On the Plane to Rapid City--Vietnam Vet Meets Little Lady

In Mesa, AZ, last week, I was eager to get back to Rapid City where my husband was already on his way to pick me up after my weekend getting treatments in AZ.  Walking to the gate, I had been awed at how good I felt this time, having the strength to get about even with my rather heavy personal bag. Looking at my boarding pass, I saw that I had a window seat this time. 

 

I like a window seat for seeing scenery below me but not after all the many meds, tonics, and drinks I have to take in the morning! So when I got to my seat and saw that both other passengers were already in their seats, I offered that either of them were welcome to sit by the window if they wished. The old man started to try to get up from his seat, and I hoped with all my might that he would move over by the window so that I would not have to disturb him to move for me during the flight. He did, even if it took a bit for his arthritic limbs to move to another seat. I ended up sitting in the midldle, which was fine with me.

Now some people obviously don't want to talk, so I leave them be. I don't think disturbing someone just because you think you should "share the gospel" with them is always effective. But sometimes I say something or ask something to try to be friendly and it starts a pleasant conversation in which I always look for an open door to share Christ. 

"Do you live in Rapid City?"  I asked the old man.

"No," he answered. "I'm just going up because my wife's mother just passed away. I live in Yuma."

I expressed a condolence and somehow in the conversation, it came up that the man was a vet and had served during the Vietnam War. 

"Really!" I exclaimed. "Did you win any purple hearts?" I knew win was not the right word, but that is what popped out.

The man did not seem to be offended with my lack of proper vocabulary. "Let me show you a picture," he replied, proudly getting his phone out and finding a photo of several medals he had earned, including, yes, a purple heart. So of course, I marveled at them and asked him how he got them, resulting in brief stories of wounds, being shot at, areas of his body that pain him to this day. I asked where all he had traveled, and he proudly went down the list of not only all the states he could remember being in but also the cities in Mexico where he has vacationed.

When he talked a little bit about his work and said that he was a cook, I asked where he cooked.

"Cracker Barrel," he said proudly. "I make cornbread, steak, turnip greens, rolls, you-name-it. No one's a better cook than I am!"

I wasn't about to argue. I would have liked to taste his cooking. When I showed him a picture of my family of seven children and pointed out my husband in the picture, he snorted, "I figured that out already. I have fifteen children--"

I gasped, "Wow!"

"And there are fourteen mothers!" he added with no compunction about it.

"OH!" I said, because what else are you supposed to say? I tell you, he had me beat, but that is perfectly okay. I'm not out to win that kind of game. He said one of his step-sons was a guard on the Rosebud reservation.

Meanwhile I was praying for an open door to share Christ. The day before, I had read what Paul wrote, "Praying...that I may have boldness and utterance to speak what I ought" in sharing the gospel. I had prayed for that for myself that day and this day both.

"Do you go to church?" I asked.

He stalled. "I would," he said, "But I don't have a car right now. I go to early morning mass near me. It's in Spanish so I don't understand much, but I know the prayers." And he recounted how he prays a lot, every time he goes somewhere and the whole way there.

Just then, I remembered a little card tract that fellow missionary John Poff had given out at the Native American Missionary Rally at Mitchell the weekend before. When you hold the card one way, the decorative word in the middle says "DEATH." When you turn it upside down, the same word says, "Life." And it has at the top, "The wages of sin is DEATH," but you turn the card upside down and it says "but the gift of God is eternal LIFE." I showed him this fascinating word and let him read the verses. Then he turned the card over and read the gospel message on the back, too. I did not preach but sat silently, thrilled to see him reading the gospel message. I prayed that God's Word would not return void.

"I will put this in my wallet," he said, promptly pulling out his wallet and sliding the card inside. Will the Scripture speak to him? Will he just treat the card like one more magical item to bring good luck? I don't know. I just know that God's Word does not return void.

After collecting our luggage at the Rapid City Airport, I watched the haggard, arthritic veteran start on his way to the door and to his mother-in-law's funeral.

"Have a good day!" he said quietly.

"You, too!" I replied.

I hoped he would remember the little lady who kept him talking on the plane and would think about church and God and sin and eternal life. May the Scripture on the card lead him to placing his faith in Christ and turning from his sinful ways. 

With a happy heart, I watched Jonathan pull up in the muddy truck. He had cleaned out my side of the floor and I could get in nicely, even if his door is having serious issues! We first allowed ourselves a few minutes to walk together in the warm sunshine at a park to enjoy the geese and the lake and each other and God--the One Who cares about dads carrying heavy loads and moms with cancer--and Vietnam War vets who need someone to be proud of them and point them to the Cross.

Let Me Kiss His Feet!

 All broken behind You stood "Mary,"

Her hands a-clutch with a flask.

Unworthy she felt as she tarried,

Your forgiveness is all she would ask.

Her tears took the place of the water

The Pharisee seemed to forget.

The eyes of the Holy One sought her

As His tired feet felt the wet.

 

Trickles of salt water flowing

Washed troughs in dry, dusty skin.

While the Man to Whom she was going

Opened the door, let her in. 

 

No towel the Pharisee provided,

Mary found one better that day.

Her hair a-tumble confided

"I'll be Your towel, if I may."

"You may," said the heart of the Savior

As her tears continued to fall,

And the towel of her hair found His favor

As He saw her surrender her all.

 

Those leathery feet clean from mud now

Were the object of a heart's tender care.

Silent kisses of worship and love now

Touched the heart of the God-man right there.

The flask she had brought now was broken,

Fragrant oil splashed by the seat

Of Christ, of Him Who had spoken

Forgiveness with eyes, heart, and feet.

 

"Your sins are forgiven," He told her

As fragrance divine filled the air.

Grace straight from God did enfold her,

For humility need not despair.

The Pharisee looked on proud and scornful

At the woman whose past was a mess.

"She's nothing but a dirt cake that's sinful!"

    He muttered, while Jesus did bless.

 

To the righteous Christ offered one warning--

"Where there's little forgiven, love is small.

This woman will sing in the morning

Because I've forgiven her all."

 

Jesus, today I, like Mary,

Bow low at Your great mercy seat!

With love in my heart do I tarry;

Like Mary, Lord, I kiss Your feet!

 

RuthAnn Jackman's Rolling Pin--and What Defines Us?

I was grateful for the few snapshots my sister sent of the service for RuthAnn Jackman, my younger sister Kezia's mother-in-law who went to be with the Lord last week. Five of my siblings were there, besides two daughters of a sixth sibling.

 

What touched me the most was the sight of the rolling pin. 

Joella shared with me what RuthAnn's son Chad told about his mother, a hard-working farmer's wife and mother. "We hardly knew what a sandwich was," he said. "Mom cooked everything from scratch and would bring it out to the field to us. And when she baked a pie, she never just baked one. She'd bake enough to give somebody else while she was at it."

Her rolling pin was a simple visual reminder of what RuthAnn's life was all about--a life of industriousness and love.

I know very well that a rolling pin is not what will define my life--for the simple fact that I rarely use a rolling pin or bake pies! 

If I make a pie, it's often a ready-made graham crumb crust that I fill with cream cheese and top with cherries.

Only a few times a year do I roll out pie crusts, especially since we've cut back on desserts. 

So of course, as I looked at that rolling pin with a lump in my throat, I wondered what will define my life?

A pen? A book? A camera? The flour grinder? 

A broom? A Bible? Scrap books?  

"Herbs!" we chuckled as our family discussed at the table what might define me when my time comes for definition. 

"People should bring herbs instead of flowers!" Danny decided mischievously. 

Not a bad idea actually. 

Here's the beautiful bouquet that my niece Susanna, a florist, created for the funeral service.

It is now sitting on the coffee table in the home of my sister Kezia and her husband Chris, who have said goodbye to a lady whose life was defined not just by pies, a rolling pin, and love for her family,

but by love for her Lord as well.

That is the most important thing to define the lives of any of us.

Jesus, I do love you!

May RuthAnn's life and love inspire me to love You more!

"Daddy, You Make a Good Indian!"

 "Daddy, you make a good Indian!" Danny decided, after Hannah had turned her daddy's hair into a mohawk while he was online--and patiently letting his youngest daughter do what all his daughters did at some time in their lives!

And that reminded me of the Native American Missionary Rally that we attended in Mitchell, SD, last week. It was good to meet or get to see again several different missionary families.

 Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures, though I would have liked very much to have taken a picture of the spread put on by Mosheh Mitchem--everything you can imagine for a taco supper. 

We sat across from Brady Cope and his wife near the Albertson family. 

We weren't able to be there the next day, Saturday, because Jonathan had to take me to the Sioux Falls airport. 

But Friday evening we really enjoyed hearing Brady Cope and John Poff.

Brady shared an illustration about how the lodgepole pine seeds do not sprout and grow until there has been a fire.

He compared the work of us missionaries in native American ministry to planting the seeds that wait for God's fire. 

We must plant and wait patiently. 

Jonathan and I were also scheduled to speak 10 minutes Friday evening. My part was three minutes, and I told the story of meeting another lady at the courthouse one day. She felt God calling her to move here to White River from New York to minister among the natives, and she said, "I've heard that the wind of God is blowing on the reservations."

That was something I haven't forgotten, and I wanted to share that encouragement with the other missionaries, along with this poem that poured as a prayer into my notes for the service.

 

Blow, wind of God, o’er prairie and o’er pines,
Blow across the natives’ demarcation lines.
Softly whisper hope and peace to every yearning soul,
Blow, wind of God, and make the broken whole.

Blow, wind of God, bring rain and warmth and life.
Oh, wind of God, quiet native strife.
Calm resentful bosoms, touch unhealed pain.
Blow, wind of God, till Love on earth shall reign. 

 

 

Arizona Oranges for Family--and Being Gentle With Myself

When I went to Arizona last week for four days for herceptin, I knew it was getting close to citrus season. So I prayed there would be somebody who had a tree where I could get some tree-ripened, fresh, unsprayed, unwaxed oranges or mandarins to bring home as an Arizona souvenir to my family.

 g

And God did exactly that in a way I would never have dreamed. Just a block down from the clinic there is a charming little herb shop that sells bulk herbs by the ounce. I was purchasing several including astragalus to boost my white blood cells, and golden seal to fight my cancer. As I was paying my bill, the cashier asked if I would like some oranges from their tree.

"How much are they?" I wondered.

"Nothing," she said. "We just picked them from a tree in our yard! Take all you want!" 

I told her how I had prayed for this, and if I had taken all I wanted I would have taken the whole basket! But I hope I am not that greedy, and besides, I knew I couldn't hold very many in my suitcase! So I picked out eight--enough for two apiece for Jonathan, Danny, Hannah and even myself.

Yes, myself, too. I haven't allowed myself much fruit at all since fruit is high in sugar, but when God gives me fresh, luscious, home-raised oranges, I will eat an orange and thank God, and He will just have to take care of how much of it feeds the cancer. 

 I was walking through a Frys grocery store later and telling myself (in my mind) very loudly "No!" about looking at yummy food in there. I had in mind to go straight to the dairy section where I was going to buy organic cream, and on the way, needless to say, I was passing all sorts of yummy food that I used to eat. 

And that is when it dawned on me, "Be gentle with yourself."

So immediately my mind calmed down. I was even telling myself, "It's okay to look at this yummy food. You can enjoy looking at it."

Maybe I am not supposed to eat most of it, but I don't have to yell at myself about it, or treat myself roughly. Trying to starve cancer so it will go away is not an easy thing to do while still nourishing the rest of the cells of one's body.

Had my mind still been treating myself roughly I might not have noticed these egg white crepes that a person could use instead of high-carb tortillas. I never saw such a thing before! Later at Safeway in Rapid City, I bought a package.

I was surprised how stable and even happy I felt some of the time in Arizona, and even on the way back. I had been allowing myself to eat lots of eggs and meat and cream, and I was feeling more emotionally stable, I think. I had found an outfit to wear that actually matched well and made me look nice (I think) and with my tall winter boots, I thought I looked better than the hodge podge I usually wear. And I had just learned something about being gentle with myself. 

It helped me not only when I was walking through a store while trying to maintain a strict diet, but being gentle with myself helps regarding my devotional life. I don't have to be hard on myself. When my schedule is way off kilter because of cancer regimen or travel or trips to the clinic, I don't have to come unglued with myself if I don't get all my prayer time or Bible reading done at the right time of day.

I can sit in the airport, reading the gospel of Luke and getting good out of it, while also noticing a bird hopping about on these seats, a security police walking a security dog, and listening to a man tell how another man ahead of him got his leatherman through security (by taking off the blade, putting it in his shoe, and asking if he could take the pliers! He was allowed through! I believe that happened some time back and not at this airport.)  

Anyway, just teaching my mind to be gentle with myself made such a difference as I walked through Safeway in Rapid City for a couple items we needed. 

"Just wait till you get to heaven!" I told myself. "I won't even be hungry up there, and it will be better up there than all the yummy food and candy and icecream and chocolate and whatever else we love down here!"

Being gentle with myself helped a lot.

And at the airport where I was reading in Luke, I thought it interesting something it said about Jesus, how he stopped speaking to the multitude.

Jesus had something to say, a whole sermon, and He said it. But then it said He finished speaking. 

Jesus knew when it was time to stop speaking, stop teaching, and stop talking.

He stopped speaking so that He could move on to other important things--like doing another miracle.

And I thought how the sermons that I remember best are the ones where the speaker stands up, speaks up, and then shuts up. 

He knows when to just stop speaking instead of finding different ways to repeat himself or add unnecessary details. 

But following Christ's example, I will stop talking and blogging now and go do something else important--like see about helping unload the firewood someone just brought us, or else go to bed. 

And I will continue to be gentle with myself.

 

Work at Mission--Goal Fulfilled!

I had only gotten home from Arizona two days ago, but since we'd found hams at Safeway in Rapid City for just 49 cents a pound and a bag of potatoes free with the app, we bought enough to share, and I decided to take supper of ham and scalloped potatoes in to the working guys and gals at Mission tonight.

 

I haven't been able to see what they have been doing, and it was great to get in on Jonathan doing electrical and Danny doing drywall along with a native man recently converted named Clyde. It is a goal fulfilled to actually be using native men to work alongside Jonathan!

  

Yesterday Ned Sherman was over in Mission helping, too, tearing up what had rotted underneath one of the restroom floors and helping get the floor back in one piece so new flooring could be laid in the restrooms besides the kitchen, large dining area, and both mission offices. 

Here is Danny laying the flooring. 

And Clyde cutting the flooring.  The Lavery family has been praying for Clyde for at least 18 years! Recently he was soundly converted. Jonathan is using him a lot right now since he has skills.  

Another native man who has been coming to church with his boys was someone we also invited to come to supper tonight, as well as the family of Keith Lavery's brother Kevin. Kevin's wife April is in Sioux Falls with their three-week-old baby who has taken a turn for the worse with RSV and is intubated. This family already lost a little son a few years ago, so this situation is especially scary for them. I was so glad Kevin and his children could come enjoy some hot supper, too, along with Tasbah, Emily, Yamni, Grandma Judy Sherman, Grandma Melody Lavery and Keith's sister Kim and brother Kyle. Clyde was there, too, and Jonathan, Danny, and me.

So it's no wonder we decimated an entire ham and a huge pan of scalloped potatoes, corn, coleslaw and two cherry cream pies. 

I ate two plates of everything but pie, and really enjoyed the evening.

God was good to give me this little outreach this evening when I wished I could have been with family back in Illinois who are attending the viewing of Ruth Ann Jackman, my sister Kezia's mother-in-law. 

So far away from family, I end up missing a lot of events, but God is so good to me, giving me a happy event when I could have been at a sad one.

Here is the link to a very beautifully written and detailed obituary for Ruth Ann.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/ruth-jackman-obituary?id=54199729#obituary

I felt blessed to have been able to serve a little bit today out here on the cold reservations of South Dakota. This morning Jonathan drove our van out our driveway and up the hill and parked it so that I could be sure to be able to get out this afternoon.  

Here is what our drive looked like before a neighbor plowed it. I sent the hams and scalloped potatoes and coleslaw bags and corn with Jonathan and Danny early this morning so that Hannah and I only had to carry the pies and a couple fixings in the afternoon when we had to walk all the way to the top of the driveway to get into the van!

Tomorrow the guys hope to cut down another tree at the neighbor's place, because we are running out of firewood.Yesterday was so warm I didn't burn any good wood all day, just scrap and bark to keep a bit of warmth. The sun warmed the house so nicely!

Glad News and Sad News

 It's been a busy week, and alone in Arizona for a few days I found myself restless and a bit lonely. So I kept busy checking out goodwills in between many hours at the clinic and doctor visits and runs to the lab and pharmacy.

And I kept checking my phone for any news from my children or siblings.

Rose sent me a few photos her cousin Pearl took when Pearl spent a week with Rose and Carrie recently. They went over to Ranch Haven where Rose and Tommy settled on using Ranch Haven for their wedding venue in June, and where all the young people must have gone on a hike. 

She sent a picture of Tim working and coaxing his dog up the ladder!

On Sunday in Arizona there were prayer requests for a friend and fellow singer of Pastor Castle's son Blake, pictured far right.

The friend, Daniel Shirk, second from left in photo above, was in a sledding accident, broke his back, and had no control or feeling in his lower body. It is uncertain if he will regain function.  But somehow, I have a huge hope that he will. If God could raise Brad Dendler from the dead a couple weeks ago, He can restore this young man's movement and feeling so he isn't paralyzed the rest of his life!

 I also received the news that my youngest sister's mother-in-law, Ruth Ann Jackman, passed away after a battle with liver cancer. One of my sisters sent this picture someone had shared with her. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one sure is, as it depicts an old lady knocking at the door of heaven, and on the other side of the door being welcomed into Jesus' arms--healed completely and forever young!

There were pictures from my sister Dorcas of her birthday, and the homemade card my mom sent her.

I was able to attend the first service of Sun City Campmeeting in Glendale, AZ, on Monday. I do believe this campground is where my original Morley family stayed for 3 months when my dad was trying to get a business started in Arizona. That was when I was eight years old. We stayed in a big old "farmhouse" that had been turned into a dining hall at that time. This time nearly 50 years later, I could not recognize anything except possibly the army barracks dorm building. 

But I did recognize Marc and Melodie Sankey who were doing the speaking and singing for the camp. Melodie plays beautifully, esp on that grand piano, and I was touched with them singing "Search Me, O God," beautifully arranged, before the message about listening FOR Jesus, not just to Him. 

Melodie asked to get a selfie with me, and here it is! She always looks nice in selfies.

And then there was this photo from my brother Hoshea. While the rest of us sleep, he says, he is out rescuing people!

Cross Over Our Family

 Last week when the temperature was way below zero and I couldn't get outside to go for a walk or even do more than bring in some firewood, I decided to hang some family pictures that I'd unpacked after our move, including a couple new ones that include Rose's fiance Tommy!

With this move from Colorado to South Dakota, I rethink everything we own, asking the question, "Do we really need this? How much value does this have?"

We have a number of souvenirs Jonathan brought home from countries where he has done mission projects, and some of them simply take up space now, 15 or 20 years later. 

Like this cross.

Decor didn't used to hold much value to me, although when I see how others decorate their homes so delightfully, I realize there really is an art to it, and it is a real blessing to know how to meaningfully decorate one's home.

As I tried to choose which old photos to hang, I knew that some photos were old, but they were reminders of ones we loved, such as the parents of Jonathan and me and a couple older family photos of us and our children. But I realized some photos were simply out-of-date, and that we had fresh ones to hang instead. 

But what to do to organize them on a wall that's a different shape than the long hall wall where we had hung so many photos of family and relatives in our old home?

I re-positioned photos and hung the plaque that had been given me by Jonathan's mother one Christmas.

"Let us keep it in our hearts that those we love are the most precious gifts."

But somehow the arrangement was missing something. 

Until I spied this souvenir from one of the Caribbean Islands where Jonathan had done a Mission Helps project. 

I had set it somewhere with the intention of taking it to the goodwill because we just have too many things.

Decorated with shells, it was beautiful.

It just needed a place.  

And there on the wall by the family photos, was a place for it.

As I hung it up, it became more than a decoration.

I looked at the pictures of the family I loved and thought of how Jonathan and the two younger children and I had left them behind--not just the parents and relatives, but several of our own children whose pictures were on the wall.

We left them behind for Christ's sake. 

Because the cross, and the call of God, and Christ Himself meant more to us than our close family. 

I choked up when I tried to explain to Jonathan about the cross on the wall, and what it meant to me as I hung it up.

Not only was it a symbol of what we left behind and why, but it was also a beautiful reminder that if we leave all for Christ, Christ will watch over us. His cross will overshadow our lives with protection and light and glory.

Anything we leave behind or give up for Him, He will make it up to us.

He will give us more family in Him--like here in Arizona where I am again today all by myself. 

Mrs. Castle came to pick me up at the airport, and I spent Sunday dinner with them and others after service. Church folk greet me as if I were family--and I am.

So it wasn't just a seashell cross on the wall.

It was so much more. 

And it's just beautiful.

My Niece's Bee-Themed Bridal Shower

 This morning my sister-in-love Anita shared some pictures from my niece Susanna's Bee-themed bridal shower yesterday.

I had received an invitation, but was unable to go.

And guess what?

I absolutely can't believe it, but in the middle of traveling to western South Dakota for a native American missionary rally and then promptly going on to Sioux Falls to fly to Arizona for another stint at the clinic, I forgot about the shower! 

But this is one time my forgetfulness paid off.

Because all day yesterday (well, not quite all, but most of it), I was enjoying myself and being in the present moment and place

instead of being tempted to feel sorry for myself for being on my way for a cancer treatment instead of getting to be with my mother, sisters, sisters-in-law, daughter, and nieces and others for this very special and delightful event.  

I had enjoyed helping a lady through the Sioux Falls airport who was flying by herself for the first time and didn't have the least idea where to go. (I didn't either, but I could pretend I did by reading the signs!) 

And I had enjoyed watching the family right across from me with a beautiful blue-eyed baby 

and also enjoy this sweet little service dog one seat up and across from me!

I had caught up in my journal and prayed and just enjoyed the flight--with the exception of the landing when it seemed like the airplane was heading toward the ground faster than usual. 

And I had enjoyed seeing this flag in the Mesa airport, and sparrows near the door, and the air outdoors that was literally 80 degrees warmer than the weather I had left behind in South Dakota. It was minus fourteen in South Dakota and 66 degrees in Arizona when I arrived!

I think the Lord was incredibly merciful to me to help me be forgetful about this bridal shower! Then how excited I was to unexpectedly start getting the news and pictures from Anita and Joella about it! How I am enjoying the photos and the descriptions of everything from the edibles to the decor to the gifts to the cute games played!

These cookies above are No-Bake Bee cookies that I believe Natasha made.  

Everything was just so cute! 

Anita made these"Quite a Pair!" cheese ball bees. 

And her gift to Susanna was a basket of "Perfect Pairs."

Peanut butter and jelly

Mayo and relish

Paper and pen

Soap and towels

Butter and honey

Whisk and bowl

Snip and spat (kitchen shears and spatula)

and more!

Somebody really creative did this "Home is where the honey is" centerpiece.

Here is my mom, thoroughly enjoying it all.

Susanna, the bride-to-bee  

What a fun time! I'm so grateful for my sisters and sisters-in-love sharing pictures and details so a faraway Arizona sister can enjoy it all, too!

The girl cousins even dressed the part for the Bee Theme!

I'm kinda partial to the beautiful young lady over on the right, but I think that's understandable!

There's talk of a bridal shower for Rose sometime in the future, and I hope I really can attend that one!

Thank You, Lord, for the joys in life!

We are blessed!