308 – Carrying a Vision – part 1

Without a vision the people perish. Proverbs 29:18

This verse is only quoted in this way in the King James Version. This is how I learned the verse 43 years ago and it has been a bedrock of my faith.

Bedrock (dictionary.com) = the fundamental principles on which something is based.

[to read 25 versions of this verse, or any other verse, google: Proverbs 29:18 Bible Hub.]

Here are a few of the definitions of vision on google.

1- having a vivid mental image &&

2- relating to a dream or a trance, a supernatural experience ^^

3- the act or power of anticipating what will come or may come to be++

4- the ability to think about and plan for the future using intelligence and imagination **

5- someone’s idea or hope of how something should be done or how it will be in the future. **

&& Google dictionary

^^ Google dictionary

++ dictionary.com

**online Macmillan Dictionary

To me, ‘without a vision the people perish’, means that my faith stays alive, it thrives, when I am pursuing the Lord with an idea in my mind which I believe is from Him. Having a vision brings purpose to my days because rather than be confined to merely the tasks at hand in the multitudinous days of bleak and boring daily life, I have a mysterious side issue.

When we became engaged, Dan and I agreed to give our family planning to God. It was #4 type of vision. We sat on my back porch steps and thought and planned for the future, and we agreed that since I was already in my early thirties and since we had no goal but to serve God, we thought it wise to put this important topic in His hands and trust Him. By the time we celebrated our 6^th wedding anniversary we had a 1 month old newborn, and our other sons had just turned 2,4, and 5.

When we became engaged in May, I had already been accepted to begin Bible School in September in England. Rather than cancel, Dan decided to join up with my vision to study for more in depth Bible knowledge . We followed the vision through the weeks of our engagement and actively pursued our goal of Dan getting accepted at the school also. We were re-routed to their school in Germany and the registrar requested his paperwork and a payment as soon as possible. We spent five months of the first half year of our marriage in a foreign country in an English-speaking Bible School. This again was #4

In Bible School in Germany we caught school’s vision to go out into all the world to share the gospel. As a new Christian I had been interested in going to Africa. But since Dan had recently been to Japan he was very interested in taking his new faith to the Japanese people. We prayed, put out a fleece, and received the vision to visit several missionaries in Japan. The Lord provided the funds and Dan took time off work. Our son Tim turned one year old in ___ and I was pregnant with our son Steve. We spent 6 weeks in Japan.

To be continued…

41- Precious Goodbyes from Precious Friends

March 6, 1979

Yesterday we received a letter from Dan’s ex-boss, Dale, that the job is still Dan’s (interesting jobs that please Dan), along with the freedom to also be involved in ministry. Thank You!

Two days ago Mr. Moore suggested Sue take us in the van all the way to Zurich on Friday! Thank You Jesus! (rather than part way and a train the rest of the way)

Yesterday I called my parents and was greeted with cheerfulness. Thank You Jesus!

Our friends gave us a baby-shower-goodbye-SURPRISE party! God humbles us in various ways.

**In reality, there were 100 happy faces!**

May we never forget the sea of loving faces. Chas: I learned about Christian marriage. Ed: they listened. Abraham (Kenya): they loved the simple-minded (which he was NOT). Kathy Jansen: they listened and told me the right thing even if I did not want to hear it. Terri: G’s example of not having to be in the middle, but content to pray. Angel: they helped. Sue: we cried together. Tom: not separated by age from them. Daniel: example. Notes, candy boxes, baby cover-up. Principal and his wife Anita: baby sweater. VP Herb and Penny: a very cute German baby outfit. Speeches. Hugs. Tears.

May the love shown to us here rejoice our hearts forever. May God’s grace enable us to be available to these dear ones as we have boldly offered ourselves (for visits). May they know it was Jesus between us, and many prayers, never enough, but many prayers of intercession.

Thank You, God our Father for the unspeakable great gift of Jesus Christ.

40- Leery of Reading the Word

February 8, 1979

Problem: Fear about reading the Word, in studying, and in doing devotions—that I will be led astray. Lack of full trust and dependence on the Holy Spirit—my heart says: remember what happened before and how far you got into a lie (when I believed as a new Christian that God was telling me that I was going to marry a particular person and I was derailed….)

Lord, I just want to hear from you... — Lord, I just want to hear from you…

Realization: I did not have awareness then in my first few months of being a new believer of my deceitful heart. I was immature. I did not know the difference between my voice building me up and the spirit of the evil one (I will be God, I will be lifted up) and the spirit of submission to the almighty Lord, the spirit of humility.

Application: Joshua 6:1-20 God gave a promise. God gave instructions. God expected obedience and God would give victory. OBEDIENCE isn’t an OPTION. Trust and obey. For me: the promise of a child who is a reward [The fruit of the womb is His reward. Ps 127:3] –and is who is blessed. Walk by faith. Trust Him. Obey Him. ‘Don’t shout’ means to me: don’t complain, murmur, worry aloud, doubt aloud. Take your woes to Daddy and your heart should be abundant with faith in Him.

39- A Demanding Week for a Lady in her 7th Month

39- A Demanding Week for a Lady in her Seventh Month

Our Bible school’s annual evangelistic outreach to a German city 85 miles away was a real challenge for me.

February 6, 1979 Situation: Hard week in Dettingen, with no milk, but eggs and cheese, long hours, three days of door-to-door evangelism (handing out tracts, witnessing when people showed an interest) with so many staircases to climb.

We had 4 days of no door-to-door. We visited several churches to give our testimonies and invite people to accept the Lord. We stayed with a German-speaking family and a pregnant woman who was very depressed. We met a pastor who was concerned with my welfare as a pregnant lady. Enid (an RN) was concerned for my condition and health (which always causes the old Georgann to look inside for a reason to say “poor me”)—-in other words, lots of stretching. Then Sunday night diarrhea and vomiting and it was a miracle of prayer and mercy from God that I made the three-hour bus trip home without being sick or giving in to the flesh. AMEN

Back at the dorm, slept all day Monday and most of Tuesday while others went to lectures.

Going through my mind: I want to go home in February as we initially planned. Then in pity trips. But, by God’s grace, not a word to Dan. Satan even suggested suicide or falling on purpose to get attention to my plight. Praise God I knew it was him and rejected him. God has been seeing me through.

Revelation: Then Judy Johnson called and told the story of Dennis Gains getting beat up in the Lord’s service of picking up three hitchhikers, and God began speaking to me through 1 Peter 4:12,13,16,19 about what trials and testings are really all about. I got perspective.

Application: It seems that my lovely Lord allows man’s words and various circumstances to come, then come my own doubts and weaknesses, along with Satan’s encouragement to fear and do something drastic. There’s so much lying against believing in God and His goodness, His character of love, His past faithfulness. How can God win against all that? Because He’s God. Because we turn by His grace and seek Him.

Now I can write to Dennis.

38- Appealing to the Father

January 2, 1979 Since I went to the doctor two weeks ago, I have been counting contractions daily because he said six means trouble. Oh how anxious and fearful I have become. Rejoice always, be anxious for nothing, pray with thanksgiving, AND HIS PEACE WILL KEEP YOU. Philippians 4:4-7 (paraphrased)

Later: I am overcome! Slipped into the pit. Where does responsibility get practical for our baby? Do we become parents now and go home to prepare a place? Or do we continue in our role as Bible students and trust God for preparing a place? Also I am frustrated and so bored with the food. And there is more…it all makes me double-minded and easily tossed about. Continue reading “38- Appealing to the Father” →

36- Murmurings and surrenderings

36- Murmurings and Surrenderings

December 3, 1978 My Lord, I saw You, I heard You. You touched me today. Mr. Redpath looked like an ordinary man. But then Jesus exhorted us through him, rebuked us, chastened us, implored us—saying, “Love Me, spend time with Me, give yourself over to Me completely.”

I do, Lord.

Without reservations.

I long to, Lord. My life is nothing without You. Let me hate sin. Let me love. Let me have no other gods before You.

Father, I know the wilderness, the testing, and I know defeat and humility. And now I know I am in the land. In the land there is victory, blessing.

Lord in spite of the cold building, the food, the atmosphere of youthfulness, the noise, the work—have a healthy birth through me.

In spite of poor communication with the baby doctor, finances, BE VICTORIOUS. Continue reading “36- Murmurings and surrenderings” →

35-Bodenseehof

35 – Bodenseehof

I was very picky eater back then, and my greatest daily challenge was dealing with the foods in the cafeteria with its fare of sausages and wursts, cabbages, pickled eggs, and pickled beets. It was difficult to conquer the strong odors permeating the lunchroom and make selections that would set right in my tummy. The various breads, which were coveted by all, arrived warm daily in the bakery delivery boy’s bicycle basket. The fresh farm butter was creamy, and the jams were homemade and tangy. I filled up on the mouth-watering breads and pastries, had a few favorite meals, and picked at the other foods.

Continue reading “35-Bodenseehof” →

34 – A Required Separation!

We arrived in Friedrichshafen several days before the term began, expecting that we could stay at the school. We wanted to set up housekeeping and become familiar with the village while Dan practiced his high school German on the shopkeepers. I guess we hadn’t read the small print. There was no provision for early arrivals because the facility was in constant use for conferences and was not available to the students until the first day of the term.

The first night, I became very seriously ill, from the flu, food poisoning or too much greasy pizza. I can still remember our fears about our baby’s well being as we rode nervously in a taxi, driven by a man that would not be hurried, from our small pension to the hospital in the middle of the night. Continue reading “34 – A Required Separation!” →

32- Stay Home and Be Safe or Forge Ahead

After a short and sweet honeymoon in Santa Barbara, and time with my family, we returned to the little brick house in Reno. We continued attending our church, and Dottie organized a wonderful wedding reception for us in a park. Dan worked at his construction job, and we prepared for our adventure. After a few weeks, I began to feel symptoms of pregnancy! When I went to see my MD, he calculated that I had become pregnant on the third day of the honeymoon. We were ecstatic. We had given our family planning to the Lord, and His grace flowed to us to celebrate.

My mother, Grayce, felt we should change our plans and not go overseas. She was concerned that since I was 33, I might have a high-risk pregnancy and might not be able to find a doctor I could communicate with. Being a worrier myself, I took her seriously. Continue reading “32- Stay Home and Be Safe or Forge Ahead” →

28- Flexibility is Always Important

28- Flexibility is Always Important!

Karen and I had been praying for each other about mission, marriage, or ministry , almost since the day we had met (nine months earlier), and I had been pursuing my goal of deeper Bible study. When Karen had mentioned, “I believe single women can have an adventurous life serving Jesus,” I had decided that since I needed preparation to be a missionary in Africa that I might as well get it in England where Major Ian Thomas had a Bible school.

So during the time of waiting on one man to notice me and hanging out with a man who was pursuing me, I had been firming up my goals and making plans!

Capenwray Hall, Carnforth, England — Capernwray Hall, Carnforth, England

I had applied to and had been accepted at the Torchbearer’s Capernwray Bible School that was held in an English country house in the Lake District, 70 miles south of the Scottish border.

Continue reading “28- Flexibility is Always Important” →