Marsha's Blog

 I still remember sitting cross legged on our bed for weeks and weeks counting up $20 bills.  We were fairly newlyweds, still in college, but we had decided that we would take off and 'see the world' when we had enough saved up.   That was about 55 years ago and believe me, our definition of “the world” back then did NOT go beyond the borders of the United States. Our world was much smaller then, and so it wasn’t entirely unreasonable that we just might be able to pack up the car and see just a bit of it.  And that’s what we did in the summer of 1971. We looked over our ’64 Ford convertible, took a deep breath and decided it could still handle the road. It had done okay for our honeymoon (Ask us about the bear in the tent that trip if you haven’t already heard it); it could do it again.  Finally with a fist full of $20 bills, we packed up and headed for Vancouver, where we planned, if possible, to head in the direction of Alaska.  We had neither the ti...

  I happened across an old familiar parable the other day. It’s the one about seeds and the different kinds of soil it falls into when it’s sown. It shows up in three of the four Gospels.  You know how it goes.  There was a farmer, and he broadcast some seeds.  Some fell on good soil, some on rocky, some on bad.  Some sprouted and grew, but with lack of water and nourishment they were soon taken out.   After this morning, I would like to add my own “Australian version” of that parable.  ALL of my beautiful little green tomatoes, showing so much potential for harvest, were just getting ready to turn a nice rich red when something, most likely a possum, came under the cloak of darkness and wiped out my entire crop.  To say I was angry is an understatement. It’s not just the tomatoes; it’s the injustice! I bought the seedlings. I prepared the pots. I watered faithfully every morning. It’s just not fair!  And the rage doesn’t stop at the gar...

 Today I'd like to tell you the tale.  It could go something like the line by Charles Dickens in the Tale of Two Cities' and start off with: "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times." Yoshioka is a small village a few miles north of Sendai, Japan, where we lived most of our career.  The thing that struck us every time we went out there was the sense of history.  It was over 700 years old, and that was back in the ‘80s.  We came to know the place because a doctor by the name of Abe Sensei, ran a clinic there. By God’s grace, he became a Christian sometime in the ‘50s, and that changed the course of the land.  Because of his concern for the town and society, and wanting to share Christ in the community, he started a preschool with a church attached.  It sailed along with great success for over 40 years.  We got involved when Tony was asked to come play his guitar for the children once or twice a week.  It became a real bright spo...

 He is Risen!! I'll keep it simple today as I'm sure you're all getting your bonnets and gloves together for church!  Those words are enough to bring up a whole pack of memories. I’ll always remember the excitement of “dressing up” for Easter Sunday. It’s a tradition that sadly seems to be losing ground in the face of the Me Generation’s “Comfort is Everything” way of thinking these days, but I’ll leave that soap box alone for now.  In my home, Easter was a day for lace and hats and shiny white shoes. Never mind that where we lived in the Rockies west of Denver, snow was a very real possibility, and spring snows (like around Easter time) could be particularly wet and sloppy. But nothing could stop us from trying our best to look our best, even when the weather outside was, well, less than best.  We persevered because Easter spoke of New Life. And what better way to celebrate than by dressing up for the occasion? Why don’t you give it a try, Young Folks? You’ll love i...

 Hello All, As we are heading into the Easter Run Up, I had an interesting thought put to me the other day.  Maybe you've heard it too. It was the night before His Crucifixion. Jesus and His disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane. You'll remember the fracas when soldiers, led by Judas, showed up to arrest Him. With the “Kiss of Death” by Judas, things got crazy.   Peter, entrenched in moment, whipped out his sword and removed the ear of one of the perpetrators.  Scripture puts it this way:  “And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, ‘Suffer ye thus far’. And he touched his ear, and healed him.” I’m trying to imagine this as a stage play. How would I choreograph it? Right there in all the confusion, Jesus stopped what He was doing and healed the servant. And I’m thinking to myself, why didn't that MIRACLE stop everything in its tracks? Wouldn't the soldiers have been impressed?  Wou...

The other day I came across another of my favourite stories in the Bible. This one (again) involves King David. But first let me tell you a story, which may explain my point, at least I hope so. So there was a church bake sale and one of the mothers was running late.  She baked an angel food cake but in her haste, she opened the oven door too soon and it fell. There was nothing she could do because time was running out, so she grabbed a roll of toilet paper, put it in the crater of the cake and put an impressive amount of beautiful icing on it before jettisoning out the door for the church. As she and her daughter hurried for the church, daughter was given specific instructions,  "You run the cake into the back, I'll park the car and get to the table before it does and buy it!  Then, I will have paid my participation dues and no one will know what a disaster it was!" They agreed and the daughter hopped out with the beautiful cake.  But as the mom was heading into the...