Texarkana USA, Tuesday, July 8, 8:36 PM I have to admit something to you and this comes after days of contemplation and having been often prompted to speak of it and yet words simply didnt come, as so often they dont and I cant really understand that. Even now, I fear not being able to express what I want without sounding pitiful...OH!, and how I want to speak without sounding so! For there is no desire on my part for sympathy. There has been enough already and I am eternally thankful for every kind word. So please accept my admission as it is given for your reading and be thankful with me...with us. Paula and I would have celebrated our forty-first wedding anniversary last June 22. It is obvious that we didnt make it, although wed planned for it. Paula would have celebrated her sixty-first birthday yesterday, July 7th. She didnt make it, although wed planned for that too. I am thankful for all the Good Lord gave to us of years of life and life together. And at the same time, I am wise enough to know that the time has come for me to move on. She finished her course, but mine stretches beyond me as a broad horizon of ministry we shared up until the time of her departure. She has anchored safely in heavens harbor while I must sail onward. Forty-one years of home life has now been necessarily parted out to children, friends and to others who need things weve had to use. And I am content with that. Things are just that...things. When they have value to others, its good to pass them along. But in the process of such breaking up, I have not yet dealt with a box that contains memories. There are cards and letters and trinkets...bits and pieces of lifes reminders that remain and I am faced with the need to part with these as well. They are as all other things...just things. For life cannot be told by scraps and paraphernalia that remain after life has come to an end. Its telling will always be in the heart. So, another step in our moving on comes with this and I am ready to deal with it. I have found strength to do it...even from some unexpected sources, and I am thankful. Juli and I will be leaving for our shipboard home in the Philippines within days from now. We are excited as you can imagine and we desire your prayers. Please dont sorrow for us. Be happy, for we are, and were courageous and confident in all the Father is doing in our lives! God bless you all. I am praying for you! I will post again.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 02:29:00 +0000