The last 42 days have been diverse, interesting, challenging, educational, and fun! We spent ten more days with Art’s brother Bill and his family, several days with my cousins Judy and Jerry Lapham in The Villages, visited friends in Fort Myers, Lakeland and DeLand, and made new friends during our two weeks of volunteering at Lake Swan Camp in Melrose. Along the way we got to see Lego animals along with the real ones at Miami Zoo, camp on a lake in Big Cypress Preserve, have a romantic Valentine’s Day supper on a causeway, with a gorgeous sunset over water on one side, and a phenomenal full moonrise over water on the other, look for shells on Sanibel Island, walk on the beach in Ormond Beach, and meet, for the first time, second cousins Hank and Charlotte Doten (and daughter Kendra) in Gainesville. Now we’re spending a few days with college friends John and Peggy Smith in Port Wentworth, Georgia, before heading back to Brenda’s. Grandson Andrew, Lord willing, will be bringing his fiancée down to meet the family over their spring break! God is faithful and we are grateful to Him for walking ahead of us every step of the way.

One of the things I am learning along the way is the truth of the Scriptural admonition “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Are we really serving God more when we paint walls in a Christian camp than when we paint walls in our own homes? Does the fact that Billy Graham washed pots at Lake Swan back in the ‘30s make our washing pots somehow more “spiritual?” Of course not! Obedience to what God has for us to do each day brings joy, no matter what the task, even if it’s just “Come away and rest for a while.” God’s ways and God’s values are often just the opposite of our human values. By washing His disciples’ feet, Christ illustrated that “Whoever would be great among you must be the servant of all.” There is no place for prideful ambition in the life of a Christian. Yes, we should attempt great things for Christ, but only under His direction, and more important, for His glory, not our own.