News from Indiana

The longer I wait before writing, the more difficult it is to start again. Yet it seems worth the trouble and I enjoy the task.
A couple of months ago, we attended the most amazing wedding: Jesus was there and he was smiling! He was rejoicing! Many in the congregation were weeping at the beauty of the atmosphere inside the building as the Holy Spirit was so manifest. These were not tears of recollection or of hope in the face of uncertainty as is often the case, but tears of amazement. The preacher’s words were flawless, simple and direct. I learned later this couple had dedicated their lives to the Lord several years earlier. They had kept their promises of chastity and faithfulness. They had planned their wedding to be all they wished it to be so that their hearts were full of gladness, too. The payoff of giving honor to God with their small decisions day by day was this: the Lord honored them in a way I have seldom seen. It is well worth the reward to follow His ways.
On another note: we have been traveling these last few weeks in a small motor home which we have named m/v Star Reach. From Indiana, we drove north into Wisconsin and stayed for a while on the shore of a small lake where Daniel spent some summers as a child. For many years, this lake and its surrounds have been owned by an oil company that finally gave up their plans for strip-mining and have returned the property to the local tribe with some private ownership. The water is clear and cool, good for swimming, and the blue gill and wide mouth bass are biting hooks. Several of them graced our evening plates. We paddled a canoe across the still waters reflecting sky so that it seemed as if we were in the clouds, not the pond.
One day we went to an Indian pow-wow for four near-by tribes (Potowatomie, Menominee, Winnebago, and Chippewa who all danced and drummed together for hours across the four days in full regalia)—I say “for” because we were two of the very few general public in attendance. A man selling steamed corn told us about the recent efforts for preserving the various Indian languages, dances, and customs. Some of the drummers only played traditional songs, but some combined modern ideas with the old customs. This tension between preservation and innovation exists in other cultures, too. I’m thinking especially of Chinese painting where the old styles are highly prescribed; undoubtedly seen either as discipline or constriction. The corn seller expressed some regret he had not learned his tribal language from his grandparents, but said his son was learning it in a special school. We tried to mention our sorrow at the way the European settlers treated the Indians, but he was very philosophical and peaceful about the past. The Indians as a whole seem very patriotic. Many of them served in the US military. Army and Marine Corps emblems were decorated with elaborate beadwork.
Last week we visited an Indian hospital in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation after hearing a presentation by a public relations fellow named Curly Bear at the East Glacier Lodge. It is a very modern hospital with an excellent staff doing heroic work for a wide population of Indians from many different tribes across northwest America. We are beginning to learn some of their names and stories.
Today has been a quiet day in Billings, Montana, resting and doing computer work, including this entry. We joined a Friends’ meeting this morning: we were half the group. Plenty of opportunity to visit and share with the other two attendees. Daniel asked, “Do you believe Jesus was actually resurrected from the dead?” and that started a good conversation. What do you say? Why is it an important question? Who do you say Jesus is?
Finally, we are nearly ready to announce the publication of a novel through iuniverse dot com. It is entitled The Last Reunion. We have been working on it for several years actually—been holding out on you. But you should be able to purchase same through amazon dot com or your local bookstore if you wish, possibly as soon as a month or six weeks from now. Hope you do! It is a modern day fable of good vs evil, in which the spiritually-gifted hero struggles with an unseen mortal enemy. The future of the world depends on the outcome! And of course, it has several hospital scenes in it, doesn’t it? Since co-written by an MD. And some romance. He meets her, but does he find her again? The action begins during a tremendous blizzard on Christmas eve, takes the reader across the Indiana country-side to the halls of Congress. Oh, and there’s a terrific Italian restaurant in the story, too.
So, we won’t announce the book yet, but soon!
More later.

The corn across our road is about 5 feet tall already, a great expanse of wavy shades of green fringed on the far side by scalloping trees against the sky. It is not the desert: here if you do nothing, trees come up!
And leaf up they did. The forest behind us turned suddenly from brown to thick greens with dark shadows. It is amazing. And multitudes of birds sing every morning.
Our life here is good.
Here is a parable for you: when any stranger comes to the house, the children holler out, “Dad! Someone’s coming!” (or Mom! or Grandpa!). They do not answer the door themselves. They do not presume to be able to handle strangers on their own. That is how we should be. Whenever something out of the ordinary shows up in our life, we should holler “Jesus!” and let him answer. Good or bad. Is it prosperity? sickness? a need to change a job? or make a purchase? Let Him be our leadman, our protector and defender.
Here is a thought for you: actually for me. It is easier to write fiction than fact, because then you have more liberty to tell the truth. Don’t know if or who else has said that, but I think I am learning it. Any comments on that?
Today in our reading we studied Jesus’s comment about why he spoke so often in parables. And he quoted Isaiah, in which the prophet makes it sound like God doesn’t want people to understand him, because if they did, they might change their ways and be saved. Hummph. Didn’t Jesus come to redeem all of us (whosoever will to the Lord may come…)? We decided his point (in Mark) was that parables were the very way people could grasp the truth and respond to it. That directness was more difficult. Any thoughts?
More later.

Hello from foggy, misty Boston. Dan and I have been celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary with a visit to Turkey Run and thence to relatives in Boston. We were also delighted to visit Filene’s Basement: it has been many years since I shopped there.
I have been thinking about this blog, whether to continue it even. Not sure whether anyone is reading it, hard to tell. So much of what we are currently doing involves confidential aspects of other people’s lives, so it limits our ability to be “newsy.” We count it all joy.
Apparently there were a couple of comments recently which were tagged for my approval, but since being on vacation I was not able to check them quickly enough perhaps. In any case, they are not there now. If you did send a comment, please do so again.
I have had a request for more photos to be posted and it is “on my list” to accomplish, not sure how long it will take.
We have been writing a novel for a while and it is nearly ready to be published. We will be posting more information about it before long: the story written while we were in Fiji takes place in Indiana and is entitled The Last Reunion (and will be available through amazon.com and other normal channels when it is ready).
Now while we are living in Indiana, we are starting another book about our adventures in and on-the-way to Fiji.
More later.

We are in the process of adopting into our household a grandson who is not quite four years old. When he came to visit, he declared his desire to stay. He asked our daughter if she was going to be his new mom. He said he did not want to go back to his old home.
It is very impressive to see the clarity of desire in this little child. And it is very heartening to see how happy he is becoming as he feels more secure in his new situation. He has even been telling our 8 year old grandson how glad he is to have him for his new brother.
That is the way it is in the Kingdom of God. When we come to the Lord, we learn the love he has for us and we don’w want to go back! And he says we don’t have to. We can stay in his presence, even when times are hard. We can stay in his family and we can have a whole household of loving relatives, those who already know they belong to the same Father. We will become happier as we become more secure in his strength and power and love and provision and discipline and guidance.
Recently Daniel and I attended a 3 day conference with an interesting man, a brother of ours! named David Herzog. (website: www.thegloryzone.org) We learned God is very interested in providing for us more than we can ask or think… but like others before us, he has learned the trade comes at a cost. Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything! He requires holiness, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving, praise and worship. “New lives for old” means we have to give him our old lives!
I remember an old cartoon about the tourist’s trip to heaven and hell: Those in hell were sitting at a marvelous feast but their spoons were too long for them to eat any of it, so they were hungry and miserable. Those in heaven were sitting a the same feast with the same long spoons but were feeding each other and having a marvelous time. I think there is more truth to this little story than I have been able to incorporate.
God bless you today as you consider membership in his Kingdom, either for the first time or for its on-going privileges. More later.

I realize it has been a while since I last wrote, but now I want to begin again with regular entries. We have been “settling in.” This has been consisting of everyone’s adjusting to a three-generational household with all its challenges and blessings. We are also in the flux of changing directions: what will the Lord Jesus wish to do through us in this place? Washing dishes is definitely part of it. Sharing our faith is another, and we are looking at options which may formalize a step beyond “Let your light shine.”
Women’s Aglow is likely to be part of the picture. This is an international organization of women designed to introduce women to Jesus and the Holy Spirit and to help women grow in maturity, wisdom, and leadership. It is not a church but blesses local churches with new members and stronger wiser members. A monthly fellowship meeting with a guest speaker is the most common format, from which additional activities spring, such as Bible Study and outreach. This organization has provided a significant influence in my life for a very long time and I can highly recommend it to anyone.
We heard recently from a couple who saw our yacht for sale and thereby found encouragement to purchase and refit an Irwin of their own: a great choice. They will be new friends for us. And they are another reason for me to pick up this “pen” again–I think there are some folks out there I don’t yet know about who might be appreciating what I’m writing.
Speaking of writing: we are still writing our novel but it is almost finished, so stand by! You will be able to order it through Amazon or Barnes and Noble before too much longer.
We still are not settled in a church home although we have enjoyed visiting around.
The countryside is still brown with late winter dryness, but the robins are back and building nests. The evidence of spring, the hope of new life. Lean on the Designer, folks! He is great to know. More later.

Here’s a mind-boggling thought: I was well acquainted with our grandchildren’s great-great-grandmother! Someone would have to be quite old for this to be so… or not?
A few years ago I went through a period of feeling annoyed at my own mother for not recording some of the family stories she knew. She did not do so, and what she knew is lost forever. I cannot write them. But now I am challenged myself with whether and what to write of the stories I do know. It is an odd feeling to realize that, except for my cousin 6 months my elder, I am the oldest in my family. All the aunts and uncles are gone, all the parents and grandparents. All gone.
What makes it easier is the next generation. I look at their young faces and their pleasure at 100% on spelling tests and I think about the meaning of life. With my PhD in Psychology, playing Chutes and Ladders with a four year old seems like the most important thing I could be doing right now. All that schooling for this! I thank God for my education and for this chance to participate in the parenting of these three children. It is for a season. God only knows what the future will bring and what opportunities and choices lay ahead of us. So for today, the meaning of life is… OK, wait. Sit down. Take a breath. It’s exciting, isn’t it? To know someone is about to tell you the meaning of life? I’m remembering a sign in a co-worker’s office years ago, “A Thousand and One Mistakes Fixed Free.” OK, here goes. And it’s from the catechism, it’s not new: “To love God and enjoy Him Forever.” Truly that is the sum of it, the only thing that matters. And when we love someone, we love what they love. So we automatically, flowing from it, love those whom God loves, which is everyone. Hastening to add: you don’t have to like them all. Jesus didn’t either! He got mad at some, sad at some, avoided some, and sought the company of others.
Changing the subject, although I do like to wax philosophical from time to time: an update on the dog situation. Stormy did not return. We all feel he is truly gone, not sure where, don’t like to think about it. But we do have another dog now: World, meet Rosie! She is about 5 months old, a lab/boxer mix, black with reddish markings about her face and front. Quite good natured, patient, likes to jump up and nip, loves it outside, likes to pull hard on her leash. We solved that problem by getting a head halter which puts the leash attachment just below her chin and gives her snout a yank if she rushes ahead. Lovely. She has learned so fast not to pull my arm out if its socket and has exhibited considerable interest in where I’d like to go at whatever speed I so choose. She is coming to her name nicely these days, seems to like us. We’ve had her a week and think she’s making good progress. Oh, we also got her a cage to lay around in when she’s in the house so we don’t find any surprises on the floor like we did the first two days.
A very Merry Christmas to you. If you also celebrate Christmas, it is a good thing to repeat. Why not? It is Christmas time, and other people can do generic holidays if they want, but as for me and my house? We are very glad a Savior was born to us, Christ the Lord. It is very good news indeed. More later.

Life is good and we have a sure sense of being where we belong. It feels good. “In the will of God.” I am spending time writing to individuals, but then the rest of you miss out, but that is just how it is. You can always write back…
It feels like we’re getting settled in a church. Dannette and I went out with some of the women last night (some 20 or more of us) and we had a terrific time, sort of like a party with eating and visiting and a few games and activities. It has been a long time since I did anything like that. And in the middle of it all, I learned there was to be an Aglow meeting the next morning (today), to which Daniel did say I could go. It was one of the better meetings I have been to in a long time since the spirit of the Lord visited us and I felt so refreshed during the worship. Actually it felt a bit like I was playing in the River of Life, splashing and jumping around. Very amazing. And the speaker was very impressive in her tales of missionary life in Columbia in the middle of the jungle. She and her husband still work there in overseeing and training but they visit their home in Indiana every year for a time. Although they were heading out today, they will be back next year and I hope the whole family can listen to them.
One of her most harrowing experiences was … no, I cannot tell it as well as she, so I won’t. But the jungle was full of poisonous snakes and other dangerous creatures, and God protected them and their four children through it all. One notorious witch doctor was visited by Jesus in his dreams and he accepted him as Lord, then told the missionary family he had seen giant men locked arm in arm all around the perifery of their homesite to protect them. He had tried to hurl spiritual missles at them designed to kill them, but had not succeeded. Instead, the missles had bounced off the arms of these guards and come back at him seven times stronger. Once when this happened, he bled from every pore for days in excruciating pain. He said Christians are the most powerful of all in the spiritual realm, that they have light streaming from their heads and the name of Jesus written visibly on their foreheads, but most of them are unaware of the power they have, so they don’t use it. He said when these Christians speak the word of God, no spiritual efforts on his part could ever overcome it.
Let us be aware of who we are and walk in it with our heads high. Those who are not belonging to our Lord can see who we are and what we are and do, they hear and see us and they see and hear the Lord through us.
The speaker also said if our church is teaching a doctrine that we cannot find in the Bible at least three different places, it is probably not from Him. It is very important that we know what the Bible says and let it come out of our hearts and through our thoughts and words and deeds very naturally. She said, suppose the Bible became illegal to possess, the way it is in some places in the world… would we have enough of the word hidden in our hearts and minds to sustain us for many years?
Their names are Dennis and Jeanne Cook and their website is www.vidaministries.org (I think this is right, I haven’t looked at it myself yet, but will. I was very impressed with what I saw of them today.
Stormy is still gone and we are considering getting another dog. Meanwhile we have begun studying JOhn Fisher’s dog training techniques, very good behavior-mod stuff. Very good generalizability to a variety of situations. We do have 4 new kittens which have started drinking from a bowl, so let us know if one of your homes is open to one or more of them.
More later.

Saturday November 26th, 2005 Indiana: It’s been two weeks since I wrote anything, partly because after the last entry to our website where I reported the loveliness of Stormy the dog, I felt very reluctant to report his absence. On that Sunday about two weeks ago we last saw him chasing our car down our country road. He was not home on the front porch waiting for us when we got back from church. He did not greet us with his wagging tail and his funny growly smile. He did not jump up in gladness or hide behind me to avoid the tallness of our son-in-law Paul. He did not ask to be let in. He did not come to repeated callings. He was not found in circumnavigations of the neighborhood or excursions into the woods. He was not located through newspaper ads or calls to the local pound. He has showed up in our dreams, maybe to say goodbye. Who can tell? The world of dreams is so mysterious.
We unpacked enough to get boxes mostly out of the living/dining area so we could have a nice Thanksgiving dinner, even able to use my good silverware and china which have been packed away for several years. We are all seven thankful to be living together in a safe, warm house with a yard equal to the kid’s yelling.
I’d appreciate some comments, however brief, to let me know whether any readers have found this blog. More later.