Enjoyable weekend

I spent a delightful weekend with friends camping in the Smokey Mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A couple from the office that Carol and I often traveled with, went a day ahead and found an ideal site which we used as our base camp. A friend from church joined me on the trip. We enjoyed a fairly strenuous hike to a beautiful waterfall and found that we are not quite as in-shape as we once were. We need to do this more often to get back into shape. Several along the way commented that they were impressed that we would take a hike like that “at our age.” It must be that our not-very-in-shape condition was showing a bit when we didn’t keep up with the much younger folks on the trail. We attended two enjoyable mountain music programs with lots of clogging and enjoyed a delicious mountain Bar-B-Q potluck on Monday before heading home later in the day.


While away I was able to finish reading the book of Job and am now working my way through the Psalms. After all of the back and forth between Job and his friends, the Lord speaks to Job in chapters 38-41, responding with numerous questions back to Job which opened his eyes and brought him to repentance in chapter 42 and a willingness to trust God completely even without totally understanding his ways. In only two verses (42:12-13) we find how richly the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life. The last verse of the book especially spoke to me; “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life”…and he was also greatly rewarded during the second half of his life for his faithfulness under unexplained fire. Another challenge for me to finish well!

I am thrilled that grandson Justin will be flying here tomorrow. I will be accompanying him to do some house hunting at their new location at Shaw Air Force Base. You will recall that their wedding was the last event Carol was able to participate in. It will be great to have he and his family living fairly close to me! Then on the weekend I anticipate a dear couple from Michigan to arrive. It will be great to be able to catch up on their lives since we last were together. It is always a blessing for me to welcome friends here…That includes YOU!

Love to you all,

Chuck

Exciting Times

Thanks for your prayers as I covered the many miles over a long weekend. It was a full but rewarding weekend, joining family members to attend grandson Justin’s graduation from dental school with a degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. As a surprise to him, he was also awarded with the Pediatric Dentistry Award for outstanding work with children. In addition to his degree, he also received his bars as Captain in the U.S. Air Force. The university provided a wonderful buffet lunch which was a great opportunity for students and faculty to get acquainted with the graduate’s families. As you can see, there was a proud wife and daughter to cheer Justin on. In the evening we had another delightful time with more delicious food back in Spring Arbor for family and friends. What a blessing to be able to see another family member launch into a career!

As I was driving back to Charlotte reflecting on the joyous weekend, I was reminded of the Book of Job which I am currently reading, and wondered how I would respond if life suddenly turned “south” for me as it did for Job as Satan put him through unbelievable tests, taking his family, wealth, health and prestige. His responses were amazing; “The LORD gave me what I had and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21b) “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job 2:10b) WOW, what a response!

I really liked the initial response from his three friends as; “They sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.” (Job 2:13) There are times when words just are not necessary or even wanted. Just having friends show up without comment or words of wisdom can be most helpful during those initial times of grief. I have found that those often are the ones that minister to the need at the moment the most.

I quickly got myself right back into the swing of things upon my return and am quite well caught up again now. What a blessing to have the health and strength to carry on!

Thanks so much for your love and support!

Chuck

Weekend

After a somewhat hectic week, I am now at the lake in Indiana.  Our computer problems at the office seem to escalate as our IS Department is diligently working to update servers to handle the increased volume of traffic.  I suspect that it could be a "test" of my patience, but I am not certain how well I am responding.  It can get rather frustrating when most everything is now computerized and depends upon their use.

On Tuesday I spent a long day from 6:00 AM until nearly 10:00 PM working at the election polls with a tremendous turnout of voters, which was great but kept me on my feet all day operating the voting machines.  I did manage to get things at home and the office up to date enough to make a trip up here to attend Justin's graduation from dental school in Michigan this weekend.  We will also be having a special celebration for him later in the day on Sunday.  I plan to drive back to the lake that evening and hit the road early on Monday for home.   A full weekend, but I am thankful to still have the stamina to make these trips and be a part of the lives of our family members.   I am also thrilled that Justin, Laura and Ella will be moving to South Carolina where he plans to spend three years with the Air Force.  That will place them only about two hours away from me, so we will be able to get together frequently.

On my way here, I stopped to visit a friend who serves as part-time Chaplin at a truck-stop chapel in Ohio.  It was a delight to visit with him and have the opportunity to meet an over-the-road driver that stopped in.  That work is certainly difficult for men with a family, and it was great to interact with him and encourage him in his walk with the Lord.  It does prompt me to pray for drivers as I travel and better understand some of the challenges and temptations that they face.

I have just finished reading the Book of Nehemiah.  Now that an example of being faced with great challenges as he lead the Jews back to Jerusalem after their Babylonian exile.  As I read about the challenges he faced, it was exciting to see how God responded to his numerous prayers as a result of Nehemiah's passion to read, study and obey the Word of God as he lead the people.  Unfortunately, as we read through the book, we find that the people were slow learners...A good reminder for us today when we become out of touch with God!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.  Have a blessed weekend!

Love,  Chuck

One-year-old Ella

Several of you have asked for a picture of Ella, so here she is with her proud mom and dad. I am always amazed at the growth of children after a few brief weeks without seeing them and true to form, she is becoming quite the lady.

Speaking of seeing, I had a meeting with my surgeon yesterday and he feels confident that the eye surgeries were a success. After a careful examination and retesting he wrote a prescription for glasses which he feels will correct the ghosting that I have been experiencing. The order for glasses is placed, so I am praying that will bring about considerable improvement. Actually I should not complain. I can still see quite well and have to remember that I no longer have 20-year-old eyes!

I am rather glad to have completed reading the books of Kings and Chronicles with a large number of leaders, many of which either “did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord” or allowed evil to invade their latter later years of service. I am reminded of the importance of selecting the right local and national leaders today. Our state primary will be next Tuesday and I have agreed to work at the polls that day. In addition to the usual offices on the ballot, we will be voting on the “Marriage Amendment”. By all of the telephone calls I have received encouraging me to be sure to vote, I expect that we will have a good turn out for what is usually a slower election. It certainly is a critical issue and one that we need to be praying much about.

This weekend I plan to get more yard and house work behind me so that I will have some time to “play” this summer. I trust that your weekend will be a special time with family and friends.

Love, Chuck