Marsha's Blog

I remember saying when our son died some 27 years ago, “If anyone else around here gets cancer, I’m buying a blender!” And that’s what we’ve done.  Tony still has no definite information, just that he has aggressive prostate cancer so he needs to get fit.  Last week, we bought a blender and a treadmill. I have to say, he’s committed to both! Thankfully, he’s already lost 3 kilos (7 lbs) and is feeling better physically than he did before he was diagnosed.  It’s not been an easy time, but we’ve been blessed with an extra-ordinary sense of peace and joy, a product, I’m sure of all your prayers! This is not to say that healing is a given; just that whatever circumstances come our way, we’re confident that God is in it, and will give us what we need, when we need it. That said, I have to admit: waiting has been the hardest aspect of this whole thing.   But let’s talk about that verse I mentioned last week in Isaiah 40:31.  I’ll put it here in case you forgot it...

A great mentor of ours, Stan Nelson, had his memorial service this last week.  As I read all the emails and comments about it, one of his favorite scripture passages came up more than once. It’s from Isaiah 40, starting with verse 28,   “Do you not know?   Have you not heard?   The Lord is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth.   He will not grow tired or weary,   and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.   Even youths grow tired and weary,   and young men stumble and fall;   but those who hope in the Lord   will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;   they will run and not grow weary,   they will walk and not be faint.” I’ll talk more about this passage next time, but I have to confess that we’re just not ‘soaring’ much this week.   As you may have been...

For many years, maybe since we were young marrieds, we’ve had a ‘Wall of Witnesses’ hanging in our bedroom.  These are pictures of people who have greatly influenced us over the years.  Our parents, my grandmother, other couples and individuals who have helped make us who we are.  The idea behind this collection is taken from Hebrews 12:1-3. I’m sure you’re all familiar with it, where Paul says,  “ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” I’ve kept this collection of pictures in my bedroom because that seems to be where I spend most of my ‘reflective’ thought and I like to look at them occasionally to ‘check’ how I’m doing.  Unfortunately for us, 10 of these people now influence us from heaven, but how they handled their deaths (at least 4 by dementia), also factors...

Last week I mentioned the advertisement that talks about the millions of steps we take in a lifetime, followed by the quote by Hugh Jackman, “However, it’s not the number of steps that matters; it’s where they take you.” I thought about that statement at one of the churches we visited in Fiji the other day. It was in Suva, the capitol city of the country. We were met and carted around by a wonderful man who had served as Fiji’s Minister of Foreign Relations, as well as Ambassador to both Papua New Guinea and then Japan.  We had a lot of fun with him and his wife talking about all their experiences “in the service”.   But the real thrill was watching him talk about evangelism.  He’s just retired from the government, and is finding plenty of work to do with the churches around the country. He’s even helped start a new one in his home, made up mostly of international students from all over Asia and the South Pacific. As he talked about these students, ...

Recently I saw an ad for an Australian clothing company, R.M. Williams.  This name is as familiar here, particularly with men’s clothing, as Stetson or maybe Brookstone Brothers is in the States. (I don’t really know because we hardly ever buy name brands). Anyway, it’s just a man walking.  All you can see are his boots. The narration goes like this: "The average person will take 216,262,500 steps in his lifetime.  That’s 110 thousand kilometers, or 4.4 laps around the earth.  However, it’s not the   number   of steps that matters, it’s   where   they take you.” And then the camera pans up to the well-known and adored face of Hugh Jackman, complete with his “Greatest Showman” smile. But already the information has taken hold by then, “It’s not the   number   of steps, but where they take you.” Our steps have already taken us to a heap of pleasant places. This last Monday we left the Fijian churches in the capitol city of Suva ...