sweetheart Banquet for our church with the help of other couples. We did the music part of the banquet singing many love songs from musicals such as “One Hand, One Heart,” “Do you Love Me?,” “I Remember Meeting You..,” “You Don’t Bring me Flowers Anymore,” etc.! We told the story of meeting, courtship, romance, and marriage through music weaving the testimony of God’s grace and love through the program. We did at least 15 of these banquets – maybe more!
From our first months of marriage until our last 34 years later, we sang often in worship in the churches that we were a part of over the years. And, we had the joy of singing in a variety of churches with various tastes in worship styles. Our love, as a couple, was for music that encompassed the Truth of the Word and the Beauty and Holiness of the Creator that we were directing our worship towards. So, we actually enjoyed a very broad spectrum of music. Cedric was keen on the music being written well; he could create and write some wonderful arrangements for us as a couple as well as for our family or a choral group.
We not only LOVED leading in worship in our church, but we LOVED singing together as a family. I used to remind Cedric that, “not very many families have this enjoyment of making music together. Since God has given us this gift of music, we should sing often and enjoy it and pass it on to our children and grandchildren also.” And he appreciated my encouragement and so we did sing as a family! We sang at least once and often twice each day with our family devotionals. When the children grew old enough, we asked them to take turns choosing a praise song as well as a hymn for the family to sing.
Eventually the children grew up and “left the nest,” and Cedric and I continued to sing together at mealtime with our evening devotional. We still loved harmonizing with our tenor and alto voices. What deeply, irreplaceable, treasured times of worship – just he and I in song, prayer, and in reading the Word together!
Times change when our children marry and then again when grandchildren begin to arrive, but we were blessed to enjoin them in worshiping and singing around the table usually with Cedric playing the guitar while he led us in worship. To have a time of devotion and worship isn’t necessarily easy when there are various families involved, but I encouraged him to continue to lead us, simply inviting our loved ones to join us in the time that we always had together as a couple. To our great delight, our children, spouses, and grandchildren remember those times around our table of worship around the Word and in singing as a family. I’m so very grateful!
Today, nine months after his accident and death, I miss his beautiful tenor voice and blending my alto together with him creating one beautiful tone as one. But, I’m reminded that we will be singing together for all eternity someday. I look forward to that day with great hope and joy!
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us and In Christ Alone were a couple of our very favorite worship songs in the last few years. We sang them often in our private and public worship. – Their words are rich with Truth and the music is beautiful also.
HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Words and Music by Stuart Townend
IN CHRIST ALONE
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
Nine months ago today my best friend and dearest husband went on to heaven to be with Jesus our precious Savior. As I’ve contemplated and thought about this especially in the last few days, I have been remembering all the many songs of worship that Cedric and I sang together over the 36 years that we knew one another.
We began singing together in choir at Grace University in Omaha, NE as college freshmen – he sang tenor, and I sang alto. We met on a choir retreat in September of 1977; we were assigned to the same “get acquainted” small group at the retreat, and we did enjoy getting acquainted. We had a mutual love of the outdoors and horses. Later, Cedric told me that he was also attracted to my “nice legs.” I was attracted to his smiling blue eyes. (Hmm!) Yes, we were also glad of each other’s love for the Lord Jesus and our spiritual interests! …Anyway, the Lord gave us the desire to know one another MUCH more and a fast, vibrant, delightful and inseparable friendship developed.
Shortly after we began singing in the choir, we both auditioned for one of the scholarship singing quartets that would travel and represent the university for a year. There would be two groups chosen; Cedric and I were chosen to be in the same quartet, and we began to practice with the bass, Sid Litke, soprano-Jeanne Powell, and pianist-Rosie (Harder) Rothaar. We practiced 5-6 days a week for a couple of months and then began our travel to churches, retreats, and conferences on behalf of the university often traveling with a faculty member for the weekend. We gave concerts and shared our testimonies of what God was doing in our individual lives. Grace University asked that we travel 3 out of 4 weekends each month and 7 weeks in the summer. The summer travel included 4 weeks of camps where we also served as counselors and 3 weeks of one-night concerts at various churches. Our summer tour took us to Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. ….We sang a LOT together!! And, we saw each other in every type of situation; in traveling & ministering together with the quartet we had good times as well as trying times when we had had very little sleep sometimes becoming quite “ministry fatigued!” We also had the pressure of dating steadily and not allowing that attraction to each other to be evident in public while ministering in churches and camps. Occasionally, we asked for and received permission from the faculty traveling with us to take some time alone as a “couple” away from the rest of the quartet members.
Additionally, in the fall of our freshman year, both Cedric and I took voice lessons at Grace – I took lessons from his father, John Boehr, and Cedric took lessons from Mr. Leland Flickinger. Voice students were required to do a recital each semester, and we requested that we do a duet piece together rather than the traditional solos. Our instructors happily agreed, and we received “great marks” together singing, “The Lord is my Shepherd” by Henry Smart.
At our wedding that came only a year and a half after meeting each other, we sang our “Wedding Prayer” together in a tenor and alto duet. That summer and the next summer we sang wedding duets for more than 15 couple friends of ours, traveling all around the country. What fun we had together! Over the years we continued to sing at many weddings.
In our third year of marriage, the Lord gave us the idea to put together a Sweetheart Banquet for our church with the help of other couples. We did the music part of the banquet singing many love songs from musicals such as “One Hand, One Heart,” “Do you Love Me?,” “I Remember Meeting You..,” “You Don’t Bring me Flowers Anymore,” etc.! We told the story of meeting, courtship, romance, and marriage through music weaving the testimony of God’s grace and love through the program. We did at least 15 of these banquets – maybe more!
From our first months of marriage until our last 34 years later, we sang often in worship in the churches that we were a part of over the years. And, we had the joy of singing in a variety of churches with various tastes in worship styles. Our love, as a couple, was for music that encompassed the Truth of the Word and the Beauty and Holiness of the Creator that we were directing our worship towards. So, we actually enjoyed a very broad spectrum of music. Cedric was keen on the music being written well; he could create and write some wonderful arrangements for us as a couple as well as for our family or a choral group.
We not only LOVED leading in worship in our church, but we LOVED singing together as a family. I used to remind Cedric that, “not very many families have this enjoyment of making music together. Since God has given us this gift of music, we should sing often and enjoy it and pass it on to our children and grandchildren also.” And he appreciated my encouragement and so we did sing as a family! We sang at least once and often twice each day with our family devotionals. When the children grew old enough, we asked them to take turns choosing a praise song as well as a hymn for the family to sing.
Eventually the children grew up and “left the nest,” and Cedric and I continued to sing together at mealtime with our evening devotional. We still loved harmonizing with our tenor and alto voices. What deeply, irreplaceable, treasured times of worship – just he and I in song, prayer, and in reading the Word together!
Times change when our children marry and then again when grandchildren begin to arrive, but we were blessed to enjoin them in worshiping and singing around the table usually with Cedric playing the guitar while he led us in worship. To have a time of devotion and worship isn’t necessarily easy when there are various families involved, but I encouraged him to continue to lead us, simply inviting our loved ones to join us in the time that we always had together as a couple. To our great delight, our children, spouses, and grandchildren remember those times around our table of worship around the Word and in singing as a family. I’m so very grateful!
Today, nine months after his accident and death, I miss his beautiful tenor voice and blending my alto together with him creating one beautiful tone as one. But, I’m reminded that we will be singing together for all eternity someday. I look forward to that day with great hope and joy!
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us and In Christ Alone were a couple of our very favorite worship songs in the last few years. We sang them often in our private and public worship. – Their words are rich with Truth and the music is beautiful also.
HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Words and Music by Stuart Townend
IN CHRIST ALONE
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
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