Marsha's Blog

 It was the early days of our time in Japan … those days when my emotions ran from mountaintops of wonder to those low places when, if I could have FOUND the airport, I would have been on a plane headed for what I still considered “Home”. Most of my frustrations circled around the Japanese language, and my lack of it. Why, WHY wouldn’t these people just stop blabbering gibberish and start speaking English?!? And then, when I began to dare that I was indeed starting to pick up what a 17th century Franciscan monk called “The Devil’s Language”, reality would blindside me like it did on that Sunday morning. The ladies were talking at great length about … well about SOMETHING. There was a lot of smiling and pointing to the Bible, so I surmised we were giving our testimonies. “Got it!” I thought to myself. I had prepared one in language school and it was in my purse, just waiting for this moment. Sure enough, one of the ladies turned to me and asked sweetly, “Ikaga desu ka?” “What do you...

 G’day Fellow Travellers, I think many of you might be on Facebook and so noticed the picture I took out the back of our house the other day… seven of the most majestic English-originated Red Deer you ever saw.   It’s a bit of a mystery how they got there, since they are not native to Australia and DEFINITELY not welcome among the country’s flora and fauna. It’s believed they were introduced some time back by a wealthy entrepreneur with plans to start up a new industry. Nobody is saying for sure, but the only thing that can be said is that the deer love it here! I know that the many of you living in Texas and those parts look at deer and think either “menace” or “venison” and perhaps both in the same sentence.  Fortunately for these folks here, although they’re listed as ‘feral’, as they are, everyone treats them like family pets.  Yes, they eat our flowers, but according to the layout of the floodplain we live on, they really can’t get into the traffic, so we a...

 Hello Friends, This week we were in a relatively unknown grocery store just to pick up some last-minute something. It wasn’t one of the “chain” supermarkets we usually go to, so we were interested to see all the different products they had for sale.  Coming around a corner, I came face-to-face with a box of Twinkies! Are they still around in your neck of the woods? For myself, I don’t think I’ve seen one outside of America … ever. Unfortunately, as an imported specialty, they were about $1.50 a twink, so it wasn’t hard to pass them up. But it made me remember a story from long ago. Tony was sitting in a Japanese pastor’s meeting. On either side of him were seated the much “halo"-ed older missionary who’d been in Japan more than 30 years. When I think about it, I believe he was probably more “Japanese” than some of the actual Japanese there. Sitting next to him was a fairly new missionary, just learning the ropes and trying to keep his head above water. As the snacks were pass...

 If I were reading “Pilgrim’s Progress”, I’d think I had slipped into a “Slough of Despond” … at least if my blogs lately are any indicator. So today I’m slapping on the happy face! (Ouch! That hurt!) Here comes a happy note from a happy Marsha. Okay, so there’s a sad part as well, but bear with me. One of my heroes died this week. This calls for a huge flashback ….. fasten your seatbelts! The year was 1977.  We arrived in Monrovia, Liberia to be Dormitory Parents to our missionary kids there so they could attend high school in the capital city. The posting was a spur-of-the-moment decision, made by our mission because our visas to go to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where Tony’s parents were missionaries, had been denied.  That in itself is a loooong story, but you’ll have to buy the book for that one. Anyway, we arrived to the fresh gleaming faces of 5 beautiful kids.  We found out much much later that they’d hidden the fact that they’d been at the dorm without supervis...

 Dear Friends,  Just a few minutes after I posted this week’s blog, I came across the news about the horrific flooding in Texas and the tragedy at the Christian camp there.   I can’t believe the timing. Here I am talking about a fun camp where everyone was invited to ‘Come to Jesus’ etc.  And now we grieve with the nation about this terrible, terrible tragedy.   Who could have foreseen?  Who could have prepared? One reason we grieve, I think, is that can identify. How many of you have happily dropped (or been dropped) off children of your own?  “They’ll have so much fun,” you think, “It’s so safe!” But then this happened.   Today I join all of those who are hurting; and rejoice with those who grieve “with hope”. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”  (1st Thessalonians 4:13).   But the good news ...

  Hello Fellow Travellers!   Isn’t it wonderful that we’ve had another week to walk with the Lord thru all the adventures of the journey.  I will say for us, it was a quiet week, although I confess we did have a lot of little ‘catching up’ jobs to do, especially after the big family weekend. But all in all, we were left on Sunday night with smiles on our faces, glowing in the fact that our grandchildren are walking with the Lord, remembering the good food, the great family and the reminders that we are SOOOO blessed. Close to home, I got news of a drama going on in a little Christian Camp in Colorado that my sister and I enjoyed going to every summer.  It’s called “I’d-ra-ha-je” which I think, is  supposed is to resemble a Native American name, but is actually short for the lovely hymn written in the 20’s and which I remember well in the 50’s, “I’d Rather Have Jesus”.  I'drahaje was a focal event in my childhood. There was always something going on, Su...

 Good Morning Faithful Friends, Well, this week a few things happened that were not expected. First of all, I didn’t get permission to write about what I promised you last week. (Now you’re interested). It’ll come maybe someday, probably when the world isn’t so touchy politically.  What DID come home to remind us, is the brevity of life.  Last week … what shall we call them? … a “power couple” in our Australian church for many years had a tragedy. Let me explain.  Shey and Mena were young people when we came to Queensland about 20 years ago.  They went from our church into an organisation that we’ve worked with in missions over the years, called YWAM.  It stands for “Youth with a Mission” and has other humorous labels like “Youth Without any Money”, or how about “Young Women After Men”?  Seriously, It was an option for my kids and we feel that it’s really admirable what they do in the lives of young people all over the world.   Life went on, ...

While we were on our cruise a few months ago, we were in the inside room (the cheapest, because that’s how we roll) and obviously, when there’d no window and you’re tired of gazing into each other’s eyes, you end up watching TV.   The ship had only about two channels, and one was endless reels of “Antiques Roadshow”.   Mindlessly numbing, but it got me to thinking about a funny word they use a lot, Provenance. What does it mean? I’m glad you asked. The definition of Provenance is this:  The beginning of something's existence; something's origin.” For example, when a person, “tries to understand the whole universe and its provenance.” We all have a ‘Provenance”. And I’ll get to that later, but first let me tell you about Tony’s dad, (Uncle Buddy) and his gun. Many of you reading this will remember it hung as a mantelpiece over the fireplace in Jody and Buddy’s house in Holly Lake.  How he loved his gun and how he loved even more telling you all about its pro...

 Good Morning All… and for you folks in the Colonies (America), Happy Father’s Day! We don’t celebrate Father’s Day here in Australia until it’s spring, which is September. I think it has something to do with guys wanting power tools when the weather gets warm. Yes, it’s early winter here, and we’re definitely putting the layers on.  Yesterday I actually considered putting on a JACKET! I did have a wonderful birthday, thank you for all those wishes.  Tony suggested that we sneak off for a night into the nearby hinterland… We’re retired, after all, so we can exercise our autonomy.   It almost ended badly.  We arrived all flushed with excitement and anticipation at the B&B only to be told they’d never heard of us and we should go away as they were fully booked.  I claimed the high moral ground and proudly produced the verification………to be told it was for June 13, 2026!!  I’ll be calling the booking agent tomorrow…. We were torn between sneaking ...

 Good morning! I’m sure you already know this, but I came across this word, "Gaslighting" lately. I’ve heard it, but never had given it much thought. Now that I have, I think I may be a victim. When I asked Google, this is what she had to say (she tried to write this blog for me, but I told her gently and firmly to back off).  Anyway, determined to continue on my own, here's what I learned. Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse or manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in the victim's mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition. Does that sound familiar? I was thinking to myself, "This is a new thing"…  but wait, wasn't maybe Eve the first victim of gaslighting when Satan said, or should I say 'suggested' that she might be missing out on a fuller life by being 'restricted...

 Thank you for all your kind comments about my blog last week.   Unfortunately, the 'boy' I wrote about had a bad seizure which resulted in a head injury and a trip to the hospital. But he is recovering and appreciating your prayers. Poor kid, but grateful for lots of loved ones.   And, if you've seen the news, you may have noticed that the volcano I was watching over my shoulder while we were there has finally blown up! No injuries reported, and so far, no major lava flows. Last week, I asked you to pray for the people in Hawaii who struggle with their ideas of Pele, the goddess of Hawaiian volcanos. There seems to be a strong reluctance to interfere with her, and especially with her lava flows.  However, I read yesterday that German geologists have discovered that most Hawaiian lava is rich in gold deposits. This may help them lay aside their superstitions! Stay tuned …. Because I'm still sore (WHEN is she going to stop whining about her ribs?), I had a '...

Good morning to all you faithful readers out there!   I'm happy to report that we are well and truly HOME now. I realized as we meet our friends here, that they don't trust us to stay put for long.  The common greeting is not, "Oh! Glad you're back!" but often includes a more cautious, "How long are you here this time?" I was getting chided by someone who means well this morning, when I heard myself rising in defence.  "It's what we do.  When Tony's teaching and preaching, in the words of Eric Liddel from the movie, ‘Chariots of Fire’, we ‘feel God’s pleasure’.  And sometimes we need to seek far and wide for those opportunities."  Another reason we enjoy traveling is that we get to meet so many interesting people with whom we might not otherwise have crossed paths.   Today I'd like to mention some folks we just met who really are making a difference.   First of all, you may remember when I wrote about our friend Abe san in Japan who...

I don’t remember a time when ‘home’ looked as good as it did a few days ago.  Maybe it was the 29 hr ‘cheap’ flight I’d found that took us from Hawaii thru Japan before we got home to Australia, I don’t know.   Last year, we made a 4-month doin’ our thang journey, which resulted in the decision that next time we’d pull it back a notch or two.  So when it came time to gear up for this year’s discipleship workshop in Hawaii, we managed to hone it down to 40 days, squeezing in a cruise, seven flights, two car rentals, and in a bold austerity move, made use of Honolulu’s trolley system in order to get around town (with only a few cries for help to our local friends who have a car.  Now we’re thinking we may go back to the 4-month idea, with scheduled times to stop and smell the pineapple and macadamia nuts.  I have to admit this trip was hard in some ways. Tony broke his little toe and then he got food poisoning.  Then I took that swan dive on the mountain...

 Well, in the words of the writing workshop that I just led yesterday, let me introduce you to the use of “the hook’. Borrowing from a famous author, I could describe this last week as “the best of times; the worst of times”. Makes you want to keep reading eh?   Last Sunday, as you were reading my blog, my sister and I were enjoying a sunny little hike to a lookout in Kauai, Hawaii.  She, husband and son joined us for a few days before we did Tony’s Discipleship (Anagaion) conference here, at the invitation of Puna Baptist Church on the Big Island of Hawaii this weekend. The trail was not difficult.  It was listed as having “roots and being occasionally muddy”…  no sweat for a 75 and 81 yr old.  After all, we grew up in Colorado, this was a walk in the park.  So being the always trailing behind younger sister, I ‘helped’ her by giving her a hand thru a steep and a bit roughish patch, and she carried on. Then I began then to wobble …… and weave……an...

 Here we are, still in Hawaii and with hearts full as we see and experience the generosity and commitment of all of the fellow labourers we work with here.   Tony read to me out of Oswald’s “My Utmost for His Highest” this morning, it touched a nerve in me.  Here’s what Oswald had to say:  “Some of us always want to be illuminated saints with golden haloes and the flush of inspiration, and to have the saints of God dealing with us all the time. A gilt-edged saint is no good, he is abnormal, unfit for daily life and altogether unlike God.”   Wow…   That was my reaction this morning. “Wow”; and “Oh yeah, I can relate to THAT, up close and personal”. I’ve told most of you this story before, but lest I still have some glitter that needs knocking off, let me share it with you again.  So we were working in a Japanese church in Sydney.  As with any church, there were some people in the congregation that, well, let’s just say we didn’t ‘res...

I think it’s appropriate this Sunday after Easter to talk about some nuances in different languages.  Perhaps you who are reading this have some other ones to share.   Jesus died on the Cross. Every year we remember that.  We also know and celebrated last week that He rose from the dead and calls all men to Himself, even as we read in Scripture. Now go with me back to Japan where my children were raised and obviously, (since I have the patience of a gnat) were not homeschooled but sent out every day to do their best in Japanese preschool and elementary schools. You know the drill. You take them, you hope they have a great day and aren’t too embarrassed by having a “gaijin” (foreigner) for a mother. My children had specific things I was NOT to include in their lunchboxes, such as placing a red umeboshi (pickled plum) in the centre of their white rice so it looks like a Japanese flag. When the other kids’ mothers did that, it was so meaningful and beautiful, but when I...

If the ship is on schedule, we should be docking in Moorea this morning, near Tahiti. It’s Easter Sunday, so we’ll be looking for a church to celebrate with. If that doesn’t pan out, we’re hoping at least that Tony can drum up some support for a sunrise service before we tie up to the dock. Thanks for your prayers, which in God’s sight are never belated! The thought that comes to mind as I write this takes me back to language school in Japan. Our (Baptist) mission decided to send us to a local Catholic school to see if they were doing any better at teaching what a 17th century Jesuit missionary once called “The Devil’s Language”. The challenge was obvious from the very start. Most of the students were priests and nuns who had just arrived from countries all over the world. For the life of us, we couldn’t come up with a common language to get us past “Good Morning”, so it was looking like we would have to get to know each other in Japanese or else. There was a cute group of Polish nuns,...

We heard from a friend the other night, before we left on this trip to Hawaii.  They are some of a few folks we really call 'friends' here in Australia, and being about our age, they've just joined a group loosely called the "Grey Nomads', those people who sell up, buy a 'caravan' (sans camels), and take off in something called a motorhome or trailer, fairly without a plan.  These folks headed west about 6 months ago, into the vast outback and surrounds of this huge continent.   When the call was over, I was lonely and got to thinking, "What really is a 'friend'? And then almost as soon as I had posed the question, my phone buzzed with the name of a friend from 50 years ago.  I was startled, of course, wondering if he’d called with purpose or had just pocket dialled.  Thanks to the wonder of technology, I was talking to them within minutes.  Sure enough, he had sorta ‘accidently’ called me, but we all agreed the event was fortuitous.   We tal...

So this morning I'd like to talk about some of those convoluted, “random” meetings that we all have  Several years ago, before we retired, we were helping at the Japanese church in Sydney Australia.  Because the church building has "National Heritage” status, it's quite a beautiful icon in the neighborhood.   One day, I happened to be standing at the back of the service, when a very distraught-looking woman came rushing into the church.   I looked around frantically; nope, everyone was looking the other way, completely engrossed in the worship service. I threw her a “Christian” body block and led her away to a quiet place away from the action.  "Is this a church?” she practically yelled the question, her hair askew and dark eyes blazing. I led her to a quiet place on the steps, and I explained that yes, it is indeed a church. In fact the service is going on right now … in Japanese.   Ignoring the explanation, she finally locked eyes on me and...

 Dear Friends, It’s always such fun to strike up a “blog-versation” with you each week.  Really. But I think I’ve been focusing lately more on the energy required to come up with something new, get it onto paper and from there onto a weekly blog site as well as to a mailing list. That thought crossed my mind this last week when I was having coffee with a friend. I may have been commiserating a little too much, because she put her cup down and asked, “Why do you do it?” Wow.  I didn’t see that one coming. I mumbled something about needing a job to do, and the joy of getting feedback from friends I might never touch base with otherwise. But it was a valid question and it made me stop and think.   "Why do I write at all?" First of all, don't mistake me for wanting affirmation, by sharing this conversation with you.  My Daddy, when I was a teen, told me to stop saying my cooking was no good because I was clearly fishing for compliments.  And besides, I get...

So I'm happy to say we've just about completely recovered from Cyclone Alfred we had a few weeks ago.   Repairs are being made, roads are open and for the most part there is food on the shelves.  All the studies and events we enjoy are beginning to be happening again. Several of our friends went 9 days with no electricity.  Who knew that the Eucalyptus tree that Australia is famous for has a root system of about 11 inches deep?!  I could probably write a whole blog about that.  And, "Surfers Paradise", our world renowned beach, has no sand, but they say it'll come back. And on another positive note, I’ve had some 'extra' time when everything was still down, to do some 'study' out my back window........looking out over the flooded floodplain. What an interesting time that was.  I don't want the 'lake' to stay there, but it gave me something beautiful to look at while we waited.  Now it's gone again.  Our neighbours have been here 47 ...

 Good Morning Friends, This weekend we were treated to a concert of the (infamous) "Murphy's Pigs".  We had no idea what to expect, but were actually quite delighted with what we found. 12 men ranging from young to old, with a 60-year age gap, made up of many active or retired policemen. They played so many instruments we lost count.  And, just for fun, they threw in some pretty little dancing girls to do some flings.  They introduced themselves as "Celtic  (pronounced, we noted, as Keltic, not Seltic, as we've always called them), by nature … Pigs by Choice”. Another introduction they offered was this.  "Once in a lifetime a band emerges from nowhere....to redefine the world's perception of Celtic music........Murphy's Pigs is not that band.” We had some toe tapping fun, learned a bit of geography and came away with a new understanding of so many of our heritages, especially here in Australia, where they are a LOT of people of Irish descent. All of ...

Well, I hope you're having a good day.  IF you get this email, you’ll probably be surprised.  Please don’t change into your church clothes, it’s not Sunday.  The reason you’re getting this early is that we fully expect to be without all the amenities we call ‘living’ within a few hours, so I thought I better send it while we still have the internet. As I'm writing this, we're preparing for a "Once-in-50-year" tropical cyclone (In the States we’d call it a hurricane).  It's lurking just offshore today, but all predictions say that in about 16 hours it’s going to take a hard right and slam into Brisbane, then turn south and clobber us here in Gold Coast. The authorities are saying not to panic, but if you live near the ocean, you might want to consider retreating into the Outback! (Oh, too late, they’re now saying we need to ‘shelter in place’ and wait it out).  I think we’ll be fine here, since we’re a couple of miles inland. Of course we DO live next to a floo...

 I'll never forget standing around after my Mom's funeral several years ago. I was talking to my (much younger) niece, and just to be cheeky, I reached down with grand gesture into my neckline and tucked the tissue I was holding into my bra.  The look on her face was priceless .... but to shorten her despair, I laughed and was quick to point out by saying, "As near as I can tell, I am now in the TOP generation that's still living, and therefore I claim the right to do jolly well as I please".  As I promised last week, today I want to share a story about another one of those miraculous meetings with Jesus.  Like myself, Tony is now part of the 'top generation' of his family, with the passing of his only living Uncle. His eulogy included the account of his passing, and it’s a story that simply must be shared. It was written by one of his daughters and I couldn't have said it better. She writes:  “So, here’s my perspective on “the story” of Dad’s relation...

 Many years ago in Japan, Tony used to minister to a group of young men in what was called a "bed school".  He had about 10 guys who he met with every week.  They were young adults who loved talking to foreigners about so many things, including Christ.   This “bed school”, as it was called, was built for the sole purpose of housing and caring for people who had been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy.  A little research will remind you that Muscular Dystrophy is mostly in the male population as well as being genetic and incurable even to this day.   Of course, they were wheelchair bound adults by the time Tony met them, but most of them had come into the facility when they were four or five years old.  Thankfully, now attitudes are changing in Japan, but in the last generation of so, any physical “abnormality” was not acceptable to society as a whole. To have just about any physical or mental defect meant that you were separated from public li...