Time was, when if you had a penpal, you would get a letter full of news from their neck of the woods. You would learn to love the feel of a thick envelope full of surprises and know their handwriting style at a glance. And then you would tell your penpal all the news from your end, in return, and maybe include pictures. Email doesn’t approach the thrill of a stuffed envelope, especially one that said “PAR AVION” and had red and blue stripes around the perimeter, so it didn’t take a slow boat to reach me.
So I shall pretend this is a letter, the way I used to write them. My penpal’s name was Margaret, and she was from Canberra, in New South Wales, Australia. She died a few years ago after a lifetime of illness, but if I could write her today, it would be like this:
Dear Meg, or should I say Margaret now that you are no little girl anymore? XOXO
No, it’s too bad. You will always be Meg to me, though I won’t call you “Nutmeg”!
How I’ve missed your letters! I am so glad that you finally got out of that crazy Anglican church when you did and that you are safe in Heaven with the Savior! I am so looking forward to being with you there, maybe sooner than we think!
Here’s the news you’ve been missing, complete with a few pictures. Even if some of it’s sad, I know you will be able to see it from an eternal perspective better than I can, so none of it will mess up your day—if you can call what you are experiencing “days.” 😊
Last Monday night, the original store building in Lafayette owned by Eric’s father Leonard Haley back in the 70’s caught fire from a firework set off by its North End neighbors. We’ve been renting it to a church for several years.
First thing Tuesday morning, we got a call from Jerry, our tenant. He and his wife Geraldine (the pastor) were sleeping upstairs when it happened. The smoke alarms in the building didn’t go off, but Jerry smelled smoke, and he quickly woke his wife and exited the building. Thankfully, Geraldine said the fire department responded “in about 30 seconds,” so it didn’t have a chance to spread, and no one was hurt. But the building was burned on the side by the alley and the interior smelled smoky.
I asked Eric if the fire had made the news and he said yes, in a way. WLFI only noted something like “Sixteen Fires Started by Fireworks in the Lafayette Area Monday.” I guess it was too small for a standalone story, and for that we are grateful.
The fire department thought it was an electrical fire, though, so they pulled off some of the siding to look for burnt wiring and pulled the meter out. In order to get the electricity turned on again, the city electrical inspector had to give it a green light, and they didn’t. They said there were too many problems with the building’s wiring, so we were required to upgrade it first. Since they’re requiring that only certain city-certified contractors can do the work, we’re pretty sure we can’t afford it. Meanwhile, the church is having to meet without air conditioning or lights.
We think we will just sell it to the church, very cheaply. There’s hardly anyone else who would want a commercial building in that area anyway, across the street from a bar, a tattoo parlor, and several other empty buildings. It’s hardly good, even, for tearing it down and rebuilding, since there’s no setback from the sidewalk. But for ministers who love the people there and love to share the Gospel, it’s exactly what they need, and that’s who we want to have it.
They’ll be able to get a loan to have the electrical system upgraded and the wall rebuilt, and take care of closing costs.
Remember when the new highway went in near us? We’ve had problems with our basement flooding ever since, and we think it could be old sewer tiles that have broken or sunk under our street or in a field somewhere. We were thinking we needed to stand up for our little town and the other residents here who were also experiencing flooded basements, but we are just too small of a group to be taken seriously. The county wouldn’t fix anything, and even our Senator didn’t think there was anything that could be done.
Finally, Eric figured out how to install a sump pump in our basement, and with the help of Micah, the 14-year-old son of a friend, he got a hole dug and the sump pump in the ground. It hasn’t had a good operational test yet—there’s been so little rain this summer that our basement would have stayed dry anyway, even without the pump. So now we’re watching and waiting for a good-sized thunderstorm.
In other parts of the U.S. they have it even worse, though, as far as being a dry summer. In Texas, I know my friend said they were just glad most of the wildfires had been contained and there would be no fireworks for the Fourth of July. I remember the year Australia was on fire. That was early 2020. Meg, I’m actually glad you’re missing some of this…
My dad’s 88th birthday was Saturday, and I’m so glad to still have him. His big brother is weak enough that people have to help him eat now, but Dad is still in pretty good health. I try to visit him at least once a month. I love to make the trip south and see him. Whether we eat out, see his chickens, look at a picture album, do some target practice, or just talk politics, we have a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, this month we also had a first birthday party to go to. Our youngest daughter, Vivian, had a baby a year ago. Ah, she’s so cute, and she has the sweetest cheeks!
Our older son’s wife also had a baby last month and our younger son’s wife is having a baby in August.
Can you believe that will make 22 grandchildren? There’s nothing like the snuggles from a newborn baby!
You probably didn’t hear about this from where you are, but Roe v. Wade was overturned last month. It’s hard to believe people were protesting in Australia when our Supreme Court ruled that! But it’s pretty monumental, really. Remember when I was doing all the Operation Rescue activities back in the 80’s? Many precious babies’ lives will be saved—about half the states will ban abortion soon. Hopefully Indiana will be one of them. You may have encountered some of the children who were killed by abortions in Indiana and in the United States. If you see them again, tell them we love them, and after 49 years of hard work, we’re finally making some headway against the devil’s plan of killing their peers.
I get to teach on Wednesday. This is not a frequent.event. I think the last time I seriously taught, I had so much to say that people were falling asleep because I went overtime. This time my topic is Proverbs 31, only the first nine verses. But though the elders had been teaching through Proverbs two or three chapters a week, they assigned three of their wives to teach that last chapter. I said I would need a week just for those nine verses. I have my outline ready, with plenty of room to change up
things as the Spirit moves.
It’s a lot about alcohol, and a few other things. I know there are Christians who don’t like to talk about alcohol, or would like to say that the way they drink it, it’s safe. But are they right on target with God’s will? That’s what they have to consider. It’s not a comfortable subject, Meg, as you know from growing up with that in your family. I’m probably going to step on a few toes. Maybe they won’t entrust that Wednesday night study to me anymore after tomorrow, I don’t know, but sometimes the truth is hard to hear.
Our business is slow, as are many other businesses in the U.S. And if I were to tell you all about the death rate from illegal drugs and disease, the invasion of our borders, the brainwashing of our public school children into perversion and communism, the violence by our own citizens, and the threat of war by our enemies, you would be shocked to hear it and this letter would be too heavy for one stamp. (It probably already is.) And there’s lots more besides.
I don’t believe we’re headed for a recession. I believe that in record time, the incompetent man in the White House has already put us in a recession. It could get very bad here. I don’t know how bad it will get before we are rescued from the earth, but I know we talked about this before you left us. In a twinkling of an eye, it will all be over, when Jesus comes back for His Bride, the Church.
Meg, I’m so excited to see you. Here’s a picture of me, so you’ll recognize me. I want a hug from you when I get there. It’s been a very long time!
Love, Your Penpal,
Margie
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