A JOYFUL NOISE

As you all know, I continue to struggle with my health: my unknown cause of abdominal pain, head pain, headaches, and neck pain.   There are days/weeks that are better and then there are days/weeks that aren’t so good; AND there are days that are so hard for me to function or even eat (especially when it deals with my abdominal pain).   It’s rough; but I try not to complain……it doesn’t mean I don’t wonder sometimes; I wonder why haven’t there been any answers to all of this? A few nights ago, I was chatting with one of my cousins (non-Christian; and she knows our family is very Christ-centered) on line.   She’s a very caring and dear cousin to me and I love her family as well as my aunt and uncle (and of course I love NYC).    As it is with any “chat” conversation (or any conversation for that matter), we start by asking each other “how are you doing?”   If you are like me, I’m very general with people who you know just “ask” this question for the sa...

This past Monday morning, I opened up my email, and received an email from my friend James Arbaugh .  James and I met at Blue Ridge Community College back in 1997.  He's a missionary in Haiti now and even though he's miles away, we still remain in contact.     Because he's a missionary there, I usually expect his monthly updates, but I wasn't expecting this email: ( this is only part of the email) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday as I drove the long trip from Jeremie to Port-au-Prince my mind pondered what would transpire in the next couple days.  Surely there would be a welcoming party, and sweet times of intimate fellowship with caring family and friends.  Probably the same as Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, he knew something was going to happen; something exciting (triumphal entry), something painful (beating, mocking and betrayal), something hopeless that would appear to end in death (crucifi...