Where do I go from here?  part 1

As I sit here this morning the title I have put above, at the age of 78, I have been serving the Lord ever since I came back from Korea and found my old Church in Boonville, MO and met the pastor. His name was Glen Irons and I thought because I had gone to Church as a boy in Blackwater MO, with my Granddad that I was a Christian. With the things that had happened to me in Korea, I knew that God had a plan for my life.  But what was it?  That was my question and I was looking for the answer.

 Some might say, well were you not a Christian when you were washed over the side of your ship in the Formosan Straights? My answer would be I thought I was, and evidently God loved me enough, even though He was the only one to answer that question.  I certainly did not behave like a Christian.  He still loved me enough to bring me home to the Baptist Church in Boonville; and then something very large happened to me.  Pastor Irons led me in a salvation prayer and I truly did find Christ and from that time on I knew without a doubt I was a child of God and yes, He has protected me and brought me through many hairy moments in my walk with Him, and during the time I was in Korea.  No one in my family accepted the fact that I had given my life to Christ because I really was a hell raiser and a trouble maker.

The next thing I found myself doing was going to Bible College………….then pastoring two small Baptist Churches, one every other weekend.  The journey started there, and now at the age of 78, I am wondering if God can still use me?  To go back a bit, in 1957, I met Bobbie and we were married, and she is the second love of my life, (the first being Jesus), and I know she loves me exactly the same, as she has stuck by me through all the ups and downs of the years.  I am at a point in my life now that health is a very trying issue.  After 3 strokes in 1999, and a series of health issues since then, I retired from being an active pastor of a church.  However, looking back over the long, long trail, I have to say that there were many days that we wondered if God had truly picked the right ones in us to do His bidding?  So now I still ask every day, “Where do I go now Lord?”  I am leaving that answer to God.  He is able to work everything in our lives out, most of the time without our input or opinion.  There will always be many who will wonder how God ever got anything done with John Irvin?  God brought me the very best partner for the work, but the greatest part of the adventure is still ahead of us, and God knows where and how it will turn out.

Every morning I like to watch something on TV from my favorites, like Wagon Train or Gun Smoke.  Then I get up and try to find things that I am still able to do, and have recently discovered I like to write.  A friend came over and helped me with what is called a blog; and now I have a place to express  myself with my thoughts.  I post things saved in my sermon files that I will from time to time put on my blog.  As for Bobbie and myself:  We are still the very best friends and still love each other, but at our ages we love differently and deeper than we did when first married.  Many times now we finish each other’s sentences, and she tries to proof read everything before I send it out, because I can’t spell worth beans.

So for now the question is:  Where do I, ( or I should say we), go from here?  Stand by for the rest of the story next week.