DAVE'S A BLESSING... TO ME AND MANY!!

Grand Marais, MN, at Lake Superior, November, '12

      Dave is a special person!!  He's been a wonderful husband for the 30 years when God put us together.  And he's been a great step-dad for my daughter and son, and the grandkids love him strongly!  He works physically at our church -- doing a lot of the fixing situations -- and plays piano and/or organ at 3 other churches ... Wednesday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning [possibly with up 3 of them and he's driving around and about re: the timing from 7:30, 9:00, 11:00].  And he has several piano students.  Doing what he can.  AND he and one of our main friends, Gary, have been redoing some of the stuff in our house.   Anyhow, he's wonderful.  I'm a strongly blessed lady.  Even with my brain and body issue that's a challenge, he is patient re: me.  

OH... and he just arranged for me to be on a plane March 19th [early in the morning] to Portland and will be picked up by my sisters who live about 60 miles from Portland.  Then I'll also be in Tacoma a few days later and then there for about a week. [ BTW, all my sisters are a few years younger than me!]  Then back down to the Portland area April 8th in the early evening I'll be on the plane to Omaha and, because of the way our hours change, I'll be here about midnight.  BUT he arranged this so I can see my sisters, nieces, nephews, family friends and lots of other friends.  As I've often said, I was born in Portland, was in Tacoma several times until I was 23, and visiting very frequently since then, but not living there, even when I was in California, Nebraska, and Oklahoma ... and Uganda, Costa Rica, Morocco.    I'll be so excited to be at the Pacific Ocean and Puget Sound and see Mount Rainer, and, when on the plane, coming in or going out of Portland, will definitely see Mount Hood!  And the Columbia River on both the Washington and Oregon side for many  many miles and to swing by Multnomah Falls, one of my favorites. So, we'll see how things go.  Since I can't drive, I don't know how I'll be taken around.  But I'll do what I can, when I can, where I can. 

Dave and I focus on this and do it:  

Worshiping and glorifying and praising to and for the Lord is all that counts!! 

RIPPLING -- AGAIN

I posted this in November, 2010.  My heart has been very heavy tonight with life-changing and "where do I fit in?" and "what can I do?" -- questions pouring through me.  As re-posting the original Ripple tonight, I've re-adjusted a fair amount of it, but, overall, it's the same process.   And, as I say in it, my husband ain't perfect.  But, to me, he's an example of what "Rippling" can do.  

I was sharing some of these details with my blog-brother, Floyd, yesterday.  I told him that I'm planning to write about spiritual seed planting ... and will do so in the next few days.  

And THIS is a seed of that seed.

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I am often buried in Revelation, my main Scriptural intense focus.  When the Lord drops a Book onto my plate, usually it means I must read the Book over and over until then He moves me on.  I've read Revelation about 7 times this month, plus reading a commentary book.

In that Revelation commentary book, someone had asked the author why the judgment for people who died didn't occur immediately upon their arrival to the Lord. His answer was that just because the person was now gone from the earth, the continued effects of their life could go on for quite a long time  -- who they loved, who they blessed, how they served the Lord.  Or, sadly, the opposite.

In the process, I thought of my husband. [No, he ain't perfect, I guess... but I hardly ever see him as anything but a huge blessing.] He's a quiet man, but servant-hearted and giving-oriented.  He can do almost any home-oriented remodeling and refinishing tasks, painting and electrical needs, which certainly comes in handy for our home and others. 

He will re-build and fix computers [and give them away].  On top of that, he's a wonderful musician. He thoroughly enjoys teaching others [especially piano and computer]. 

He's done all of these "jobs" in our homes, neighborhoods, town, other states, and in Uganda and Costa Rica.

 

When he dies, which I hope won't be any time soon, his effect will linger. The youngest of his present piano students, for instance, is 7 years old. He began with her when she was 5. He has about a dozen students, from young to adult, and loves working with them. 

To have more and more would be a huge blessing to him. In more than 20 years, he's had many, many students, one who now is a worship pastor, others who are worship leaders, or on worship teams, or teaching others.

Piano students love him. He's patient, creative, flexible, and warm; he hasn't scared any of them. Most of them move forward quickly because they want to please him. My assessment: Dave will "ripple" for a long time.

When I think of the ripple effect our lives have, it makes me stop and take a look at where I'm headed, what I'm doing, what my attitude is, and how I need to assess and reassess the questionable points. Doesn't mean I expect the Lord to keep nailing me for errors, but that He'll touch my heart, tap my shoulder, and keep me moving in the right direction.

And, oh, yes, I want to ripple, for a long time, in a good way,  and bring more and more blessings to the Lord.