MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY

Community Thanksgiving services were part of my childhood.  In the early 1960's they were held at 10:00 AM on Thanksgiving Day.  They moved from one church to another as the years unfolded.  It could not have been convenient for the women who were trying to prepare feasts for their families.  I remember a couple of years that just my father and I attended.  We would worship that day with many of our neighbors, expressing our gratitude to God for His blessings and gifts!  Depending on what church was the host, we would experience different styles of worship.  I was always quite impressed with the pipe organs in a few of the churches - so majestic.  Their swells of tympanic music seemed to carry our thanksgiving hymns to the heavens in a far more appropriate manner than at other times.
The corporate reading of scripture was an expression of our unity.  The responsive readings caused us to breathe in unison.  The hearty exchange of greetings on a national day of giving thanks to God was filled with meaning and sincerity!  I remember clearly being moved by these experiences!

Over the years I always chose to participate with the local ministerial groups that represented the communities where I served churches.  I've helped plan the unity services and along with my people have also hosted them on many occasions.  I always tried to make them as special as I could.  Typically the communities observed three times of combined focus:  Thanksgiving, Holy Week and the National Day of Prayer.  Few communities still share these times of emphasis.

This year, Debbie and I attended the Mohawk Area Church Association Community Thanksgiving service at the Westfield Presbyterian Church.  It was held on Sunday evening.  I enjoyed the experience immensely!  It included a community choir of sixty members who gave us three musical treatises that lifted our spirits.  A local group of capable musicians - called Edelweiss - accompanied the choir (along with a drummer);  they also provided pre-worship music that helped focus our thoughts.  The Westfield Faithful Bells presented two magical bell songs that thrilled us with their skill and passion.  A very young lady sang "The Lord's Prayer".  A middle-aged man with an amazing tenor voice sang "Bless This House".  The hymns we sang (with pipe organ accompaniment) gave voice to words that many of us have sung for decades!  It was all very familiar - which can be a good thing, right?

The scripture readings were appropriate and the message was stimulating.  Host (Interim) Pastor Chris Carlson challenged us with inspiring thoughts.  I was particularly moved by his comments (based on Deuteronomy 26:1-12) about giving of the first fruits.  He pointed out that this instruction from God caused the people to act in faith!  They were to give the first fruits of their crops as an offering to the Lord.  They were to give these first fruits without any assurance that the rest of their crops would come with abundance or in good condition.  They were to exercise their faith by putting God first!  We were challenged to do the same!

All in all, the service was wonderful and was attended by a fair group from at least ten different congregations.  We were Methodist, Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, Covenenters, and probably a few others;  but Sunday night we were all just people who are grateful to God for His many kindnesses!  I was blessed!  I am blessed!

Personally, I have much to be grateful for!

•   Though deaf in one ear, with the help of hearing aids I can hear.
•   Though I had a torn retina in my right eye about seventeen years ago, I can see with that eye.  Every time I have an eye exam the doctor marvels that the eye still works!
•   I enjoy amazing good health;  typical, age-appropriate aches and pains, but strength and health abound!
•   God faithfully meets all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus!  Debbie and I love our retirement home.  After many years of living in parsonages, we can now put a nail in the wall anywhere we want to!  :-)  His provisions through the Social Security system and the Free Methodist pension program allow us to meet all our monthly needs.  We are abundantly blessed with material possessions!
•   We have friends from literally many nations around the world!  Living for three years with the Changchun University International students built a base of friendships with students from China, Russia, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Korea, the Philippines, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekastan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Cambodia, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, and others.  We still keep in communication with many of these friends!  
•   We have family connections that are deeply meaningful to us!  Deb's family have been a support system for us through the years.  Her siblings are integral to  our lives!  My family has also always been a blessing to us.  We gathered recently for a weekend to make apple butter together.  What a wonderful time we had!
•   We have our children and our precious grandchildren (along with an awesome daughter-in-law and two incredible sons-in-law)!  They mean the world to us!  Our time with them is the most treasured thing we have on this earth!  We live for those moments!
•   We have our faith!  The most intimate thing Debbie and I do together is to pray!  Often it's done late at night or early in the morning as we lay with our arms around each other.  We enjoy sharing our faith with our family, our church and others!  It clearly gives purpose and direction to our lives!
•   And we have each other!  Today, our Thanksgiving meal included turkey, stuffing, corn, sweet potato cassarole, cranberry salad, and mashed potatos.  Later, we'll have some of Debbie's 'blue-ribbon' apple pie!  For the first time in forty-six years it was just the two of us at the table!  And that's okay.  I love her and she loves me.  We love being together!  She's God's greatest blessing to my life!  

So, we're thankful!  Truly thankful!  We came from godly homes and have replicated - by God's grace - that faith into the homes of our children!  What more could we ask for?  

Thank You, Father,

for the grace and mercy You've extended in our direction!

Thank You for filling our cups so full!

Help us to faithfully live to Your honor!

Help us to make a difference in our world!

Help us to love people with abandon!

Help us to be generous!

For Jesus' sake.

Amen.

I FINALLY WAS LOCKED UP!!!!!

I procrastinated and failed to get our 5th wheel camper winterized.  I was worried that the cold weather we surprisingly had over recent weeks might have caused some damage.  Then, the good Lord sent us several days of 50-degree-plus temperatures!  Woo Hoo!  

So, Tuesday morning I pulled the camper from New Middletown to Heron Woods where we could work on it with electric.  My good brother-in-law, Charlie came over to walk me through the process for the second year.  Troy also showed up as my faithful back-up!  In short order, we had the lines flowing with antifreeze!  What a great feeling!  

Debbie wanted to pack some items for our mid-winter trip to Florida, so I let it sit overnight.  After loading lawn chairs, blankets and a few sundry items, I pulled it back to the storage facility.  It was late afternoon and due to a stop at Ace Hardware, I was losing sunlight as I arrived.  The wind was gusting significantly!  

I must have backed it up and pulled it forward over twenty times trying to get it exactly where it is supposed to be!  In-and-out of the truck repeatedly to check distances and line-up!  It goes much faster when I have someone to help!  Finally, I got it where I wanted it.  Then came the unhitching and securing everything before I could leave.

   

When I pulled the truck up to the gate and entered my code - nothing happened!  I entered it repeatedly - with no results.  What in the world?  The mechanism didn't seem to be working...what could be wrong.  Now it's dark and the wind is atrocious!  

As I sat at the closed gate with my headlamps on, another truck pulled up from the outside.  We each got out and walked to the gate.  I told him that I couldn't get the gate to open.  He smiled and said, "I know.  And you're not going to get it to work for a good while!"  

"Why?" I asked.  He then reported that the Salem electric (which powers this stretch of Calla Road) was out!  I felt like a prisoner!  He asked where I lived.  I told him Enon Valley.  He told me that if I could climb the fence, he'd be glad to take me home.  I thanked him and told him that I'd call my wife.  Turns out he was a brother to one of my former parishoners from Free Methodist Community Church in New Middletown!  :-)

I called Deb and she told me she'd leave right away.  I parked the truck and sat in it briefly.  Then, I decided that I'd rather scale the fence with no one watching.  It's an eight foot cyclone fence that I could have climbed easily when I was in my twenties.  Not so easily at sixty-seven.  I hoped no cars would go by and think I was trying to escape after stealing from the storage units.  

First, I was able to pull myself up onto a large steel box that housed the motor for the gate.  From there it became more challenging.  The gate is topped with spikes (think Trump's wall).  The fence itself was topped with razor wire!  There were really no footholds for me to use to get over the top.  I decided to try a point where the gate and fence met.  As I vaulted over the top - trying to get my large foot into the small squares of the fence - something let go and pitched me into the barbed wire!

I was in a PREDICTAMENT!  I had no foothold and was feeling the barbs through my good down jacket and piercing my arm, I had very few choices.  I ripped my arm loose and dropped myself to the ground,  Somehow, in the process my jeans had also been shredded below the knee and were whipping in the wind.  Quite a few cars had gone by during this escapade and I expected the police to arrive at any moment!  I was disgusted, wounded and my self-esteem was flagging significantly!  

Did I mention that it was dark - and the wind was blowing - and the temperature was dropping fast?  It sure seemed to take Deb a long time to get here!  I never imagined that Calla Road had so much traffic on a Wednesday evening!   I must have looked VERY suspicious!

Anyway, she finally arrived and took me home where I nursed my wounds and settled into my chair for the evening.

The evening was uneventful until I crawled into bed.  I take supplements three times a day:  morning, noon and night.  I take them with a full glass of cold spring water from our tap.  I've been known to walk away from the sink leaving the water running.  Once, I did it with the hot water;  when I discovered it - it was running cold!  

Anyway, as I was about to drift into a comfortable, healing sleep, Debbie stepped into the room and asked:  "Do you have the water running in the kitchen for a reason?"  I began to giggle and couldn't answer or stop!  She began to laugh too!  Needless to say, I went to bed happy - in spite of myself!  

A NAVY SEAL'S PRAYER

This story will require me to unpack some details.  I don't have daily encounters with Navy Seals.  My son, Travis, did when he was with us, but I rarely meet these guys.  I used to think they all looked alike;  that is, until we attended Travis' memorial service in Honolulu four years ago.  He worked with a seal team at the time and MANY attended the service and greeted us afterward.  Some were tall - others short.  Some were thick - others thin.  Some were bulky and muscular - others were lean and toned.  In this particular scenario, the thing they all had in common was that they respected and admired Travis Haire.  :-)

When Debbie and I arrived in Boston Friday to meet our son-in-law, Josh, he introduced us to his friend, Nicholas R.  Senior Chief Nic is a Navy Seal who is enthusiastic about life and passionate about supporting the families of our fallen heroes.  Our whole purpose for being in Boston was to be spectators at the Spartan Stadion at Fenway Park where both Josh and Nic would be running the 5K obstacle course along with 10,000 others!  By the way, Nic is the tall, thick, muscular type.  ;-)   Through our discussions with him, it became quickly apparent to us that Nic was a Christian - a strong one!

We enjoyed watching Josh and Nic on Saturday as they completed the race.  It was a cold day, but sunny.  Then, Josh had arranged for Tracie (our daughter and family), Jon, Rylie and Colton to come up in the evening to join us at a local steakhouse for a late supper.  Eating out raises major concerns for Coltin due to his extreme dairy/egg allergies.  Josh had cleared the location with Tracie who had contacted their corporate office regarding the handling of food for people with allergies.  She had been assured that he would receive a special menu and his food would be properly handled.

We arrived at the restaurant and were seated and served our beverages.  Our waitress was acquainted with Jon and Tracie's home area and a good relationship was established.  She was very patient with Coltin - who by-the-way was using his best 'eat-out' manners (he announced early that he had placed his cloth napkin on his lap)!  :-)  This was a steakhouse a good couple clicks above the kind that Debbie and I tend to frequent.  Very nice!  It took over an hour to get settled and place our orders.

When our drinks arrived, to our surprise, Nic called for our attention and proposed a toast to Veteran's Day dedicating it to Travis' memory and using an old Irish proverb as its form:

"There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea,          but the best ships are friendships, may they always be!"

Although we didn't realize it at the moment, our toast was overheard by those at tables near us...

Finally, the food was all served within a couple of minutes and we began to enjoy our amazing steaks and extras.

Then it happened!  I looked up and Coltin was in tears.  Jon and Tracie reacted like first-responders, leaping to his side!  I immediately bowed my head and began to pray in my whispered manner.  Debbie also began to pray.  Once or twice, I looked up to see how things were evolving.  I saw the Epi-pen in Tracie's hand.  She and Jon were having him drink some Benadryl.  I continued to pray.

That's when I heard it!  It was a strong voice crying out to Jesus for intervention for Coltin.  The voice asked for Jesus to protect him and to cover him with the Holy Spirit!  It was not a short prayer, but continued in stride with the prayers that Debbie and I were also offering.  I was so immersed in my own intercession that I can't tell you great details about the prayer I was hearing in the background.  Debbie told me later that it was Nic, who was seated at the end of the table right next to Coltin.  They had enjoyed several friendly exchanges during the course of the evening.

You know how this ended, right?  Coltin ended up - after a bit of time - being ok.  His Uncle Josh walked him to a nearby drug store and eventually brought him back with a bag of chips and a bag of jerky!  Obviously, those around us were aware that we had experienced a bit of a crisis - as were the restaurant managers.  Our waitress stood with tears streaming down her face during this episode.

We finished our meals as best we could (they were amazing).  When it came time to fold up and leave, our waitress informed us that the restaurant had extended a significant discount as an expression of their concern.  Then she went on to tell us that the people at a table near ours had overheard our toast and some of our dialogue.  Realizing that we had several military personnel at our table, they paid the rest of the bill.  Although we never saw our bill, I'm guessing that it was in the $300-$500 range!  Yet they never identified themselves!

There are generous people in this world who practice the biblical exhortation to not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing!  I was encouraged by their kindness!

I am also encouraged to know that there are bold, courageous, strong men and women of faith who populate our military!  Today, on this Veterans Day Weekend, I give thanks for two of these men:  Master Chief Jon Kerstetter and Senior Chief Nicholas R.  May God continue to bless them and use them for His sovereign purposes - and may God bless the United States of America and and allow us to continue to be an instrument of blessing to the world in His hand!