Monday Noon
Greetings to all!
Praise the Lord! God has given us another day to serve Him, to glorify Him. What shall I do with this day that will enhance His kingdom, use His grace and love, bring Him joy, and all the other things that we humans see as GOOD? That’s a good question, is it not?
My answer so far is that it is Monday, “my day off” which I do not protect near as much as I use to when I had someone to spend it with, so the morning is usually my “wash time”. Oh, that is so much fun, three or four loads of washing. But you know this morning it came to me that there is one way that I could cut back, at least every other week or so, and that would be if I just changed the sheets on the bed around and slept on the other side. Now doesn’t that sound like a good idea? If I am only sleeping on one side of the bed, then the sheets on the other side of the bed are clean, so if I turn them around I have clean sheets and do not have to wash them every week. That seems to me to be a great idea. It also seem to me that that would be good stewardship of time and raw materials, water, soap, etc., and would even save some wear and tear on the sheets. Why didn’t I think of all of this earlier????
This after noon I have a meeting and a couple of appointments. So I hope that I can glorify God better than I have this morning. My meeting is the Community of Character steering group and what a joy that will be. Praise the Lord! They are such a good, hard working group; not only by keeping the program going, but moving it ahead for the year + that I was not able to be involved. Yet we are always in need of new people and new ideas. We also really need some work done that almost anyone can do, and that is distribution of our material. This has been one of the hardest things we have had to do. So if you and/or anyone you may know would be interested I encourage you to contact me or Lori in the mayors office. This is a great opportunity to glorify God because of the things we are trying to do are character traits that God has given us and wants us to develop and use.
In our daily life, we do not always know exactly what we will be doing, but we do know that the time for serving God is always present. Praise God!!! What a great verse that is to keep in mind and to use to evaluate and prioritize what we are doing.
I have to bring this to a close, but I also need to say that I hope you all had a positive and meaningful Thanksgiving Day week-end. Mine was positive as both Friday evening and yesterday I assisted the Sheriffs Office with some critical situations – an auto crash, a homeless family, and a critical illness. I can only hope and pray that those that I came in contact with could feel God’s presence, grace, and love through me in their need, and I thank and praise God that the officers were appreciative of my efforts. Praise the Lord!
And finally, I want to say that two weeks from today there will be a blood drive in memory of Marty. Over the week-end I went through the figures for the entire year that Marty had AML and she had to have 307 units of blood during that time: 37 units where whole blood and 270 were platelets. I have said from the beginning that I was going to do all possible to get those replace for the American Red Cross. Blood was there when we needed it and I hope it will continue to be for others. So far I know of 86 units that have been given in honor or memory of Marty. This leaves a need for 221 which I hope we can get on the special drive in memory of Marty on Monday, December 10, 2007 at the old firehouse in Peru and on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 during the regular December Peru blood drive at the Parkview United Methodist Church. I will put more information on the blog later or you can call the church and we will give it to you. Please pass the word and save the date, if you can give blood, it will certainly be appreciated. I know how grateful I am to the 307 people who I do not have any idea as to who they are, but they allowed Marty to live for another year. Praise the Lord!
Got to go, (the dryer just finished again), take care, be careful, be positive and God bless.
Jack
Romans 8:28
26 November 2007
23 November 2007
Thanksgiving Day 10:30am
Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving Day:
Hope you are all having a good day with family and friends and are not eating too much. Eric and Erin arrived last night and will have to leave tonight (after the Colts game).
Friday Morning 10:30am
Again Greetings to all:
Well I had great intentions yesterday but did not get them done. As you can see above I did get started but never got it completed. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes, and maybe there is more of a message today than there was yesterday.
What a great and positive day I had! Praise the Lord! Jennifer and Travis called to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving about mid morning. Jennifer was very busy getting the big dinner fixed, Travis was doing some work in the basement, the boys were playing and it sounded like having a positive time, and Travis’s parents were taking a nap. All was indeed well and we were certainly glad to hear from them.
After that conversation Erin and I got busy fixing the green beans and Eric went to work on the potatoes. We had a good time doing that and Erin is really quit the little helper. She use to help Marty in the kitchen, helps her dad at home, and we had a positive time yesterday and everyone said the beans were very good. Praise the Lord!
We went out to Francis and Cheryl J. and Betty, Kim, and David S. were there as well. As far as I am concerned I really had a positive time, and the food was awesome. God is so good – all the time. All the time – God is so good. The only real problem was that as usual I ate too much. But by not eating anything else the rest of the day I did indeed get over that without any problem. Praise the Lord!
Then it was home to watch the Colts – Go Colts!!!! - and of course they did not disappoint us. It is looking pretty good for this year again, if they can just stop getting hurt and get healed. It seems interesting that they have done so well the last few years and not had much injury, but are sure making up for it this year.
Well I give thanks for the positive day yesterday and to everyone who helped make it that way. Particularly I thank God for giving me life and fulfilling His promise to be with me during it. God is so good and so faithful. And I hope that all of you also had a positive day feeling God’s presence with you and giving Him thanks for life. But even more than that, I pray that the positive and good things, the love and grace of God, that was shared yesterday, with family and friends, will be continued in each of our lives each day, each hour, and each minute that we live. I believe that was the reason for the first Thanksgiving and so often, with all the material things that we have today, we truly loose touch with the really meaning of Thanksgiving. Yes, God wants to know that we appreciate what He has given us, all that He has given us, but He can see that when we use all of those things to glorify Him, and then give Him the thanks for life and the opportunity to be His children and servants. Praise the Lord! And as I have said before, it may not always be the way we want it to be, but in time it is God’s way and that is a good thing, because God is good, all the time – all the time, God is good. Praise the Lord!
A final thought for now that I want to share. God has had Psalm 100 on my heart all this week. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have repeated it and the meaning and comfort that it has brought to me in so many different ways. And though I normally just put down the scripture and hope that you will look it up and read it, this time I am going to print Psalm 100 for you to read, meditate on, and hopefully communicate (a two way street) with God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness:
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Praise the Lord! May we, you and I, so live all our day’s to God’s glory.
Take care, be positive, and God bless.
Jack
Romans 8:28
Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving Day:
Hope you are all having a good day with family and friends and are not eating too much. Eric and Erin arrived last night and will have to leave tonight (after the Colts game).
Friday Morning 10:30am
Again Greetings to all:
Well I had great intentions yesterday but did not get them done. As you can see above I did get started but never got it completed. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes, and maybe there is more of a message today than there was yesterday.
What a great and positive day I had! Praise the Lord! Jennifer and Travis called to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving about mid morning. Jennifer was very busy getting the big dinner fixed, Travis was doing some work in the basement, the boys were playing and it sounded like having a positive time, and Travis’s parents were taking a nap. All was indeed well and we were certainly glad to hear from them.
After that conversation Erin and I got busy fixing the green beans and Eric went to work on the potatoes. We had a good time doing that and Erin is really quit the little helper. She use to help Marty in the kitchen, helps her dad at home, and we had a positive time yesterday and everyone said the beans were very good. Praise the Lord!
We went out to Francis and Cheryl J. and Betty, Kim, and David S. were there as well. As far as I am concerned I really had a positive time, and the food was awesome. God is so good – all the time. All the time – God is so good. The only real problem was that as usual I ate too much. But by not eating anything else the rest of the day I did indeed get over that without any problem. Praise the Lord!
Then it was home to watch the Colts – Go Colts!!!! - and of course they did not disappoint us. It is looking pretty good for this year again, if they can just stop getting hurt and get healed. It seems interesting that they have done so well the last few years and not had much injury, but are sure making up for it this year.
Well I give thanks for the positive day yesterday and to everyone who helped make it that way. Particularly I thank God for giving me life and fulfilling His promise to be with me during it. God is so good and so faithful. And I hope that all of you also had a positive day feeling God’s presence with you and giving Him thanks for life. But even more than that, I pray that the positive and good things, the love and grace of God, that was shared yesterday, with family and friends, will be continued in each of our lives each day, each hour, and each minute that we live. I believe that was the reason for the first Thanksgiving and so often, with all the material things that we have today, we truly loose touch with the really meaning of Thanksgiving. Yes, God wants to know that we appreciate what He has given us, all that He has given us, but He can see that when we use all of those things to glorify Him, and then give Him the thanks for life and the opportunity to be His children and servants. Praise the Lord! And as I have said before, it may not always be the way we want it to be, but in time it is God’s way and that is a good thing, because God is good, all the time – all the time, God is good. Praise the Lord!
A final thought for now that I want to share. God has had Psalm 100 on my heart all this week. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have repeated it and the meaning and comfort that it has brought to me in so many different ways. And though I normally just put down the scripture and hope that you will look it up and read it, this time I am going to print Psalm 100 for you to read, meditate on, and hopefully communicate (a two way street) with God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness:
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Praise the Lord! May we, you and I, so live all our day’s to God’s glory.
Take care, be positive, and God bless.
Jack
Romans 8:28
18 November 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007 11:50pm
Hello to all!
How are you all doing? I am doing ok! I cannot believe it has been two weeks since I last published. They have gone by so fast and so much has happened. God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! Praise the Lord! Now so that you don’t get me wrong, I have indeed had my ups and downs during the past two weeks. There is no question that life is different and it will take time to get adjusted to it. It is indeed lonely and so easy to fall in the traps of the devil with your feelings and not see the awesome things that God is still doing in your life and God’s constant presence in your life.
When I last published the kids were coming in for about 28 hours or so to go to the hospice memorial service. It was a very nice service and I was certainly glad that they all came and that we all went to the service. God was indeed present and so were some other people who I knew had had loved ones cared for by hospice this year and some that I was not aware of. So it was good to talk to them and to talk to the staff again.
Election Day was an awesome day as well for a couple of reasons. In the first place those who I really wanted to see win in the city election did so. Praise the Lord! The last four years the mayor has really done a great job of making positive changes in our community and he was reelected - Praise the Lord! There was also a number of new council people elected that I really think will work more directly and closely with the major, which should really be positive. And the second thing that was so awesome on election day is that we had a Community Chili Cook-Off at our church to raise money for a family in our church that has some really major medical bills. It was the first time we had tried such a thing and possibly the first time for the community and it was a really big success – we raised over $1700 and though we were to serve from 4:30 to 7:00pm all 11 organizations that made chili ran out by 6:00pm. Everybody had so much fun that it was a given that we would do it again next year and everyone would make more chili. Praise the Lord and thank you Lord for awesome experience that brought so many people together in ministry and mission. What a blessing!
Since this is “Jack’s Dispatch” and brings up my ministry with fire service and law enforcement I will relate that there has been one time with each that I have been involved in the last two weeks. We had a fire to which four different departments responded and the remodeled mobile home was a total loss. A young family of four lived in it, and none of them were home, so thanks be to God I can say that no one was physically hurt, family or fire fighters. It was a hard fire to get out, because of the remodeling but persistence won the battle. Then I was the first one from law enforcement to arrive at a very bad injury crash. There were only two vehicles involved with one person in each. The one was not hurt at all, and the other had some very serious injuries but it will be a week tomorrow and to the best of my knowledge they are still fighting to live. In both these situations God was indeed present and continues to be to help these families. Praise the Lord!
I know that there were a couple of other things that when they happened I said “I need to share that on the blog” – but do you think I can now think of what they were. Some people would say that that has to do with age, and it probably does since I even forgot to write it down so I would have it. But at least I didn’t write it down and then forget where I put it – so there is always something positive!
God is so good! A couple of things that I have learned in the process of the last 14 weeks are: First, the death of a spouse is indeed different than the death of other family members. Second, but all of the things that I have ever learned and taught about grief has been true. And an important part of that is to know that God is present, and His love, grace, strength, and Holy Spirit are so close and so available to help in the process. It is so important to make use of that help and not run from it. Praise the Lord!
One of the things that I have had a real problem with is getting down to doing the thank you notes. I really do appreciate all that so many, many people did and that is part of the problem, it is just kind of overwhelming. I believe there are over 125 notes that I have to write. I know I have told my self that if I would do 10 a day I would be done in less than two weeks. And I am going to do my best to start that tomorrow. But in the mean time I do want to express my thanks to all of you who have been so kind, loving, and helpful not only during the year Marty was the sickest, but for the entire time of her struggle with cancer. You have all been so helpful and God has been so good! Praise and thanks be to God!
Well, it is Thanksgiving week and Eric and Erin will be coming over for about 24 hours or so and we will be going to friends for dinner. I am looking forward to having a positive day and giving God thanks and praise for everything. I hope that you will have a positive day as well, and know God’s presence in all that you do.
Take care, be positive, and God bless.
Jack
Romans 8:28
Hello to all!
How are you all doing? I am doing ok! I cannot believe it has been two weeks since I last published. They have gone by so fast and so much has happened. God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! Praise the Lord! Now so that you don’t get me wrong, I have indeed had my ups and downs during the past two weeks. There is no question that life is different and it will take time to get adjusted to it. It is indeed lonely and so easy to fall in the traps of the devil with your feelings and not see the awesome things that God is still doing in your life and God’s constant presence in your life.
When I last published the kids were coming in for about 28 hours or so to go to the hospice memorial service. It was a very nice service and I was certainly glad that they all came and that we all went to the service. God was indeed present and so were some other people who I knew had had loved ones cared for by hospice this year and some that I was not aware of. So it was good to talk to them and to talk to the staff again.
Election Day was an awesome day as well for a couple of reasons. In the first place those who I really wanted to see win in the city election did so. Praise the Lord! The last four years the mayor has really done a great job of making positive changes in our community and he was reelected - Praise the Lord! There was also a number of new council people elected that I really think will work more directly and closely with the major, which should really be positive. And the second thing that was so awesome on election day is that we had a Community Chili Cook-Off at our church to raise money for a family in our church that has some really major medical bills. It was the first time we had tried such a thing and possibly the first time for the community and it was a really big success – we raised over $1700 and though we were to serve from 4:30 to 7:00pm all 11 organizations that made chili ran out by 6:00pm. Everybody had so much fun that it was a given that we would do it again next year and everyone would make more chili. Praise the Lord and thank you Lord for awesome experience that brought so many people together in ministry and mission. What a blessing!
Since this is “Jack’s Dispatch” and brings up my ministry with fire service and law enforcement I will relate that there has been one time with each that I have been involved in the last two weeks. We had a fire to which four different departments responded and the remodeled mobile home was a total loss. A young family of four lived in it, and none of them were home, so thanks be to God I can say that no one was physically hurt, family or fire fighters. It was a hard fire to get out, because of the remodeling but persistence won the battle. Then I was the first one from law enforcement to arrive at a very bad injury crash. There were only two vehicles involved with one person in each. The one was not hurt at all, and the other had some very serious injuries but it will be a week tomorrow and to the best of my knowledge they are still fighting to live. In both these situations God was indeed present and continues to be to help these families. Praise the Lord!
I know that there were a couple of other things that when they happened I said “I need to share that on the blog” – but do you think I can now think of what they were. Some people would say that that has to do with age, and it probably does since I even forgot to write it down so I would have it. But at least I didn’t write it down and then forget where I put it – so there is always something positive!
God is so good! A couple of things that I have learned in the process of the last 14 weeks are: First, the death of a spouse is indeed different than the death of other family members. Second, but all of the things that I have ever learned and taught about grief has been true. And an important part of that is to know that God is present, and His love, grace, strength, and Holy Spirit are so close and so available to help in the process. It is so important to make use of that help and not run from it. Praise the Lord!
One of the things that I have had a real problem with is getting down to doing the thank you notes. I really do appreciate all that so many, many people did and that is part of the problem, it is just kind of overwhelming. I believe there are over 125 notes that I have to write. I know I have told my self that if I would do 10 a day I would be done in less than two weeks. And I am going to do my best to start that tomorrow. But in the mean time I do want to express my thanks to all of you who have been so kind, loving, and helpful not only during the year Marty was the sickest, but for the entire time of her struggle with cancer. You have all been so helpful and God has been so good! Praise and thanks be to God!
Well, it is Thanksgiving week and Eric and Erin will be coming over for about 24 hours or so and we will be going to friends for dinner. I am looking forward to having a positive day and giving God thanks and praise for everything. I hope that you will have a positive day as well, and know God’s presence in all that you do.
Take care, be positive, and God bless.
Jack
Romans 8:28
03 November 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Hello to all:
It has been a long busy week, but as always God has been good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Praise the Lord! This is going to be brief because I just wanted to say "Hi!" and let you know, if you didn't, that the Eric and Jennifer and children are coming in this week-end. Hospice is have a Remembrance Service tomorrow and we are all going to that. So it is kind of busy getting ready for them and keeping up with everything else. Marty was so good at handling all of that, indeed I do miss her in so many ways.
Had two church folks that had deaths in their families this week, one a husband and the other a brother-in-law. Also had a member that had surgery and praise the Lord all went well and the member is home recovering, which is awesome. The last surgery this person had, certainly did not go as well. So we give praise and thanks to God for this one. The member indicates that prayer works and that "moving closer to the front of the sanctuary, closer to God, is a big help as well." They said the other night, "Don't be afraid, come on up!" Praise the Lord!
We are have a benefit chili cook-off on Tuesday for a young couple in the church who really have some heavy medical bills and that has it been going great, I do believe. God has really been touching some lives. The front page newspaper article we got on Thursday was awesome. The reporter, as she always does, really did a great job and go to the heart of the matter. Praise the Lord!
Well I said this was going to be short, but as I get going I see so many ways that God has truly effected my life this past week that I can not help but sharing them. I certainly hope that you have felt and seen God in your life as well. Take some time to sit down and think about it and pray about it - it is an awesome thing to do.
Have a positive week-end, take care, and God bless you and all those you love.
Jack
Romans 8:28
Hello to all:
It has been a long busy week, but as always God has been good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Praise the Lord! This is going to be brief because I just wanted to say "Hi!" and let you know, if you didn't, that the Eric and Jennifer and children are coming in this week-end. Hospice is have a Remembrance Service tomorrow and we are all going to that. So it is kind of busy getting ready for them and keeping up with everything else. Marty was so good at handling all of that, indeed I do miss her in so many ways.
Had two church folks that had deaths in their families this week, one a husband and the other a brother-in-law. Also had a member that had surgery and praise the Lord all went well and the member is home recovering, which is awesome. The last surgery this person had, certainly did not go as well. So we give praise and thanks to God for this one. The member indicates that prayer works and that "moving closer to the front of the sanctuary, closer to God, is a big help as well." They said the other night, "Don't be afraid, come on up!" Praise the Lord!
We are have a benefit chili cook-off on Tuesday for a young couple in the church who really have some heavy medical bills and that has it been going great, I do believe. God has really been touching some lives. The front page newspaper article we got on Thursday was awesome. The reporter, as she always does, really did a great job and go to the heart of the matter. Praise the Lord!
Well I said this was going to be short, but as I get going I see so many ways that God has truly effected my life this past week that I can not help but sharing them. I certainly hope that you have felt and seen God in your life as well. Take some time to sit down and think about it and pray about it - it is an awesome thing to do.
Have a positive week-end, take care, and God bless you and all those you love.
Jack
Romans 8:28
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