9/28/2019
A word or two about my trip to Texas, whirlwind that it was! I drove just over 1600 miles from Tuesday till Friday afternoon and was astounded how well everything went, from my body taking the drive, to my words for the Lord at the memorial service, to visits with the owners of a terrific new Blue Jug Alkaline Water and Health Market, and visiting friends in their new business venture: Cocktail Creamery! There, that’s a few words!
However, there are a few more words I will indulge in about some of the events on this trip. First and foremost, the memorial service was truly a celebration of a young lady’s life which ended, tragically, too soon. She was about 40, way too young. Though she lived a troubled life and hastened her death in some ways, I have never witnessed such an outpouring of love and respect for the life of someone. The crowd was exceptionally large, and it was the second of the memorials for her. The organizers were my two grand-nieces who were friends with her nearly all their lives. They did a marvelous job decorating, programming content, (which included my part), and also limiting the speakers to 10—I think there could have been a hundred if time permitted it.
One more thing about this: the young lady’s mother and her friends were Jehovah’s Witness and, as such, would have been defiled if they had listened to my “sermon,” so their group waited till I had spoken and then entered the auditorium. But, they seemed to not read the program well: After my initial short sermonette, there were the 10 speakers and the playing of 6 songs accompanying the slide show of her life, all of which took about an hour. Then, I closed with the preaching of the gospel and reminding everyone if they had a hope of seeing their friend in the future, they would need the same Savior, and left them with the truth of the gospel (hopefully) ringing in their ears AND the JWs were caught in the room and had to listen! Thank you, Lord Jesus!
My visit to the newest Blue Jug (opens Monday, Sept.30) was in Greenville, TX, a beautiful town of about 28,000 folks. The brothers Artzberger are doing a terrific job; the store is neat, clean, bright and shiny and their water production is perfect! They have our finest system and the taste and presentation of it is grand! I wish them well, and of course, we at Blue Jug are as close as a phone call away to help them at any turn.
I must say, they are the kind of people we hope all our store owners can be: entrepreneurial, industrious, yet ever learning and applying the “new” things brought in to play concerning Blue Jug. (We remain a unique business model with a unique product for which most people do not understand they have a need.) Mark, Mickey and Marcia understand and have a passion for it. They will do well. If you look at bluejug.com, you’ll see a locations tab. Clicking it will show our 12 stores and clicking Greenville will give you their information.
The first night, after my arrival, I had dinner with some dear friends Gary and Pauline, (I almost called them “old friends” but I was afraid they would think I meant they were old—no, I’m the old one.) It was a great time of recalling others in our mutual past as well as great fellowship on the things of today, too. Then, the second night, I drove to a town about 45 miles away to visit more friends (Ted and Sharyn) and seeing their new business. He came up with an idea about serving ice cream, with just a touch of alcohol in it, a flavor touch unlike any other thing. It’s catching on pretty fast (been open only about 5 weeks) and he is really enjoying it. I did, too—in case you didn’t know it, I like ice cream! (I’ve often said, if it were not for ice cream and bread, I would only weigh 120#.)
When I walked into Ted’s new business, he was explaining things to a young lady, who offered the personal information that she believed the King James Bible was God’s word. He turned to me and, after an initial greeting, said, “got a bible study in ya?” I said sure, the young lady and I sat down and began to discuss the bible and her belief in it. So, I showed her on a napkin, the timeline of the bible which gave her a clear picture of where she was on God’s timeline and where she could find the doctrine for her life, ie Romans through Philemon.
In the process of our talk, it came out that she was homeless, had no money for food, was staying in a shelter which provided for only a place to sleep, etc. In a short period of time, she was given some money (by another believer whom came in), was driven to where she could stay, told by a guard that she was too late, but he gave her more money, then she was given more by the one who drove her, who then took her to the grocery store and to the lowest priced motel in the region which gave her a room for about 1/3 the money she had received. Did this all come about in order for the Lord’s word to resonate in her and perhaps benefit her changing needs? I don’t know. Eternity will probably let us know. It did, however, make for a very interesting and informative evening. We pray for her to overcome in a godly mannerly, her current situation. May the Lord rich bless her study of His word.
Oh, by the way, the SIMH this morning was a song which was sung by a lot of churches back in the 60s and 70s, not so much today. However, by the time I got around to writing this, it has left my mind. When, I once again think of it, I’ll write it down, so as to put it in the next blog….(and off he goes into mumbling about his memory……)
Thanks for reading, the Elder
the Elder's Blog 