Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Tuesday! All is well and recovering here at 811.  We are fine just readjusting to Texas time and tiredness of the day we came home.  I booked our flight for 6:00 AM from Seattle Monday morning. That means getting to the airport at 4: 30 AM and the airport shuttle picking us up at 3: 15 AM and getting up meant 2:00 AM.  Monday was a very long day!  We give thanks that both flights were smooth and uneventful and that our Alaskan Cruise was spectacular!  Let me just say, “God does amazing work and was present in each port, grandeur of the land and sea adventure we had.” We loved the glacier, the whales and the mountains. We saw eagles in both Ketchikan and Juneau. We saw whales, orcas and humpbacks, on our whale watching excursion. The humpbacks were as close as 30 to fifty feet from our boat.  We went to the summit of a mountain in Skagway and into Canada and I bravely walked across a suspension bridge over a river of rapids. We saw a bear eating on the side of the road. The ship was beautiful and huge with about a hundred different things to do from early morning to late at night. The food was fabulous. We ate the most delicious salmon and other seafood all week long. My goal was to try as many new things as possible that I could not get at home. Salmon for breakfast is really good.  It was truly aerobic eating!  Bruce and I walked our first 5K non-competitive walk for Breast Cancer on the Promenade deck. I was the only survivor who made the walk. I need to practice before I do the next one.  And…the coffee was excellent everywhere we went. We made new friends, tried new things and saw wonderful shows. We listened to really great music with the exception of the country and western night. The international performers don’t exactly get C & W.  I know how people become addicted to cruises. I know I will be ready to go again in the not too distant future! We had the most amazing and unforgettable time. 

Dear God, help me to take whatever is given and make it large for you. Thank you for your indescribable creation. It was simply breathtaking.  You have blessed me with gifts and a desire to serve you. Help me to respond to your call and use these gifts to your glory. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There were times on the ship that I thought of how peaceful it is out there on the water. I could have sat out and just looked at the expanse of the water as the ship moved along.  That kind of peace and calmness I could easily get used to.  It also did not hurt that I did not do laundry, prepare meals, coffee was delivered at my request at 6: 30 each morning. There were so many things from which to choose for entertainment or there was a comfy chair from which to drink a really good cup of coffee, read a book, play cards, sit and talk, make a new friend or just sit and be quiet. 

But the time came to come home.  It is time to respond to the touch of God on my life and begin to prepare for my next ordination interview and apply for ministry positions.  The cancer is gone. I am healing nicely and feel no side effects of the disease or treatment.  I have committed myself to a life of service and with vacation over it is time to move into commitment and responsibility.  God has moved in me and now it is time for me to move forward and on for God. My meditation tonight uses the example of an alarm clock. The clock wakes me up, but that is all it can do. It cannot get me out of bed. Getting up is my responsibility. God has touched me with presence and call. It is time for me to respond in faith. 

So tonight’s question is this…Has God moved in your life and if so how are you faithfully responding to that call?  Just a thought…

“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send?  And who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I: send me.”

Isaiah 6: 8

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

Proverbs 16: 3

Take joy in the journey!  Go and see Alaska if at all possible!  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene