This is my entry in a neat meme called I Heart Faces. Click on this button to check it out
The theme for this weeks I love faces contest is silly. This photo was taken at a church youth group Christmas party. I caught Erik playing with his food.
I guess the theme for my posts this week could be silly at church. This photo is a shot of my good friend Dave Wiebe while he was helping with Vacation Bible School. The kids loved him.
Taake time this week to be a little silly. Take time for a smile and be happy.
It has been a very interesting week. Gina and I have spent a lot of time on Facebook. I'm not quite sure how it happened. I set up a Facebook account on February 24, 2007. My next entry was July 8, 2008. I had never really used the account until last week. Gina's sister had a Facebook account, so Gina decided she would start one. She joined on February 2nd. She already has connected with 67 friends and family members. One of the most interesting things that happened was connecting with a number of high school classmates that we hadn't been in contact with in 35 years. It seemed that the stars aligned just right, and several classmates became active on Facebook this week.
Besides classmates, I had several people that I had lost track of who contacted me through Facebook. If you aren't a part of the Facebook community yet, I highly recommend it.
THE LANDING IN BRANSON. MISSOURI
One of the classmates that we heard from this week on Facebook, we had met under unusual circumstances back in May of 2007. Gina and I had gone to Branson, Missouri with a friend. While we were there we visited The Landing, which is an outdoor mall on the banks of Lake Taneycomo.
On of the interesting things about The Landing, other than the shopping and restaurants, is the spectacular water attraction that features water, fire, light and music. There is a dazzling interplay of water fountains shooting 120-foot geysers and fire cannons blasting, all choreographed to light and music.
WATER FOUNTAIN SHOW AT THE LANDING
We were watching the fountain show while we were waiting for a table at Cantina Laredo. While we were there watching with hundreds of people, Gina turned to me and asked, "does that woman remind you of Sandy". "She sure does", I concurred. Neither one of us had seen her in over 30 years. As the show ended this woman went into the Cantina Laredo. Gina said, "I'm going to go find out if it is Sandy", and she disappeared into the restaurant. As you have probably figured out, It was our high school acquaintance. We dined that evening with her and her husband, and had a great time catching up. It was a lovely coincidence that we were both at the same place at the same time after so many years.
Have you ever met an old acquaintance in a place you never expected to?
A couple of weeks ago I received a call from my friend Neal. His wife Tillie has had heart surgery, and Neal had decided that he should move from the ends of the earth in eastern Oklahoma to a retirement community near Oklahoma City. He felt that they needed to be nearer their doctors, and emergency medical care. He had made arrangements for his son to come and help them move.
I have known Neal for 10 years. He moved to this area after he retired. He bought acreage in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma where he and his family built a house. Neal would have been a great homesteader, as he is very self sufficient. He actually went to New Mexico as a young man to try and claim a homestead. He didn't get the homestead, but he did find Tillie. He and Tillie were instrumental in starting La Vida Mission for the Navajo people of northwestern New Mexico.
The property of La Vida Mission was once an abandoned trading post. In this one-room trading post, the little mission was born. School was held for six students in the crumbling, mice-infested building by Neal and Tillie Scott, who lived in the school building with their two tiny sons, Steven and Tom. Each day Tillie drove the rutted reservation roads to pick up her students, then returned them to their hogans at the end of the day.
Neal and Tillie started their married life with a passion for missions and decided that they would follow wherever God led them. During over 30 years of ministry they worked in many places including Jamaica, Mexico and Africa. Neal was a printer by trade, and he managed printing presses in many places. Tillie was a school teacher and always found ways to help others wherever they were. She always had a special place in her heart for kids, from those Navajo Indians at La Vida Mission where her mission work started to the kids of Africa. Her and Neal adopted two children from Africa and brought them back to the U.S. when they retired.
Even in retirement Neal still had a passion for missions and helping others. He was a local volunteer fireman and helped those in his community however he could. He spent several months after Hurricane Katrina helping in a relief distribution warehouse in south Louisiana.
When Neal called me that Thursday, there was a sense of urgency in his voice. He said, "I hate to ask you this, but I didn't know who else to ask. I feel strongly that I need to get Tillie to the retirement village this weekend. She has had a small stroke, and the doctors say you never know if there will be another one. My son won't be able to come for few weeks. Would you be able to help us move this weekend."
I told Neal that we would be over Sunday morning to help them move. Daddy and I got up early Sunday morning and were at Neal's place before 8 o'clock. When we looked at what needed to be moved and then looked at my pickup we began to wonder if we could get it all on. I knew that if anyone could it would be my Daddy.
DADDY TYING THE LOAD SECURELY
We were able to put in my little S-10 pickup, 2 beds, a large dresser, bedding, chairs, clothes, kitchen appliances, and a microwave. We were also able to find places for a number of cases of canned food they had. We definitely looked like Okie's and Arkie's. It made me think of the Grapes of Wrath or maybe the Beverly Hillbillies. As we left for the 200 mile trip to the retirement village, we had to stop at the first gas station with air to pump up the tires on my little truck. There was way more weight on the truck than it was designed for. We took it easy on the trip over, because the 4 cylinder engine had a hard time going more that 55 mph. As we drove, Neal kept me entertained with the story of how he and Tillie met, and the early years at La Vida Mission.
AT A REST STOP ALONG I-40
After about 4 hours we pulled into the Summit Ridge Retirement Village. Neal and Tillie were moving into a small but nice 1 bedroom apartment. Even though they won't have the room they are used to and the wide open spaces, they will be so much safer with people nearby to help if there is a medical emergency. There is a beautiful church right across the street from their apartment.
NEAL UNLOADING THE PICKUP AT THE APARTMENT
While we were unloading the pickup and moving things into the house, I called the Summit Ridge Retirement Village office to find out where an old friend lived. I knew that Norma Wolters was living there and wanted to visit with her while were were there. I was surprised to find out that she lived in the duplex next door to where Neal's apartment was. Daddy and I were able to spend a few minutes with her before we had to make the long trip back home.
NORMA WOLTERS AND I
I first met Norma when she was teaching school at the B.J. Rowland Adventist School in Mena. When the school opened in the late 70's she was the first teacher. The school was a one room schoolhouse with grades 1-8. My brother and sisters were students of Norma's. She retired the year my daughter Cynda started school at that little school. It was great to see Norma and do a little reminiscing.
The next morning, Neal and Tillie were going to drive into town to get some things at the grocery store. Before they had gone two miles they turned around and went back to the apartment because the roads were icing up. Before long they were completely iced in.
ICE STORM
I was so thankful that Neal and Tillie were in a safe place where help was available if they needed it. Their place out in the woods was completely iced in, and there would have been no way to get help if they needed it. I think that God nudged Neal that Thursday and impressed him that he needed to be in a safe place before the ice storm hit. I believe that God is concerned with every detail of our lives, and that if we listen he will guide us.
It was great to be able to help an old friend and to feel that he had the security of being in a safe place. It was also nice to visit an old friend that I hadn't seen for a number of years.
I like the lyrics of the Chris Eaton song "Old Friends".
Old Friends -- we'll always be And Heaven is a perfect place At the journey's end And I'm looking forward to that day Cause we're old friends
Operation Love Zimbabwe is a project from the blog Mozi Esme. The blog is written by a 22 month old American bebe growin' up in Mozambique - en route to Zimbabwe! She moved from Roseburg, Oregon when she was 6 weeks old. Her Mommy and Daddy work with Maranatha Volunteers International on their project of building churches and schools here. They'll be headed to Mutare to work at an orphanage near there. So she will have lots of friends to play with. Either this is the smartest 22 month old in the world, or the parents help a bit.
The following information on Zimbabwe comes from her blog. Be sure and take a look.
Not much more than a decade ago, Zimbabwe was known as the bread basket of the region. It produced enough food to feed not only its own people, but those of other countries as well.
A lot can happen in a decade. Today, Zimbabwe is a basket case.
To give you a background and overview for the rest of our Operation Love Zimbabwe posts, here are a few facts. We'll try to keep this short...
Mugabe, of the ZANU-PF party, has been prime minister of Zimbabwe since independence from British rule 1980. In the early 1990s, as neighboring South Africa was approaching its first democratic election and Mozambique was in peace negotiations at the end of its civil war, Zimbabwe began a downward spiral.
PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE
In 1997, Mugabe announced a land redistribution program, taking productive farmland and dividing it among landless blacks. Due to protests, the government backed down, but in 2000 government-backed militias began violently occupying white-owned farms.
Allegations of voter intimidation tainted the 2002 election which left Mugabe in power. In 2008, in spite of voter intimidation, Mugabe had only 43.2 percent of the vote. Yet Mugabe is still running the country.
Zimbabwe is in the middle of social and economic collapse. State sponsored terror and anarchy is rampant. The downward spiral continues to exceed worst expectations. And it seems very little is being done to stop the madness.
Inflation - In December, Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate was reported to be 516 quintillion percent. Think 18 zeros. In most minds, including mine, that's unfathomable - kind of like infinity. Consumer prices are doubling on average every 1.3 days. That means you've got a lot of starving billionaires.
Life Expectancy - At 37 years for men and 34 for women, Zimbabwe's life expectancy is the lowest in the world. Infant mortality has doubled since 1990.
Starvation - Seven million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid, up from 5.1 million last June. But food aid is actually in decline, thanks to the multiplying problems facing aid providers in Zimbabwe. Donations to food programs are down around the globe. And all indications are that next year's harvest will be worst than the last, resulting in even more need.
Health System - Hospitals have been shutting down due to lack medical supplies and personnel. People are dying for illnesses that aren't supposed to be fatal. With a box of latex gloves costing the equivalent of US$500 at times, there is little available to combat the current cholera epidemic, which was killed well over 3,000 people so far. The collapse of the country's water and sanitation systems hasn't helped.
AIDS - Even with the cholera epidemic, AIDS remains the biggest killer. The 2005 UNICEF statistics put the HIV prevalence rate at 20.1%. As one doctor puts it, "people are dying of AIDS before they can starve to death." And the number of AIDS orphans increases.
Education - The start of the 2009 school year has been officially postponed, as there are no teachers willing to work. A teacher's monthly salary in December was US$1, about the cost for bus fare to get him or her to work one day. And so dwindles the hope for Zimbabwe's future.
What's happening in Zimbabwe is known as the passive or smart genocide. There are no gas chambers or piles of dead bodies. It's largely unnoticed by the press. Yet the numbers of dead resulting from the Mugabe government policies easily number twice the amount of Rwanda's genocide.
It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is C. C is for Cayman Islands.
GEORGE TOWN GRAND CAYMAN
I have been to the Cayman Islands twice, but only set foot on land once. In 2003 Gina and I went on a cruise with 10 other friends. We were supposed to go to Grand Cayman, but the seas were to rough, so the tenders couldn't take us from the ship to shore. We were in the Caymans again on Christmas Eve 2008.
WAITING IN LINE FOR THE TENDERS
It was almost noon before we got ashore. The tenders started running around 10 o'clock, but we were quite a way down the list to get off.
SEVEN MILE BEACH
We did a bit of shopping, then took a taxi to the famous Seven Mile Beach. The beach was beautiful, and it seemed a bit odd to be at the beach on Christmas Eve.
We took our own snorkeling gear, and enjoyed snorkeling right along the beach. The water was a bit cool when you first got in, but we soon acclimated to it. We spent about two hours at the beach, but then had to get a taxi back to the cruise terminal.
CRUISE SHIPS AT GRAND CAYMAN
When we got back to the cruise ship terminal, we saw that everyone else on the cruise ships was there also. The line for the tenders was incredibly long. We waited in line for over an hour.
IN LINE
I really enjoyed the time we spent at Seven Mile Beach. Unfortunately we spent as much time waiting for tenders to take us to and from Grand Cayman as we got to spend at the beach. Still it was great to be able to spend Christmas Eve at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
This is my entry in a neat meme called I Heart Faces. Click on this button to check it out
The theme this week is "The eyes have it". This photo was taken at Vacation Bible School at my church. I was asked to photograph everything that was going on. Kids either hate to have their picture taken or they beg you to. This young girl had the deepest brown eyes. The old Van Morrison song "Brown Eyed Girl" came to mind.
My son Gavin played the part of Satan in The Resurrection Pageant put on by Southwestern Adventist University. He played the part so well that it was a bit scary. I didn't fix the red eye in the photo because it seems to add to the evil portrayal.
My favorite cartoon when I was a kid was Peanuts. I remember one comic strip in particular. It is January 1st, and Charlie Brown tells anyone who will listen, “The best way to keep New Year’s Resolutions is in a sealed envelope in a bottom desk drawer.
Charlie Brown knew what every person who has ever made a resolution knows. Making and keeping resolutions is a troublesome business, usually filled with failure and shame.
How have your 2009 resolutions worked out for you? I don't even want to talk about mine. If you have made and broken resolutions on many previous New Year's days, you may feel that you might as well seal them in a bottom desk drawer and forget them. That is the experience I have had.
If there is anything to which Christians should be committed to, it is that people can change for the better and that there is every reason to hope for such a change in our lives and in the lives of others.
If you ask the average person about the resolutions they made for the New Year, they will tell you that they are going to cut down on their eating, they are going to exercise more, stop doing unhealthy things, and start doing healthy things, etc.
While these things are good, they all focus on self and rely on self. These kinds of things are in fact self-serving and look to the power of one’s self to accomplish them. Self-improvement for most people means making themselves more attractive, healthier and happier. They depend on the power of the human will to bring about the changes.
Look at how different our typical resolutions are from the words of Paul in Colossians 3:12-14. “God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Do all these things; but most important, love each other. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity."
Notice how Paul’s words are focused on others. If we are to use resolutions wisely, we need to turn our attention away from ourselves and toward others. We need to get the focus off of ourselves, and on to God and the strength that comes only from him. What kind of resolutions should we make?
John was called the disciple that Jesus loved. It appears that Jesus had a best friend. I want my resolution to be the words that the best friend of Jesus wrote in 1 John 4:7,8 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”.
I don’t know of a better resolution that you could make. If we would all make the resolution to love one another imagine how different the world would be.
My wife's cousin Jerry Patton spent 37 years as the second tenor of The King's Heralds Quartet, the oldest continuous gospel quartet in America.
One of my favorite songs that he sang was titled One Little Candle. The lyrics are great.
It's better to light just one little candle Than to stumble in the dark Better far that you light just one little candle All you need's a tiny spark
If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free The wonderful dawn of the new day we'll see And if everyone lit just one little candle What a bright world this would be
My resolution is to light one little candle, will you join me?
Click on the photo above to purchase the paperback version of my book, Gentle Reader: Devotionals From a Small Town, for $5.99
About Me
I was born in 1956 in Madison, Tennessee, while my parents were attending Madison College. I grew up along the Front Range in Colorado, attending schools in Longmont, Brighton, Boulder and Loveland, Colorado. Two years after graduating from Campion Academy, I married my sweetheart, Regina. We lived in Loveland, Colorado for six years before moving to Mena in western Arkansas.
I love the people of Mena and the friendly easy going way of life here. I have owned and operated my own business since moving to Mena. I enjoy the natural beauty of western Arkansas and being out of doors.
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