Letter for Noël on Her Birthday

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{{InProcess}}<blockquote>''27 de Dezembro é o dia de aniversário de Noel Piper. Nesta carta aberta, o marido John celebra a dádiva do seu apoio.''</blockquote><blockquote>Querida Noel, </blockquote>
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{{info}}<blockquote>''December 27 is Noël Piper’s birthday. In this open letter, her husband John celebrates the gift of her support.''</blockquote>
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Parabéns, Noel. O teu nome sustenta a tua hora. Nasceste dois dias depois do Natal. Quando, em 1947, o teu pai, algures pelo mundo ao serviço da Marinha, recebeu o telegrama a informar que Noel Francis Henry tinha nascido,&nbsp;enviou um telegrama de volta a perguntar: "Rapaz ou rapariga?"
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Desde o primeiro dia em que te vi, no verão&nbsp;de 1966,&nbsp;nunca me pus essa questão. Tudo em mim dizia, Rapariga! Agora, 38 anos de casamento acabados de celebrar (21 de Dezembro), estou profundamente agradecido por teres sido e continuares a ser maravilhosamente mulher.
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Dear Noël,  
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Esse era o primeiro critério para uma esposa—ser mulher. O segundo era: estimar Jesus Cristo. O terceiro era gostar de mim. O quarto era estar disposta a ir para onde quer que Deus nos chamasse. (Lembras-te da conversa que tivemos no sofá do teu apartamento, no primeiro verão em que&nbsp;eu enumerei todos os lugares difíceis de que me conseguia lembrar e tu disseste Sim? Eu nem te tinha ainda pedido em casamento.)
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Happy birthday, Noël. Your name bears your time. You were born two days after Christmas. When your father got the telegram halfway around the world in the Navy in 1947 that Noël Frances Henry had been born, he telegrammed back: “Boy or girl?
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De facto, uma das coisas que continuo a gostar em ti até hoje é o teu empenho em ir para qualquer lado e fazer qualquer coisa independentemente das circunstâncias, desde que seja sob a orientação de Cristo. Uma das tuas frases mais famosas perto de Belém foi quando me senti tão desencorajado num Domingo à tarde depois da missa, após o almoço, em que pus as mãos no rosto e disse “Acho que devemos ir para África.” E tu do quarto, sem hesitar, disseste, “Diz-me quando devo fazer as malas.” Fantástico!
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From the first time I saw you in the summer of 1966, I never had that question. Everything in me said, Girl! Now, having just celebrated 38 years of marriage (December 21), I am deeply thankful that you were and are wonderfully female.
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Que dádiva que tu és para mim! I hope you don’t mind my glorying in ''getting'' gifts on your birthday. All Christian Hedonists know that when I exult in you as a gift on your birthday ''you'' get the honor! I am happy to have it so.  
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That was the first criterion I had for a wife—female. The second was: She treasures Jesus Christ. The third was that she like me. The fourth was that she be willing to go wherever God calls us. (Remember the conversation on the couch in your apartment that first summer when I named the hardest places I could think of, and you said, Yes? I had not even asked you to marry me yet.)
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Por isso, hoje celebro a bênção do teu ''apoio sólido e protector'', camada sobre camada.  
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In fact one of the things I love about you to this day is your commitment to go anywhere and do anything under any circumstances, as long as Christ is in the lead. One of your most famous lines around Bethlehem is from the time I was so discouraged, I put my face in my hands and said after church one Sunday afternoon, “I think we should move to Africa.” You said, without hesitation, from the bedroom, “Tell me when to pack.” Awesome!
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*Apoiaste-me na minha fé. Quando&nbsp;vacilei&nbsp;perante o desânimo, tu nunca te deixaste ir abaixo, mantiveste-te firme. Orientaste-me para o nosso soberano Rei, uma e outra vez.
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What a gift you are to me! I hope you don’t mind my glorying in ''getting'' gifts on your birthday. All Christian Hedonists know that when I exult in you as a gift on your birthday ''you'' get the honor! I am happy to have it so.
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*Apoiaste-me na teologia, desbravando os lugares obscuros e ficando,&nbsp;por fim, onde eu fico; contente por exultar comigo a boa-nova&nbsp; a nós pecadores na Divina Graça de Deus. Oh, that all could see how precious it is! Faithful to us for ''his'' sake, not finally ours. Nothing more solid and sure!
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*Apoiaste-me no trabalho e na verdade, mas nunca de modo bajulador ou auto-inflamado. És particularmente imune a John Piper. És apenas rocha um sólido refúgio e ''ali ''para ele.
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*Apoiaste-me na gestão da casa com quatro filhos pequenos, agora crescidos e uma filha nascida fora de tempo, ainda em crescimento. Só uma mãe pode saber o que custa ao coração e ao corpo estar sempre presente para as crianças. Mas eu tenho consciência disso e não o tenho como dado adquirido. É algo que deve ser louvado. O preço foi elevado. Os nossos filhos não são perfeitos, mas são fortes com a tua força e isso deixa-me contente. Que a Talitha possa dar essa força ao seu homem.<br>
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*Apoiaste-me tal como o fez a noiva da Canção de Salomão—dando-me mais prazeres do que aqueles que eu poderia alguma vez merecer e acalentando em mim esperanças de que o paraíso, que tem de ser melhor embora lá não haja casamento, será indescritivelmente bom.
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*Apoiaste-me no pedido invulgar que Deus me fez —privado (porque eu escrevo), público (porque eu prego) e controverso (porque eu tomo algumas posições impopulares). Em privado proteges-me, em público apoias-me, na controvérsia ajudas-me a manter o rumo.<br>
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Quando estivemos juntos em Red Wing, pela altura do nosso aniversário há dois dias atrás, disse-te sentidamente (uma frase em que sempre acreditaste):Todos estes anos juntos e mesmo agora, só tenho olhos para ti - até na minha mente. Disseste-me; "Esse é um bom presente de aniversário." E eu transformei-o num poema. É um voto renovado: Só tu, Noel. Só tu, até que a morte nos separe. Amo-te
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So today I celebrate the blessings of ''your rock solid support'', layer upon layer. 
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*You have supported me in my faith. When I have wavered in discouragement, you have never sunk, but stood. You have directed me to our sovereign King again and again.
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*You have supported me in theology, pushing on the unclear places and standing, in the end, where I stand, glad to glory with me in the good news for us sinners of God’s great God-centeredness. O, that all could see how precious it is! Faithful to us for ''his'' sake, not finally ours. Nothing more solid and sure!
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*You have supported me in the work and in the truth but not in flattery or ego-puffery. You are singularly unimpressed with John Piper. Just rock solid and ''there'' for him.
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*You have supported me in managing a home with four small sons, now grown, and one late-arriving daughter, now growing. Only a mother can know what it costs the heart and body to be there for children all the time. But I know some of the cost. And I do not take it for granted. It shall not go unpraised. The price was high. Our sons are not perfect, but they are strong with your strength, and I am glad. May Talitha bring such strength to her man.
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*You have supported me as a Song of Solomon bride—bringing me more pleasures than I could ever deserve, and wakening in me hopes that heaven, which must be better, though there is no marriage there, will be indescribably good.
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*You have supported me in the unusual calling God has given me—private (because I write), public (because I preach), and controversial (because I take some unpopular stands). In private you protect me, in public you stand with me, in controversy you help me keep my bearings.
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When we were together in Red Wing on our anniversary a few days ago, I said to you, and meant it (a statement you have always trusted): In all our years together and now, I only have eyes for you—even in my head. You said, “That’s a good anniversary gift.” I have turned it into a poem. It is a renewed pledge: Only you, Noël. Only you, till death do us part. I love you. 
Johnny  
Johnny  
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<blockquote>For None But You<br>December, 2006</blockquote><blockquote>Before his boils made him unable to<br>Feel anything but pain,<br>Job made a covenant: “I will be true,”<br>He pledged. “If I should gain</blockquote><blockquote>Or lose the world, I will not use my eyes<br>To look upon a maid,<br>Nor let my mind spy or pursue a prize<br>By which you are betrayed.”</blockquote><blockquote>And thus he loved his wife with all his heart.<br>And I have done the same,<br>But not to imitate, as though the art<br>Of such obsession came</blockquote><blockquote>By wanting more, and saying No to this.<br>It has not been that way,<br>Though tearing out the eye is good, the bliss<br>Of eyes that will not stray</blockquote><blockquote>Is best. Nor do I mean such bliss that breaks<br>Beneath the weight of pain,<br>But ever holds like steel and never shakes<br>Beneath a world of strain.</blockquote><blockquote>This is the deep allegiance of my eyes<br>And of my mind and heart.<br>It is not wrought by pow’r of will that tries<br>With effort to depart</blockquote><blockquote>From foreign fire. It is a gift to me<br>And you. I will be true,<br>So help me God. These eyes will never be<br>For anyone but you. <br><br></blockquote>  
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<blockquote>For None But You<br>December, 2006</blockquote><blockquote>Before his boils made him unable to<br>Feel anything but pain,<br>Job made a covenant: “I will be true,”<br>He pledged. “If I should gain</blockquote><blockquote>Or lose the world, I will not use my eyes<br>To look upon a maid,<br>Nor let my mind spy or pursue a prize<br>By which you are betrayed.”</blockquote><blockquote>And thus he loved his wife with all his heart.<br>And I have done the same,<br>But not to imitate, as though the art<br>Of such obsession came</blockquote><blockquote>By wanting more, and saying No to this.<br>It has not been that way,<br>Though tearing out the eye is good, the bliss<br>Of eyes that will not stray</blockquote><blockquote>Is best. Nor do I mean such bliss that breaks<br>Beneath the weight of pain,<br>But ever holds like steel and never shakes<br>Beneath a world of strain.</blockquote><blockquote>This is the deep allegiance of my eyes<br>And of my mind and heart.<br>It is not wrought by pow’r of will that tries<br>With effort to depart</blockquote><blockquote>From foreign fire. It is a gift to me<br>And you. I will be true,<br>So help me God. These eyes will never be<br>For anyone but you. <br> <br></blockquote>
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Revision as of 18:03, 9 December 2008

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By John Piper About Marriage
Part of the series Taste & See

December 27 is Noël Piper’s birthday. In this open letter, her husband John celebrates the gift of her support.

Dear Noël,

Happy birthday, Noël. Your name bears your time. You were born two days after Christmas. When your father got the telegram halfway around the world in the Navy in 1947 that Noël Frances Henry had been born, he telegrammed back: “Boy or girl?”

From the first time I saw you in the summer of 1966, I never had that question. Everything in me said, Girl! Now, having just celebrated 38 years of marriage (December 21), I am deeply thankful that you were and are wonderfully female.

That was the first criterion I had for a wife—female. The second was: She treasures Jesus Christ. The third was that she like me. The fourth was that she be willing to go wherever God calls us. (Remember the conversation on the couch in your apartment that first summer when I named the hardest places I could think of, and you said, Yes? I had not even asked you to marry me yet.)

In fact one of the things I love about you to this day is your commitment to go anywhere and do anything under any circumstances, as long as Christ is in the lead. One of your most famous lines around Bethlehem is from the time I was so discouraged, I put my face in my hands and said after church one Sunday afternoon, “I think we should move to Africa.” You said, without hesitation, from the bedroom, “Tell me when to pack.” Awesome!

What a gift you are to me! I hope you don’t mind my glorying in getting gifts on your birthday. All Christian Hedonists know that when I exult in you as a gift on your birthday you get the honor! I am happy to have it so.

So today I celebrate the blessings of your rock solid support, layer upon layer.

When we were together in Red Wing on our anniversary a few days ago, I said to you, and meant it (a statement you have always trusted): In all our years together and now, I only have eyes for you—even in my head. You said, “That’s a good anniversary gift.” I have turned it into a poem. It is a renewed pledge: Only you, Noël. Only you, till death do us part. I love you.

Johnny

For None But You
December, 2006
Before his boils made him unable to
Feel anything but pain,
Job made a covenant: “I will be true,”
He pledged. “If I should gain
Or lose the world, I will not use my eyes
To look upon a maid,
Nor let my mind spy or pursue a prize
By which you are betrayed.”
And thus he loved his wife with all his heart.
And I have done the same,
But not to imitate, as though the art
Of such obsession came
By wanting more, and saying No to this.
It has not been that way,
Though tearing out the eye is good, the bliss
Of eyes that will not stray
Is best. Nor do I mean such bliss that breaks
Beneath the weight of pain,
But ever holds like steel and never shakes
Beneath a world of strain.
This is the deep allegiance of my eyes
And of my mind and heart.
It is not wrought by pow’r of will that tries
With effort to depart
From foreign fire. It is a gift to me
And you. I will be true,
So help me God. These eyes will never be
For anyone but you.

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