Serendipities

Our eldest son and his family are in the process of moving from Iowa to Tennessee. He has accepted a teaching position at Carson-Newman College in the Physics Department. Moving always has its good points and less than good points. Their move is no different, I’m sure. But this is not about their moving experience. It’s about God’s serendipities with which we are blessed as we sojourn through along life’s paths.

Sean and Melynda closed on the sale of their home in Iowa this past week. They are purchasing a home in Morristown, but will not be closing on it until later this week. Since we are along the route, and about half-way, they are visiting with us for a few days. We were really looking forward to their visit with us. When grandchildren live a long way away, the times you get to share are really special.

They all got here right on schedule Friday evening. Sean and I were downstairs looking at a little basement project I have going on right now. We were talking about options, possibilities, means – you know how it can be when two people who like to do things around their homes get together and talk shop. While we were chatting, there came a real clatter from upstairs. It was the sound of happy voices, happy as in very pleasantly surprised voices. We went upstairs and found out that there were going to be more beds filled, more mouths fed, more visiting to take place. My younger son Ben and his girlfriend ShanShan decided to drop in for the weekend – from Cleveland!

There was a hidden blessing in there unexpected visit. We had talked a few months ago about taking a family vacation this year. Coordinating schedules from Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio can be difficult, but not impossible. We had tentatively planned on getting together in Tennessee if Sean and Melynda got everything worked out with their move. Each of us has timetables of our own that have to be considered. But alas! It wasn’t going to work out. We (Illinois) had planned to be in Tennessee the last weekend of July and into the first of August once we found out when the Iowa son was moving there. Unfortunately, the Ohio son’s schedule didn’t match up. He teaches college classes during the summer and the term ends on August 1. He had to be there to grade the finals and turn in the students’ grades. He was not going to be able to be in Tennessee until the following weekend. But – it’s hard, but try to follow along – Melynda needed to be at a certification camp for Tai Kwon Do that weekend in Missouri. And we (Illinois) need to begin working in the classrooms at school for the opening of our teaching year. It just wasn’t working out at all. Until, Ben (Ohio) decided to just drop by and visit all of us in Illinois.

It has been a whirlwind visit, to be sure, but wonderful nonetheless. On Saturday, we visited the Wildlife Prairie Park with them. More of the animals were out this time than when we were there two weeks ago with Kennedy and her Mom. We walked, we talked, and we enjoyed the afternoon. The day was capped off with a cookout, ice cream desserts, and a couple of bouts with Hillbilly Golf. Melynda and Savannah, Sean and Melynda’s daughter, were the grand champions. The guys came in a great second. But it was also last place – only two teams.

Since we drive over to Bloomington where I preach on Sunday mornings, the boys made arrangements locally. We had a great Sunday dinner together. (If you see the person who invented the crock pot – thank them for us and everyone else who gets to eat on time after a busy Sunday morning.)

The weekend ended, and after a great breakfast of French toast, Ben and ShanShan had to leave for Cleveland. Duncan, Sean and Melynda’s son, enjoyed driving Grandpa’s yard tractor around the yard. His foot just barely got to the brake, so there was no mowing involved even though we had talked about it earlier. He had a great time. Savannah really didn’t want to try her hand at the tractor.

Tomorrow, we will say our goodbyes to our son’s family as they go on to Tennessee. But, there’s more to the story. We will be following them down in a couple of days. We’ll stop and see our church friends in Anderson, IN, surprising many of them for Thursday night’s VBS session. And then it’s on to Tennessee to visit some other good friends for a couple of days before seeing Sean and Melynda again for a couple of days. When we get back home, the classrooms will be calling us to work on them.

Serendipities. Those special happy occasions which fall into our lives from time to time. Actually, they are unexpected blessings from a gracious and loving Father in heaven.

Extraordinary!

Vacations are wonderful times to get away from the ordinary and to experience the extraordinary. Sometimes the extraordinary shows up where you may have least expected it. But really, we should expect the extraordinary wherever we are in God’s wonderful world. Let me tell you about the extraordinary unfolding right before us while we were in San Antonio. But first, let’s take a little side-trip to visit Naaman.

The account of Naaman’s cleansing from leprosy is familiar to many of us. He was a leper whose servant girl told him about Elisha. When he went to see Elisha, Naaman was told simply to dip seven times in the waters of the Jordan River. Naaman was expecting something extraordinary from the prophet; he protested, until his servant reminded him what kind of things he would have done in order to be cured of his leprosy if the prophet had but told him to. Naaman then went to the Jordan, dipped seven times, and the extraordinary happened in a simple act – he was cured of his leprosy. The extraordinary unfolded in a simple act of trust.

Our granddaughter Sidney will soon be two years old. Last year when we vacationed with family at the Gulf, we learned that she has no fear of ocean waves. She would crawl right down to them. If she got splashed, it was no problem. We saw this year that she has not lost her fearlessness towards water. Before supper, she wanted to go out and get in the sprinkler. We had brought a birthday present with us from her Aunt Betsy – an Elmo sprinkler. We got it all set up, turned it on, and she went out to it, but didn’t seem to appreciate the mist it was putting out. She went over to the side of the house and got the regular grass sprinkler. “This sprinkler. Sidney want this sprinkler.” She liked that one so much better. It would spray her in the face and she just giggled. She didn’t mind water in her face at all. Extraordinary for a child not yet two. But there is more.

We took her to the neighborhood pool. As the sky was overcast and it was still morning, we had both the kiddy pool and the adult pool all to ourselves. She soon tired of the kiddy pool and wanted to join her daddy Brett and uncle Jeremy in the adult pool. We walked through the gate with her, letting her daddy know that she was coming. He met her at the edge of the pool and helped her into the water. They all had a great time together. The water was splashing everywhere. She loved it. She had no fear. She was with her daddy.

Brett took her to the side of the pool, setting her on the apron. Moving a short distance out from the pool’s edge, he out his hands. “Jump, Sidney! Jump!” Do you know what she did? She jumped – right into her daddy’s arms! Over, and over, and over again. Uncle Jeremy wanted in on some of that fun, but Sidney would not jump out to him. She jumped to her daddy! She trusted him to catch her.
Uncle Jeremy could fly her through the water; she would ride on his back (She called him a sea dolphin.); she would let him hold her and she’d kick and paddle; but she would not jump to him.

She jumped to her daddy. She knew him; she trusted him!

An exquisite lesson seen in the actions of a child who is not quite two years old! Now, that is extraordinary! See, as we get more mature, we learn to trust less and less. We’ve been let down; we’ve been hurt; we learned that trust can be and is betrayed by those in whom we trust. But not so with small children. They have not experienced that let down. They trust those they know. The more they know them, the more they trust them.

Jesus said, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There is something about children that is worth imitating, yea, that it is essential we imitate if we are to be heirs of heaven. Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. (Pro 3:5) Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. (Isa 26:4) Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. (2 Cor 1:9) Trust, like unto that of a small child for his or her own parent!

A child trusts his or her parent because they know they are trustworthy. It’s all they know. Extraordinary! Now, the difficult part for us is learning to trust unconditionally like a child does: unconditional trust in the ability, the promise, and the love of God. Talk about your extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary!

Vacations

Vacations are wonderful times to see family and friends. We're returning home today after a wonderful week with part of our family. The Texas branch of the family, Stacy, Brett, and Sidney. South Texas is a different place than Illinois, and during our visit there was a lot - think of gopher wood lot - of rain. But we were not in Texas to view the weather. We have a wonderful granddaughter there. Her folks are there also, and a son to be baby brother.

Although her birthday is not until August, this was the chance we had to celebrate her 2nd birthday with her. Her Aunt Betsy who is a missionary in central Africa sent some goodies with us that she purchased before she went overseas. Two years is a great time of life. Children have an interesting perspective on life. For instance, birthday automatically brings to mind cake, at least with Sidney. It is said that picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let the picture do the talking.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful week with our Texans. But it is also good to get home.

The Keeping Room

The Keeping Room - a place to meet and visit with old friends and to meet new friends. Maybe not the dictionary's definition, but it'll work for here.

We hope this will be a place where our friends can keep up with what is happening in our life.