Successful surgery

As you can see, spring is busting out all over here. The cherry trees between my office and our welcome center were beautiful until a heavy wind, rain and a bit of hail hit them over the weekend. The ground under the trees now looks like a snow storm and the trees are turning green.

Thanks so much for your prayers for my surgery yesterday. The surgery was in the morning and when I returned for my check-up late in the afternoon, the doctor was very pleased with the results. At the moment it is not perfect from my side of the eye with a bit of swelling there yet, but that will continue to improve he assures me. I was also blessed with help driving between hospital and doctor's office, offers to stay with me over night and delicious food brought in both for lunch and dinner. With family so far away, it is a tremendous blessing to have such caring friends here.

With things still in a bit of a “blur” for me, I will keep this blog short. Hopefully after my second surgery in two weeks, my vision will be much improved. My desire for each of you was well stated by the Apostle Paul; “…May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.” (Ephesians 3:17b)

With His love,

Chuck

Congratulations Jeremy & Julianna!

Congratulations are in order! Jeremy and Julianna welcomed Judah Alex William Slager into their family, weighing 9 lbs 1 oz at around 6:00 PM yesterday after 36 hours of labor. Mom and baby are doing well, but as you can imagine, mom is rather sore and tired. As for dad, he was ecstatic when he called me with the news. Thanks so much for your prayers. We are thankful for this new addition to our family.

Speaking of praying, I will appreciate your prayers for me and the medical people as I have eye surgery on Tuesday (3/27). I will be having surgery on my right eye to remove a cataract and also some additional corrective surgery on that eye. Two weeks later (4/10) I will have cataract surgery on my left eye. I have to confess that I am not excited to have surgery on my eyes. When I read all of the possible results from the surgery, it really made me wonder if I was willing to sign off on those possibilities. I am sure that the medical people have to cover their bases, but it sure does make me thankful to know that God will be in final control.

While being awake early this morning I was reminded of Psalm 46;

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3) And to reinforce that truth, we read in verses seven and eleven; “The LORD Almighty is with us!” That certainly does ease my anxiety but your prayers for these two procedures and for complete healing without infection or complication will be much appreciated.

Love to you all,

Chuck

God's Goodness

Having just finished reading the book of Judges, my thoughts go primarily to chapters 6-8 which cover about seven years in the life of the Israelites and the account of Gideon. Unfortunately I find myself relating to Gideon and far too often hesitant to quickly move ahead as God leads, even after careful confirmation through His Word, prayer and good Christian counsel. Missing in that equation is the wonderful “sounding board” of my greatly missed wife, Carol.

Here in Judges we find the Israelites again doing “evil in the LORD’S sight. So the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years” (6:1) which ultimately reduced them to starvation. (6:6) As is so often the case, the Lord selects one of the weakest persons from one of the weakest clans and a most reluctant candidate to lead them out of their oppression…Gideon! Even with the assurance of His “I will be with you and destroy the Midianites…” (6/16) Gideon required a confirmation sign which was provided by the Lord as he “responded” with the fleece incident (6/36-40). In the end, after many challenges, the Israelites say “Be our ruler! You and your son and your grandson…” (8:22) After such great success, I love the humble response of Gideon; “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD will rule over you.” (8:23)

I found those chapters to be a great encouragement as well as a challenge for me as they pointed out the result of disobedience to the Lord from both the standpoint of a nation and an individual. But then we see the contrasting blessings and wonderful results from humble obedience to the Lord, as He is given the leadership of both my daily life and the life of a nation. I believe that is especially needed today!

I enjoyed spending this past weekend with friend Keith, celebrating his 40th birthday with his family in Wake Forest. This coming weekend will be filled with a trip to the mountains for a southern bar-b-que with friends on Saturday, a special group brunch after church on Sunday and the arrival of long-time friends from Michigan later in the day. God is so good!

I trust that God's goodness is permeating your thoughts today.

Love to all,

Chuck

Exciting reading

As I completed reading the book of Deuteronomy, I was again amazed at how God used Moses when he was around 80 years old to guide the Israelites through their 40 years of wanderings. I liked the way his life was described in one brief verse; “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.” (Deut. 34:10) He was quite an encourager during those years and at the ripe old age of 120 as he was about to hand the leadership over to Joshua, he reminded the people of God’s care telling them; “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deut. 31-6) And again in verse eight he repeated that promise. A good reminder for me each day!

As the Lord spoke to Joshua in Chapter 1 he was clear about the need to study, meditate and obey if he was to prosper and succeed in all that he did. (Joshua 1:8) In chapter 9 Joshua and the Israelites were tricked into believing the lies of the Gibeonites because; “…they did not consult the LORD.” (9:14b) Another good reminder for each of us to keep communications open with the Lord.

With the beautiful spring-like weather I plan to get more yard work done on Saturday. I can’t procrastinate any longer. The grass is getting too long and the weeds are coming on strong, so both need attention. Also we have a large group of appointees that are arriving today and tomorrow for two weeks of intensive training before going to various fields around the world. These are always exciting times for each of us as we listen to their testimonies and work with them preparing for their various assignments. God continues to lead in amazing ways!

I trust that you each have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Chuck