Very Special Family Heirlooms
My wife and I have been blessed with some very special family heirlooms. No they are not worth much on any market or garage sale - but there value is beyond imagination to us personally. I want to describe two of these treasures for you.
One special treasure is my father-in-law’s New Testament. He died when my wife was about 9 years old - long before I had a chance to meet him. His name was Edgar Jones. The small blue New Testament was part of his possessions.
The book is small and fits easily into a shirt pocket. On the front below the words New Testament is a Crown with the symbolic initial GR. The “GR” has smaller “VI” between the two initials. Then below this is the old symbol of the Royal Canadian Air Force. For those that are too young GR with the “VI” inserted was the emblem of His Majesty George the VI – King of the British Empire.
Inside the front cover is the following inscriptions.
13/5/44
Presented to
LAC Jones, E.R.
By the
British Foreign Bible Society in
Canada and Newfoundland
“Be strong and of good courage”
Signed, E.R. Woodside, Padre, Dartmouth, N.S.
One the first page to the right you read these words….
“A MESSAGE FROM HIS MAJESTY THE KING
To all serving in my forces by sea, or land, or in the air, and indeed to all my people engaged in defence of the Realm, I commend the reading of this book. For centuries the Bible has been a wholesome and strengthening influence in our national life, it behoves us in these momentous days to turn with renewed faith to this Divine source of comfort and inspiration.
September 15, 1939
Edgar served on the east coast of Canada doing warfare against the German Submarines in the 1940s. The German subs came into Canada’s costal waters sinking our ocean going vessels right off our shore. Edgar’s part was to help protect our people.
The second treasure for our family is my Grandma Kirkpatrick’s “Hope Chest”.
The Hope Chest was hand built by my Grandpa Schledee in southern Texas in about 1900. Today it is about 106 years old and it sits as a hope chest in our family room. It is built of Camphor Wood from southern Texas, a wood that was used for making coffins.
The Hope Chest is grooved on the top with six notches that allowed the ropes tied around it to find a place to hold the contents securely. After 106 years the fragrant sap of the camphor tree is almost gone leaving large holes in the wood.
When I sanded the wood down preparing it for an oil finish, the fragrance was there very powerfully. That was the day I discovered the Camphor Wood. For years it had been covered with wallpaper – 15 layers to be exact. The Hope Chest stood at the foot of my grandparent’s bed all those years on the farm in southern Saskatchewan. All of the kids used it as our launch pad when we jumped on to their bed.
So many memories in these two treasures – a little Bible and a big old box. These special treasures that are so close to our hearts are invaluable to connecting us to our roots. Emma Kirkpatrick was part of an immigrant family from Hamburg, Germany coming to southern Texas – then later to southern Saskatchewan. Edgar Jones was part of an immigrant family from Minnesota, U.S.A. Both from large families that pioneered the flat prairie of southern Saskatchewan.
I wouldn’t give up these treasures for any money.
Yet as I pause today to reflect on these special family pieces, I am reminded of something that is even more important to my wife and me. It is not quite like a book or a box. It is not so tangible and yet it is. It is something that we would never give up –and yet some people and things try to steal it away at times. It value is far greater than anything that we own now.
It is Peace. It is from God himself delivered by Jesus his son. It is a family heirloom that is beyond monetary value. It has been “in the family” for over 2000 years now. Each one of us that have held it close to our hearts, have loved it dearly. Jesus describes it this way…
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV)
It carries a huge “rider” with it – just like any real good insurance policy. This is like no other package that you will ever buy or receive. It prevents troubled hearts and raw fear. Because with it – comes the fact that God himself is there to personally supervise its application to every aspect of my life. He said one special thing that I hold tightly to… “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)
Can I ask you today…. Is your life a little tough right now… with many or even some upsetting things happening? Can I ask you to simply stop, sense and know God’s Peace. It is there just for you. It is a great treasure that he has allowed us to have from the family heirlooms.
One special treasure is my father-in-law’s New Testament. He died when my wife was about 9 years old - long before I had a chance to meet him. His name was Edgar Jones. The small blue New Testament was part of his possessions.
The book is small and fits easily into a shirt pocket. On the front below the words New Testament is a Crown with the symbolic initial GR. The “GR” has smaller “VI” between the two initials. Then below this is the old symbol of the Royal Canadian Air Force. For those that are too young GR with the “VI” inserted was the emblem of His Majesty George the VI – King of the British Empire.
Inside the front cover is the following inscriptions.
13/5/44
Presented to
LAC Jones, E.R.
By the
British Foreign Bible Society in
Canada and Newfoundland
“Be strong and of good courage”
Signed, E.R. Woodside, Padre, Dartmouth, N.S.
One the first page to the right you read these words….
“A MESSAGE FROM HIS MAJESTY THE KING
To all serving in my forces by sea, or land, or in the air, and indeed to all my people engaged in defence of the Realm, I commend the reading of this book. For centuries the Bible has been a wholesome and strengthening influence in our national life, it behoves us in these momentous days to turn with renewed faith to this Divine source of comfort and inspiration.
September 15, 1939
Edgar served on the east coast of Canada doing warfare against the German Submarines in the 1940s. The German subs came into Canada’s costal waters sinking our ocean going vessels right off our shore. Edgar’s part was to help protect our people.
The second treasure for our family is my Grandma Kirkpatrick’s “Hope Chest”.
The Hope Chest was hand built by my Grandpa Schledee in southern Texas in about 1900. Today it is about 106 years old and it sits as a hope chest in our family room. It is built of Camphor Wood from southern Texas, a wood that was used for making coffins.
The Hope Chest is grooved on the top with six notches that allowed the ropes tied around it to find a place to hold the contents securely. After 106 years the fragrant sap of the camphor tree is almost gone leaving large holes in the wood.
When I sanded the wood down preparing it for an oil finish, the fragrance was there very powerfully. That was the day I discovered the Camphor Wood. For years it had been covered with wallpaper – 15 layers to be exact. The Hope Chest stood at the foot of my grandparent’s bed all those years on the farm in southern Saskatchewan. All of the kids used it as our launch pad when we jumped on to their bed.
So many memories in these two treasures – a little Bible and a big old box. These special treasures that are so close to our hearts are invaluable to connecting us to our roots. Emma Kirkpatrick was part of an immigrant family from Hamburg, Germany coming to southern Texas – then later to southern Saskatchewan. Edgar Jones was part of an immigrant family from Minnesota, U.S.A. Both from large families that pioneered the flat prairie of southern Saskatchewan.
I wouldn’t give up these treasures for any money.
Yet as I pause today to reflect on these special family pieces, I am reminded of something that is even more important to my wife and me. It is not quite like a book or a box. It is not so tangible and yet it is. It is something that we would never give up –and yet some people and things try to steal it away at times. It value is far greater than anything that we own now.
It is Peace. It is from God himself delivered by Jesus his son. It is a family heirloom that is beyond monetary value. It has been “in the family” for over 2000 years now. Each one of us that have held it close to our hearts, have loved it dearly. Jesus describes it this way…
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV)
It carries a huge “rider” with it – just like any real good insurance policy. This is like no other package that you will ever buy or receive. It prevents troubled hearts and raw fear. Because with it – comes the fact that God himself is there to personally supervise its application to every aspect of my life. He said one special thing that I hold tightly to… “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)
Can I ask you today…. Is your life a little tough right now… with many or even some upsetting things happening? Can I ask you to simply stop, sense and know God’s Peace. It is there just for you. It is a great treasure that he has allowed us to have from the family heirlooms.
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Monday, June 05, 2006
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