Greetings from Austin St.

Wow! What a day. I began my mid-term final this morning before the Extravaganza at Advent Lutheran Church. The luncheon was just lovely and the tables were beautiful as much as the food was delicious. I sat at a table with wonderful friends, delicious food and heard a lovely speaker speak on the 100th Psalm. She spoke on the times when it is too hard or the situation is too difficult to sing and praise God. Great speaker! Thank you so much, Donetta and Toni, for a wonderful time of fellowship, food and love.

As a day in our lives goes, this one held a new surprise. Travis has a small tear in one of the tendons in his shoulder and has developed tendinitis in his wrists. This is most likely from centering the ball or hitting from the offensive line since he was 10 years old. We spent the afternoon and into the evening at AMH getting X-rays and a diagnosis due to weakness in his wrists and pain in his shoulder, but he is doing well. And since football is over for the year these two maladies should begin to heal. I told the ER doc that if Travis was bleeding internally he would still play. That is just the kind of player he is.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “So let us run the race that is before us and never give up…” and vs. 3 says, “Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to Him. So do not get tired and stop trying.” The football game on Friday night did not have the hoped-for outcome. We so wanted the Vikings to win and go on to the playoffs. We were 41 to 14 behind at the half. The game seemed so far out of reach. When the boys came back out onto the field after half-time I saw a new energy and a renewed spirit in the way they played and the way they acted. They came out with a new game plan and held the Martin Warriors to only 8 points in the second half. When the fourth quarter began everyone knew that the game was still out of reach, and then I watched Travis. He walked over to the offensive line and tell the boys that they were not giving up. They needed to play as if they were 20 points ahead instead of behind. I watched the character of these young men change at that moment. They made a decision that they might not score enough points to win, but they would continue to play their best and never stop trying. They fought hard until the last buzzer sounded. Most of these young men will never play regulation football again, but they will always remember how it felt to play with all of their hearts on their last game.

Jesus is our perfect example of faith, perseverance and sacrifice. He remained faithful to the calling of His heavenly Father even unto the point of death. While so many around Him were taunting Him, spitting at Him, beating Him and nailing Him to the cross, He never stopped trying to tell people how much He loved them and that they were forgiven. He remained obedient to His Father’s will. He had the ability to put a stop to all of this at any time because He was God, but He didn’t. He fought not for His life, but for the souls of those who persecuted Him.

I am not the perfect example of faith by a long shot or of sacrifice or perseverance, but I follow a loving Savior who was the perfect example and I can look to His example when I want to quit. Praise God that Jesus did not quit. He did not quit on the people during the time He walked on the earth and He has not quit on us. Thank you Jesus!!!

There are times when I feel overwhelmed. It is those times (and I had a brief bout with the “spare me’s” this morning.) that Satan can sneak in the door and steal our joy and try to steal our faith. So this morning when I realized what was going on I stopped and prayed, “God, Satan is knocking on the door and trying to get in. Could You please answer the door for me, for right now I am not strong enough to resist the temptation to get wrapped up in self- pity and have my day wrecked. And I do not have the time for I have too much to do.” I prayed that prayer and almost immediately my priorities shifted and I went about doing the things I needed to do without stress. I then realized that it is not about me, it is about God working in me and my surrendering to His will in every situation, and then believing that He will work on my behalf when I ask. Right now it would be so easy to get wrapped up in self-pity and bitterness and give up. But if I do then I cannot run the race God has placed before me. I must keep moving forward and keep trying. Keep journeying with me friends. The race is not over.

Take joy in the journey. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS Auto update. The “Old Girl” seems to be fine now. Bruce picked her up this morning from the Ford House and she seems to be happy at home once again. Thanks for your continued prayers, always, Gaylene.