God's Love

My personal Bible reading recently took me through the Gospel of John.  In addition, my class at church has also been studying the book of John.  Repeatedly I am reminded of God’s love for all the people of the world and the importance of our love for each other.  That love is so very evident in those here in the village.  Calling this a retirement village is certainly a misnomer.  These folks are anything but retired!  Their love for fellow residents and the peoples of the world is most evident.  Even when their bodies no longer allow them to be out and about, they are busy communicating by phone and email and always ready to pray for those in need.  It is a tremendous blessing for me to be a part of group here!

Due to the age of we residents, there are fairly frequent memorial services, and they too are a blessing as we reflect upon lives of faith that were been lived well for the glory of the Lord.  Today we celebrated a resident's life that was 98 years old, having passed into eternity a few days ago.  Yesterday I read a quote by Dean Register that I thought worth repeating:  “Deep faith is sometimes wrapped in grief, because deep trials are the pit from which Jesus displays His transforming power.”  I hope that I will remember that as the inevitable trials come my way!

Stuart has been having challenges after his stem-cell transplant.  His temperature has gone into the danger zone twice this past week which put him into the ER for fear of an infection.  Thankfully no infection has shown up.  It appears that the temperature is being caused by the regenerating cells, which is good news…But he is at a very low level of energy/strength at this time.  Do keep praying.  Much still needs to be accomplished to restore him to good health!

I plan to be in Durham for Thanksgiving to join friend Keith and his family for the weekend, so I will be joining the crowds on the highway.  Your prayers are always appreciated!  While there, if he is up to it, I will stop in to spend a bit of time with Stuart at Duke Medical Center.

We have so much to be thankful for, and I trust that you all will have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Love to you all,

Chuck