Author: Tammy M Cardwell

Hard-Fought Hallelujah: Choosing Praise in Pain

Tammy M Cardwell4 Comments

The first time I heard these words…

I’ll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt been-through-hell hallelujah
And I’ll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail story-to-tell hallelujah, oh, oh
‘Cause God, You’ve been patient 
God, You’ve been gracious, faithful, whatever I’m feeling or facing
So, I’ll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt it-is-well hallelujah

I knew I was hearing a song that spoke to my life, perhaps more deeply than any other. Brandon Lake’s Hard Fought Hallelujah has touched countless hearts, but in that first listening I felt heard – in a way I’m not sure I ever had before.

If you know me, you know I’ve been there!
During some of the darkest days of our marriage – when I knew that, as soon as we got home from church, he would head out to meet the other woman – choosing to worship God with the congregation gave me strength to breathe, to keep standing, to keep showing up.

Once, when one of my sons was heading in a completely wrong direction and I was alone in the house with the pain, I cranked up the worship and poured my heart out to God.
That was my, “storm-tossed, torn-sail story to tell hallelujah.”
And it got me through.

Here’s the thing.
Thanksgiving, praise, and worship aren’t just for the good times. Anyone can offer up a “thank God” when something goes their way. Unbelievers do it all the time. But when you offer up a hallelujah while walking through hell barefoot in the dark? That’s different.

That kind of worship releases something powerful.
Choosing to worship God not because of what we see, but because of Who He is transforms us.
It alters how we see Him.
It alters how we see the storm.
It deepens our relationship with The One who is always there.

Does the storm leave? Maybe. Maybe not. But we rise above it regardless.

I encourage you:
Bring it!
No matter where you are, no matter what you’re walking through today – bring God your hallelujah!
Let your worship be more than a song. Make it your lifestyle.

If you’ve not heard the song for yourself, you can watch Brandon Lake sing it with Jelly Roll on YouTube.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

PS: Here is an eye-opening video of Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll being interviewed by KLove.

“Why Have You Forsaken Me?” A Hidden Message from the Cross

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This morning, I heard a minister say something that stopped me in my tracks.

He reminded me that the Bible’s chapters and verses are very new additions. In that era, if you wanted to draw someone’s attention to a particular passage, you’d quote the first words – similar to how we often mistake a song’s first line for its title today.

During Jesus’ days, the Bible was shared orally, and memorization was important. The psalms would have been well known by those who stood watching. According to this minister, and the idea rings true, when Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” He wasn’t merely crying out to God in anguish: He was intentionally pointing their hearts towards Psalm 22, a song that begins in devastation but ends in victory and a changed world.

Psalm 22 is written by David and ostensibly about him, but it is definitely prophetic and depicts the Crucifixion in astounding detail.

Anyone who, on that day, went in their thoughts to that particular psalm, and paid honest attention to its words, saw it playing out before their eyes.

But here’s the beautiful thing.

This psalm begins with suffering, with the devastation of being without God’s presence, but it ends in hope, in victory, in redemption.

Here is Psalm 22:27-31 in the NET version.

Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the LORD and turn to him! Let all the nations worship you! For the LORD is king and rules over the nations. All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. A whole generation will serve him; they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord. They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.

When at last Jesus shouted, “It is finished!” He knew the best part of our story was just beginning. Or, as I noted in the margin of my Bible, “The Cross was unimaginably horrific for Jesus to face, but He faced it knowing what would come as a result.”

And that’s why Good Friday is truly good.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

PATRIOTISM OF 1770.

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The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

In conduct, as in courage, you excel,
Still first to act what you advise so well.
                                                Pope’s Homer

In the early part of February, 1770, the women of Boston publicly pledged themselves to abstain from the use of tea, “as a practical execution of the non-importation agreement of their fathers, husbands and brothers.” We are credibly informed, writes the editor of the Boston Gazette of February ninth, “that upwards of one hundred ladies at the north part of the town, have, of their own free will and accord, come into and signed an agreement, not to drink any tea till the Revenue Acts are passed.” At that date three hundred matrons had become members of the league.

Three days after the above date, the young women followed the example of their mothers, multitudes signing a document which read as follows : “We, the daughters of those patriots who have and do now appear for the public interest, and, in that, principally regard their posterity, -as such do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate a plan which tends to deprive the whole community of all that is valuable in life.

Multitudes of females in New York and Virginia, and, if we mistake not, some in other states, made similar movements; and it is easy to perceive, in the tone of those early pledges of self-denial for honor, liberty, country’s sake, the infancy of that spirit which, quickly reaching its manhood, planned schemes of resistance to oppression on a more magnanimous scale, and flagged not till a work was done which filled half the world with admiration and the whole with astonishment.

______
Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

The Breath of Heaven: Lessons From the Deep

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Image Copyright Clarissa Pardue

Ever think about how a creature that lives its entire life in water can drown…or suffocate?

Like us, whales and dolphins must breathe air, which of course requires rising to the surface. Unlike us, they have a voluntary respiratory system. Some part of their brain must always be on the alert to prepare for and trigger each breath. It’s fascinating, really. I did a “quick” web search that turned into a deep dive into what it means to be a marine mammal and how, even when they’re sleeping, part of the brain is always alert to what’s going on around them. These amazing creatures are constantly aware of any potential dangers as well as the state of their own bodies.

Studies have shown that when a bottlenose dolphin sleeps, half of its brain sleeps while the eye on that side is “awake.” You’ve heard the expression “sleeping with one eye open”? This is it, literally. I tell you, the more you think about it, the more you study, the more fascinating it gets; and as usual my reading opened my spiritual eyes. I came here to post, because I’ve realized something: Marine mammals live their whole lives in water but, in a sense, they are not of the water.

Did that sentence trigger a memory? How many times have I heard it said that we are “in this world, but not of it”? Too many to count, for sure. John 17:14-16 makes it clear that this is not our home; we do not belong to this world. With that in mind, the more I think about whales and dolphins the more I see those of us who believe reflected in the way God designed them. They paint a beautiful picture of what it means to not just live but thrive in a place you’re not ultimately made for.

We were created to spend eternity with Him; this life is merely a training ground, our opportunity to get a taste of, and prepare for, what’s to come.

We are so much like these animals. Spiritual speaking, we too must be conscious about our very breath. It takes intentional effort to get into God’s presence, to receive the breath of the Holy Spirit. We must live ever aware of our spiritual condition, where we are in our walk with God. If we dive too deeply into the world, drawing further away from Him, we can be like a dolphin that gets disoriented and fails to surface. That way leads to death for the dolphin and spiritual death for us.

While we live here, hopefully thriving and reproducing – drawing others to Christ, we must remember that we were created for a different life, one where we dwell constantly in His presence. In the here and now, sensitivity to what is going on around us, the company we keep, the examples we set, and where we are in our relationship with God… These are necessities we cannot ignore.

May we live like these glorious creatures – with our spiritual eyes wide open and regularly rising into His presence where we can inhale the breath of Heaven.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

SUSANNA WRIGHT.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

Work for some good, be it ever so slowly;
Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly;
Labor – all labor is noble and holy.
                                                Mrs. Osgood.

Susanna Wright removed to this country with her parents from Warrington, in Great Britain, in the year 1714. The family settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Susanna was then about seventeen. “She never married; but after the death of her father, became the head of her own family, who looked up to her for advice and direction as a parent, for her heart was replete with every kind affection.”

She was a remarkable economist of time, for although she had the constant management of a large family, and, at times, of a profitable establishment, she mastered many of the sciences; was a good French, Latin and Italian scholar; assisted neighbors the settlement of estates, and was frequently consulted as a physician.

“She took great delight in domestic manufacture, and had constantly much of it produced in her family. For many years she attended to the rearing of silk worms, and with the silk, which she reeled and prepared herself, made many articles both of beauty and utility, dying the silk of various colors with indigenous materials. She had at one time upwards of sixty yards of excellent mantua returned to her from Great Britain, where she had sent the raw silk to be manufactured.

This industrious and pious Quakeress, who seems to have possessed all the excellencies defined in Solomon’s inventory of the virtuous woman, lived more than four score years, and ornament to her sex and blessing to the race.

                                    “There was no need,
In those good times, of trim callisthenics,-
And there was less of gadding, and far more
Of home-bred, heart-felt comfort, rooted strong
In industry, and bearing such rare fruit
As wealth may never purchase.”

______
Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

BOLD EXPLOIT OF A YOUNG GIRL.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

Some god impels with courage not thy own.
                                                            Pope’s Homer.

Robert Gibbes was the owner of a splendid mansion on John’s Island, a few miles from Charleston, South Carolina, known, during the Revolution, as the “Peaceful Retreat.” On his plantation the British encamped on a certain occasion; and the American authorities sent two galleys up the Stono river, on which the mansion stood, to dislodge them. Strict injunctions had been given to the men not to fire on the house, but Mr. Gibbes not being aware of this fact, when the firing commenced, thought it advisable to take his family to some remote place for shelter. They accordingly started in a cold and drizzly rain and in a direction ranging with the fire of the American guns. Shot struck the trees and cut the bushes beside their path for some distance. When about a mile from the mansion, and out of danger, reaching the huts occupied by the negroes on the plantation, Mrs. Gibbes, being chilled and exhausted, was obliged to lie down. Here, when they supposed all were safe, and began to rejoice over their fortunate escape, to their great astonishment, they discovered that a boy named Fenwick, a member of the family, had been left behind.* It was still raining, was very dark, and imminent danger must attend an effort to rescue the lad. And who would risk life in attempting it? The servants refused. Mr. Gibbes was gouty and feeble, and prudence forbade him to again venture out. At length, the oldest daughter of the family, Mary Ann, only thirteen years old, offers to go alone. She hastens off; reaches the house, still in possession of the British; begs the sentinel to let her enter; and though repeatedly repulsed, she doubles the earnestness of her entreaties, and finally gains admittance. She finds the child in the third story; clasps him in her arms; hastens down stairs, and, passing the sentry, flees with the shot whizzing past her head; and herself and the child are soon with the rest of the family.

* In addition to her own family, Mrs. Gibbes had the care of the seven orphan children of Mrs. Fenwick, her sister-in-law, and two other children. It is not surprising, that, in the confusion of a sudden flight from the house, one of the number should be left behind.

______
Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

THE WIFE OF GOVERNOR GRISWOLD.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

Happy the man, and happy sure he was,
So wedded.
                                    Hurdis.

The residence of the first Governor of Connecticut, was at Blackhall, near Long Island Sound. While British ships were lying at anchor in these waters on a certain occasion, a party of marines in pursuit of his Excellency, presented themselves at the door. It being impossible for him to escape by flight, his affectionate and thoughtful wife secreted him in a large new meat barrel or tierce — for although he was somewhat corpulent, he could not vie in physical rotundity with the early and honored Knickerbocker magistrates. He was cleverly packed away in the future home of doomed porkers, just as the soldiers entered and commenced their search. Not finding him readily, they asked his quick-witted wife one or two hard questions, but received no very enlightening answer. The Legislature had convened a day or two before at Hartford, and she intimated that he was or ought to be at the capital. Unsuccessful in their search, the soldiers took their boat and returned to the ship. Before they had reached the latter, his unpacked Honor was on a swift steed, galloping to Gubernatorial head-quarters

______
Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

My Bible Shelf Spotlight: The One Year Chronological Bible

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
Here you have all of the Bibles I currently own.

My second, third, and fourth Bible readthroughs were in the New Living Translation (NLT) Chronological Bible. A chronological Bible differs from a traditional one in that, instead of following the standard book order, it arranges events in the order in which they occurred—or as closely as theologians can determine.

This particular combination of translation and timeline was a revelation to me. Though my second readthrough took a year, the third took three months, and the fourth only six weeks. I was like a child who had just discovered the joy of real food; I couldn’t get enough.

The New Living Translation spoke to me in a way I understood and, to this day, it remains my favorite for everyday reading. However, where my suddenly open eyes were concerned, chronology was key.

The Bible is often referred to as the greatest story ever told. I hesitate to use the word “story” because many associate it with fiction, but the idea of a grand narrative fits in this case.

This collection of 66 books is packed with the most awe-inspiring and life-changing accounts ever recorded. When rearranged into historical order, your experience with the text shifts. Rather than reading 66 individual books, you engage with one epic account, where each event leads into the next. Your eyes widen as you make connections you had never imagined. For example, by the time I reached the end of Leviticus in my 90-day readthrough, I understood its purpose like never before.

Leviticus was the book where I had previously stumbled in my attempts to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Now, I grasped the necessity of its detailed laws and instructions. The Israelites, though enslaved for hundreds of years, were destined to become a mighty nation. Leviticus served as their crash course in how to function as a healthy, well-governed people. Of course, there is much more to Leviticus, and I have come to genuinely love it, but at that point, I was simply grateful to understand at least one reason why it was included in the Bible.

The Bible is available in chronological order in several translations. The one pictured here was actually my ninth readthrough Bible, structured with selections that, if read without stopping to study, would take about 15 minutes a day. Regardless of the translation, this remains true—you can read through the Bible in a year by consistently committing even that small amount of time.

Now that we’ve covered chronology, let’s talk about translation. The New Living Translation is a thought-for-thought or dynamic equivalence translation. This means it focuses on conveying the meaning behind sentences and paragraphs rather than adhering strictly to a word-for-word approach. By allowing the original thought to guide the translation, the NLT stays true to scripture’s meaning while making it more accessible to contemporary readers. Idioms and cultural expressions that were clear to the original audience are rendered in ways we can better appreciate today.

Here’s an example of the difference between the King James Version (KJV) and the NLT:

Proverbs 26:18-19

KJV:
As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

NLT:
Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

I had growing boys when I first read this verse in the NLT, and the words hit me hard. How many times had I heard my sons do exactly this—lie to one another and then try to smooth it over by saying, “I was only joking”? I had never seen these verses in such a light before, nor realized how dangerous and damaging such lies could be. The phrases “deadly weapon” and “only joking” resonated deeply, slipping into my heart in a new way and affecting my parenting.

And isn’t that what the Bible is meant to do? It changes us and how we interact with those around us. If it doesn’t, we’re missing something and I try hard to avoid that mistake. When reading the Bible, I strive to remain open to anything the Holy Spirit wants me to see and to be quick to put it into practice in my life.

Until next time, I’m still…

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

REMARKABLE PRESENCE OF MIND AND SELF-POSSESSION.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

Were I the monarch of the earth,
     And master of the swelling sea,
I would not estimate their worth,
     Dear woman, half the price of thee.
                                                            Geo. P. Morris.

Mr. Ralph Izard, a true “liberty man,” resided, during the struggle for Independence, near Dorchester, in South Carolina. He was for awhile aid-de-camp to the commander of the Light Troops, and was an especial object of British hatred. On one occasion, while at home, he came very near falling into the hands of the enemy. A number of British soldiers surrounded his house, and on discovering them he hid himself in the clothes-press. They were confident he was in the house, and having instituted a thorough but ineffectual search, threatened to burn the building, unless his wife would point out his place of concealment. She adroitly evaded answering directly all queries respecting his quarters. They next robbed his wardrobe; seized all the better articles they could find in the house, and even tried to force off her finger-rings. She still remained composed and courageous, yet courteous and urbane, knowing that much, every thing, in fact, depended on her self-control. Her calmness and apparent unconcern led the marauders to conclude that they had been misled in supposing Mr. Izard was in the house; and at length they departed. He then sprang from his covert, and, rushing out by a back door, crossed the Ashley river and notified the Americans on the opposite side, of the state of things.

Meantime, the ruffians returned to the house, and, strange to say, went directly to the clothes-press. Again disappointed, they retired; but they were soon met by a body of cavalry, handsomely whipped, and all the fine articles belonging to Mr. Izard’s wardrobe and house were restored.

______

Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

ESTHER GASTON.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The following is an excerpt from the book Noble Deeds of American Women from the Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls. Though printed for American's youth in 1851, this is no children's book!

True fortitude is seen in great exploits
That justice warrants and that wisdom guides
                                                                        Addison.

The good alone are great.
                                                Beattie.

On the morning of July thirtieth, 1770, Esther Gaston, afterwards the wife of Alexander Walker, hearing the firing at the battle of Rocky Mount, took with her a sister-in-law, and, well mounted, pushed on towards the scene of conflict. They soon met two or three cowardly men, hastening from the field of action. Esther hailed and rebuked then, and finding entreaties would not cause them to retrace their steps, she seized the gun from the hands of one of them, exclaiming, “Give us your guns, then, and we will stand in your places.” The cowards, abashed, now wheeled, and, in company with the females, hurried on to face the cannon’s mouth.

While the strife was still raging, Esther and her companion busied themselves in dressing the wounded and quenching the thirst of the dying. Even their helpless enemies shared in their humane services.

During the battle of Hanging Rock, which occurred the next week, Esther might be seen at Waxhaw church, which was converted for the time into a hospital, administering to the wants of the wounded.

As kind as patriotic, with her hands filled with soothing cordials, she was seen, through all her life, knocking at the door of suffering humanity.

______

Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______