Participants In An Incredible Journey

With the Winter Olympics now behind us, we are left with reminders of incredible journeys of its participants.  I am left with the awesome reminder that I in a way,  I am also a participant in a current journey of my own.

 Many times, I have been thrown out of my comfort zone to join those who are currently in the throws of what appear to be very uncomfortable circumstances that tax our ENDURANCE.
What has it taken me to bear and ENDURE in my journey?  I am still in training for that Grand Olympics.
Training for this grand event is an accumulation of life events that build stamina and ENDURANCE.  These smaller events, trial runs, practice, can be emotionally and physically exhausting.  Yet they are an expected part of training if we are to reach that final goal.
ENDURANCE is what we have to go through life if we are going to get through it.
The assumption is that life is hard and there is the eminent danger of growing weary and falling away. Hebrews 3:14  "We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."  Matt.24:13 "But he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Hebrews 12:1-4  " Let us fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith."
There is a saying that is true "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  Keeping it all together and buckling down for the long haul, holding on tight as the dramas of life toss us from one event to another.  The Greek word for ENDURANCE, "hupomeno" is an abiding under or bearing up courageously with patience.
What exactly is ENDURANCE then?   It is correlated with physical activity, to run, to ENDURE hardship Heb.12.  It's the defense of this Grand Olympic life's events.
It is standing firm without giving in while all odds are coming at you.
It is using strength to continue despite pain and fatigue.  It is the ability to maintain our pace throughout life so we have ENDURANCE to finish.  We have been sent to start a race by God and he expects us to finish that race.
How does he expect us to run this race?  How does he expect us to pace ourselves?  What kind of training and preparations are needed?
We run this race with the strength that God supplies, Eph.6:10.  So lets be reminded to put out great effort to ENDURE to the end.
"It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." Rom.916    Our ability to ENDURE is a gift from God.  Our ability to serve is by the strength he provides,  I Pet.4:11.
It can be very emotionally and physically exhausting caring for ourselves and a loved one.  The need to refuel daily is a necessity.  Daily prayer keeps our hearts and minds open and toned.  Daily reading of God's Word helps us to remember God's goal for us.
Life, being, the ultimate challenge is an arduous journey and we need all the spiritual strength we can get.
We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher, if we are to run with ENDURANCE.   He knows the way.  He sets the pace.
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." I Cor.15:58

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  Gal.6:9

THE TWO-YR.-MARK

  The fact being, I am approaching two years at my present care giving position, again struggling with pangs of melancholy.  (from past experiences the two-yr. mark brings on so many emotions, struggling with weariness and a general feeling of restlessness and desires for something different.)
 
With it, there comes the realization that some of those around could soon be actually experiencing that incredible joy of being in the presence of the Lord.
Our Gentle Man continues to minister with the resources he has left.  He uses his strength to grip a welcoming hand, communicates occasionally with a rare word or raised brow.  While his eye sight and hearing appear to be good, he prefers to retreat into a calm meditative state.
With typical male fashion, he appears to be enjoying the food, however, in a more crushed, creamed,smoothies, or pureed form with the option of trying what is offered in attempt to avoid aspiration.

"Perseverance means the engagement of our person in the most intense and concentrated devotion to those means which God has ordained for the achievement of His saving purposes."  --John Murray on the theme of endurance.

Phil.3:12 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

The foundation for endurance/perseverance:
>He made us his own.
>We HAVE NOT arrived.  We are not privy to ETA.  We ARE still in process.
>Our work IS NOT done--our work is to PRESS ON.

 Recent activities:  Wheel chair ride to enjoy the fountain, listening to God's Word being read by a wife who cares for him dearly.
A recent outing to his grand children's birthday celebration.

Making "Fast Food".   Top: A Chowder Souffle that got carried away.
                                     Bottom:  Pouches of multi-grain cereal with amenities and
                                                    vegetable chowder ready for the freezer.

Humble Beginings

Around 1952, my parents were living in the Mexico back country.  They found many isolated villages with no opportunities for the children's education.
The Lord laid it upon their hearts to open up a boys group home and later a girls home.

The children went to the local school while being kept busy in the home with extra classes of music, Bible, and health.
While my dad often hiked to distant villages to encourage the believers, my mother was left to manage and teach many of the classes.  My sister and I often helped in the classes while my brothers often accompanied my father on those many trips.

Located deep into the mountains in one of those remote villages, lived the Gomez family (Totonac Indians).  My father had invited Manuel Sr. to allow his boys to the home to receive an education.

Mr. Gomez was an outstanding Christian and very bold in sharing his testimony.  One day, accompanying his two older boys, Manuel Jr. 10 yrs. and Joaquin 8, each with a small back pack of belongings they carried supported with a strap over their foreheads, they set off for our house.
As they stopped at a stream to drink, sensing something was not right, he told  the boys to hurry on ahead.  Without questioning, they ran on ahead.
Arriving tired and hungry after walking 6 to 8 hrs.,my parents were left wondering at the absence of their father.
It was not until the next day it was relayed to them that their father had been beaten to death by that very stream by enemies of the Gospel.
Because of his active witness and hatred toward the Gospel, he was one of the many Christian martyrs during this period of time we lived in Mexico.

The boys mother was left with no support for her and all four boys so my parents invited her to serve as a helper in the boys home.  After some years, she developed health issues and the Lord took her home leaving the boys in my parents care, becoming, like brothers to me.  They became very protective of me.
Manuel Jr. and Joaquin both became pastors as the result of the training provided by my parents and others.
Although still residing in Mexico, Joaquin and his wife have managed to keep in touch with my dad and I enjoy chats on Facebook with him as well as periodic phone calls.  (As he puts it "I just want to hear your voice." of course in Spanish)

His wife's amazing story can be read in a chapter of "In The Hollow of His Hand" by Doris Puckett.IN THE HOLLOW OF HIS HAND CLICK HERE

My mother led Teclita to the Lord on the first visit made to her isolated village.  The Lord has used her gifts and winsome personality in spite of her handicap due to osteomalacia.
She remains a dear treasure to those who love her.  Joaquin met Teclita while he served as pastor in her village home.  On one of my recent phone calls, I detected that still sweet spirit that has carried her all these years.
Perhaps in another blog, I will tell more of this but for now this will have to do.