December 10, 2016. Madison, GA. Sick, part 2

When I blogged three days ago, I was celebrating our new television antenna, but also bemoaning the content of the programming we are now receiving, the news, the advertising and the programs themselves. In spite of my critical analysis, we are thankful for the additional channels and the chance to be more aware of the world around us. I was, however, not reporting the whole story, when I mentioned the need for prayer and the fact that ultimately, God is in control of everything we encounter.
The whole story is: we are living in community with friends, family, acquaintances, billions of people we do not know and will never know, but every one of them is "sick" in one way or another. There is so much pain, illness, physical discomfort, greed, injury, disease, emotional trauma, pride, crime, intentional and unintended consequences of words, opinions, actions and thoughts, that we can easily become discouraged or tune the bad out. As Christians we are supposed to do the right thing, live according to a moral code, be generous and compassionate, but we see, hear and experience so much that is "broken", we may forget that we can't fix it all, but we have faith in The One who can fix it, and will fix it, in His timing.
Christmas means a lot of different things to the billions of us on this planet. But to us who are Christ-followers it should be more than gifts, parties, contatas, or carol singing, too much food and a day off. No matter whether we even consider it a legitimate "Christian holiday" or not, the reality is that we are surrounded by a lot of hurting people. We ourselves may be hurting and the prayer lists are long, the needs great and the calls for God to act are infinite. Every day should be Christmas, a day we need "more of Christ", a day to pray for healing, unity, belief in something greater than ourself and a day to be thankful for life, for the gift of Jesus and the promise of better things to come.
Thank You, Lord, for the peace which passes all understanding, peace the world cannot give to us, for our light and momentary troubles which are achieving for us an eternal glory we can rely on. Yes, Lord, Yes. By faith, I do believe You have it all under control.

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December 7, 2016. Madison, GA. A Sick World

A few days ago, I replaced the TV antenna on our motor home, and with the new equipment, we are able to pick up quite a few more stations than we could with our old antenna. I'm not sure if this is going to be an improvement in the level of entertainment and information we receive.
Last evening I watched two national news broadcasts and was overwhelmed by the number of stories about things which are going wrong with our "world". The stories covered such topics as: Building fires, forest fires, arson fires, election controversies, the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago, terrorism, computer hacking, floods, extreme winter weather, school bus accidents, false allegations and court battles, a potential $4,000,000,000 airplane for the President, foreign economic difficulties, road rage, distracted driving, sleep deprivation, etc, etc, etc. To make matters worse almost every commercial on the two network news broadcasts was for medications for: heart disease, diabetes and diabetic nerve pain, asthma, Alzheimer's and dementia, E.D., chronic dry eye, depression, sinus problems, pneumonia, acid reflux, shingles, etc, etc, etc.
And then it was the choice of what program to watch: and whether it was a current crime drama, a music show with scantily-clad women, or the plethora of "accept me as I am sit-coms" or some of the old classics like Archie Bunker, George Jefferson, the shoot-um-up westerns or cop shows, it was a choice of which was the least objectionable, sort of like our recent election. But, by the end of the evening I had seen a few good shows, heard a few good sermons on TBN and went to sleep ready to face a new day and the prospect of mulching more leaves, helping prepare bible lessons for shipment and hoping that the work we are engaged in will make a dent in the sickness and hopelessness many people face in our country and around the world. I know that we, individually can only do so much, and trust God for the "big picture" and the plan He has to remedy the ills we face and return us to the "garden" He gave us in the beginning of Creation. For now, we pray, trust and obey, continue to pray, do our best, pray some more, and wait on The Lord's return with faith and hope. Pray......pray.....pray. God has it all under control.

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December 4, 2016. Madison, GA. Stuck on 46

This morning we woke to drizzly weather, gray skies and 46 degrees. The forecast was for drizzly weather, gray skies, temperatures in the mid 40's all day, and so it has gone. It has been one of those non-descript days other than the drizzle, gray and 46 degrees. Our outdoor thermometer has shown a high of 47 and a low of 45 for the past 24 hours, so that would appear to average out to 46. Not much to do with the day, other than do things inside, like Sunday School, Church, eat, balance the checkbook, pay some bills and keep the outside temperature from creeping inside. Our television isn't receiving any signal because of the drizzle, low ceiling and poor visibility.
The past two days, I gathered leaves in anticipation of the forecast rain for today, Monday and Tuesday, and I can already see that many more leaves are yet to be collected. There will be a steady work diet of "leafing" once the ground dries out and until the trees drop their last vestiges of foliage. This is one of those "cow never stays milked" chores. Good thing I enjoy being outside on non-drizzly, other than gray, over 46 degree days. Right now it's nice to just be looking out the window, resting and enjoying the day God has blessed us with. We definitely need the moisture.
I think I'll check the temperature so I'll know how we should dress for our walk across the parking lot to our 5:30 game of cards in the Mission breakroom. Surprise of surprises.......AccuWeather says it's.............46.

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December 1, 2016. Madison, GA. A Whole Lot of Learning Going On

Source of Light Ministries is in the "business" of teaching people around the world about Jesus Christ. This is accomplished in a number of ways: writing Bible Correspondence courses, printing lessons and disseminating them to missionaries in almost 40 countries: sending lessons and encouragement to individuals in prison who want to know more about Jesus: discipling people, raising up pastors in underdeveloped countries: planting churches around the world. In every area, SLMI is seeking to preach Jesus to people who desire to know Him more intimately.
As we go about our daily activities here at the Mission, we try to provide information, support, an environment for retired missionaries to continue to use their gifts and talents, grow in our relationship with God and encourage others to be salt and light to a troubled world. We all have our own reasons for working or volunteering here, but ultimately our goal is to glorify God, provide resources so people can learn, grow, mature and get closer to Father God, His Son Jesus and be guided by The Holy Spirit. When we have the opportunity to welcome our missionaries when they visit the Mission here in Madison, it gives us a chance to hear what it means to be "in the field" and we are constantly in prayer as we receive continual updates on the activities of our branches in other countries and the challenges they face.
Not all of us have the gifting to learn a "native" language, spend years overseas or live in conditions far different from what we enjoy in the United States, face opposition and dangerous physical situations on a regular basis, but we do have the opportunity to pray, provide resources and materials needed in their work and encourage them and ask God to strengthen them in their calling. And in all of this we learn something new about our world, our faith and our God. Every task, no matter how trivial or mundane, affords us the opportunity to contribute to God's plan for His creation and the Kingdom we are part of. Thank You, Lord for allowing us to experience You in so many different ways. What a joy it is to be In Your Service.

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November 28, 2016. Madison, GA. Let It Rain

When we left Georgia last April, it was so wet, the ground was saturated, there was no place for the rain to go but sit on the surface and puddle. It wasn't possible to run the tractors and mowers close to the drainage ditches without fear of bogging down and getting stuck. We had to dig ruts to channel water off the low points of Mission Lane so as not to have to walk through ankle-deep water. There were areas around the RV sites that were muddy and remained muddy for weeks on end.
This summer and fall, we have been told, has been almost the opposite with so little rain there is a draught warning for most of Georgia. There have been fires in northern Georgia which have created pollution issues for much of central Georgia including the Atlanta area. We have not seen a drop of rain in the two weeks we have been here and it has been months since they have seen any significant moisture. The lakes are down, the streams are down and spirits are down, as well. But the forecast for the next two days is for rain. The weather map shows a major weather pattern to our west in Mississippi and Alabama and with the forecast being what it is, our farmers, firefighters, dirty cars and parched ground are anxious for the wet, non-snowy moisture. Part of our motor home repairs in Arkansas were new slide-out awnings and slide-out caulking so the rain will be a good test of how well we have remedied our leak problems of the past two years.
So, for a multitude of reasons, we are ready for some rain, a chance to work on some indoor projects and maybe put a dent in the draught conditions in this part of the country. Let it rain, Lord, let it rain.

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Pictures from Georgia

Let the pictures speak about the fall colors and my Georgia buddies in the field next door. 

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November 22, 2016. Madison, GA. Thanksgiving

In two days we will celebrate Thanksgiving. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for as Americans. No matter what status we have in our job, our family or our community, what we think of the economic, political or social situations we face, we have so much to be thankful for. Even if we have troubling health conditions or medical concerns, we still have a health-care system far superior to any in the world, and should be thankful for it.
Too often we find fault with things, complain about the rising cost of everything, and look at the things we don't have rather than the things we do have and are discontent rather than thankful. I'm not writing as someone always positive, always upbeat, always seeing the glass more full than mostly empty. Karen reminds me often that I have a tendency to make Eeyore, of Winnie the Pooh fame, look like Mr. Optimism. And the fact that some of my closest friends in Arkansas and Georgia are donkeys, makes her evaluation of me truer than I may want to admit.
But, Thanksgiving shouldn't be relegated to a single day of the year, but to every day we get up on this side of the grass. I do realize, and blog very often, how blessed Karen and I are, how fortunate we are to be doing what we do, be in the roles we are at this time of our life, and how blessed we are to be part of God's family and in His service. So, in two days we will sit down with a number of our Source of Light "family", enjoy a meal together, have a time to think about a host of experiences and look forward to whatever may come our way in whatever time we have left for us, and..............BE THANKFUL.
But let's not forget to be thankful for the day we are about to put to sleep, thankful for tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving, and then thankful for Thanksgiving itself...........and..........
..............THANK YOU, LORD for the hope we have in the future You have planned for us.

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