Psalms 7:11-13 God is a righteous
judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent
(change), God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has
prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts”.
Hey Gang: I have been involved in many very tough
experiences in my eighty decades and three on this earth. Developing the Village, was one filled with
alligators and back-against-the-wall experiences; as an air-traffic controller
when I worked the Pittsburgh scope, during peak traffic hours on a stormy day,
could also turn solid brown hair and streak it with grey.
But, if asked, “What is the toughest
experience of your life?” My answer, “Serving as an interim country pastor of
two small country churches.” Tough, yes,
because you do not have a clue what is going on in hearts of the folks. I learned what the preacher’s adage, “When in
doubt preach to yourself” meant. This I
can attest to: during that year I learned a great deal about three subjects,
me, faith and change.
After retiring from the Village
my bride and I were wired too tight to just get out a rocking chair and begin
to slowly start rocking. We gleaned the
Word seeking what it said about retirement and could find no references on
rocking chairs. Now there are those who
disagree with me, I mean what about Moses? Did God not retire him. Yes – permanently.
A few years back, my bride and I
had the wonderful opportunity of volunteering at the AIM (African Inland
Mission) Retirement Village named Media, in Florida. To qualify for entrance your vita must
include more than thirty years in hand-to-hand combat on the mission
field. On our first trip, to serve in
this venue, we learned not to judge the residents by their bodies, most showed
signs of their age and the rough life they endured in serving their Lord.
We were privileged to serve at
AIM on several occasions and we never found a retired person there. All spend large portions of their day in their
prayer closets- or prayer walks, are involved a local church, conduct Bible
Studies by mail and in schools, provide support and counseling services for
those who were dealing the tough issues in their lives. In other words, I never saw a retired
missionary, while serving there; I did see a whole barn full of recycled warriors
for Jesus there.
I must share this one story with
you which I feel was the greatest description of the residents of AIMS
Retirement Village. They have a chaplain
and more than 60- assistant chaplains,
but in essence every one there was a chaplain to someone in some way. My bride had the privilege of working in the
unit that housed the single residents and got to know these dear ladies in a
little more intimate way.
One, a lady by the name of
Florence, whom God was preparing to take home grabbed Jean’s heart. After Chaplain Roy returned to Media to
announce that Florence had announced in the hospital that she was going to see
her Jesus that day, and he tacked this neat obit to her victorious passing “she
finished well”.
Well my friends I did not get
very far down the road on where I think I am to go, but as the old Dutch farmer
said when he sun was fading and he still had half a field to plow, “if there
ain’t no tomorrow, it won’t matter now how”.
Blessings,
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