May 29. A cooler day today and very pleasant. Mrs. Ogle was in charge of the ladies’ Sunday school class again. She discussed with the class a bit first about some ideas they are trying to work out for volunteers to take care of making the meals for the sick and needy. Mrs. Carpenter will be heading that up. Then we listened to another part of Bro. Berg’s teaching on “Quieting the Soul” - excellent teaching with much food for thought. Pastor Ogle opened the meeting this morning by reading Romans 5:7,8 and making application, in thinking of Memorial Day, to those who gave their lives for America so that we could be a free nation. Then our first congregational hymn was “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies”. I ended up just standing there thinking about the words and the present state of our country. I had tried to sing, but just kept getting choked up and could hardly keep back the tears. In his preaching, Pastor covered the first nine verses of James 2 - Do You Treat Everyone the Same? “You must realize that being a respecter of persons is nothing like Jesus and it is sin.” Many sobering and heart-searching thoughts. My mind was busy thinking how we can continue building that relationship with our neighbors in which we’ll be able to show them God’s love. One thing that C said to the girls is that they should sit out on the porch. “Why don’t you sit out?” he wondered. “Are you afraid?” If we had been paying better attention, we should have come to the conclusion that that’s what people do in this neighborhood. Then people can stop and talk when they go by. There are several reasons why we don’t sit out - we have work to do in the house (more than most of our neighbors); we don’t have enough outdoor chairs (maybe we can bring those old ones over from the trailer and clean them up); we don’t know what to do outside (we don’t want to just sit there and do nothing); we’ve been busy with so many other things. None of these are good enough excuses. So let’s start sitting out, at least on Saturdays and maybe some evenings. We can take out a book to read or something to crochet so we can keep our hands and minds occupied while no one is around to talk to. This evening, Pastor continued his preaching on “What is truth?” No matter what, we need to be proclaiming the truth, but not to separate it from mercy, grace, and love. Mrs. Louise Champlin, Caleb’s grandmother, was at EBC again today, and we enjoyed conversing with her for quite a while after the morning meeting. She said she will soon be 88, the matriarch of her family. She heads back to Suriname on Thursday to continue serving the Lord there until she dies or until the Lord comes. What an encouragement to talk with this dear woman! How it made me long to go back to PNG and live out our lives there! How would we maintain support or support ourselves? We were late getting home from church this evening because there was a VBS meeting after the service, and Christy and Connie stayed for that. Then we went by way of South Carolina for gas. We got delayed at the gas station because Daddy couldn’t get the receipt out of the machine; and when he went inside to get a copy, the computers wouldn’t work right. All this wonderful technology! “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21 We love Him, because He first loved us. We show our love to Him by keeping His commandments. See John 14:15
0 Comments
May 28. At first we wondered if we would be sleeping in our room last night. In the evening, the possum (?) smell came back as strong as ever. In a couple hours, though, it had died down enough for us not to have to move everything to the front room. We were up early to get ready to go over to the trailer and work before the day got too hot. I fixed pancakes for Daddy’s breakfast; and after breakfast, we checked all around the outside of the house again to see if we could find any place where a possum might get in. We saw a couple places where a smaller animal might get in, but not a possum. But there must be a hidden place somewhere in order for that smell to keep coming and going in the house. After we looked around a while, Daddy sprinkled the contents of a bottle of garlic and a bottle of cayenne pepper all around the house. Christy and Connie left here for the trailer around 8:00, and it was around 8:30 when Daddy and I left. It was already quite warm in the trailer so we only worked a couple hours, and I felt rather drained of energy. Daddy cleaned some things out of the shed. Stopped at Ingles on the way home to pick up a few more peaches. Saw that there was a good price on the bananas so got a few more of those too. Had a few minutes to relax after we got home, and then we had lunch, and shortly after that, nap. Did a bit of work on the Scripture file this afternoon. Then my brain was tired so I relaxed and worked on the other tie back for the kitchen. Finished that right after supper. Then Mel called and said he could help us get the other fridge from the other house tonight, also Christy’s bookshelf. Christy was busy doing dishes so I went for the ride with Daddy. Mel was just backing up to the steps when we got there. After the fridge and bookshelf were loaded onto the trailer and strapped down, we headed home. Mel went ahead, and we followed behind him. We could see that the fridge was sliding, and the strap was working its way off. Just as we turned onto a road close to home, it came the rest of the way off. We were thankful it hadn’t come off when we were speeding along on the main highway. The fridge continued to slide a bit, and the freezer door kept opening until we rounded the corner and stopped across from the house. Mel got out and saw what had happened and said it was scary. Yes, it was. We are thankful we didn’t go any farther or have any farther to go. If we had, we would have blown the horn and/or waved him to a stop. When we arrived, two of our neighbors from across the street were outside our house talking with Christy and Connie. We are thankful to see the Lord beginning to answer prayer and help us to break the ice with our neighbors. Oh, how we pray that the Lord will help us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves and to shine as lights in the midst of this crooked and perverse nation! Mel had to take off the front door to get the fridge into the house. Then he backed the trailer up to the porch so it would be easy to unload the fridge. That fridge is now in the dining room, and Daddy and I will use it for our food. We’ll let C&C use the kitchen one. It will make it a lot easier to fit all our food in, especially on shopping day. Mel and Lewis put the shelf unit in Christy’s room. “16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16,17 Praise God for “for ever” - eternally secure. May 26. Last night, Daddy and I carried all our bedding and night gear to the living room and bedded down there for the night. This morning, we sprayed all the upper rooms again with the Febreeze. My appointment with Dr. Prime was at 9:15. He did more adjusting of the neck and lower back. Then off we went to Ingles in KM. They had a lot of BOGO sales today. Saw Jeremy and Laura and the children there and said hello to them. From there it was back to Sears in Shelby. Talked to someone at the Sears Homestore. Since the repairman didn’t feel that our washing machine has a problem, the company won’t exchange our machine for a new one since it has been over a month since we bought it. The man we talked to said that he would see what he could do for us, however. After that, we went to Big Lots; and when we got done there, it was after 12:00, and we were hungry. So when we got to WalMart, we had some lunch at Subway before doing our shopping. Last stop was Aldi, and it was after 2:30 when we finally got home. There were lots of groceries to put away before we had our nap, and it was going on 4:00 before we finally lay down. I was very thankful for a nap. “12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14 Praise the Lord for His promises - that those who believe on Him will do the works that He does, and even greater; and that whatever me ask in His name, He will do it (and that is repeated in verse 14). We are asking the Lord to use us to reach the people of this neighborhood, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Lord, show us the way. May 27. Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace. The man from Sears Homestore called Daddy early yesterday evening to let him know that Sears would exchange the washer for us! Our landlord and his wife came around 7:30 last evening to check out the animal problem. Our landlord crawled under the whole house, but did not see or smell any dead animal. He did, however, find an empty nest under our bathroom where the smell has been the strongest. There was a bit of an odor in the nest, but no animals. Possibly a possum’s nest. He removed the nest, sprinkled moth balls under the house, and afterward all around the house, and sealed off all the openings more tightly. He also gave us an electronic animal repeller. It is possible that we were smelling a live possum and not a dead one (which we found out later, was the case). They are pretty potent animals. Later in the evening, however, we could smell the possum a little bit again, but also smelled the moth balls quite strongly. The animal smell was fairly strong again in our bathroom this morning, but not like before. Is there actually an animal under there somewhere, but in the walls? And is there another way for them to get in other than through the openings that are now all well-blocked? It was hard to sleep after 5:00 this morning, so about 5:30 Daddy and I got up. Daddy had been awake since around 3:45. Before noon, I was really tired, however, and took a nap before lunch and another nap mid-afternoon. Bro. Joe came again, and he and Daddy finished up a few little things that still needed to be done on the shed. That didn’t take long. Afterward Joe went back to get his trailer and dolly, and he and Daddy took the washing machine back to Sears. They came home with a GE to replace the Whirlpool. It was an extra bit of money and hopefully it does a better job on the clothes. I wrote an e-mail and deleted some, got my June schedule made up, copied some songs and other items out of some e-mails and put them in another file. After my afternoon nap, Daddy and I checked chapter 5 of Mark. Praise the Lord for helping us with that project! Then I fixed goulash for our supper. A Praise! Christy had a call on the trailer this evening; and, Lord willing, it looks like it may work out for her to get the trailer sold right away. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 Whether or not I obey Christ’s commandments, shows how much I love Him. May 23. A lovely, sunny day, but somewhat cool. It was 6:30 before I got up this morning. Took me a long time to get to sleep last night. After breakfast and quiet time, I folded the rest of Friday’s laundry. Joe came around 9:00, and he and Daddy worked all morning on the shed. Around 12:15, they took a break. Joe went home to rest and get something to eat, and Daddy came in for lunch. Joe came back a little later, and they continued work until all the sides and the roof supports were up. He hopes tomorrow afternoon to be able to finish it. He and Mary both have doctor appointments first. While Daddy was busy outside, I got some cards ready to mail, worked on the shopping list, did some menu planning for next Monday and Tuesday when our guests come, and looked at some sites with Connie about making coffee table photo albums. This afternoon, Bro. Clarke came by for a short while and talked with us about the Pidgin language. After that, I worked on “Bai Mi Maritim Husat” (Whom Shall I Marry?) and also fixed supper - put chicken and potatoes in the oven to bake and later cooked a big bunch of broccoli. “13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.“ John 13:13-17 One secrect to happiness! Follow Christ’s example as a servant. May 24. The morning was chilly, and I was cold in the house. Before going to the chiropractor, we spent some time on revising the shopping list to include brand names and amounts needed for a 4-6 week period. After returning from the chiropractor, Daddy did some work on the shed while I worked at the computer. Later he called for help in putting the shed doors together, It took both of us to try to figure out what the instructions meant before we finally got the doors set up correctly. We didn’t quite finish before dinner, but had a little time to finish after dinner. Then we had our nap. This afternoon, I went with Christy and Connie to the trailer to do more work. Daddy stayed here because he was expecting Joe to come and do more work on the shed. However, Joe and Mary were later getting back from their doctor appointments than they expected. On the way to the trailer, we stopped at Sandy’s Country Christmas to get a few things. We didn’t stay long at the trailer today because it was so hot in there. I also finished proofreading “Bai Mi Maritim Husat?” today; and after supper this evening, I spent more time organizing it. Then I’ll print it out, and we can give it another couple proofreadings. “34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34,35 Help us, Lord, to love one another so that all men may know that we are your disciples. May 25. Went to bed early again last night. A couple hours later, when I woke up, I could smell something dead* in the bathroom. It wasn’t too bad until the next time I woke up (about 2:30), and then the horrible odor was already permeating our bedroom. I got up and covered the bathtub drain and lit a couple candles. That seemed to help until morning. And here it was the morning for washing my hair, which I did as quickly as possible. After getting dressed, I went and got the Febreeze from Connie and sprayed our bathroom and bedroom. Also put out essential oils to try to cover up the stench. The smell even came out as far as the dining room and kitchen. It is horrible. It was amazing how well the Febreeze and oils covered up the smell. When we came back from church this evening, however, the odor was back in full force. I have sprayed again, but don’t know if we’ll be sleeping in our bedroom tonight. Bro. Joe came today, and he and Daddy were able to finish setting up the shed. Praise the Lord! We were able to move a few things out there and should be able to get more things out of the house later. While they were working outside, I moved the baker’s rack from the dining room into the kitchen to make room for the other refrigerator in the dining room. I got really tired out doing that. Seem to have very little energy these days, plus constant headaches. The Whirlpool serviceman came today to look at the washing machine (though he wasn’t much help). There was just a small group in church this evening. Many young people have already left for summer ministries, and more of the adults are helping in the children’s departments. Pastor Ogle’s text this evening was Genesis 42. His title was “The Test Begins” and his theme was “God is orchestrating the events of your life.” It was an exciting message on the life of Joseph and a message with many applications about sowing and reaping. “1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” John 14:1-4 We are commanded not to let our hearts be troubled. And then we are given some wonderful promises - that there are many mansions in God’s house; that Jesus is preparing a place for us; that He will come again and take us to be there with Him. *We found out later that the smell wasn’t coming from something dead, but rather from a live possum. If they smell that bad alive, what do they smell like when they are dead? |
|
newsletterfebruary2024.pdf | |
File Size: | 1988 kb |
File Type: |
islesaresingingchapters1to15pdf.pdf | |
File Size: | 395 kb |
File Type: |
Archives
March 2024
January 2024
December 2023
September 2023
July 2023
June 2023
April 2023
March 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016