"What a Trip" July 22, 2009

We returned from our trip to KY and CO one week ago–3600
miles in 16 days... We can’t possibly describe how much love was poured out on us in during that time. “Overwhelming” would be an understatement. Thank you to each of you who welcomed us so warmly and loved us so well. Tom’s sister, Deloras, who traveled with us felt the same way. We know it was God’s love flowing through you–human love just isn’t that strong. Boy! Do we ever love you in return.

Tom did well on the trip–did most of the driving. I helped some but we declined Deloras’s kind offer because she’s almost blind--got a lot of good laughs though. Two-thirds of the way through the trip, Tom’s voice gave out. The doctor confirmed that one vocal cord is paralyzed–probably from one of the tumors. He will have a CT scan to determine if it’s the one in his throat or in his chest cavity. He’s also having some pain in his head and neck, but so far Tylenol seems to take care of it. His strength is also waning. We’re quite a pair–with his impaired voice and my hearing problem you hear mostly growling and“what’dyasaying” around here. It did push me over the edge to order hearing aids, though. Everyone is rejoicing --but me.

This being Tom’s “goodbye” trip (he said we’d try to make another one next year), our goal was to share the unfailing love of Jesus with everyone we visited. We feel confident the Lord honored our desire.

We planted and watered the seed of God’s word in many hearts and are praying for a fruitful harvest, even though we may never see it. We were asked more than once to speak on video about our mantra, “seeking to finish well.” The pastor of our church here in Dallas also asked us to share about Philippians 1: the dilemma of going to be with the Lord in heaven–joy beyond compare, or staying to invest in the lives of believers–with the final cap being “to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Being in a life/death mode sure brings that dilemma into focus.
We can say from the depths of our hearts that we want only His will. The peace this stirs in our hearts is beyond words.

If you are struggling with really trusting the Lord with your life, please, please know that in all these years, He has never failed us, but instead has blessed us beyond measure. He is totally
trustworthy. This morning during our time with the Lord, I sat at the piano reveling in these words:

Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father
above, Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows
of love. –and He did!

Seeking to finish well in TX....

Dotty Hash (for Tom too)
326 Highland Ridge Dr
Wylie TX 75098
214-501-2527 cell: 720-480-7487