Dear Team Members, October 3rd, 2019
Wow, this year is flying by!!!!!!!!!!!!! We expected to be hit by Hurricane Dorian, but it went away from us, and we got a little rain and a little wind. We were all prepared, and tired from preparing, but thankfully we survived!
We really appreciate your LOVE, CARE, and PRAYERS!!!! We thank the Lord for each of you and PRAY for YOU ALL ALSO.
As we hear about and see on TV storms around the USA and terrible fires and drought in Australia, we trust and PRAY you have kept safe. How thankful we are for the Lord’s watch care over us, and that He was promised to “Never leave us nor forsake us.”
At this writing, Cherrie has another heart monitor on for two to four weeks. The slow heartbeat, low blood pressure, and atrial fibrillation have hardly improved. There is talk of her having a pacemaker put in which could help. For now, they continue to work with altering medications. By October 30th, when she sees the rhythm specialist again, we trust to have more answers. We like her doctors, who we trust the Lord to work through! She gets really tired and lightheaded, so is trying to pace herself better. Of course, we both appreciate your PRAYERS!!!
In talking with Cherrie’s doctors, they feel really positive about us being able to make a trip “Down Under” to Australia next year and going ahead with such plans. So, we press forward with going later in March for two months. At that time, it will be over six years since last seeing Ben and his dear family. We appreciate your PRAYERS as we look into flight details.
Thank you for PRAYING for the ministry some of our retirees have at the Detention Center. Several kids have shown up for evangelism, and one in particular has shown interest. Please continue to PRAY!!!
We both keep active in our local Church and reach out here, as we are able. Before Cherrie started her cancer journey and having other health issues, we were able to be involved in teaching English as a second language. We really enjoyed the interaction with immigrants with a desire to learn English, as they are living in the USA. With it being done through a church in Oviedo, we were able to share Christ with them, with some coming to know the Lord as their Savior. A new school year has started for teaching English there, and we know the teachers and helpers and students would all appreciate your PRAYERS!!!!!!!
It won’t be long before we see our Royal Volunteers start coming to help us here at our Retirement Center. They come from various parts of the USA and Canada, and oh how we appreciate their help!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our full-time staff are not able to keep up with everything. Please PRAY for these volunteers, and our staff who are all a blessing and encouragement to us retirees. Please PRAY for protection as they work on various projects on the property!!!!!
WE LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!
Charlie & Cherrie
More of Cherrie’s writings over the year:
-Song I Love – “All that thrills my soul is Jesus.”
-If you lose your focus, you are broken! – from Hugo
– “Knowing He is there makes it easier to go home to Heaven!”
-Memory is one gift of God that death can’t destroy!
-Psalm 73:26-28 “When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful.” (MSG)
-All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given us.
-Song: “God of the mountains” – “God of the mountains is still God of the valley. The God of the day is still God of the night.”
-Song: I’m free from the fear of tomorrow. I am free from the guilt of the past.”
-Sign – “A Women’s Place is on a horse.” Had to laugh!!!!
-We were traveling by plane to Kansas. There was a marine in the Dallas airport who was carrying a folded America flag. I asked if he were taking it home for someone and he said “Yes. Someone he worked with died. It was a rough situation.” I told him Charlie’s father died in WWll before Charlie was born. The Marine shook Charlie’s hand.
-Heard for the 1st time on the radio “Happy Birthday Jesus.”
-Mary, though she doubted, she trusted.
-We never did get to go fishing but did pass through the town of Troutville in Virginia!
-Sign: “Remember if you are going the wrong way, God allows U TURNS.”
-Song: “Friends, I will Remember you, think of you, Pray for you and when another day is through, I’ll still be friends with you.”
-God is Great, but sometimes life isn’t Good. When I pray, it does not always work out the way I think it should, BUT I pray anyways.
-Some weeds are BEAUTIFUL!!!
-On the way home from Arizona the airplane was late into Dallas and we had to take a shuttle to another section. On our late arrival in Kansas, we found out that the plane was carrying a casket for a military person killed in Iraq. Then on our way to Manhattan, running about an hour late on the Highway was a horrendous car accident. Sobering – it happened an hour earlier – we were an hour late, so it could have been us! Life is Fragile – no fear in death though for those who know Christ as their Savior.
-Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Billy Graham said – “Don’t believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone unto the presence of God.” 1918-2018 Billy Graham
– “I look forward to seeing Christ and bowing before Him in praise and gratitude for all He has done for us.” – Billy Graham
-We must never shy away from impossible situations. When the odds seem least favorable for our success, that is when God can gain the greatest glory.
-MY FAVORITE ROSE BUSH Written February 18th, 1984 – In New Zealand our friends the Whitelocks had a rose bush called super star – bright orange red – gorgeous. We got one in Australia and placed it down behind the clothesline, near the field, out in the open. It was really a terribly hard place to blossom but there was an empty space there. It’s been there about 2 years or so – most of the time struggling during the drought. Now we’ve plenty of rain, so it blooms more often. Today it’s blossoming one beautiful rose alone against the grass and field. Its beauty stands out. It makes me think of the Christian standing in the gap struggling, and then with the prayers of those back home he or she stands out glowing for the Lord. He or she leaves an imprint even after death – the beauty is of the Lord.
-Complexity: “Today we very seldom see in our Churches the simplicity of the Gospel message.” – A.W. Tozer
-The bottom line – God and God alone!!! -Joy is mentioned 500 times in the Bible.
-A lady complained every day for 30 days about her neighbor who hung out dirty clothes. Then the lady realized her window was dirty!