Five Men

Five excited young men.

 Full of passion to make Christ known to the lost.

 Filled with a conviction to carry out God's command.

All of them were happily married men.

Four were fathers of young children.
 

They had a goal.

 

To evangelize a South American tribe who thought that the only way to resolve conflict
 was with blood at the end of a spear.

Armed with handfuls of words in a language that few in the modern world knew.

They went in a yellow plane.

 

With thrill in their voices, they excitedly told their wives that they hoped their next radio report would bring news of friendship made.

 

59 years ago today there was a deathly silence.

 A radio call that never came.

 

5 widows.

Fatherless children.

 

Two of those widows went to that tribe. The tribe who fought with blood. Those two mothers took their fatherless children to live with their husbands killers.

 One day we will worship side by side with those who heard the gospel because two grieving wives picked up where their martyred husbands left off.

 

This is the grace and power of God.

"at the same time we felt God was in the whole thing...the providence of God was at work"

--Elizabeth Elliot

Five Minute Friday: Adore.

The number of anniversaries was great and number. They had lived life together as a team. Raising the children. Growing the ministry. Making a living together.

Now here they were. Old, wrinkled, hard of hearing, silent, and forgetful.

This is how it is when you have grown old. The dashing groom and radiant bride is long gone, replaced by the effects of aging.

Still they adore. They sit there staring into each others eyes, but will never hear a word from lips silenced by sickness.

They adore even though nothing is returned. They adore each other because they have loved each other for many a year and can't imagine loving anyone else.

And then without warning a spouse dies. The grief shows that it doesn't matter that they newly wed bliss faded long ago. The one they adored is gone. The one that they will say was their better half is gone.

The one they loved through thick and thin. The one they shed tears with, faced hardship with. They are gone, replaced with a hole that cannot be filled with anyone else.

This is what it is to adore your spouse. When the years have stolen beauty and cognitive skills, but still there is love.

Adore is to love someone for what they cannot do. 

16. Whats on the Table

And its my favorite writing prompt of this month. Don't mind if I do share with you what I put on the table tonight. Its only just a small hobby that I do nearly every day.

By the way, I know I did miss some writing prompts. Confession. I was glad that our Internet was working at only half speed. The brain power for writing was just not there.

Back to our supper table tonight.

I make menu plans, but than I am the mood for something entirely different, so the menus are flung aside and I create something from random ingredients found in the cupboard.

Tonight I was hungry for sweet potatoes, as I am nearly every evening.

I quickly sliced three enormous sweet potatoes and laid the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Than I sprinkled them with sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and some chili powder to give a punch.

 Baked them till down and served with leftover chicken. Easy supper in less than 30 minutes. As much as I love cooking I like to do it in the quickest way possible.

And that is what mom and dad had for supper.

  I know that sounds completely terrible that I did not eat my own cooking. Let me explain. Tonight I decided to exercise and I refueled myself afterwards with protein. However, my month is watering at the anticipation of enjoying the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Speaking of which tomorrow will come quicker if I go to sleep now rather than putting it off.

Good Night.

11. Best photo of 2014.

That one time when we attempted to fly...

I'll leave the results to your imagination.

10. Reflections

The aged.

The sick.

The afflicted.

The weak.

The widows.

The ones who raised children that are now influencing our world. The ones who held jobs that changed our town for the better. The ones who worked hard in whatever they did whether it was the farm or whether it was overseas missions.

They were great musicians. Medical professionals. Inventers. Teachers. Parents.

They were smart. They were wealthy. They were strong.

They have buried their spouses. Some have buried their children. They lived through the Great Depression. They lived history we can only read about.

They were once sharp, but now you might have the same conversation three times in ten minutes.

They might not remember where they live.

They might not see that family very often that they worked so hard to raise.

The vibrant social circle that they once had, has left them in the dust.

They have moved to a place where few leave.

They are the poor in spirit. The ones who are weak. The ones Christ has called us to care for.

These are the ones where all you have to do is listen and you have brightened someone's day. Pour that hot cup of coffee. Find out what they like best and give them a small piece of their life back.

This video made me weep. It can be very lonely to grow old. To grow weak. To be sick. To be widowed.

Perhaps if you have not seen the loneliness, the tiredness, the grief of a lifestyle lost, you will not know of what I talk.

Every day of life is important I believe, so why not visit the aging? You lose time, but gain the opportunity to bless someone's day.

This woman is the poor spirit yet she words with such joy. With a joy that only God gives as she nears the end of the road of life. And its beautiful.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=963860903631132&fref=nf