The Hague

On Wednesday, December 27, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cloudy-Damp. Arose at 7:30. Made a fire.Got to office at 8:45. The office force came at 9:00. Wrote Philip Oyler. Rains in afternoon. Not much work. Mary & Mrs. Raines planned to have Norman's hair cut but rain prevented. I wrote Roy Miller a letter today. Germany reserved accommodations at "The Hague" tribunal for her peace representatives to settle the war. This is one of Grand-daddy's entries that includes some World History, which I find rather fascinating. It also forces me to go back and read some, which this occasion did. Bonnie mentions Germany preparing for peace, but I thought that I remembered that the war lasted a lot longer and indeed it did. This German suggestion of a peace conference apparently came after President Woodrow Wilson had written a "peace note" to those fighting in the war. The problem was that Germany was not committed to reparations and so the war continued. Interesting that rain prevented Norman from getting a hair cut. I guess, it was just harder to get around by walking and street car and so the rain made it only harder, thus the women stayed home with the 2 small children. To come back to modern day time and include the faith portion of this blog, I want to tell you a little story about a conversation that my wife had with a hair dresser the other day. The stylist was telling Beth that she and her family had been to a local church, where she indicated that they were members and possibly regular attenders, but she said that every time they went the people were so nice to them and always treated them like it was their first time there. The stylist also went on to say that going to church made her feel so good for the rest of the week. This just brought up so many questions for me. Is it a good thing to go to a church multiple times and yet have the people there always treat you like it is first your time there? Are you going as much as you think you are? Or are the people at that church just not doing a good job of keeping up with prospects and members? After a while I would want people to treat me like I belonged there, I think. And then, I am glad that going to church makes you feel good, it should, but is that really why we go? I am still constantly amazed at how shallow some people's faith is and how little they know about scripture etc. Now, even as a seminary trained pastor I do not pretend to be a great Bible scholar, but I am so thankful for the Christian upbringing that I had for the Bible knowledge that I do have. Also, these kinds of encounters and others like them that I have had recently do serve as a reminder that people are spiritually seeking and that there are open doors out there to be able to share your faith, even to church goers, who may need to grow in their faith! God has placed us in certain places to be on mission for Him. Always be ready to give a defense of the Gospel. Ok, I should stop or this may turn into a sermon. By the way, I got an ipod for Christmas (let's see what that looks like 90 some years from now) and I am excited about the devotional possibilities of podcasts on itunes!