LET THERE BE LIGHT, Part 2

Two blogs back I wrote about cutting a tree down in our front
yard. It was called "Let there Be Light". Well that was the first of
the story. Now we have the rest of the story:
Once that big tree was cut down, we knew

what we wanted to do with the tree stump.

Here Johnny is cutting it into a chair shape.

It's finally the shape we wanted, so Johnny sanded it and
put a finish on it to protect it from the weather.

It turns out to be a handy place to sit,
(that's our granddaughter, Kayla, with her dog),

or rest after a family game of Four-Square,

(that's our daughter, April, on a visit from Kansas),

and a natural stop on the way to get a drink after shooting hoops.

(That's Elliott, our grandson).

And it's a great place to gather for photos

(that's us with our granddaughters). 

Now we have more sunshine in our front yard and may be able

to grow some grass instead of moss,
and we also have an "interesting" chair
inviting anyone to stop and sit a spell.

EASTER - RESURRECTION SUNDAY

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

What a thrill it is to celebrate Christ's defeat over death and Satan.

We will join with other believers in worship and celebration at our church,

as you are doing.

We're having family and friends over for Easter dinner together

after church.

This year I wanted to do something around the table to further

the celebration.

I've heard about the Resurrection Eggs and know that

others in the family have used these.

But I had never used them,

so determined to put together a set to use this year.

First, I typed up the verses to be used.

Then I cut them apart to be put in each egg.

Then I gathered the items to be put into each egg along with its corresponding verse.

Here I've put the item in the egg and am placing the verse with it.

All done and in the basket. Each egg is numbered so it will be opened in

the correct order to tell the story of the crucifixion and resurrection.

Have a blessed Easter from our family to yours.

ONE NIGHT A YEAR

It is from the cactus family.

It is called a NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS and will bloom

only one night in the year. You had better hang around when a bud looks

ready to open.

The first time we ever saw one was in Indonesia when a friend introduced

us to this very unusual plant.

We took great care with the plant and stayed up till midnight,

an unusual event in our little Indonesian village.

But it was worth it! It blossomed forth and emitted a beautiful,

sweet fragrance. By morning, the large, white flower had wilted.

This is only a memory to us now.

I thought this to be a tropical flower that only bloomed in

hidden areas of a tropical forest.

But, lo and behold, friends here in East Texas, shared one of

these same plants with us. They let us keep one all through its

blooming period.

The long flat leaves were loaded with blooms. Here is what it looks like.

And now it begins to open up.

It's nearly there!

And it was worth the wait.
Apparently, these versions of the Cereus do well here in East Texas.
The blooms lasted longer, more than one night.
The plant we had  had many, many
buds and blooms on it for us to enjoy.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

We hated to do it, but we had to remove a tree from our front yard.

We couldn't get grass to grow because there was so little sunshine and

lots of shade. We grew moss instead.

It is expensive to hire professionals to do this, so Johnny and Johnathan

and friend Paul worked together to accomplish the task.

Not that I didn't have every confidence in these men,

but I left home while the deed was done!

But I've managed to get pictures:

The men gather with various tools to begin the task.

The tree comes down, a perfect landing,

missing house, flower beds, mailbox!

With the help of the truck to guide its fall.

Success!

Johnathan saws up the tree and carts it away to sell as fire wood.

Johnny cleans up the chips and sawdust (with Cookie's help).

Yes, we meant to keep this stump.

We have a plan!!

Stay tuned for part 2 of "The Tree".

CATCHING UP

Yes, yes! Thanksgiving has long since passed! I know I am way behind the times.
That was partly do to technical problems, and partly due to procrastination.
But hopefully, I've moved passed that and this blog will be up and running again.
Both Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed us by.
So let me catch us up a bit:

 This year Johnny and I went to Preston, England for a mission trip together, where our church is helping to plant a new church. It was an eye-opening experience for us.

We are used to planting churches in the Asian culture, so we learned a lot.

Former members of our church here in Longview, Texas, are from that area. They had lived in the States for many years, until the Lord pressed on them to return to their "roots" and plant an evangelical church.

So this is what we did most days while there.... dropped flyers in everyone's mail slots to tell them about a fun event the new church was sponsoring at the nearby park.

 

 

At the park we had all kinds of activities. Here is Johnny at the face-painting table.

Because we were in Preston during the American Thanksgiving season, the Greens with whom we were visiting, made sure we enjoyed a real traditional American Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey and dressing, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie and more. It was a great time to be reminded of all the God has done for us.

I find when my attitude is mainly one of just being thankful for what I have and what I'm able to do, I don't spend so much time complaining about life or supposed injustices.

Jason and Nicola Green and their four children.

AUTUMN

Autumn or Fall

This is the subject for a whole unit in our ESL classes

(English as a Second Language).

We really enjoy this time of year,

especially since we spent so many years in the tropics

and didn't get to see the leaves change

like they do in the States.

HOWEVER,

since we are blessed with many, many trees in our yard,

we are also blessed with jillions of leaves in our yard and on the deck!
It makes for a big job.

BUT life is all about change, isn't it?
Nothing stays the same.
About the time I get used to some style or circumstance,
everything changes.
Which means the need to adjust.

Thank God, He never changes. He is the one constant in our lives.
My stability is in Him.
He is the same all the time, no matter what mood I'm in.
While everything else changes, and often for the worse,
I know He is the same.
And He will walk with me through my adjustments to the changes
going on in my life.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8

EMERITUS WEEK

It happens once in every 5 years!

September was the time and this was our first. We were excited to

go to Ridgecrest. There were 6 going from our church, so we traveled

together to Houston, then flew to Atlanta, and on to Asheville, North Carolina,

and then a bus ride up the mountain to RIDGECREST.

Emeritus Week is a celebration week to honor those who've served

with the IMB for at least 15 years.

There were over 1100 IMB retired missionaries there, with the
accumulated total years of  28,929  served around the world!

We had general meetings like this every day! We got to hear IMB president

Tom Elliff preach (he's terrific and uses storying in his messages).

We met up with so many old friends, and then got to meet new ones as well.

Of course, we met up with our Indonesian family.

Can you Norwood kids name these folks?

Or these?

 

We gathered all the folks who have ever served on the SAPIM/LEAD Team

for lunch one day. There were 22 of us.

We got to connect with lots of our friends from the Philippines also.

Here are Phil and Retha Brewster, Trudy and Jim Crittendon,

Glen and Marvella Thompson and me.

Lots of good fellowship was done in the dining room.

We were thrilled to run into so many from our original "orientation" group

of 1972. So we got together and caught up on the last 40 years.

It was a great week.

But is took awhile to recover from all the travel and excitement!

Those years on the field were great years.

How thankful we are that the Lord led us in some surprising, rough, happy and

blessed paths, and for that week of memories with old friends.

During the week we were challenged to "keep on".  We're not home yet!