Two Years

          March 2020 - March 2022  Oh how those two years changed our lives.  It was unexpected.  It affected everyone.  For many it caused serious divisions of opinions.  For some it caused pain and for too many sad unexpected losses.  Many of our friends passed away during this time, most from covid.
          We learned new vocabulary and new definitions - pandemic, covid, delta, omicron, isolation, quarantine, antivax, antimask, mandates, virtual learning, zoom - just to name a few.  There were places we couldn't go, places we shouldn't go, and places, like churches and schools, that were often closed.
          We learned to do so many things differently.  We learned to use the computer to order our groceries online.  We would order and then the clerks would load them in our car for us.  No contact needed.  We've learned to appreciate this method and will no doubt continue to do it.  We've also learned to order some meals this way.
          Except for our prescriptions, many of our medical supplies have also been ordered online from locations such as CVS.com and Walgreens.com.  We have ordered clothing and presents online and have not entered a store in two years.  It is great and convenient to have things delivered to our front door.  We may never return to in-store shopping.
          We have missed making trips and taking vacations.  We really miss going to Ocean City, Maryland, and also visiting friends.  Most of our trips have been to doctors and for medical tests.  And despite the huge increase in the cost of gas, this is one budget area in which we have been able to save money.
          We do miss the fellowship of those at church although we don't think many miss us.  I miss my wife playing preludes and offertories.  However we have been able to faithfully "attend" churches through streaming, including our own church and especially Swindoll's church, Stonebriar, from Texas. We enjoy their beautiful orchestra, ensembles and choir.  We enjoy singing along with their hymns.  We are learning from the sound teaching. That service is one of the bonus results of the pandemic for us.
          We miss talking to people.  Besides family and doctors, during these two years I have only had five conversations with other men.  Now I have never been a very social person, but these limits on conversations have been difficult for me.  I've tried to contact folks by e-mail but it appears that not many like to share using the technology.

          We've lost many friends who've passed away during these years, many due to covid.  But many of them we'll see again someday in heaven.  We've lost some medical friends who've chosen to retire during the pandemic - our longtime dentist and one of my wife's heart doctors.  They are hard to replace.
          We have not had our entire family together for over two years.  We had hoped to do so on Christmas, but one person tested positive for covid so one of our families couldn't come.  Maybe next year we can try once again, should we survive 2022.
          I have had time to write, such as this crazy blog, to read and especially to pray.  There are so many who have real needs and who need prayer and encouragement.  What an important ministry that is.  I challenge you to spend more time taking the needs of others to the Lord.

          We have had all of our recommended shots including boosters, as well as our flu shots. We still wear ourf masks everywhere. We have tried to be as careful as posssible, maybe more careful then needed.  But we are old and have physical problems that require us to be extra careful.
          Now the question might be what will happen the next two years?  I have no way of really knowing, but my prayer is that the rapture might occur.  And, if not that, some of us may be taken home anyway.  What a blessed hope Christians really have.
          But if that doesn't happen I think churches may need to expend and improve their streaming services.  I would hope that many would include staff dedicated to ministering to those who worship at home.  There is a big potential for important ministry here that has not been tapped.  Churches should not continue to skip this mission field. 

          I suspect some form of covid may always be around.  Probably they will offer annual booster shots as they do for the flu.  That might be the new normal.
          I would expect that many stores and companies may expand online services or else they will continue to lose costumers.  This is too convenient for consumers who won't take the time or effort to go shop when they can do it at home.  More department stores will close and become a thing of the past as many have already become.
          Whilte many of us are eager to return to restaurants, I would guess that pickup meals will be expanded.  Fast foods are good at times, but the public wants more than that.  However the drawback on such expansion may be the problems of hiring enough staff and the increase in food costs.
          I would also expect that many of us will be keeping our vehicles much longer.  The problems with the supply chain will make many things much more expensive, if even available.  Inflation will produce greater strains on finances, especially on those of us who are retired.  The few dollars that social security is increased each year just doesn't cut it for today's retirees with today's inflation.
          But the more difficult changes could come with our deeply divided government.  And anarchy is a growing possibility as groups take actions to get their rights and protest actions with which they disagree.  Look at the recent blockades in Canada,  And we know that things will not get any better. And I haven't even mentioned the worldwide unrest and the potential of terrorism and nuclear war.  The scriptures tell us that this will get worse so we shouldn't be surprised.
          The prophet Habakkuk also wrestled with the way things were going in his lifetime.  At times he wondered if God really was really in control.  But here is what he concluded at the end of his book.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,

    and there are no grapes on the vines;

even though the olive crop fails,

    and the fields lie empty and barren;

even though the flocks die in the fields,

    and the cattle barns are empty,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord!

    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

The Sovereign Lord is my strength!

    He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

    able to tread upon the heights."

But we do have hope.  We can rejoice in the Lord, the God of our salvation.  The Sovereign Lord is our strength!  And a better day is coming - maybe today, or tomorrow or maybe in 2022!

1.    Years of time have come and gone

Since I first heard it told,

How Jesus would come again someday.

If back then it seemed so real,

Then I just can't help but feel

How much closer his coming is today.

Chorus:

Signs of the times are everywhere.

There's a brand new feeling in the air.

Keep your eyes upon the eastern sky,

Life up your heads, redemption draweth nigh!

 2.  Wars and strife on every hand
And violence fills our land,
Still some people doubt he'll come again.
But the Word of God is true,
He'll redeem his chosen few.
Don't lose hope, soon Christ Jesus will descend.
Chorus:
Signs of the times are everywhere.
There's a brand new feeling in the air.
Keep your eyes upon the eastern sky,
Life up your heads, redemption draweth nigh!

Keep looking up, it might be today!

A Coming Change

                What will you do if you suddenly can't use your cell phone to make or receive calls? What if your home security system suddenly doesn't work?  What if your GPS or some auto wireless features no longer work?

          Well this could happen to you within the next few days as wireless companies begin to cut off 3G.   It happened to us, without warning, a few years ago when they shut off 2G.  We were forced to buy a new cell phone.

          We found out about this rapidly coming change in the newspaper last weekend.  We received no other warning.  I spent the weekend trying to contact AT&T and finally found ours cell phone service would be cut off on February 22.  I found that many customers were sent replacements but I guess we didn't qualify probably because we didn't spend enough money with them, despite being customers for nearly 40 years.

          Then I searched the internet and found a good deal with Consumer Cellular.  In fact, I will save enough switching to make up for the increase in our Comcast bill.   

          AT&T announced that its 3G network will go dark on Feb. 22.  T-Mobile says the 3G network that had been part of Sprint before the two companies merged will go bye-bye on March 31, and its own 3G UMTS network will be shut down July 1. T-Mobile also indicated that the former Sprint's LTE network - which stands for Long-Term Evolution and is a flavor of 4G -  will be shuttered July 1.  Verizon plans to retire its 3G network Dec. 31 after extending an original 2020 deadline. The company says it will not extend the deadline again.

          "As we move closer to the shutoff date, customers still accessing the 3G network may experience a degradation or complete loss of service, and service centers will only be able to offer extremely limited troubleshooting help on these older devices," Verizon vice president Mike Haberman said in a blog.

          You're not out of the woods if you get phone service from the likes of Boost, Cricket, Straight Talk and other discount providers. They piggyback off the major carrier networks.  Jettisoning 3G doesn't affect just phones. Certain medical devices, tablets, smartwatches, in-car SOS services, Kindle readers, home security products and other devices also are dependent on 3G.

          As some have pointed out recently, the 3G shutdown will also affect dozens of vehicle models released anytime between 2010 and 2021. Some cars will lose the ability to update your location and traffic data while navigating. Others will become unable to connect with your smartphone, voice assistants or emergency call services. Fortunately, AAA still offers maps.

          Technology is great when it works.  Take computers as another example.  Apple no longer supports the browser that we must use on two of our computers.  The first thing that happened was that I no longer could use my Awana website.  Then I could no longer reach my bank.  Next, I could not order from many stores.  Then I could no longer reach some sites using google – it claimed my clock wasn't set correctly.  Then aol changed its mail program and now we can't use it on our two older computers.

          The solution?  Buy a new computer which I did.  Now I can use aol mail again.  But I may need to buy another one.  However, they'll probably soon change operating systems once again. It never ends.

          Change makes life interesting … I guess.

Unknown Territory

In a recent blog I mentioned some of the things that I have done in an attempt to pass my heritage on to my grandchildren.  I mentioned the many pages I have written for them and I have decided to share some of them in this blog.  So here is the second of the articles that I have written about my experiences.

 

UNKNOWN TERRITORY

 

"Hurry, we must take Craig to the doctor"

 

This was the news that greeted me on an August afternoon as I arrived home from a hard day of work in the orchard.  I certainly wasn't expecting to have to jump in the car and take my four-month old son to a doctor that we didn't even know.

 

It had been a challenging three months for us.  I had graduated from Susquehanna University in May and had four teaching interviews and four job offers.  This created a nice but a very hard decision. One offer was at Donegal in Mt. Joy, a second at Elizabethtown, a third at Hershey, and a fourth, the one, which I had accepted, was at Penn Manor in Millersville.

 

Since my new contract and job wouldn't begin until September, I spent the summer working in an orchard in Lancaster County.  My summer days were filled with picking cherries and apples in anticipation of beginning a new teaching career.  We had no other income or insurance during this time, so we were guarding our finances very carefully.

 

Finding a place for the three of us to live had been very difficult.  We looked for months and were unable to find anything satisfactory.  We took turns living with my parents in Lititz and Dianne's parents in Sunbury.  All of us prayed for a nice place to rent.

 

In July we had received a call about an apartment in a farmhouse in Silver Springs.  We almost didn't even follow up on the call because of the location.  But, since we were praying, we thought that we better at least check it out.   And, sure enough, it was what we needed and in August we moved in.  For almost two years we enjoyed this apartment in the country – two bedrooms, a bath, kichen, living room, front porch, and a bug-filled dirt basement.

 

Shortly after we moved, Craig began to have stomach and bowel problems.  We didn't know any of the doctors in the Silver Springs area so we asked my former doctor in Lititz if he had a recommendation.  He suggested a Dr. Richard Bryson in Landisville.

 

That day while I was at work Craig had become worse. His crying indicated that he was in discomfort.  He kept pulling up his legs because of apparent stomach pain.  He had also become constipated and then Dianne was really alarmed when she found blood in his diaper.  At that point she decided to call this Dr. Bryson.

 

The doctor's response was to ask us to bring him to his office as soon as I got home.  At about 6 p.m. we met Dr. Bryson who was to become our special family doctor for many years.  This was to be the first of many emergency calls and visits to Dr. Bryson over the years ahead.

 

When we arrived at his office he quickly examined Craig and then left us to make some telephone calls.

 

Within minutes we were headed to the hospital where we met surgeon Dr. Peter Pranken.  After a quick examination we were stunned to learn that Craig was being prepared for emergency surgery.  It tore our hearts apart to watch our baby wheeled off to the operating with all sorts of iv's and tubes attached to his small body.  By 8:30 he was on the operating table.

 

I'm not sure what all went through our minds during this time of waiting but I do recall vividly the realization that I might lose my only son.  As I pondered this possibility my heart was drawn to the knowledge that God sent His Only Begotten Son to die for my sins.  Even though He was the Almighty Creator it must have been so painful to see His son abused and crucified for sinners such as I.  The impact of the price of my salvation pierced my emotions that night unlike any other time in my life.  It is painful for anyone, even God, to see one's only son die. Yet He endured that for me.

 

Sometime later the surgeon came out to tell us that all had gone well and that they had been able to correct his intestinal problem without having to cut the intestine.  He said there were indications that if surgery had been delayed it would have required much more serious surgery.  Because of the timing, he predicted a full and complete recovery.

 

Craig had a condition called intrasuception.  In this condition the intestine telescopes into itself and begins to eat itself.  If not caught in time it can lead to death.  This condition is very rare and almost nonexistent in children less than two years old.

 

We later learned that most doctors never see such a case and most would not even recognize the symptoms in time to avoid a life-threatening situation.  Dr. Bryson recognized the symptoms because he had one previous patient with this condition – his own two-year old daughter.

 

Is it coincidence that we would move to a place that we didn' t want to move to, and that we would then contact a doctor that we didn't know, and. in turn, he would recognize this unusual condition because he had seen it in his own daughter?  We have no doubt that it wasn't coincidence but the leading of an omnipotent, omniscient Heavenly Father who was directing our paths.

 

One of my many "life verses" is Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not".

 

Oh how I have found this true.  When we trust the Lord and seek His guidance He not only answers but He does abundantly more than we expect or even deserve.

 

And, that includes walking with us as we experience the unknown.

Blessings

In a recent blog I mentioned some of the things that I have done in an attempt to pass my heritage on to my grandchildren.  I mentioned the many pages I have written for them and I have decided to share some of them in this blog.  So here is one of the articles that I have written about my experiences.

 

BLESSINGS TAKEN FOR GRANTED!

 

"My, you must be very, very rich!"

 

These words surprised us when Jalili, an Iranian educator, who had come to our home for dinner, shared them with us.

 

"In my country only the very rich can afford rugs throughout their home," he continued.  "And, very few people have such beautiful curtains.  And, you have two cars!"

 

We certainly weren't considered wealthy by American standards.  We were just an average family, with three children, often struggling to pay bills and put food on the table.  In fact, I often had several part time jobs to help us cover expenses.  It was hard to understand why somebody would think that we were wealthy.

 

Jalili was part of an exchange program and he was spending about a month visiting education programs in the United States.  He was a math teacher and an administrator for the Iranian government and was to spend the last two weeks of his visit with us at Penn Manor.

 

Our experiences with him were unusual and we didn't appreciate his anxiety and concern until many years later.

 

At the time of his visit, the Shah of Iran ruled Iran.  He was a dictator but was supported by most western governments.  Later he had to flee into exile, being forced out by the Islamic movement.  We had no real comprehension of the fear the Iranians must have had of him and his government.

 

For example, at a social event early in Jalili's visit, he got caught up in the casual conversations and made the comment to somebody, "If you don't sell us arms, we won't sell you oil."  This remark haunted him for the rest of his stay.

 

He told me that he was now sure that when he returned to Iran his family would be gone, he would lose his job and he would be thrown into prison for making such a statement. He said he was just a country boy who had worked his way up the educational ladder in his country. We often laughed about his reaction and his worry, but he actually almost had a nervous breakdown because of this concern.

 

As he watched television he was horrified at the way people, especially elected officials, criticized our President.  Such freedom of speech and openness was unheard of in his country.

 

One of the strangest incidents came when Jalili came to me and asked me to rush him to a location where he could send a telegram to the Shah.  He hoped to cover his "mistake" by telling the Shah how much he appreciated him and that he had Jalili's full support.

The telegraph office was in the back room of an apartment house on Lime Street in Lancaster.  The location added to the intrigue of what we all thought was a comical, overblown situation.

 

But were his fears really overblown?

 

After he left for Iran, we never really heard from Jalili again.   Was his family there when he returned?  Was he taken off to prison?    Was he demoted?   And, if he did survive, what happened to him when the Shah was chased out of the country.  We will never know the answers.

 

As we watched the developments in Iran during following years, we began to realize that his fears might have been legitimate.   How difficult it must have been to live without the freedoms that we have taken for granted.  How difficult it must be to live in a society where you must guard every word that you say.

 

Throughout my lifetime I have been very fortunate to live in the United States where we have had freedom of speech and amazing liberties.  I hope that you, too, will enjoy these rights and liberties, which have made this country unlike any in history.

 

However, I fear that this might change.  We as a nation have abused our freedoms and we have strayed far from the Biblical foundations on which this country was founded. I also believe that Iran will continue to play a major role in history and in your lives.  I believe that they will be a major part of what the Bible says about the end times.

 

Fortunately, the Bible tells us what will eventually happen.  We know the end of the story. And, we who are part of God's family know that we are on the winning side.

 

I have learned to thank God everyday not only for my abundant material blessings but also for the many freedoms, which have been won through the sacrifices of so many.

 

Don't take your blessings and freedoms for granted!