Xanga

OK, Lord, This Day is Yours!

It has been a busy week – which means I try to stay focused and reach certain goals every day.  Tuesday started well, but a few hours into the morning, I felt that the phone had become attached to my ear.  On days like this, I try hard to listen to each caller, answer their questions, and never let them know I am busy, or that they are the tenth caller in two hours. 

One caller was a driver who had been on the road eight weeks, was discouraged, needed a listening ear, prayer, and information on how to find chapels in his driving area.  None of my goals were worth making him feel that I didn’t have time to listen.

By noon I said, “Ok, Lord, this day is Yours.  I’m giving up.  I can never get the mailing out that I thought was a necessary accomplishment today.”

I made an effort to change my focus – delight, commit, rest (see yesterday’s entry), and went to the stack of paperwork on my desk.  One note reminded me that I must call MasterCard about Cerwin’s TFC credit card.  They expire in February.  I had gotten my new one, but he hadn’t gotten his.

Amazingly, I didn’t have to wait long to talk to a person and share my concern.  She said, “He may have a different expiration date than you.  (We never thought to check.)  Do you know your password?” 

I gave it to her and as soon as she saw our information, she exclaimed, “He is coming soon.”

I was a bit puzzled, but since we were talking about Cerwin’s card, I thought she was asking if Cerwin is coming soon, so I said, “No he’s still at work.”

She laughed, “No, you don’t understand, I’m looking at the name on your credit card – Transport For Christ.”

I exclaimed, “Amen!  Amen!  Yes, Jesus is coming soon!”

“Isn’t that what the Bible says?” she asked.

“It sure does, and out of all the people at MasterCard, I am so glad you are the one who took my call today.”

She informed me that Cerwin’s card doesn’t expire until June. 

“Is there anything I can do for you today?” she asked.

“No, maam, you have gone beyond the call of duty.  You made my day.”

God knew I needed a “booster shot” of encouragement and a reminder that He is in control.

My 62nd Birthday!

I was blessed to have been born into a Christian home where I was taught God’s principles, not only by word of mouth, but also by lifestyle.  My parents (and grandparents) lived the gospel in a way that made me want to surrender my life to Christ at an early age – long before I fully understood what it meant. 

I was taught to seek God’s will for my life, and soon understood that if I was going to accompolish that, I needed to read my Bible, be faithful to Him one day at a time, and take advantage of godly Bible teaching whenever I could.  

Somewhere In that process, I was instructed to choose a ” life-verse” or set of verses that defined my spiritual goals.  They should be words that applied to me – words I could cling to when life was pressing me toward discouragement, giving up, or making an ungodly decision. 

Before I had settled on a life-verse (I had a few at the time), I remember hearing a Bible teacher say he heard of a Jewish school where the young boys were encouraged to find a verse or portion of verses that began with the first letter and included every letter of their name.  The Bible teacher suggested this may be a good way to find your life-verse.  

That was when I narrowed my favorite verses down to one life-verse, because it began with and included the letters in my first name.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Psalm 37:4.

To my delight I discovered my middle name in the next set of verses.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday.  Psalm 37:5,6.

My maiden name “Hershey” was in the next verse, and when I married, my last name “High” was also there!

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:  fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.  Psalm 37:7

Delight!  Commit!  Rest!

There are times I do not remember to delight, commit, or rest; but they are the words that always bring me back to God’s will for my life.

Ah – h – h – h – h – h – h!

I went to Carla for my full-body massage after work yesterday!

She is the best massage therapist, and a blessing, not only to my muscles, but also to my spirit.  We always spend the time talking about how God is working in our lives. 

Surprise!

Yesterday we were invited to Ivan and Deb’s place for lunch (our youngest daughter and her husband).  Right after we got there, I went to their basement office to say hi to David and Zachary (the boys they help care for), who appeared to be making a card for me.  Deb promptly said to them, “Show Grammie Doris your special gift in the garage.”  I dutifully followed them, thinking I was going to see their new four-wheeler.  Instead, I was greeted by “SURPRISE!”   (Look at a very happy husband behind me – who I understand got this started!)

It seems our sons, their wives, and children left church more promptly than we did so they could complete the one-hour trip before us.  As you can see by my face, I had no idea anything was going on.

Photos:  Ready for Lunch.  The boys enjoying lunch.  Our Grandson Josh and I share birthdays, so he also got a cake.  He will be eleven on Wednesday.

Diana and Deb and Leslie and Jared pose for the camera.  Deb and her best friend Leslie are the ones who had most of the work in getting ready for the party.  THANKS.

It turned out I wasn’t the only person to get gifts.  Ivan, Deb, and Leslie’s boys gave Grandpa Cerwin a walking stick with deer antlers on the top.  Photos:  Cerwin and Zachary.  Jeff, Cerwin (with his new walking sitck), Ivan, and Jere.

Thanks to everyone for the special day, the gifts, and especially to Cerwin for the Nikon D50 Digital SLR Camera.  (I didn’t know that sixty-second birthdays were supposed to be this special!)

I eventually did get to see David and Zachary’s four-wheeler. 

I always miss our Maine family on days like this, but we also have special days in Maine – then I miss our Pennsylvania family!

I Samuel 12:23

God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.  KJV

I would be disobeying the Lord if I stopped praying for you!  CEV

I Love Grandchildren – Especially Ours!

Three of them spent time with me in the office yesterday so their mom’s could go to appointments.  (I even finished the layout and design for a chaplain’s newsletter while they were here!)

When Gloria arrived, I noticed the interesting part in her hair.  Chris said she wanted two pony tails today so she could have a zigzag part.

Gloria’s zigzag part

She loves to play on the old Windows ’95 computer that I no longer use – and where I keep most of the younger children’s games. 

A few days ago she announced to her mom that she did not like her name.

“I don’t think you should have named me Gloria.  That is just not a good name for me.”

“Oh,” replied Chris, “What would you have liked us to name you?”

Gloria said, “Punkin would have been better.” 

(That name probably makes her feel special, because Punky is the nickname her parents and siblings call her.  I think it came from being called Pumpkin when she was real small.)

Gloria helping baby farm animals find their parents. 

Showing Ian and Jared (featured in yesterday’s post) how to catch the correct number and color of fish.

Two Helpers in My Office Yesterday

Our two youngest grandchildren, brothers Ian (left) and Jared (right) love to play with the rubber bands.

A Hug From The Shepherd of My Soul!

Yesterday was one of those good days.  My number one computer was repaired – it died on Friday.  Thankfully my number two computer worked (just not the network), so I wasn’t totally handicapped.  I finished a newsletter for one of our chaplains.  Then the neatest thing happened during a quick trip to Hershey Medical Center’s Lab. 

As I was on my way to Hershey, I breathed a prayer to the Lord, “It would be nice if one of the fifteen minute parking spots was available so I don’t have to park in the boonies.” 

Not only was a fifteen minute space available, it was the one right at the door I had to enter!  I smiled and said, “God, you are so good.”

Every time something like that happens, I wonder how many blessings I miss out on because I don’t even think to ask. 

He doesn’t always respond like I want, even when I do ask.  He could have said to me yesterday, “No fifteen minute parking spot for you today, sister.  You need a five-minute walk.  It will be good for your health!”

I love being cared for by the Shepherd of my soul!

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;

but the word of our God shall stand for ever.  KJV

Flowers and grass fade away,

but what our God has said will never change.  CEV

Yesterday Was a Milestone for Me

It was my last day of ordering and shipping ministry materials for Transport For Christ on a regular basis.  It is with a great sense of satisfaction that I bequeath this part of the ministry to my friend, Rose Gehman.

Rose Gehman

Ministry materials became my responsibility during the early eighties when I was a one-day-a-week-volunteer in TFC’s Northeast Region Office, Morgantown, PA.  When Cerwin became the NE Director in 1990, the supplies came with the job and were moved to our Manheim, PA, office. 

I enjoyed doing the ordering and shipping, especially the contact it gave me with vendors, salesmen, and TFC’s lead chaplains, but as the region grew – and our responsibilities as well – it became apparent that it was time to look for someone else to take on this part of the ministry.  Plus, the Northeast Region Office is in our house, and storing a shipment of five to ten thousand Road Map New Testaments and one-hundred pair of mud flaps was becoming more than our garage could handle – and still have room to park two vehicles.

Since Cerwin was on the building committee during construction of the new facility for the International Office, I reminded him several times to make sure there was a large room for ministry materials!  They didn’t forget.

The New TFC Office and Shop

As the office construction came to a close during the summer of 2005, I discovered Rose was looking for something to do, one or two days a week, and was ready to accept the challenge. 

Rose moving some mud flaps.  The boxes to her left are Road Map of Life New Testaments – paperback – NIV or KJV – personalized for TFC.

We moved the supplies in early October, then spent the following Mondays shipping items – and with each spare moment doing some of the other things that completed her training.  First, she needed a computer with UPS Online, then items had to be physically counted and entered in QuckBooks to keep record of inventory.  Each week she became more familiar with vendors, ordering, customers and shipping.

Shelves Cerwin Built for Ministry Material Storage 

I will miss the twenty-minute commute Rose and I had each Monday for the past four months, spending the whole day together, and the twenty-minute drive home in the evening.  We often said that we should have a longer commute so we had time to talk about everything that was happening in our lives.

I am grateful to God for everything I learned about ordering and shipping; the contact with vendors, chaplains, and drivers; and the exercise I received in packing and carrying boxes.  I never had to go to a gym, because of the exercise I received in this part of my job!  I will probably have to come up with another plan to say in shape!

Now I can get on with the work I really enjoy – doing layout and design for the Northeast chaplains newsletters (I have two waiting for me today); writing The Extra Mile newsletter six times a year; doing all the mailings required for the Winter Retreat and Staff Conference that are coming up in a few weeks, prayer breakfasts, banquets, NE Council meetings; and being involved in the largest activity of all, the Truck Rally and Rally Celebration on June 24 and 25. 

For more information, check “Events” at the top of my blog.