Marsha's Blog

 It was 32 years ago this week that our son, Trevor, died. We don’t dwell on the date much anymore, but it does give us a chance to “check systems” and discover to our delight that God is still there and still bringing that comfort and assurance. I can’t help but recall Romans 8:28 during this time and realize anew that things really ARE “working together for good”. In the first year after his passing, a church sprang up, built on shared grief; for awhile, it was the fastest growing evangelical church in Japan, and 32 years later it’s still going strong.  Not a ministry tool I would have chosen, but I have the assurance that this will be only one of many “good things” to have come about through this deepest valley. But I have to look back and remember the day when a well-meaning church member reminded us of that verse, and unfortunately the timing was just not right. We were in Alaska, driving up from California on a family camping/exploring trip, on our way back to another ex...

 As a lot of you know, Baptist Celebrity (if there's such a thing) Henry Blackaby died this last Sunday.  He was 88.  We didn't know if he was sick, the obituary just said he 'died peacefully'. We had just read his morning devotional in his famous book "Experiencing God Day by Day" when we noticed the news. I won't say we were friends, but we knew him.  We'd even shared a private conversation or two. I don't think we in any way changed his life, but he certainly influenced ours.  The devotional on the day he died, was from 2nd Corinthians 1:20. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Henry talked about when we walk in intimate fellowship with Christ, we have the assurance that every PROMISE God has made in Scripture is available to us, within God’s wisdom and timing. I don’t know about you, but I find this Corinthians Scripture comforting.  I have this bad habit sometimes, when we interact with...

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog ‘confessing’ that we had been breaking some of the rules.  After I wrote it, we thought, much like teenagers, that we better not post it because our ‘guardians’ might read it and then we’d be in real trouble! Now I can’t find what I wrote, we did such a good job hiding our deceit, but in the ensuing time, we’ve confessed and got the resulting raised eyebrows from our kids. We’ve promised to take more heed of the things they try to do to protect us. So regarding these rules, it involves ladders and other dangerous things.  Some of you will relate. Since we arrived home in November, we’ve been trying to get our ladder back from where it’s been over the last couple of years at the kids’ garage. Finally the kids came clean about the delays, and said, “You don’t need to be on a ladder at your age!” We were offended, of course, and may have thought, a bit disrespectively “What do they know?” Then a neighbour walked by as I was weeding the front yard....

 Good Morning Followers,  It’s Sunday morning where you are.  I’m a little sad and a little bit relieved, to say Tony’s still in the hospital.  Everyone here wonders with awe how American hospitals can throw you to the curb after something like a Total Knee Replacement in just a couple of days, but elsewhere in the world, that’s not the case. Some say that it’s probably more‘progressive’ to make you fend for yourselves quicker, rather than being pampered “In Hospital”, as they say here, for 5+ days.  I remember Tony had a shoulder replacement in Thailand 10 or so years ago and that was 7days!  We’re a bit spoiled.   I can’t say I’m sorry to still be commuting back and forth from home because until he gets more independent, I’m afraid that he’d end up in a heap with me underneath him! Every day it gets better, but as everyone has told us, it’s just hard work for a while. Which makes me think about life.    I recently mentioned a friend wh...

 We used to listen to a pod cast called “Tales from Lake Woebegone” with Garrison Keillor.  Maybe you’re familiar with it. He always started his program with the greeting, “Well, It’s been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone”. That’s kind of how I feel this week, but it hasn’t exactly been ‘quiet’, just pretty noneventful.  As we get older, that’s sort of a good thing. So I thought I’d share a cute story I just read.  I don’t suppose it’s very sound theologically, but it tickles me to see that there are a lot of different perspectives in our lives that aren’t quite wrong. Bear with me.  Next week I’ll be back with profound thoughts and more importantly, news of Tony’s surgery and beginning recovery. So here’s how it goes.  Again, pardon me if you’ve seen it before. When Forest Gump died, he stood in front of the Pearly Gates.  St Peter said, “Welcome Forest.  We’ve heard a lot about you”.  He continued, “Unfortunately, it’s getting pretty crowded ...

 Good Morning All,  Things are going well around here.  It's hot and it rains a lot, but that’s just “season appropriate”. On the plus side, we’re grateful that we don’t have bring in the winter insulation over the windows, check the antifreeze in the car, stock up on ice melt for the sidewalk and dig out the snow shovels.   On top of that, we’re making progress in moving back into our house after nearly two years away, and Tony’s counting the days until his knee replacement, surgery, now scheduled for January 31st, the day after his 76th birthday.  In keeping with that milestone, he went to the doctor yesterday and got his “driver certification”, required by law in Australia for everyone over 75. I think it's so special, as many of our fellow retired Baptist missionaries can appreciate, to still be included in our mission’s  “Missionary Prayer Calendar”, and to know that there are still many who read it and will remember to pray for Tony on his birthd...

 Happy New Year, again This morning I was filling my Webster packs and had a thought I'd like to share. Now for you who aren't from Australia, you may be wondering what a "Webster Pack" is.  It's something I'm going to guess most of you have and deal with weekly. If you haven't guessed what I'm talking about, I'll tell you.  It's the 7-day pill dispenser that we all use.  I have two, because I'm lazy and like to load em up and leave it.  I use them because with three daily pills, I just can't remember if I’ve taken the day's dose or not.  But apparently this wonder is Australian-born (who knew?), invented by a pharmacist here, (who ironically isn't named Webster) back in the early 1970s. His motive was to help seniors like me to be able to use their waning intellect for other things rather than 'Did I take my pills today?' My point here, (wait for it) was the other day I realized that my life is just flying by, evidenced...