Bright Spots on a Cloudy Day

“Giving thanks ALWAYS in all things…”

Richard’s 84th Birthday with Kathleen

Cloudy Days

I have to admit that l have felt a few foggy days the past couple of months. The great joy of celebration after completing 84 years has been squashed somewhat by several pesky, uncooperative  members of the victory team.

The first member to kick in the harness was the illustrious cochlear implant which heretofore had lifted me to an exciting level of hearing sounds unknown to me in recent years. Everything inside the head and outside was checked but to no avail as to what had caused the loss. I can carry on a decent conversation one on one, but in a noisy environment I’m hopeless. I can understand the message 60 to 70 per cent if the speaker lets me hang a little microphone onto his lapel. Otherwise I get around 20 per cent or less. Music has mostly disappeared, it just sounds like blah, blah, blah! The only instrument I can really distinguish in the orchestra is a french horn which sounds like a frustrated cow in the meadow waiting for the evening feed!

My complaint landed on the desk of the best expert the cochlear people have. You are not going to believe this, but I am dead serious! She had the gall to tell me that the problem was that I have gotten too old and that my instrumentation is wearing out! A fine how-do-you-do if I do say so! She could have said “a part seems to be missing” instead of being so blunt.

The list goes on-the eyesight had previously joined the chorus of complaints. Then, a bad tooth which I went to the dentist to fix. But lo and behold, he said there was another one in worse shape that needed to be fixed first.  How many flat tires can you have at the same time?

Thankfully some members are still rejoicing in the eighty-fourth celebration. Especially Kathleen’s eyes and ears to help me and my memory to help her Alzheimer’s. So we’re going to just keep on “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name, and forget not all His benefits.”And then there’s that glorified body deal that’s out there. It’s becoming more of a reality and a hope that “fadeth not away!” We’ve tried to put retreads on the slashed tires until the next time. I’m not sure what to expect with the “eighty-fifth party!” The Rapture and  the glorified body would be the greatest option!

For Prayer and Thanks

• That our Pastor Nabeel’s soon visit will be a blessing to the church and pastor in north Lebanon
• Protection for Safa and her family in Syria in a previously safe area but recently struck by ISIS suicide bombers. She just finished translating my NT book into Arabic and her sister in our church here has formatted it.
• Pray for Pastor Robertson and Maria Esther in Spain as they are working to finish proofing and formatting the OT Handbook for printing in Spanish.
• Pray for the current projects at the Lebanon Good Shepherd camp ground and the summer ministries  to follow.