The "Secret" Is Out!

We have had a blessed holiday season so far.  Our Waterford Apartments office staff provided the main dishes (along with the service and clean-up) for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners here in the Rosedale Court Community Room.  The residents brought side-dishes and desserts to make truly scrumptious and festive meals.  On the Eve of Thanksgiving our sister Jean and brother-in-law Bob Larsh drove down from Indianapolis to treat us to a delicious dinner at our new Cracker Barrel restaurant here in Crawfordsville.  During the build-up to Christmas we were able to compose our annual newsletter to our friends and loved ones, then to mail it and also some gifts to our scattered family members.  It was a special treat around each holiday to visit via e-mail, phone and internet "Skype" and Facebok with our kids, grand- and great-grandkids from Sao Jose, Santa Catarina, Brazil, South America, to Gig Harbor, Washington.  We enjoyed, too, the greeting cards from family and friends from "all over," some of whom we have corresponded with since our service in Germany in the 1950's! On December 18 we celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary with dinner out and watching a gift DVD of Andre Rieu and orchestra ("Home For Christmas"), which included some songs in German.  The day after Christmas and since we have had snow on the ground which makes for more seasonal nostalgia ("I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas").  During this time we also watched some Hallmark TVspecials and one proposed to reveal "The Christmas Secret" (which turned out to be that Santa was an ancient Viking working with elves whose raindeer could fly!).  So, in our Rosedale Court Bible Class each Thursday afternoon I set out to set the record straight by bringing a series of studies on the theme "The Real  Christmas Secret"!   Briefly, yes, there was an ancient St. Nicolas, but he was not all-wise and all-powerful. amd, if he had reindeer, they could not fly.  I'm not mimicing Scrooge here, but it seems that we have so commercialized Christmas and tried to make it politically correct to wish others a "Happy Holiday" while they decorated the "Holiday Tree," that we have downplayed the Birth of Christ and the true reason for His first coming.  As Philippians 2:5-8 states, "...Christ Jesus... was made in the likeness of men..and...He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross!"  Praise the Lord, He is a living Saviour and coming again at any moment!  On that basis we trust you have had a truly MERRY CHRISTMAS, and we pray that you will have a Biblically HAPPY AND HOPE-FILLED NEW YEAR ahead!                                 

The Silver Lining

Mary K. (Mamaw) and I have maintained a personal, early morning "Q.T." (Quiet Time) for many years.  In our apartment now I occupy our Computer Corner and she sits in the streetside balcony corner where she also pursues her ministry of painting greeting cards. Then, after breakfast, we share blessings with each other from our Bible reading.   Our building faces southeast and at this time of the year the sunrisings are in full view and each one is uniquely beautiful.  Recently on TV we enjoyed a rendition of the old familiar song "Always Look For The Silver Lining!" And shortly after that we witnessed another unusual sunrise as the clouds were dark above while the sun cast a truly silver lining on the underside of each cloud.  We remembered Psalm 19:1 - "The heavens declare the glory of GOD; and the firmament sheweth His handywork!"  And I was led to ponder along with that, Job 37:21 - "And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds..."  We see so many "dark clouds" in the world and in our lives today, but, for the Christian, each one truly has "a silver lining"!  That is, not produced by the sun, but by the SON.   Knowing Him as Saviour we also "know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." (Romans 8:28)  In nature, as the verse in Job goes on to say, "BUT the wind passeth, and cleanseth them (dark clouds)."  So, facing trials and temptations,  Christ's Presence in the Person of the Holy Spirit and His Promises give the believer a continual "silver lining" of forgiveness, joy, peace, assurance and hope.  As on old scholar puts it:  "Job and other sufferers (often) cannot see the light of God's countenance through the clouds of trial, but the  wind will soon clear them off, and God shall appear again.  Let them but wait patiently, for He still shines, though for a time they see Him not!"  In closing, we encourage you start a regular "Q.T" if you dont' have one, and, if you do have this good habit (even a few minutes), please KEEP IT GOING, and watch for that "silver lining"!  Also, if you need a good seat near our balcony window to get a special sunrise view, just let us know!

Grandparents "daze"

   Grandparents Day this year was on Sunday, September 9, but Mary K. and I had already been sort of celebrating weeks ahead!  In August first we welcomed grandson David Taylor with grand-daughter-in-law Sharon and great-grandchildren Gabriel and Juliana here on furlough from missionary service in Brazil, South America.  Besides meeting for burgers nearby we also rendezvoused at Turkey Run State Park for lunch and an outing.  Later in August and early this month our daughter Judy blessed us with a visit, including a report and pictures of our grand- and great-grandchildred in Washington State, plus one in Homer, Alaska!  We are so thankful to God for our scattered family, and our loved ones' visit brought back memories of visits to my maternal  grandparents years ago.  I recall good times with Grandpa and Grandma PYLE on their farm southeast of Veedeersburg, IN.  I remember all the sights, sounds, smells and even the tastes, too.  Eating breakfast cereal drowned in thick, rich, fresh, real cow's cream from their big hand-cranked milk separator, and only a few minutes from the "spigot" was such a treat.  But my most vivid memory was of the grain threshing operation.  I was, maybe, 6 or 7 years old when Grandpa let me watch from the bed of his Model T Ford truck.  The newly-threshed wheat spewed from the big grain-separator machine (noisy and dusty) into the back of the truck, making a sort of "sand-box" experience for my bare feet.    The machine was powered by a long leather belt attached to a pulley on a huge steam engine which sounded like the locomotives not far from our home in Danville, IL.  It was quite thrilling to watch the horse-drawn wagons come in from the fields filled with sheaves of wheat, and then watch the men "feed" the separator. 

   Both Grandma and Grandpa were soft-spoken and hospitable, having originated in Kentucky and Tennessee.  (Sergeant Alvin York of World War I fame lived in Tennessee and his mother was a Pyle.)  We never discussed Bible topics with them as such, but they always had an interest in our ministry in Germany and in our homeland.  I was asked to preach one Sunday in their country church nearby.  I was so glad I was able to visit them in Grandpa's last illness and to encourage him with Bible passages and prayer.  He assured me that he had trusted Christ as his Saviour while in his youth in Kentucky.  I do thank the Lord for my grandparents and believe I will see them again in Heaven.  In my viewpoint they were true Southern "gentle folks" and I am thankful for such a goodly heritage. 

   We didn't go to school to be grandparents and we have missed close contact with kids, grand- and great-grandkids, but we love 'em all and pray for them, trusting that each has trusted Christ as Saviour, and that we will be with them again in Heaven.  Although we can't leave a tangible inheitance for each of them we want them to be assured that "children are an heritage of the LORD" to us (Psalm 127:3): and that "children's children are the CROWN of old men"! (Proverbs 17:6).  We are truly RICH!

Beat the heat!

This summer in Indiana has been one of the hottest with temps around 90 to 100+ for weeks, and the ensuing drought has turned many places into disaster areas...especially for the farmers.  I read that we had similar weather conditions in 1935 or 1936, and this produced "dust-bowl" conditions in some states, leading thousands of folks to move to California...like the
"Okies" from Oklahoma.  I remembere faintly as a little guy living in Danville, IL, just how Stroup Street (where we lived) was paved with bricks and got blistering hot on bare feet.  Only the ice wagon or ice cream truck could alleviate the heat....sorry, no air conditioning and few electric fans in those days!  And I recall, too, after moving to Wallace IN in the summer of 1935 how hot, dry and dusty that area was.  One thunderstorm at Grandma ("MaZadie") Grimes's house where we stayed temporarily resulted in a direct hit by lightning, leaving a nice hole in the wall above the telephone in the diningroom and scared the daylights out of everybody, especially those sleeping on the floor (for comfort) in the nearby livingroom!  In 1937, after Dad took over the general store and Post Office (in the family since the 1880's), we moved to a nice 2-story house "downtown," just a short block away from the business and across the street from the Christian Church.  Summer heat and any ensuing drought were relieved by an occasional thunderstorm, usually at just the right time and bringing a cool breeze afterwards.  Since the streets and roads in that area were not paved then, but gravelled, our Dad tried to water down the dusty corner near the store each day. Sometimes the water evaporated about as soon as he applied it from the outside faucet hooked to the town well!  But inside the store Dad's only source of relief was a huge electrice fan which stood 5 or 6 feet off the floor and roared worse than a modern jet engine.  For the young people, of course, ol' Mill Creek beckoned with the promise of a refreshing dip in several swimming holes as it meadered toward the southwest.  Thngs in the store slowed down in the heat of the day, and I was never happier as a teen helper than when he gave the okay to go over the hill for a swim...and then return for a frozen Snickers candy bar and maybe a cold Coke!  Then, every Tuesday night after dark the town sponsored an outdoors movie on the street just south of the store, and folks either "beat the heat" or forgot about it for a time by leaving their work and watching a cowboy or "shoot-em-up-bang" thriller in the cool of the evening.  My Dad couldn't wait to hear the projectionist announce over his P.A. speaker:
"Gather 'round now, folks, we're gonna start the show!"  And he was totally disappointed when he learned beforehand that a cowboy movie would not to be shown.  He hated the big city gangster films!  By the way, dipping ice cream for the
flood of customers during intermission was where I developed my extraordinay biceps as a teen-ager...ha!  At home we coped with heat mostly with hand-held (funeral home-provided) fans, a few electric fans, simply wiping sweat (!)...and, at night by sleeping on the floor in the downstairs parlor room, hoping that a storm would not blow up and scatter locust tree branches, etc., all over to be picked up the day after!  To close, there is something worse than  a physical drought or extreme thirst...it's a spiritual drought.  The Bible clarifies:  "Thus saith the LORD;  Cursed be the man (person) that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  For he shall be like the heath in the desert...BLESSED is the man (person) that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when  heat cometh...and shall not be careful in the year of drought..." (Jeremiah 17:5-8).  We recall a speaker saying: "Bless your puckered-up soul!'  Well, we can have relief from a dried-up soul by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior, thereby finding eternal refreshment from the WATER OF LIFE!  Have YOU made that decision yet?  Do so today!

June...moon...spoon...honeymoon?

June is the traditional time for many weddings, and we recall 2 weddings that took place years ago ... without Mary K. and me, but making our existence possible.  I'm referring, of course, to June 4, 1922 (when Bill Grimes Sr. and Jewell Pyle were joined in matrimony) and June 4, 1926 (when Whitfield Jackson and Gladys Carmack tied the knot)!  We think Mom and Dad Grimes were married in the Wallace, IN, area and honeymooned in an unknown (to us) location, while Mom and Dad Jackson were "hitched" near Newport, IN, and had a short honeymoon at the old Lahr Hotel in Lafayette, IN (we are sure of that because we "copied" their getaway when we were married in 1949).  The Grimes's
set up housekeeping in due time in Danville, IL, where Dad worked for the Webster Grocer Company.  (I was born on
Kimball St. in Danville in 1925.)  Then, Mom and Dad Jackson returned to his and her family farms near Newport and they lived with and cared for Gladys' mother, Grandma Carmack, who suffered with crippling arthritis. (Mom/Mary K. was born there in 1928.)  Dad Jackson worked both farms (a few miles apart) until World War II and we sure admire his faithful, hard work through those  Depression years.  As the war came on they were forced to give up the farms, to make way for the goverenment ordinance plant moving in.  After having built a new home there they then, after much hardship, found a farm near Wallace.  Meantime, my folks moved to Wallace in 1935 and that ultimately brought Mom/Mary K. and me together after WWII.  So, although these 2 couples were married on the same date in different places, it was a different year.  Only once did we afterwards get them together for a joint anniversary celebration, at the Grimes home in Wallace!  We know that their lives together were not problem free, but they stuck together in love for many years and provided a great example for us, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!  As Song of Solomon 8:7 expresses it, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it...!"

Someone was praying

This Memorial Day we watched a World War II documentary that worked some "deja vu" on me.  The story was about four service chaplains who served aboard a troop transport that was torpedoed and sank early in 1943.  After I finished radio school in Alabama in the fall of that year some of us in that class were sent to a "Com Pool" School up in Connecticut not far from New York City.  It was a six weeks course on ship-to-ship communications in convoy duty using walkie-walkie radio, semaphore flags and signal lights..  After "graduation" we were sent to the Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, NY, to await further assignment to duty aboard merchant and troop transport ships sailing to either the European or Pacific war theaters.  Armed Guard units consisted of gunners manning 3- and 5-inch and 20 millimeter cannons and, of course, providing radio- and signalmen to bolster the merchant crew.  We did not talk much about which ocean which preferred to serve in, but it sure was not the North Atlantic as the German subs were destroying thousands of tons of shi pping with their prowling "wolf packs" of deadly U-boats.  What a relief it was to learn that our group was being divided alphabetically and all in A to K were being shipped to New Orleans for duty in the Pacitic.  This was not a "piece of cake," however, as my first ship was loaded with bombs, other ammunition and war equipment and headed for New Guinea...and traveling alone without escort or convoy!  I knew about the Lord at that time, but did not know Him personally, and I did have loved ones and friends praying for me back home.  We had some scares on that trip and more later, but the Lord kept me and brought me to faith in Him after the war, for which I praise Him,  I was ready for duty, but not ready for eternity until later.  But, after the war in the Pacific ended in August 1945 I completed my three-year enlistment in the Naval Reserve by serving aboard the USAT President Jackson (a converted cruise liner on the pre-war President Line) and helping to return our troops from the Far East.
The accommodations were similar to those aboard the USAT Dorchester that went down with over six hundred men and with only two hundred being rescued, some of those because four selfless chaplains gave them their own life-jackets!  We don't understand how God works in events like this, but we do know that He gave the victory in World War II, and since.  On this special day we are grateful to Him for those who have served and those who have given their lives to keep America strong and free.  Let all who know Christ as Saviour and Lord "pray for all that are in authority...Who will have all men to be saved..." - I Timothy 2:1-6.

"Kaboom!"

Springtime is always an exciting time in Indiana.  We have had a nice spring so far...only one bad tornado warning ...no funnels sighted.  So we've been blessed, among other things to celebrate Mary K.'s 84th birthday, on April 22.  She's still my "teen bride" and I love her, appreciate her more each day.  She was privilege to take training at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, at the Child Evangelism Training Institute in Muskegon, MI, but she received her "PhD" from the "Whitfield&Gladys Jackson Practical Bible Training College"!  Her mother and father, by Biblical example and precept rooted and grounded her in the Christian faith and prepared her for a lifetime of faithful service for the Lord Jesus Christ.  While I was studying at Moody we chose II Corinthians 6:1 as a life verse:  "We then as workers together..." and that summarizes our 65 years of ministry...and we pray it will until the Lord calls us Home in death or the Rapture!  She grew up on the Jackson Farm (early near Newport, IN, and later just west of Wallace, IN) as a "neglected" child having no TV, only parents who loved and guided her, and chores, including care of animals, to build her body and character!  Taking a stand for Christ in her teens, she maintained to her folks that Wallace .had no datable guys. Well, after the evening that I first took her to church and as she was about to go to sleep in her upstairs bedroom her dad climbed up the nearby windmill and whispered loudly in her open window, "there aren't any boys to date in Wallace!"  Her parents were humble and hard-working (Dad served as deacon at Yeddo Baptist Church), but above all they were faithful prayer-warriors.  We always said that God gave Mom first priority to her prayers...it was "dangerous" to share a burden with her!  We'll never forget her funeral...she and Dad were the last to be allowed interment in the government-protected family cemetery near Newport, and at the graveside service (on Mother's Day in 1980) Pastor had just closed with a benediction, when a loud clap of thunder sounded "kaboom!"...just as if the Lord was saying, "AMEN!" to a life well-lived.  On this approaching Mother's Day, I thank God for my life-long partner Mary K., for her mother, for my mother (Mamaw Grimes who went to be with the Lord in 1987), and for our great daughters, grand-daughters and grand-daughters-in-law and for faithful mothers everywhere.  We pray for you, that God will bless and use you in these confusing times to validate the Biblical institution of motherhood.  Maybe your exit from this old world will not be announced with a literal "kaboom!," but be applauded by Heaven, too, as you remember that "Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised!" -- Proverbs 31:1-31(30).