We are witnessing so much anger and frustration in our country; perhaps it is exacerbated from being quarantined at home for so long. We all know that the treatment of George Floyd was not right. I imagine that the Lord is weeping with us from Heaven, who admonished us to love each other. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink." In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."" Romans 12:17-21 Fill us with your Spirit, Lord. Give us your mind and heart for others. Forgive our sin. Heal our land.
Merle is off to sail to St. Croix again, crewing with the team, braving the winds and the waves. They finally arrived yesterday, after 15 days on the open water. I only got occasional short messages and they have had a very rough go of it. They were against the winds and have had many problems with the boat, including engines, batteries, winch, starter, even the mail sail line broke. They don't even know how they will return as the boat they were supposed to sail back couldn't wait for their delayed arrival. If they can find another boat, they will be traveling with the wind, so it should be so much easier, shorter, and more fun! He said he has quite the stories to tell, but there is never a shortage of stories with Merle!
We saw Delores before Merle left and was doing so well, and she continues to improve! She recognized us and was talkative, though we had to see her through the glass door and speak via the phone. She was supposed to wear her mask but it kept falling down. She got teary-eyed when we said that Rowdy, her cat, was being fed, but he was outside and alone. We didn't expect her to improve so much, but she seems to have 9 lives of her own!
We are now in our home. We are thrilled to finally be getting organized and not living out of a suitcase. We were given a lovely sofa just in time for Mother's Day when we needed it for sleeping and visiting, as all our children joined us for a wonderful weekend for me. We put a single bed in my office and that provided a place for Luke. The queen mattress, that Hannah and Allan slept on, where Lydia's usually sleeps, is 45 years old! Needless to say, it wasn't particularly comfortable. We will need to replace it. The other mattress we owned, we left in Sarajevo for friends who needed it. It was the newer mattress at 39 years old.
May was a wonderful month, including a wonderful week as we celebrated Mother's Day with all my children at our new homebase! We went to Columbia, SC to help Hannah and Allan move, with a bunch of their friends, from an apartment to a rented house the following weekend. We also marked 19 years since we adopted Luke and Lydia!
Luke was finally allowed to get started on his Marine experience, in the Armed Forces. He is in boot camp this summer on Parris Island, SC. If you would like to encourage him with a card, please send it to: Jones, Luke; Fox Co 2nd RTBN Platoon 2048; Box 16235; MCRD PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. 29905 Thank you so much!
I'm tickled to have my office/sewing/painting room double as an extra bedroom. God has provided all that we need (except some bookcases). I excitedly told Hannah how I happened upon a rare garage sale during COVID quarantine and was able to get a tall sturdy ironing board and a queen sized bed frame for $7. It's the little things. Actually, God does it all - big and little things! He has been so good to provide all that we needed, just on time, though not early. Does He work that way in your life, too?
Praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the daytime, praise Him in the evening, praise Him when the sun goes down. Our admonition is to talk about Him all day long, to mark our homes and our hearts with the words of the Lord. (Deut 6:4-10) He is good and worthy to be praised! Even when things are hard, we can find something to rejoice over - the marvels of creation, the beautiful American birds, the sunshine and moonshine (the same light that shines in Sarajevo, St. Lucia, and St. Croix), the Word - in our own language so that we might understand it ourselves rather than having to listen to someone else's interpretation, our wonderful Lord and Savior who paid it all for us. We owe him our very lives and certainly our praise! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Psalm150
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