e-mail 11/10/6

This week while looking through an old cookbook, I found the Chocolate Chip Recipe that I had posted in the cookbook in 1996 along with my favorite Scripture verse at the time, Psalm 130:23-24. "Search me O God and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

The cookbook was a special one to me because it was produced by SE Baptist Association Woman's Missionary Union, the last year that I served on the Ga WMU Board . All donations were given to Camp Pinnacle, one of the most beautiful campsites for Baptist youth groups in the state of Georgia. We needed to renovate the camp and build a lodge and the cost was in the millions of dollars. Ga WMU continues to work on Camp Pinnacle to make improvements and offer missions education to youth and girls during the summer months and allows other youth groups use the camp site for church camps. Our theme that year was "From this high pinnacle unto all the world".

As I think about this theme, I believe that each of us should think of where we are in our lives and think about how we can get the gospel into the entire world. Suppose it were up to you or to me. It is, you know! Many of us enjoy sitting on our personal high pinnacle of spirituality and are satisfied. We enjoy our place where we can worship,laugh and joke, & feast. We can enjoy the comforts of the buildings that we meet in and whether we think of it or not, these are high pinnacles compared to the majority of places Christians worship in around the world. We have it very comfortable and still find excuses not to be involved in missions education for our children, youth or adults. It is easy to give an offering every year but it takes efforts to go to Walmart and fill a shoebox for a child whom otherwise gets nothing for Christmas.

Since Woman's Missionary Union is no longer active in our churches, we do not have the number of young people who are committing their lives to missions. As one older lady in the church, I miss the WMU days when we had a week of Prayer for Home Missions and a week of prayer for Foreign Missions. I miss having a Home Mission Study and a Foreign Mission Study every year for Men and Women. I miss having a monthly general business meeting and all the ladies in the church would be involved in, through our community and the ladies were committed to come and participate. I miss having our Royal Service meeting when we studied and prayed for a particular missions group. I miss having Girls in Action stand before the church and repeat Scripture they learned and the special services for Acteens who worked hard to become "Queens" and were recognized for their efforts in missions activities. I miss commitment services when the youth would make committments to serve as missions as their career choices.

It's hard to grow old and find that the best there was is no more and nothing better has come along to replace it. The older ladies are not physically able to do the work that we use to do and the younger women don't know how. I think I agree more and more with the Mark Lowry song that says " I don't belong."

This week as we bid our farewell to our family friend Ken Warden, there was one word that was continually shared by all that best described Ken. That word was "Conviction." Ken was a man of conviction in the three most important areas of his life. He was a military man until he died. Not like the modern military but more like the John Wayne "Bustin'Head" military. He was proud of his military career and he served until time to retire. His military career prepared him for being committed to serving his community and doing whatever he could to make it a good place to live.

Ken was a man of conviction when it came to his family. There was nothing that could interfere with his love and time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He was a man of conviction about his faith. He could not be shaken and saw no areas of gray when it came to right and wrong. He made no excuses for those who chose to life apart from the Christian lifestyle. He called it like it was, sin was sin. Those who did not know him probably did not like his honesty but those he knew who were not phonies, he was their friend.

Ken was our friend for more than 20 years because his son is also our son by marriage. We are thankful that this quality of conviction is one that he passed on to Kenny and I already see some of it in David. This is a good thing in today's world where good is called bad and bad is called good, when men choose personal pleasure over spiritual matters and God has to take whatever is left over. Ken has gone on to Heaven to meet his Master.

An old WMU song says "May all who come behind us find us faithful" May they also find us...

Sharing God's Love,
Peggy