Soon, no more "Goodbyes.". Just "Hellos".

It  was hard to walk into my house from Texas a week ago tonight and have no Ted to tell all that I am about to tell you. Be kind to widows, my friends. We tend to blabber.  I talk to my cats and they appear interested for about thirty seconds before they head for their food bowl.

My Father graced me with ten days of renewed wonder at His powerful ministry at Round Top Retreat in Round Top, Texas. Seeds are sown, plants watered and fruit has been harvested for over thirty years in this impossible-to-describe beautiful Place of Love that Euphanel and Nick Goad have built and offer to thousands who come. Each week a different group or groups come from far and wide. The week Nick Goad came to Christ, thirty-five years ago, he asked my Ted: "What does Jesus want of me? " Ted's reply: "Everything you've got!" Nick said, "He's got it!"  ...and he meant it

Last week FirstPlace4Health filled the Great House whose dimensions are exactly those of Noah's Ark. All rooms in every house are perfectly decorated in Texas style. Euphanel is a genius with style and color. I observed and participated in the eternal activity of the Holy Spirit as He touched the hearts of women from across the nation who came with varied levels of hope that they would learn  to eat right, exercise, and have renewed zest for Jesus and life.   My dear Michele, long-time professional entertainer on the world's stages, for the first time ever, led every session with upbeat  worship music she had either written or discovered as she searched for just the right words to put a new song in the hearts of everybody. Every meeting was a zinger.  Michele has lost 60 (That's 60!) pounds since last year's FP4H retreat. ...a perfect marketing visual for the program, wouldn't you say? I didn't want to say "goodbye" to my dear friends, Nick and Euphanel. My insides wrenched and I cried as we hugged.

Sometimes, after some "goodbyes" there are surprising "hellos". Our first son, Doug, now in Heaven with Jesus and his dad, was married to Judie for nine years when we lived in Houston. She lives in that city,  has a job that challenges her, but her greatest joy comes in being a mother to her adopted Chinese daughter, Harper. The two came all the way to Round Top to see me and there are no words to tell you what a gift they gave me. Over twenty-five years were swept away and left where they belong: in the past. She is a lovely Christian woman with a darling Christian little girl who drew a picture for me and addressed it to "Mrs. Jo". I love the way Texas kids are taught to treat adults.

This week I was kind of tired and sometimes glum from all the emotions my time in Texas stirred. Other friends came, but I simply had no energy to make it into Houston to see others and I am sad about that. I just couldn't do it this year. My dear Char and Jim who picked Michele and me up at the Bakersfield airport handed me "The Californian" with side-by-side obituaries of two men, Ken and Dexter, whom Ted and I knew for many decades.  One is in Heaven; the other, as far as the family knows, is not. How can this be? Both heard the Gospel. One received it wholeheartedly and gave his life to serve Christ and others; the other, wealthy by any standards, chose not to be in Heaven with Christ his wife and sons. I cannot get Dexter off my mind. He knew The Way.

The ministry God has set me apart to do will pick up this week and I am ready. A beautiful teenage girl called me early this week to tell me she is overwhelmed by the girls who are showing up in a restaurant to pray with her after school on Fridays.  "Would you come and help me, Jo?" Most of the kids who come to the Thursday study at the Howells are boys, and I love them dearly. I sat in on this girl's prayer time yesterday and boy howdy, how different this adventure is going to be! Girls spill everything. Guys? ...not so much. 

How do I know I am to immerse myself in the lives of more teenagers? He hasn't released me from this verse yet: " Even when I am old and gray do not forsake me, O God 'till I declare your power to the next generation; your might to all who are to come." Psalm 71:18

                                    HYMN OF THE WEEK: PRAISE THE SAVIOR

Praise the Savior, ye who know Him! Who can tell how much we owe Him?
Gladly let us render to Him all we are and have.

Jesus is the Name that charms us; He for conflict fits and arms us
Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him.

Keep us, Lord, on Thee relying, whether living, whether dying
Let no bitterness or sighing mar our trust and praise.

Love, Jo