Marsha's Blog

  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...

Well, here we are at the three-week before Easter mark.  If you're like me, it’s a time when things seem to be moving more quickly than normal.  Around my house, there’s a sense of changing seasons, and the work that needs to be done as we’ll be going into winter soon, but unlike you folks in the northern hemisphere, that doesn’t mean putting up the storm shutters and tuning up the snow blower … more like exchanging the short-sleeved shirts in the closet for long sleeves and packing away the snake discouragers from around the trash bins and water taps.  The snakes are still around, but they move a lot slower when the temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  Some of my friends at this time of year are talking about “Lent” and what they’re planning to give up for it. In a way, it’s reminiscent of New Years and the lists of resolutions we like to make in January.  I grew up in a Baptist home that eschewed any and everything that hinted of “Catholicism"....

The other day Tony was sitting in the living room with our oldest grandchild.  This was a rare experience, as he hardly ever stops moving, and Tony was thinking about how to capitalise on the moment. Maybe a little “Man to Man” talk he thought.   The Wise One versus the Young Accolade. But Grandson, who as a new 16 yr old,  feels pretty confident, and spoke up first. “Gigi”, he asked (This is not the French Gigi but the Japanese endearment for ‘grandpa’), “What’s it feel like to be old?” Tony sure didn’t see that one coming. Granted, he mused to himself, the question comes up often, but usually in the middle of the night, and not with anyone else present in the room. After a moment of reflection, Tony felt like he had something to say.  “Well, I miss the physical part of me. I’m in this recliner because it takes too much effort to go outside and play basketball with you ………. I’d like to, but it hurts.” While he pondered that, he thought suddenly, “Oh no! I don’t...

I heard some interesting news this last week.  While they’re having unseasonal snow in New York, I hear that New Zealanders are having blizzards of their own (Global Warming, I guess). Anyway, a shepherd was herding his flock of sheep when a midsummer avalanche hit without warning and buried him.  It was only a little slide so no one really got too fussed, but at the end of the day when the shepherd didn’t come home, they got worried.  The search began.   48 hours later they found him, comatose and barely alive. Fortunately, he did survive, and made a full recovery Now here's the interesting part. They found him only because noticed his little flock of sheep were huddled together, standing in the slide area.  Now I think you can see the sermon coming. Sheep are well known, for, uh ......... not much, really.  They do tend to follow well, and since they have no defensive features to speak of, they make, uhm… really great prey. They don't have a 'rescue'...

This Sunday promises to be chock full of emotions for us.   Emotions of gratitude, mostly. Some of you know our dear friends Bob and Gail Gierhart.  We have travelled through life with them since we were in college.  They went to Japan, then we went to Japan.  They came to Australia, then we did the same.  I know it looks like we’ve been following them around, but it was purely a “God-thing”, honest!  They retired, so did we (A function of age, so couldn’t be helped).  Bob and Gail went directly BACK to full time work, whereas we didn't really, although sometimes it feels like it. Anyway, this weekend, as you're reading this, they're retiring again, from Nuuanu Baptist Church in Hawaii.  They're young at heart like us and together we enjoy wondering what we're going to do with the 'rest' of our lives, and the abilities we’ve picked up along the way. We tend to spur each other on and call each other to reasonable tasks, so stay tuned. Another ...

Tony preached a sermon the other day that got me remembering the last 5 years of our mission career.  We were working in the Tsunami zone, very close to where we invested 25 years of our lives and incredibly close to the epicentre of the 9.1 earthquake that happened there. The earthquake/tsunami happened on March 11, 2011.  Because of our history in the area, it was only natural that we started working right away with volunteer teams and surviving church members. One blustery cold day (it was still very early spring) we had been giving out food from our van when we ran out.  The Japanese were kind and appreciative, but they were also desperate for the supplies we were bringing. Under the circumstances, the now-empty van seemed pitifully small in face of so much need. Our hearts were heavy as we drove away, leaving a line of hungry people.  We only had a paltry few snacks left which we figured we could divide between us and call it lunch, so we decided to go up the hi...

Several weeks ago, we took a quick trip to Sydney that we won't forget soon. It's only an hour’s flight, practically in our back yard if you’re in an airplane.   Did you ever see that 1987 movie, " Planes, Trains and Automobiles"? It comes to mind as I write. After church on Sunda, we packed our things, said a heartfelt “Thank you” to our daughter, whose past employment for Qantas still gives us “standby” status to fly really cheaply. Now, "Standby" means exactly what it says. After the plane has boarded, after full-time employees have boarded and after they, at least to our imagination, comb the airport terminal to see if there be ANYONE else who might want to go to Sydney, then we’re given a ticket and allowed to get on. The problem is, Qantas (and just about every other airline these days) has gotten very efficient at loading a plane to capacity. Add to that a few cancelled flights for bad weather, and our chances for getting on dropped from “ain’t likely...

 Well Friends, This has been a busy week.  A lot of you were snowed in, and we here in Australia, were experiencing very uncomfortable heat!  Isn't it funny how the earth is round and all that, dictating the seasons with some predictably (as well as surprises) and all. Speaking of the planet, Tony's made another trip around the sun this week. How we ever got this old can only be attributed to God, that's for sure.  Two doctors’ appointments have announced that we're as 'fit and hale' as we should be at this age.  I have to admit life isn't as easy as it was in our 40's. We have to have more routines to get things working in the morning, stretching and groaning, and we keep a bottle of ibuprofen in the hall closet.......with the child lock lid OFF.   We also 'started school' (at least the grandkids did) for the new year.  My boys are now in grade 11, 9, 5 and preschool.  Fortunately, they all love school and we all yearned to get back to the r...

 Last week I wrote about an Angolan refugee boy named Jose.  As soon as I posted the blog, Tony and I began berating ourselves. "Why had we lost contact with Jose?"  I'm sure he was literate, had access to mail and all the other ways of communicating. What a blessing he was to us! And yet, why did we 'forget' about him? I think you can see where this is going.   Over time, how many people have you simply 'lost track of'? Why is that? The Japanese have a saying about people who don't lose touch, “Only the moles don't know who she is". At our age, it’s impossible to count the people who have crossed out path. Yeah, there are a few who are best forgotten, but those other thousands have slipped into the fog of time, completely beyond reach, barring some recollection miracle.  Trying to justify ourselves, Tony and I point to a whole litany of evil that seems bent on removing those potentially life-changing people from our consciousness. The one hel...

 Well this morning I promised you something less gloomy, so here it is.  In fact, for me it's a real joy. When we were missionaries back 50+ years ago, we were serving a two-year assignment in the country of Zambia. There was a refugee camp that accommodated Angolan boys who had escaped the violence there and were trying to start a new life. Word came that they would be thrilled if we could come once a month and lead them in a time of worship.  From our home in Luanshya, it was a three-hour drive west over a rough dirt road. It was known that terrorists were based in the area, but most of their activity was focused on Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) to the south. While in Zambia, they were model citizens, and even attended many of our churches in the area. While we were never certain of their identities, we tried to maintain a peaceful relationship with all. Admittedly, this was hard to do sometimes, knowing that when they crossed over the border, they would be targeting p...

 Happy Week Two of the New Year!   How's it going? Still on track with the New Year’s Resolutions you made? Okay, I won’t go there. Full disclosure, Tony and I have been on a small cruise for the last few days with some church friends. Not a really big trip; just down to "Tazzie", that little island off the bottom of Australia.  I guess technically this blog is coming to you today from even farther away. I got a lot of good comments last week about Matthew Henry's thoughts on life in general, but still somehow, even on these good, surreal (cruising) days of life, we sometimes have a bit of what David talked about so well in his Psalm 94 (see below).  We have some friends today who are in a deeply dangerous country where any misstep could lead to what he refers to as "Dread of the Enemy". Every day for them is a challenge as they do what God has called them to do.  He referenced this beautiful psalm as one that he refers to on the worst days. It goes like th...

 Good Morning and Happy New Year!! Some of you out there are probably glad to be seeing 2025 in the rearview mirror. We think of you often and pray for a “new and improved” 2026. We, on the other hand, have to say it’s been a pretty good year. We still wake up every morning reminded that the aches and pains of aging are getting harder to manage, but I guess that comes with the territory.  I came across this thought from an old friend of mine, Matthew Henry. When I say “old”, I mean born in 1662 old. But his name was tossed around a lot during seminary days, and I can still find a commentary or two of his on our office shelves. I’d like to say we still refer to him a lot, but to be honest, Mr Google can find him and more like him quicker with two or three clicks on the mouse, so that most of the books in our library these days are more for decoration. But I can also add this: Matthew’s books may be no more than an impressive backdrop for our Zoom meetings, but what’s inside tho...