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The Carpenter of Nazareth

In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steal the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.


And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.

The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"

And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.

So, up the hill the long years through
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:

"O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"

And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation--"all things new."

"The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!"


George Blair, "The Carpenter of Nazareth" in The Story of Jesus in the World's Literature, ed. Edward Wagenknecht (Creative Age Press, 1946),117

MERRY CHRISTMAS

                     He is the only way, the only truth, and the 
             only light who can heal us and help us.  
                 Let us all Come Unto our Savior.     
          His arms are outstretched waiting for us to enter in.
                                                      Make room for Him

                                                      Love Ben and Dixie

AdJuStInG

My brother, David, our son Matthew and Ben and I went biking up Black Smith Fork Canyon in Cache Valley Utah. It was a glorious ride. Thanks Heavenly Father for the beauty all around me, especially the company. I am thankful for my health that allows me to get out and breathe fresh air.

Getting to the top was easy with a tailwind pushing us up, then we had a big time headwind on our way down pushing us back uphill. So, I went uphill both ways??!! Great ride. Great memories.

Next adventure Ben and I decided to go on was up La Plata Canyon. This is a beautiful canyon filled with many, many ice cold waterfalls.

Ben is posing by a little waterfall.

We decided to hike around a bit

We found some awesome rocks I wanted to bring home, so I tried to carry them like the Congolese. I pretty much failed.

 I mean I did fail in the carry the rock on your head exercise.

Ben did it "Ben's way"

Welcome to my home.

Eat, Jeep, and be Happy was Ben's motto for the day.

I wonder if Ben will still love me if my face gets stuck in this position?

Nope, he says he still loves me, but please "stop making faces dixie"

Good bye La Plata Canyon--Thank you for a wonderful day.

REUNION-CONGO-FAMILY

This past weekend Ben and I had the wonderful opportunity to re-unite with some of our Congo Friends. Yes, this was so exciting and my heart was so full.  I could NOT keep back the tears. The Lord blesses his children. I know it. He loves us all. I am so thankful we are never alone. He is always listening and holding out his extended arms to each of us.

 

All children love to push buttons!

 This is my niece. She made blankets for her YW New Beginnings Project. She is giving them to our sweet friend "J" who will be going to the Congo in 3 weeks and will be giving them to a special orphanage that we love. My niece was adopted 13 1/2 years ago from the Martial Islands. Ever since we served in the Congo, she has wanted to donate something really bad and she finally had the chance.

 This is another Congo Reunion--special friends of ours we met--only because of the Congo were we able to connect. We will never forget each other. Everyone here were "Angels" at one point or another for each other! We each had prayers and they were answered!! through each other.

 Do we look happy!! Yes, we are. We are with family. These are our two youngest grand daughters born while we were serving our mission. Ben has Miss Elsie Pearl and I have Miss Annabelle.

Our "OO" Family Reunion 2012. The Hatch's are all together here. We are missing quite a few. We are getting ready to hike the Wind Caves in Logan, UT. Families can be together forever and we are so thankful. I am thankful we were able to all meet up in Logan. There were about 50 of us together hiking, swimming and eating!! 
Thank you Darren and DeAnn for hosting this years reunion!

SUPER Gma and Gpa

-- My parents--They are wonderful! There has not been one event that they have missed in any of our lives. They support and love each and every one of us. They are 75 years young!! They served a mission in the Venezuala Caracas Mission. They have blessed each of our lives with their righteous choices. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

The Super G's

The Grand's

The Children-oldest to youngest of course

Mom and Dad with their children--my Mom is very happy isn't she!

We try really hard to be funny...it takes great effort.

The Children with Spouses

 

                                  WE ARE A HAPPY FAMILY!

i SCREAM you SCREAM we all SCREAM for Nice Cream

 Yes, yes, yes, there is icecream in Kinshasa. Does it look like we like this place?

 This past Sunday was our last week in the KasaVubu Ward. Henock (Ben's arm is around him) is one of Ben's faithful bball boys, and a faithful Young Man. He is there every week. His steadiness will prepare him to be a great missionary one day.

 This is Christian. He leaves for his mission March 2. Doesn't he look ready to serve? He has been an inspiration and a delight to know.

 I jumped into this shot, cuz I like Chistian too!

 This is Antoinette. She is one of the Young Women that was baptized almost a year ago. She is sweet and quiet yet has a powerful testimony. I have been here for 17 1/2 months and no, I didn't work at my French enough to communicate very well, but I have felt the spirit each week as these young women entered the room and made comments in the lessons. This has been a rewarding spiritual experience working with the Youth here in the Congo.

 Now this is a picture of the roadsides  as we are driving down the road on our way to an orphanage. Sister Stagg's daughter donated some underwear to give to an orphange. We headed out with bread, rice, paper, pencils, laundry detergent and made it our adventure for the day.

 You can wear anything in this Country and look good. I was really taking a picture of the trash in the background, but when I came home and looked at these pictures I didn't realize I got a pretty good shot of those striped pants and flowered shirt.

 This is a common sight here in the Congo...and no this is not overloaded, and do you wonder if the brakes work. Me too.

 We are almost there....

 This little one is a cutie...she wasn't afraid of us and I got to hold her without her being concerned or worried. She has been raised in this orphanage.

 This is fish soaking in salt water. Yes, this is probably dinner. There are 20 children in this orphanage.

 This is the office at the orphanage. I loved the blow up globe hanging from the ceiling.

 This young man is one of our favorites. He has been in the orphanage since he was about 1 year old. He is a good boy. He is a member of the Church. He came to our Youth Conference. I did not know at that time that he was an orphan.

 This is the boys room.

 This is the girls room.

 This is the school room. Our friend, who owns this orphanage, her father taught her that girls need an education. She named this orphanage after her father, making sure girls get an education. She spoke with respect and love for her father for teaching her and instilling in her the need for all girls to receive an education. Of course she teaches boys too. This culture does not emphasize the need for an education for girls.

 Unveiling the underwear! This is the owner of the orphanage and Sister Stagg unveiling the exciting new underwear.

 Whooo Hoo look what she's got!

 I love this picture. She was very excited.....

 and so was he. He had Bruce the shark on his bottom. He was a happy camper.

 Elder Hatch was playing ball with the little girl, then he ran up and said, "Boo"...that was kind of scarry, so he is returning back to the chairs. The hole that is dug is where they dump their trash and then fill it up and dig another one.

 Saying good bye to our cute friends. I love this picture. The kids love Elder Hatch!

Fun Adventures in Kinshasa--Goodbyes are always hard

We are off and on our way home...sight seeing as we go of course.

 

Gotta love this Place! Great memories! Great Times! Great Friends! Great Life!