Tag: family

The Master Craftsman: Finding Beauty in Life’s Struggles

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

January 14, 2026

The beautiful bowl’s beginning was anything but beautiful. A skilled woodworker turned the bowl from a large tree burl–an old knotty piece of wood. It has been said that stress, on a tree, causes a burl to develop. A car crashes into the tree, storms damage, insects attack, and abnormal rapid cell growth produces an ugly, dense, woody lump.

Stress can do ugly things to us as well. But we have a Master Craftsman who can produce something beautiful with it. God knows what to do with hazzles, heartaches, troubles, and tragedies. He is skilled in creating inner beauty from all of these. No difficulty that we will ever experience is outside of God’s ability to bring good from it.

In the book, “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” you will find an account of how my husband became a skilled woodworker. It all started with a big childhood disappointment. When Marlin was twelve years old, he found a scroll saw inside his Christmas package when what he really wanted was an electric train.

Now, in his retirement, he is having much more fun than watching a toy train run round and round on a track. He finds satisfaction and fulfillment as he works on his projects, plus, he has the added pleasure of blessing others with his finished pieces. He is not the Master Craftsman as this blog is titled. Only God deserves that title, but Marlin enjoys being the Master’s Craftsman.

We have the biblical account of Bezalel, one who was greatly gifted. “…He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.” Exodus 35:30-33 NKJV

The Master Craftsman has gifted you too. Give Him thanks and use your skills for His glory.

Charlotte

Link:godinlifesmoments.com

“Family Stories for God’s Glory” is sold on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Blessings Book Store, Harrisonburg, Va. Books may also be ordered directly from: chburkholder12@gmail.com

Dancing with a Broken Heart

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

June 10, 2025

Broken hearts don’t dance, do they? If you’ve ever had a broken heart, you know they don’t feel like dancing! I watched as the 98-year-old gentleman danced with his wife at our retirement home’s Sing-along. Watching this couple dancing, smiling, and having great fun at their age was amazing!

What others watching didn’t know–they both were dancing with broken hearts. Just days before, Carol needed to leave her husband of forty-three years in a unit for dementia patients. With eyes full of tears, she bravely accepted the inevitable and faced the challenge. My heart swelled with tenderness, and my eyes filled with tears as I watched her lead him down the aisle to our weekly Sing-along. They danced close together, her eyes held his; a smile lit up her face. Their joy came from within because their Lord lives there.

Broken hearts are all around us. Nurse Carly saw the broken heart of the grandpa who sat by the bed of his seriously ill baby granddaughter. Carly knew just what to do to comfort that broken heart. I hope you enjoy reading about it in “Family Stories for God’s Glory.”

The only way to dance with joy when circumstances are devastating is to know the tender Shepherd, who loves and cares for you.

Giving thanks to the One who heals broken hearts,

Charlotte

Books sold: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or contact author: chburkholder12@gmail.com

Blog link: godinlifesmoments.com

Attitude of Gratitude

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

November 22, 2024

What do you do with huge disappointments? When hopes are dashed and dreams turn out to be nightmares, then what do you do? When our grandson, Mitch, worked hard for four years to get his mechanical engineering degree, he no doubt, dreamed of walking across a stage, receiving his diploma, hearing the applause of family and friends, and flipping the tassel on his cap from the left to right. It didn’t happen that way for Mitch. Oh yes, he received his degree in mechanical engineering by Zoom. Covid made it impossible for him to experience graduation as it should have been.

Instead of walking across a stage, he reclined on a couch. Instead of wearing the graduation robe and cap with tassels, he wore a well-worn pair of sweats. Instead of all his friends and his grandparents (us) being able to give him hugs and affirmations, it was all done virtually. That seemed rather cold and distant. Virtual hugs just aren’t that warm.

So, what do you do with big disappointments? Mitch’s story in, “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” tells what he chose to do. Mitch is known for his attitude of gratitude. Throughout his life, before his college graduation, he exhibited that admirable quality. Therefore, instead of complaining on graduation day, Mitch responded, “It’s okay. The main thing is getting a good education.” Doesn’t that just warm your heart?

Find something to be grateful for today, even if it’s hard!

Charlotte

“Family Stories for God’s Glory” is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or by emailing chburkholder12@gmail.com

LAUGHTER: A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

October 28, 2024

The first time I met Mia, we had a lively conversation. She was from Germany, and although she had lived in America for many years, Germany was still her homeland. She loved her country and loved talking about it. I enjoyed her stories. You see, I live in a caring community. Someone from our hospitality committee regularly visits people living in assisted living, many of whom are lonely or never have visitors.

So, Mia and I became friends. After Mia celebrated 90-plus birthdays, she often reverted to telling her stories in German, forgetting that I couldn’t understand her. I reminded her, and she switched to English for a few sentences, and then German took over again. Finally, not wanting to keep bothering her, I quit reminding her and just listened to her talk. When she said something funny and laughed, I heartily laughed with her. I decided that laughter is a universal language.

In my book, “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” Grandson Kyle, who has the gift of making others laugh, pulled a fast one on me. It brought relief into a sad situation. God’s Word has this to say about laughter. “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” Proverbs 17:22.

Find something to laugh about today. It will do you good!

Charlotte

“Family Stories for God’s Glory,” is sold at Barnes and Nobel and Amazon.

May also be ordered from the author at: chburkholder12@gmail.com

From Pitiful to Priceless

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

He certainly looked pitiful. The little, black, wet, dog shivered in the policeman’s arms as he carried him into the emergency clinic. The pup’s one leg was injured from being hit by a vehicle-not broken, but he refused to walk on it. The policeman discovered this little starving, flea and worm-infested dog in the dark and rainy night.

We recently lost our beloved dog, Daisy, and our daughter, the veterinarian in charge when the street dog was brought in, decided he would be the perfect replacement for Daisy. We repeatedly told Dr. Heidi that we did not want another dog. For one thing, we traveled a good bit which created boarding issues. And we knew we would never find another dog as good as our Daisy.

“Just come visit us,” Heidi insisted, “we’ll take the dog home and you can see how you like him before you say, “No.” After ten weeks at the clinic, this dog was healthy, happy, and ready for a loving home. Heidi hoped it would be ours. We reluctantly agreed to go see him.

I fell in love with “this dog” as the people at the clinic called him. You can’t call a pup, “this dog” for a whole weekend, so I named him “‘Lil Daze” after our deceased Daisy. We took him home with us and after a few adjustments, he became the best little pet ever.

Today, ten years later, he has won the hearts of all he meets. He is smart, mostly obedient, calm, and doesn’t bark unless he has a good reason.

I’m so glad that when we were in a pitiful state, Jesus died for us and offered us a loving home for eternity. If we repent and allow Him to clean us up, we become His priceless treasures. Isaiah 43:4 ESV

God’s love is for you,

Charlotte

When you don’t see God Working–He Is!

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

July 2, 2024

Ever had a situation that seemed so bad that you thought nothing good could ever come from it? Ever had a tragedy that wiped out everything you treasured? Ever felt like God surely must have abandoned you?

It’s a blessing when, in retrospect, you look back and see how God was there after all, accomplishing things of which you had no idea. The title above is the title of one of the stories in “Family Stories for God’s Glory.” We, the grandparents, were in charge of our grandchildren when 12-year-old Grant, dove head first into the shallow end of the pool. Frightened, alarmed, and horrified were not big enough words to describe our emotions. But God was there. We discovered later what He was doing.

On a drizzly, cold, late afternoon I fell face down on a concrete walkway because I didn’t step high enough up to the curb. Thankfully, I didn’t break my glasses but, I couldn’t see out of my left eye. I went to the eye doctor the next day, and he immediately sent me to a retina specialist who confirmed that the retina was not torn. “But you have blood behind your right eye,” he informed me.

“Wow, I must have really hit hard.”

“No,” he replied, “this doesn’t have anything to do with your fall. You have wet macular degeneration in your right eye. It’s in the beginning stages, but it should be treated as soon as possible.”

Before I could absorb the fact that I had macular degeneration, I was hit with the urgency of treatment. I knew enough about macular degeneration to know what treatment meant. A needle in your eye! I was assured that some people don’t feel a thing. I was not among the “some people!”

The point here is that a bad thing turned into good. God used the fall to alert me to the macular degeneration early so that treatment could be started early. Praise the Lord!

Look for God’s hand in unexpected places.

Thankfully,

Charlotte

CHILDREN: PRECIOUS OR PROBLEMS?

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

June 17, 2024

The day we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary, we had our quiver full of children and grandchildren. We had four children, their supportive spouses, and eight grandchildren. Today we have four married children, supportive spouses, twelve grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren with seven and eight on the way. Our bushel of blessings just keeps bountifully being filled.

On page 31 of “Family Stories for God’s Glory” a verse is written along with our anniversary picture. “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward Him.” Psalm 127:3. (Verse 5 is where a quiver full is mentioned.) The book includes a story about each one of our children, spouses, and grandchildren. They are the treasures of my life.

The heart-breaker is children or grandchildren who are not treasured. Everyone of these precious persons is made in God’s image, uniquely created, and of infinite worth. Even the best of parents might forget this at times. A woman whose heart aches to hold her own baby in her arms left a lady’s meeting with hot tears running down her face. Her friend had complained. “My baby hasn’t slept for five nights, my husband has to leave early for work, so guess who has to do overnight baby duty,” she said disgustingly. “I really need a break.”

Children, grown, half-grown, or babies are gifts, and rewards from God.

God bless all you mothers and mothers-to-be.

Feeling blessed,

Charlotte

My Journey to Book Publishing

Charlotte BurkholderLeave a comment

I never imagined I would author a book. But here is “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” with my name on the cover! Starting with childhood stories of myself and the young boy who would one day become my husband, it is a compilation of real-life stories featuring our children and grandchildren. Now, at eighty-five years of age, my last story is not my last story but hints of the best that is to come. Each story portrays the presence and power of God. I invite you to join me on my journey of how it all happened.

I began writing this book before I knew I was writing a book. I wrote about my experiences for my own therapy, sometimes to preserve precious memories, and sometimes just for the joy of writing.

“How long did it take to write it?” I’m often asked by interested friends.

“Oh, about fifty years,” I’ll tell them, and then explain that some stories I wrote long ago, but never dreamed they would eventually be part of a book. The majority of stories, however, were written in recent years.

This book is for all ages. From serious to hilarious, it brings hope to all situations. You will enjoy the story about our two-year-old grandson when he thought God had made a terrible mistake. Hopefully, you will know God better and realize how much he cares about the little, “insignificant” things of life as well as the major crises.

I plan to blog weekly about the contents of the book. Come along! I’d love to have you join me on the journey.

Blessings, Charlotte

My book is available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Additionally, I sell copies directly. Contact me at chburkholder12@gmail.com.

For more insight, visit my blogs at: godinlifesmoments.com