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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Your Dying Spouse 85 - Con Thien {FMF}

Time for Five Minute Friday, the keyword-guided timed writing challenge hosted each week by Kate Motaung. We're also linked with Inspire Me Monday and Wedded Wednesday.

This week's word is DWELL.

Execute, execute, execute.

Con Thien is hard by the Z. It's more like California than Viet Nam, and the sea fog can be chilly.

The name translates as The Place Where Angels Dwell.

It's where the one-nine confirmed its nickname...The Walking Dead.

A little bit confusing?

I'll translate. Con Thien is a low rise in the terrain in the northern part of South Viet nam, very close to what was the demilitarized zone, the UN-mandated buffer between North and South that did nothing to ameliorate a long and tragic war.

The one-nine is the first battalion of the ninth Marine regiment, a unit that earned a reputation for getting into the heaviest contacts, and winning through with brutal casualties. Thus, The Walking Dead.

The TV show of the same name, about zombies...OFFENDS me. Those words are sacred.

What does this have to do with terminal illness? A lot, as it turns out.

With an abbreviated future, one turns to the past...not living in the past, that would be really stupid...but reintroducing the paradigms of that past into one's current reality.

In other words, personality growth slows, or stops.

I'm very different from the college teacher I was when I started getting sick, and very different from the man Barbara thought she married.

The affable goof with a broad sense of humour is largely gone, replaced by what has been described to me as a grim Centurion with a cold, thin-lipped glare. Tacitus' Centurion, really (as described by C.S. Lewis).

All the more relentless because he had endured it himself.

The Walking Dead...still walking among the angels, after all these years.

Endex

And now, if I may, I'd like to introduce two new short ebooks.
The first is "Faith in the Night", which describes why, in the face of a life that has largely fallen apart, I still have faith, and still feel loved by God...and why I still want to live.

The second is a Christmas story, "Angela - A New Mexico Christmas". It's about a boy, his grandfather, and the cow that saves their lives in a blizzard...but she's part of a beef herd, and can the rescued become the rescuers?

If you'd like one or both, you can email me (tempusfugit02(at) gmail (dot) com) for a PDF, or click on the covers to go to the Amazon Kindle pages. They's both 99 cents.





30 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing and for sharing yourself with all of us. I am always blessed by the truth and knowledge in your words. Praying your evening and weekend are blessed.

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    1. Mary, thank you so much, and please forgive my delay in responding - my weekend was indeed blessed, but the blessing was the ability to see beyond 48 hours that were quite terrifying! God was here, in the pain.

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  2. Thank you for sharing that story! Fascinating, and I definitely see why the show's title would bother you.

    I pray tonight that you sense in a very tangible way the Lord who walks with you.

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    1. Marie, thank you - He has indeed walked with me this weekend. Actually, He is carrying me now. I may be all done. I hope not.

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  3. Andrew, thank you for sharing. I didn't know about the one-nine. I always appreciate the insights you bring from the stories of your life, or that you've read. You may be relentless in your pursuit of life and living your days well, and I for one, am thankful for the example you share with us.

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    1. And, as always, I'm praying for you. I think I'll echo Marie's prayer, that you will sense Jesus' presence as He walks with you tonight and through the weekend

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    2. It's a good life, Jeanne. Every day, I'm blessed. This weekend I have been carried by the Lord. It's been hard, but I've been shielded from the worst of the flames.

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  4. Never watched the show but now the title bothers me too!! I love your always wise words and the sharing of the knowledge you have found over the years. A great big lesson we should all be learning from you is to live like there is no tomorrow because while you may have been told you are dying and you likely have a time frame, we are all dying and we do not know the hour when the Lord will call, you have shown me to be prepared and to stop procrastinating, while slowing down to love and learn and absorb. Praying for you and Barbara as always, have a great weekend!!

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    1. Marisa, please pardon the delay in this response...and thank you so very much! You're right; in truth, we are all dying, and I have learned, late but not TOO late, that Paul was right...

      the greatest of these is love.

      Thank you so much for your prayers, you friendship,. and for being here. You're important to me.

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  5. I always wondered where the term "the Walking Dead" came from. (I've never seen the show and I'm not into Zombies). I think we're all the walking dead--just most of us don't realize it and we forget to live with gratitude that we're still walking.

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    1. Absolutely right, ANita...we are all walking dead. Gratitude is the key.

      Thank you so much for being here!

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  6. Ugh that makes me mad that they used that title when you know one of the creators knew!! This is why I don't really watch TV. Love the lesson!! As always still praying for you and Barbara

    Parked at #8

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    1. It's why I don;'t watch TV either, Miranda - except for Trinity Broadcasting and Nascar, where they still have prayers.

      Thank you so much for the prayers, and for being here, Miranda.

      I'm sorry I did not get to your post yet - it was a very rough weekend. I will try.

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  7. I think I'll need to add both of your books to my list. I have honestly never watched the tv show "The Walking Dead." And you my friend are no zombie. Continually praying. I'm over in the #13 spot this week.

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    1. Tara, please forgive the late response, and I will try to get to your post...it has been a dreadful weekend in the temporal sense.

      But God, and my friends, have carried me.

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  8. Andrew, congratulations on the e-books. They look marvelous!
    I believe your house is a place where angels dwell. The selflessness of caring for 24 pups is no small feat. You and Barbara are angels to those poor sweet canines.
    When you are surrounded by death, it is difficult not to "dwell" in it or on it. How bright then, is the light of a Christian in a death-consumed culture. It is no accident they took that title for television. That is self-proclaiming a world without hope.
    Yet you are still here, bringing light and life. Blessings to you and Barbara as you persevere.
    ~Tammy
    And I'm #15 tonight.

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    1. Tammy, thank you so much for your kind and lovely words, and please pardon my late response. Not doing too well at the moment.

      I love the way you put it, the light of a Christian in a death-dominated culture. You have such a way with words!

      I will try to get to your FMF post today, strength permitting.

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  9. Thank you for your gift of words to us. I'm going to check the e-books out. (cute cow!)
    I was watching a TV programme yesterday about materials science - how heat/pressure/other chemicals can change a substance drastically. Brittle things can become plastic. Sticky can become smooth... and ultimately we've used this to manufacture and make and create. It was fascinating. Of course the application for us is to trust the Master Chemist as he allows substances/circumstances/heat and pressure into our lives to change us too - and sometimes the change is radical... It's a humbling thing to learn that He is at work, and that we are still becoming all that He wants us to be.

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    1. Ruth, thank you, and please excuse my long delay in replying. (I liked the cow, too...when I saw that image I was hooked!).

      I love your analogy of the Master Chemist. It's perfect!

      And yes, we are all works in process...still becoming what He wants, but loved nonetheless for what we are. Perfect!

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  10. Andrew
    Joy at seeing your familiar pic in the lineup! It's lack of respect, isn't it - to take what should be held up as heroic and sacrificing and turn it into something infinitely less. Belittling. I'm incensed right along with you, friend. Not that it's the same - but I get equally incensed when I hear the casual use of the R-word and know that underneath the term is my daughter - in all of her sincerity, hard work, and purity - my daughter is not an insult. Words! "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness."

    We continue to pray for you and your household - ALL of them! Gentle hugs to all...

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  11. I adore your posts, Andrew. I am so glad you are a dweller of the secret place. Buying both Kindle books right now. xo

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  12. I can see why you would be offended, Andrew, and thank you for the translation. I felt like I'd walked into the middle of a movie :) You probably meant something completely different by your last words, but I know without a doubt that you are surrounded by His angels. I'm looking forward to reading your new books.

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  13. Very glad you translated as I was incredibly confused! I hadn't heard of the one nine before. Thanks for sharing your thoughts today. May your walk be full of peace and beautiful moments. Your FMF neighbour at 6.

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  14. I'm admittedly a bit squeamish so The Walking Dead is not a show I would watch... but I had never heard the story - the real story - behind that phrasing before.

    As always, it's so nice to see you here and read your words, brother!

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  15. Andrew,

    I am always humbled when I visit and read your words. Thank you for sharing these pieces of wisdom to lead and guide in the very place the Lord has you dwelling. May His mercy be your comfort and His Hope encourage you.
    Blessings,
    Dawn

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  16. Thank you for sharing your story Andrew and for interpreting, it certainly gives a depth to the term "walking dead" that I would guess the t.v. show certainly doesn't have it. Always thankful to see your pup in the FMF lineup.

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  17. I just put both books on my kindle--look forward to reading them. Thanks for doing the hard work of writing the truth.

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  18. I love reading your posts because I always learn something profound! Many blessings to you!

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  19. Count me among those who've never seen The Walking Dead. Sending hugs to you and your sweet wife... and heading over to snag your books. :)

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  20. Trials of this life have a way of making us stronger as we lean into Him and find His strength meets us each time. Thank you for sharing your story with us!

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