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A Long List

Posted on December 18, 2023December 18, 2023 by Pam

I’m looking at a list of notes of things I’m curious about. That always takes me to writing so here I will mention some thoughts in brief.

Does she love Walter? In the film, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, the female lead is smitten with a story and voice she hears on the radio while on the way to meet her future in-laws. The reason I ask is the shocking disclosure that so many people are unfaithful. If she is deeply in love and committed to Walter, could she have more easily dismissed the obsession with someone she doesn’t really know? Can we stick to our promises since Jesus has clearly showed that we can commit sin in our mind and hearts. Stick with the promise but, at least, break up before you marry. Marriage is a long business (line from Downton Abbey).

Brant Hansen mentions in his book, ‘Unoffendable’, that there are at least ten times the number of books written on leading then on following. Do we all aspire to lead even when God gave us other qualities? Is following a show of weakness? Are you a good follower? We are commanded in God’s word to be followers of Jesus. We are to go beyond knowing to following. Am I sounding like a broken record?

Last January I was serving at Kingsley Hall. Kingsley Hall is a community center, in Powis Road, Bromley-by-Bow in London. All day I had flashes of people I’d met and prayers prayed. I wonder how goes the ministry. In the 1920’s the building became a soup kitchen. In the 60’s it was used for treating people affected by mental health issues. The 2018 renovation added a cafe and street-front for inviting the neighbors in, hoping for encounters of significance. The goal is helping others and hoping they meet Jesus. I took a bus there with teammates and helped in the clothing ministry, prayer room, hanging in the cafe to meet those neighbors, door-knocking in the freezing cold to invite people back after covid and anything else they needed. In my spare time I would play their piano. I felt many urges to lay hands on these people. That have never been a thing for me until now. The team still there is working very hard to do two things; 1)Jesus is establishing his Kingdom, and 2) Jesus is inviting redemption. This is a good work and I will not forget you.

We start the day but don’t know how it will end.

Knotting Hill in London. I watched the film of that name this week. The filming looks like Ilford where I would catch the train for ministry travel (unless a red double-decker bus was more direct). The background streets look so similar and storefronts familiar. Nostalgia.

Last thing. This week I was on-line doing some medical thing/inquiry. My provider asked me to edit my profile. Here were the three suggestions for edit. 1) Gender identity. How can this be as every cell in my body has female DNA. I can do some crazy stuff but my identity (the science of DNA) will be unchanged. 2) Race. How does one change their race? What are they suggesting? and 3) Language. Ah ha. This is something I can change. I can add a language. The medical community has gone mad.

Christmas regret. I love a chocolate advent calendar. I love advent more but when I saw that the cheap version with inferior chocolate had gone from the $1.99 I used to spend, then the $3.99 I more recently spent, to $9.99. I could not pull the trigger. I should have done it!

That’s all – aren’t you glad I did not spend seven blogs on this stuff?

"Thoughts from a genuinely evaluative mind."

Pam writes so that must make her a writer. Recently retired, she can now fill days with family, friends, missions, writing, creating, and showing up for whomever needs her. Pam loves the Lord and people. The Bible is God’s love letter to us (and who does not need more love) so she studies and writes some more.

Pam lives in the Pacific Northwest but was home-grown in Southern California. She attended San Jose Bible College and finished a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry at UCLA. She became a teacher, then a Research and Development Chemist, then she built two successful real estate businesses in two states. Pam also pursued study at Fuller Theological Seminary and just completed six months serving in missions abroad.

Pam has two amazing children, married to two precious in-laws, and five sweet grandchildren. Pam is a gifted connector and communicator and the Northwest has the perfect climate for staying inside and writing – or baking! She has been writing since a wee one and is currently converting many years of blogging, by topic, into ten books. The first is a collection from 2011 titled, Beautiful Enough. The second is a yearly day-timer titled, Weekly Planner - Lessons in Life, Glory, and Grace. Number three is in progress with the working title, Christmas Today.

Ten facts about Pam in no particular order:

  1. On the team that developed an insulation for the Alaskan oil pipeline.
  2. Loves looking at homes, decorating, and has flipped five homes.
  3. Likes being tall.
  4. Films have helped define her vocabulary.
  5. Comes from Colorado tenement farmers with history traced to Wales.
  6. Was lost but now is found.
  7. Baking makes her happy – as does eating sweets with coffee, of course.
  8. She thinks mission work is the most important work in the world.
  9. The church started in Rome so she is learning Italian.
  10. Pam is a work in progress!

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime - until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Isaiah 46:4

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