The Afternoon of Life

I got a wonderful 7-page letter from missionary Marcia Gustofson last night.   Marcie serves at the Durban Bible College and invited me four years ago to come visit her.   Little did I know when I accepted then that I’d leave a chunk of my heart behind.   I’ve felt those heart-strings tugging all four years…and this week Dan and I made a commitment to return to the land and people I fell in love with on my earlier trip. Our plans are to leave Buffalo on July 2 nd and return on September 7 th , allowing me to teach all eight weeks of their third term.   Dan will help me with the choir… how could we not allow him to bless them with his magnificent voice?   He will also play “handyman” and work on several projects they are already lining up for him.   I will work with the choir, teach a “Music Foundations” course (all about theory…guess I should be honing up on that), and teaching something along the lines of “Leading Worship and Music Fundamentals”.     Just thinking about it make

The sun is shining and the sky’s a brilliant blue as I open up the curtains in my home.   Maybe this would be a good day to open the windows and let fresh air in.   I slide the locks over, and raise the window wide…only to slam it shut almost immediately as bone-chilling cold enters the room.   What looks so good out my window is deceptive.   I check the weather on my computer and discover that the temperature hasn’t risen above forty this morning.   How easily I was deceived by what I saw , but it was what I felt told me the truth.  Even our eyes can deceive us. I wonder if I can be this way as a Christian.   When people look at me and hear what I have to say, are they convinced that all is well?   Am I doing all the right things to “look like” a good Christian?    But am I being deceptive? I know that sometimes my heart feels cold.   I lack compassion for those around me.   My patience and long-suffering are in low supply.   My strength is non-existent.   I want to pou