The Circuit Ridin’ Preacher

Yep, we made another milestone today. 92 years of marriage. I wanted to get Harriet an appropriate anniversary card and found just the right one – a BIG THANK YOU card. When I told daughter Julieann about it, she said I really should have given her a trophy.

Dave Meyers and I were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and someone directed us to a neighborhood gift shop which had a nice selection of greeting cards, like you’d find in any pharmacy here at home. The only problem was, we were NOT here at home and every card was written in Malaysian. When I tried to explain to the salesman what I wanted, without speaking Malaysian, he directed me to the section where I should look for a nice “I love you” card. How could I know that his grasp of English was as limited as my fluency in Malaysian? He smiled so nicely and seemed so helpful.

I should have known something was up when the girls at the cash register giggled and tried to tell me something –in Malaysian.

It was not until we got to the home of our host and I showed them the card that the truth began to unfold. They asked who directed me to this card? Did I know what it said? Maybe, the wife could go back to the shop and ask them to exchange it for me. She would help me find the right one. Then they confessed. The beautiful card I had selected was a SYMPATHY card.

After we had a good laugh, Dave and I discussed it and decided that was probably the most appropriate card I could get to thank Harriet for sticking with me so long!

Besides, Harriet couldn’t read Malaysian any better than I could so I could tell her anything I wanted to say

By the way - She’s been married 46 years and so have I.  That makes 92 years BUT IT IS NOT LONG ENOUGH!

P. S. = PRAISE Seriously

So many notes and calls of assurance and promise of prayer – Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Neither Harriet nor I had any real peace about this “nuclear stress test” and we were making it a real matter of prayer. Several medical people whose advice we value were hesitant as well. We could get no satisfactory (to us) explanations as to just what benefits could be derived from the test that would outweigh the warnings of side effects and possible complications. We even called the cardiologist yesterday and talked to his nurse about our concerns.

We still had growing and serious reservations this morning. Harriet was extremely weak and had to revert to a wheel chair to even get into the doctor’s office, something she has not needed in several months. I really did not feel that she could endure any added stress so we asked if we could just do the Echocardiograms and forego the stress test. They did tell us that they will be able to make a satisfactory evaluation of Harriet’s heart with the tests that she has had. When the doctor gets to read this test he will then determine if there needs to be a change in her treatment or if further testing is absolutely necessary.

We are confident that we are in the hands of the Great Physician and determined to seek His will and His way.

My Bible reading yesterday was in Psalm 90 where Moses (a man who lived to 120) said in verse 10 that “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” So we then pray (verse 12) “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

In July, 2001, Harriet and I were going thru the testing procedure for an anticipated kidney transplant. One of the tests which she had was a cardiac nuclear stress test. She “passed” that one and we were set for appointment with the transplant team at University of FLA hospital.

Then 3 weeks later had a massive heart attack!

She is scheduled for that same test tomorrow. After our first experience with that ‘procedure’ and then reading the “warnings of possible side effects and complications” we were given this time, you can imagine that we are not really looking forward to this one.

We are going into this one with serious dependence on our Great Physician to be in charge. We look forward in faith to reporting some good news when we are finished with it.

We are counting on your prayers!

And the national news media wonders why the thinking public has difficult believing what they report! I knew this kind of report would be coming along sooner or later so did not forward the original article when it first hit the press. The truth is there may not be too many “lost tribes” left in our shrinking world BUT there are still over 2,000 languages which do NOT HAVE the Wonderful Word of God in their language. They are totally isolated from any knowledge of our Savior. They can not break all of the 10 Commandments –they cannot take the name of the Lord in vain because they do not even know it.

By God’s grace, lets keep on keeping on to the day when ALL have heard!

Check out these two links:

The Not So Lost Tribe

For the confession as to why the reporters and photographer lied. Secrets of the ‘Lost’ Tribe that Wasn’t

Just like the headlines in yesterday’s paper and last week’s and probably tomorrow’s, today’s newspaper as well as all the news on radio and TV cry out the plight of inflation, foreclosures on home mortgages, stock market losses, bloated fuel prices, increasing cost of almost all consumer goods . . . and the list of woes goes on. Our economy is in a downturn while the only thing going up besides prices and the rate of inflation is the number of unemployed and homeless.

Then I picked up the latest copy of the slick and classy publication of the “in crowd” in our area. Of course, it focused on the big June holiday- Father’s Day- with a featured section on the county’s “hottest men”. I was struck, NOT by who made the list nor the enlarged photos of the men but by the price tags. On every picture, in prominent display, was the description of what he was wearing, where it came from and the price he paid. “___ shirt or pants or shoes from ___” (I’ll leave out the names of the brands, the shops and the stores to protect the identities of those who prey on the socially insecure who feel the need to purchase their standing in their small and apparently insignificant little world. But I will cite a few examples of the prices:

• T Shirts ranged from $48 to $65!

  “Casual” shirts $110 to $135!

  Jeans from $98 to $110!

  No Slacks under $115 or Shorts less than $70!

And I thought $29.95 was too much for a pair of Wrangler jeans when you can get them at Wal-Mart for less than $20! Guess it wouldn’t be “cool” to run in those circles with a sensibly priced shirt from Target or Beall’s Outlet.

When I showed them to my GRANDdaughter, she pointed out the good news in the story. After these are worn very few times by cool men in town, they will be available free to the homeless and indigent thru the Salvation Army. Or for purchase by the rest of us for $2.49 each thru our local Goodwill Industries thrift store.

Jennifer and I stopped at the monument and flagpole erected by our Sons of Confederate Veterans on Interstate 75, just south of the Georgia state line. Behind the monument you see here is a flagpole with one of the largest Confederate battle flags in the world.