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Today I was inspired by an email from Frank Dennis, “retired” medical missionary. Frank is an orthopedic surgeon and served for a number of years in Taiwan. Paragraphs like this inspire me:

We have been well. Sally is tired much of the time… On 3/7 I had an inguinal hernia repaired by a very nice robot and a hanky sized piece of mesh, pretty sore for 3 days and now like it never happened!

I am still sleeping on ice which numbs my right sacroiliac joint. I make another trip to the freezer about 3 a.m. I will get another injection 4/2 in hopes it will promote healing. I am fine during the day except it hurts to stand. When I preach I keep moving around a little. There is gradual improvement and I am not disabled.

Frank and Sally are at least 90. They never complain. Did you notice “when I preach”? And, “I am not disabled.” Frank still preaches twice a month when he’s in town and frequently travels elsewhere, including back to Taiwan. Here is the text of one of his recent sermons–Elijah’s burnout. And there are no pictures of Sally not smiling!

Frank is on my list of heroes who never quit, including Navigator Jim Downing who returned from his last speaking tour just two months before passing away at age 104 1/2. My Uncle Sam was sending out inspirational emails until three weeks before his passing at age 99.

¹²  The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
¹³ planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,
¹⁵ proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92.12 – 15, NIV)