Flower Pics & Prayer Requests 7-25-06

Please join us in praying for:

1. A great SICM Conference--July 30 - August 5. I'll be teaching on emotional intelligence in collegiate discipleship. It's a major part of my doctoral project. My prayer is for the Lord's inspiration to make it a life transforming and empowering experience for the Chi Alpha students.

2. For my Mom's health. Last week we had a scare, as she exhibited some heart attack symptoms. We spent the one month anniversary of dad's death in the hospital with Mom. That was pretty hard on all of us. Mom is OK and the minor issues they discovered are being treated with medication. But she's been left with agonizing pain in both hands. It looks like arthritis, but the doctor isn't certain.

3. For services and the remainder of our budget. Since the budget is not yet at 100%, we must schedule services in the autumn. It was difficult for us to accept this, emotionally, at first; but we are certain that God is in control. Nonetheless, having some friends bring our needs before heaven is always a good idea.


The daffodil picture, above, was taken last spring in our back yard. Since blue and yellow are the colors I see best, I love contrasting them. The delicate little flowers at right, were taken last April on the beach near Galveston, TX.

Color blindness & photographing Flowers

I'm color blind. It's an interesting predicament in life, since people who can see color don't understand it. They instantly start testing me by pointing to things and asking me to identify the color. Since I'm red-green colorblind, I can see blue and yellow perfectly. So the test goes like this...

Incredulous person: What color is this?!

Bill: Blue.

Incredulous person: But you said you can't see colors?

Bill: I can see blue and yellow--greens and reds get confusing.

Incredulous person: Then what color is the grass?!

Bill: Green, except when it's dead, then it's brown.

Incredulous person: Can you tell the difference?

Bill: Yes.

Incredulous person: So what does it look like to you?

Bill: Dead grass.

My dad could see colors, so he said some hurtful things about my inability to discern between green and brown or purple and blue. People who can see colors take it for granted. For those who are interested, as opposed to incredulous, just imagine that life periodically turns into a black-and-white photo. When I was a kid, I remember our first color T.V. It would turn from color to black-and-white without warning. We'd have to turn a knob to get it back into color. My sister would come into the family room and ask, "Why aren't you watching it in color?"

I'd say, "Uhhhh, I don't know. I guess I didn't notice." Then she'd turn the knob and, VIOLA!, the whole thing would become vibrant--just like when Dorothy landed in OZ. It was nice, but when it would go back to black-and-white, I usually didn't notice.

I love discussing art, but I'm not a very confident artist. My sense of color (or lack thereof) is problematic--along with my inability to draw, paint, sculpt or whittle. As such, I love photography--especially flowers. God picks the colors and shapes, and I try to catch it all in just the right light. Above is one of my daffodil shots. Apparently, blogger is alergic, since it'll only let me load one shot at a time. It's probably partial to roses.

Mucho Agape,
Bill

P.S. sorry for the delay in posting. After dad's death it seemed that the whole world was spinning.

Then someone said, "It is spinning."

So, I said, "Yea, but I didn't seem to have so much motion sickness before."

Prayer Requests 7-7-06

Please join us in seeking the Lord's counsel and comfort in the following:

1) We need God's will on how to approach our departure date of August 29. We currently need 27 pledges of $50 per month to cross the finish line and leave for the field. I must confess that we're anxious about that date. We're at a critical stage with only seven weeks left to raise our budget. We can postpone our departure until the end of December, which would enable me to schedule more services and also complete some critical aspects of the doctor of ministry degree. If we're going to postpone, we need to decide soon so that we can schedule services in the Fall.

2) As many of you know, my father passed away two weeks ago. As such, our departure at the end of August could turn out to be a terribly sad experience for my mom. Whether we leave in August or December, leaving family members is painful. I'm asking God to bless our family members with the knowledge that their sacrifice is for His kingdom.

Praise for answered prayers:
1) We've decided to rent the house and have a wonderful couple ready to rent it.
2) We sold our camper to some close friends who have pledged to let us use it whenever the camping bug bites again. Saying goodbye to the camper is one of those farewells that really makes it clear that we're not just going on a short-term missions trip. We've had some wonderful camping experiences already this summer. In fact, the day before my father died, we camped neamammothth Cave (on the way home from mission services in Kentucky). The camper has been a wonderful blessing to own and to sell, as we advance toward an even greater adventure with the Lord!
3) The Peruvian elections were conducted in a civil manner. Please pray for the new president, Alan Garcia.

Tears are a blessing

When you're grieving, tears are a blessing...

except at Wal-mart,
when riding a scooter
or operating heavy machinery.