Traveling in the Southwest Part 3

The first day of our trip was long. Approximately eight hours after we left our house we picked up our rental car at the El Paso airport and drove east. It was a strange thought that we were driving east after flying west, but we had a reason for backtracking: encouraging some friends and learning about the ministry they were involved with.

I enjoyed the scenery as we drove through western Texas, simply because it is so different from the scenery in Ohio. I was amazed at how big Texas was. You can go miles without seeing any houses. As we drove down the road at 80 plus mph (the speed limit is 80 mph in west TX), every once in a while Daddy would interrupt our conversation with an observation of the car and how it was driving. A couple times he asked me, "Does it sound like we have a flat tire?". I answered, "Kind of, maybe it's ....." My experience with flat tires is small. The tire noise persisted and became more noticeable. Daddy pulled to the side of the road, and yes, we had a flat tire.

Daddy was disgusted that such a thing would happen on a rental car. He started to change the tire. He got out his tools including the lug wrench, and alas, it was the wrong size! We were out in the middle of nowhere, with a flat tire that we couldn't change.

After opening the hood to show our need to fellow motorists, he called AAA for their roadside assistance. They wanted to know where we were (besides west Texas). We hadn't been observing the mile markers, so we didn't know what mile we were on. So Daddy began to walk/run down to the last marker with me trailing in the dust. A fellow motorist on the other side of the highway saw us running, slowed down, and called out, "Do you need any help?" We said "Yes!" (Daddy was cautious about him at first, but was soon at ease.) Mr.D. pulled through the median and parked ahead of us.

He got out his 4-way and within five minutes the tire was changed.

How thankful we were for his help. He was an answer to unspoken prayer. It would have taken hours for AAA to arrive.

He called out, "God bless you," as he went to pack up his van. Daddy boldly followed that up with a gospel CD. After talking for a moment Daddy discovered that Mr. D. was Catholic who knew what he believed. He asked Daddy (as a testing question), "What is your view of transubstantiation?" Daddy wisely answered, "What do you mean by that?" Mr. D. replied, "Good answer," and they continued their conversation.

One hour after pulling off for the flat tire, we were on the road again. Daddy was a little bummed, because now he could only go 65 mph max. Oh well, we still got to our destination on time.

Our destination? Midland,TX. We stayed with the parents of the young family we were visiting/meeting. It was a great time getting to know them and how the Lord is at work in Texas. The believers in Midland are not just reaching out locally, but internationally.

Part four will be about the local work, that has a vision to reach out internationally.

What a great God we have! I was reminded of this in when I got a bird's eye view of part of our country and when I learned how He was working through the believers in Midland.

~JoAn

Biblical Decision Making

This past weekend we went as a family to Bible Conference on the Family in Indiana. It was a real blessing. Now the hard part comes, in applying what we heard. The teacher was Warren Henderson of Wisconsin. He has written a number of books on the family, including 'The Fruitful Vine' and 'Like Olive Branches'. His big emphasis on child rearing was on raising spiritual children and not just moral ones. A very important distinction.
One side track he went down was on applying scripture to the decisions we make when it is not black and white. It is obvious that robbing a bank is not right, but what about the less obvious things? He gave eight principles to use in those types of decisions. I present them for your own consideration.
1. 1Corinthians 6:12 Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything.
-Will this be beneficial to me?
-Will this master me?
2. 1Corinthians 8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
-Will this stumble a weaker brother or sister?
3. 1 Corinthians 9:12 ...On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
-Will it stumble or hinder someone in the gospel?
4. 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
- Can I do it to the glory of God?
5. 1 Corinthians 10:23 ...Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive.
-Is it helpful to my spiritual growth?
6 & 7. Romans 14:19 Let us make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
-Does it make for peace?
-Does it edify someone else?
8. Romans 14:23-24
-Don't do something unless you have full peace that it is right!
Phil 4:8 Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is virtuous or praiseworthy, think on these things.
Now if we can live our life in such a way that we illustrate these ideas in our life, and then teach our children to apply them in their own lives, they will struggle a lot less with those 'hard' decisions.
~Mom

The Adventures of Grandpa Guy

Our dear friend Guy Meehling, has come and stayed with us for the month of November. He left early this morning (He left our house at 4AM) to return to Seattle Washington. Grandpa Guy has been a family friend since before I was born and our neighbor for the last 14 years. He moved away about a year and a half ago after his wife passed away.
Grandpa Guy is 91 years old and in excellent physical and mental shape. He is legally blind due to macular degeneration, but he doesn't let that slow him down. He gets up early and does his calisthenics, and walks 3-5 miles/day and tries to get in a bike ride also. In his quiet time he listens to MP3 of scripture and goes through the entire New Testament about once a week.

He arrived on November 2nd at 11:15 PM. By the time DH brought him back to our house it was 12:15 and DH quickly fell into bed. At 12:30 there is a steady knocking at our bedroom door as Mr. Meehling announced that he had made a terrible mistake. There was a 'corset in his suitcase'. My honey investigated and sure enough he had picked up the wrong bag. Poor Helga Martin hopefully had another corset nearby. We called the airport and in the morning, DH went and picked up the correct bag and brought back Helga's. (Isn't Helga just the perfect name for a woman who still wears a corset?) We learned a life lesson here and for your benefit: When picking up a blind person from the airport always double check that they have the right bags.

The next day when Grandpa Guy was heading out for his walk, we asked him if he would like to take Dallas along for exercise. He was more than happy to do so. Mr. Boots walked with them a little ways and they did fine. What we DIDN'T know was that he was planning to go shopping, not just a walk around the neighborhood. He took Dallas to Giant Eagle, but Dallas was afraid of the automatic doors and so wouldn't go in. Same thing at Marc's. He was fine with the sliding doors at Sears and the normal ones at Bob Evans, so he was able to take him in those places. No one said anything. He does carry a white cane when he is out walking. Maybe people thought Dallas was a service animal. No one bothered the old blind man who brought his dog into the store. The waitress even held the leash while he went into the bathroom. I am glad Dallas behaved himself. He has never been officially housebroken.

Today we are a little sad as Grandpa Guy left. He was to leave our Airport at 6 AM and fly to Chicago and then on to Seattle. He was supposed to arrive in Seattle at 11:15 AM their time. At 3 PM this afternoon Mr. M called and told me he was in Minneapolis and about to leave to go to Las Vegas. Needless to say I was a little shocked. Apparently the plane coming in to our airport hit a bird and so they had to cancel his flight. This is still Thanksgiving weekend as far as travel goes. The airline (American) worked hard to cobble him an itinerary back to Seattle. Their first idea was to send him to NY and then on to Chicago and so forth. They finally came up with the following plan. Our airport to Chicago to Minneapolis to Las Vegas to some airport in California (he wasn't sure which one) and then by Alaskan Airline to Seattle Washington. Nothing like a direct route. It will have taken him 24 hours to get from our door to his door. Poor man. He was having quite the adventure. He also informed me that he was eating his first hoagie he had ever eaten in his life there at the airport. The man lives life to the fullest. I hope I am like that when I am 91.
~Mom

Mr. Boots Pulled over by State Trooper

NEWSFLASH:
Today we were driving down the highway and a guy in the car next to us starts staring at Mr. Boots. He pulled ahead and then dropped back beside us and continued staring at Mr. Boots as he drove. I knew what he was thinking, "Is that kid old enough to drive?" He hurried on ahead and there was a state trooper running radar, we saw him pull in and talk to the trooper.
I told Mr. Boots, "I bet they are going to pull you over, watch and see if that trooper doesn't start following us." It was only a couple minutes later and sure enough the state trooper was sitting right beside us staring at Mr. Boots. I saw him reach for the computer and I knew we were heading for the side of the road. The trooper then proceeded to drop behind us and on came the lights. Mr. Boots sighed a big sigh and shook his head. He turned on the turn signal and pulled off to the side of the road.
The trooper came over and asked him, "How old are you son?"
Mr. Boots replied "Sixteen."
"Let me see your license."
He handed it over. The trooper asked for my license and compared them.
The trooper said, "Sorry, I thought you were only 10 or 12. Your son was driving very well ma'am. He is a good driver. Have a good day."
We did.
So our boy was very disheartened to be thought only 10 or 12. He did have a good attitude and it does make a good story. Our son was pulled over and told that he was a good driver. How many people can say that?!!
~Mom

Flat Tire

This is not 'just a flat tire', this is an opportunity for our new drivers to practice and demonstrate their tire changing skills.

JoAn and Paul demonstrated teamwork as they efficiently took care of changing it. I only had to supervise and encourage. Fortunately, we had a good spare in the back. Thanks, Honey.

If you have to have a flat, down at the beach is a pretty nice place. So much better than a highway or busy road with no shoulder. There was a pleasant breeze to cool them as they worked.

It really only took them about fifteen minutes to get the job done. I feel much better about them driving around without me, now that I know that they can take care of it themselves. They did a great job.

All done and ready to roll!

This week our computer also had a rough week. We had a major update on the system and suddenly the mouse and keyboard stopped working. This made blogging very difficult. The boys figured out how to use the electronic mouse from the laptop so we could at least navigate. A young man from Church, Dan, came over and helped us work out the issues, and now it is happy again. It is really nice to have helpful and skilled young people around.

The Beginning of Harvest in Richmond

"The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

Last week six of us joined other believers from Ireland, Canada, and the United States in Richmond, KY to share the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost.
From prayer, to door-to-door, to kids clubs, to gospel meetings, to car washes, we were privileged to work with zealous believers in telling the Good News, that Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Some highlights of the week were (in no particular order).....

1. Seeing sinners saved.
2. Long conversations on door steps.
3. Being challenged by the the zeal of young people.
4. Tasting some Southern hospitality. One of the ladies I met at the Corrie Ten Boom drama kindly invited us to her home for dinner. It was a treat to be in a home and not a restraunt for supper. Miss T. served us a simple dinner in an elegant way. After dinner she let Thomas and I play her grand piano for her. She also let us examine old toys from past eras. It was delightful.
5. Learning new group games...."Meet the Press".
6. Lunches at Lake Reba kindly provided by Mr. N.
7. The singing of hymns accompanied by piano, violin, and viola.
8. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones.
9. The Lord's Supper. I was reminded of popcorn by the way men, young and old, stood up to share something about the Lord Jesus.
10. How the Lord used a young woman's fluent knowledge of Spanish to make known the gospel and Biblical truths to R. and his friend.
11. Being reminded in a powerful way of the value of prayer.

Many, many, many contacts were made. Please pray for the local believers as they have a LOT of follow-up visits and Bible Studies to do.

Next place? Our area. (just not so many people)

~JoAn