Changing Gears

I learned to drive in a car that had a standard transmission.  I know, it was a long time ago, and some of the younger generation may not know what a standard transmission is.  A standard transmission requires a clutch in order to change gears.  One of the first things you learn when driving a standard transmission is that you sometimes have to change gears in order to continue at a steady pace.  Drive up a hill, you have to down-shift.  Drive in heavy traffic, you have to change gears.  It is as simple as depressing the clutch with your left foot and then shifting the gearshift to the desired position.  Interestingly enough, the same is true in life.  Sometimes you have to change gears in order to continue the chosen path. 

Fredna and I have changed gears.  No, we have not changed jobs or positions, just changed gears.  This month we begin our year of furlough.  We arrived in Texas a few weeks ago and have finished setting up our home-base for 2012.  We will be living in the Dallas metroplex while we travel visiting our sponsoring churches and making new friends. 

We have not been home for an extended period of time for the past seven years.  We are happy to be able to reconnect, and our children are happy to have a mother and father that are closer than a long-distance phone call!  Our entire family was able to be together for a few days just before Christmas.  Caleb, our last-born, had to leave before Christmas day, but we thank God for the time we did have.  Speaking of Caleb, he is engaged to be married!  His fiancé is a lovely young lady from California.  I know, it hurts to admit that she is not a full-blood Texan, but at least her mother was born in Texas.  We were able to meet and get to know Jaclyn before Caleb left, and we look forward to welcoming her into our family.  We will do our best to make her a real Texan!

For an itinerating missionary, there is a lot of gear-changing, so to speak.  We leave next week on a trip to Springfield, Missouri, and then on to Chicago, Illinois.  The trip to Springfield will accomplish almost all of our medical tests, and the trip to Chicago will be for our first missions convention while home,  We are looking forward to both.

If you pastor a church and would like to have us for a service, please call.  If you attend a church and would like for us to visit your church, please tell your pastor about us and our ministry.  He or she can then call.  My cell number is 214.686.6001.

Now I have shifted to overdrive (5th gear), and we are picking up speed.  Be sure to “ride along” during this special time.  We will meet a lot of interesting folks, and visit a lot of interesting places.  Please keep us in your prayers, and we hope to see YOU soon!