Over the Weekend

Over the weekend, Martha Lynn and I traveled far, far away from our Winona home. Really, not so much! Sunday morning, we worshipped with the Old Union Church of Christ in Carroll County, Mississippi—a little less than 25 miles from the driveway, tucked in the woods and accessible by a series of brown, gravel roads. For the Bible class time, I made a PowerPoint presentation about Martha and my recent foray into Guyana, South America over six weeks. It took three hours to assemble the PowerPoint slides, replete with pictures; I finished the construction process about midnight. For worship, I preached about the conviction of Jesus Christ that led him to depart from heaven and come to earth to effect human redemption. Afterward, the congregation and we enjoyed a fellowship meal.

Our evening appointment was less than 20 miles away in Grenada County, Mississippi at the Elliott Church of Christ. Whereas for the morning trip we went mostly west, in the late afternoon, we traveled primarily north. (Since we were close to our residence for the day, I was able to do the unthinkable with our schedule—take a Sunday nap between service times at the respective churches.) Sunday night, I presented an overview of our stateside and overseas endeavors for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Recently, Martha and I had supper at a 50’s diner, after which traveling to nearby Grenada Lake. It was nearly sunset when we took some pictures with our digital phones! A few days prior to that, I attempted—unsuccessfully—to train my rabbit-bush yard ornament to work the riding lawnmower. Martha got a photo of my best efforts to no avail.

Good news today, our vision has remained the same, and we do not need any adjustment to our prescriptions for eyeglasses. We keep on, and with each other, it is a much better journey with less sorrowful moments than otherwise was occurring separately and alone.

I Passed My Test!

I passed my test! Friday, May 12, I had a colonoscopy. Evidently I studied sufficiently for my test since I passed it “with flying colors,” as the idiom is. Of course, Thursday and Friday were consumed primarily leading up to, for and traveling to and from the medical procedure.

Saturday, Martha Lynn and I traveled from Winona, Mississippi to Tuscumbia, Alabama. We arrived at the home of our hosts, sister Joan and brother Daniel Counts. They befriended me several years ago and have encouraged Bonnie and me previously and now Martha and me. Per usual, we were treated to supper out on Saturday and Sunday lunch after worship.

Sunday morning, I made my PowerPoint presentation about missions during Bible class for the Leighton Church of Christ. During worship, I preached about “The Conviction of Jesus Christ” that brought Him down from heaven to earth to procure human redemption.

Between morning and evening appointments, we stopped at Walmart. There we did some shopping, but more importantly, we got an oil change for the car. Everything in stride, catch as catch can wherever we are whenever possible. That’s our life.

Sunday evening, a little more than an hour away, we assembled with the Barn Creek Church of Christ. It’s out in the woods between small Alabama towns, and GPS got confused. Whereas in the morning, my computer initially fussed about having multiple USB ports in use, then, I was able to convince it to play nicely for my presentation. However, while using the computer equipment of the congregation with which we were worshipping in the evening, we had a complete system failure—at least regarding my PowerPoint file. I quickly went from “Plan A” to “Plan D.” Plan D is when nothing else works as planned, and I simply stand up front and talk!

Afterward, Martha and I pointed the van toward our Mississippi home. We drove into the driveway about 10:30 p.m. By 11:30, we had the car unloaded and were able to bed down for the night.

Monday, I was finally able to complete and publish to the Internet the April edition of Gospel Gazette Online. Rebecca Rushmore, my daughter, does my proofreading, and she won’t be able to get to it until the weekend. As the school year is nearing its end, as a schoolteacher, she is buried under finalities respecting it. Of course, I need to begin immediately to compose the May issue of Gospel Gazette Online now. Shortly, I must begin also working on the next The Voice of Truth International magazine. The trouble with a monthly is that it comes around monthly. The difficulty with a quarterly journal is that it takes a quarter to get the next quarterly ready for printing. Volume 91 just arrived a little while ago, and 92 is at the printers. It never ends!

Numerous other duties and whatnot demand their due attention as well. Fortunately, there is always enough for me to do that I never have to fear getting bored! I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Redneck Band & More

Sunday morning on April 30, Martha and I traveled from our Tupelo, Mississippi motel room to the Bear Creek, Alabama Church of Christ assembly. I presented the PowerPoint “World Evangelism Media & Missions” during Bible class time, and for the worship period, I preached about “The Focus of Jesus Christ.” Following lunch at the meetinghouse, Mrs. Rushmore and I retreated to the home of brother Royce and sister Helen Mann for a while and to wait out some bad weather that was passing through the area. Not as pretty as if it were sunshiny, nevertheless, brother Mann gave us a tour of his tree farm. Shortly after breaching the gated and fenced little forest, we forded a small creek in the club cab pickup truck. Pressing onward, our host fed wildlife and fish in the pond as we trekked about amidst the mostly pine trees.

That afternoon, we departed and drove around the larger rural area of that part of Alabama. We located the church building for the Gravel Hill Church of Christ and made sure we were present when the first car arrived for the 6 p.m. evening worship. Bonnie and I had been the beneficiaries of a gracious donation in 2014 toward our foreign excursions, and now Martha and I had an opportunity to visit the congregation for the first time. Happily, the elders of the church invited me to make my mission presentation, and everyone was friendly and encouraging.

(Between the meeting times of the two churches mentioned already, we happened on a couple of sisters who were cleaning the church house of the Hackleburg Church of Christ. We left some copies of The Voice of Truth International and some Rushmore Newsletters with them.)

Tuesday and Wednesday, Martha and I attended the India Missions Conference, hosted in the facility of the Hamilton Church of Christ. We continued to lodge in Tupelo to take advantage of the hotel group rewards associated with Choice Hotels. That location also afforded us convenient shopping and a variety of restaurants.

Thursday and Friday, we were present for the annual Missionary Retreat, this year held outside of Florence, Alabama. Repeatedly, brethren commented favorably about recharging their batteries. Following the program, everyone in attendance yet was treated to folk or to country renditions of a variety of songs by our very own redneck band.

Saturday, Martha Lynn and I traveled back to Winona, Mississippi. After all, it must be time to do laundry and to restock the suitcase!