God's been good to me

Can it possibly be mid-September? I am amazed how quickly this year is coming to an end. Here in middle Tennessee we have endured a blistering heat wave and drought. It has been so dry that many of the trees surrendered and went ahead and dropped their leaves early this year so it looks like fall but still feels like summer. But we got both rain and cooler weather recently and life seems to be coming back to “normal,” whatever that might be.

I have been so busy at work teaching school and coaching soccer that I am finding it hard to get on the computer to write. Since I am still in the early stages of writing my bible curriculum at school I have to spend a great deal of time typing lessons, lesson plans, and tests. Soccer keeps me away from the house till late in the evening just about every night so finding even a few minutes of time to write is rare. School and work is going a LOT smoother than last year and I do have less driving time since I only live 10 minutes from school now. Never the less, I find myself looking at clocks and wondering where all the time goes.

Margaret and I are STILL unloading boxes that have been stored in the garage since our move. We are getting down to the last 15-20 boxes and with a little work both sides of the garage will be cleared enough to get cars in! Imagine that, a 2-car garage in which 2 cars will fit. The house looks great, to a large degree, because of Nathan. He has painted the inside and outside of the house for us. Even though the house was painted before we ever moved in we decided we needed a little color and contrast. Nate has done an amazing job with the paint and is now taking on trim work. Crown and chair rail moldings will be going in soon to some of the rooms to finish it out.

We feel so blessed to be in such a nice house. To be honest, I never dreamed of a day that we would live in a house with tile and real hardwood, a 2-car garage, and a huge yard. God has really blessed us with the move up here. He has confirmed time after time that we made the right decision. Margaret and I have great jobs, my health seems to be holding steady, and we have become very involved with the work at church. Western Hills has just reached out and welcomed us, and our ministry, with welcome arms. The elders are so supportive of the work we are doing in Honduras and Brazil and the members are very giving. I think that in the near future more and more will goes with us to Central America and more and more supplies and donations will come as well.

We have started a small group on Sunday nights with friends and with college students from Lipscomb. Every Sunday evening we have anywhere from 12-18 over to the house for a meal and a time to just hang out and be together. We just call it “family dinner” and we open up our house for a few hours to anyone who wants to come. Nate always has a group of buddies that come and we get to see 3 of our girls from Sarasota, Florida, which attend Lipscomb. Laughs are plentiful to say the least.

We have a Torch Missions board meeting coming up the first week of October in Pigeon forge / Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We hope to get some things ironed out and some things in place before we launch the 2008 mission trips. Team leaders will be getting together in December in Nashville to go over dates and trip plans. It seems like the plans get rolling earlier and earlier every year. It is exciting to see all of the things that are going on. Containers of supplies are constantly being shipped down to Honduras for distribution. Fund raisers are going on to raise money for all kinds of projects. I have had more inquires about next year's trips than I have ever had before. 2008 might well be the biggest year we have ever had through torch Missions.

How about you? Is God active and working in your life? Can you see His fingerprints in the events that are taking place around you? Are you seeking His guidance and watching and listening to His will? "Its faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes life worth living." Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

“God’s been good to me. He has set me free. God’s been good to me; He’s so good to me.”

T. Reeves