Saturday

It’s Saturday and time to catch up on household chores again. Fortunately things are not growing outside so I don’t also have yard work today. What a tremendous change there has been in my life since Carol passed through that curtain of death six months ago. There are events that will ever be vivid in our minds and that is certainly at the top of my list. Such a variety of emotions presented themselves, from the fantastic sense of loss to the thrill of knowing that Carol had arrived on the other side, completely healed from cancer and experiencing a new life that is far beyond anything that I can imagine. How sad it is that there are many living/existing today without that hope!

Yesterday advance copies of Serving In Mission Together which Carol edited for some years, arrived at the office. Plans are for the issues to hit the mail around the 15th of this month. The theme of this issue is “The ministry of hanging out” which features teens and young adults serving in mission around the world. If you are receiving the magazine you will see a picture of grandson Jeremy who spent six months on a short-term mission in Niger. Jeremy is in his second year of studies at Moody Bible Institute and will be leaving for Jerusalem on Saturday to spend the next semester studying. There has been a bit of a concern about safety, but he has received assurance that there location is in minimal danger. Join me in praying for safety and a good learning experience.

My reading in Indeed during the past few days has featured sacrifice and surrender. Friend Judy whose husband Joe is in the latter stages of cancer and I have talked about how much the readings have ministered to us. Yesterday the author mentioned the pain of having a loved one removed, financial security threatened and our time or talents limited by Him to make our devotion to the Lord more than theoretical. He says; “His removal of your props should be no surprise. We cannot give Him our lives and then complain when He takes them—or painfully touches them, or seemingly deprives them…He has higher purposes than we do, and we trust Him.”

Thank you Lord for the peace, confidence and hope that you provide as we walk with you!

Love to you all,

Chuck