Next Year Will Come

I’m praying that the Lord will search over heaven, find my Daddy, and tell him that the Baylor University football team is undefeated and ranked in the top five in the nation. He might not believe it if told by anyone else. For the last thirty years or so of his life, my father, a devoted, and often fanatical Baylor alum, had season tickets to Baylor football. I sat with him through many a losing season and heard the oft-repeated words, “Wait till next year!” When Baylor finally won the old Southwest Conference in 1975, after fifty years, and played Penn State in the Cotton Bowl, my father was present. Never mind that he had strep throat that day. He said, “If we’re only going to play in this game every fifty years, I can’t afford to miss.” I remember one game where Baylor was ahead by several touchdowns late in the game and my Dad said, “Let’s go!” I asked if he were serious about leaving the game early. He said, “If we lose now, I don’t want to be here to see it.” If he were alive today, my preacher-father would likely quote some scripture, appropriate for the occasion, as he often did. Perhaps, James 1:4, “Let patience have its perfect work.” Indeed, one lesson being taught by the Baylor Bears this football season is that patience eventually pays off. So if you are waiting with great patience for some circumstance in your life, trust the Lord, and hang in there, next year will come!

Join me this week in remembering the following global concerns:
• Pray for those who have been affected by the typhoon in the Philippines this past week-end and especially for those who minister among them.
• Pray for Johnny, who ministers among Muslim background friends in Vancouver, Canada as he undergoes treatments to totally eradicate cancer cells in his bladder.
• Pray for a dental team working in western Romania that there will be many opportunities to share the gospel as they meet both physical and spiritual needs.
• Pray for the ministry of Peruvians who have been trained by Tommy and Beth to minister in cross-cultural settings.