Gospel Light for Global Darkness

Last week I was able to attend the annual convention of the Eastern Regional Association held in Peabody, MA. After 2 days of Board meetings in which I was involved, the convention kicked off on Thursday evening with a message from Dr. John Roller from North Carolina. Friday and Saturday were filled with business sessions and challenging messages. I had the chance to hear from Dr. Ron Thomas, Executive Dircetor of the Advent Christian General Conference; a medical missionary from Africa; and Rev. Russell Carle, Director of the Advent Christian mission work in Africa and Europe. The meals were nourishing and enjoyable, the worship enriching, the preaching inspiring, and the fellowship sweet. This gathering always gives me the chance to catch up with people I don't see often enough, and I am grateful to God I was able to attend.

Here are some pictures taken during the convention. You may recognize some of those in the pictures. If not, you will find labels at the end of this post which will identify the pictures.

Still Waters

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down is green pastures. He leads me beside still waters." Psalm 23:1&2
I know the "still waters" of which the psalmist spoke were probably much different loooking than the water shown above, but as I walked with my wife in a state forest last week, we came upon this wonderfully tranquil place. As we watched, listened, and photographed this pond, the words of the psalmist came to my mind. How we need to make time to walk beside still waters in this tumultuous world? How we need to remember the LORD is "our" shepherd and will lead us through all the uncertainty and confusion of our time. In that same 23rd Psalm, David tells us that we do not need to fear because the LORD is with us. He is with ME!

My prayer today is that all those who need to walk beside some still waters will find them as they walk with Jesus. Amen

I Love Fall

Yesterday was a beautiful one in Connecticut. Sunny and mild (about 70 degrees), the weather invited me to spend some time in the out of doors. And that is what I did. Without any special agenda, I took three separate walks and savored the sights, sounds and smells of autumn. The leaves are changing colors here, and then falling on still green lawns, begging for rakes to gather them into piles. Soccer fields are filled with boys and girls running and laughing and yelling as they enjoy the competition. Yesterdays blue skies were painted with puffy clouds that made me think the sunset would be amazing (and it was).

As I walked I thought about our time in Connnecticut. We are now in our fifth year here, and a lot has happened in the last four years. Our three oldest sons have all gotten married. Barb now has three wonderful daughters-in-law to share in her torment of living with the Dean guys! While we didn't do the choosing, we couldn't be happier with the choices our sons made. We love Kelly, Marianne and Jennifer (who also brought us Erin, our only grandchild) and so thrilled to have them in our family.

Shawn has grown alot in the last 4 years. When we moved here he was entering middle school in the seventh grade. He is now well into his junior year of high school, pressing us to get him his learner's permit so he can start driving! He has been to a prom, made a couple of visits to the Emergency Room of the hospital, gone to Sports and Music Camp in New Hampshire 4 times, and become a leader in the youth group he attends. He is a good student, a fun kid, and a great son to Barb and me, and we are thrilled to have him still at home.

The Lord helped us face and get through the ordeal of Barb's accident with the motorcyclist. We are so thankful he lived and has made a partial recovery from his life-threatening injuries. While we wish it had never happened, we have learned much about trusting God even when we don't understand why things have happened the way they did.

We love our home here, we love the people in the church, Barb has grown as a nurse working at the hospital for the past 4 years, and I have made some wonderful friends in a group of pastors with whom I meet for prayer on a weekly basis.

And as we have gotten older we have learned to appreciate the blesssings God gives us in the little things, like the change of seasons!