Antique Friend Calls

Well, my adventures in real estate continue. I have been chatting with more than one agent to decide 1)what to do and 2)how to do it once we decide what to do. It feels a little bit like playing the field in dating, which I was never comfortable with as a young person and still feels wrong even in regard to real estate. I just try to tell myself that I am doing the best I can for my family and our future.

I know I want to get back closer to my work but I don't want to lose the rural feel of life out here. The country is beautiful, lonely, and mysterious. It brings out a different side of me, one where I care for my chickens and think about planting an orchard.

My old friend Dick from [tiny town], Nebraska called me out of the blue on Saturday. I met Dick while working for a disabled person transport service. He had just had surgery to remove one of his legs below the knee and had to spend a few weeks in rehab before they would let him go home. I invited him to church, got him a couple of shirts to wear, and had him over to the house for lunch or something. He never forgot it. In the years following, we have gone to visit him in his tiny hometown where he is the local antique dealer. He has a big house full of antiques that the banker built in 1916. It is one of those things that's totally indescribable unless you've seen something like it. All the furniture, the decorations, the photos, the books, everything 19th century or before. It boggles the mind.

So in January Dick had at least one heart attack and was hospitalized again, in a care center again, and now needs to get a pacemaker. I have talked with him about Christ in the past, but while recognizing his sin, Dick doesn't seem to think Jesus would want to save him or do anything about the sin. Which, of course, is the whole point of grace. Nobody is good enough to merit Jesus' love; He gives it freely to anybody who will just say, "Yes, Jesus, I believe you. I trust that you died for my sins and you 'll give my your righteousness because you have plenty to go around!"

Pray for Dick, would you? I would like to see him in heaven when I get there.