10/18/2018

“Where did all those years go?” is a somewhat common rhetorical  question asked by those (like me) who’ve reached an advanced age. Recently, a friend asked me if I ever said that. I responded, “probably, but not despairingly.” He nodded, quietly. After a moment he shook his head and said, “I wish I could say the same thing.” “You saved?” I asked. He said he was, “but, I had a lot of years which stacked up a lot of regret,” he muttered quietly. And my mind slipped back to my friend, Mo.

After Mo had been saved and coming to our assembly for about a year, he walked into my office one day with a brochure in his hand. It was a brochure for a lakeside retreat (at Canyon Lake in Texas.) On one side of the brochure was a picture of the lake from the sky. It showed where the retreat center was, but also most all the lakeshore. Mo pointed out to me a public dock on the North shore, then marked a place on the South shore where an old road just ran down into the water’s edge. I told him I knew those two places—about 1 1/4 miles apart—and he started this story:

“About a year before I come here that Sunday night and went home saved, I had reached a place of great despair. Life had just piled up on me. There was no one but me to care for our mother, I had debts galore, my kids were into all sorts of trouble, I just wanted to go, just go.

So one night about 2AM, I pulled into this public dock area, got out of my car, took off my shoes and socks, my belt, glasses, emptied my pockets, put all that in the car, and walked into the water. I figured I’d just swim out so far I couldn’t swim back. The water felt warm for that time of year.

The next memory I have was my hands reached down into mud. It was a shoreline, and a feet seconds after that I felt a hard surface under my legs and feet and I stood up. Looking around, I saw this road come up out of the water. It was almost dawn, just a hint of light. I thought at first it was a strange way to go to hell, then I saw it was this road [pointing to the brochure].

I was shocked and bewildered, but I walked a little ways up that road till a car approached me. It was an old man in a pickup with fishing gear in the bed of it. He stopped and asked, “Mr., You ok?” I responded, “I don’t know.” He said you’ve been in the water, are you sure you’re ok?” I asked him if he could take me to my car and he opened the door and I got in. He said where is it? I said, it’s at the North shore public dock. “How in the world did you get here,” he asked. I told him I swam. “In the cold of the early morning?” he asked. I said I guess. He said, “Mister, you need help, can I take you somewhere else?” I told him the car would be fine. When I got to my car, he let me out with these words: “Mister, I don’t know what you wanted out there, but I suspect you didn’t get it. If I were you, I’d ask the good Lord what He wanted from me and then, I’d do it!” and with that I thanked him and he left.

I went to my mother’s place and began to help her full time. No money, barely enough from her for us both to eat, but we were together. Then, about 6 months later, I saw Berean Bible Church’s ad in the paper, telling me that y’all believe the King James Bible is the word of God. I asked my mom if she believed there was anybody left that believed the KJB was God’s word, her reply was no, I don’t think so. The night I came here and talked with Mike, I had that same despair and I remembered seeing that ad and came.”

[Elder’s note: a 61 year old, obese man (about 200# overweight) who was also a diabetic, swam 1 1/4 miles in cold water, taking roughly 4 hours to do it, but survived long enough to “hear the word of truth, the gospel of his salvation,” believe it, trust Christ and be saved. Then bless us for about 5-6 more years with his zeal for the Lord]

Mo didn’t want me to tell that story while he was living.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/17/2018

Yesterday, I lost two good friends. One of my high school friends passed away and a good friend from Texas, also. I knew the Texas friend for a shorter period of time, but he and his wife had just been in Texas a few years before we left. They lived 190 miles from the church I preached at, yet for the last couple of years before we moved to Alabama, they drove over every Sunday to fellowship with us and the group of bible believing people in New Braunfels. Bill had an undiagnosed illness that caused other residual things in his body and he left us too early. He and Carol learned about “rightly dividing the word of truth” (a dispensational bible study) from another friend of mine in Mobile, AL, and until recently, he taught a bible class in their home by way of telephone. They loved to study and understand God’s will.

My high school friend was just one of the good guys, ya know? He was always a friend to me in school and even though we were not close after school, we got back together about 45 years after graduation and enjoyed one another’s company, I think (at least I enjoyed his.) Last year, when I heard how ill he was, I made a point to stop and see him on my way to our home town. I asked him to tell me about being a Christian. He gave me his testimony of knowing when he had trusted Christ as his Savior. He never had any doubts about his salvation. His wife said he went out of this life peacefully, amen. The way a saved person should go.

Merle Haggard came to mind this morning and his song, “Momma Tried.” Merle wrote most of his songs and since this one was a microcosm of how he could have ended up, I think he must have written it, too.. He was in prison when he decided he didn’t have to be an outlaw. So, he came out and was a country music outlaw, instead. Sharing space as the SIMH was this great hit.

One of my first bosses in the retail business was a very nice guy deep down. But, on the surface, he had a persona which was as though he was a rogue, of sorts. (You know, every boss I ever had taught me things unique to them. Their own “thing” or part of what stayed with me from them.) This particular man put me in training to be a store manager in a small jewelry chain across central Indiana. The 10th store was in Danville, IL. He needed me in Danville. He bluntly told me that he and I were the only two people in the world who thought I could do that job! That startled me. Till then I thought the others in the company looked at me as an up and comer! They didn’t. But, he prevailed and later told me he would have lost his job if he had been wrong about me. Oh, his only other memorable words that come to mind were, “You know, it’s always darkest just before it gets pitch black!”

I wasn’t a very good store manager and, of course, he knew that. But, on his last visit to the store before I left the company he told me how he convinced them I should be there: he convinced them I wouldn’t steal from them. He was right, I didn’t.

Another ungodly man in that company gave me 3 tips when I left the training. He said, “Get involved with the retail community (join stuff), don’t steal from the company and go join a church or a synagogue!” He may be part of the reason I got saved when I did. I knew the difference between saved and lost and I knew if I just “joined” a church unsaved, it was as hypocritical a thing as could be done. And that was the low ebb that caused me to trust Christ as my Savior on that Thursday night in October, 1964.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/16/2018

When I wake up and the mind is singing a song I haven’t heard in years, it is a mystery that I cannot unravel. Today is one of those days. I must have been about 10 or 12 the only time I remember ever hearing it. The singer was Moon Mullican…ring any bells? Probably not. I had to Google it to see who sang it, then I also found out Patsy Cline recorded it. The name of it is “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone!” Written by ol’ Moon in 1950, but some sources say Lois Mann, Henry Bernard, and Murray Burns collaborated on it. But, it was recorded by many in the day including Hank Williams. I remembered it as a Gene Autry song, but perhaps I heard Moon (similar voice.)…hm, strange.

For most of the years we lived in Texas, I pastored Berean Bible Church which started as a home bible class and just got too big for that, then too big for the room we rented, then a chance to build a building came along and so we did. One of our usual things was before I started the second hour class, I would ask if anyone wanted to give their testimony. Because when speaking with strangers, every salesperson knows in a “cold call” conversation you only have about two minutes to make your point, I suggested people should learn to give their personal testimony of faith in Christ in two minutes. So, people unaccustomed to public speaking would sometimes have a hard time holding it to two minutes. My friend Mo was one of those.

First, I want to give you Mo’s testimony: Mo stopped by our church one Sunday evening for bible class and it was a Sunday night we had called class off. But Mike Schroeder was there and Mo tapped on the door and asked Mike what time we started. Mike explained we weren’t having class, but invited him in to talk awhile. Mo talked for one hour solid, regaling Mike with his religious experiences, extraordinaire! Then Mike said, wait, it’s my turn to talk (or something akin to that.) So Mo listened while Mike explained the gospel of Christ in the simplest terms: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and God raised Him from the dead for our justification; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved.

Mo left that meeting, drove a little ways, pulled over to the side of the road and with the words of the gospel burning inside him, trusted the Lord for salvation.

Now, if you read that out loud it takes 52 seconds. The first time Mo got up to give his two minute testimony, it took him 32 minutes! I never stopped him, because, actually, it was quite interesting. He was a good natured guy and we all applauded but ribbed him pretty good about the 2 minutes! Several months later, he asked me if he could give his testimony again, he had been working on how to give it to strangers in 2 minutes. I said yes and this time it took 18 minutes—he could get wound up! About a year or so later, he asked again—he was sure he could give it in the allotted 2 minutes! It was terrific, we applauded his great way of trimming it down. But it was about 9 minutes. He said afterward, I’ll just hold ‘em till I’m done! I never saw Mo in a short conversation.

More Mo stories, like more Trafalgar stories and more blah, blah, blah in the blogs to come.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/15/2018

Purposeful Monday morning to you all! (I think that means with purpose we approach this day with prayer, planning and practical purpose, using all our prose, poetry and poise!) Just trying to see how many “p”s I could use there.

But it is a good day, beautiful sunrise, cool but not cold. Too many SIMH today to pick one, nothing stayed very long. Maybe because so many other things crowded them out. For a few seconds I had “I Can Only Imagine,” “It’s Been a Long Time Comin’,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and a couple others—crazy, huh?

I believe this is the week everything about the 3 new Blue Jug stores trying to get open is going to speed up. All of the new store owners are working hard to get open, so that the November & December erratic public spending will include their initial push.

That’s the time of year when more people are out spending—even if the spending is the same as the other ten months, these two months have more people out amongst the marketplaces. (That’s been proven since the early ‘60s.) It is actually that there is more money spent in the last two months than in any other two month period. When people say they don’t have any more money to spend at that time of year, they are probably comparing to their own previous year, and not comparing with previous months in the same year. I suspect if we could gather the data all the way back to the beginning of what was called department stores (back to about the 1840-50s) we would see it has been this way since. Frankly, I think this is the best thing about the end of the year. I’ll tell you why:

In 1974, through bible study, I discovered a well hidden secret: Christ was born in late September/early October, not on Dec. 25. Yes, this is true. And it wasn’t retailers who hid this truth. It was first the Roman Catholic church, then the reformation churches just continued on the tradition, instead of studying out the truth about it. For the first time since I was saved in 1964, I gained a true perspective on what is the worth of “holidays,” and the real worth of the holidays is business. It became obvious to me the Lord was not putting forth any special-day-worth. (If you want verses, get in touch.)

From 1962 till 1984 I spent most of my time in the retail business. From men’s wear to jewelry to carpet to restaurants, then back to carpet, a bakery, a hot dog stand, then back to restaurants (I was a glutton for punishment.) I preached also during the last 6 years of that time. From ’84 to 2014 it was mostly preaching/teaching (it was my sole intention.) Then, in 2011 at 69, first with a friend in Texas and now with our daughter, I re-entered the retail world. Another couple, Chuck and Laura Warlick, have been involved in this last 7 years of retail with us. While in Texas, we let Chuck do all the work, I was still pastoring a church and the other partner was not really a retail person. Unexpectedly, that partner went on to be with the Lord and we moved to Alabama. Chuck still does all the work, but we take the credit for  it—just kidding! Don’t write letters pitying Chuck!

But, just so you know, I have not now nor ever shall I stop preaching the gospel of Christ. It is just the pastoring that I resigned.

We just got back from a great visit and preaching appointment in Newport, TN. We really enjoyed visiting and fellowshipping around the word of God with the folks at Bible Believers Cowboy church. And if asked, I’ll go anywhere anyone wants me to preach and/or teach what I see in Scripture. In fact, I really am looking forward to being in Navarre, FL, the last weekend of this month. Bro. Byron Wiggins is hosting a conference there.

Closing for today is to say a truly heartfelt “thank you” to all who take the time to read this hodge-lodge I put down daily, whether you are just a passerby, or an occasional reader, or an every day person—thank you.

the Elder

10/14/2018

Sitting in the dining room of a Holiday Inn Express (it has made me very smart), bible  and computer on the table with me, has prompted a conversation with a saint (her testimony) from Minnesota/Arizona, a retired couple on the road to new adventures. She wanted to talk bible so we did. I suggested to help her understand Scripture she read Rom.5:1-11, standing up and out loud. It is a solid technique that I’ve suggested for years. She thought about it for a moment, then noticed I was looking at something on the computer so she picked up my bible and asked, “Can I look that up now?” I said, you bet. When she finished she said, “That is so clear! Now I know why they call Romans the foundation of our faith.” And, so it is, so be it. (that’s like saying, “Amen!”)

Boy! My first thoughts this morning were about why I’m here in Newport, preaching at BBCC—Bible Believers Cowboy Church—for Brother Sam Gerhardt. But, no sooner had those thoughts faded than the SIMH came through the cloudy mind and is still running around in there: “Sunday Morning, Coming Down”  by Kris Kristofferson. Written in 1970 and recorded by many, Johnny Cash being the biggest. I think Johnny probably knew what the day was like. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced one of those kinds of Sunday mornings, but the song told the story of many people’s lives. And that sells records.

Many times plans unfold differently than the original thoughts as though another’s hands were guiding them and sometimes one might become convinced of that. Taking stock of how or why plans change is an extremely important aspect of what gets called “fate” or “providential care” or “the hand of God” or “kismet” or “serendipity.”

Whatever it gets called it does seems to occur to all of us from time to time. So, rather than concentrating on a name for plans-getting-shifted events, we should always examine the change thoroughly to see whether we should continue in the new vein, backtrack to the old path, or drop the whole thing. Looking back over the years I could write examples of all three possible actions which, of course, I now know which route should have been taken. Seeing the results of the actual proceedings gives the perfect picture of the right and wrong—“hindsight is 20/20.”

“What if we had done this—-“ is not automatically either good or bad in examination. It takes falling back to an absolute truth foundation for the dissecting of either success or failure. When we trust in the “living word of God” as our standard, we have a better chance of understanding both sides of the equation. 

The Blue Jug decisions over the next 3-5 months are going to be very important to its future. Maybe all growing companies face these sort of capsulized thought processes all the time, I don’t know. But, I do know they are necessary and very important. Progress may be reported here.

A quick “Mo” story: MO could talk, I mean talk. Boy, he could talk! He knew more about music and the human voice than anyone I’ve ever been around. He said, “The piano has 88 keys, that’s all the tones it can play; the guitar has 6 strings and frets and can make about 2,000 tones. But, the human voice is infinite because it can hit all those and everything in between!” Hmm.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/13/2018

When I went to bed last night (after a nearly 3 hour nap on the couch), I wondered if there had ever been a study about the habit of turning toward the middle of the bed to sleep on one’s side. So, after not falling asleep in 20 minutes, I got up and googled it. Sleep studies are done for every conceivable “turn” in the night except that one. Well, I could have read 65,474 more studies so I could be wrong, I suppose.

I did discover the best side to turn to is the right side of one’s body. Turning to the left puts an unnatural pressure on the liver, stomach, intestinal track, etc. Hmm. Who knew?

Some blogs back, I wrote about “middle night” or “first sleep, second sleep” which was a common occurrence a few hundred years back. I like that idea. Oh, I’m sure uninterrupted sleep is reported to be the best, but it doesn’t seem that one specific mode is best for everyone. My middle night doesn’t need to include anyone else, nor any noisy thing like TV or music. But if those things occur, I’m not unnerved by them. There have been a few times when Barb has been awake and we have had good conversations. It isn’t a good time to be disagreeable or plan a redecorating scheme: things like that will prevent a good second sleep.

I’ve also had middles which brought a re-study of a certain sermon, one of my own or some other preacher. That’s been enjoyable for me at times, but not often. Most often what brings on a middle is a thing unsettled, or a forgotten email to answer or a research note I’ll need early the next morning. (A Ben Franklin habit—get up, write it down, lie back down.) All in all I’d say these times are helpful. And my sleep-study study can disagree all it wants to, my mind is made up.

The Addams Family, I never watched that show but once. But, my granddaughter was a part of the theater play “The Addams Family” last Spring. The theme song is what the SIMH was this morning. Ain’t the mind somethin’!

I was relieved to get through the lawn mowing yesterday, Barb did more than half and I finished it when I got home. We sat and talked awhile on a cool day in our lawn-deck swing and I remarked that we probably won’t have to mow again. She said next week will be warmer with rain so we probably will have to mow again—ruined my mood! I love a new mown lawn, love all the work she has put into this one, but I’m tired of mowing for the year! Maybe we can just let it be long for the winter…no, that’ll never fly.

I’m sure we all have friends who have gone on before us who were remarkable characters in our “world stage play” and we’ll never forget them. I’ve had many and the older I get, and as friends die off, the “cast of unforgettables” grows and grows. One of the headliners for me is Mo Rector. Some of you reading this will remember Mo. What a unique person Mo was! His life provides more stories than I can get told.

In fact, Mo has been on my mind since I started writing this blog because he would have loved this medium! Not to write, but to read! He was a musician extraordinaire! And he would have written song after song from my short stories! But, I can’t start a “Mo” story—they would all take too long. Maybe I’ll do a “to be continued” MO section. What an idea! (he Told me once he had a “million dollar idea every day!” I believe he did.) More Mo to come. I’ve whetted your appetite.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/12/2018

For many years, I think beginning in 1974—maybe, January ’75, I have watched the dominant media excoriate the conservative ideas and the people who embrace them. A few years before that I mentioned to my boss-at-the-time how I got more from the Mutual Broadcasting System’s news programs than any other. He told me how wrong I was and that CBS was the best. So, I switched. When Walter Cronkite retired, I went to find the MBS and they no longer existed, having met their demise several years earlier, probably because they were too conservative.

There is a christian-based news network which is fair to conservative views, but not as thorough as the old MBS and Gabriel Heatter. Fox News Network is the only thing close to fair today, and some of it fails to stay far enough “right” for me. Methinks I’m too conservative for most everyone about government and the constitution, especially fiscally, but too liberal for the right on some other things. I can’t say I trust any source except the bible, I guess, and it covers everything.

I’ve mentioned before, I think, about how much I enjoy listening to Alison Krauss sing. This morning’s SIMH is “Forget About It” which also seems to have been written by her friend, Robert Lee Castleman who wrote “I’m the Lucky One,” “Let Me Touch You For a While,” and others. And on and on it goes. Very good listenable music. And Union Station is the best group of musicians since the Eagles. (IMHO)

Facebook does weird things simply because they can, I suppose, but saying someone has “like”d too many things is one of the weirdest! Didn’t happen to me, but to a friend. Which makes Facebook downright irritating! However, it is a resourceful part of our lives. We’re in touch with relatives easily, some of whom we didn’t know existed till FB. Others become friends for one reason, then we find out the depth of their lives is greater by some of their involvements. Yes, we may find some things we don’t like about others, but had we met them eye to eye we would have found some things, also. Irritating as it gets sometimes, FB is a useful resource.

Another aspect of the alkaline water business is to bottle our water into small containers, the size America has come to be enamored with over the last 30-odd years. Sounds simple does it not? Well, not so fast. This is more detail oriented than anything I’ve yet to see. Bottling water is manufacturing! It isn’t get a license, open the door, invite in the public, oh, no! There’s a bit more to it. There’s a huge area necessary for the equipment to sit in; a “clean room” for the filling station, a rapid bottle capper (now that’s a shocker cost!), the label has its own set of requirements, and you sell it by the pallet full! And that doesn’t even touch the “how to bring it to market!”

It’s a great new learning process. And oddly enough I, dumb ol’ me, am enjoying it—hoping not to foul up too many things along the way. I’ve said it several times: next to preaching the gospel of Christ on my continuing path, this is the most fun I’ve ever had! (You know, water is the second greatest need for life here. It is so very important as long as the earth remains to worry over this #2 most necessary element.)

Hey! It’s too cool to sit on the porch and write this morning! Fall must truly be here, 46 deg at our house this morning, but a beautiful sun rise!

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/11/2018

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” — an axiom taken from Matt.7:12 (remember, Matt.5,6,7 are the chapters which are the active constitutional rules for the kingdom of Heaven, rules that are not applicable during this age of grace.) For getting along in this world, this is an excellent principle to remember for all personal and one on one dealings. However, for the reality of life, do not forget that such entities as the federal government do not abide by this.

This morning, Barb read to me the account of a Western federal court releasing a man who, with his family, stood up to the feds a few years back and after 700 days of imprisonment has been given release, being declared innocent. Innocent? Why now? Why not before he served? Because, among other things, the federal prosecutors had a willing court which assumed guilt before proving guilt. What shall he now do, turn the other cheek? You may not agree with me, but I believe he should sue for time loss damages, i.e., money. Some would say, “this isn’t about money!” in righteous indignation. True. But, my bible tells me “money answereth all things.” Money is the point/counterpoint and, as such is the account balancer. If a suit for lost income will stop a future hotshot prosecutor from trying to convict an innocent man, sue! …… rant over.

Only a smidgen or two of SIMH are with me this morning, now being interrupted by “music from another room” coming from Barb’s computer. Earlier, two different songs by Seals & Crofts were in my head for a while, but I couldn’t get through either of them far enough to remember the names of them. I liked most of their music.

Good news from an old friend whose business place was in the path of Hurricane Michael, they had some damage, but totally manageable, he said. Other good news from another old friend about re-entering his chosen profession after taking some “time out” and adding some new techniques to his repertoire. Looking forward to following progress reports for the both of them.

Now that the Cubs have bowed out of the baseball playoffs and I’m only a passive fan, I think I’m reverting to being a Texan and rooting for the Houston Astros (hope that’s not the “kiss of death” for them.) They are pretty solid. Whichever team comes form the National league is going to be formidable—a little more for the Milwaukee Brewers, though. The World Series would get more interesting for me if it is the Astros and Brewers, just so it isn’t East or West coast teams. Too much bias?

This is the first year I will have Big 10 basketball on TV, the Big 10 Channel is included in my minimum package from YouTubeTV. I’m looking forward to wasting some time watching I.U. play basketball.

Well, I’ve slipped back into brittle-prattle. Better do something productive for the day. Have a dandy, folks!

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/10/2018

“Everything I do, I do it for You” —Bryan Adams did this song in 1991. He wrote it with some help from his friends. It speaks of commitment in love, by love, for love, with love and of love. Pretty sure he wasn’t thinking of the Lord’s love at the time, but it fits. And, after all, our love for one another should fit the principle “as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.” Anyway, that was the SIMH this morning.

Just a note of follow-up about Ray Pavy from yesterday’s Elder’s Blog: Ray spent a year recovering from his accident into a wheelchair, then went back to Indiana University and graduated in 1965 (as IU’s first wheelchair bound graduate) and got a job a year later in a small high school in its last year before it was to be consolidated. They had not won a single game the year before—he took them to a winning record and even a win in the state tournament—How would you like to have been on that team!? think you’d have stories to tell? Wheelchair bound coach, going from 0-18 to winning the first game of the Sectional!?! That’s success!.

Mr. Pavy coached for 6 more years, then took a vice-principal position and did that till retirement. He’s still very active and a leader in his community.

Oh, by the way, he said it was many years before he could start his day without saying, “why me?” (maybe knowing the Lord better would have made that better, that’s my prayer for him yet today.)

Well, it’s a foggy morning on the mountain, but a pleasant 67, 69 on our porch. Buddy is out in the yard, loudly making sure the neighbors are up and not going to be late for work. (I know they are truly appreciating it.)

We’re doing pretty well in our project to get the 3 new Blue Jug stores open. Might not hit the end of October expected date, but shortly after that, I think. amazing things get in the way. One of our hopes-to-improve is a Critical Path Approach, a path of progress from decision to opening for our new store owners. If we can show that to new store owners when they are deciding to go for it, I think they’ll be more likely to not stumble and have to look back at wasted time. Another worthy project.

One of our new stores is using a modified water system, small enough to fit into certain other businesses, yet sophisticated enough to produce 100s of gallons of our water daily. I want to be able to show this to things such as health food stores, coffee shops, perhaps nursing homes, workout gyms, etc. These kinds of units will provide our water in places we cannot reach in many cities. We just have to make it compatible with other businesses and service facilities.

This weekend, Barb and I will be in Newport, TN. On Sunday, I will be preaching at Bible Believer’s Cowboy Church in Newport. Know anyone near there? Invite them for me. Sam Gerhardt is the pastor there and he is away for a Bible Conference in Illinois, oh, yeah, they have bible believers in Illinois! Just kidding!!, don’t write me about the snide remark. (I gotta figure out how to get emojis on this blog.) The people in Newport are wonderful friends and I fully expect them to NOT throw anything at me from the audience.

Thanks for reading, the Elder

10/9/2018

Aaah, cooler weather. The folks around this mountain and down in the Wills Valley (Fort Payne) have mostly been griping about the heat. This week the cooler days and nights are getting here. This morning has really cool feel and it is fine to feel it, but I sort of liked the warmer weather—guess I’m the one out of step, huh?

Judith Kay Cohen used to be a singer, She married a man in 1985 and I don’t believe she’s recorded anything since. She really took the music world by storm in the 70s and was said by one of those r&r prophets to be the next big star, gonna make the world forget about the rest of the females in rock music. But, she chose otherwise. I don’t know anything about her life since 1985, except that she’s still married to the same man, has a couple of children. The reason I’m writing about her is that story instead of what might have been. You see, she was Juice Newton, and one of her songs, “Playin With the Queen of Hearts” was the SIMH this morning. I applaud her decision and hope that it was an Holy Spirit led decision that moved her away from the limelight.

Many lives, like the one just mentioned, do not turn out in the manner all indicators show. Some are changed by tragedy. In the basketball season of the ’58-’59 Indiana high schools there were two boys neck and neck for the high scorer of the year. Last game of the season their teams played each other—it was the talk of the year! In that game, one scored 51 points, the other 49 points, wow!

Almost immediately after the finish of the season, both boys committed to go to Indiana University. Excitement really grew in anticipation of the pairing up and how great it would make IU’s future! But, oh how things changed. Ray Pavy was in a car crash which left him partially paralyzed, never to play basketball again. Jimmy Rayl went on to play, but not with his other super star buddy.

You can read all about this if you want to by just putting their names in Google. The multiple press stories are still fresh in the basketball history of Indiana. Both are in the IHSAA Hall of Fame. At the time of tragedy I was finishing up my Senior year. With all my teammates, we mourned for Ray Pavy. We saw something in the tragedy that many probably didn’t. Our coach brought this up once, telling us to be careful on the road, don’t over-step what we should do, etc., because we were not invincible (teens have a tendency to think, “not me .”)

Isn’t it interesting how quickly life can change for us. Fifty years after young Mr. Pavy was paralyzed, his wife and care-giver was in a multiple tragedy at the 2011 Indiana State Fair. She had a long road to recovery, but no further stories showed anything more to say here.  (Anytime you get to thinking life isn’t fair to you, perhaps this story will keep your thoughts in perspective.)

So, my friends, thank the Lord for this day, thank Him for knowing you because of Christ’s sacrifice for you on the cross, and get on with living your life the way God’s Holy Word has directed you. And in case you don’t know that way, or have forgotten it, just obey 2 Tim.2:15. (And read and re-read and re-read Rom.8:28-39, ‘bout 50 times!)

thanks for reading, the Elder