TIME FLYS!!

Wow, just looked at my blog and I haven't updated since the first of December!! I just have not had any time for blogging - hardly time to look at others' blogs, much less write on mine. It has been a little frantic here in Manila since the Scotts left to go home to transition from Short Term to Career Missionaries. Sandra and I have taken on their responsibilities as well as our own and that has certainly kept me running!! I also was able, through the gracious gift of an airplane ticket from a friend, to go home and be with family, church and friends for Christmas - what a joy that was! I was able to spend three weeks in the states, lots of good time with my dad and my sisters and wonderful worship with my church family. Needless to say, I also got in several rounds of golf - played horribly, but then what else is new! If I could have a mulligan on every hole I could play decent golf. I am back in the Philippines now, getting over jet lag and back into the groove of administrative duties - meetings, meetings, and more meetings!! I got home Wednesday night and spent Thursday and Friday all day catching up in the office. It is now Saturday morning and I am sitting at my dining room table with the windows open and the ceiling fan on listening to the rain as it comes gently down, the drops dripping off of the many green lush plants in my tiny little yard. I am praying that I will make the time to do this a little more often in the coming months. I was able to read several books on the flight back from the states - it is a 24 hour trip so there is much reading time - especially since I have a very hard time sleeping on the plane - there is just something about being able to sleep while feeling like a sardine in a very crowded can! So, I read and read! I had picked up a book by Karen Hughes who was a "Counselor to the President," President George W. Bush. The title of the book is "Ten Minutes From Normal." Karen Hughes started working on President Bush's staff when he was running for Governor of Texas. She is married and at the time of this book (2004) had a teenage son. A lot of her book is on the struggle she had between the demanding workload of the White House and at the same time trying to do her work as a mother and husband. She chose to leave the White House and move back to Austin, TX, with her family. She still remained as a counselor to the president, but was involved in a less hectic way. I was impressed with her witness throughout this book. She is very open about her relationship with the Lord and the work He has done in her life. I know that our President has made some choices that have put him in a horrible light and he is unpopular around the world right now. But, I see where he has surrounded himself with Believers who he goes to for counsel and input and I am encouraged. I wanted to quote several passages from her book that encouraged me. When I feel grumpy, or out of sorts, or worst of all, sorry for myself, I walk outside to the patio, a small space on an old weathered deck. The patio furniture is one of my favorite types: big, comfortable swivel chairs with sand-colored frames and the fabric a southwestern swirl of purple, green and beige. From the deck, I can see so many amazing things: the brilliant magenta of the flowering bougainvillea that blooms for months in the hot Texas sun; the stark darkness of a soaring hawk, wings fully spread, seemingly motionless even though I know it is flying through the crystal blue sky. The Lord of Life is the creator of them all-the God of the pale and fragile petunia flowering in the pot by the pool; of the sturdy, enduring oaks that fill the backyard; the God of the peaceful, still day I see before me and the powerful, roaring surf I see every summer at the beach. I cannot be grumpy here because God has so richly blessed us with the grandeur and beauty of His creation, with the freedom to live in this country, with the family and friends that I love. And most of all, God has given us a way back to Him. the enormity of that gift is hard to comprehend; that the God of creation would humble himself to become human; that Christ loved each one of us enough to die to atone for our sins. Doesn't that change everything: how we live, how we act, what we believe? I know the answer to that question, and I know I need to remind myself of it far more often. Later on in the book she says: I worry that Christians, myself included, give Christianity a bad name because we so often fail to model the love and humility displayed by the life of Jesus Christ. If I could debunk one myth about my faith, it would be the feeling that Christians are sanctimonious, holier than thou. Nothing could be further from Christ's message; he chastised the religious leaders of his time for putting on airs and placing themselves above other men. To the contrary, my faith instills in me a deep sense of humility and gratitude, reminding me how often I fall short and how much I need the Savior, and how thankful I am that God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. My faith calls me to try to live a life that is a joyful response to that good news. And whenever I get overwhelmed, or it seems too hard, I remember all that I am required to do: "Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). I was encouraged by her book, by her desire to serve the Lord and be true to Him even when it seems that in our country it is becoming more and more outside the norm for that to be a life choice. I used to love to read Biographies, I still do, but it gets harder and harder to find life stories that you want to read. I go to the Biography section of the bookstore and I see books by Actors, Fashion Designers and Society Icons - not pretty reading! In fact, the sad thing about the Karen Hughes book is that I found it relegated to the "Dollar Tree Store" where I paid $1 for it - I guess it wasn't a best seller! If you can find it, I do recommend it for a fresh outlook at the seat of power and the REAL seat of power!