Please Pray for Oleta Earles

This blog article was supposed to focus on the importance of language, culture and ministry. However, things have happened in my life that have drawn my attention elsewhere. Ten days ago, I had all my plans laid out for the summer: my ministry schedule, fishing trip, get away weekend with my wife, the regular Taco Tuesday dinner with my parents, and my calendar of activities.

Then my wife Marla drove up to Northern California to visit her mother Oleta, who was sick with the “flu”. They went to the doctor and ten days later she was diagnosed with liver cancer, and was moved to Los Angeles. As I write this blog, I am sitting at her bedside at a hospital in Los Angeles. We are waiting to hear from the medical team about treatment options.

Please Pray for Us as Our World has Been Tossed

My plans and program, so carefully planned and controlled, have been thrown out the window. I have been jolted by the reality that life is not a smooth continuum. Each day I make a large number of assumptions, all of which are wrong. We have no guarantees about tomorrow. The sun may rise and set. My good health may continue.  But the world is sustained by the grace of God, and the stability and certainty we enjoy are at His will. Sin, fallenness and brokenness are all lurking under the surface, and can interrupt at any time.

For me, the challenge is to live each day with anticipation rather than presumption. Live in the reality that our lives are in God’s hands and not our own. He is in control of this fallen world, not me. Cherish each moment with our family and friends, and please pray a prayer of thanksgiving for our Lord.

In His Steps,

Daniel C. Watts
President