Praise Time Psalm 47

Psalm 47,

1Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
2How awesome is the LORD Most High,
the great King over all the earth!

My goodness, well I really should honestly say, Lord’s goodness. Time has passed and the Lord has done so much.

Praise number one: I recently had my four-month checkup and my PSA (the main measure for Prostate cancer progress or non-progress, which is better) went from 0.69 right after the end of radiation treatments to 0.40, which is a very good thing.

Praise number two: Linda had a follow up ultrasound and the cysts are still not a problem.

Praise three: The Lord has worked in the situation with my family and the settling of my Mom’s estate. I pray that time and forgiveness through the Power of the Holy Spirit will make all right.

Praise four: Amanda has received great favor at Blinn College and, although the grading is a humongous task, she loves the teaching.

Praise five: Heatherly, Mike, MeiLin and Maiya have settled in to their new home and really are having the adventure of a life time in Burma.

Top line (one cannot say bottom line with God), God is Good.

1God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 46 NIV

Wow, I cannot belive it has been so long since I blogged.

It has indeed been many months, almost eight, since I last blogged. Times have been difficult over the last eight months. Many concerns and prayers for self, family, and friends. So I will provide a quick run down of the news from Burton, TX.

February -- found out I had prostate cancer, and because of stage, etc., surgery not good option. Also there were many health issues with family and friends, which kept us praying.

March -- Radiation treatments for my cancer (47 was the final total) started. Suspicious mammogram caused much prayer and concern for Linda. I freely admit I said to God, "How much more must we deal with?" Praise be to the Lord, doctors said after ultrasound, that it was two fluid filled cyst, and have another test down in six months. There was also much concern with family and extended family physical well being also.

April -- Great news n that we found our church home, Bethany Christian Church, right next door to us.

May -- Radiation treatments over, praise God. However, left me very wore out. Doctors said it would be a year to fully recover.

June -- Heatherly and girls came to visit, which was a great high point. Also we had good news about extended family physically problems improving. Although, sad but good news, is that my mom went to be with the Lord. She was suffering much and was ready to go home to be with Christ and Dad. Also, my six week cancer follow up went well, another praise.

July -- Heatherly, Mike, MeiLin, and Maiya arrived at their new home in Burma. It is actually cooler there than here (right now in August the highs are above 100, around 104 on some days).

August -- Amanda arrived home to spend some time with us. Wonderful!

Summing up, here in August, I guess I did not blog as life was too full, very difficult, and good all thought out the inter-blog period.

Bottom line, I am learning as Paul said, in Philippians 4:8 to focus on the true, noble, just, pure, and things of good report, and in Philippians 4:13, that we can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthens us so we will learn to be content in whatever circumstances life brings us (Philippians 4:11). If we do these things, then you like I can rejoice in the Lord doubly (Philippians 4:4).

So rejoice, God is good even if life is tough at times.

Update time

First of the New Year and time for resolutions? I seldom make resolutions anymore as too many times in the past I broke my resolutions. So, I suppose somewhere along the timeline I resolved to not make resolutions. However, I do like to continually update my life, that is, look at where I have been and what I am doing to see how I might improve. So, it is now update time.

Time to update this blog and perhaps other things in my life.

First the blog. Much has happened since last I wrote. Mainly good things with some not so good things.

We are slowly getting settled in our new home in Texas. Had to clear out a few critters first. As the photo in another blog below of the beautiful but dead deadly Coral Snake attest.

We have been on the road a lot, so it has been slow going. We got to stop going to get going on the home.

Had a great time with Heatherly, Mike, MeiLin, and Maiya for Christmas and soon will be headed to WA and then BC. Time to visit Amanda, friends, and do some teaching at TWU. Then head back and get busy with yard, etc., in the spring.

So, now that a quick update of where and what is done, what about my personal life? Big priority is finding the right church home. Next, is getting ready to move toward retirement through semi-retirement. I believe my focus will be on getting in better shape physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Need to get back on a regular exercise schedule and find that church home, or as AA says "First things First."

There is indeed a season for all things in this life. I knew that in some indescribable way the day I stood with my father as he stood at the bedsides while his parents, my grandparents, were passing from this life.

It was as if I saw the past and future as a progression of generational shape shifting images where the youngest progressed from being the accompanying consoling grandchild to the grieving child to the passing. I have shifted through those positions along with my wife and daughters (taking my place as the consoling ones) until soon it will be my turn in the bed and then the great beyond.

I have come to the full realization of how pregnant the phrase "great beyond" truly is. What better term for something so totally other. We know something scientifically tangible about life in the womb or before birth, and of course we all know something of this things called living as crazy wonderful as it is, but we all know experientially nothing about what lies after living.

Those of us who are Christians do have this great and blessed hope that is in Christ Jesus that indeed he has gone to prepare a place, a mansion, for us in His father's house. So, while I have much living left to be done, I believe and hope, I also increasingly turn my thoughts and feelings to looking "forward to the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13).

So I make no resolutions, but I do update my hope to live the life left to me to the fullest and hopefully becoming more Christ like having this mind in me that is also in Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5). Living with faith, hope, and love; faith in the now present of God, hope in eternity, and love for God and of God.

Walk on On

"Home... hard to know what it is if you've never had one
Home... I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the heart is"
Walk On by U2

Soon Linda will be going on a Walk to Emmaus. My prayer is that it will be an intimate time of renewal with our Lord.

We all need that time to draw close to Home. As Christians we have never been Home, but we know it exists and this temporal world is not it. So we all desire to Walk On until we arrive at our one and only true Home.

Draw closer my dear that is my prayer.

Rambling on from the ramble no more one, hopefully.

Wow, it seems so long but so fast since I last blogged. We are in the new abode, and loving it.

Hopefully the rambling days are over, at least for now.

We have been getting slowly adjusted to new climate, in two words, hot and humid, it can be sufficiently summed up. Whereas, Sumas, WA was cool and damp. I personally prefer the hot and humid.

We started off getting acclimated by working outside early in the mornings and just yesterday we actually went outside and worked for about an hour during the hottest part of the day. Well, we were in the garage with three box fans running, but it was still very hot and humid.

Of course the Coral Snake show down at Burton Town was exciting. We had never seen a live Coral Snake, but there he or she was darting out of our leaves and on the move, and as they are extremely deadly it seemed prudent to do away with it.

Our other big adventure is finding a church home. We have been surprised to learn that we are in the middle of a hot bed of mainline liberal church goers. So we continue to visit churches praying that the Lord will lead us to our new church home, where we can worship Him in spirit and truth.

Linda and I are also loving the Bluebell aquatic center in Brenham, TX, just a short and straight 15 minute drive away. Hey, as y'all know that is a short drive in Texas. We try to go two times a week to swim and water walk. We are also trying to walk two or three times a week. Needless to say, we are sliming down, which is good.

Bottom line, at least for us at this time,life is behaving well and we are enjoying it.

We have had difficult news of the sudden passing of a dear friend, Alan Phillips, and are praying for his family. Our prayer list seems always to grow, although there are many praises, there are always more things and people to pray about. I now understand why Paul said to pray without ceasing.

We are looking forward to the cooler months of winter. Everyone here constantly reassures that it does indeed get cooler and that winter is lovely. Pray so.

Blessing to you and thanks for reading my rambling words.