Dear Reader:

Isaiah 28:16 talks about a tried stone. A tried stone is a fine grained stone used for carving statues. Stone is a solid nonmetallic mineral matter of which rock is made. A piece of stone can be shaped for a specific purpose.

In every stone building, one stone is crucial. It is laid first, and it is to ensure that the building is square and stable. It is the rock upon which the weight of the entire structure rests. It is the cornerstone.

Today’s StoryWorth question asked me how I thought my faith was different from my parents’ faith. I can truthfully say my faith has come directly down to me from my mother…but I still have far to go to get to the highest level of faith that mother held throughout her life.

Since my father died when I was so little…I can only go on what I witnessed watching his mother, Grandmother Barbour(Callie) each time we visited the Barbour family in Durham. If “Callie” wasn’t helping cook or clean she was sitting in her old rocking chair…brought there from Smithfield, North Carolina.

I never saw Grandmother Barbour in that rocker without the Bible in her lap…many times I would think she was napping…but then I realized her lips were moving silently and she was still memorizing scripture into her late eighties.

Mother certainly questioned different parts of scripture in her Bible readings but she never lost her faith… she had me learning and reciting the Shorter Catechism before the congregation one Easter Sunday when I was eleven… while still in late grade school.

At the time I wasn’t that thrilled about it but now I am so thankful mother made me do this…because to me, as an educator, I don’t think one can consider themselves an educated person if they can’t recognize certain quotes of scripture.

You might put these lessons under historical quotes and not just spiritual ones…but recognizing the metaphors throughout the Bible is the “cornerstone” of a well-rounded education.

If mother had not passed down her strong faith to me, not just in words, but in how she lived her life…I would have been completely lost when cancer invaded my body threatening to take my life with it.

I honestly don’t understand how people get through the tough times without faith in God- to have nothing to fall back on-…I honestly don’t…to not have anything or any One to rely upon would be the worst thing that could happen to me…much worse than fighting metastatic breast cancer.

I know all denominations and religions are, sadly, losing potential worshipers/believers in droves. I can’t help but think there is a link between the lack of morality seen today and the absence of a foundation of basic parables, poems, and quotes from scripture.

Certainly part of the reason is the hypocrisy young people see between the “talkers” and the “walkers” ….talking a good game and walking a righteous path (as an example for others following behind us) are two completely different”animals.”

If all children are given the chance to hear the stories of old and are familiar with them…then as adults they can decide on their faith or not …at least based on past knowledge… not just contemporary hearsay.

So until tomorrow…

I gave the pails  to the grandchildren yesterday with the heart glasses and bracelets…candies…it was fun. Then the grandchildren gifted me their special artistic valentines…Love your flowers Eva Cate!

Thank you  little Dingle clan for your creative stick-on hearts poster for me…so bright and fun!

P.S. And thank you Joan for the beautiful book marker, candy, and soap…so sweet…Eva Cate and Jake loved having y’all visit…hopefully next time it will be sunny…hope y’all didn’t run into snow and ice on the way home to Alabama!

Mollie and Lisa Register each gave me “mystery” spring blooms…have to wait and see what pops up. Too much fun!

Thank everyone for a wonderful “heart” day…every day should be one.