Personal Reflections: A Dozen Memorable Events of 2021

 

Image: Facade of Met Tab, London.

The Lord blessed me with some very kind providences in 2021. I hope this list is not taken as “boasting” but as an expression of sincere gratitude for many unexpected and undeserved blessings in 2021. Here is a list of a dozen such things (in chronological order):

·       I taught on text of Scripture at the Kept Pure Conference at the Five Solas Church in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and got to meet and spend time with many friends, including Christian McShaffrey, Bill Greendyke, and Anne Hills Brown (daughter of E. F. Hills), March 26-27, 2021.

·       I watched my two younger sons win the VACA state championship in baseball for Grace Christian School and saw my son Isaiah given the conference MVP and tournament MVP awards, May 22, 2021.

·       Thanks to an anonymous gift from a church member, I attended for the first time since 2009 the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, May 25-27, 2021.

·       I taught the children of CRBC on the Life of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) in our annual VBS, June 14-17, 2021.

·       I spent a week with my family at Topsail Island, North Carolina, June 28—July 3, 2021.

·       I enjoyed supper at Toscano’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts with my family and Dr. Jay Rhee, a friend I had not seen in 18 years, July 7, 2021.

·       I contributed an essay to the festschrift, A Workman Not Ashamed: Essays in Honor of Albert N. Martin (Free Grace Press, 2021).

·       I taught an intensive class on the Gospels at IRBS Seminary and preached at Heritage RBC, in Mansfield, Texas, August 3-8, 2021.

·       I attended the Christ-centered wedding of Fraser and Lily Jones (who met at the 2019 Text and Conference in Atlanta!) in Greenfield, Indiana, August 14, 2021.

·       I attended and gave the “Orientation” to the 20^th annual Keach Conference, hosted this year at Redeeming Grace Church, Gloucester, Virginia, September 25, 2021.

·       I taught and preached at Metropolitan Tabernacle Church in London, November 27-29, 2021.

·       I attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the St. James Baroque with my family in Westminster Abbey, November 30, 2021.

“my cup runneth over” (Psalm 23:5).

JTR