Memorial Day

Our nation celebrated Memorial Day last Monday, but we leave soon to go by the cemetery just west of Waynetown, IN, where son Jim is buried. He went to be with the Lord in August 1987 and we miss him greatly, along with his older sister Debbie who lived in DeKalb, IL, when the Lord took her home to heaven in June, 1998. Neither served in our Armed Forces, but we believe they both were lost in this spiritual war that Christians are engaged in everywhere. Debbie was born on May 31, 1954, in Weilheim/Oberbayern, Germany where we were serving as missionaries. Before birth she was watched over by a German "Hebamme" (midwife) named Frau Wagner, a very gracious lady, and when the big event was about to happen she transported the expectant Mom to the Weilheim hospital in her little VW! We had let it be known that we were expecting a boy, so one of the attending nurses came to me shortly after Debbie's arrival and profusely apologized, "Oh, es tut uns Leid, Herr Grimes, dass Sie eine Tochter haben!" ("We're sorry, but you have a daughter!") I assured the sister that we were happy to have a little girl safe on the scene and Mom doing well, too. Since she was born on May 31 the Germans called her a little "Mai Kaefer" ("June bug"), but we named her Deborah Sue. Later our young people there dubbed her "Susie" but here at home she was always "Debbie" growing up. She loved music, learned piano and especially loved to sing Christian songs and hymns, with her two sisters and Mother making a nice musical team in our ministry. She enjoyed two years of study at Faith Baptist Bible College at Ankeny, IA, and sang with groups and the School Chorale on tour one year, and my sweetest memory of her singing was at our son-in-law's ordination in Michigan City, IN, after she received the PHT degree ("Putting Hubbie Through") at his graduation from Hyles-Anderson College! She and Dan were a real blessing to our congregation at Trinity Baptist Church at Bloomfield, IN, too. On Jim's gravestone are the Bible words from Hebrews 12:2 - "Looking unto Jesus" - and we recall how he loved playing on his guitar and singing "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace." We believe that he and Debbie, with other loved ones who have gone on to Glory, are experiencing the fullest meaning of those verses now! We remember them fondly, praise the Lord for sending them into our lives, and look forward to seeing them again ... what a memorable Memorial Day that will be!

"Last one in is a .....!"

While attending Jr. and Sr. High School at Wallace ('36-'42) - all in the same building (!) - it was the custom for most of the boys who lived in town to go swimming on the last day of school. Back then, when so many of the country boys helped on the farm, they finished the school year late in April or early May. So, when that last bell sounded at good ol' WHS I remember so clearly how a bunch of us guys headed over the hill east of the school for that first (oftimes COLD) dip in Mill Creek. What a refreshing ritual! When the creek was high from spring rains it was dangerous swimming, too, and I recall once trying to swim across when it was out of its banks ... and it almost ended in tragedy. Don't think my folks ever learned about it and I never even shared with the other guys how scared I was when I finally made it across the stream. But we did enjoy the "'ol swimmin' hole" through the summer when, as the old song goes, "the livin' was easy." Other memorable swimming holes included: the Fairgrounds pool at Danville, IL, when visiting my buddy Hubie Fisher there; the artesian water pool at Lodi, IN, which left a rotten-egg smell oozing through your pores into the next day; and, believe it or not, Gatun Lake on the eastern end of the Panama Canal! Our ship anchored there as it awaited transit through the Canal, so the skipper let the crew go for a dip ... not recorded in the WWII news reports! I was never a Mark Phelps, but always enjoyed a good swim, thanks to lessons at age 10 at the YMCA in Danville! The prophet Isaiah makes an interesting statement about God's ability to overcome His enemies in and through the Millennial Kingdom ahead: "...He shall spread forth His hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth forth his hands to swim; and He shall bring down their pride together...!" (Isaiah 25:11) Quite an illustration ... talk about Olympic gold medals!

Birds and blooms!

As this goes to press on the last Sunday in March '09 the weather here is anything but spring-like -- around 34 degrees with cold rain that turns to snow now and then, maybe freezing on the

roads in some places. But, the daffodils are blooming brightly in the flower bed next to our apartment building entrance, and we are hearing and seeing birds on and off our balcony already! This reminds me of the many places where we have watched the blossoms come in spring: In Weilheim, south Germany, we had the second-story apartment in a two-family house and the single landlady had not yet moved into the apartment below. The lawn area was not yet fully landscaped, but Fraulein Balk had planted tulip bulbs in one spot and was looking forward to some beautiful colors in due time. Sorry, our daughters Judy and Mary Ruth invaded that little garden spot one day and Mother heard them exclaiming "Zwiebeln...Zwiebeln!" (German for "onions") and soon discovered that the girls were digging up our landlady's tulip bulbs! The German people love flowers and the local veterinarian's house and garden next door was a truly Bavarian floral showcase. In the late '50's we lived in a row-house on the southeast side of Munich and our neighbors there, Herr and Frau Edhofer, made the best of a very small back yard with a rock garden. We were amused each spring when Herr Edhofer would be seen out in that area on hands-and-knees with a magnifying glass, searching for the first crocus to break through the ground! For rustic splendor nothing could match our last place of service in English, IN. The "hills and hollers" of Crawford County came alive each spring with thousands of redbud trees in bloom, and just 20 miles or so north up Highway 37 we also enjoyed driving through Paoli, IN, which is celebrated as the "Dogwood Capital" of the world! This week in our Bible Class here at Rosedale Court in Crawfordsville, we are studying the Genesis Flood and God's promises to mankind following that terrible judgment, especially chapter 8, verse 22: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease!" Praise the Lord, 'cause I'm looking ahead to Mary K.'s "birds and blooms" on our balcony in the next few weeks!

"Evolution Weekend" and Presidents Day

It's a strange celebration time -- we learned today that over 1000 churches are recognizing a new "holiday" -- "Evolution Weekend" to promote the acceptance of evolution as a "scientific"

solution to the origin of the universe and mankind. This is not "new," of course, but an organized effort by liberal churches to do so is a new and sad development. We're glad for the many fundamental churches who still hold to the creation model as taught in the Bible. Charles Darwin, of course, is the man who really started the evolutionary approach, first, by his book "The Origin of Species" and then others later. Interestingly, he was "baptized" into the Anglican Church as a child, later went on to the university in England and even a short time in seminary. He wrote: "I had gradually come by this time (ca. 30 years of age) to see that the Old Testament was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindus or the beliefs of any barbarian. " Then in 1880: "I am sorry to have to inform you that I do not believe in the Bible as a divine revelation, and therefore not in Jesus Christ as the Son of God!" I was amazed to learn that Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 ... the same year and day that Abraham Lincoln was born! What a contrast between Darwin's rejection of God's Word and the damage still being done by his teachings, and Lincoln's reliance on the Bible with subsequent blessing for this old world! Hear his thoughts: "I attended ... a log schoolhouse in Indiana where we had no reading books or grammers, and all our reading was done from the Bible.... In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this Book!" Darwin's conclusions have led multitudes into spiritual slavery where everything came into existence by chance and there is no God to Whom we are accountable. Lincoln not only found comfort and guidance in God's Word to lead our country through a terrible crisis, but it gave him the moral fortitude and foundation to free the slaves! Surely, he agreed wholeheartedly with our first president, George Washington, who stated in his Farewell Address: "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible!" Dear readers, let us pray for our new president and administration, along with all those who represent us, and all the people of the USA (who, by the way, are creatures of God and not accidents of evolution!), that we may recognize and rely upon God's Word in this critical time ... in obedience to I Timothy 2:1-6.

Treasures of the Snow

This morning we awakened to a blanket of fresh snow 6-8 inches deep here in Central Indiana, and this afternoon Mary K. and I took broom and brush to uncover our ol' Chevy in the apartment parkinglot. This stirred up memories of winter wonderlands in our life -- first, going sledding out in the country near Wallace, IN, even ice-skating up Sugar Mill Creek. Winter in Chicago while studying at Moody Bible Institute was almost certain to be snowy from the "lake effect" and travel in the city by streetcar and elevated was an adventure. Taking a semester at Baptist Seminary in Grand Rapids as newlyweds we enjoyed the "lake effect" from the other side of Lake Michigan; it made "snuggling" a must! Later, in Weilheim, south Germany we recall filling our little Opel station wagon with family and local "Kinder" to enjoy a mid-winter retreat at our Mission camp near Bad Heilbrunn in the foothills of the Alps. We all enjoyed sledding on nearby slopes and some tried skiing; in fact, I tried to ski and about broke my neck, so afterwards I stuck with sledding, once tearing the toe out of my winter shoe while trying to guide the sled! From our apartment livingroom window and balcony in Weilheim we were blessed with a view of the Zugspitze (in fact, our street had same name), Germany's highest (10,000 ft.+) mountain near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a famous ski resort. What a sight when snow-capped! Later we learned that those high slopes were where the Edelweiss flower bloomed from July thru September, many under the remaining snow! And, the romantic German (or any) guy was to seek and find an Edelweiss to show his love for his Liebling! (German Alpine troops have worn this flower as uniform insignia for many years.) No, I didn't venture up the Zugspitze, but I did buy my Liebling a necklace containing a real (dried) Edelweiss! In Job 38:22 God asks the question: "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" Surely, this beautiful flower is one of those treasures as it speaks of nobility (Edel) and purity (weiss/white), a description of Biblical love and my Liebling! Fresh snow covers much ugliness in winter and that's where the Edelweiss flourishes. The prophet Isaiah sums it up in 1:18 - "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Surely, the greatest treasure of all is the forgiveness of sin and cleansing from sin, made available to all by the love and grace of God through the work of His dear Son on the cross of Calvary! As the hymn-writer puts it: "In the bleak midwinter, Frosty wind did moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Fallen snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Many years ago.

...God Himself became a man -- Born to pay sin's price; He's the great Redeemer, Our Lord Jesus Christ!"

"I'll Be Home For Christmas"?

During the Depression Christmas at home for most folks was not very lavish, but it was still family time. I remember gatherings with grandparents and other relatives where gifts were very simple and the food was plentiful. But Uncle Martin (from "dutch" Grand Rapids) at Aunt Hattie's always reminded me that he was fortunate as a child if he and his siblings only received a piece of fruit on the holiday. Best memories for me included the sights and smells of Grimes' Food Store at Christmas, when most all the wares were not pre-packaged and the fruit and imported trees were so fragrant, and riding in the old-fashioned sleigh that Dad had purchased from a neighbor (pulled by a borrowed horse)! At home we had a modestly-decorated green tree ... until the dry air caused the needles to fall off ... and just enjoyed Mom's food and being together. There were special programs on the radio to make a joyful atmosphere, but Christmas at home in 1941 was saddened by the news of Pearl Harbor and subsequent entry into World War II. Joining the Navy in early 1943 and after boot camp, radio school and convoy radio training, I spent that holidays in New Orleans. There was cold rain on Canal Street (appropriate name) that Christmas Eve, as I recall, but I found a little bit of home in the USO Club there. After a trip to the South Pacific war theater, and a 30-day leave with loved ones in Wallace, it was back to New Orleans and shipping out again ... with an unwanted 6-months shore job in the Panama Canal Zone and spending Christmas 1944 in that very tropical setting. Summer 1945 we celebrated the end of WWII near the Equator, then back to the USA to transfer to a Navy transport and wound up in drydock at Mare Island near San Francisco for Christmas. I called a Navy nurse who had been at Wallace H.S. with me, hoping for a sentimental reunion, but she was busy ... sorry! In all my sea-faring during the holidays it was my good (?) fortune to listen to pop and Christmas songs in the radio shack, getting misty-eyed especially when hearing the one in my current blog title. Anyway, Lord willing, we plan and hope to spend Christmas day with my sisters and family at Joan's home ... just down the street from the 'ol home place in Wallace ... and look forward to sharing and making some memories, while visiting our kids, grandkids and greats by "Skype" when able. And one of these days we'll truly "be home for the holidays" in Heaven where the trees don't shed their needles and we'll be able to worship the One

in person who is the theme of so many biblical Christmas songs! See Revelation 5:8-10. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

November Nostalgia

There have been flashbacks of memory this month, as usual! Our "little sister" Jean Grimes (Larsh) was born on Election Day, Nov. 6, 1932, in our home on Stroup Street in Danville, IL, so...we not only got a precious new family member, but also got a new president - Franklin Delano Roosevelt! This election was disappointing to us, since the "other" candidates represented our Biblical values more clearly. But, like FDR, our incoming president will not be perfect and will surely need every Christian's prayers, according to I Timothy 2:1-6. Then, I remember November 11 as "Armistice Day"when at school we paused to ponder the end of World War I. Now, it's "Veteran's Day" - also a time of remembrance, and I, with a surge of patriotism, wore my "WWII US Navy Armed Guard" cap on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart. It was so "cool" to have at least 2 young ladies walk up and tell me "Thanks for serving!"; and 1 even had her two children with her say "Thanks," too! Yes, I'm glad for the privilege of serving our country in WWII. Well, I recall Thanksgiving Days as a kid when Dad and Mom would take us to enjoy dinner with the Grimes side living in or near Wallace, or to the Pyle family gathering out in the country south of Hillsboro, IN. Dad and the Pyle uncles always made a stab at hunting rabbits out in the surrounding fields, and I don't remember a lot of game resulting, but at least it was a good time of visiting. Everybody except one uncle smoked tobacco, so we younguns suffered through the haze, because Grandma Pyle's dinner table made it all worthwhile! This holiday we were blessed to gather with Uncle Russ and Aunt Joan Gooding at the 'Ol Home Place in Wallace to enjoy the hospitality of Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob Larsh, with Niece Kim Rice and husband Tim and Niece Susan Hesler with husband Sherrill. I was asked to give thanks, and I also shared Psalm 100 from Grandma Grimes's old Bible, noting that she had underlined verse 3 ... something that we all in our nation need to hold onto in our day! Oh, yes, that afternoon, since the sun had warmed things up a little I and Mom (Mamaw-Aunt Katie, etc.) strolled down the hill to the Covered Bridge and back ... whew!...but made sweeter by the kiss I stole inside the bridge (is that why they were covered?)! Anyway, the month is ending on a blessing ... this a.m. I taught Adult Sunday School class at Yeddo Baptist Church on Acts 13, one the great missionary

passages of God's Word...and, Robert and Jody Frye and teen sons, who serve as missionaries to Romania under European Baptist Fellowship brought a stirring report on victories won and plans in motion for even greater things in that needy country, praise the Lord! We enjoyed dinner later at the home of Pastor and Mrs. Jim Rivers, along with the Frye's and Jody's parents - Art and Mary Merrill. We all agreed on the faithfulness of God at home and abroad and the need to press on for Him, while looking UP for His imminent Coming!!!