These brown hills. This was the phrase going through my head as I drove from Colton in the Inland Empire of southern California to Bakersfield in the Central Valley. There hasn’t been rain enough yet in these autumn months to give the hills their wintertime green tint; everything is golden brown.  These brown hills.

These brown hills have few trees. As I drove I was aware of few trees; scraggly, tall eucalyptus trees.  My memory rode in the front seat with me, nodding agreement at the knowledge of few and scraggly trees; a memory from the days of living in southern California many years ago. As I drove west toward Pasadena, my memory nodded, yes, more trees, with their dark greens. Pasadena is known for its trees. Cool relief from the hot summer sun. Then rushing headlong into the foothills of the San Fernando Valley and up the Grapevine; fewer trees again. More of these brown hills.

Climbing these brown hills over and across a mountain range. Everywhere these stark, treeless, rocky, barren, brown hills.

Cresting a rise and the valley before me. Flat. Flatter than flatness. The freeway a ribbon disappearing into the greyish-blue haze hanging over the flatness. Hints of mountains through the haze, commonly known as smog, far to the right side and left side of this flatness.

This valley, the Central Valley of California, the San Joaquin (say wha-keen) Valley, is the breadbasket of, maybe, the world. It is a good thing it is flat; for miles and miles it is flat. I drive through fields of green, then brown, then grapevines for as far as the eye can see. There are fruit and nut trees in rows; sentinels, like the grapevines, they seem to go on forever. Big adult trees, little baby trees. I am amazed and wonder at how they take care of so many trees and vines and fields of plants. Farming is a big, big job. I respect farmers; the me in my mind tips my hat.

Bakersfield is in the southern part of the Central Valley of California. It is booming economically, unlike the green hills of Appalachia I came from so recently. So soon ago.

There is both wealth and poverty here. Wherever we go there is poverty. Wealth in green Appalachia has moved out of the neighborhood and left the jobless poor to fend for themselves, in those green hills, become barren for them.

Here wealth and poverty co-exist side by side, as in many communities around the country. Perhaps in your own town. There may be towns without much wealth, but every town has poverty. Somewhere.

We will look for those who are doing something about the poverty here in Bakersfield and see how we can lend a hand. Partner with those who know these brown fields. They can always use another pair of helping hands.

So can we.

I wasn’t born and raised here, as Randy was, but the mountains got into my blood anyway. Now we are leaving after nearly 20 years of imbibing the air and feasting on the vistas of the southern West Virginia mountains.

They say of those born here who leave, the mountains will call them back. Randy did leave here thinking he would never return. It was a Something greater than these mountains that called him back to them, and me with him. Now that same Something greater—God our Father, creator of these mountains and of all the earth—is calling us away to another place, a place with distant mountains and an abundance of flat fields.

But they are right, these Appalachian mountains have woven their magic into the fibers of our hearts—and they will always call to us. Though we had months to emotionally disengage from the ties of “place”—this place we have called home for 20 years, this place of a calling of God to labor with him in his vineyard, his harvest field—as we drive away from our now empty house, our neighbors and especially our friends and co-laborers who continue in the work, we see through misty eyes and swallow around lumps in our throats.

Neither Randy nor I have ever before been tied to “place”. Both of us moved a lot as children, and we moved so often after marriage, I gave up counting a long time ago. So living in one house for almost 20 years is a record for both of us. And we discovered we had become emotionally tied to this “place” as never before.

This place is not just the place we experienced the poignant and aching beauty of nature, but this is the place we embraced the ache of human need in the people around us, and experienced the love of God poured out—in us, and through us, and through them to us.

And this is good. For we are made in the image of God, the God of love, who gave. We followed God to these mountains and gave, and loved. And miles of distance cannot take away an iota of that love, for love is one thing that is eternal; it transcends time and space. Love is one of those things we are told will last when all else fails. It is love that binds our hearts to the mountains and people of West Virginia and it is love that compels us, the love of Christ, to now leave these mountains and people in the capable hands of co-laborers, and travel to another place where the God of love calls us. A place where there are other beauties of nature and more human need to embrace. A place where we will continue to co-labor with God in his fields of harvest.

And that is the highest love of all.

On Sunday, September 14, Randy and I left West Virginia but not the ministry of Mustard Seeds and Mountains (soon to be known as Mission as Life). We will, by God’s grace as he is leading us, be opening new doors of service in the Western and Southwestern United States. Lacy and Shawna Blankenship continue on in West Virginia, holding down the fort in our absence, awaiting the newest reinforcements to join them, Nate and Trudy Bertram and family. Nate and Trudy are just beginning to raise support in their hometown of Columbus, OH. Their goal is to move to WV by March of next year. Rejoice and pray with us that in all these changes God is magnified!

Inscrutable are Your ways, Oh Lord. (from Isaiah 40:28)

“To be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially.” Oswald Chambers, quoted in “My Utmost for His Highest” (September 30)

I have been privileged to know a “sacramental personality”, one who experienced the breaking work of God in various ways and blossomed with quiet beauty, “presenced by God”, through each trial and joy.

Though we laid to rest the “earthly tent”, the body of my mother a few days ago, she is more alive today than ever she was living on this earth. I rejoice, by faith, with her! Hers now is the life we all long for and anticipate. Though we do not wish to leave this life, we at the same time earnestly desire to be “clothed” with the life which will never end. My mom has now this new wardrobe and the desire of her heart fulfilled: to be in the presence of her God and Savoir whom she loves with all her being, and join in worshipping Him with those she loves who preceded her.

At mom’s funeral my brother Daniel read a eulogy he wrote in her honor. I share it with you.

Kindness

In Memory of Luella Rickett

Memory is the genesis of one’s future.  It shapes the mind toward good or evil.  It rules the life by the character of its contents. 

The memory of a mother is perhaps the most formative of all memories. 

The memory of a godly mother is exceeded only by the memory of God. 

I want to share with you some memories of my mother, Luella Rickett, known affectionately as Peg. 

My memory of Mom is infused with the fragrance of Christ. 

She loved Jesus and that love framed her life. 

It is said that the measure of a woman is her prayer life. 

Who in her family or circle of friends can say she never prayed for them?  Not one.

She prayed for countless strangers too.

As for me, I am alive because she prayed for me. 

The Word of God and prayer was her daily bread. 

She didn’t always have sunny days, but she always gave thanks to God. 

Even in her dying, when disease stripped her memory and words came only in fragments, when asked what she would like to say in a letter to her friends, she said, “I want to say what I’m thankful for.” 

Every memory of my mother glows with kindness.

Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, my mother reflected the kindness of God. 

The beauty of her kindness shines in the love of her children, the admiration of her friends, and the respect of strangers. 

She was gentle and compassionate toward all. 

She wasn't one to chide or hold a grudge.

She was patient with my waywardness though uncompromising in her devotion to Jesus. 

She forgave my wildness and endured my absence without complaint.

It was Mom’s unconditional love that led a young troubled woman to Christ who later became my wife.

Mom wore modesty like a ball gown, elegant and plain. 

And though I never saw her dance, forbearance moved her graciously through every injury, struggle, and loss.  

Anyone who knew her will understand why I define kindness by the memory of my mother.

And now dear family and friends I must tell you, Mom’s passing is a temporary loss.  For in the words of the Apostle Paul, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16-17; NIV 1984).

This hope is the memory of the future and because of it we remember Luella Rickett not only for the godly woman she was but for the glorious woman she is today in the presence of the Lord. 

After the funeral Randy, who as a young pastor in Canada preached at many funerals, commented that he had never been at a person’s funeral where Jesus was so often spoken of as having been seen in the person’s life. 

A sacramental personality, one shaped by the hand of God through the hard times of life, into a thing of beauty, one in which God is pleased to dwell.

I love you, Mom. Thank you…for everything.

What’s In a name?

Have you seen the movie Avatar? Randy brought it home on DVD a month or two ago. I wasn’t that interested in seeing it, but I watched it with him. Now, as a follower of Christ and one who holds to the teachings of the Bible, I see the movie as fantasy and that is all; fantasy with cool computer graphics. I reject the overtones of the religious “stew” which apparently is behind the philosophy of the movie (similarly with Star Wars). I can enjoy it without being tricked by its false premises.

One of the things I liked from the movie is that the blue people (ok, Na’Vi; I had to look it up to get some facts straight) used a special greeting: “I see you”.  Though in the movie its meaning had to do with “the god in me sees the god in you”,  again, unlike some who are pantheistic or animistic or any other kind of “istic”, I reject the concept that you and I are “god” in the sense some religions believe we are (have I made enough disclaimers?).

What I like about the greeting “I see you” is the idea that one can know another intimately. “I see you” indicates the one seeing has an intimate knowledge of the person seen. We know God can say of us “I see you” and mean He truly sees us, for He is All Knowing and sees into our very heart (Jeremiah 17:9, 10).  We cannot see into another’s heart as God can, but we can grow in our understanding of who another person is. And we can grow in our understanding of who God is. We can learn His heart by immersing ourselves in His Word, the Bible, putting its truths into practice in our lives, and tuning our ear to obey the voice of the Spirit of God. This is what Peter meant by “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). We can become intimate friends with Jesus; we “see” Him. And seeing Him, we see God (John 14:9).

Oswald Chambers said, “To be born again means I see Jesus....All spiritual history must have a personal knowledge for its bedrock” (My Utmost for His Highest, August 15). The new birth is necessary to perceive God’s rule, to “see” Jesus, to perceive His rule in the universe and in our lives. Chambers says that in the new birth we are given God’s nature and then we can recognize, “see”, God’s rule in the world. Once we begin to see Jesus with these new eyes, we begin to hear with ‘ears that hear’, that is, with a will that obeys what He says.

So anyway, I was thinking about a title, a name, for a book I am writing. This book will be a compilation of short articles I’ve written for Mustard Seeds over the past …hmm, many, many years. (This is a different book from the one I am writing on cancer and suffering.) I am in the process of rewriting these articles now. I have most of them on my computer, but found an inch thick stack of paper copies I hope to scan into my computer. Otherwise I will be typing them in one by one (sigh, says the world’s worst typist).

I’ve been referring generally to this book-to-be as a devotional, but I am not sure if that is the best way to consider it. Then again, it may be just that. I think it fits more with writings which challenge than comfort. I personally prefer the type of writer who says things based in scripture which tend to make me think, that challenge my complacencies, rather than those which pet and pamper.

I See You: Living face to face with Jesus

A possible title for a devotional type book, grounded in scripture, one which challenges the readers to a more intimate relationship with Jesus, one in which they really “see” Jesus.

When we start to really see Jesus, growing in our knowledge of Him, we begin to see the world differently. We begin to live our lives differently, more in line with what He teaches in the Word.

A book title will go through numerous changes before it is ever put on the cover of a book. This is just one thought…and my thoughts behind it.

What do you think?

Finished reading through Psalms again. Had a fun time imagining working with the grandkids to put Psalm 148 to song--or more likely shouting--and action! I couldn’t help smile to myself as in my mind’s eye I could see them reciting and acting out motions:

“Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights (with some motions to indicate ‘way up there’ heavens and heights)!

Praise Him, all His angels (wings and halos);

Praise Him sun and moon; Praise Him all stars of light (some hold up placards with pictures of moon and stars in the night sky)!

Praise Him highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth, sea monsters (what fun we could have with this one!) and all deeps;

Fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word (more pictures and a lot of blowing!);

Mountains and all hills; fruit trees and all cedars;

(And here comes some fun ones) Beasts and all cattle; creeping things and winged fowl (I see them happily crawling on the ground for “creeping things” and animals, flapping their arms for birds; they’d love that);

Kings of the earth (gold crowns on heads) and all peoples;

Princes and all judges of the earth;

Both young men and virgins (have 5 of those in the cast, bowing and curtsying); old men and children (I can see my 6 year old grandsons mimicking old men, the 2 year olds jumping forward as the children).

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven (the kids shouting the words at the top of their lungs!).

And He has lifted up a horn for His people, praise for all His godly ones; even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him.

Praise the LORD!”

What a great time we could have!

And the best part is, they would be learning the Truth. They would be putting the Word of God into their minds where it can work down into their hearts. And they’d have fun doing it!

It’s all in my imagination right now, but one of these days hopefully we can carry out some of these kinds of activities with our grandchildren. Not only do we enjoy having fun with our grandkids, but we take seriously our responsibility to do things with our children, and now our grandchildren, teaching them the Word of God and leading by example with love.

We’ve been admonished, as parents and even grandparents:

I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me…Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. (Moses, in Deuteronomy 4: 5, 9)

We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. (Asaph, in Psalm 78: 4)

There are a variety of ways to pass on truth to our children and grandchildren. Reading the Bible and missionary stories with them; including them in prayer times and rejoicing with them when God answers those prayers; accompanying them on service projects in the community or further afield, studying the Bible with them, talking about all kinds of life situations, helping them make applications of truth to their lives; all these and more we can do as we are given the opportunity, first as parents and then as grandparents. And we can always pray for them whether we are near or far away.

Then we will be doing exactly what Moses, Asaph and other writers of scripture said to do, for they were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit to write down for us what God wants us to do.

“Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.”  Psalm 142: 7 NIV

Today in my regular daily reading of the Psalms I came to Psalm 142. Though I have other margin notes next to verse 7 dating back to 1992, I remember this verse mostly for a different reason. But days before I read that verse, I had come to this verse in Psalm 111:1.  Here is my response:

             Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart…(Psalm111:1a) NASB

            No, I don’t feel like praising God today. I just got this diagnosis of cancer. Cancer! It can kill me! God, I’m not happy about this and I don’t feel like praising You….

            …but I know I have to. I won’t survive unless I change my mind. Oh God my Father, help me!

            I will praise the LORD…I don’t feel like it, but I choose to praise Him…in the company of the upright and in the assembly.

           Great are the works of the LORD… (Psalm 111: 1b, 2a).

My margin note next to verse 1: “Verse after my breast cancer diagnosis Dec 2007. A choice to praise” (I underlined the word “choice”).

From my darkness of soul I came face to face with Light… and Life. I had a choice to make, right then, not the next day; this choice could not be put off. To not choose was to choose. If I chose not to choose to praise God in that moment, I was choosing not to praise God at all. The choice wouldn’t be easier the next day.

In a nano second I knew all this. My emotions were not a part of the equation here. Emotions must never be considered at such times! My Will had to decide. It is always a matter of the Will. Emotions will follow where the Will chooses to go.

I had learned enough through the years about the Lord I was supposed to praise that I recognized Who He is and in that Light, based on what I knew of this God, I made my decision.

            I will praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart. (v.1)

            I am going to publicly praise Him. I will praise Him before His people, “in the company of the upright and in the assembly”.

            Great are the works of the LORD….the LORD is gracious and compassionate (verses 2, 4).

Knowing this, I chose life, I chose to praise this gracious and compassionate and wonder working God. I chose hope for there is hope in no one and in nothing else.

Scrolling forward a few days, in my reading I came to Psalm 142:7. “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.” 

This verse resonated within me. Cancer and its threat on my life and the muscle weakness (MG) which I’d had since 13 years of age, felt like “prison”. I asked God to free me from that prison so I could praise His name. Then the outcome of Him setting me free would be that His people, the righteous ones, “will gather about me because of your goodness to me.”

In that moment I made verse 7 my prayer. The outcome would be glory to God for His amazing work in this poor body. Because every chance I got, I would point out His goodness and mercy and works of might on my behalf.

Scroll forward again about 4 years to today when I read that verse again but now see some of the answers to my prayer. For almost 4 years I have been cancer free. For that long I have been stronger than ever I’ve been since 13 years old, when the muscle weakness (MG) began to manifest itself. Hundreds of people have learned of God’s goodness to me and praise Him for it.

Is this God I chose to praise in the fire truly a God of goodness, a God gracious and compassionate?

He had my vote then, He has it today.

Again with the beautiful West Virginia summer. The skies are gorgeous blue, almost as deep blue as in October, which almost throws me off as to which month of the year it is when I look up. It is definitely warmer than October!

One thing missing though (and if you’ve been here in the summer, perhaps on a mission trip, you know what I mean): it hasn’t been raining that much lately. This weather is great for painting houses and roofing (which our summer home repair teams do), but if you want green you have to have rain! We live in a northern “rain forest”; we have forests because we have rain. I think I can safely say I rarely grouse about the rain! (In fact, one of Randy’s and my favorite things to do is call to one another, if we hear thunder, to go sit on the porch together! We love thunder and lightning storms.)

It was also rainless in Tennessee when we were there last week. It had been 3 months since I’d last visited my mom so I really wanted to get down there and spend some time with her. I’d roll her outdoors in her wheelchair and we’d sit and enjoy the warmth and breezes. I read a chapter at a time to her from Hannah Whitall Smith’s classic, “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” (Barbour Publishing, Inc.). It is a small book, 190 pages, and worth the time to read. It is a classic, as I said, first published in 1870; biblical truths that have stood the tests of time and culture.

Not only did we both enjoy the messages in the chapters I read, but I was amazed and thankful I could read aloud for a whole chapter’s worth of words! If you know me, you know what I mean. For most of my life I have not been strong enough to read aloud. Talking has been difficult, to say the least. I remember back in high school before I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, when I was called on to read in class, it was extremely difficult for me because of the weakness of my muscles and I had to ask to be allowed not to continue struggling to read out loud. It was embarrassing. I was a good reader! I loved reading. But I couldn’t easily form the words and say them clearly so others could understand me. My muscles just didn’t work.

When my sons were just little and we’d sit on the couch in our house in Pasadena to have a morning devotional time before school, as soon as Jeremy and Seth learned to read in kindergarten I had them reading the scriptures for us because it was so difficult for me. I put them to work! I guess it was good reading practice for them. Now, wonder of wonders, I can read to my mom a whole chapter in a book! I get choked up writing this because it is such a miracle to me that I am stronger than I’ve ever been since I was 13 years old.

I am continually amazed and awed by the Person of God. I (dare I say ‘we’?) are so impatient with things in our lives, especially the unpleasant things. We cry out to God to do something about it…and, of course, we mean “do it yesterday!” Oh what He puts up with from us! I have thought, I need to take a hard look at how patient God is with us (from examples in scripture and life around me) and learn from His example of patience, and long-suffering. Oh how He does ‘suffer long’ with us.

Is 40 years too long to wait for a prayer to be answered? Not when you are at the 40 year end of it. And all the prayers I’ve prayed for daily strength…why, God was answering those all along.

Are you on the “front end” of some prayers? Keep praying! Keep giving yourself and your concerns into the hands of God, sincerely asking for His will to be done. Believe me, you and I don’t want it any other way.

Keep on Writin’

Though I feel like a snail (not the same as a slug) in my writing progress, I am excited to announce Randy is almost ready to publish his second book! This will be an e-book. You’ll need a bookless-book to read it, like Kindle, Nook or iPad. It will be sold on Amazon and everyone will be able to afford it. The title has been chosen (From Here to Kingdom Living: Transitioning from short-term missions to a Kingdom lifestyle) and though it is going to be a paperless book, it still has to have a cover design, which is in the final stages of being decided on. Though his target audience is late teens to 20 and 30-somethings, it is one of those topics which every believer can profit from. Watch for further updates!

And as for my snails’ pace…well, I did get in some reading I need to do to learn to write well, publish, and so on. Now, just to get to the writing part…. I count my blog and prayer letters and receipt notes as “writing” to a certain degree, but there is a difference now for me when I talk about writing and “writing”. Because I am learning there is writing, and then there is writing. If I sound like the proverbial dog chasing its tail, I’m not really! I’ve just stepped into a new world and am learning the language and culture. I hope I can learn well and communicate better within this new world! (Prayers appreciated!)

Updates to follow!