Visit with the Harmons

Dear Friends and Family,

It is raining today (big surprise).  We planted several new flowers in our garden (back yard) and they are
doing great.   The Brits are big on flowers and gardens.  Henley is noted for its England In Bloom awards. 
Folks from the town spend several Saturdays getting flowers around the town.  There will be a super
garden walk again this year as folks will visit some of the best gardens in the town (ours won't be one
of them).  Just because we planted a few flowers would not put us in the category of the best garden in town.

This Saturday is Court Leek Day.  This once a year day is a huge tradition here.  Our church administrator,
Gordon Trinder, will dress up in his town crier outfit along with other town dignitaries,  and perform some
of the old rituals of the town.  They will take care of these items:  Butter Weighing (where they actually check
 the scales to make sure that the town's people don't get cheated), Brook Looking (where an elected team
check the local brooks and rivers to make sure they flow freely), Ale Tasting (I have no idea about this one),
nor do I know about the next one - Beating the Bounds.  There will be some short plays written for the College
 of Performing Arts (one of them is a satire on Americans - I've got to see this one).  Later in the month there
will be a concert by the Heart of England Singers - an evening of light music.  I am sorry to have to miss this
concert but we will be attending another one in Birmingham.
Speaking of music, one of our men, Malcolm Williams, is part of the Alcester All Male Choir.  We attended one
of his concerts recently.  A choir of usually 70 men (they had only 51 at our concert) sing some of the most
beautiful music I have ever heard.  Part of the program was a 3 song selection from Les Miserables.  They
sang some American songs, some Welsh tunes and some Brit music as well.  In fact, we went to 2 concerts
by this group this year.  All the money they raise is for charity.  Last year I tried to get Malcolm to schedule
the group to come to Henley Baptist for a concert.  Their calendar is filled through 2009.  The British love great
music.

We just finished 2 important things at our church.  First, we had a wonderful group for the Alpha Course, a
ten week study for the introduction to Christianity.  When the Alpha Course began back in the early 1990's,
it began with 5 groups world wide.  This year, there were over 36,000 groups worldwide.  The last session
was about the church.  I was interested to see how the presenter (who is Anglican) would cover the idea of
baptism and church membership.  But to my delight and amazement, he talked about baptism as if he was a
Baptist.  He spoke of baptism by immersion, being buried with Christ and being raised with Christ
demonstrated by going down into and coming up out of the water.  I would encourage all my friends who
are church leaders to consider conducting an Alpha Course in your church.  As there are churches in the states
 that have Alpha, there must be a US version.  The material is Biblically sound.  Then you break off into small
groups for discussion.  We had a light meal after every session, then a large meal on the final night.  We hung
up a huge banner out side the church advertising Alpha for about 13 weeks.  The small group I was in was disappointed when we came to the close of the course and I am looking into finding something for us to study
as a continuation.  If I am successful we will probably meet in our home for the follow-up.  Several of my group
would love to take the Alpha Course again.

The second thing we just completed was a series of sermons on Psalm 23 - The Great Shepherd Psalm.  For
us it lasted 8 weeks and the sermons were supported by paintings that went along with the theme for the
week.  A local artist, who sometimes attends our church, did the paintings.  We just set them on an easel each
week.  Now that we are finished with the series, they will be mounted on the wall in the church lounge.

Our daughter, Susan and our son-in-law Russ will be with us for a week soon.  We have promised to take them
 to Wales for a few days (hopefully it won't rain the entire trip).  Recently in a sermon (during the psalm 23
series), I mentioned about nursing homes.  Over 75% of the people there never get a visit.  In my way of
thinking, it reminded me of what the American Indians used to do.  They would put their elderly in a cave and 
go off and leave them to die.   I asked Susan, our daughter,  to never put me in a nursing home.  In fact, I said, "Susan, promise me that you will never put me in a nursing home."  She said, "Dad, I promise you that we will
never put you in a nursing home.  But I am checking out some pretty nice caves."

Until next time,
Dick


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NADINE'S CORNER:

Hi everyone.  Just want to make it perfectly clear here that I DON'T intend to be in that CAVE with him!!
I have claustrophobia and that wouldn't suit me at all !  So there.

We have been very busy lately.  We've had a lot going on, but I have loved it all.  I guess one of my really
big thrills is that my husband has allowed me to have a part in our church services for a time of prayer.  I
write a bit and also share scripture and then pray.  One of the retired pastors in our church has a ministry
of outreach to Europe and around the world.  He recently asked me to allow him to use my prayer column
in his world-wide newsletter.  I feel very honored and extremely blessed.  Who woulda ever thunk it !!?? 
The Lord is so faithful to be with me when I sit down to write.  There is no doubt in my mind that I've just
had a visit from His Holy Spirit.  Boy, what an experience - and I get to do it every week!  The column is
entitled "Prayer Pointers".  Actually, it's the same thing that I use on Sunday mornings.  You know, people
tell me they really enjoy the prayer time on Sunday mornings and I tell them that I get the biggest blessing
of all - because I have to study and search the scriptures in order to write each week's prayer time.  The
Lord promises that if we'll do His will, He'll be with us every step of the way and boy, do I believe that! 
Hook, line and sinker !

We also had another blessing a couple of weeks ago.  The American couple (Ed & Linda Sullivan) who
preceded us came back for a visit and we were blessed to be able to have them in OUR home for dinner
(of course it's their home too).....  We had a lot of good laughs and a great time with them.  They miss
Henley and England so much that they come back yearly or every other year for a visit.  I'm not so sure
we'll be able to follow that, but it won't be because we wouldn't like to.  They get to fly free as their son
works for one of the airlines.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe we could adopt!

We also have met the couple that were the first lay people to come over.  It was a delight to be able to
meet them as well.  We had been in touch with them before we came over via e-mail and felt like we knew
them already.  Nice people.

Isn't being a Christian - a part of God's family - the greatest thing in the whole world?  How do people do
without it ?

I have a few "vocabulary" words for you, but don't think I'll have too many more for you unfortunately:

NIPPER            Small child

TATTY              Potato

MOGGY           Cat

QUID              British pound or  $2.00 (Amer.)

COPPERS       Small change

COME A CROPPER - Fall down or get into trouble

NICK             To steal

NOSH            Food

KNACKERED  Exhausted

PREZZY         Present

PRAT             Obnoxious person

CHUFFED      Happy and pleased

NAFF            Very unstylish

THICK AS TWO PLANKS  -   Not too bright


Take care everyone and remember we keep you in our thoughts.  Please keep us and Great Britain in
your prayers!

God bless you all,

The Harmons

Well, Friends and Family,

Where you are, you are enjoying Spring.  Where we are, we enjoyed Spring for one day, a week
ago, and now we are back to winter. 

Easter was a great day.  When we got up about 6 am it was snowing and it snowed for about 3
hours.  We had to cancel our yearly trip up the Mount for Easter Sunrise and Communion services. 
But that was OK because we had observed Communion on the previous Thursday evening (Maundy
 Thursday).  The brief service was in the church auditorium and was well attended.  Friday was
exceptional in more ways than one.  We had a great Good Friday Breakfast (Gordon always does a
great job of preparing a full English breakfast for us).  Marion Dowding, Wendy Gregory and Pat
Williams worked very hard to make sure we all had a marvelous breakfast and superb fellowship.

Following breakfast, we walked to the Market Cross (10 am) for the Henley Community gathering
around the old cross to sing some hymns and have Scripture and other readings.  The wind was
, the chill went clear to the bone, and the service was very brief.  At 10:30 we were back in Henley
Baptist for the Good Friday Service.  Each of the churches were well represented.  Since I had preached
last year at this service, this year I had asked Graham Spicer from the Methodist Church to speak,
while I led the worship.  Father Patrick from the Catholic church read Scripture.  It was funny because
Graham had given us some Scriptures to be read.  Father Patrick didn't bring a Bible and couldn't find
the assigned Scripture (Numbers).  Someone told him that the Scripture was at the beginning of the
Bible (we all laughed).  Later I told him that one thing I liked about him was that he was a man that
knew his Bible backwords and forwards.  He laughed again.  Brian Jackson, church warden from the 
Church of England in Henley, led the prayers.

Easter Sunday service was well attended.  By the way, this was the kind of snow that Nadine really
enjoys.  By time to go to church, all the snow had melted away. 

2 weeks later, on Sunday morning it snowed about 3-4 inches.  But that did not deter folks from
attending church.  We had a great crowd.  I have started a series of sermons on Psalm 23 and have
enlisted a local artist to paint several paintings to go along with the theme.  Stan Adam and his wife
Joyce attend church from time to time.  When I found out he was an artist  I decided to see if he
would use his talent for the Lord (actually he was contracted by the Royal Art Museum (National
Gallery) to do 80 paintings).  Thus far, we have displayed one of the paintings.  It is of a shepherd
and some sheep in a meadow along side a body of quiet water.  Yesterday, during my sermon, I told
of an old version of Mary Had A Little Lamb.  As I introduced it (as I usually do when I use something
American), I asked if the folks knew about it.  They all acknowledged that they knew of Mary and her l
amb.  I continued, "Mary had a little lamb, it would have been a sheep.  But it went and joined the
Baptist church, and died from lack of sleep."  I promise you, that they had not heard that version. 
After church, one of the men came up to me and told me another version.  "Mary had a little lamb,
and she had a bear. I have seen the little lamb many times, but have never seen the bear."  Oh well,
you know those Brits.  Sometimes they have a tough time getting things right (like driving on the right
side of the road).

Three weeks ago I began an Alpha Course on Sunday evenings.  The course is going well and we have
averaged 14 each week.  Jenny Weale provides finger foods at the conclusion of the evening.  The
course is a DVD presentation by one of the main guys from Alpha.  Nicky Gumble entered Oxford and
Cambridge, training as a barrister (lawyer) and was an athiest.  While at Cambridge, he was introduced
to Christianity and now serves as a vicar (pastor) of a large church in London.  He is a charismatic
speaker and writer.  The course covers topics like: Who Is Jesus; Why Did Jesus Die; How Can I Be
Sure Of My Faith; Why and How Do I Pray; Why and How Should I Read the Bible; How Does God
Guide Us.  It is a ten week study on the introduction to Christianity.  Each attendee gets a workbook
 and after the viewing they are divided into discussion groups.  I am very happy that our church has
alllowed me to lead the class.

One other item:  A couple of months ago Nadine began to share with the church (on Sunday mornings)
a brief study of prayer.  It has been received very well and folks are looking forward to each teaching
time.  One of our men (a retired minister) has a ministry of sharing God's Word to different countries
and people groups.  He has asked Nadine to send to him copies of her studies so he can include them
in his newsletter (it goes around the world).  They even support a radio ministry located in Annandale,
VA.  I am excited for Nadine and this new ministry she has developed.  She will tell you more about a
ladies Bible Study she is also leading. 

In God's love,
Dick

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NADINE'S CORNER

Hi everyone,

I repeated my news on the next blog, so just have a couple of fun
from Britain to share with you at this time:

One may come across the impenetrable Cockney Rhyming Slang. 
A couple of examples will show its wry sense of humour:  the
telephone is the 'dog and bone' ('bone' rhymes with 'phone') and
the wife is 'trouble and strife'.

When you're looking for accommodations, it can be confusing:

Rm                     Room
ch                      Central heating
bt entr in des    Basement entrance, in desirable residence
off st pk            Off street parking

That's it for now.  Hope you're all wonderful and God is blessing
you and your families.  England is still great and I still love it! 
Thanks for your prayers.

Our love to all of you.

Hello Dear Friends,

We would like to talk about our great kids if you don't mind.   Well, even if you do.... First, there's our daughter Susan.  She is very special.  She is such a spiritual conductor of God's love and power.  She has, as some of you already know, a great ministry as one of the Principals at The F'burg Christian School in F'burg.  Her teachers are led by her incredible strength as a spiritual leader.  Her FCS children are blessed because of her love and devotion.  Believe me, she's no pushover!  She's tough - but very loving.  She has the gift of helping them to see what they did wrong and how it affects their relationship with God.  She's really a wonderful person and we're so thankful for her.  Susan is married to Russ (he's great) as you know and he has the gift of service.  He is one of the Mount's terrific sound people.  He's very appreciated by the Creative Ministry and we are very proud of him.  Susan has given us two wonderful grandchildren - Russell and Christina.  Russell is married to Sara (an Aussie) and lives in Miami.  Christina lives in Farmington, New Mexico and doing quite well on her own.  We send her SCONE MIXES to keep her going!  She loves it.   So far away! 

Susan and Russ will be coming over to see us - just not sure exactly when yet.  They love it here - - who wouldn't, I ask you!

Then there's our son, Rich.   He has been a delight to us.  A bright student, gifted athlete, great husband and father, sought after architect,  and our favorite son (our only one by the way).  He has accepted a leadership role in his church in California.  He led a mission trip to Nigeria, Africa and now has been asked to serve as an Elder Advisor.  For several years he has been involved in a Friday morning Bible study with a few other men in his church and led by one of the Pastors.  I would encourage you to pray for him in his new leadership role.  Rich is married to Lisa (a great mom).  They have given us two wonderful granddaughters (Aislinn (10) and Sydney (5).  They live in Sunnyvale, CA (right adjacent to Silicon Valley).  Pray that he will continue to use his business to bring God glory.  Pray that he continues to grow as a husband and father. Pray that God wll continue to bless him.  He is planning to bring his family to see us this summer.  It will be good to see him and to show him the England that we have come to love.

Please keep them all in your prayers.  They are a source of joy to us, a great comfort and encouragement to us as we follow God's leading.

We also ask, in behalf of our church here, to pray for the following:

SALVATION:  John Hammond, Stan & Joyce Adams, John Dahlman
ILLNESS:      Joyce Dunscomb, Barbara Paine, Joan Brown, Broj Barua, Ron Chisolm, Ivy Ingram, Beryl James, and
                    Pat Williams
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP:  Brian Davis


The Christian community of Great Britain will be involved in an outreach program called HOPE '08'.  Our church has decided to participate and to undertake some mission activities in order to share our faith.  Pray that we will take every opportunity to reach our community for Christ.  Henley Baptist is a caring, loving fellowship.  They love to meet and eat and sing and eat and fellowship and eat.  The church needs to see how important it is to reach this community with the gospel.  Many people in this town feel that if they are a member of a church then they are going to heaven.  We are praying for a God sent revival that will spread to other churches and communities.  Join us in this prayer.

Nadine and I visited a couple of cities earlier this month.  We went to Cheltenham and Gloucester.  We visited the Gloucester Cathedral.  Construction began in 1089.  Even before that there has been a place of worship on the site since 740 AD.  We also walked around the historic docks and marvelled at the new construction of businesses and apartments, all dockside.  We even walked to the town center of Cheltenham.  Coming back from Gloucester toward our hotel, I got so confused and turned around that it took us about 45 minutes to find our hotel.  Ususally, I am pretty good with directions and finding my own way around places.  But this time, I was lost - big time.  Sort of reminds me of Isaiah who described humanity as lost sheep who cannot find their way.  Here in the UK so many people are lost like sheep and have little hope of finding their way out of the maze of sin's blindness.  This country needs your prayers.  The evil one has truly blinded the minds of those who cannot find their way.

Please keep Nadine and me in your prayers.  We want to glorify God.  We want people to see Jesus through our lives and love.  We want to make a great impact for Christ in this community - and - with your love and your prayers, there is no limit to what God can do here!   Thanks to all of you for your love and prayers, emails and cards.....

Until next time,
Dick

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                                                                              NADINE'S CORNER

Hello everyone,

Sorry that it has taken so long to get this blog out to you.  We've both been struggling with terrible allergies since we've been back.  Also, the Doctor gave Dick some pills to help him sleep, however, he said that Dick could not lay down during the day, not even for a 30-minute nap and believe me.....IT'S BEEN TOUGH!   Us old people need our naps every day don't you know???    Dick reminds me of a big, sad, red-eyed basset hound most days!  I have to keep us moving!!  And that's no small task!  Of course he says that everytime we go out to get fresh air, etc., it costs him money!!!  Can you believe that?  We also have started going to bed at the same time every night and that is really making a difference.  We are able to sleep much better since we've begun the regimen.  We try to be in bed by 10:00 every night.   Boy -  sure puts a cramp in our style - know what I mean??   No more midnight rendezvous - no more burning the midnight oil - no more partying until midnight.   Bummer.  (Believe me, it hasn't been hard to give it up - mainly because we are never able to stay up that long anyway!)  We're just getting old, I guess.  But hey!!! God is using us in spite of all this nonsense - so I guess we'll just be thankful that He's found a use for us and be jolly glad that we are still able to serve Him.  What do you think??

It's so awesome - knowing that we are "unofficially" serving Him as Missionaries in this wonderful place.  Everyone should have it so hard! 

Two nights ago, England had an earthquake and people in Henley felt the tremors about 1:00AM  (it was 5.2 on the scale) and that was the main topic during our Coffee/Tea time on Wed. morning.  I didn't even know that England had them - and sure enough, it seems that they actually have over 200 every year!   Sheesh!  Well, I gotta tell ya', it did NOT wake us up!  We were really snoozin'.  And most people said that their beds shook!  Hmmm - good thing the house wasn't falling down around us!  We thought we got away from that sort of thing when we left Calif.

I will be speaking several times this year at Ladies fellowships, both in our church and a neighboring church.  Dick also speaks at them occasionally.  I love studying for them.  I get the biggest blessing of all just from doing all the research reading and scripture searching.  I'm so thrilled that the Lord feels I'm worthy to be His ambassador.

Again, we're sorry that this particular blog is so late, but wanted to get it out to you anyway.  We love you all and thank you for your prayerful support.  We're always thrilled to hear from you.  Our special thanks to Kim for her little love note.  The women here still talk about the team that came over for the conference!

Will give you a few more village/town names for your enjoyment:

Pucklechurch
Goose Green
Minchinhampton
Bury St. Edmunds
Ipswich
Abergavenny
Upper & Lower Piddle
Wooten-Wawen
Lane Ends
Tutbury
Froghall

Will send more next time.   Aren't they great?

Love you all,
Nadine

Dear Friends,

It has been a while since we last posted something on this blog.  Our lack of input does not mean that nothing has been going on.  In fact a lot has happened.  On September 1, 2007, we returned to Henley in Arden to continue our ministry at Henley Baptist Church.  The folks there were excited to see us and so glad that we were back.  We began to make plans for a Women's Conference at our church led by five of the greatest women from our home church, Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Stafford, Virginia.  They were to arrive early November for the 2 day conference (A Heart of Faith).  They are very good friends of ours and very active in the Women's Ministry at the Mount.  With the plans under way, we were excited to be part of such a conference.  Conferences like the one we were planning do not just happen in the UK.  The plan was that these friends would arrive and we would have the opportunity to show them the England we had discovered.

However, God had other things in mind.  Nadine's father, who was in Arizona, began to fail because of the lung cancer he had.  On October 1, we flew to Phoenix to be with him.  When we arrived we found him much worse than expected.  The following day, he drifted off into sleep.  But between the time we arrived and the next afternoon, we got to visit with him quite a bit.  He passed away on Friday, October 5.  His church scheduled his funeral service for Sunday morning with the graveside service on Monday (which I was privileged to conduct).  He was very active in his church serving as deacon, treasurer, usher, and many other responsibilities.  His service was well attended.

We then set out to clean his place and get it ready for a new buyer.  We worked hard getting rid of all of his things, many of which he had accumulated over the years.  It seemed like we would never get it all done.  We had scheduled our return to Henley for November 1.  One night, we went to dinner at a place called Lefty's.  When I walked into the restaurant, I motioned to the hostess that we needed a table for 5.  As the rest of our party entered, I suddenly began to get very dizzy (something that usually happens when I would leave Lefty's).  I thought I was going to hit the floor.  I managed to find a bench and soon regained my equilibrium and made it through the evening without any other incident.  The next morning my brother-in-law took me to the fire station to have my blood pressure checked.  It was unusually high (my blood pressure is always 120 over 78).  To make a short story long, over the next few days I visited the fire station several times and my blood pressure was consistently elevated.  One day (after the EMT suggested I go to the hospital) we drove the 40 miles to the hospital, but nothing could be found out of the ordinary.  A couple of days later I became violently ill.  Later, the family called for the ambulance to take me back to the hospital.  Throughout the evening, I grew worse.  Finally about 1 or 1:30 in the morning I was released with the information that I had a rather large kidney stone.  We cut our visit in Arizona short and took a red-eye back to Virginia, in time to see a urology specialist to see what to do about the stone.  He suggested that we try the laser treatment because it was the most effective way to deal with such a large stone.  The first trip into the hospital for the removal of the stone was ineffective.  The doctor could not break it up.  We set up another time to go back to the hospital.  I told the doctor that if he was unsuccessful in getting the stone out to at least use the laser and etch a happy face or some witty saying on it so that when I donated my body to science they would find it and say, "WOW, Look at this."  But he was successful this time in getting most of it out and in its place he inserted a stent.  A week later, I went into his office to get the stent taken out.  I came in the little room and the nurse told me to take off everything below the waist and get on the table and cover up with a paper napkin (which I did).  When she came back in she promptly removed the napkin.  Here I am laying there for all the world to see and another nurse walked right in and said, "Good Morning."  I said, "Come right on in."  But I discovered something:  When you blush, you blush all over.  It is fortunate that I have not learned how to import pictures into this blog for I might be tempted to show you an ugly stone with a small happy face.

Now with everything completed we were able to set our sights on returning to England.   (Of course, by the time we were able to actually return,  we had already missed the wonderful experience of hosting the five wonderful ladies from the Mount).  We applied for new visas (we were granted ones for 2 years) and I made our flight schedule for New Years eve so we could arrive in England on January 1, to continue our ministry at Henley Baptist Church.  The people there started praying for us and awaiting our return.  We received phone calls, e-mails, and many cards.
 
So, on New Year's eve, we flew to London, arriving on New Year's day.  It was a great flight and everything went very smoothly - just as though God had planned it all ahead of us - picture that! 

We quickly and happily settled in, took a nap, then went out to dinner with our friends, Stan and Wendy Gregory.  

We now are ready to begin again!! 

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NADINE'S CORNER:

Hi everyone,

As you can see from Dick's "Saga", things have been pretty tense for us for three months.  We are so happy to be back in England with our British friends / family.  We will be wined and dined for at least this week, which we do so appreciate!

We had a great Christmas and really enjoyed seeing our granddaughter, Christina, from New Mexico.

You can't imagine how much work it was to get ready to return.  Since we will be staying for a full year, the Lord willing, there were many more "things" that had to be shipped over for us.  Let me tell you, mailing "stuff" to the UK is NOT cheap!  The thing that I couldn't stop thinking about was how much it was going to cost us when we get ready to go back home!!  Yikes.

Our flight home was a very comfortable trip.  I made it without any stress to speak of.  The flight was the only thing I was dreading and then it turned out to be quite a great experience.  I'm sure that my Sunday School class prayed me through it and I love every one of them.  For those of you in my class who read this, THANK YOU THANK YOU
THANK YOU.  If only you had loaned me your LEGS for all the walking I had to do..........hmmmm

We've already been shopping in Stratford.  We've already been to our favorite Tea Shop.  I'm in the "thinking" and "consideration" stage of getting back to Curves!  Ahem .  .  .  .  Well, okay, I admit it -- I'm really into having FUN, not necessarily exercising!!  hmmmmmmmm 

We have been blessed by having been able to return to the Mount for a little while.  Thanks to all of you for your gracious love and affection.  It's always a blessing to see all of you.

Until next time.........

FUN TOWN/VILLAGE NAMES FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT:

Aymestrey
Cleobury Mortimer
Fron Isaf
Llynclys
Mucklestone
Pontfadog
Stourbridge
Selattyn
Shobdon
Shelton Under Harley
Tushingham cum Grindley
Trefonen
Weston Under Redcastle
Wykey
Wrockwardine
Woefferton

Great, aren't they?  We love going through all the little villages and towns.  They are marvelous and their names are so entertaining.

Our love,
The Harmons

Blessings to you from the Harmons.

After a whirlwind trip to Virginia, California, Arizona and back to Virginia, we headed back to the UK.  I am still tired from the trips, but here we are, none the same.

Let me catch you up to speed on the trip home.  We left on Saturday, July 16, and after a 2 hour delay in New Jersey, we arrived home safely (with only 1 suitcase missing).  I was invited to preach at Grace Baptist Church in Woodbridge, VA on the 17th.  Grace Baptist has 3 morning services, the first one starting at 8:15.  Remember the missing bag?  It was mine and it was my main one with my shaving stuff and other vitals.  We got up about 6a.m. on Sunday morning and my bag was on the front porch, thankfully.  I left at about 7:30 for Woodbridge.  I came out of our development onto Mountain View, heading for Joshua road.  All the while, I was thinking that things looked strange, although I could not figure out what was wrong with this picture.  When I got to Joshua and started to make a left turn, it hit me.  I had been driving on the left side of the road!!  (New habits are hard to break!)  Fortunately, there was no traffic out that early.  The Catholics were already gone to Mass, the Seventh Day Adventists were preparing to go to work, and the Baptists were still in bed.  God protected me and I am so grateful that HE was up and about.

After about a week we headed for San Diego to spend a few days with our kids.  Every year for quite some time,  our daughter and our son (and families) meet for a few days at a wonderful resort in Rancho Bernardo and we joined them this year.  It was a great time to relax, play some golf, eat out, relax some more and do some sightseeing.  But most of all, to get to spend time with our kids and grandkids.

From San Diego we flew to Phoenix (65 degrees to 100 plus in 45 minutes).  We headed north to a very small town in the middle of the desert near Prescott to spend time with Nadine's family.  Her father was in the middle of radiation treatments for his lung cancer. We drove him for his treatments (35 minutes into town, 4 minutes treatments, 35 minutes back home) and then we would do some errands for him.  That Sunday I preached at his church (First Southern Baptist - Cordes Lakes, AZ).  The weather was strange enough with monsoon type storms and then warm days, then windy days and nights.  After about 2-1/2 weeks we returned to Virginia to prepare for our trip back to England.  Virginia weather was no picnic as it was in the upper 90's, no rain but plenty of humidity. 

While we were gone from Henley, they had the worst storm in 60 years, with major flooding.  There was about 3 feet of water running down High Street. Cars were abandoned, homes and businesses were flooded (some businesses are still not opened).  I told some friends in Virginia, "we lived in Texas, we left, and it flooded.  We lived in Henley, we left and it flooded.  We're getting ready to go back to Henley, you'd better get your Wellies out."

Last Sunday was a great day as God's house was full and folks were excited that we were back.  We had guests for the weekend.  The President of American Interim Pastors Ministries, Chuck McComb and his wife Pat, were beginning their tour of the Uk to see how many more churches they can interest in this ministry.  We met with a Regional Minister and an elder of a church nearby to discuss the possibilities on expanding AIPM.  We are due to return to Virginia in mid December.  Keep us in your prayers. Some more prayer needs... Last week after a Ladies meeting, I was called into the church and there sat a couple.  They had tried to get in through the front door but it was locked.  Dr. David and Swapna Sen-Gupta had been let into the church by one of our dear older ladies.  I introduced myself and asked if I could be of help to them.  After visiting for a few moments I learned the purpose of their visit.  Swapna (her name means 'Dream') was very stressed because she was to begin her chemo treatments for cancer the next day.  They wanted to just pray.  We talked about God's love and goodness and care.  She seemed to calm down quite a bit and felt better about things.  I prayed with her and her husband and encouraged them to attend services whenever she felt up to it.  On Saturday, we received a lovely card from her thanking us for praying with her and for taking time to speak with her.  In her card was an offering for the church.  I called her yesterday to see how things were going and to thank her for the card.  She was very excited that I had called her.  We do not know what is going to transpire with her cancer, but I know that God will stand with her and her family through this trial.  She will not have to go through it alone.  Please join our church in praying for this family.  Other prayer needs: Joyce Dunscombe (cancer treatments), John Dalman (leg), John Hammond, Stan and Joyce Adams (salvation).  

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NADINE'S CORNER:

Hi everyone, it's good to be back in our routine, writing our blog and thinking about all of you.

As Dick was telling you, we had quite an exciting time back in the states.  We enjoyed every minute.  But ooooooo, was it hard on these old bods!!  I sure hate this gettin' old!  Of course, I can see how the "alternative" would be a little tough, yes??   So - we're back in the saddle, as they say in Texas!  

Speaking of Texas - our house DID finally sell and that is all behind us thankfully!  Whew!  And it wasn't an easy, smooth ordeal, but God got us through it as always.  I'm so thankful that He's so willing to rescue us, aren't you?

Just to elaborate for you on the flights coming home, etc........    We were on one of the little puddle jumpers going from Dulles to New Jersey.  Dick wasn't able to get us together, he was 8 rows ahead of me.  We were on the side where there was only one seat (there were only TWO on the other side!)  Anyway, I was having to pray a lot about my discomfort (I'm claustrophobic), but I kept telling myself that I was okay - it was only a 45 min. flight.  So the plane taxis out - excuse me, I should say the plane CRAWLED out to the tarmac.  I was still praying and trying to read, or work a puzzle to get my mind off my uncomfortable state of mind.  So, after we've been sitting there for about 15 mins, the Pilot comes on and says that Newark is not allowing us to leave on schedule because the air traffic is so bad there and it will be 1-4 hours, hopefully closer to 1.  Well.....let me tell you.....I just about came unglued!  All of the things I had been able to do to get my mind off the claustrophobia just went right out the window!  To make a long story short - when the Stewardess saw my distress, she arranged for one lone person to trade seats with me and created a spot for both of us on the other side!  Well, that saved her a BIG headache I'll tell ya'!  She didn't have to see a woman go hysterically beserk!  Ha.   All was well once we changed sides and Dick was beside me!  Then....after a few minutes, the Pilot let us know it would probably be closer to an hour - yayyyyyyyy!!!!   So...here comes the Stewardess with a set of "wings" for me.  She told me I deserved them and she was SO proud of me!   Ha....  Now I know what to do to get them things!!   Then when we finally got to New Jersey, that flight was delayed about 45 mins.  What a way to run an airlines!  

We came back to really beautiful weather here.  They finally got their summer.   Of course, even if it had been raining we would have thought it beautiful. 

Since coming back,  it's like we never really left!  Routines are great, aren't they?  As long as they leave some room for 'foolin' around' in all the wonderful places we like to explore!  We hope to get into Scotland this time around and maybe the coastal area. 

We would ask you to be in prayer for us as we try to decide what the Lord wants us to do after December.  Does He want us to return and stay in Virginia - or does He want us to come back and minister here once again.....

Our faith, our wisdom, our obedience is being challenged and we don't want to make any mistakes.  Charles Colson said the following:  "....obedience is the key to real faith - the unshakable kind of faith so powerfully illustrated by Job's life...Job confirmed his obedience with those classic words of faith:  "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him."  (Job 13:15) 

Now......for the fun stuff.....MORE VOCABULARY

ADVERT                                           Advertisement

ANTICLOCKWISE                            Counterclockwise

AUBERGINE                                     Eggplant

BILLION                                          A thousand of our billions (a million million)

BISCUIT                                          Cookie

BOBBY                                             Policeman ("Copper" is more common)

BRILLIANT                                       Cool

BUM                                                Bottom or "backside"

CANDY FLOSS                                 Cotton candy

CARAVAN                                        Trailer

CAR BOOT SALE                              Temporary flea market with car trunk displays (a good place to buy back your

                                                            stolen goods)

CAT'S EYES                                      Road reflectors

CEILIDH (KAY-lee)                           Informal evening of song and folk fun

CHEAP AND NASTY                           Cheap and bad quality

CHICORY                                          Endive

CIDER                                               Alcoholic apple cider

CLEARWAY                                        Road where you can't stop

COACH                                              Long distance bus

COTTON BUDS                                   Q-tips

COURGETTE                                       Zucchini

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Nuff for now, More next time - LOVE TO YOU ALL...... 

 

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 We begin our final week in Henley-in-Arden in preparation for our trip back to America.  This weekend has been special for us.  On Saturday, Henley Baptist Church had their annual Praise and Pudding.  It was a special time of worship and fellowship.  We began the program in the church auditorium with singing the great hymns of our faith.  After about an hour and a half we moved to the fellowship hall for desserts.  Both the singing and the desserts were wonderful.  Now I want you to understand that I have nothing against worship.  Worship is vital to our connection with God.  Worship is one way we honor God.  Worship is important to our growth in Christ.  So I have nothing against worship.  I love to worship.  But because I also have a sweet tooth, I thought we should have called the day Pudding and Pudding and went right for the desserts.  I want to talk about music in this final blog.  The British people love to sing.  Our worship services are always filled with great music and singing.  One of the major differences between American and English worship is that here the pastor is the worship leader.  Can you imagine that?  Me being the worship leader?  It scares me each week.  It is one thing to speak, it is another thing altogether to lead worship.  But back to the main thing.  I believe the British outshine Americans when it comes to singing.  They love their music.  During our time here we have attended several concerts (something we do not seem to do in America).  What I am talking about particularly is the singing of all male voice choirs.  In May, I attended with a good friend, John Dalman, the 'Solihull All Male Voice Choir'.  We travelled north to Shirley to the Methodist church for the concert.  John used to sing with this group for about 25 years.  Some of the songs they sang were: The Battle Hymn of the Republic, All in an April Evening,
Morte Criste (When I Survey The Wondrous Cross), Seventy Six Trombones, and The Lord Is My Shepherd.  They concluded the evening by singing There Will Always Be An England and Britania.  During the singing of these last 2 songs numerous British flags were waved by members of the audience.  There were about 40 men (mostly older) who made up the choir.

About a week ago we drove to Tewkesbury to attend a special night.  Nadine and I, and Stan and Wendy Gregory attended this concert.  It was held at the Tewkesbury Abbey and there were 9 men's choirs joining together (about 300 men).  Choirs from Birmingham, the Cotswolds, Worcester, The Forest of Dean, Kidderminster, and hosted by the Churchdown Male Voice Choir.  The combined choirs sang selections like Llanfair, All in The April Evening, You'll Never Walk Alone, Give Me That Old Time Religion, The Lord's Prayer and Morte Criste.  The Churchdown Choir sang Everytime I Feel The Spirit, Let There Be Peace On Earth.  The Abbey was packed (well over 1000 people) and we had to sit in the very back of the church.  This was the 25th anniversary year of The English Association of Male Voice Choirs.  Some of the groups were formed as far back as 1900 or during WWII. The accoustics were not the greatest,  but the choirs were wonderful. 

In the last week of June, a school choir from Brentwood High school in California came to Stratford upon Avon for a noon time concert at the Holy Trinity Church (where Shakespear and Anne Hathaway are buried).  Susan Stuart, in her 31st year as director, actually brought 2 groups to perform.  One was the 35 voice Chamber Singers and the other was the 65 voice A Cappella Choir.  Nadine and I took a couple of ladies from our church (Bette Clarke and Janet Chisholm) to hear these young people sing.  They were very, very good.  One song the combined choirs sang was Prayer Of The Children, written by an American about the struggle of the Serbian children during the war in Bosnia.  What made this song memorable was that they all signed as they sang.  It was a song that gripped your heart as you visualized the pain and suffering of the children in a war torn country crying out to Jesus for help.  This concert (part of a 6 city tour) was to honor American music with selections from African-American spirituals.  They finished with The Lord Bless You and Keep You.  Afterwards, I talked with the director and met some of the chaperones from an area in California where I served as pastor.  When I told them I used to live in Oakley, they were amazed to find Americans at the concert and shocked to meet someone that knew where Brentwood was located.

The best concert we attended was on a Sunday afternoon in the small town of Alcester (pronounced Alster).  Malcolm Williams, who attends our church, sings with the Alcester Male Voice Choir, who normally have about 80 members.  On June 10, Nadine and I, and Janet Chisholm, went to Alcester Baptist Church for their concert.  Believe it or not, it was very hot and muggy.  The church was crowded and it was difficult to breathe.  The choir had only about 50 or so that day.  But the concert was fabulous.  They sang songs like Bunda Bunda (The Joyful Summer Season), He, Gwahoddiaa (Welsh for Invitation), You Raise Me Up, When I'm 64 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and they finished up with an American Trilogy in our honor.  Malcolm asked the director Judith Land to have the choir do this number.  The final songs included Glory, Glory, Hallelujah and Dixieland.  We did not have any US flags to wave.  As I said, the British love to sing. 

I wish that our American churches could learn to sing and worship as the English do.  It is a thrill to my heart to be able to be a part of the worship service (even though they had to put up with this pastor as worship leader).  It blessed my heart as we offered our hearts and voices to our Lord.  I have had people tell me, through the years, that they cannot carry a tune.  My standard answer is that if you lay a crooked stick on the ground, it looks pretty crooked.  But if you put it with a bunch of other crooked sticks, it doesn't look so bad, in fact, it is hardly even noticed.  As I had the opportunity to plan and lead worship (even as a crooked stick), what joy came to my heart to present our worship to God as a love gift.  Do you know where worship comes from?  It comes from God.  Our singing is a gift to and from God.  The prophet Zephaniah said, "The Lord your God is with you, he is mghty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" (3:17).  Did you catch that?  God sings to you.  He loves to still your troubled heart through His great love and he loves to communicate that love to you through singing.  Can you imagine that?  The God of the universe, who created our solar system and all the galaxies of space, sings to your heart of His love for you.  So, when we have opportunity to worship, let's sing of our love to the Lord.  I enjoy all types of worship songs.  The old hymns, the newer praise songs, the songs of Scripture.  It doesn't matter which is preferred as long as the songs are expressions of our love to God.  Much of what we know and believe about God, we learned from the hymns of our faith.  The ancient people of God sang songs of worship from their hymnal (the Psalms).  Modern song writers have taken the words of Scripture and created beautiful worship songs for us to sing.  Let's raise the level of worship by singing for God's glory.  Remember, worship is not about you or me.  It is about loving our Lord Jesus Christ and offering our lives to Him.  It is about singing His Word back to Him as an act of surrender.  It is about presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to Him (that sounds pretty reasonable to me).  As God sings to your heart and rejoices over you, why not sing to His heart and rejoice over Him in worship.  I have been in many worship services through the years.  I have watched as some folks refused to sing.  I have seen others stop singing about half way through the service.  I have witnessed others do a myriad of things instead of opening their hearts to the Lord in song.  What a missed opportunity to express our love to the Lord!  Let's not miss any more.  As a preacher, I was always concerned that I was not given enough time for my sermon during the service.  But I had to learn that worship isn't about me.  It is about Jesus.  He is worthy of our best and our highest worship we can offer.

I love you.

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Nadine's Corner:

It's been a wonderful six months!  Our hearts have been so blessed by the country, the people, the sights, the church,  the humor of the Brits, etc., etc., etc.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Here's the final installment on the British Vocabulary:

BOB'S YOUR UNCLE           There you go (with a shrug), naturally

CHEERIO                           Goodbye

CONCESSION                    Discounted admission

COS                                   Romain lettuce

CRAIC (crack)                    Good conversation

CUPPA                               Cup of tea

DEAR                                  Expensive

DICEY                                 Iffy, risky

DIGESTIVES                       Round graham crackers

DRAUGHTS                         Checkers

FELL                                   Hill or high plain

FOOTBALL                          Soccer

FORCE                                Waterfall

GRAMMAR SCHOOL             High School

HOMELY                             Likable or cozy

JACKET POTATO                 Baked potato

JUMBLE                              Sale, rummage sale

JUST A TICK                       Just a second

LEMON SQUASH                 Lemonade

LORRY                                Truck

MEWS                                Courtyard stables, often used as COTTAGES

PILLAR BOX                        Post Office box

ROUNDABOUT                     Traffic circle (Ooooo you haven't lived 'til you've experienced these!)

SELF-CATERING                  Apartment with a kitchen

SULTANAS                           Golden raisins (Popular in scones)

SURGICAL SPIRITS              Rubbing alcohol   (This one was hard to explain to the "Chemist")

SUSS OUT                           Figure out

TA                                       Thank you

TOP HOLE                            First rate

TOPPING                              Excellent

TWEE                                   Quaint, cute

VERGE                                  Grassy edge of road

VERGER                                Church official

WELLINGTONS, WELLIES      Rubber boots

WHACKED                             Exhausted

WITTER ON                           Gab and gab

YOB                                      Hooligan

ZEBRA CROSSING                 Crosswalk 

ZED                                      The letter "z"

Hope you've enjoyed our vocabulary lessons.  I'll have to go round to the library for more.  Mine was a very limited one in the back of one of Rick Steve's travel books. 

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We have quite the itinerary for our six weeks back in the States.  We are leaving NO room for grass to grow under our feet!  (Big as they are)  

JULY 14th - Home to VA

JULY 25th - To San Diego for a visit with our vacationing kids

JULY 28th - On to Phoenix area to visit my Dad and siblings

AUG 10th - Rent a car and drive to New Mexico to see Christina (6hours, prox)

AUG 13th - Return to Phoenix area

AUG 15th - Return to VA

1st week of September - Return to England

 What d'ya think?  Think these two senior citizens can do it?  Yeah....sure we can!  We are just kids at heart!  Of course, Dick's heart is MUCH older than mine, you know....

I get to speak to the ladies at our Ladies' Fellowship tomorrow afternoon.  I'm looking forward to it.  I will share a little about our family, friends, what we'll be doing during our 6 week interval and then I will have to confess my doubts and fears about coming over to England.  Boy, we can sure worry ourselves right into SHOCK, can't we?  All my worries were for nothing.  But then that's ME...the great worrier!  I just have to share something regarding worry that I came across during one of my daily devotions:

"....On occasion I have had to wait a few hours at the big airport in Chicago...I wondered how those pilots taxiing to the end of the runway dared to roar into the sky.  The truth, of course, is none of them dare.  There is a control tower, and someone is in it...It is only when the pilot is told he can take off that he does.

So it is with us.  Free of worry, we can take off in life, even at our age, because there is someone in the tower - our Lord in Heaven.  He tells us to lift our wings, free from fear, and soar!  The only way we can do so is to trust ourselves wholly to Him and to what He says...He whispers, 'Fear not'.  He says, 'Don't worry.'  And so, oldsters - in Christ, dare to live!"    Author:  Jacob D. Eppings for the Senior Devotional Bible Readings

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

Well, let me tell you, that really convicted my silly fearful heart!  I can't begin to express all of the blessings I would have missed had I allowed my fears to keep me from answering God's call.  Not only that, I would have been responsible for keeping my husband from experiencing "heaven on earth" right here in Henley In Arden !!!  His heart was on fire - he was so ready to preach and to teach!   So I gave my fears (concerns as I like to call them) to the Lord and sat back (well, if you could call it that) and watched Him work His miracles.  HE DIDN'T LET ME DOWN.  Not in one single area of "concern" did He let me down!  Wow....it's hard to describe how that has felt.  I'll tell you one thing - the angels weren't sitting around watching TV or taking naps - - THEY WERE WORKIN' THEIR LITTLE WINGS OFF!!

I'm looking forward to returning in September to see what God has in store for us the following four months.  Our VISAS are up in January, so we have to go home sometime in December.  But it's just downright exciting to know that the Lord is not finished with us yet - He has more blessings coming our way because we are willing to be obedient to His plans.  And don't think that, in itself, is an easy thing.  You know, I keep bringing my silly fears and excuses to the foot of the cross and then...you know what??  I go pick them up again !  Yep.  That's me.  Do you think I'll ever get over it and change once and for all???

We love you all and look forward to meeting with you again through the Harmonsinengland blog.  God's blessings to all of you.  Please remember us in your prayers.  (Dick really needs it!) ahem.

Our love

 

 

 

 

Greetings,

2 weeks ago, Nadine and I visited Oxford.  It has 37 colleges and way too much traffic.  We had lunch on Broad Street and sat outdoors for our meal.  While there, I happened to notice an engraved plaque on the wall across the street.  After lunch I walked over to read the plaque.  I was amazed at what I read.  My attention was directed to the center of Broad Street where there was a brick 'X' (or cross).  I read the rest of the plaque then stood on the 'X'.  What I read on the plaque shook me a moment.  In the years of 1555 and 1556, three Protestant ministers from the Cambridge area were burned at the stake at that very spot.  Bishops Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer all lost their lives for their faith.  Actually, the Catholic Queen Mary had ordered the burnings.  I thought, "How many folks would be willing to take such a stand for Christ today?"  Even though there are about 30,000 people a year martyred in our world today for their faith, there are not many people that I know would take such a stand.  One wonders why the state of the church is so weak and losing ground.

But Oxford is a beautiful city.  One place I wanted to visit was Christs Church (and college).  I was all primed to take many photos of the place.  We were not allowed into the courtyard or campus.  A special ceremony was taking place with the installation of a new Bishop of Oxford.  We stood at the gate and watched the procession with the new bishop, in all of his brilliant colors, pass in front of us.  I was able to see on the inside of the courtyard to see many other dignitaries.  One that I recognized was Camilla (wife of Prince Charles) who, it appeared, had been relegated to serve as representative of the royal family.  Nadine declined to be interviewed by a TV reporter on the events (I have never known her to be shy of words).  We enjoyed our day after riding the tour bus around town several times.  We passed the pub where C. S. Lewis and J. R. Tolkien (both professors in Oxford) met to discuss either the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia.

A week later, we visited Cambridge.  Cambridge is named after the bridge that crosses the River Cam.  It has 31 colleges with 26,000 students and 36,000 bicycles and way too much traffic.  We had lunch with our friends Nigel and Val Ford, at a coffee shop at the Andrew Street Baptist Church.  After lunch we took a self guided tour of the historic church.  One of the highlights for me was to see a chair and a foot stool that belonged to William Carey, the father of modern missions who spent over 40 years in India.  If you recall your history, William Carey was a shoe cobbler from a nearby town.  He went before the Baptist Missions Organization of England looking for financial assistance to serve the Lord in India.  He was told that he was not needed and that if God wanted to save those people, He would do it without Carey's help.  He went anyway and while there translated the Scriptures into the dialect of the Indian people.  I took a photo of the chair and foot stool but because I have not learned how to import pictures into this blog, you'll have to trust me on this one.

While touring the city of Cambridge (tour bus again) we were reminded by the guide of the three men who were taken from Cambridge to Oxford and executed for their faith.  We saw some punting on the river.  Punting is a gondola type boat that is moved along the river by long poles (Venice style).  We did not take the time to do that.  But we did walk a great deal and saw some of the colleges.  Kings College is world famous and is very beautiful.  Queens College is the oldest, established in 1444.  Trinity College is beautiful and rather large, stretching for several blocks. 

We are about 2 weeks from our departure back to the states (July 14).  The Henley Church has asked us to return as soon as possible and to finish out the year here.  We will  try to get in one more blog before we pack up our stuff.  This has been the most enjoyable experience and the time has flown by so quickly!  God has been so good to us by giving us a place to serve, people to love, a challenge to meet and a ministry to share.  Folks are excited to be a part of the church.  Last Saturday (June 23) we had the Family Festival at the church.  The church was decorated with flowers and made to look very beautiful.  We played games in the garden until the rain drove us inside.  There was enough food to feed the entire town.  After overdoing it around the tables, we went to the chapel and sang some old hymns.  The folks here love to sing and praise the Lord.  God has been so good to us.

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NADINE'S CORNER

Hi everyone....here's more fun word translations

PUBLIC SCHOOL                                          Private "Prep" school

PUNTER                                                       Party goer

QUEUE                                                        Line

QUID                                                           1 pound (US $- $2.00)

SCOTCH EGG                                               Hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat

SERVIETTE                                                   Napkin

SLEEPING POLICEMAN                                 Speed bump

SMALLS                                                        Underwear

SNOGGING                                                   Kissing, cuddling

SOLICITOR                                                   Lawyer

STONE                                                          14 pounds (weight measurement)

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This place is fun - no doubt about it.  I think the language difference is the most fun.  As you have been able to see by our "Word" translations, even though we speak the same language, it's quite different!  I believe I mentioned earlier on that they put the emphasis on different syllables from us and it makes for some thought-provoking moments!!

The weather here is the greatest!  Perfect for "hot-blooded,  MATURE females" like myself!!!!!   Lots and lots of rain and clouds and usually wind, but we haven't minded in the least.  I love it.  What will take some getting used to is the heat we're going to meet up with in Virginia and Arizona and New Mexico during our short break in the States!  Now, THAT's  some disturbing weather!  HA.  

I have to report some disturbing news to you this time around.  As you know, my Dad has been ill since we've been here with lung cancer.  The Lord has been very, very gracious to him and to me by taking care of him and giving him a time of respite.  He has felt very good the entire 6 months and that has taken such a burden off my shoulders.  A couple of weeks ago, we found out that the cancer has now bounced over to the other lung and into his lymph nodes.  As you must know, this is NOT good.  He will be taking more radiation treatments (low dose) until his dosage quota is up.  Then mother nature will take her course.  My siblings pressed the Doctor for an idea of how long my Dad might have and he told them that usually in these type of cancer patients, they last about six months from the time of diagnosis.  My Dad was diagnosed in the Feb/Mar timeframe, so you can see what we're up against here.  It does, of course, make it most difficult to plan our return trip, and the future as well.  But then, we never know what the Lord has planned, do we?  My Dad is a fighter with a will to live and I think he will surprise everyone with his ability to rebound better than most.  He believes God is going to help him and never gives up hope.   What a testimony he is to my heart.  Please keep him in your prayers.

I have also learned in the past week that my very good, very sweet friend in Virginia (Millie Taylor) has throat cancer.  She is a Christian, praise the Lord, but she's single and only has one sister that lives close enough to be of help to her.  Would you also keep her in your prayers.  I will be doing all I can long distance to console and encourage her during this time.

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I have a wonderful e-mail about friendship that I would like to share with you.  The title is "TWO HORSES", author is unknown.

"Just up the road from my home is a field in which are two horses.  From a distance, each looks like every other horse.  But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing.  Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is BLIND.  His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.  This alone is amazing.  If nearby and listening, you will hear the sound of a bell.  Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field.  Attached to her halter is a small bell.  It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her!

As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray.  When she returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back, making sure her friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owner of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.  He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.  Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives.  Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see.

Good friends are like this.  You don't always see them but you know they are always there.

Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours.

Someone said, "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." "

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Until the next time -

Our love to all.

 

 

Greetings in the name of the Lord,

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to see some of the 'locks' that are a part of the British Royal National Canal system.  Way back in the 1700's the canal system reached its peak.  The idea was promoted by Mr. Josiah Wedgwood (ever heard of Wedgwood china and pottery?) who wanted to not only supply his company with materials and a growing market, but saw into the future of the Industrial Revolution.  Up until that time a horse drawn cart could move maybe 3 tons of goods or materials.  But with the canal system, the same horse could now tow a barge that carried over 30 tons, an increase of over ten times.  Of course, now horses no longer pull along the canals.  Trucks (lorries), trains and airplanes have taken over the cargo business.  Anyway, as we visited the locks, a forty foot narrow boat was entering the locks at the top end.  A retired school teacher purchased the boat to enjoy his leisure days and nights.  He had a mate with him whose job it was to open the locks so the boat could continue on their journey south.  We were about 114 miles north of London.  Traveling at a speed of 4 miles an hour (or going through 4 locks in an hour) our new friend could make it to Bristol (85 miles) by early October!  His boat, the Brian (his middle name) was equipped with a small kitchen, bedroom, bath, and a TV (all the comforts of home).  I have no idea where his deck hand slept.  We were invited to get on the boat and ride with the captain through the locks (while the deck hand manuvered the lock mechanisms).  The lock system was old with valves that needed to be hand cranked, then the gates had to be physically pushed open or closed.  When the valve was opened, a rush of water came in filliing up the lock and when the gate was open, we were allowed to enter.  When we were finally set, the gates were closed, the valve at the bottom end of the lock was opened allowing the water be released and our boat gradually began to lower.  When we got to the level for the next section, the bottom gate was opened and we could move out into a holding pond in preparation for the next lock.  These same steps had to be repeated for each of the locks.

The spiritual lessons struck me right away.  Here we are as God's people on our journey to a safe harbor.  But along the way there are many obstacles, things that can hinder our progress and impede our journey.  The evil one wants to see us come to a complete stop at just the sight of a maze of hindrances.  But our Heavenly Father desires us to use those same obstacles as opportunities to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  With the help of our mate (Jesus), we can conquer every obstacle and get to our destination.  When we enter a 'lock', Satan wants to make things as difficult as possible for us.  He desires that we get frustrated at the time it takes to get anywhere.  We want instant spiritual maturity  Satan wants us to get depressed over lack of progress.  Here in England over 31 million prescriptions were issued for depression this past year (that is one prescription for every two people).  There are signs when we are depressed: that cloud that hangs over us has been picked up by Doplar radar and is broadcast on the 6 o'clock weather report; you find you're talking to yourself and you are not even interested in what you have to say; you want to watch a comedy on TV so you tune to see Congress in action; you discover that you have a 5 o'clock shadow and you don't care and you are a woman; The employer who three months ago said you were indispensable, suddenly dispenses you; Your Credit Card gets rejected at the church car wash; you start crying uncontrollably during the bonus round of Jeopardy; your daughter elopes with the leader of a motorcycle gang who has twice as many tattoos as brain cells.  It has been rumored that in the story of Snow White, there are only six dwarfs.  Happy is just  Grumpy on Prozac.  Depression gets all of us at some point or another.  Satan knows if he can get us depressed or sidetracked, he can really slow us down.  I noticed our Captain friend had a map of the canal system on his boat.  I wondered why.  Then I found out that there are over 4,000 miles of canals in the system.  Satan would love to get us on the wrong waterway.  But God has a plan for each of us and a map (Bible)  to chart our way and a wonderful guide (the Holy Spirit) to pilot us.  The locks are stepping stones to help us reach new levels in our Christian life.  Whatever the evil one has planned to hinder us, God wants to use the same hindrance as a growth opportunity.  I am not sure that Leonardo Da Vinci had all of this in mind when he invented the lock system back in the middle ages.  God does His part, but we have to do our part.  Paul reminded us to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in us to accomplish His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13, Revised Harmon Version).  We have to work out what God works in.  If we try to work out what God has not worked in us, it won't work out.  So as Satan desires to stop our progress (locks), God uses the same things to help us to grow (God is always at work in our lives).  You know that the Christian life is not always easy.  But it is worth it.  Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

On Sunday, June 10th, Robert "Bob" Hutton is to be baptized.  He came to faith a few weeks ago.  He has been very busy working on his testimony.  Keep him in your prayers.  Last Sunday, Jenny Weale shared her testimony about how after the death of her husband, she came to faith in Christ.  The Lord helped her through her grief and in the process she found a wonderful, caring and loving church.  Henley Baptist Church is such a place.  God is at work.  Keep us in your prayers as we wind up our first 6 months here.  God has been so good.  We are so grateful to the Lord and to the folks at Henley for giving us the opportunity to serve here.

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NADINE'S  CORNER

More Vocabulary:

FROGS                                      French People

FULL MONTY                             The whole shebang. Everything.

GAMMON                                   Ham

GOODS WAGON                         Freight Truck

HEATH                                        Open treeless land

IRONMONGER                             Hardware store

JOE BLOGGS                               John Doe

KNACKERED                                Exhausted

LADYBIRD                                    Ladybug

LADY FINGERS                             Okra

LOO                                             Toilet or bathroom

NAPPY                                          Diaper

NATTER                                        Talk and Talk

NOUGHTS & CROSSES                  Tic-Tac-Toe

PLASTER                                       Band-Aid

Funny, aren't they?  But guess what, the British think our sayings are pretty funny too!  More next time.

 

We went to Oxford on Friday (8th).  It was a great experience!  Did you know that there are 37 different Colleges there?  It's amazing.  Of course they're all very old, steeped in tradition and very beautiful.  We were privileged to be present for a historical moment.  A new Bishop was to be installed in Oxford and the entourage came marching right up to the Christ Church gates where we were standing.  A local that was standing there by us told us what was going on. Let's face it....for these greenhorn yankees, it was an honor to witness such a historical moment in a "faraway land".

Well, there are just so many moments that are special here for us.  We hope to be able to remember all of them so that we may share them with all of you as the days go by when we return home.

Thanks for your wonderful prayers.  They're working!  My Dad is really doing well and he knows it's because of all the prayers that have gone up on his behalf.

We love all the comments that we get regarding our blog site so feel free to comment.  Or just send us an e-mail.  We're always checking for "letters from home".  We have had long lost friends get in touch with us because they found our blog.  It's really a small world, isn't it?

We'll be back in Virginia July 14th, so be sure and keep us in your prayers on that day!  I really really really hate that long flight.  I'd much rather be watching DVDs or going sightseeing or going shopping or .... or ....  or ....  oh me!

God bless you all.  We love you. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings to you from "rainy" Henley.  Finally after weeks of sunshine the rain has come.  The locals tell me that this is normal for this time of year (ever heard that before?).  I mowed the back yard (it is called a garden even though it is grass and weeds) with a mower called a Flymo.  I have never seen such a mower.  There are no wheels on it, it just glides on the plastic bottom across the grass and the end result is a scalped lawn.  But with the rain, it's coming back nice and green.

We took a weekend off and went with some friends to Wales.  It happened to be the weekend of a 'Bank Holiday' (and of course it rained some).  The locals tell me that it always rains on holiday weekends.  Wales was very beautiful with green hills covered with sheep.  We stayed in a place called Porthmadog (Porth-mad-ugh).  On Sunday, when it came time to go to church, we had to attend a Presbyterian Church in the neighboring town of Criccieth (Crickey-uth).  Sadly to report, the Baptist churches in Porthmadog and Criccith had closed down.    The Presbyterian Church has 2 services (one in Welsh and the other in English).  The church is without a pastor and so they bring in pastors who speak both Welsh and English.  The preacher for the day was an older man and he preached a wonderful sermon on Jeremiah.  The church building was well cared for (both inside and out).  The pews were hard (but padded) with gates at the end of the row (talk about a "captive" audience).  The worship was led by the organ or the organist, who was vigorous in his playing, as was the congregation in its singing.  As we drove around Wales, I saw many Baptist Churches closed and boarded up.  Perhaps you have heard of the Welsh revivals of years past.  I think it is time for another outpouring of God's Spirit on that country.

Things in Henley are going great.  We are preparing for a baptism on the 10th of June.  Robert Hutton, aged 61, came to faith in Christ about a month ago.  I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with him and he was ready to receive Christ.  He is currently preparing his testimony to share on that day.  Please pray for Robert that his faith will grow and mature.  Henley Baptist has a tremendous task ahead in its discipleship responsibilities to Robert.  I would ask that you pray also for John and Violet Hammond.  They began to attend on our first Sunday (back in January).  I have shared the gospel with them and I believe they are getting close to making a commitment to Christ.  John had a setback when he suffered chest pains, resulting in a five way bypass.  Yesterday was his first Sunday back to church. 

I am excited by what God is doing here.  We continually have visitors checking us out.  Over a month ago Malcolm Williams showed up for church and hasn't missed a service.  He is a tenor for a men's choir in the area and loves music.  He is to have surgery for a throat problem in about a week.  Please remember him in your prayers.  And please pray for Muriel Wanklin who struggles with cancer (the Dr. pulled her off her chemo treatments).  Her sister, Joyce Dunscombe, is to have a cancer surgery assessment at the end of the month.  I would ask you to remember all these with health issues.  

Miss Edna Gane has been in church for several weeks  now after missing a few Sundays.  Edna is in her 100th year and really loves the Lord and her church.  She is special to everyone in the church and to us as well.

Please join us in praying for revival in Henley and throughout this country.  Pray that God might touch the hearts of folks who live here.  The Henley Market is to close in September to make room for about 80 homes.  I pray for some Baptists to move into these homes as well as people who are hungry for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As Henley Baptist Church grows, pray that the church can focus on developing fully devoted followers of Christ.  God has much work to do here. 

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Nadine's Corner:

Hi everyone, are you ready for some more fun with our language differences??  Good.

This is from Rick Steve's "British-Yankee Vocabulary"

AFTERS                       Dessert

BANGER                      Sausage

BANK HOLIDAY            Legal Holiday (Not just the banks)

BIRO                           Ballpoint Pen

BLACK PUDDING         Sausage made from dried blood  (No kidding)

BRACES                       Suspenders

CHOCK-A-BLOCK         Jam-packed

DONKEY'S YEARS         Until the COWS come home

FAGGED                       Exhuasted

FAGGOT                       Meatball 

FIRST FLOOR               Second Floor  (that one makes me shake my head)

Hope these have made you smile!

Dick told you about our visit to Wales - well partially anyway - and I want to share the language with you.  This you won't believe unless you've actually been there!

They were having a political election locally and we were lucky enough to receive a great periodical that I can share some excerpts with you:

"Bydd ein rhaglen ni yn cyfarfod anghenion led led Cymru, gan gynnwys cefn gwlad, ble mae angen ymyrraeth cyhoeddus Llywodraeth i gynnal swyddi a gwasanaethau.  Bydd ein polisiau yn gwneud gwahaniaeth i Ddwyfor Meirionnydd ac i Gymru.  Gyda'ch cefnogaeth ar 3 Mai rwy'n addo i weithio'n ddiflino ar eich rhan."

Whew!  (Note:  If I made a mistake with spelling, WHO WILL KNOW?  I mean, I could walk up and down on my keyboard and it would like similar!)

TRANSLATION:  "Our programme will address need throughout Wales, including rural Wales, where Government public intervention is required to sustain jobs and services.  Our policies will make a difference to Dwyfor Meirionnydd (the candidate's name) and to Wales.  With your support on 3 May I promise to work tirelessly on your behalf."

IS THAT ENOUGH TO BLOW YOUR MIND???   IT WAS FUN.  Thank goodness all the road signs and shop signs were in English as well as Welsh.  We really w