Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Legacy of a Good Man

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing. Psalm 92:12-13




My Dad, Charles Whitten just turned 86 this year. He has had to deal with Macular Degeneration, and now a bit of sleep apnea after having two stents put in his heart valves. I am constantly amazed at how patiently he has faced all those challenges with very few complaints. Mark Twain used to say "When I got older I was amazed at how wise my Father had become". That certainly has been my experience.

When I think of him there in TracePointe Assisted Living in Clinton, Mississippi I can see him getting up every morning to his radio alarm clock that has a rooster crowing to wake him up at 6:00 a.m.. After brushing his teeth and getting his clothes on he puts his cassettes of the Bible and listens like he does every day. Then at around 6:30 if it is a nice day he walks around the building three times to what he has figured amounts to three miles. On days that the weather is bad he has figured how to walk the halls of Trace Pointe to rack up the same distance.

When my Mother was in the same room with him they would take out the Open Window which is a devotional book with the birthdays of missionaries at the back. They read the Bible reading for that day and after reading the commentary of the selection and reading the missionaries having birthdays that day they took turns praying for the family. There is a long list but they have made that a daily part of their schedule. Even now as I am older I find a lot of comfort knowing my parents are praying for us as part of that list. These days it may be a bit harder to get my Mother to participate, but I know my Daddy keeps up the praying. He told me how he had been praying for Tim in Iraq the last time we talked by phone.

Then he walks down to the room where Mother sleeps with the travel bag hanging from his shoulder. This bag has his recorder with the current book he is "reading" by listening. We have been so thankful for the books that are recorded for those who cannot see. Daddy has read more since having Macular Degeneration than perhaps ever. A lot of times when we talk we end up reflecting about a current book he is listening to.

Daddy spends all morning there with my Mother and when she is dressed and ready they go up to eat in the dining room upstairs. It is a good time for my Mother to interact with the other people in Trace Point. After lunch he leaves Mother snoozing in her bed and he walks to his room and takes a nap himself. On getting up he spend the rest of the afternoon with Mother till she eats supper and when she is being made ready for bed he slips back to his room where he listens to some T.V before he too goes to bed.

September the 4th of this year which was my Daddy's 86th birthday we remembered that it had been 49 years since my Dad almost died in an automobile accident between Madrid and Zaragoza, Spain. My grandparents who were visiting that summer were in the car as well as David, Margaret, and I. I was 10 years old almost ready to start 5th grade.


What would my life had been like if my Dad had died in this accident? He had 7 broken ribs, a crushed spleen (to the point it had to be removed), a damaged liver, and a pint and a half of blood that filled his plural cavity. My mother would have had to return to the United States and that would have changed my life entirely. I look at these pictures these 49 years later and wonder how we all fit in the car and how we all didn't die in the wreck.

Psalms 139:16 says, You saw me before I was born. The days allotted me had all been recorded in Your book, before any of them began. What an amazing thought that God had my Dad's days programmed as well as mine and he knew that we would walk through that experience.



Just like Daddy prays for the missionaries on their birthdays I wonder how many people later realized that they were praying for him on a day that he really needed special prayer. There were a series of miracles that got Daddy to an American Air Force Base that was able to operate on him right away.. their f.m radio station was just being inaugerated and they called for A- blood which was somewhat rare, but he needed it in order to survive the operation since he had lost so much blood. Dr. Bloomberg operated on Daddy and said when he came out, "I did my part, now it's up to God to do the rest." God did the rest and my Daddy has lived another 49 years since then.

Daddy and Mother's ministry went from 30 years on mainland Spain, to the Canary Islands (part of Spain but Islands off the mainland). In that time period all of us went to college, started working and got married. Daddy and Mother's last period of missions service was in Equatorial Guinea (the only country in Africa that speaks Spanish). Even now in TracePointe Daddy and Mother have ended up in ministry situations. Daddy does the devotional some mornings, he has preached for the Sunday and Wednesday night meetings in the chapel. He continues to let God's mission flow through him to those he comes in contact with. I, as his daughter, am so grateful to have him around still. There is no way to express the feeling that I have when I call and he answers. He will always be my Daddy whom I love and respect. I am so grateful that my Daddy didn't die 49 years ago, but hung around for me to get to know him like I am getting to know him now!



I am really blessed to have had both of my parents this long. At this time in my life I have no promise of how many years more I have but I am grateful for every day more that the Lord give me with both of my parents.





Thursday, October 23, 2008

Can God Provide for our future?

The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing. Psalm 37:23-26

I saw this picture on the internet and it brought images to my mind of small poor boys here in Guatemala City who stand in front of vehicles stopped at red lights juggling balls hoping that the occupants in the cars will give them some spare change or a Quetzal coin which at this time is worth about 14 cents. These boys certainly don't look like these folks in the picture in their suits probably trying to make a statement as to the economic condition of the U.S. and the stock market in particular.

Who can say that the people in these pictures in Guatemala are suffering anymore or any less than anyone else in the world but for sure they have felt the economic pressures for a long time and have felt like they have little or no control over their lives as they know it.

These boys who in most parts of the world would be in school are earning money to be able to eat by shining people's shoes. They probably don' t know that life can be any easier. That is what they have been used to.

I read that because of the economic measures taken in the U.S. we don't really know what problems we are leaving the generations to come. Some have even gone so far as to say that the life that awaits the coming generations will be less that what we are now experiencing.

Lately I read Psalms 71:17-18 : Oh God, you have taught me from my youth; and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all that are to come.

Now that we have a grandson and another one on the way naturally I begin to think, what kind of life awaits these two grandsons as well as all the other grandchildren that will come eventually? Is God's hand too short that He cannot save this next generation? Is He still the God that doesn't change? As we allow the Lord to order our steps we will continue to see His strength in the generations to come. What a time to depend on the Lord. All other sources are falling around us. He is our strength!































Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Who does he look like?




So God created man in His image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. Genesis 1:27

Why is it when a baby is first born that as the family gathers around and looks at this new creature everyone begins to wonder, "Who does he look like?" I remember as I first gazed down at this wonderful new being that was my first grandson I tried to see charecteristics of his Mother, his Dad, and then even of the aunties or the uncles, or even as far back as me or Steve. Who does Jared look like?


Does he look like his Uncle Philip here in this picture? His Uncle Philip didn't have much hair his first year of life, and Jared didn't have much hair when he first made his appearance.


How about his Aunt Anita on the right? His hair seemed dark at first as hers does here on the right. They weighed close to the same weight. Can we see a resemblance there?





His Mommy Cristina weighed a bit more than he did, but I can see some similarity between the two.. they do look like they are from the same family don't they?




But then we have his Dad here sucking his thumb just like Jared likes to do when he is sleepy. Does he look like him?


He certainly doesn't have the reddish hair that his Uncle Tim had in this picture before he turned one. His hair is more evident than his nephew Jared's is.


These are some of the things that roll around this Grandmother Helen's head these days . However I began to think, if we are God's children what makes us look like him? As I started out saying... God created man and woman in His image. What does the word image mean? If am in His image what does that say about me? Funk and Wagnall's Dictionary defines image as: "a representation or likeness of a real or imaginary person, creature or object."
When I look at Jared he does represent both the Cobb and the Meier family and if we look enough at each member or each family we will probably find some likeness to several of them. So how do I represent or look like God?

St Augustine, one of the church fathers of the early church said, "Thou has formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee." God made us for Himself! Isn´t that amazing! God made me because he wanted me for himself! In these days of uncertainty isn't it amazing that He made ME for himself!
When we become joined with Christ as it says in II Corinthians 3 then when we read the word something interesting happens. In verse 18 it says, "All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into His likeness in an ever greater degree."
Little babies grow into looking like the families they come from because of the family genes. But we as we are joined to Jesus and walk with Him, we begin to reflect His glory. That is what makes us like him. That is what I was created to be--God's property. That is an amazing thought!