March 12, 2022

A Multitude of Blessings

Read Acts 2:14, 41-42

Well Charlie, I’ve had quite a case of writer’s block for a while now. I’ve had all sorts of good thoughts for you, but I can’t seem to complete a coherent paragraph with any of it.

I could for instance, write about all the many blessings that have come our way, how we’re doing things that I’d have never believed possible a few short years ago. Every time I realize how the Lord has delivered us, for some reason, I’m having a hard time putting it to paper.

As I sit here writing this for instance, I’m dressed the same way I have every day for 3 years now, shorts, a t-shirt, and I’m barefoot, and I’m outside on a patio having just spent the afternoon in a warm pool with the Lovely & Gracious JeriLynn.

Last Friday we were chauffeured to our favorite weekly dance party by a guy who owns a mansion on a private island right on the Gulf. We sat with his buddy who flies his 14-passenger jet helicopter from place to place because the traffic in Florida is such a pain. I really don’t know how we landed here, but if you’d have told me about 5 years ago we’d be doing this, I’d have said you just fell out of a tree.

Then I was gonna write for you about the time I was praying and praying for a sign from the Lord. I had to make an excruciating medical decision that could save, or possibly lose Jeri’s life, and I had no idea what to do. I don’t remember the specifics, but I do remember there were varying opinions from the experts and they needed a decision. It was maybe the most intimidating and lonesome moment of my life. As I was praying next to Jeri’s bedside for some form of help I looked up and saw the faces of Dr. Jamie Martin and Dr. Rick Brammer coming to visit at the same time. I wouldn’t have been more relieved if J.C. Himself walked into the room, robe, sandals, and all; and in a way, He did. I don’t believe in coincidence, but I certainly do believe in the Lord sending us who and what we need, I can’t tell ya how, but I can tell ya, He does. The problem had nothing to do with ears or her heart, but I had 2 of the best doctors on this planet to help me figure it out, and that’s all I needed. Without them, the preceding 2 paragraphs might have been sadly very different.

Now as I sat to write this, I was pondering, “What IS a devotion??” It occurred to me that 30+ years of gathering and assembling these little tidbits of faith and then delivering them to a congregation for daily consumption during Lent takes a LOT of Devotion. GPUMC is so fortunate to have a Charlie to do these and so many other Charlie-like things, and like any busy man, you are so fortunate to have Heidi doing all the Heidi things. It makes me think, Charlie: You and Heidi Are the Devotion.

So there you have it, my lifelong friend, various unconnected thoughts, random acts of gratefulness for a multitude of blessings all wrapped up in a seemingly meaningless story, with a hidden underlying message, that all things are possible with the right attitude toward God.

Hope this helps,
Ron Draper