Never too Old

 

Sharon received an e-mail from Tony's mom in China. She does not speak English

 so we have to use google translate to communicate.. I am going with the explanation that sometimes the translation is off a bit

哦，几乎要忘了告诉你：连衣裙很可爱，非常适合你。Royce看起来胖了一

Because this translates as "Oh I almost forgot to tell you the dress looks really cute. Royce looks fat" Now although I am sure Sharon's dress was really nice in the photo she sent, I am having a little problem with that next line. I know I am getting older but still let's try to keep the observations that are insulting down to a minimum. You want to work into a statement like that. Perhaps start by saying, "wow you must be wealthy because it looks like you can afford a lot of food." See that makes it sort of a compliment. Or she could have gone with "dress looks really cute and Royce's clothes look new also what with the new sizes he needs." But nooo, she just laid it out there, Royce looks fat. Well, I shall struggle on keeping a smile on my face while I cry on the inside.

    Here I am being all fat with Micah and Matthew being all skinny while we look at a house.

      Yep, definitely going to have to cut back on the marshmallows.

     We have a few of these old air conditioning units. They never seem to quit working. They may not be very efficient. I have replaced units installed after the year 2000 and these old ones from the early 60s just keep on running. They may not be pretty and they may be old but they get the job done and cool the houses.

    The original part of this house was built in 1900 according to the county website. It was 432 square feet. Later another 144 square feet were added. It now is 576 square feet. We are residing it and fixing it up a bit.

    It is starting to look better and has a lot of useful years ahead of it. It's value will rise because of the new face lift. Even though it is a very small house the tenant tells me he loves living there.

     It would have been nice if they had not done the roof line this way when they built on, but it was most likely the cheapest, easiest framing. This house may be old but it is still providing a good home. It is still doing the job it was built for 118 years ago. It's not a fancy, flashy house but it is useful.

     Yesterday these mushrooms showed up in the front yard. I am not an expert on mushrooms, but I am guessing there is an old stump of a tree under the grass somewhere. That old stump is still generating life.

     I was talking to a neighbor at some of our houses this week. I didn't ask if I could share his story so I am giving him a new name. We shall call him Ron. I have talked to Ron occasionally over the last 2 years. I helped put a picture window in his house one day because he couldn't lift it. Ron is 83 years old and his wife gets around with a walker. He still works part time so I figured they were in some financial duress. They have a great-grand daughter and great-grand son who spend a lot of time at their house. I know Ron's daughter and grand daughter have not led very "respectable" lives. I wondered what Ron's household was like when their daughter was growing up.
     This week Ron asked me if I enjoyed being a land lord. I replied, " there are good days and bad days, but I get to share with a lot of people that there is a God and Jesus came to give eternal life." Ron said "that is why I still work part time. I get to meet a lot of people. I get to hear their troubles. I get to pray with them and tell them I will pray for them. When I tell someone I am going to pray for them, I mean it, I will pray for them."
     He told me he has a son who is an attorney and his billing rate is $600 an hour. I said " He should send his daddy a little money." Ron said "He would if I needed it but I don't need any money."
     Ron is 83 years old and goes to work so he can share others' burdens and pray with them. He said they call him "counselor Ron" at work. How crazy great is that. When a lot of people have settled into their recliner, Ron is out there working to build God's kingdom. Oh and that daughter and Grand daughter I wondered about. Ron and his wife adopted the daughter and all the baggage that came with her, but for all her shortcomings, I bet she has heard about the love of God over and over again.
     I heard Ron's story and I thought "hey if I last like Ron has, I have another 23 years to tell everyone I meet, God loves you and Jesus has salvation for any who will believe." Of course that is if I don't get so fat I can't get out of my chair.
     Point is this, you are never too old to be of value. You are never too old for God to use you in building His kingdom. Never stop looking where God can use you no matter what your age. I love to see young people changing and reforming our world. I love to see senior citizens out there serving too.