GivenGrace! Blog'ish

A few older posts to kick off our Blog'ish.

If The Titanic Had Not Sunk

If the Titanic had not sunk… I would not have my husband and children! 

Over one hundred years ago in an area of Europe, Emil married Tererjia and started a family. They were undoubtedly filled with great joy when little Joseph was born to them. Yet great sadness awaited them with the birth of another child. Tererjia died, and it is assumed the child died as well, since nothing else is ever heard about that little one.

At some point, Emil left young Joseph in the care of others, and sailed to America to begin a new life there. Once he was able, after about three years, he sent for nine year old Joseph to come to him. Bringing him was a woman named Mary Clara, who was to marry Emil. The two boarded the Titanic in April of 1912 and set sail across the Atlantic Ocean.

During the voyage, as the Titanic was sinking, Mary Clara got a sleeping Joseph out of bed and brought him up on the deck of the ship. After tossing him safely into a lifeboat, Mary Clara lost her own balance and plunged into the icy water below. She drowned in the undertow of a lifeboat.

Joseph remembers sitting in the lifeboat with no (street) clothes on, his fingernails frozen… aching. He said music was being played on the big ship. (In his later years Joseph, along with other Titanic survivors, would recount the events of that night in an article in a Cleveland newspaper.)

After being picked up by the Carpathia and brought to America, Joseph was unable to reunite with his father, as Joseph could speak no English, and didn't know where his father lived. He was sent back to the original embarking point in England. Months later a relative of Emil's named Andreas would bring Joseph to America on the ship the St. Louis, and reunite the father and son on a farm in Ohio where Emil was working.

Emil met and married a woman in America with whom he went on to have eight more children. The third child, George, Joseph's half-brother, would become my father-in-law in 1974.

God is completely and awesomely sovereign and in control of everything. 

Through the horrific tragedy of the Titanic's sinking, Emil ended up marrying the woman in America that he did, having the children they did, and one of them with his wife would in turn have the man I would one day marry. Our own three children also came as a result of that fateful night in April, 1912.

Could God have brought George and his children (which included my beloved husband, and then our children) into being without these tragic chain of events? Of course He could have! But He instead chose to use those events - including the sinking of the Titanic, as part of His plan to bring about something that I consider to be very good - my husband and children!

Our great God's promise to cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose is absolutely true (Romans 8:28). His good and sovereign plan is woven into our lives through all things He ordains and allows... and we are exceedingly grateful for this.

37 Wonderful Years! Thank You, Lord! (as of 2011)

Glorieta!

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These are from a wonderful trip to beautiful Glorieta, NM to help dear friends celebrate a birthday! What a lovely, lovely place it is... and what a grand time we had.

Sandia Crest

Sandia Crest. Awesome views... and crisp snow our Lord had sprinkled on His mountain.

Grandpa (John) and Zoe shopping!

We Are Grateful

We are exceedingly grateful and give thanks to our loving God and Savior --- for our life, our every breath, for all He's kindly bestowed upon us as we sojourn on this earth, for each deep valley and each exhilarating mountaintop He's given us to walk through, and for all He's done for us through Calvary's Cross which has reconciled us to Him and made us His children --- but most of all we are grateful because of Who He is. 

He's the steadfast and unchanging One, Who is love and Who rules over all, Who calls us to account for the lives He's given us, and Who allows us to know, love, and serve Him as He accomplishes all He desires. Truly a mighty God Who surpasses anything we can say, and we honor and worship Him.

We Will Miss Dad (Posted October 2006)

Our family flew up to the Great Lakes area for John's father's funeral this past week. We are so grateful we were able to go back and show our respect for this wonderful man by being there to say goodbye to him. Though we had already been missing him for some time (he had Alzheimer's in his last years and didn't really know us anymore) --- we will sorely miss him now.

We were blessed to be back up in that neck of the woods, to be with beloved family members, see the area where John grew up, and to once again marvel at the display of beautiful fall colors. This trip gave us much to savor, and we are thanking our Lord for the life He gave Dad (89 wonderful years!)--- and the time we had with him.

© 2006-2011 all rights reserved for this Blog'ish

John and Kim Namestnik       www.givengrace.com

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