Mín Englisc Blog

Do not reject me in the time
When old age I shall see;
And in my days of failing strength
Do not abandon me.
So now, when I am old and gray,
O God, forsake me not,
Until Thy strength and power I have
Each generation taught.
For, God, Thy righteousness extends
Into infinity;
And Thou hast wrought such miracles,
O God, who is like Thee?
Bits of Psalm 71

1. : 6 posts on 6 days.
2. : 16 posts on 6 days.
3. : 5 posts on 5 days.
4. : 5 posts on 5 days.
5. : 3 posts on 2 days, including two strings of really nice pictures.
6. : 5 posts on 4 days.
7. : 2 posts on 1 days.
8. Maggie: 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 21 April.
9. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 17 April.
10. Rebekah: 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 16 April.
11. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 30 March.
12. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 15 March.
is exempt because my stupid computer won't let me look at anything of her site.

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
I Corinthians 15:54

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself with be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Revelation 21:1-4

Margaret "Peg" Park Wilson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 26 December 1913 and grew up in the Montclair RPC in the New Jersey suburbs of New York. During her years at Geneva College, Miss Park met a Mr. J. Paul Wilson, whom she married in 1937, two years after graduation. As Mr. Wilson was ordained to the gospel ministry in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, they moved together, serving various Reformed Presbyterian congregations. They served at Barnet, Vermont, then Youngstown, Ohio, then Barnet again, before a relatively young retirement. However, in retirement, they remained busy, such as by working with the newly-established Covenant Fellowship RPC in Pittsburgh and serving two years in Cyprus. As they grew older, Rev. and Mrs. Wilson moved to the Reformed Presbyterian Aged People's Home in northern Pittsburgh, where Mrs. Wilson died on 7 April 2006. She is survived by her husband, four children, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!
Numbers 23:10

Much of my day was occupied at the memorial service for Mrs. Wilson. Although I never met her, I'm sure that I would have enjoyed such an experience greatly. All spoke well of her, remembering fondly her devotion to Christ, her hospitality towards all, and her love for God's creation, whether animate or inanimate. A friend of knowledge, she loved to read.
Near to the end of her life, Mrs. Wilson faced many trials, and by the end she was wishing for the LORD to take her to be home. Macular degeneration had destroyed her sight, her hearing was greatly compromised, and both she and her husband were weak. Although this is a bereavement for her children and the rest of her family, this cannot be anything except a blessing for her.
Please pray, therefore, for her children, especially for her older son, who is currently in the Ukraine and could not attend today's service. Above all, please pray for them to have skill and peace when helping their father. Although Rev. Wilson is now the oldest living RP minister, he suffers severely from dementia. Such a grief it is to people such as my father, who remember when Rev. Wilson was a lively, knowledgeable, and very intelligent man.
Despite all sorrow, we know that we will see Mrs. Wilson with the LORD, whether seeing her again or seeing her for the first time.

Yet evermore I am with Thee;
Thou holdest me by my right hand.
And Thou, e'en Thou, my guide shalt be;
Thy counsel shall my way command;
And afterward in glory bright
Shalt Thou receive me to Thy sight.
Psalm 73:23-24

This week, we're celebrating the Lord's Supper, and tonight was our preparatory service. Dr. Robson preached on the subject of the connexion of Jesus' "Son of Man" and ideas of coming on the clouds of heaven with the passages in Daniel that were the root for those ideas.

Last night, we did stay until the end of the game. With the exception of Tony and one other guy, both Red Sox fans, we had a great time. Even they enjoyed themselves :-)

Great news: Katie has finalized her college decision (University of Indianapolis) and passed all requirements for the Gold Award, the highest award for Girl Scouts! Congratulations!

This morning had the final classes for my Bible and physical education classes. The PED course was the final exam, a very easy test that the instructor gave now to make Finals Week (next week) easier.
Bible, however, was very different. We had an all-class discussion of Pentecostal gifts and the authors in our Pentecostal gifts book. I was very disappointed at what I heard from others there. Above all, in discussion of how to relate the Bible and experiences, some of the authors put the Bible above experience, some have the Bible level with experience, and some have experience primary over the Bible. Sadly, when I stated that we must have the Bible supreme over all, I seemed to face resistance! While experiences may be used carefully to interpret the Bible (otherwise we'd all be Flat Earth Society), and while our understandings of the Bible may be flawed, we still must hold to the Bible above all. Otherwise, we're saying that God's revealed word is not supreme over all else.
However, despite disagreements, this class has been wonderful. I have learned so much, and it is one of the main reasons that I praise God for preventing me from attending Miami. I never would have had such a class there. It is such a blessing to have such a great class with twenty-three other Christians, with most of whom I am friends, including some of my closest friends outside of Indiana.

I'm about to leave for Cleveland, where a group of us are attending the Indians-Red Sox game. I've not been to a major league game since my fourth birthday!

Except for class, relatively little has happened for me today. In my history class, I gave a short presentation about my final term paper, which I've written on the relation of American stamps to American history and culture. Here, for your curiousity, are scans of three stamps that I'm using for the paper.

As well, I was asked to name my favorite stamp. Here's a scan of what I named.

Tomorrow is the last of my Bible classes as well as the final of my physical education class. I'll soon begin to study for it.

Tonight was my last lab for SCS 110. Although the labs have been interesting and worked better than the experiments we did at home (most of the time, unlike last week), I'm still glad to be done.
After lab, I went to the usual get-together at Filberts'. We had a time of watching a video and an extended time of prayer, compared to normal. Besides various Geneva students, Michael Fulk was there again. Although he's not a Geneva student, and therefore I don't see him much, it's good to have a chance to see someone from Indiana whom I knew decently well before coming here.

Over Christmas break, we bought a can of Skyline Chili for Tony. This chili, made by a restaurant chain based in Cincinnati, we bought for him because the chain was founded by a Greek immigrant who used traditional recipes. Today, as I was cleaning some things, I remarked about the yet-uneaten chili, telling him that he would have to take it home if he didn't eat it soon. His reply was that there was no can opener. A pity I'd not asked about that before — I have a can opener on my knife! Although it took a while for him to open it (he'd never used that type of can opener before), he tried the chili and now is interested in trying more.

A question for readers: What number of day is Saturday in the week? Is it the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh day of the week?


Today's doctor's appointment went wonderfully. Although I'm still prohibited from tobacco, I'm now allowed to use alcohol again. Big deal :-) More practically: I'm now told that I'm prohibited from aspirin, Advil, Aleve, etc. for life. Therefore, if I have pain, I'll either take Tylenol or suffer, unless I'm so much in pain (God preserve me from such) that I need narcotics. As well, I'm now allowed to have normal exertion, so I can run and jump and bicycle and mow lawns.

So far away...
Charity posted the following today, which was written by Elizabeth Enas. After it, I've included the comment I left on Charity's post about Elizabeth's writing.

"As I sit in the M. C. Library, someone walks by, and somehow I smell a strange, yet recognizable whiff: the distinctive scent of ECHO. I wish Iknew what it was - that tangy, summery, invigorating breeze. Maybe it's a combination of sunscreen, sunbaked mulch, deodorant, bug spray, chlorine, blossoming fruit trees, and flip-flops.

Whatever the scent is, it makes me want to drive a golf-cart as fast as it can down a dusty, gravel road...
I want to feel the breeze against my sweaty, sunburned face, to be silly with my friends who are just as sunburned and sweaty as me...
I want to go to Wal-Mart again with a group of twenty kids, all laughing as we try to find the best deals in candy, white T-shirts, ice cream, and cream soda...
I want to bodysurf in the Gulf again, as we endeavor to keep our cameras from getting wet while snapping as many pictures as possible...
I want to sit on a picnic bench, trying to catch a breeze from the noisy fans as I write in my quiet time notebook...
I want to drink the sickeningly sweet strawberry and chocolate milk that cooled us off when we took a water break...
I want to realize again how refreshing a cool, clean shower can be, when you've been working hard in the hot sun and your body is filthy...
I want to hang out in the air-conditioned office, singing along to Weezer and the radio, playing Memory, or just chatting about anything and everything under the sun...
I want to sit under the tin roof of the tool shop, listening to the torrential downpour and taking a little breather from the work...
I want to lie in a sleeping bag on a hard floor again, the various whispered conversations lulling me to sleep...
I want to sit in a packed van for four days, laughing, teasing, discussing, playing games, listening to music, singing psalms, sleeping,and eating...

All the memories that come back, after such an small thing as smelling a familiar scent. It takes me a moment to realize that I'm several hundred miles away, that I'm not in the hot, humid farm ECHO, but in a quiet, air-conditioned library. I wish my mind could take my body with it as it flutters back to the warm, wonderful memories of the last two summers."

I did love ECHO, although I was nearly seventeen when I first went. I can't sympathise with many of those feelings (such as being in the office or drinking chocolate milk), but I know what you're feeling. A pity we, among whom your dad slept, had no chance to have whispered conversations :-)

ECHO was the best experience I ever had in highschool, and better than anything I had before. However, I have loved my time in college even more. The thrill of ECHO was the chance to be with friends for a full two weeks — more than twice as long as I had ever had before. How can that compare to fifteen weeks? Yes, I am not as close to my friends here, and all of my closest friends are yet in Indiana. Nevertheless, to be with friends almost every waking hour, to be able to go (occasionally) randomly to Wal-Mart at midnight, and even to have the broadband Internet (and daylight savings time in Indiana :-) to be able to IM with so many people more often.
It could be better. I could have my friends from "home" here. I could be even closer to my friends here. I could have lots of my friends go to church with me. I could be able to see my family more frequently.
But despite all of these factors, I am wonderfully blessed to be here!

And besides all these, I can still go on a mission trip this summer!

Thanks to staying up really late each night this week, I slept so late this morning — 9:45 — that I couldn't go to Eastvale. How thankful I am that I can attend the College Hill late service instead! It's rather a difference (I sat in the choir loft, behind Pastor Selvaggio) to have 200 people singing facing me, instead of 30 people around me or 80 people in front of me.

1. : 10 posts on 7 days.
2. : 13 posts on 6 days.
3. : 5 posts on 5 days.
4. : 11 posts on 6 days.
5. : 4 posts on 4 days.
6. : 2 posts on 2 days.
7. : 3 posts on 4 days.
8. : 3 posts on 3 days.
9. Maggie: 2 posts on 1 day.
10. Rebekah: 1 post on 1 day.
11. : 1 post on 1 day.
12. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 30 March.
13. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post 15 March.

Finally! My paper is almost done! I'm nearly done with the fourteenth page of a fifteen-page paper. For Nathan's sake (as well as that of anyone else who doesn't remember), I'll repeat: this paper is to discuss the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, including a discussion of topics such as regeneration, sanctification, and Pentecostal gifts.

Today, I turned in my final history paper. With my big Bible paper due on Monday, I plan to spent most of my time over the next few days in working on that paper.

Sorry for no Thursday post. I had hoped to do more work, but I'm falling asleep. I'll post more later.
Charity: I am quite satisfied with my schedule and thankful that I was able to get into all of the classes that I wanted.

Here is my schedule for next semester:

Monday: US History III 0800-0855, Humanities #3 Lecture 1115-1210, Middle East History 1220-1315, European History II 1325-1420.
Tuesday: Physical Education 0800-0855, Communication 0930-1050, Humanities #3 Discussion 1100-1115.
Wednesday: US History III 0800-0855, Middle East History 1220-1315, European History II 1325-1420.
Thursday: Physical Education 0800-0855, Communication 0930-1050, Humanities #3 Discussion 1100-1115.
Friday: US History III 0800-0855, Middle East History 1220-1315, European History II 1325-1420.

Tonight I register for classes. I'll try to get my schedule posted tonight or tomorrow, once it's set.

Without a doubt, I had a great weekend at my uncle's house. During that time, I visited my greataunt's house, experienced what many called an odd Good Friday service, worshipped at Rose Point RPC for the first time since Thanksgivingtide, attended my cousin's baseball game, found (to an extent) what it's like to have sisters, helped an Amish lady with genealogy, worked on homework, relaxed, and much more.
Before returning me to campus today, my uncle took me to my cousin Evan's JV highschool baseball game. It was an enjoyable afternoon, although his team, Laurel HS, did poorly — the game ended because of the mercy rule, because the other team, Blackhawk HS, had a ten-run lead (11-1) after less than five innings. Not to say that Blackhawk completely outhit Laurel: it was the pitching. Laurel ended up forcing just thirteen outs between three pitchers. At least three of Blackhawk's runs were walked in, two more were balked in, and one scored on a passed ball. Evan himself did decently: although he went 0-3, two of the three outs came on long fly balls, and as the center fielder his long throw caused a long hit with a man on first to end up with men on second and third, with no score.

This morning, since I'm half an hour's drive from Beaver Falls, I didn't go to church at either College Hill or Eastvale. Instead, at my request, my uncle drove me over to Rose Point, where Mom's parents are members, and where my grandfather's family have been members since the 1830s. Since Pastor Schmidtberger has been busy this week, he didn't preach; instead, our preacher was the Rev. Ralph Joseph, whom many of you remember from his days as the pastor at Selma. He discussed John 19, with the death of Jesus and his statement of "It Is Finished!" as his key passage. A fitting psalm to end the service was Psalm 22I (which I love :-), which we sang just before the benediction. I remember once hearing a discussion of the psalm that noted the entire psalm — beginning and ending — as similar to Christ's time on the cross. Obviously, the Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani is prophetic, as are parts about counting all the bones, garments being divided and gambled over, etc. However, remember the last stanza:
A seed shall rise to serve His will,
And to the age it shall be told
About our Lord; then they shall come
And shall His righteousness unfold
Unto a people yet unknown,
That this was done by Him alone.
This was done: if it was done, then it is finished!

After church, I went up to visit Grandma and Grandpa, after which I came with them back to my uncle and aunt's house, since they had been invited to lunch here. I rather surprised Grandma and Grandpa, since I had forgotten to tell them that I would be there!

BLOGS My cousin needs the computer (I'm borrowing hers), so no pictures or links.
1. Katie: 7 posts, on 7 days.
2. Becca: 5 posts, on 4 days.
3. David: 3 posts, on 3 days.
4. Andrew: 2 posts, on 2 days.
5. Maggie: 2 posts, on 2 days.
6. Charity: 1 post, on 1 day.
7. Nathan: 1 post, on 1 day.
8. Ellie: 1 post, on 1 day.
9. Anna: 0 posts, on 0 days. Last post 8 April.
10. Luke: 0 posts, on 0 days. Last post 6 April.
11. Rebekah: 0 posts, on 0 days. Last post 27 March
12. Grace: 0 posts, on 0 days. Last post 15 March.
Allen is exempt because his won't display.

Today has been relatively restful. This morning, I had relatively little chance to do work, although I studied for a while. Slightly before lunchtime, my uncle invited me to come along with him to my greataunt's house to mow the lawn. Since I'd not been there for several years, I went along happily. After getting takeout at a Subway, we ate in her dining room before my uncle began to mow. Most of my time I spent in photographing and filming the house — likely the last time I'll ever be there.
Since returning, I've done rather little work. After working for a while on my humanities paper, I realized that I'd completely misunderstood what I was supposed to do, and I had to began all over again. As I had just finished that work, it was time to leave: all six of us went to eat at a fancy restaurant in a nearby town. I enjoyed it, although I was rather surprised at the prices. Since returning, I've been online most of the time...and now I need to get off and return to the HUM paper.

Today has gone generally well. Much of the morning was spent with my aunt, an Amish neighbor lady, and the neighbor's father. The lady was doing genealogical work, and her father was a good living resource :-) It was interesting, among other things, visiting an Amish cemetery.
Tonight, I went along with my uncle and aunt and cousins to their church for the Good Friday service. By far the most unusual part was when we were about to go into the service. As we're standing in line (lots of people were there), I turned around and saw a girl from New York who's in my Bible class! As you may imagine, I was extremely surprised, although not as much when I saw her boyfriend (who lives across the hall from me) with her. I knew that he was from New Castle, but I didn't know that he went to the same church, and I definitely didn't expect to find him standing in line immediately behind me.

This post I type in the study of the house of my uncle and aunt Jim and Mary Wilson, Mom's brother and sister-in-law, who live one county north of Beaver Falls. Since my parents were here two weeks ago with the seizure incident, last week with my great-aunt's death, and will be here in a week and a half for a doctor's appointment I have in Pittsburgh, they really didn't want to have four nine-hour round trips in four weeks! My uncle and aunt only have dialup (no other service is offered where they live), so I won't be able to be online much.
This afternoon, as I was preparing to leave campus with my uncle, we had one of the strongest winds I've ever seen. I stood next to the wall of the dining hall, which is a simple vertical wall with no overhang. The wind was so strong that this simple vertical wall blocked rain the width of the entire sidewalk, and perhaps more. Small hail allowed me to see the angle at which the rain fell — almost forty degrees! I have seen heavier rain (such as at ECHO), but I don't remember ever seeing more powerful wind.

Tonight, as I was talking online, the conversation turned (somewhat) to the bounty of our blessings in the LORD. Let me include some excerpts from that conversation:

• as i work on my final BIB paper, im reading various passages, and just now getting 2 mount carmel w/ elijah, something that should b encouraging 4 all of us [I Kings 18:39]: When all the people saw this [the fire from heaven], they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!"
• consider elijah, going 2 mt sinai [I Kings 19:5-6]: Then he [Elijah] lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
• nehemiah 13.31: Remember me with favor, O my God.
• The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. psalm 37.18-19
• tis vain 4 u 2 rise btimes, or l8 from rest 2 keep; 2 eat the bread of toil; 4 so he gives his loved 1s sleep

Remember: if you are in Christ, you are one of those blameless! You are one of those loved ones! In II Samuel 12.25, when Solomon is newly born, the LORD sends word by a prophet to name him Jedidiah, or "Loved by the LORD." If you are a Christian, YOU are Jedidiah!

However, if you are not a Christian, not resting in the death of Christ for your sins to save you, you are none of these. You have done evil against the Most High God, who is supreme over all creation. As Psalm 5 says, "Evildoers Thou dost hate; Liars Thou wilt bring to naught." Please do not stand in God's anger any more! Please, oh please repent! God will never turn away your sincere cry for salvation! Cry out to Christ to help you overcome your unbelief! If you do, you will be in Christ: you will be Jedidiah, one of those loved ones, one of those blameless — forever!

Please pray for one of my friends, who doesn't live on this floor, to be finding more and more of God's truth. He is coming to a more biblical oulook on daily matters, and I'd appreciate such prayers.
What a blessing that God does predestine us to our dooms! What a wonderful gift that God is willing to give to every kind person! I would write more, but I really need to get to bed...
In case you were wondering: I stayed up somewhat later to work ahead somewhat on my paper on the Holy Spirit.

Because of the upcoming Easter break, my SCS 110 lab this evening was cancelled. Together with my excuse from the phys ed class, that cancellation meant that my classes were done for the day at 9:30 AM. With so much "free" time, I ended up spending much of the day working on my paper on the Holy Spirit, completing a lot more than I did yesterday. As well, I had much more time to spend talking with friends than I often do.
As I believe I said a couple of days ago, I have completed the compilation of my huge denominational historical statistical table. Since (as far as I believe) it should be extremely useful, several people have expressed interest in it. Today, therefore, I gave copies to Matt Filbert, Noah Bailey, and my nextdoorneighbor Toby Warner. Noah, especially, was amazed by seeing some of the statistics. Having spent much less of his life as an RP than Matt, and having more time to study the table than Toby, Noah was astounded by much of the information. Perhaps you will be astounded, as well. Did you know that, at one time, the New York City metro area included five congregations with over 1,000 communicant members? Or that there was an entire presbytery in Vermont? Or that almost all of two different presbyteries, along with a small part of a third, were in Ohio? Today, all of Atlantic Presbytery (including what were four presbyteries 120 years ago) contains just 337 communicant members, including no congregations in Vermont, and Belle Center is the only congregation in Ohio.

Relatively little has happened today. My classes were (overall) normal. I missed the troop meeting (because noöne came to pick me up), Bekah's birthday party (because I expected to go to the troop meeting at the same time), and the broomball game (because I am prohibited from strenuous exercise). Natheless, I had some good parts as well, and today has not at all been an evil day. While I have had no long IM conversations of the sort of previous days, I have enjoyed chatting with several friends for shorter periods. I have begun work on the major paper for my BIB 152 class, on the topic of the Holy Spirit, which paper I entitled "Credo in Spiritum Sanctum". My advisor, after hearing pleas from other students, has begun an informal class in the Arabic language, and I attended my first session thereof today.
Several notes:
• Today is my Pockras grandparents' 57th anniversary!
• Please pray for our preacher last night, Rut Etheridge, as he considers all of the calls that have been laid upon him.
• I have had slightly more trouble with trusting God with this disappointment, but I am still trusting in the LORD.

Please read the entire post.
This morning, Dr. Robson preached on the images of money in the Gospel According to St. Matthew. I had never considered the fact that Matthew, being a tax collector, remarks far more on monetary issues than do the other three evangelists. One of the main points of the sermon focussed on the "should-we-pay-taxes-to-Cæsar" incident, as the due date for IRS taxes will pass before Dr. Robson's next sermon here.

Tonight, the area congregations had a joint service in the Fieldhouse, presided over by Pastors Anthony Selvaggio (College Hill) and Bruce Backensto (Geneva). Our preacher tonight was Lic. Rutledge Etheridge III (doubtless soon to be the Rev. Rutledge Etheridge III), whom I'm sure many of you know. Rut preached from the second half of the first chapter of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, especially Philippians 1:21-24. I appreciate all the sermons that I hear, but I can remember few that have so strongly touched me. In his sermon, Rut discussed how our duty is to live for Christ, to suffer for Christ, to die for Christ, and to do everything else for Christ. He noted how calm Paul was with the idea of death, wishing that God would take him but acknowledging that he yet had work to do on earth.
Recently, I have been feeling stronger my obligation to render all to Christ. My confidence in the face of possible death in the hospital (much less than it seemed, because I didn't realize I was facing death!) has helped me to see that God is in control of all. Looking back to November's archives, I have read of the death of Dr. E. Raymond Hemphill, who, when told he had little left to live, was at peace with God. He knew that he had nothing more to do for God, because God would not take him if he had more to do. Similarly, I have been understanding better and better the relative unimportance of earthly events. God is in control, and I need not worry about them, as long as I obey Christ faithfully in my reaction to those events.
Tonight, after the service, I received word of a disappointment that was somewhat anticipated. Recently, I had dreaded this possibility, but since hearing it I have felt remarkably at peace with it. Although I am still disappointed, I am wonderfully joyful at the grace of God: I had just returned from hearing this powerful sermon about trusting God when I received this disappointment. What amazing timing! Praise the LORD for allowing me to hear this news after this sermon, not before it! I cannot express how joyful I am with this blessing of the LORD!

BLOGS
1. : 12 posts on 6 days.
2. : 6 posts on 6 days.
3. : 5 posts on 5 days.
4. : 5 posts on 5 days.
5. : 5 posts on 5 days.
6. : 5 posts on 5 days.
7. : 5 posts on 5 days.
8. Maggie: 3 posts on 3 days.
9. : 3 posts on 3 days.
10. : 3 posts on 2 days.
11. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post on 30 March.
12. Rebekah: 0 posts on 0 days. Last post on 27 March.
13. : 0 posts on 0 days. Last post on 15 March.

Today has again been quite good. My test for SCS 110 went well, and the other classes went decently. I said goodbye to Katie and Mrs. Bussell as they left this morning, thankful for a chance to see someone from Indianapolis whom I'd not seen in a long time. Why don't more of you consider coming here? :-)

Katie and Mrs. Bussell
Tonight is the visitation for my great-aunt. Therefore, my parents have come here, and in just a little bit we will leave for my grandparents' in the next county north. First, however, I must have a blood test to check the levels of the anti-seizure medicine in my blood. I know that this is necessary, so I submit to it, but I HATE NEEDLES!

Miracle was tonight's movie, the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that beat the Soviets and thereby became a national symbol. The movie was quite good, even though we had to fastforward several times to avoid breaking the end of open hours. However, even better was, as usual, the chance to watch the movie with friends — and even more friends than normal. Who?
• Avery
• Bekah
• Brenda
• Kaitlyn
•
• Matt
• Micah
• Scott
• Tony

Check out the whole picture!

This morning, some hours before dawn, Miss Mildred Ann McElwain passed away. Miss McElwain was my great-aunt, the only surviving sibling of my Grandma Wilson. She had been very weak for a long time; her mind was weak; and lately she had been in much pain. A wonderful deliverance for her! Nevertheless, it is a grief for us her family, especially for my grandmother. Please pray for her, above all, as she is now the only one left of the family of her childhood. My parents will be coming out here on Friday in order to attend the Friday night visitation and the Saturday morning funeral. Please pray, as well, for their safe travel both on Friday and on Saturday.

Yet evermore I am with Thee:
Thou holdest me by Thy right hand.
And Thou, ev'n Thou, my guide shalt be;
Thy counsel shall my way command;
And afterward in glory bright
Shalt Thou receive me to Thy sight.

For whom have I in heav'n but Thee?
None else on earth I long to know.
My flesh may faint and weary be;
My heart may fail and heavy grow;
With strength doth God my heart restore;
He is my portion evermore.

They perish that are far from Thee;
Lo, in their lewdness they shall die.
But surely it is good for me
That unto God I should draw nigh.
I refuge take in GOD the Lord,
That all Thy works I may record.

Today has been rather boring. I'd post more if there were more about which to post.

Tonight, I attended the visitation for the Rev. John O. Edgar, D.D., at the RP Home in Pittsburgh. Dr. Edgar was a venerable old minister — the oldest living minister in our denomination — who was ordained over 70 years ago. You may know his only daughter and her husband: Dr. and Mrs. Bob and Louise Copeland, who are in charge of New Song, the group that sang at Covfamikoi.

Dr. Robson preached today from Matthew 13, in which Jesus speaks extensively in parables, and in which he explains why he speaks in parables. Because I was still somewhat tired, and because (under doctor's orders) I may not ride my bicycle much at all, I rode with Noah Finley the whole time. Instead of going to part of the College Hill early service, leaving partway through, and attending class and worship at Eastvale, I attended all of the College Hill early service, took a break, and worshipped again at Eastvale. It's nice (for once :-) to hear a full sermon from Pastor Selvaggio, but I am glad that I don't plan to repeat this routine normally.
Besides worship and the usual nightly get-together (held at a different house this week), much of my day involved work on a paper for Bible that's due this week. I'm learning a lot, but I just wish that I'd been able to get the paper done early last week as I had planned. Still: who can argue with God's timing? Blessed be the name of the LORD!

Katie has agreed to do the blog ratings for me this week, partially because I'm so busy. Thanks so much!

Good night!