Time Flys When?

Where Did the time go?  Could it have anything to do with the old adage: "Time flies when you're having fun"?  We sure have been having fun this month with the Brannen Boys!  My two brothers and I have been meeting every Saturday morning this month to have breakfast together, and then off to practice singing together.  Our good friend and helper is Eddie.  He is a skilled musician, song-writer, who says he doesn't sing.  He plays the keyboard and has been helping us towards more skillful harmony.  If you would like to hear us sing, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7KiYN0p5uc .  We did this on a Friday night in a local singing at "Gaddy's Gospel Barn".  Then on Saturday we drove to Chattanooga and did this number in our denomination's state-wide Senior Talent competition, and then sung again on Sunday night at our local church.  We did have great fun.

Oh - I must tell you that our 91 year old Mom is as good as new!  She has been back to church and singing publicly again after her fall last month.  Then, Frances' sister, Beth, fell in her home and broke her hip.  Beth had to have surgery and have a pin inserted into the bone.  Altho she had to go to re-hab she also seems to have made a full recovery.  Beth is 84.  We went to visit her in Lenoir City and took her out to the Cracker Barrell (a local restaurant) for dinner.

Mama

Mama, Addressing City Life Church, Tampa, Florida

That's what I've always called my wonderful mother; Mama.  She is so specially gifted.  She will reach 92 years of age in March.  She has retained her beauty so well that when we are out together and Frances is not with me, she has often been mistaken for my wife.  However, on Wednesday night, walking from her apartment over to the church (less than 100 yards) she fell flat on her face and ended up in the emergency room at our local hospital.  I was at my church when I received the call and went to the ER immediately after our service.  Stayed there until the doctor finally came (after four hours) and started the two stiches in her lip.  Yesterday, she was up, smiling the best she could, and worrying about the fact that she could not see because the eyeglasses cannot be repaired before next week.  I went to the drugstore and bought her a new pair of 3.25 reading glasses which she says help her a lot.

Interestingly - I had sung a song she taught me that she had learned as a child.  Here are the words: 

 

I Don’t Want To

 

Some men chew their cud – they say it’s oh so good

They urge me the same to do

But this is my reply – as I pass them by

I don’t want to!

CHORUS:

Cause Jesus took the want to outta me a long long time ago

The pleasures of this world – don’t charm me any more

So this is my reply – as I pass them by

I don’t want to!

Some women powder and paint – to look like what they ain’t

They’ll urge you the same to do

So make this your reply – As you pass them by

I don’t want to!

Some men cuss and smoke – tell lots of smutty jokes

They urge me the same to do

But this is my reply – As I pass them by

I don’t want to!

 

Some men drink their wine – they say it’s oh so fine

They urge me the same to do

But this is my reply – As I pass them by

I don’t want to!

Some won’t pay their tithes – they say it’s just not wise

They urge me the same to do

But this is my reply – As I pass them by

(Since I got saved) I JUST WANT TO!
 

Once, I was at a meeting with Mom and we were browsing through books in the bookstore when a preacher friend whom I had known for years approached.  I had been away in Africa for about five years and we had not seen each other during that time.  He said, "Oh, Bro. Fred, I was so sorry to hear about Sis. Frances.  Is this your new wife?"  Boy, did Mama beam!  More recently I took her for a doctor's appointment and the young receptionist asked mother how old she was because she could not believe she was reading the date on her chart correctly.  When Mother said, "I'm 89."  I chimed in and said,  "Don't you think we look pretty good to be in our 80s and 90s?"  To which the young lady replied, "Well, I believe you...but your wife just doesn't look old enough to be 89!"  Those moments are really good for one's ego.  Yeah.  Right.


Ugh! That looks like it would hurt.


Well - here we are with the picture I took yesterday morning.  Looks like the famous "morning after" to me.  Don't ya think?  But don't worry.  She'll be back looking good as new in a couple weeks - or is that months?




Christmas Reflections

Christmas!  What a wonderful time of the year.  This year is especially wonderful as I reflect on all the wonderful things goin on in our lives.  I had another colonoscopy and the doctor's visit last Friday was very affirming.  Dr. B said, "I'm writing this into your medical file.  You are special."  I was happy to tell the doctor that the Lord has kept His word given to me in a dream last year, "I'm healing you."  This is cause for great rejoicing.  Wild.  Crazy.  Exuberant praise!  What a wonderful Christmas gift.  I asked Frances, "Why?"  I know it is not because I am any different than anyone else.  God knows how weak and frail and insignificant I am.  I did not fast a long fast, or give extra money to the church or have a special preacher lay hands on me.  I did have many friends praying for me, I know...but all I can say is that God, in his sovereignty CHOSE to heal me.  I'm grateful.

Family.  This year for the first time in many years I find all of my brothers and sisters and our mother living in the same town.  This is most unusual for our bunch.  I've lived in South America and in Africa for 24 years.  One brother lived in Corpus Christi, TX and one in Louisiana for many of those years.  Mom and Dad lived in different states over those years, pastoring churches.  But now - this Christmas, we were all together for things like caroling, church attendance, parties, gift exchanges and giving thanks for each other and how the Lord has directed our lives.

Our Fred Brannen family - Frances and I and our three girls and their children and their children's children all live in America.  Actually we are most proud to have a daughter married to a pastor...and they are serving the Lord way up north in Watertown, NY.  We were able to talk with them in the past few days via Skype.  How wonderful to see the beautiful faces of our two grand-daughters who are still at home there.  Our other two girls and their children were all able to be with us.  I managed to be there for a Christmas play in which a son-in-law and a granddaughter participated.  What a treat.  Our children make us very proud as they serve the Lord.

Our church - We joined the Victory Drive Church of God here in Cleveland this year.  We both enjoy the fellowship of all the members.  I teach Sunday School part time and have filled in for the pastor when called on.  Music is a special part of our church life and I've been privileged to sing with two wonderful families who are professionals.  The Ray Branham Family and The Vaughan Cunningham Family are really talented musicians.  We are blessed in this spiritual haven.

One of our angels

Daughter Ruthie

Mom with a fruit basket

Brother-in-law, Michael

Our friend, Rob D. that we met in Kenya

Music at our church

Chirch Christmas Party

Our Pastor

 

My computer friends - You - maybe you don't know what a lift some of you give to my spirit when I read your blogs.  I pray for you and yours to have a blessed and prosperous New Year!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yes, it's a happy one for me.  One year ago, today, November 22, 2011, I arrived before daylight and checked into the hospital in nearby Chattanooga for surgery to remove three cancerous tumors from my colon.  At my last check-up (Nov 5) the Oncologist gave me a clean bill of health and stated that he wanted to set up a date now for the removal of the "surgical port" from my chest as he could not see any further need for it.  The LORD has kept HIS WORD to me:  "I'm healing you!"

Two days after my Oncologists visit, I visited my Optometrist - and she said sshe was surprised that she did not see more damage to my eyes.  "In fact," she said, "Your eyes look better today than they did a year ago!"  Isn't God good?

I was up at 3:30a.m. last Saturday, drove an hour and a half with my 4 wheeler on the trailer behinc me and hunted for deer all day.  Came home in the evening and then went to church the next morning and night and sung in both services.  Came home and fell asleep with no trouble.  On Monday morning I got up, collected my Mom and we went out to sing at the Senior Citizen's Center.  Tuesday I drove an hour north of here to Madisonville to collect 55 lbs of deer meat given to me by my friend who owns the property where I hunt.  How blessed can a man be?  Too much?  I don't think I'll get to the place that I think it was by my own strength, nor because I am any better than anyone else.  I know it is all because of what the Lord has done.

To HIM be all glory, honor, and praise!

 

I just finished off two bowls of deer-chili and am preparing to go out to my sister's for our annual Brannen Family tradition (which we call Thanks-mas!). 

The Appalachian Trail - Only 2180.7 More Miles To Go!

In Africa I learned that I can eat an elephant - if I eat it one bite at a time!  The Appalachian Trail is like an elephant.  It is 2,184 miles of footpath, leading from Georgia to Maine.  I began this most exciting and chilling, awesome and aweful, wonderful and full of wonder walk on Wednesday, September 5, 2012.  The section we walked was the "100 mile wilderness" section.  There were 4 of us who entered the trailhead at 1:00pm that day with intentions to walk to the Hurd Shelter where we were camping for the first night of ten anticipated nights on this trail.

Just a month before (on August 2) I had a CT-Scan showing that there were no more signs of colon cancer.  Jesus had kept his promise which he spoke to me last fall before my surgery.  In that dream He said, "I'm healing you."   My great friend Jack L. Darnell and his dear wife Sherry invited me at some point to go with him for a hike of the "100 mile wilderness" section of the trail beginning at the base of Katahdin and walking south to Manson; something I have always wanted to do.

My grandparents on my Mother's side were an outdoors family.  They hunted in central Florida out of Yankeetown - mostly in a place called Gulf Hammock.  I always loved the time I spent with them: mostly Christmas and Spring, just at the time when school was out.  Sometimes I was also allowed to stay the whole summer with them until it was time for school to begin in the fall.  I have always been healthy and never was in the hospital except for a bout with malaria, sufferred after a mission trip to the Pomeroon district of Guyana, South America.  That was 1985.  I recovered quickly and went on to serve in Africa for 20 years without ever suffering with malaria symptons again.

For over 20 years I had been a pastor in the Southern USA.  My first church was at Tellico Plains, Tennessee.  There I learned many things about hunting and fishing in a mountain environment.  I was a scoutmaster for the Tellico Plains Kiwanis club.  I've hiked short distances in Alaska, carrying skis on my shoulder, never having skiied before.  It was "breath-taking" adventure to say the least.  That is all to say that I have had some experience in the outdoors before0 the beginning of this venture.   (Reflection:  I was younger then - and I had not had cancer surgery nor had my body been bombarded with chemical cocktails for a solid 6 months.  Haha.)

However - after all of my experiences with the few pieces of the trail I've been on, I had no way to anticipate the difficulties I encountered on this trail.  It was absolutely "R&R" as my good friend Jack Darnell said.  "Roots and Rocks"!  That's o.k.  Cause I'll be back, friends. 

So today I went out and bought a map of Springer Mountain to Bly Gap (the southernmost leg of the AT) and started my plans for another big adventure on the trail!

On The 100 Mile Wilderness In Maine

Your's Truly - Enjoying The Trail
But Can You See The Tiredness In My Eyes?
It's because I had to fight with my ENO Hammock Most of the night.  (Well, that plus the five hour hike I had into here to the shelter).  Man - was I tired?  I had stretched out the hammock and slept in it a couple of hours at home - but without the sleeping bag.  Now I had a wonderful sleeping bag that was toasty warm to my back - but it insisted on staying bunched up in the middle.  It was a "Mummy Style" bag, which requires putting one's feet into before zipping up from the bottom.  It was dark and this bag was so warm - but I could not pull enough of it up around my body to stay warm.  I pulled at the legs first - then I pulled at the edges of the bag behind my shoulders.  While doing this I could not, no matter how hard I tried, pull the bag out froim under my back.  I would lift my hips high and try to jump-pull and push at the same instant - all to no avail.  The more I worked the hotter I got.  Then I felt warm.  Warm, that is, until the sweat I had worked up began to turn to ice-water!  Ha.  So - I'll roll over, I thought.  When I did - OUT - onto the roots and rocks.  When my knee hit that root I called out, "OH!"  "Are you all righ down there, Fred?"  Mark called out.  "NO!"  I replied.  So at One o'clock A.M., Mark came down to help this old man get back into the hammock.  What a WONDERFUL NIGHT!

Sherry D And Her Two Sons, Mark and Jack, Jr.

Missionary Friend, Gordon B., President Of The Bible College
In Kenya For Fourteen Years

Everyone Needed To Rest On This Trail

Hurd Shelter
By the time I reached here my vision was blurred.  ☺

Inside The Shelter Where The Others Slept

The Trail of Roots And Rocks
Goes Right By The Base Of That Tree

Jack and Sherry D.
Two WONDERFUL Friends

 

 

Inside The Shelter of My ENO
I fought all night with my Sleeping Bag
Which I could not get to cover my shoulders!

Climbing into the ENO Hammock
Thru The Bug-Net

T

A Taste Of The Trail

 

Our Trail-Master and good friend, Jack D of Shipslog
Attempting to get a signal on his cell-phone

Mark, Jackie and Sherry the morning we began our hike

 

Jack, Gordon, Me, Mark at the beginning of our trek
The sign says
It's only 3.3 miles to the shelter where we will camp
the first night

 

Gordon getting settled into the shelter

 On Tuesday of last week my missionary friend (Gordon) and I boarded a plane and flew to Bangor, ME to begin our trek on the Appalachian Trail.  We were two kids again!  School was out.  And we were both excited about the adventure that lay before us.  Jack (of Shipslog) had invited us to join him and one of his sons for the "100 mile wilderness" section of the trail that begins at Abol bridge at the base of Mt. Katahdin and travels southwards to Manson. 

To sum it up, it took me 5 hours to lead the group in to the first shelter where we camped for the night.  I had begun to run out of steam by the time we got through the bog; the first hurdle along the trail, which took about an hour of walking.  Did I say walking?  It was more like slowly creeping as I tentatively sought for a solid place to plant my hiking stick without it sinking into the marsh from six inches up to two feet!  I would say hahaha - but it wasn't funny at that time.  Plenty funny now that I'm safely home anmd sitting in the comfort of my office. 

After reaching what I think was about the half-way point I became over-heated, so much so that my glasses had gone from fogging over to being wet and streaked completely with sweat.  When I stopped and took a drink from my canteen I decided to pour some water on my head and face.  Steam flew into the air like you had poured ice onto a hot Model A Ford engine. (Well, that's what it seemed like to me.)  I was nauseous.  I felt I would surely lose my lunch.  My  pack felt like it weighed 450 lbs instead of the 48.5 lbs that the airport scale had showed. 

At that point, my good friend Jack insisted that we swap packs.  I believe his pack weighed 30 lbs or less.  He carried my pack and I carried his for a couple of hours.  Then Jack's son, Mark sped on ahead to the shelter and hung his pack in a tree before returning to take the pack I was carrying on the rest of the journey.  I knew at that point that I was not ready yet to hike the entire trail on this trip so decided that if we could possibly get a cell-phone signal that I would do the smart thing and go back out in the morning. 

Sure - I struggled with my male ego before making this decision.  The "man" in me wanted to "do it or die" but I thought - I don't have to die from my an attack of over-grown ego.  Ha.  Common sense told me to let the others go on and for me to turn back.  I was to learn from Jackie (Jack's first-born son) that this was not "common sense" but rather "uncommon sense".  Just like his Dad!  Always trying to make others feel better about themselves. 

More to follow.  However, I can't wait to show you the Tee Shirt that Frances bought for me and presented to me when I reached home! 

I had seen this shirt in Gatlinburg, TN and remarked to
Frances over the phone that I wished I had bought it.
So appropriate for a beginning of an
Addicted Trail Hiker!
Don't you think?