Tag / #concertschedule

by Janet Paschal

GLAD ALL OUR DAYS

This weekend we head to Canton, TX for a church service on Sunday morning, and an annual citywide campmeeting that evening. The people of Texas are always delightful, and they make us feel like instant friends. We enjoy every minute!

Ironically, a week ago, a dear, longtime friend of mine from Texas left this world to be with Jesus. He is now with the God he worshipped in the place for which his heart longed. One of his best friends was an agnostic, but every week they shared dinner and talked about the Bible. That friend emailed me after he passed and told me of his last visit with him. In the telling, he assured my friend that he would have a seat at heaven’s table. Yes, the agnostic was reminding him that God’s promise was true. Even in death, my friend was guiding people toward Christ.

John and I celebrated our 25th anniversary today. We have lost some friends, some family, and we are well past the halfway mark of our threescore and ten. But the older we get, the more we long to go home. Bill Gaither used to say that age tips the scales and, at some point, there is more on the other side than what remains here. Paul the apostle said that whether leaving or staying, either way was a win-win for him. Most think Moses wrote Psalm 90, O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

That sounds good: be glad all our days.

We love you!

Janet

CROSSROADS CHURCH, 1930 South Trade Days Blvd, Canton, Texas / 903.567.0800, 9:30 and 11 am

EAST TEXAS BAPTIST CAMPMEETING, Canton Civic Center / 903.896.7627, 6 pm

by Janet Paschal

“Build Me A Son, O Lord”

There is a Yiddish proverb: Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht – Man plans and God laughs. God’s Word is filled with warnings about how vulnerable and precarious life is. You and I are eyewitnesses to the truth of that. This year we moved to a new “normal” and, sadly, it looks as though we have lost Mayberry forever.

This Sunday we will celebrate Father’s Day in our coronavirus world. Fortunately, fathers are accustomed to last minute shifts and plan modifications. They have lived their lives juggling the schedules and whims of their families; this is especially so if there were daughters involved

General Douglas MacArthur was a much-celebrated father. He commanded the Southwest Pacific in World War II; he presided over the unconditional surrender of the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri; he led the coalition of UN troops during the Korean War. He served as superintendent of West Point Academy, Chief of Staff of the Army, and Field Marshal of the Philippines.

USS MIssouri

During the desperate days of the Pacific War in the Philippines, MacArthur wrote a prayer for his son, Arthur. When the General died in 1964, the New York Times highlighted it in a full page tribute to this military father.

“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

“Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee—and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

“And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity or true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.

“Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’”

Happy Father’s Day to you all. May the Lord keep you in safety and good health.

We love you!

Janet

PS…. My first post-coronavirus event will be on July 21, 22. Details are on the website.