Countdown

At the time of this writing, I'm sitting at the Greyhound station in Atlanta, on my way to visit a friend at Wildwood for a few days before I'm going to return to Brussels. At this hour, I was expecting to be on my connecting bus to Chattanooga, but unfortunately they wouldn't let me on. The driver of the bus from Columbus to Atlanta kept my ticket, apparently ignoring the fact that the segment Atlanta-Chattanooga was on the reverse side of the paper I had given him. I actually meant to ask him to return the copy to me, but a lady in the bus told me that what I had (i. e. the receipt for the luggage) was enough to get on the bus to Chattanooga. But no way - I had to go inside the station and print out another ticket. In the meantime, my connecting bus departed and I had to pay 20 Dollars to change my ticket to get on the next bus!

Well, at least I have some time to blog now. I meant to do that for some time already, but my schedule has been packed lately. We just finished a very busy 10-day Lifestyle Session with 20 guests, most of them coming from the Bahamas. We have had many people from this island coming to Uchee Pines (mainly due to the fact that there are a lot of Adventists watching Dr. Thrash on 3ABN and also because she used to go and lecture there), and they can be very particular. But all in all, the good things they experienced outweighed their complaints, and everybody left happy. One of my guests was a very nice lady from Puerto Rico. One of her issues was a uterine fibroid, a condition I first encountered when I took the Lifestyle Counselor training program back in 2007. At that time, we applied a special herbal treatment for this lady, and so I decided to do this for her as well - and it apparently worked! It's really exciting to see the effects simple natural remedies can bring about.

Other than zooming around in the Lifestyle Center from morning till evening, I've also been able to engage in some other activities. One thing I've participated in lately is a Sabbath afternoon outreach activity. Some of us have been going to one of the trailer parks in the community and have shared stories with some of the children living there. Usually, there are only a few kids coming out, but you never know what fruit this may bring in for eternity.

The temperatures have been tough around here. It has gone up to 98 F (37 C), but because of the humidity, it feels even warmer. But at least I can eat blueberries every day :-).

My favorite leisure activity on this campus is still gardening. I think I had mentioned before that together with some co-workers, I have started to plant Dr. Thrash's former garden. It's so exciting to see everything grow and to enjoy the fruit of our labors. I really hope that I will be able to continue growing vegetables once I'm back in Brussels.

My cucumbers

Tomatos

Working on the melon field...

...with my co-worker Nelly

Blueberries in abundance

Time is running so fast. The human resources department of my employer already contacted me, asking if I was still planning to come back to work in September. Things have changed at the EU lately. Brexit came a bit unexpected to me, but it's another evidence that the prophecy in Daniel 2:43 is true:

"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."

I feel for my British colleagues though. They won't lose their jobs, yet it must be awkward for them to work for an organization their country is no longer part of. I heard they were going to repeat the vote, but let's wait and see. At any rate, things are not going to get any better. I realize that I need to work more fervently to hasten the Lord's coming. With all this hustle and bustle lately, I've been wondering how I should ever be able to get all my tasks done and at the same time work for the Lord's Kingdom. But there is this quote from Ministry of Healing that recently caught my attention:

It is wrong to waste our time, wrong to waste our thoughts. We lose every moment that we devote to self-seeking. If every moment were valued and rightly employed, we should have time for everything that we need to do for ourselves or for the world. In the expenditure of money, in the use of time, strength, opportunities, let every Christian look to God for guidance. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5.  {MH 208.1} 

Indeed, there is no time to waste. May the Lord help us to rightly employ every moment and to do our part to hasten His return.