Change can come in many areas of a person’s life. Perhaps a change
in health, social status, marital status, religious affiliation, etc. I
personally do not really like change. I like things to settle into a pattern
and remain there, as if protected by a plastic bubble. But the Lord has
certainly different things in mind for us. We never would have believed that we
would be serving the Lord on the S Texas border when we first married (the furthest
thing on our minds at that time) – no – we planned on perhaps staying in the general
area where we were raised, enjoying the clam, smooth life we lived (well, most
of the time anyway). Instead the Lord sent us to Arkansas, where we met folks
who then lead us to S Texas and the following of the Lord. We have been blessed
these many years in listening to His leading and trying to do what we
understand His plans for us. For the last 1/2 year or so, He seems to be leading
us in now an entirely different direction – that direction being back to
Arkansas to serve Him through our home church. We were more convinced of that
as we returned from our vacation there – the calling back “home” was so very
strong. We listened to His voice, though we do not at this time understand why.
Many obstacles that seemed to be in our path have been removed, changes have
taken place that seem to be opening new doors for us. We have listed our place
here in S Texas for sale, leaving it all in God’s hands to take care of His
plan for us. We will be sad to leave the Valley – our deep relationships that
we have made with our people in the colonias, but will hopefully transition
others to take our place. Our work here is done but will continue as we make
the move. Another change taking place is that our dear friend, Miss Opal, who
has been a staunch supporter of Caring Hearts Ministry. Her health has deteriorated
to the point that she probably will not be able to return to her home to live.
(She is in rehab right now as a result of a having to have pacemaker). She is
81 years old and always dreamed of being a missionary. Her dreams became real
when she joined our ministry to help those less privileged than we are. And so,
the end of an era in all of our lives – as well as the lives of others as they
have lost loved ones, lost their good health, even those who seem lost to the Lord.
Keep each and every one of them in your thoughts and prayers as they too, try
to transition to another step in their lives. God changed directions for so many
people in the Bible - Abraham, Jonah, Saul (Paul), even Adam and Eve!!!!
The weather is still very hot and humid here with the temps
being in the high 90’s. I suppose it is better than the 12+ inches of snow in
Montana, but a bit of a cooling spell would help a lot. We did have a short
rain about an hour ago – but not what was predicted.
I had an interesting experience last Friday as we were
relaxing in the evening. The doorbell rang and a neighbor Dennis (although he
has changed his name to Daniel to be more Scriptural) asked if could do him a
favor. He found a ladies billfold in a buggy at Wal-Mart – actually he was
waiting for parking space and the lady was flustered because she had 2 small
children she was trying to get into her car, as well as her groceries, while
noticing he was waiting for her spot. Daniel drove into her spot right after
she left, and took her buggy when he noticed the billfold. The lady had already
left so he came to our house to see if we could find an address or something so
that he could return it, as his eyesight is not too good. Being an Israelite,
he needed to try to get this to her before dusk (before sundown) as his Sabbath
started then, Although he did say that he could drive after dusk if he was
doing a good deed. After much searching we found her driver’s license, put the
info into the phone for him. He seemed a bit unsure if he could find it,
although it was only a couple of miles away, so I convinced him to let me go
with him to find her home. It took a while, as she lived in a restricted area
(gated community) and the roads were not well marked. As we turned onto her street,
we noticed there were no numbers on the homes there, so we began ringing
doorbells asking where this particular home was – no one seemed to know nor did
they recognize the name! We finally saw young gentleman standing in his front yard
(he perhaps had been watching us and wondering what we were doing), who pointed
us in the correct direction, just 3 doors down from his home. I rang the
doorbell and the young lady answered and was so surprised to see her billfold
as she had no idea that she had lost it, which in a way was a good sign as she
had not cancelled or stopped her credit cards, etc. Now for the rest of this
amazing story – I explained what had happened and motioned for Daniel to come
to the door as the lady wanted to thank him, when I noticed the young man we
had previously spoken to was there with Daniel, along with the young man’s
small daughter (about 7 years old or so). The women thanked us profusely, and
as we returned to the car, Daniel told me this wonderful story – the man had
brought his daughter down the street to watch the proceedings in order to teach
her what she should do if she found something that belonged to someone else!!!
What a great way to teach a lesson in Christianity!!!! Such a blessing because Daniel
believed in doing something the right way!
It is now pouring rain – what a blessed relief from the heat
for now. I love to hear the sound of rain on the roof and remember God’s
promise to Noah never again will he destroy the earth by flood. Our world today
is in such disarray that a person cannot hardly believe any news reports. Please
pray that our country returns to Jesus – that it remembers the structure of our
country as a Christin nation, a nation that many have lost their lives
defending. Return God to the halls of our government, our schools, and even our
communities so that we can again proclaim we are a nation of God.
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