Vacation

Well we will start our vacation right after tonight's services and here is what we will do on vacation. Day one: Janie takes her dad to Tyler and spends the day with him at he cancer center while he gets his treatment. Meanwhile I will be at school in the morning paying my fees and starting my research. At noon I will grab a quick bite and head over to Tyler to help bro. Davis with some chores around his house. Then its back to my in-laws to install a couple of lights in her cabinets. Day two: I will go to school while Janie takes her mother to Tyler. After school I will grab a quick bite and run by and see my mother for a while. I am going to check on my brother, Steve, while I am over there to see what his plans are for next week. I would like to get in a morning hike with him Monday if possible. Then its back to the in-laws to get the rest of her through the Bible questions arranged and printed out. Day three: I will check on Janie's Uncle Trenton and visit with him a bit. He might want to ride around and check on his cows or some such thing. Day four: We leave early that morning to go and spend the day in Elkhart where I will preach both services. Day five: I hope to go for a day hike and get back in time to get cleaned up for preaching the evening services. Day six: We may go for a ride and do some sight seeing with the in-laws if they are up to it. Return in time to head over to Elkhart again for services. Day Seven: Go to Elkhart and spend the day then return to Hillsboro after the services. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Especially the preaching part. I am looking forward to the revival services.

Tonight we have a meeting before services to see if we have enough workers to have the mid-week Bible School. From what I am hearing we should have enough to carry on. If that is the case the bus starts running the first Wednesday night of September. The picture is of me walking to the church one morning a few months back. God bless you.

Baptism

I came across these pictures on my computer today. They were taken at Walnut Street Baptist Church. This first one is of me and my granddaughter Lilia practicing for her baptism upstairs behind the baptistery. The next one is right after she was baptized and the third is of her being congratulated out in the foyer. The man in the wheelchair is our missions treasurer.
We are going to Cleburne, Texas tonight and when I get home I plan to work on the foxhole radio. I went to Radio Shack to get a few things that I needed and was showing the salesman a picture of a foxhole radio. He was impressed. When I get it finished I am going to take it by there and show him how it works.

I am just about packed for vacation next week. Janie bought me a day pack for my birthday. It is small and light with a water blatter built in. It has room for other things such as food, first aid, and a survival kit. I have ended up lately doing a lot of day hiking. I will take it along when I go hiking with my brothers in October because I can leave my camping gear in the car. Well I must run now. God bless you.

Tree Trimming

I cut a large limb off of one of the trees in the front yard today. It was hitting the roof and needed to be cut off. I started early before it reached that 100 degree mark. I got it cut up and Janie helped me move the pile to the side of the street. I worked on the bulletin for Sunday after next and have it ready to go. The nursing home has been quarantined so we did not have services there this morning. I used the day to get ahead on some work since I will be on vacation next week.

This first picture was taken in our Teen class Sunday morning. The teacher of that class also teaches High School in Hillsboro. Her lessons are very effective. This lesson was about proper foundations. The second picture is of the Sun set as seen from our church parking lot. You can see the church bus waiting for our mid-week Bible School to start back up. We have the letters to put the name on the side of it and will try to get that done before long. We have a meeting for those who will help work in the Bible School this Wednesday. It is my prayer that we will have enough workers to keep it going.

I am going to attempt building my foxhole radio this week. I will take lots of pictures and share them here.

Clint had surgery today and this is the text message I got from his mother: "Surgery grafted chest again went ok but in lots of pain" He has a long road ahead of him and many obstacles to overcome. Please utter a prayer for him even now.

I have already composed the next episode of Tribman but will not post it until Saturday. Tomorrow night we will be going to Cleburne, Texas. The mother of one of our church members died and the family visitation will be there at the funeral home. The funeral will be Wednesday morning at 11:00 so we plan to return to Cleburne to attend that as well.
(Ecc 7:2) "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart." God bless you.

Work Station

This picture is of me at my work station. In our evening services I preached a sermon from the Song of Songs. I will start back to school this week and will begin the work on the Song of Songs by translating the book into English. I have finished translating the first chapter and will start on the second this week. I will be carefully comparing my translation with others and will also look at the Septuagint which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This process alone will give me a greater understanding of the dialog and narrative. It will be tedious work but very rewarding.

Tomorrow after the nursing home service I plan to mow the yard and trim some trees here at the parsonage. I need to clean out the garage and since it will be 100 tomorrow I plan to eat lots of watermelon and drink plenty of water. God bless you.

Last Week Before School

This ends our last week before school. I will pay my fees next week and start working on that Doctor's degree. We had a busy time in Henderson. We ended by stopping in for a visit with Bro. and Sis. Davis. He begins Chemo Therapy next week so please pray for him. I plan to go with him for his treatments each week and then continue pouring water on his hands as long as I can.

I was able to get a light installed under the upper corner cabinet in my mother-in-law's kitchen. I also beveled and sanded the sharp edges of the counter top. Janie cut her finger on the counter and that moved that project to the top of my list of things to do. I put about an 1/8 inch radius on the edges of the counter and sanded them real good. I removed the threshold from the door between the kitchen and the hall way and replaced it with a metal one. It is much smoother for the electric wheelchair to pass over. It does not look as good as the one that was there but it is much more comfortable for her.

We spent over a $1000 on our car Friday. The extended warranty we purchased covered one of the things that needed to be repaired except for the $100 deductible. The car now has a new timing belt and water pump and should be good for another 90,000 miles.

The picture is of our granddaughter, Hannah sleeping in the cafeteria at church camp. I am going to now go and compose the next episode of Tribman. God bless you.

Good night Clint

I had a good night with Clint there in Parkland Hospital. We started off with a movie and then turned the lights out so he could get some sleep. He slept in increments of 10 minutes. He just could not get comfortable. His arms are in braces which cause him to be unable to move them at the elbow. His left hand looks good but the right is not so good. A few times he asked me to tell him something and when I asked what he said anything. I talked at length about the Song of Songs and about the Resurrection and rapture of the saints. I told him the story of a hiker who has hiked the PCT many times. I told him about my hiking experiences and out of all this talking I am not sure how much of it he got. The lights were out and I could not see his face so he may have slept through most of my ramblings. I like Clint, he is a hard working, honest, young man. I got to the hospital about 8:30 and left the next morning about 8:30. I did not sleep at all and he kept me busy needing something about every 15 minutes. I hope to spend another night with him soon, I know that his mother sure could use the break.

We are in Henderson today and spent the day with the Taylor's at their doctor's appointments. We dropped our car off at the dealer to have the timing belt, water pump, and other work done on it. It will cost about $1000.oo in all but if beats walking so I won't complain. In my younger days I might have tackled the job myself but not now. We are going to work on some projects here at my in-law's house tonight and tomorrow. We will pick up the car late tomorrow afternoon. The picture is of me and four of the six boys we took to church camp this summer. We had a good time. God bless you.

Letters

We went by our churches missions treasurer's house to drop off some checks and his mother, pictured here with Janie, was folding Jason's monthly report getting them ready to mail out. She is such a sweet lady and has been a faithful member of Walnut Street for years. She used to clean the church building years ago.

I have been working on a work sheet which one of the pastors at camp gave me. It has to do with the second coming of the Lord. I am critiquing it for him and it is quite a work out. The author of this work sheet is clearly trying to lead the student down the path he wants him to go. If you are not careful you can be led astray. I plan to share this with the Ladies Bible study group when I am finished with it. It will help them to know how to watch out for those who would mislead them.

I will be teaching the Ladies Bible study in the morning and later on take a short nap to prepare for spending the night at the hospital with Clint. He came through his surgery today without any problems. Here is the text message I got from Cindy today "Just got here went ok hand and right thigh worked on." I will head for Dallas right after I pray at the Hillsboro City Counsel meeting at 7:00pm.

Well I am headed for bed. It was a good day and I am looking forward to tomorrow. God bless you.

Day by Day

We had a baby shower for a couple at our church this afternoon. It was very well attended as you can see from this picture. I was asked to call out the names of those who gave the gifts as they were opened. They got a lot of nice things.

I am enjoying the writing of the Tribman blog. It is a strange thing to be the author and creator of a fictional character. I have complete control over what happens to him. I can make his day go well or cause it to be full of misery. Its kind of like what God can do for us. God has set forth a wonderful promise in His Holy Word and it goes like this: All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are the called, according to His purpose. I love the words to this old song written by Lina Sandell:



Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for! fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.



Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.



Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.



I plan to spend the night with Clint Rogers Tuesday. He will have to put up with me from about 6:00 pm to 9:00 Wednesday morning. I am looking forward to it even though it will cost me a nights sleep. I may blog from his room and let him send you all a message. He might like to check his email since I know he has not done that in over 107 days. I expect his in-box will be pretty full.
Better head for bed. I will preach at the nursing home in the morning and go to the bank and post office also. Tuesday morning will be Ladies Bible Study and Tuesday night will be spent waiting on Clint. Wednesday I will take a nap and then get ready for the services. Thursday and Friday will see us in Henderson taking Janie's parents to there separate doctor's appointments. Janie's shoulder was much better today. God bless you.

Clint Rogers

Clint is out of ICU now and this is the last text message I got from his mother: "He has moved to wound care and rehab floor and on his way to getting better all due to God's healing hands and lots of prayers Thanks to everyone for prayers." The fund raiser for Clint ended today and went very well. I had a good visit with those who did most of the work and Clint is blessed to have such friends.

We will have a baptism at the close of our services Sunday morning. I will be preaching from Revelation 14 Sunday morning and "Was it Samuel or was it not?" We will find out Sunday night. The picture complements the picture in my last blog. It is of Janie rolling the finish product to its resting place. God bless you.