Tulsa Time

Tonight I’m passing time in a low-budget hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  First time for me to be in Tulsa.  The drive earlier today from Ft. Worth was quite nice.  Trees, grass, everything colored in springtime green.  Tonight a thunder storm aims to keep things growing green.

Tomorrow evening I will be in Carlinville, Illinois, speaking in a church that has been faithful to follow and pray for me and my family for many years.  They prayed for Jan when she was diagnosed with cancer.  A month later they prayed for me when I learned I had cancer.  That was 15 years ago today.  Not an anniversary I care to celebrate.

I always tell people that Jan got the better deal.  She is in heaven now enjoying all her faith-earned rewards while I am still trapped in this aging body that bombards me with back aches, head aches, muscle aches, stomach aches, and memory aches!  My wayward emotions remind me that I don’t always walk in the spirit.  The worries of this world frequently harass me.  From heaven’s perspective, there is no joy in being a cancer survivor.

But the Bible reminds us that though outwardly we age, yet inwardly we can be renewed daily as our appreciation for the Lord’s incredible love and grace grows deeper the more we see Him and experience Him.  There is no greater joy on this earth than to know God personally and intimately. 

For now it is my privilege to be His ambassador for however many days He keeps me on this earth that is under God’s judgement.  I will share of His love tomorrow in Carlinville, and again this weekend at a church outside Branson, Missouri.  Later this month I will be sharing about it in churches in central Texas.  But I am most eager to return to the Philippines and share about it with the many people who have never heard of it.

But until October rolls around I will stay on this side of the Pacific, watching the springtime green turn into summertime brown.  I will continue to recall the words of Paul, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Nice to know that this life isn’t forever; a far better one is yet to come.