 What are you thankful for? What makes you happy? What brings you joy? All questions all of us need to ask ourselves continually.
I was under the bridge last night, where I am every Wednesday night. The homeless population was down this night…the night before Thanksgiving. Maybe it was because the week before we had announced that we would only have sack lunches. Our cook at Lost Sheep is sick and hasn’t been able to fix the hot, sit down meal that we usually have. The girl who answers the phone at the warehouse tested positive for covid, so they sent all the workers home. They didn’t have anyone to cook the hot dogs and stuff the sack lunches, so they called us to come and do it. They already had the bags out….300. Each bag got two hot dogs, which had not been cooked. . Anyway, I digress. While I was under the bridge last night, John boy, who always plays and sings, was singing “Mary Did You Know”. I noticed one of the homeless girls with her eyes shut swaying to the music with her hands uplifted. She didn’t know the words, but would mouth “Mary did you know,” when John boy got to that part. She looked totally and completely happy and at peace. This girl has a lot of mental problems. Not sure if the street has taken it’s toll on her or what, but she definitely has problems. Yet…she always seems happy and she always thanks me for food that I did not buy and most of the time did not prepare. Very few down there DO say thanks. As I left the cold of the bridge for the warmth of the car and later a hot shower, I kept thinking about this girl and how happy she seemed. I told Tommy about it and he sent me this quote by Mother Teresa: Born in Serbia of Albanian parents on August 26th 1910, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu became a nun, at first in Ireland and then at Darjeeling in north-east India, where she adopted the name Teresa. She longed for permission to move outside the convent walls to work with the poorest of the poor in India. She received permission to teach in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and began to work among the slums of the city in 1948. In 1950 she established the Missionaries of Charity along with twelve other sisters; it grew to include over 4,000 sisters. She became universally known as Mother Teresa, and in later years she received great recognition and various ‘peace prizes’. At the same time she challenged all kinds of people to compassion and discipleship through her media exposure. ‘Do you know and love the poor,’ she asked. ‘If you do not know them, how can you love them?’ She remained radiant throughout, and commented pragmatically, ‘The surest way to preach Christianity to the pagan is by our cheerfulness, our happiness. What would our life be if the Sisters were unhappy? We would do the work, but we would attract nobody.’ She went to her reward in heaven on September 5th 1997. I often see the homeless joyful and happy. Sometimes I go down under the bridge or out on the street and i am not so happy. In fact, there are times I don’t want to go. I always come away happier than when I went though. John boy said when he got under the bridge last night, he spoke to a man and asked how he was. The man immediately replied…”couldn’t ask for anything more, brother.” What are you thankful for? What makes you happy? What brings you joy? Can you say today “I couldn’t ask for anything more?"
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 Some people may be wondering what in the world they have to be thankful for this year…2020. A strange year indeed. It seems as if bad news is permeating our country. Sometimes I wonder why I just keep getting up every day and going about my daily business of doing what I do each day. Why am I not in panic mode?
The answer is simple…”My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” I have that hope, but it doesn’t mean that bad things aren’t happening all around. In fact, last night I told someone that I felt like Jacob because I wrestled with God all night long. (I’m glad he didn’t make me lame…I have enough trouble walking as it is!) I prayed and cried and begged the Lord to heal a dear dear friend of mine who found out yesterday that she has a malignant tumor. She has young children and a husband who love her dearly and whom she loves. Her response to the news? She is praying that her family will be a witness to everyone because of the way they are handling this devastating news. Above all else she wants to glorify her Lord. She wishes it weren’t happening of course. So do I. I would give anything if this had not happened. But with my friend, I am praying that above all, HE will be honored. I am praying for healing. I am expecting healing. I stand with Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego in the old Testament who were thrown into a fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow down to a false god. I believe my God is able to save….BUT IF NOT…I am still going to serve Him. By the way. God DID save them. They didn’t even smell like smoke! HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We serve a great God.  Tommy is doing a Monday night Bible study he calls Meandering Through Mark. One scripture we have studied (Mark 5:18-20) tells the story of the man who had been delivered from demons to go home and tell his people his story. Every time I hear this scripture quoted, I go back to a little church in Fountain City who met in an old restaurant. The building is still there. My family were charter members of this little church. The Christian Church of Fountain City. I was nine years old when my family became members. We walked to church, about a mile, and never missed. Our first preacher was L.W. Buckley. He was not a young man when he preached for us, but then, everyone looks old when you are nine. Every single time Mr. Buckley preached he would walk out from behind the pulpit when he finished, stand with one arm leaning on the pulpit, look out at all of us and quote that scripture. As long as I can remember I have known that verse by heart. I can still hear his gravely voice quoting this as he stared straight into my soul, or so it seemed..... "Go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord has done for thee and how He has had compassion on thee."  Many years ago, I met Maggie who has turned out to be one of those life long friends. We will be friends throughout eternity. That makes me happy.
Maggie is having health issues. That does NOT make me happy. I am committed for however long it takes, to speak her name to the Father throughout all the days ahead. He is the great physician, and He alone has the power to heal. I am calling on Him to heal my sweet Maggie. Maggie is the type of friend who is right beside you in whatever crazy scheme you come up with. In fact, sometimes she is the one who comes up with that scheme! Once we were at a conference and John boy was up front impersonating Elvis. I looked at Maggie and she looked at me. We ran up screaming and fainted at his feet. Another time someone was up singing and we ran up and became back up dancers. She is the type of friend the old joke is about that says "a good friend will bail you out of jail. A better friend would be sitting right beside you in that jail saying 'd* * * that was fun.' " That would be my Maggie. Right now, I want to bail Maggie out of jail. I also want to sit beside her, only this time, none of what she is going through is fun. I am praying for a miracle. I love you Maggie.  I had never heard of this organization until this weekend!
We are staying at Appalachian Christian Camp in Unicoi this weekend for our monthly prayer weekend. We were walking around the camp and came upon a family working on a project in the woods. When we got closer we saw that it was one of our old campers from back in the day when we led church camp here. After hugging us she explained what she and her daughter and brother in law were doing. Sarah, the daughter, belongs to American Heritage Girls which is a Christian Girl Scout organization. They have a program like boys in Eagle Scouts where they have to do a service project. She decided to build a fire pit with a circle of swings around it, here at the camp. She finished yesterday! There are 8 porch swings surrounding the fire pit. Last night we took our prayer group down to sit in the swings and pray over the area. What is so wonderful about this is, that this girl is only 17. She had a vision, raised the money and along with her Uncle and Mother, made her dream come true. As we sat around the fire last night, and I listened to this young girl's testimony, I felt hope. We are living in a time when so many young people have no vision or goals. This girl not only had a vision and a goal, but with the help of the Lord and her family, she reached her goal. What an example!  My favorite month is almost gone for another year. I would love to live in Ray Bradbury's
October Country. I say with my favorite author Lucy Maude Montgomery.."I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." Jason Amos was born in October. John boy was supposed to be but he was two weeks late so came November 2. November still has enough of October in it for me to love it as well. When John boy was born, they kept you a whole week! I watched a tree change color outside my hospital window. We have so many wonderful memories of our boys in the fall. We took them on hikes. We hiked year round, but in the fall we tried new trails where we thought the colors would be more brilliant. We raked up leaves and they jumped in them. I have a wonderful picture somewhere of the boys and their favorite dog, Tiffy, in a pile of leaves. We built fires and sat around in the evening talking, reading, listening to music....never in front of the tv. Our tiny little black and white only got 3 channels and they weren't very good. My boys didn't DARE say they were bored! If they did, like my Mother before me, I would say, "oh...you are bored? Well we can't have that, can we? The kitchen needs to be swept, the wood needs to be carried in for the fire, the dirty clothes need to be gathered , your room needs a good cleaning." They soon learned NOT to say those words. And they rarely did. Some people think fall a sad time. They dread the colder days. They look forward to spring. I, too, like spring, but fall is my first love. I fell in love in the fall. I had our boys in the fall. I come alive in the fall. All seasons have their own beauty, but when fall puts on her cloak of many colors , I want to as well! Robert Frost wrote a short poem called "Nothing Gold Can Stay." I might just have to differ with him, even if he is one of my favorites. When winter comes and the branches are bare, in my mind I go back to a tree covered in gold. When summer is at it's hottest and everything is green and lush, I long for the chill of autumn, so again, in my mind I go back to a tree covered in gold. The gold and reds and oranges of autumn, CAN stay....in my mind. So, once again, I tuck the colors of the trees I am seeing now, in an easily accessible corner of my mind. Go out today and do the same. Memorize a golden tree so that it can stay. Every day some orders of Monks have Morning, Noon and Evening prayers. In the Evening they call it Compline. It is meant to be said or chanted right before going to bed, so that the last thing you do before lying down to sleep is pray to the Father. For some time now, we have been doing morning prayers together and Compline in the evening. As I drifted off to sleep last night, I did my own Compline. I will attempt to recreate that after I explain my day. As I told you in my last blog, we are at Appalachian Christian Camp in Unicoi, TN this week. Every day is a new adventure. We started on Wednesday and it is now Saturday...our last day of adventures. After breakfast and morning prayers and devotionas, we head to a trail head somewhere and walk. Yesterday was a tad different. It has been absolutely perfect weather for hiking. Yesterday was no exception, but it started out with rain. We were supposed to do the zip line before leaving for our hike, but woke to rain, so were afraid not only the zip line would be cancelled but the hike as well. Thankfully, the rain stopped about 10, so Aaron, our camp manager, said that the zip line was still on! Another explanation of the day goes back 10 years. My grandson, Cal, who was about 12 at the time, wanted to ride the zip line but was scared. I said I would go first and show him there was nothing for which he needed to be afraid! I was 70 years old at the time. I was terrified! At that time, you had to climb straight up a telephone pole! Now they have stairs and a much larger platform at the top. Aaron told me after I did it ten years ago, that I had to come back in ten years to keep my record as the oldest person to do the zip line. He arranged for it to happen! Jason drove all the way from Knoxville to record it. He works for Community Television in Knoxville, and is going to air it! Three people at a time can go on this course, so Jason and John thomas went at the same time. Tommy also went. And of course I went. Actually, I was the first to go. Jason and Tommy were right behind me. Once more, I was terrified, but I did it! (Jason went twice so he could go with his brother.) Back to Compline now. Here is my own personal Compline for last night. Lord, you have always given strength for the day, and though I am weak, today I believe. Lord, you have always given joy for the day, and though I am not always joyful, today I believe. Lord, you have always given wisdom for the day, and though I am not wise, today I believe. Lord, you have always given challenges for the day and though I sometimes don't think I can face them, today I believe. Lord, you have had a zip line waiting for me to soar through the air, and though I did not think I could do it, today I believe. Yesterday was one of those days that you wish would never end. We spent the day doing things we love with people we love. We did a zip line, we hiked (some went 8 miles, some went 4), we ate together and we laughed and worshipped together! What a day! Thank you to all those who made this day happen. Aaron, Julie, Sandy and Audrey Tommy, John thomas and Jason Juan Audrey Kathryn Tyler Steve and Cindy, Zeke and Ki Charlie and Jane, Kayley and Ana Lori and Scott The Compline sometimes ends by saying, "I will lie down this night with Christ and He will lie down with me." Yesterday was one of those days that just felt anointed from sunup till sundown and beyond. I felt the presence of my Lord like never before. If nothing else, I am coming away from this retreat with a renewed zeal to let HIM be in charge of all my days. Click here to watch me zip!  My favorite season is here. I want to slow it down. I want to hang on to every day as long as possible. Maybe that's why I have trouble sleeping at night! Maybe heaven will be one continuous month....OCTOBER.
Tommy decided to put together a walking week. He has talked about it for years, and it finally came to fruition. We are staying at Appalachian Christian Camp in Unicoi, Tennessee with some friends. Everyday we get up, have devotions together, and go on a long hike. We come back in the evening, have supper together, devotions again, then some play board games. Tommy and I fall into bed, exhausted. Tommy has been having back problems, so is wearing a back belt. Yesterday was our first day, so we hiked The Roan, as we call it - Roan Mountain. It's pretty much straight up. The rest of the gang went a lot further than we did, but at least we made it part of the way. My cousin Judy had bought us hiking sticks several years ago, and we bought 3 more so we would each have two. What a difference that makes! I am unstable on level ground anymore, much less a steep mountain path! I didn't see many more (if any) people my age on the path, so I spent a lot of time thanking God that I was able to hike at all! I would not have missed the beauty of yesterday if there was any way I could make it...and I did. WE did. Today we are doing another grueling hike to Laurel Fork Falls. I will go as far as I can, and hopefully will make it all the way to the falls. It's about a 5 mile round trip, as was yesterday's hike. I am writing this to encourage all of you to try and make dreams come true. A hiking week has been a dream of Tommy's for many years. It might have been nice had it happened before I turned 80 and he hurt his hip, but we are doing it! Many would say they were too old. Many would say they don't have time. Many would say all the planning (food ) was just too much. Looking back at all the plans and dreams that have come to pass in the lives of Tommy and me and John boy and Jason, I can see what a difference it has made. Tommy is a firm believer in putting stuff on the calendar that we want to see happen. To say "I don't have time" is not a reason. If you put it on the calendar, it will happen, unless something drastic happens. Most of the time though, our calendar plans have happened. We often include others in those plans, as we did this weekend. I always wonder, when we plan an outing like this, if something will happen to make a difference in all our lives. I can honestly say that most of the time it does. Whether it is an incident that happens or something someone says, I look back and reflect at how my life has changed because of the adventures Tommy has planned. Honestly, if it were up to me, I would stay home with a good book. I am SO glad it isn't up to me. I am so thankful I married a man who, like Jesus, says "follow me." Life has been so much more exciting!
To my readers: I have been bogging my writing assignments from a book John boy got me called 642 Things to Write About. Here is another assignment....
"You swallowed your pride and did something you didn't want to do. Your friend wants to know why. The two of you are driving around an almost full parking garage looking for space for the friend's oversize pick-up. Write the scene." OK! If you really want to hear this, I'll tell you! Cal (my grandson) and I were at the church camp in Unicoi He wanted to ride the zip line. He was about 12 or 13 at the time. He was scared. I told him it was a piece of cake and I, Prisha..(what he calls me) would go first. I really did not want to. I was afraid I weighed too much and would snap the wire! I was afraid if I did make it to the platform, I would chicken out. I had to climb a telephone pole to a tiny platform then jump. Finally I swallowed my pride, went up the pole and jumped! It was exciting and scary and amazing, but most of all I was proud that I did it. I was 70 years old. I wanted Cal to experience the thrill of a zip line, but he was still too scared! Now, Babe, pull into the next parking space or I am going to have to use a zip line to get out of this truck! p.s. I turned 80 last week so in order to keep my record as the oldest person to ride the zip line at camp, I need to go back and do it again! "Write a scene in which a woman is fired after only a week on the job. Just a week earlier, the same person who is now firing her was very persuasive in convincing her to take the job" "I am WHAT?" Brooklyn exclaimed! "Only a week ago, you convinced me to come to work for you, even when I was hesitant. Now, all of a sudden, you are letting me go?" As Brooklyn walked away from the building on 72nd Street and Broadway, a deep sadness filled her. Even after wondering about taking this job in the first place, she had felt herself falling into a pleasant routine. She had looked forward to getting up and going to work. She had enjoyed the walk home each day in the coolness of the fall afternoons. Today, on her walk home, she kept sighing and wondering why she was fired. She went over and over everything that had transpired in the past week and all she could come up with were positive experiences. As she walked into her tiny apartment, stepped out of her shoes, and laid the keys to her apartment on the table, she merely glanced at the sign of the fish on her key ring.  |
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