FRUSTRATION BUILDING PATIENCE

            A couple of weeks ago I wrote of Liz and my tendency to over pack for any journey. For the past two weeks we have learned how little we need to get along.

            It began when Delta caused us to miss our connection in Atlanta. We spent the first night in an Atlanta hotel. We supposed Delta had sent our luggage on to London. We had some scant basics in our carryon pieces. The next day we flew to London but the Delta baggage people didn’t have the luggage and had no idea where it might be. We filled out forms, and as we were scheduled to fly British Airways to Leeds to join our tour group, they promised to send the bags to our hotel there. Guess what? They did not appear. More phone calls back to Heathrow to complain. They promised they would get the bags to our hotel in Glasgow where we would spend two nights. Guess what? They did not appear. More phone calls and promises they would get them to our next stop in Dublin where again we would stay two nights.  Guess what? They did not appear. More phone calls and more promises. They would get them to our hotel in Waterford. Repeat performance. They would get them to our hotel in Cardiff. Still no bags when we got back to London. We checked again with the baggage people at Heathrow. They supposedly had sent the bags after us but they didn’t get them to us. At that point they had no idea where they were. We are home today and only God knows where in His beautiful world our bags rest.

            In the meantime we bought a few pieces of clothing, a Jacket for Liz against the cold weather and an electric power converter, three of which were in our lost luggage. We washed clothes in the lavatory each night in our hotel room. It is amazing to me how little we got by with. Maybe this experience will inform our next packing for a trip.

            Otherwise, we still managed to enjoy the tour. And James tells us “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” (James 1:2-3)

 

Grace and peace.

SO LONG

                           The past couple of days have been rather hectic for Liz and me as we prepared for our anniversary trip. First we had to measure our luggage to make sure its dimensions were allowed by the airline and the tour company. After doing so we needed to contemplate what to leave behind. We are notorious for packing too much for any trip. We tend to carry along anything we think we may need. And most of these are things which could easily be replaced along the way. We also pack as though there will be no laundry facilities where we stay; therefore we carry eleven days of clothes. In my case we need a suitcase just to carry all the medicines I take or use or may need. (Alka-Seltzer anyone?)

            This trip had a new wrinkle. I went to the library and downloaded some books to my I pad. No need to carry hard copies with me, even though I prefer reading from a page rather than a screen.

            Then we needed to get all our papers and passports together in logical order, which by no means indicate that we will not fumble with them as we need them.

            We finally got it all done, and will get on our way this afternoon. With all the air line tragedies lately, we covet your prayers for our safe travel.

            Our final trip will be much less hectic. The Lord will take us up to be with Him. We won’t need to take anything with us, no passports and no luggage. In fact, Liz is concerned by some of the depictions of the rapture which have people being caught up without their clothes! However He wants to take us is fine with me. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up….”(I Thessalonians 4:17) 

Grace and peace.

AGE NO BARRIER

I read something the other day which was encouraging to older adults like me. In an article AAA reported, “Drivers over 70 are as safe as drivers of 25. Drivers over 80 are less safe but still safer than drivers in their teens.” This contradicts popular opinion that all older drivers are less safe than any younger drivers.

Having been in a serious one vehicle accident last December, I was ready to believe popular opinion. But I knew my accident was not because of my age. It was simply a matter of distracted diving.

In fact, many older adults are doing things that many younger people cannot or will not do. This morning I watched an 89 year old friend on the tennis court moving well to the ball and stroking the ball with authority.  I saw on television a man who was 101 years old and running a marathon. Many older senior adults are going back to school, or learning a new language or composing music or poetry and writing novels. It isn’t age that makes the difference, but the physical condition and mental ambition of the individual.

When he was 85 years old Caleb reminded Joshua of the place God through Moses had given him and he was ready to go claim it. In the process he said the Lord had kept him alive and at this time he is as strong as he had been forty years earlier when he was sent to spy out the land. (Joshua 14) He went and conquered the land and continued to live.

If God blesses us with long life he also has a promise for us. “As your days, so shall your strength be.” (Deuteronomy 33:25)  

Grace and peace.

Holy Land War

              Israel and Gaza are at war again. The ongoing conflict has guilt on both sides. Obviously the Palestinians, or Hamas, for lobbing rockets into Israel. On the other side Israel is causing great suffering by closing off Gaza from trade and imports. Israel demands Hamas stop shelling. Hamas demands Israel lift the ongoing boycott. Israel has a right to try to protect her citizens from shelling. Hamas is right in seeking to free Gaza from the boycott and mitigate the people’s suffering.

            Why does God allow this? Why doesn’t God step in and stop it? The obvious answer to me is that God has given mankind a free will. Humans have the ability to make choices and God allows us to make those choices even if they are wrong. The boycott was the idea of men and the shelling is likewise the idea of men. This war will end when men decide to seek a settlement of issues and restore the peace. God will help us when we make good choices and engage in positive action. He even comes to our rescue sometimes when we have gotten ourselves into trouble by making the wrong choice.

            God has not left us to blunder along when making choices. He has given believers the Holy Spirit.  As Jesus said “when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:…”(John 16:13) But does the Holy Spirit speak to Jews and Moslem Palestinians? I am convinced that He does if they will listen.

 

Grace and peace.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

                 I typed this on the evening of July 4^th, the birthday of our nation. Liz and I did not fight the traffic; carry our folding chairs, bug spray, radio and snacks to witness holiday fireworks in person. For the last couple of years we’ve been content to watch fireworks on our televisions. The last time we attended a fireworks display was with our grand boys. We also did not wait in a crowded restaurant to order the traditional bar-b-que and sweet tea. And I did not make the effort to grill outside. We had a celebrative dinner at home prepared in an air-conditioned kitchen.  These are symptoms of old age. As one grows older he begins to take the easiest path. Now if we had celebrated with family we  probably would have done these things, but none of our immediate family were in Birmingham today.

                Our relaxed observance of the day does not indicate a lesser appreciation of its importance. We feel a sense of pride and thankfulness as we put a US flag out front of our house. We have pride in the fact that the US, in our opinion, is the greatest nation on earth. It has its faults and problems, but it is the land of freedom and possibility. Millions of people around the world see us as the land of opportunity and seek to come here, even illegally.

And we are so thankful to live in this country. We are thankful that the bold experiment of democracy has endured these 238 years. This is a blessing from God. Our society is far from perfect, but we common people today live like the kings of former generations. So I give thanks to the founders of our nation and the generations which have preceded us. And most of all I give thanks to God. We sing, “God bless America” and God has already blessed America. I am confident He will continue to do so. The religious scene is rapidly changing, but the great majority of our citizens still believes in God and worships him. The Psalmist said, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 33:12)

 

Grace  and peace.

ANNIVERSARY GIFT

                Previously I mentioned a gift for our fifty-fifth anniversary. Liz hates to fly over the ocean. But she has conceded that she would cross one more time for a trip to the British Isles. We had been to London once but London was all we saw. As I began thinking about this milestone fifty-fifth anniversary it occurred to me that such a trip would be just the thing for our celebration. Several months ago I began plotting and getting reservations for the trip. So I surprised her with an eleven day tour of Britain; i.e. England, Scotland, North Ireland, Ireland and Wales. The trip is scheduled for August 7-17.

                I predicted to our children her first question would be, “How are you paying for this?” So I explained to her that I started the process months ago by selling my little truck. I hadn’t been using it much since we moved into the Oaks on Parkwood.  I sold my guns, neither of which had been fired in over three decades. Then I began to squirrel away from our budget a little here and a little there until I had the expense covered.

                Neither of us has a “bucket list,” but I suspect, considering our ages and the cost of travel, this will be the last major trip we will undertake. I am grateful to the Lord for our current health and the resources to accomplish it. I am grateful to the Lord that together we have been able to see much of His beautiful world. We have traveled together to Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy, London, Israel twice, Hawaii, Alaska now the whole of the British Isles. We have also been in all fifty states of our country.

                With the seraphim in the temple vision of Isaiah I can declare, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)

 

Grace and peace.

"SAKES ALIVE"

An earlier version of this blog somehow disappeared.

              Last week Liz and I celebrated our Fifty-Fifth wedding anniversary. We recognize in doing so we are greatly blessed. Many of our friends and contemporaries are not so blessed because one or the other of these couples has died. Also, a few have experienced the trauma of divorce. God has blessed us with life and love. It’s awesome to realize we have been together so long. (We dated five years before we married, so we’ve actually “been together” sixty years.)

                I wrote a short verse for the occasion to accompany a gift. It goes as follows:

 

                “Sakes alive! Sakes alive!"

Here we are at fifty-five!

Fifty five? Yes fifty-five!

What causes a marriage so long to survive?

First, enough health for US to last so long.

Second, a love that is unusually strong.

A love that sees in each the best

And then ignores all the rest.

We rejoice today in what we’ve been given,

And trust it will last ‘til we get to heaven.”

                (i.e. ‘til death do us part.)

 More about the gift later. Liz certainly didn’t expect I t.

                So rejoice with us and pray for us. Pray that God will continue to give us good health and that we will remain in the center of God’s will. Kit and Julie received many good wishes for us on their posts for our anniversary, and we received many cards and phone calls. Thank you all who communicated.

And remember; love endures, is kind, never fails, does not envy, is not proud, behaves, doesn’t claim its rights, isn’t easily provoked, assumes the best, rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, “love never fails.”

 (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

 

Grace and peace.