One night in Jerusalem

It's midnight and I've had a two hour nap, so I might as well quit tossing the covers around, get up and see if the thoughts that are pestering my mind are what He wants me to write about this week. My emotions have been on a wild road trip this week as I have sorted through hundreds of pictures, diplomas, speeches, term papers, theses of our early years, then books, manuscripts of Ted's and friends who have sent their manuscripts for Ted's endorsement, a wall hanging signed by hundreds when we left our first ministry in Palo Alto (Many are in Heaven); a "This is Your Life" album given to us when we left Fruitvale in Bakersfield after fifteen years, with loving cards, letters, pictures and names that brought up floods of memories (Many of these are now in Heaven with Jesus and their former pastor.). When we came back from Houston, several years ago, our children threw a WOW of a 50th anniversary party for us and there were several hundred there from across the U.S. Those pictures and letters capsulized much of our history. The next albums of loving cards and pictures are of our Houston ministries (and now many of those have been lifted into Glory), then there are albums galore of our 28 years here, and many of those who have come into the Family of God are already with Him. Interspersed throughout all of these trips back to the future are countless pictures of our own beloved family, and now two of those have joined the saints of the ages. Nobody but Ted was familiar with these thousands of people and it would have been such a delightful trip with him. We never had time to look backwards when he was alive. ...but Heaven awaits where "the rest of the stories" will be revealed. Jeff will come from Sacramento some weekend and we will go through all of Ted's filing cabinets, and sort through his messages on nearly every book in the Bible.

Just yesterday, I threw off my track another Aunt Bessie's Dresser. Scroll down to the blog about this now famous Dresser if you are ready to bite the Bessie bullet.  Sometimes you need a biblically saturated prayer warrior friend who walks deeply with Him to go with you on this leg of your journey for it  can require great courage. God gave me such a friend yesterday.

Now, I will give you a short version as I promised last week, of a night in Jerusalem in the home of Lili, one of sixteen holocaust survivors from eight different countries. Every one of them had lost all members of their families in the ovens. Only our Lord could have orchestrated such a privileged  but heartbreaking evening. Not one of these precious wounded Jewish people had ever met an evangelical Christian who really believes that Jesus is the Messiah. They were not incredulous and I have wondered if Ted is seeing any of them in Heaven. ...and that really was the "short version" for we were in Lili's home all night hearing all of their stories. ...and then they heard ours, about four o'clock in the morning.

Tonight I entertain at the Apple Shed restaurant and that will be fun. I started rehearsals with the Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra last week, in preparation for the July 4th celebration on the highschool football field. I went to the high school graduation on that field the other night to watch some of "my kids" close off this era of their lives. ...and now you have been so kind as to walk through another chapter of my ongoing history. Are you documenting yours? You have a beautiful story, you know, and Christ is orchestrating it all.

                                     HYMN OF THE WEEK: ANYWHERE WITH JESUS
                                             Anywhere with Jesus, I can safely go
                                         Anywhere He leads me in this world below
                                       Anywhere without Him dearest joys will fade
                                            Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.
                            ANYWHERE; ANYWHERE! FEAR I CANNOT KNOW
                                ANYWHERE WITH JESUS I CAN SAFELY GO.