Agape

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. ... I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge. I will tell of all His deeds." 

"Telling of all of His deeds" would take weeks. This morning, one of His amazing "deeds" comes to mind.  Houston businesses had been well lubricated by "black gold" that pumped out of Texas soil. ...until 1984 when oil prices plunged.  Houses all around us were for sale. Ted and I were not trying to leave for any reason other than to escape my relentless headaches from allergies to mold and pine that kept me trapped in bed several days a week. We rented out our home and leased a house in the suburb of Kingwood, hoping that the air would not be so humid.  It didn't work. The renters of our house in the city were destroying it and had not paid a cent of rent. Ted had to evict them. With the help of our family we ripped up all the carpets, tore off wallpaper, painted every wall and refinished the hardwood floors. After weeks of work it was time to pack up the Kingwood house and move back into our own home  I looked up from my packing to see Ted coming through the door, announcing: "I've got some bad news and some good news. An arsonist broke into our house in the night, threw a match into a can of varnish and everything is covered with black soot. ...but the house didn't burn down.  I think we can clean it up ourselves and move in by this weekend."  Now, my friends, you have just been given a glimpse into the way an optimist thinks. When I walked into our house I was horrified and wished it had burned down.  Daughter Dee had already called some of our dearest friends who came and gathered in a circle and prayed. There was a Christian man named John who specialized in restoring burned houses. He came,  eyed the mess, and nndaunted said: "O.K., the Fire Department has declared this an arson.  Your insurance will probably pay. What have you always wanted to do to this house?" "RIP OUT EVERY WALL POSSIBLE AND OPEN IT UP TO THE WOODS OUTSIDE!" "O.K., let's GO!" ...and we did. Months later the house was beautiful and open. By tightwad spending (a specialty of depression kids like me) the insurance paid all but fifty dollars!

This part of my story is humiliating,  but perhaps someone will be helped if I tell it. The headaches continued.  I went into what seemed to be a bottomless pit of depression when our daughter returned to California. The breaking up of my precious  family was the "straw that broke the camel's back". Up until this time I believed  that I was here only to serve Ted, my family and the whole wide world.  Oh, yes, I read that Jesus was the "Suffering Servant",  but He didn't come to serve me, did He?  Dearest friends sensed that we needed some counselling.  They made two stipulations: "You must not go to anyone here in Houston, and you must go to someone who counsels only couples in full-time ministry. We will pay for it."  It cost $10,000 for a week of counselling with a Christian psychiatrist in Colorado who limited his practice to married missionaries and pastors. ( If Ted and I had charged that much for all the counselling we have done and I still do I would be a wealthy widow!)   This doctor's  first words to my husband: "I don't want to hear about your ministry. When are you going to make your marriage your ministry?"  I'm going to like this man, I thought.

Back in Houston my husband faced the fact that he had to get me out of a tropical climate. Ministry was flourishing; people were coming to Christ; many were being discipled.  We did not want to leave these precious people. Our two sons lived there.  How does a dad walk away from two sons unless he has the faith of Abraham who trusted the Lord to bring his son back if he sacrificed him? You know the story.  We put our house on the market and it sold to the first couple who looked at it.  I praise God nearly every day for my Ted's willingness to sacrifice to bring me back where I feel well and I can get on with my assigned ministry of discipleship, ...long after Ted and one son are together in Heaven.  The Lord blessed my Ted with fruitful ministry until the day He went Home. ...and that ministry continues on,  through those he discipled all of his life. ...and by the way, how many
"Timothy's" are you training?

This past week my computer guru cleaned out a shocking number of attempts to steal my identity. Credit card thieves continue to try to wipe out my finances.  It's disheartening and disgusting.  The evil one has tossed a match into our beloved country.  Sticky black soot is settling over every institution,  including the family and the Church.  Are you gathering to pray for His mercy?  If not, His justice will prevail.

Shall we pause to sing a few lines of  this old Solid Rock hymn?

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' Name. 

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone. Faultless to stand before His Throne. 

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

Love,  Jo