I was reading Daniel this morning and was really struck by his concern for the "wisemen" Nebuchadnezzar wanted to put to death....You know the story - they couldn't tell the king what his dream was, then what it meant, so the king was extremely angry and wanted to kill them....In any case, these men, if in Israel, would have merited the death penalty. They were, at best, astrologers - trying to foretell the future from the stars - and some were probably occultists. Daniel, as a godly Jew, surely would have been in favor of capital punishment for their offences in his own country....But, in Babylon, there he was interceding with the king for their lives....

It reminds me of God's words to Jonah..."And should I not pity Ninevah, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left...." God's great mercy toward people in their ignorance...Of course, pagans will be punished for their sin in eternity - the destruction of their towns as Israel claimed their land is a picture of that - but, still, in this life there is mercy! And we have such a short time to extend it to them, in God's name...And they have such a short time to receive it...

I love quotes, so just a few I have read or been thinking about lately:

Harry Truman's oldest grandson had never been told his grandfather was once president of the US...When he found out at school, at age six, he ran home telling his mother....Her response?....Any little boy's grandfather can be president of the United States....

Matthew Henry: The stones of that spiritual building above are squared and fashioned here below.

It is possible for those who have made great professions of religion to be afterwards drawn into very great defections from the purity and simplicity of it.

A disobedient life is the confutation and shame of pretended religious knowledge.

The way to secure our inward peace is to abound in love and the works of love.

Ignorance is not the mother of devotion, but the murderer of it

debate between....Christ and contradicting sinners

The first contention in the Christian world was a money matter (Acts)

It was the greatest honor God did to man that He made him in the image of God, but it is the greatest dishonor man has done to God that he has made God in the image of man

Robert Murray McCheyne: It is not great talent that God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus

Calvin: The highest perfection of the godly in this life is an earnest desire to progress.

Unknown: The doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints has as it corollary that the saints are the people who persevere to the end.

Bavinck: In a certin sense, the fall, sin and eternal punishment are included in God's decree and are willed by Him. But this is true in a certain sense only and not in the same sense as grace and salvation. These are objects of His delight, but God does not delight in sin, neither does He take pleasure in punishment.

Talmud" To be against the workd of the Scribes is more punishable than to be against the words of the Bible

For Jen

Go away, little girl!
Noone wants you here!
You too, Mom.
Back yard, please.

We have important things to do...
Going to and fro on the earth
Walking up and down on it...

Did you hear me?
Out of my sight - now!
Mom, Dad, we don't care!...
Away!...Just...GO!

In the name of the god of the South...Amen!

We visited Ken and Jane Friday night - so nice seeing them. Ken is a very studious, focused and precise person, as most of you know. I t was interesting that he mentioned, during the course of our conversation, that he has found himself more nostalgic recently, that things take him into the past...I think I understand exactly why that is...Like us, they are in a precarious financial situation. They don't have good options for the future, as far as they can see....What you can hamdle as a young person, full of natural energy, is much more difficult as that fades...And you tend to want to retreat into a safer world - the world of the past where you felt secure, protected...Not that you want to be locked in nostalgia and waste the years that are left...What sincere Christian wants to do that?...It is just a tendency as you get older...He was interested in the biographical information I had read on Phil Johnson's website - thet the older Spurgeon had begun to write boyhood memoirs, and as a dying man, had revisited the scenes of childhood...Do the girls remember reading in "Christie" that Miss Alice's father had determined the greatest gift he could give his children was a joyful and secure childhood?... Those years really do provide a refuge and a picture to turn to in order to understand the security of our unchanging heavenly father...No big revelation there, but I am surprised how important that still is as you get older...

"Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them...."...Yet I do have pleasure...And almost all of it, on this earth, rests in you who are reading this, and the little children you have given us....

Onward to the end!

Dad and I went walking in the cemetery early today and saw such a sad thing....No, not humans mourning beside a grave....Rather, four geese attacking a fifth goose in such a vicious manner that the victim's neck feathers were soaked in blood. The poor creature kept trying to bury her neck underneath the back of our car. We spent several minutes trying to scare the others away - throwing sticks, chasing them, but to no avail...As soon as we turned our backs they renewed the attack...And the poor little creature kept close to us, "asking" our help...But we couldn't stay too long...So went on our way, knowing we were leaving the goose to torment and probably death. I am not, particularly, an animal lover, but "nature red in tooth and claw" disturbed me this morning...Fallen man and fallen nature!

Just a few quotes I have come upon in the last few days, that I have found interesting...The first two are from the History of Protestantism:

"It was ever the aim of Calvin to unite religion and science. He knew that when these are divided we have a race of fanatics on the one side and of sceptics on the other"

The second is about Francis I - soon after beginning to burn Protestants-as he then approached Protestant nations for military alliances!...
"But the king was ready with his excuse, and his excuse was that of almost all persecutors of every age. the king had not been burning Lutherans, but executing traitors. If those he had put to death had been imbibing Reformed sentiments, it was not for their religion, but for their sedition that they had been punished..."
(my little comment-...I have long felt one of the purposes of the h-m-s-x-a-l movement has been to form "civil rights" legislation that will, ultimately criminalize Christians - about the only ones who will ultimately not go along with the above....)

This next is from the latest "Voice of the Martyrs" magazine...from Richard Wurmbrand...
"Your not becoming a traitor and your resistance in times of intensive trial depends upon your earlier Christian life. When, after the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the Lord appeared to Ananias, He told him how to teach a new convert: I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake...
Every Christian church that does not teach its members the main religious science, sufferology,does not fulfill its duties. Impose upon yourself mortification. Learn to suffer and not to yield. The time may come when you need this knowledge."

Dad and I watched a biographical film of William Carey on Netflix last Sunday evening. It was really quite good, and made me think again about this incredible man, self-taught, who learned about forty languages over the course of his life, translating not only the Bible into many Indian laanguages, but Indian classics - including religious ones - into English, for his countrymen, and starting, I believe, an Indian Renaissance of learning...He advocated for a change in different laws, successfully, and did groundbreaking horticultural research...Wow!...And he said he succeeded becuase he was a plodder, would never give up...And he didn't...I was talking with young Stephen at work about Carey. He has been to India twice on mission trips, and visited Carey's grave. From the description he gave, it seems that it is very ordinary, and perhaps even run down...It reminded me of an incident I read about in Brother Yun's book (One of the five heads of the underground church in China)...After years of intense suffering and persecution in his country, he eventually escaped to the west - to Germany. He soon went to visit the grave of a woman who had spent years in his part of China - a faithful, (single, I believe) Christian who had laid the foundation for great harvest. She was remembered and revered by the whole church...He found her grave completely unkempt...He gave a Christian tonguelashing to the local body of believers and made sure this was changed. I found this very interesting...A man who knew what it was to be starved, beaten, penniless - and there were many others he knew still in that situation - who still wanted time and money spent on the dust and ashed of a woman who had served the church well...The body of the Christian is never considered inconsequential, is it, either in life or death...

Anyway, today is "1890's" day in Ringgold, so Andrew and I will go over, and meet Fryes and Helms, plus a lovely young Korean coupld attending our church, for the day. Weather should be hot and clear, so should be fun...Plucky iittle Ringgold is just going on with life! And so are we all, right?

I was sorely in need of comfort this morning and got up in the wee hours to spend time with the Lord...I am amazed and so grateful that I don't serve a concept but a true heavenly Father...The way He takes you in his arms, like a parent comforting a small child...Words of love and strength - mind-clearing words of life...Context and truth and reality...Away with the little, man-made world that I create, where all is loss and confusion!...And how, in view of all this, can any parent bring up their child with an Ezzo philosophy?...I am not God's adversary and He is not mine....Emmanuel...God WITH me!

I was thinking about the words of the Twenty-Third Psalm..."Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil"....Until recently, I had thought of these as hypothetical, God will be with us in our worst case scenarios, but have come to see them as a present reality, tying right in with God's own analysis of life as we live it day by day...ALTHOUGH we walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Luke 1:78-79..."...whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who are in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace..."...Nothing easy about this life, about our perpetual calling as soldiers...We LIVE in the valley of the shadow of death, though with peace and even victory because of the One who conquered death...

I am off to work today as took my usual Monday off to be with Rick and Susanna - am making up some of the hours...May God be with me, indeed Emmanuel, as I seek to show sin-ravaged kids that Comfort with which I was comforted this morning.
.

I am off today to meet Maryanne halfway between her house and mine, to pick up Emma and Will. I will bring them back here until Saturday, then meet the Helms in Canton in order to see the painting Anna has exhibited there at the county office...Andrew will come, too. From there, we will go to Maryanne's overnight so can have Easter Sunday together. Neil and Melissa will be there with their babies, as well...Grace and Justin with the Fryes...I am looking forward to all this, of course, but will be missing my remote family! How I wish we could all be together!

I don't know whether or not I told most of you that there was a policeman shot in our parking Lot at Hopeline recently...He was investigating a robbery at a pawnshop close by...The escapee criminal, shooting at the police, had been shot and hit by a police car while trying to run away, but got one last shot into the poor fellow's face when he came over to verify his condition...The policeman, a Christian, was trying to use only a tazer (sp.?) at that point.

I was up in the middle of the night doing things I really should do during the day - officey things...I am amazed that I still have next to no time to self-indulge....Not a bad thing, I suppose...

I close with a joke Wayne told recently....A navy ship picked up a fellow who had been shipwrecked,the lone inhabitant of a remote island. On his island they noticed three huts he had built. They asked him why three...He said, One is my home, one is the church I go to, and one is the church I recently left!....Ha ha! Still, I don't underestimate the difficulties in finding a stable, long-term church!

After several weeks of communal living - both here and in Canada - we are again a family of two...Aunt Laura flew off yesterday morning, but was not due to get home until 10:15 pm...Poor thing! To save money, I booked her on a flight with two stopovers, never thinking what that would mean to a heavy smoker! She went well-fortified with Nicorette gum, but am wondering how she fared...

It was lovely having her here for a few days. We did some local touring into the mountains - first, along Lookout Mt, enroute to Grace's, and then into the Cumberland Plateau toward Nashville - destination a small town called Suwanee - home of The University of the South....Suwanee is part of an Anglican preserve - thousands of acres, I believe, owned by the Episcopalians and developed by them. Theology is no longer their strongpoint, but aesthetics still are...The town is exquisite - almost entirely grey stone buildings. They have erected a memorial cross from which you have a bird's eye view of surrounding country -beautiful! I would love to go some Sunday afternoon and follow the walking trails through the mountains.

It continues hot and sunny here, though apparently was much rain while we were away. This afternoon we have the women's bible study so will not be out enjoying it, but do enjoy the time with the ladies - a trade-off!

Tim actually met Rob yesterday! They spent a couple of hours together at the Mississauga Yacht Club. Apparently, it was relaxed and "easy"...I still find it all hard to believe!

In any case, I just wanted you all to know I am still alive and kicking! Will try to wrote more regularly the next few weeks...

So I sit here waiting to go to work while poor Dad is out in the yard trying to get the lawnmower working. Lawnmowers are truly the bane of his existence....There are two at the trailer park and one here at the church - and none of them will work for more than a week or two..He is constantly behind in maintenance as a result...I don't think anyone should become a landlord who does not have excellent plumbing and mechanical skills!

We are more-or-less organized and ready to leave for Toronto early in the morning. I will work until midnight then have to be up by five, so will be going with a sleep deficit but am well-trained in that!...I am so excited about seeing Tim, Aileen and the kids but must admit I will miss the weather here - seventies and eighties, with blue sky...Perfect South!...May there be much more of it this spring!

I had an interesting call last week from a young fellow who was probably on something as we talked - very concerned that a tsunami was going to hit in the inland desert area where he lives....I assured him that would not happen, but he said only the people in his state had inside knowledge on that...He was a young transvestite living with older men....As he waited to talk with me I could hear him muttering swear words, then continued that through the conversation - but quite lovely and interested in the gospel - at least while high!

Wayne made a really interesting point in his sermon yesterday - on evil - saying that Christ had twelve legions of angels-72,000- at his disposal as he was betrayed, beaten etc - and remarking that just one angel had taken care of Sennacherib's whole army...That really does put things in perspective doesn't it? Evil does not befall us for lack of God's ability to prevent it!

I am going to miss my family here while I go away - always miss you in NYC and Toronto! Man! Always missing somebody!

And, finally, praying that we might get news on Nancy's son this week so - if he is in Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal we might possibly see him while in Canada....

I don't know which walk I prefer - that among the living or that among the dead. I can drive five minutes and be down by the Tennessee River...Crossing the bridge, encircled by the hills, and passing by runners, moms with strollers, more leisurely pedestrians....Beautiful reflections in the water, breeze on my face, lively, stirring - the best of life.

But then there are my friends, the dead. I can walk five minutes and climb a bank from road to cemetery. Then I go up, up, up a series of ridges and roads until I am on top of the world. I look around and see hilltops in every direction. And I am in the sky with them, surrounded only by granite, shrubs, and other people's memories. Quiet, pensive, "intimations of mortality" - the "best" of death.

I love them both. And I always wonder when I walk... How many of the living are dead and how many of the dead are living? What a wondrous thing it is to live in two worlds. But how much better to live in that which is coming - where death will be swallowed up by life, and every day a child's day of delight in waking up and finding himself strong and healthy with nothing but wonders ahead of him...

I'm waiting!

Cold, cold, cold - My feet are cold...Tossing, turning...Can't get up - too cold...Why didn't I put on socks last night?

Warm, warm, warm - My freezer is warm...Why?...Oh, I see....The tea towel has kept the door slightly ajar...Whew! Meat is solid....Just the bread and tomatoes have defrosted...Well, no big deal...They will be alright, and so will we be if we eat them!

Wet,wet,wet - The floor under the freezer is wet... Not a problem...The same offending tea towel will wipe it up.

Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy - My head after too few hours of sleep...Buzzing, heavy...And how can going on and off just a couple of mouthfuls of coffee make me feel dazed? But it does...

This sounds like a weather report but is not...Just the beginning of my day.

Wake up, Self!

Life and Death-Even They Belong to the Lord

Hello, This is ___________ from __________. Who am I speaking with please?

Weeping...Snuffles....This is Rosa.....More crying...

What's going on, Rosa?

I have made mistakes in my life....

So what is happening now?

I am pregnant, and I can't have this baby. I am going to have an abortion and I know it is wrong.

Me, praying, stalling for time, thinking....

Can you tell me more about your situation?

I already have an 18-month old. I have plans for my life....

When are you going to have the abortion?

Tomorrow...And I know it is wrong....But I have to do it...I want to start making right choices. I want to be strong.

Do you have any spiritual beliefs? Do you go to church?

Yes, I am part of a small church. I believe in God.

Rosa, the people in that small church will all be pro-life. Christians always are. Tell them what is happening. They will rally around you and help you in every way. Think what a privilege it will be for them to be able to act out their pro-life commitment. It will be such a joy to them, and you will be surrounded by so much love....We also have a partner organization that can counsel you, give you any practical help you might need. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. May I give you their number?....And Rosa, about being strong, and making good decisions. Why don't you do what is right and start right now, not after you have had the abortion. Making difficult,right decisions always strengthens you and blesses you longterm. Sinning weakens you and will leave you with a lifetime of regret and guilt. Abortion is not a good long-term solution....Also, I am going to be very honest here, Rosa, I would not want to stand before God on that final day and have to answer for the murder of my own child....

Crying...

Would you like me to transfer you to (our pro-life resource), Rosa, and you can talk with them now? Remember, they will help you in any and every way...

I am too upset right now.

If I give you their number, will you call them?

Yes.

Promise, promise that you will call them right away?

Yes.

So I pray and we hang up. And what has happened?...I don't know.

This caller I have not yet forgotten...But...I did all I could and it is in God's hands.

Melchizedekian

I have been re-reading one of the many missionary stories I love-about the early days of the gospel penetrating the Ethiopian Wallamo tribe...Presbyterian missionaries presented the gospel for a few years before they were forced to leave by the Italians as they conquered Ethiopia during the Second World War years. The missionaries left a church in its infancy...They eventually were able to return and found that, in the midst of much Catholic persecution, the church had permeated the tribe so thoroughly it was hard to find a non-Christian Wallamo ...Wondrous...They put much thought into the reasons the gospel spread so rapidly amongst this particular people...This is one of the interesting incidents they learned about...One that had occurred years earlier....

"Around the turn of the century, Wallamo province was filled with talk about a man named Asa. He was originally from Gamo, but his fame and his teachings spread throughout the whole area. He claimed to have a revelation from God - the God who created the heavens and the earth. Wallamo people should stop worshiping Satan, he said, and should worship only one God, the Creator. Asa also taught the people to pray, especially on one day of the week, Sunday. In praying, he would dip his fingers in honey and flick the honey toward heaven, symbolizing that his prayers were directed to God, not to Satan. The code of laws that Asa taught resembled the Ten Commandments.

As his message spread, Asa's following increased. The practice of witchcraft was forcible restrained. Many of the witch doctors, who were actually priests leading in the worship of Satan, were converted to Asa's teaching. Others who practiced witchcraft did it secretly.

Eventually the movement became absorbed in politics and Asa was imprisoned. He died a few years before the missionaries came to Soddo, and though the movement died with him, there were still traces of this movement all over Wallamo. None of the first converts had been personally influenced by Asa's teachings, but there was a widespread spirit of expectancy for a fuller revelation from the One True God. Asa had prophesied that the foreigner would come with God's book. He urged the people to follow the teachings of this book because it would tell them more about God's will for them...."

Wondrous. Amazing. Intriguing.

I now live in a five-day week. Monday and Tuesday, as I have known them most of my life, are now non-existent - long shifts of phone calls and chats, phone calls and chats...

Cutting, sexual abuse, physical abuse, adultery, pornography, fornication, suicide, homicide, loneliness, aloneness and alienation...

But you know what shocks me the most? It has become just a job. It is a job I love and that I put all I can into, interaction by interaction but - still, mostly just a job...I hang up the phone or I end the chat, look back at my call lists a few minutes later, and I can't distinguish the people or recall what we talked about....The issues are - unfortunately - so similar, and things move so quickly...

As I said a couple of posts ago, I am so glad God is not like me...My extreme limitations in compassion and imagination are just mine, not His...I speak with these kids, "love" them and forget them. But He carries me right within His heart always and forever...

No, I will not be at the women's group today...I am playing truant...John and I are going to go hiking...

I make a stir -fry quickly, for the hungry hordes, and we head out about 1:15 - a beautiful day, sunny and warm...Julia has said that Stone Door is absolutely beautiful and Justin seconds her, so that is where we are going...

And we head toward Nashville....

Farther than we thought...We drive through exquisite mountains valleys until up, up, onto the Cumberland Plateau...And more driving...Not so pretty now, kind of like being on the Niagara Escarpment - poorer soil and that shows in general wealth of people.

But here we are....First overlook and, oh my! We can see for miles in all directions...Mountains and valleys, more mountains and valleys...And - no safely walls of any sort - no place to bring kids! ...Holes falling who knows how deep into the earth....And a cleft between two high stone walls - with stairs down through it. This is amazing...

We head home, total trip has taken four hours - but another world, another life...Good for the soul.

He calls every Monday and I look forward to it...A young Muslim man who is restless in his community.

Hi, this is -------.

Hi again! Nice to hear from you....Did you get to church again last Sunday?

Yes.

Did you go to the same one?

I did.

So, what did you think of it? What did the pastor preach about?

Silence

I suppose it was hard for you to concentrate on that, right, with so much new stuff all around you

That's right.

Then what stood out the most?

The music. I love the music....I feel like I am falling in love with God. Is that all right?

Of course it is. That's what happens when you learn about God's love and compassion for people!

But I feel this is like a marriage kind of love....

That is just what the Bible says happens as you become God's own...How interesting that you understand that already!

So it's ok?

Yes, it's ok.

And THAT is why I love my job...

The Book The Book, The Book

Today I hope to have several hours to devote to -The Book....Please pray that I will be able to concentrate and pick my way successfully through all the shoals of lack of clarity, omissions, general brain-freeze....

My Job

Hello...This is --------- from ----------. Who am I speaking with, please?

Hello...My name is Gerald...

(Oh no! Gerald again!)...But I say, All right, Gerald. Before we begin, may I just ask a few quick questions? And I get initial information.

What is on your mind today, Gerald?

(What else? His ex-girlfriend AGAIN...) And I listen and listen and listen...Usually I can move callers through the process as quickly as I have to, but this time it is not going to work...We are now on to bodily injuries he has sustained in his short life....

I clear my throat, make entering-the-conversation kinds of noises....

Now it is his ex-girlfriend's family, her friends...

Yes, I know, I know...I have heard it all before - exact and in detail...

Back to bodily injuries

I am getting restless. I grimace and gesture impatiently, but no one can see....For which I am glad...

And finally I interrupt and just barge in with some spiritual challenge - not very nicely, but not very rudely - somewhere in the middle...

Click...He hangs up.

The phone rings immediately and he is back - Sorry, my phone disconnected

(Oh, no it didn't...You were shopping around for a different counselor....)

I resume the spiritual challenge...

Click.

The phone rings again...Different number, but probably Gerald again. He calls from different numbers

Hello, this is .....Click

I am so glad God is not like me.

But I am so glad that not all callers are like Gerald.

The Fairness Doctrine

Was reading 2 Corinthians today and was struck by Paul's language...I use the English standard Version...8:13...."I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness...."

If "fairness" is a good word equivalent for whatever Paul used in the Greek,how interesting...Most of us - I certainly do - claim that God is just and holy, but not necessarily "fair"...And his providence is often not fair, humanly and horizontally speaking -but here he is demanding that we should, in fairness, make up the lack of his own providence....Because it is "unfair" not to....

What a serious reality it is to be part of the body of Christ...What a serious calling it is to balance Christian truths...

Wow!

Theological Conundrum

Why didn't Noah swat the two mosquitoes on the ark?

Courtesy of my cousin, Jill....

A Thought

I was reading Second Corinthians 5 this morning and the words reminded me of the article Tim linked to recently, regarding art and nudity....Is it proper, even in this "high" cultural context, or not...And I am really not addressing that here...

But it is interesting that in verse 4 Paul says, "For while we are still in this tent we groan, being burdened - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life...."

Of course, clothing serves the purpose in this life of protecting us from lust, but fascinating that in heaven - when sin, and the sin of lust, will no longer have any place in our hearts, we will still be covered - literally, I believe, in some kind of clothing. Just as Christ will always bear the wounds of his payment for sin, we will always wear clothing as a reminder of what our righteousness rests on...We are never, never going back to the Garden, but toward something so much greater - being "further clothed" in Christ's garments...

Alice in Wonderland, but We Love Her

I am in Joe's office, and he is wondering how to reward me for the score on my evaluation...He looks at me...Would you like a Support Seven windbreaker....

Pause....Well....I probably wouldn't wear it....Thanks, anyway....

I thought you wouldn't...That's what I just told Gavin....Would you like one for John?

Pause....He already has one. You gave him one on volunteer appreciation night....Thanks!

Hmmmm....Well, what about an extra break on the day of your choice? And a Kitkat chocolate bar?

Perfect! Great! Thanks....And may I just have one minute to ask you about something?

Sure....Oh, wait a minute, though....In walks Linda, another Hopecoach, also here early for her shift...She is in her seventies, was brought up in a Catholic orphanage, and converted at some point during her adult years. She is our Hopeline "character"..We all love her...

Hey, Joe, can you do me a favor?

Sure, Linda

I want you to help me find out if my son is alive.

What?

I want you to help me find out if my son is alive...Someone told me I should look in the obituaries.

What do you mean, Linda?

The obituaries. Someone told me if I find an obituary then I will know he is dead.

Well, ordinarily that is true, but can't you just ask him whether he is dead?

Oh, I haven't heard from him in years...The police in Florida have looked for him and can't find him, either...I would just really like to know if I'll ever see him again...But if I don't, I know I'll see him in Heaven.

Well, how will I go about looking? What is his name? Ok...No, nothing there...What else can I type in? ...Nope, nothing there either....I don't think I can help you, Linda..

OK, Honey....Thanks for trying....See you later...

Joe: Now, what did you want, Barbara?

Gas Attack

Resolved: I will get up at six am. each morning, get dressed immediately, and get going with my many responsibilities. No more lingering in pyjamas...On task asap!

Day Two of my new resolution: 6:30 am...I go into the dining room to get some dishes for breakfast...

John, John, What is that shaking and buzzing?

I can't hear anything?

Come into the dining room.

Oh, man! and out the back door he goes...It's the natural gas....

Do you smell anything?

Yes.

Hello...Chattanooga Gas? We have a gas leak....

We will be there within half an hour to an hour....

Great! An hour in which we can blow up!

John:....No, no...It's outside. It won't hurt us...And he goes into the bathroom to shave....

Me: Andrew, wake up...We are going outside....Dad might be willing to blow, up, but I am not....After all, he might be wrong...

I look around, wondering what I would save if I knew I had time to take only a few of my trinkets and treasures with me....The art, the art without a doubt - the stuff on the walls....But also, our documentation - our proof of being alive,and the right to remain alive- at least, in the States, and for now!

So I stuff that in my purse just in case....

And out Andrew and I go....We retreat to the church buildings behind us, wishing Dad well...

It is cold...We huddle in our coats, and wait...And it is indeed an hour before the repair man comes....A third-grade leak, no problem....He fixes it in just a couple of minutes.

Our house stops vibrating and we go inside....

I look at the clock and see that my new schedule is completely shot....Oh well, at least I was dressed when I had to evacuate both home and timetable!