“A work in progress”—most of us are familiar with the expression and perhaps use it in several different ways. At this moment it seems to describe some things for us in terms of projects in which we are involved, but there’s also an awareness that it is a pretty apt on-going description of our lives in general. Of course this latter use of the expression is to be expected because God is continually at work in the lives of all of his children. He uses different situations and experiences to stretch us and produce changes in us, because He’s not just interested in what we do, but also in who we are. He’s wanting the life of the Lord Jesus to be more and more evident in us.
In terms of projects, we’re grateful to be able to share that Ron has completed a book which he spent the better part of a year in writing. The book is entitled IRIS:Trophy of Grace. It’s the miraculous story of Iris Urrey Blue, the “incorrigible” who encountered the irresistible force of God’s transforming power. The book has recently been released and we are very thankful to see God already using it to touch, challenge, and encourage people. Some are reporting that God is using it to produce changes in the lives of some of their friends and family. Some spontaneous and unexpected comments about the book have really blessed us. One person wrote “Many Christian testimony books are exciting up to the point of conversion and then it turns dull—not so with this book! You’ll love it to the very end.” When so much prayer and work has been invested in this kind of project, it means a great deal to see God use it for His purposes.
We don’t as yet have a separate website for this book. If any of you would like to obtain a copy of it now, however, you can do so by going to “contact us” on this site and making a request for the book, or send an email to ronowens3@gmail.com. The book sells for $15.00 plus postage.
There are other “works in progress” in terms of writing projects in which Ron is involved. One of those is entitled “The Milldale Story” and it has some important relationships to the book he completed earlier on the life of Manley Beasley. God willing, he hopes to complete the writing by the end of April and have it published and available for readers by September, 2010. We would be grateful for your prayers for this project.
The unexpected happened—heavy fog enveloped a large area around Chicago, slowing trains, grounding planes, bringing all travel to a halt. It was Christmas break time, and as a 19 year old student traveling to my home town in Jackson, MS, I had boarded a train around 10:30 that evening in Rochester, NY. It had been snowing, which wasn’t unusual for that area of the country. I felt wiped out after studying for exams and was hoping I could manage to sleep some on a journey that was supposed to take about 24 hours. The train I boarded was scheduled to make a stop at a sub-station just east of Chicago where I would change to a different rail line for the remainder of the trip. And now, the unexpected fog changed everything. It caused my train to be late in reaching the Chicago area, I missed my connection, I was exhausted and had no idea what to do.
CHANGE: This is a word that has been headlined a great deal over these past several months, especially in the context of the recent presidential election campaigns. Ironically, in a seeming contradiction to the meaning of the word, you might say that change is a “constant” factor as we go through life. From the moment of our birth we undergo changes–physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Some of the changes are celebrated as good, healthy and desirable, such as the normal growth of a child. Taking a vacation is seen as a welcome change from our usual routine. Yet there comes a time when, as adults, we begin to see some changes that appear to us to be undesirable and fearful. An unexpected change in health, in a work situation or in personal finances can make us feel vulnerable and anxious. Change may become something dreaded.
On December 21, 1725, a boy was born in London whose life would ultimately impact the world. I have been thinking of John Newton all day today, and the loving, pursuing God who rescued a drunken slave trader from the depths of sin and raised him up to become one of His choicest trophies of grace. His influence reached far beyond his hymn, Amazing Grace, as his life and preaching touched lives from the lowest to the highest of society including parliamentarian, William Wilberforce, who was used to change the laws regarding slavery and child labor.
