Glen's Blog

January in Michigan means frigid weather with lots of snow and ice. Well…..sort of. This year so far we have seen the temps reach 58 and days in the high forties. I am so glad I bought a brand new snow blower guaranteed to send snow to Wisconsin. I decided this year to buy a snowblower that would save my back and blow snow off my drive way. And when it was delivered, I smiled and thought, “bring on the weather.” Well, maybe I should have saved my money and waited for the weather, but, better to be prepared that to think I can just trust no snow this winter.

I should make sure my heart is always prepared for the leading of the Holy Spirit. Always ready to respond, always ready to act. When I was a scout, out motto was “Be Prepared,” maybe it should be our Christian motto, always be prepared for the leading of the Spirit.

So, whether it snows or not, I’m ready….ready for God’s leading!

Nothing stops us in our tracks faster than the loss of a loved one. Yesterday, Dec. 16, I lost my sister, Rita. Rita was a wife, mom, grandma, sister, teacher for 28 years, daughter, friend to many. She was my oldest sister and a close friend. She was married to a minister and so we had many thing in common. We lived so far apart for so long and our schedules hardly ever coincided. She was 10 years older than me and married when I was 7, so our lives were lived apart until she and her husband, Bob, retired. They moved to Bourbonnais, Illinois at retirement. Because of my relationship with Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, I have had the privilege to be around her for the past several years. 

She was the sweetest lady. She was always fun and being with her always made me happy. I’ve been trying to figure out how to best express this and am having a difficult time putting this into words. Rita was so much like my dad in personality. One thing about her was her love of people and her love for conversation. I can’t express how much I will miss her. We would talk once a month on the phone and always end with a joke for each other.

For years I called my mom every week and then when she passed Rita became my regular phone call. I will be lost for some time. Going to her home was so much like going to my Uncle and Aunts home. There were always peanuts and chocolate covered raisins (her favorite). You were always welcome in her home, just like my parents.

She struggled physically most of her life. She had lupus disease in her 20′s and they gave her 6 months to live, then God did a wonderful thing in healing her. She struggled with other things physically for years and then she was diagnosed with acute rheumatoid arthritis about 6 years ago. She faithfully did her treatments and went through countless surgeries but she never quit. She was told she had about 3-5 years to live about 5 years ago and Friday, in her sleep, unexpectedly, she made the journey from this world to an eternal one where the God she loved, served and had a relationship with welcomed her home. She is safe and whole. I like to think that maybe, just maybe, our mom and dad welcomed their first born into heaven along with our Savior.

Thank you Rita, for being such a wonderful person in my life. For being my sister, all 4’10 of you. I have loved you as a sister and always will. You’ll always bring a smile to my face when I think of you. I have a great picture of us in my office and will always remember how kind and loving you were to me. Until we meet again.

This time of the year is always so exciting. Everything changes for a season of well wishes and exchanging of gifts. I seem to be a bit more nostalgic this year than others. Thinking lots about Christmas’s gone by. Early memories of family moments and how that has changed over time. Last time I was “home” there seemed to be a sense of “otherness” that I didn’t belong there any longer.

Maybe that’s the problem. I am here but designed for an other place. Christ came, not just so we could celebrate his coming but that we could know Him and prepare for an “other” place. Maybe what I am feeling is a sense of “otherness” about another day in eternity. Ah, Christmas, it brings back so many memories and hopes of another day.

You should live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip! – Will Rogers

For the past week I have been visiting sites of John Wesley in England. I visited the City Road Chapel, now called Wesley Chapel in London. Often called the mother church of Methodism, is a church that Wesley built in the 1700′s. He also built a house next door where he died in 1791. I then went to Bristol where he preached out-doors to miners as they went to and from the mines where over 1000 men gave their hearts to Christ the first day. I was in Oxford where John and Charles went to college at Christ Church, then John became a Fellow at Lincoln. They were both ordained in the Chapel at Christ Church College. I saw John’s office and stood outside the room he lived in. John preached in just about every Chapel on the Oxford campus. He traveled by horse back over 266,000 miles preaching salvation from sin and Holiness of heart. I am now in Manchester, where John spent time preaching. His foot prints are all over this country. Everyone I mention the name Wesley to, knows of the history of England and how he reshaped the country and saved it from revolution by his preaching and establishment of bands, classes and societies. Ah, England, America needs a John Wesley!