All Articles For Lubbers, MaryBeth

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Philippians 1:3 In America it is the time of harvest and thanksgiving. All across this vast land, bountiful crops are being gathered in. Thousands of acres of golden grain have been reaped. Great dunes of corn tumble out of capacious granaries. Fattened hogs and sleek cattle are led to market. Fruits and vegetables, exotic and common, are stockpiled. Dainties fit for demigods—this is America’s daily bread. The earth yields her increase; the Reformed believer receives...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way…. Psalm 101:2 R—to read the Scriptures faithfully each day, for in them is found eternal life. The Bible is water to my parched soul and food for my hungry heart. The truly hungry man does not pick at his meal, but attacks it ravenously. So will I devour the Word of God. “Take up and read,” said Augustine. Come apart from the storms and stresses of life and rest a while. Read this inspired, most elegant Book....

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning…. “ Psalm 5:3 The variety of the human voice, its modulation, tone, and expressiveness nearly rivals the human face for creativity. Even though one who makes a telephone call should identify himself when making a call, it’s really quite unnecessary. The voice gives one away. Could anyone, though he were blindfolded, mistake Professor Hanko’s voice? What a marvelous God to create so much variety by the fairly uncomplicated process of stretching small bands of tissue (vocal...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women … if it be a son, then ye shall kill him…. Exodus 1:16 Two women. Two women who, through Gods gracious guidance, forever changed the course of human history. Two women, distinguished by names! The first Hebrew names mentioned since the death of Joseph some 300 years earlier. Shiphrah and Puah. Shiphrah and Puah were two relatively obscure midwives living in the land of Goshen in Egypt under the cruel and tyrannical...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.”  Proverbs 14:11 The Arabs live in tents; the Eskimos, in igloos; the island people, in crudely-constructed huts; the Englishman, in his compact cottage. Probably no culture spends so much on the spacious design of a house, along with its compatible furnishings, as the American. A goodly part of his annual income and life investment is spent on a house. Time (1/29/96) reports the average American as spending 393% of...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”  Ephesians 5:11 A good sturdy outside door on our house is important. Because of the increasingly high incidence of burglary in our society, this door functions more as a barricade than an entranceway. The door is usually solid steel; the window, if any, very high so no thug can break the glass and easily unlock the door. Often it features a dead bolt. No easy access with a credit card...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “… receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” Proverbs 19:20 I Remember Miss Reitsma There is a certain danger in writing about a person who has died. That danger is heightened when one loved the person now deceased. One tends to immortalize that person, or, at least, to eulogize him. One sees only the good, the strong and likable facets; one is blinded to the character flaws and the negatives of that person. I write this reminiscence with my blinders...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. The desire of all nations shall come… Haggai 2:7 We of Dutch descent have often been accused of being ethnically-oriented Christians- to the exclusion of almost all other groups. “If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much” is more than just a pithy saying for many of us. We’re partial to names which end in “sma” or begin with “Vander.” We encourage our young people to date and marry a “wooden shoe.” We’re suspect of those who don’t salivate over green soup, or who do...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. And they remembered his words…It was May Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. Luke 24 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Mark 16 There are some things which are very dated. This was made clear to me when my...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths … and there was very great gladness.” Nehemiah 8:17 There are some things in our personal lives that we should hold on to no matter how busy and complicated our lives become. Each of us, for instance, should commit himself to pockets of time for reading worthwhile books and meditating. And personal prayer times ought to punctuate each day, reminding us that earthly...