Tag: writing

MY “UN-BUCKET LIST”

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Do you have a “bucket list”? A bucket list is a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. Have you seen the 2007 movie “The Bucket List”? The movie is called The Bucket List, a 2007 comedy-drama starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The film follows two terminally ill men who decide to complete a list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket,” embarking on a road trip of a lifetime. The two men, a wealthy businessman and a mechanic, meet in a hospital cancer ward. After their diagnosis, they team up to fulfill their shared wish list, which includes traveling, skydiving, and other adventures.

So, do you have a bucket list? My wife loves to travel. Her bucket list includes an Italy cooking school, a Mediterranean cruise, Niagara Falls, etc. I don’t have a bucket list. I don’t like to travel. I enjoy watching youtube videos about foreign places, especially those in the tropics. That’s more than enough for me and a lot less stress than traveling, catching flights, etc. I have recurring nightmares that I am in a foreign country and it’s an hour before our return flight but I can’t get transportation to the airport. I wake up all stressed out!

I guess it’s good that the Lord has kinda forced me to travel some. We did mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America and I would never have gone there if not for mission work-and it was some of the best years of my ministry. I went with my wife to Italy b/c she wanted me to-I did get to see the place where Paul was in prison in Rome and I saw volcano ravished Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. We’ve been to Honduras, Ecuador, Vancouver (the Butchart Gardens) on short mission trips and that was good. We did great family trips to Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. All those are places that I never would have gone to if not for Lord or family pushing me to go. So my bucket list was kinda given to me by God or family, but it’s places I’m glad I went to.

But what’s on my “un-bucket list”? I just made that up so I was surprised to find that an un-bucket list is a real thing. AI: An un-bucket list is a list of things you have decided not to do (or do again), either because you have already experienced them or because you have consciously chosen to avoid them.” That’s places I’ve traveled to and have said that I will never go there again in my lifetime. Atlanta, for example. We crossed Atlanta to go to Stone Mountain. That traffic in Atlanta! I will never go to Atlanta again. If the Lord told me to go do mission work in Atlanta, which is almost due East of our home, I would head due west toward San Diego! Like Jonah. I would not go by land not boat for obvious reasons! Another place on my un-bucket list would now be Dollywood. Our whole family of 18 just went there and had a great time in a great cabin. Fun, fun, fun. My grandkids even pushed me to ride the Wild Eagle and Barnstormer, which I will refuse to ever do again b/c I am afraid of heights and roller coasters that do 4 upside down loops. Then there was the traffic in Chattanooga and Knoxville. Horrible, brutal. If the Lord told me to head north to do mission work in Chattanooga or Knoxville I would head south to Florida instead. Then there’s Chicago. One of our daughters decides to get her masters in Chicago instead of Tuscaloosa. She stays for 2 years in Chicago, living 8 miles from downtown Chicago. So we drive to Chicago to visit her. Traffic is terrible and its windy and cold. It takes 2 hours by car (b/c of the horrible traffic) to drive those 8 miles to where she was working as a waitress that first year. So instead you leave your car and you walk 15 minutes to catch the “L” (the elevated rapid transport system), ride 30 minutes on the L, and then walk 15 minutes to get to her place of work. She would work till midnight, walk 15 minutes to catch a bus, switch to another bus, and then after about 45 minutes of bus rides she walks 15 minutes to her apartment in all kind of bad weather (and yet she loved Chicago). All that to get to a place 8 miles away. I can get in my car here in Huntsville and drive 8 miles in 10 minutes and be at work! Chicago is on the un-bucket list.

That’s enough I guess. What’s on your “un-bucket list”? Places you went to but have pledged to never go there again for the rest of your life. Were those places worth it, looking back,however? Probably so. Dollywood was a great family memory in spite of the traffic. Millennium Park and Navy Pier in Chicago with our daughter. The Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain.

I don’t even know why I’m writing such a dumb blog about my un-bucket list. I think I’m still in shock and internal anger b/c of sitting for 2 extra hours almost stopped dead still on interstates for crying out loud (on I-24 and I-75)! Sorry I wasted your time reading this if anyone happens to actually read this blog to this final point!

MARY SLESSOR (COURAGEOUS MISSIONARY)

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Mary Slessor (1848-1915)

“Growing up in the slums of Aberdeen, Scotland, with an alcoholic father and little hope of changing your circumstances doesn’t seem like a promising start for anyone. But for Mary Slessor, her childhood taught her a tenacity and a strength that would serve her well in her years spent living in Nigeria. Mary grew up hearing her devout mother read the mission paper every month. In her heart grew a desire to share Jesus with others. She was 27 when David Livingston passed away, and she decided that she would go and continue his work to reach all of Africa. Mary’s work began in Calabar, and she lived and worked in places where no European had ever been. She faced life-threatening illness and hardship, but “Mighty Mary” did not once consider giving up. She lived with Okoyong and Efik people for 15 years, learning their languages and helping them settle disputes; working tirelessly to educate and overcome superstitions, such as twin-killing and women’s rights. She earned their love and respect and as a result was able to spread the gospel to areas no other missionary could.” Chaney from kindredgrace.com

I probably should have done David Livingstone first, but I am sitting here waiting for a colonoscopy, hoping I don’t go into Afib which might cancel the procedure! So “Might Mary”. Live update from the hospital! The anesthesiologist just came in and said they usually do the procedures even if someone is in afib, so I probably worried about that for a week for nothing! Isn’t that the way it is with most of our worries! Now I can worry about what they find in the colonoscopy! Just joking. I am not worried about that. You just want to know if you have colon cancer, and, if so, start treating it.

Back to Mary Slessor. Can you imagine her childhood with an alcoholic father. From Today’s Christian Living Magazine: “Mary’s childhood was riddled with trouble. When her alcoholic father lost his job, Mary went to work at the mill. She was just eleven years old. He would often abuse Mary’s mother, a godly woman, and kick Mary out onto the streets for days at a time. Working from 6 am to 6 pm at the mill didn’t leave time for Mary to get a formal education, so she taught herself to read when she was fourteen years old. When Mary appeared before the mission board in 1875, she was willing to go anywhere they needed her. She was thrilled when they sent her to Calabar. Few outsiders returned from the region, but Mary was undaunted. The Okoyong people were enslaved by evil. They killed all twins, believing the carried seeds of evil spirits. A wife was killed when her husband died so she could serve him in the afterlife. Violent brawls broke out incessantly. Mary began to rescue abandoned babies, raising the children as her own. She introduced trade to the tribe, opening the doors to good relationships with other tribes – which was instrumental in the Okoyongs’ openness to the gospel message. She started negotiating disputes and was eventually appointed tribal judge.

Once again against the advice of the local chief, Mary moved on – this time to the Azo people, a cannibalistic tribe. Though they were initially unreceptive to the good news of Christ’s sacrificial love, over time a whole village decided to follow the one, true God.

Over her nearly forty years of ministry, “Ma” Slessor fell ill several times. Each time she traveled to Scotland to recovered, then returned to her adopted home and ministry. Shortly after the onset of World War I, Mary fell ill the final time. She passed away in 1915.” From Today’s Christian Living Magazine
A dream of carrying on David Livingstone’s goal of reaching all of Africa with the gospel. Working in places where no European had ever been. Wouldn’t that be scary? “Mary Slessor died as a result of malaria. She likely contracted the illness during her first mission trip to Nigeria, and she suffered with it for about forty years. The recurrent high fevers weakened her body over time, but she refused to give up her missionary work.” Can you imagine seeing people kill their twins born b/c of a superstition that twins were cursed by evil? “Mary Slessor stopped the twins’ killings by sending out twins’ missionaries to mission houses to take care of the rejected twins she adopted. She is famous for stopping twins’ killing in Okoyong in Nigeria, where people believed twins were an evil curse.” AI :”Earlier missionaries had been killed by local tribesmen. Local tribes often mistrusted each other and fought resulting in loss of life on both sides. Grudges were held over long forgotten incidents and slights. Slavery had been abolished in Britain in 1833 but was still widespread in Africa in 1876.” So Mary would have been under constant threat of being killed.

Mary Slessar was an amazing, courageous missionary. I can’t imagine going to a cannibal tribe area to spread the gospel. I would be scared to death!

I hope its ok to copy this picture of Mary Slessor from Today’s Christian Living Magazine. It puts a face to her story.