#293: Anniversaries

Thirty-nine years ago today the United States assigned November 15th "362" as my Draft Number. I was already 1-H Deferred for college and the Vietnam War was over by the time I graduated in 1973. The other factor to short circuit my government sponsored visit to Southeast Asia was that my older brother, Jim, had enlisted both to get his choice of m.o. as well as to keep me out of the service, since Mom was a widow...a ruling for families with several sons ever since the Civil War. It's probably for the good, no doubt, since my sense of direction would probably still have me wandering some part of Asian soil had I gotten separated from my unit.
The Draft I did manage to be included in was the best one, anyway. It was August 17, 1980 that the Lord in essence said, "Follow Me"...no questions asked...chosen, appointed, quickened, given a new heart...OOORAH, OOORAH!!

Today's other anniversary commemorates the first and only candle light dinner of the Grey Havens. Not to worry, it was nothing romantic, purely a practical response-to-an-act-of-God event....a storm caused electrical power outage. The Cook contested my statement earlier when I mentioned it for whatever reason, but once again my prayer journals justify my keeping them...and I quote: "6:52pm, 'Resting now after our first candle light supper due to power brown/black out just as we were sitting down to dinner.'" My older Chinese grand daughter, a.k.a. The Sister, got to join us when she stopped by to report the outage up at The Big House, initiating a new tradition round these parts as she sat and ate with us. (I had conveniently left my phone on the charger at the corners of No & Where!!) ;)

So, what's my point? Mark stuff down, keep prayer journals, commemorate little things and the big things will take care of themselves, create your own traditions...live so as to be missed, as Robert Murray McCheyne used to say!! I've noticed that God used a lightning storm to get Martin Luther's and John Newton's attention, so why not used one to initiate Grey Havens' Hospitality that "transforms lives" according to some?!!
Got candles and matches?