Whatever you DUE!

As we prepare to go to Uganda next month, I have been thinking about a verse to be our theme for this trip.  I have found one that seems to resonate with our name and overarching motto.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you DUE, DUE it all for the glory of God”.

This verse is taken out of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth and in the preceding verses, he had given instruction on what to do with food sacrificed to idols.  He emphasizes that the Christians are free to eat anything, as long as their conscience is clear about it and it does not cause someone else to stumble. 

This verse spells out some freedoms that we have through Christ and apart from the law.  This freedom allows us to DUE many things, but it also gives us a freedom to not do certain things.  The freedom allows us to honor Christ with our lives, without worrying about laws, rituals or opinions.  Our freedom to honor God should not be based on what society and popular culture dictates.

This verse also implores us to DUE everything to God’s glory, even in the boring, everyday tasks that we do.  I have been working a lot the past several months.  I have caught myself just trying to get through this time until I am able to go to Uganda in May.  This verse clearly tells me that I should be working all of these hours to God’s glory too, not separating one part of my life from the other.  All of what I DUE should be honoring God.  Things that we would normally consider “worldly”, like jobs, hobbies, school, etc. are where we intersect with society and others that need to see Christ.

I think that it is worth reminding ourselves of this verse often and take every opportunity to DUE things to God’s glory.

As we prepare to make a trip to Uganda, May 11-30, I am hoping to collect a few items to take with us when we go.

#1) Sport coats/blazers – Many adults in rural Uganda, men and women, wear sport coats every day (or at least to medical clinics).  This could be to dress up a little or to stay warm. I thought that it would be cool to take a big supply of sport coats to leave with local pastors to pass out as they see fit.  So, if you would, look through your closet and find a sport coat that you are no longer wearing and get it to me. If the coat is part of a suit, send the pants too.  This will be such a blessing to the local church and the people in the surrounding village.

Photo credit to Jayne

#2)  Silverware/Flatware – When we go to a location to host a medical clinic, the local church or school will usually make us a delicious lunch in the middle of the day.  We sometimes eat at the location of the clinic, but more often, we will go down the road or around the corner and squeeze into someone’s home.  As the guests, they usually make us go first and allow us to use the silverware.  Many times, by the time the end of the line is complete, people are required to eat with their fingers because the silverware is all used.  We have taken some plasticware in the past, and allowed people to use this for their meals.  Last time we were in Uganda, we had the idea of bringing a big supply of silverware with us.  We could allow the hosts preparing our meal to use the silverware and then leave it with them as a thank you.  To that end, if you have any silverware that is in storage or not being used, or if you want to buy some and send it, let me know.

If you would like to donate a sport coat, silverware, soccer balls or kids shoes please get them to one of these locations:

1.)    Urgent Med – 2004 N Highway 81 in Duncan

2.)    Impact580 Church – 58 N. 12^th st in Duncan

3.)    Due Unto Others – 5900 Mosteller Dr #122 Oklahoma City , OK 73112

Our trip, this year, will be centered around hosting eye clinics and then helping the identified people get eye surgery.  The surgeries will be mainly to resolve cataracts and each of these surgeries costs about $55.  So if you would like to give towards these life changing operations, please send a check to the Due Unto Others address above or you can give via paypal at www.dueunto.com.

We covet your prayers as we look forward to our May 2019 trip.

Whatever you DUE!

Jay

We Lost a Good One Today

When my grandfather, Elmer Due (Grampus) died in the spring of 1987, I was 16 years old, and probably not the most observant person in town.  At that time, if you had asked me if my Granny was a “strong” person, I probably would have said no.  I would have seen her as caring, loving, kind, but dependent on my grandfather.  My Grampus passed away, unexpectedly, one day while the rest of us carried on our normal routines.  I got out of school, and because baseball season was over, I went to my part time job at the trophy shop.  When I got off of work at 5:00, I went back to the high school to lift weights.  In the days before cell phones, I finished my workout and headed home, which was east of Duncan, on Tucker road.  When I got home, there was no one there and a note on the bar.  “Come to the hospital……..GRAMPUS!”  My Grampus had survived a bypass surgery, the year prior, that we were concerned that he might not make it through, so I was thinking he might be having heart trouble.  I raced to Duncan Regional Hospital and asked the kind lady at the desk where I could find the room for Elmer Due.  She told me to find my family.  When I told her that my family told me to come here, she kindly broke her rules and informed me that my Grampus had “expired”.  I headed, with tears in my eyes (much like currently) to my grandparents’ house on Drexal.  There were many people there, including my parents, but as I walked in, I only noticed one person. My eyes met with Granny’s and she met me in the middle of their living room in a long compassionate hug.  Her words to me, “We lost a good one today”.  That was a moment I should have noticed her strength.  She was the one providing comfort.

Over the next few weeks and months, I am sure that Granny didn’t feel strong, as she was trying to figure out life without her husband.  I am sure there were times of crying, sobbing, and self-pity.  But I know that there were times of singing, praising and praying.  In a moment in her life when many of us would have hit back at God, hit the trail, hit the bottle, hit the prescription medications, or hit the fetal position, Granny hit her knees.  Looking back, that should have been the biggest evidence of her strength.  She had the wisdom to know where to get her strength.  My mom found a poem this week, while going through my Granny’s things.

The Lord My Source

He is my Savior, Comforter, and Friend

He gives me the courage to start life again.

He’s ever beside me, through the lonely nights and days,

He guides every footstep and shows me the way.

(Written after my husband died – Toady Due) 5/14/87

Over the next 10 years, I got married, attended college, graduated medical school and had a child. 

 Most of that time, I was busy with those things and didn’t check on my Granny as much as I should have.  Meanwhile, she was mowing the yard, providing loving child care for a great granddaughter, keeping a garden, balancing a check book, cooking for one and serving at her church.  Oh yeah, and one other thing, she was praying for me.  Yes, for me specifically, but not only me.  She had a list of everyone in the family and she would spend hours praying for each person individually and specifically.  I am pretty sure that her prayers had a lot to do with the list of things that I took on from age 16-26.  Her strength is obvious in this list.  I am sure that she had help from people at her church.  I know that she had help from my parents, Aunt Marsha and Uncle Joe Sam.  But probably more than the help she got from them, she gave out to others.  She was forever taking friends to doctor’s appointments, volunteering at the hospital and cooking lunch for grand kids and their friends every week.

Over the last couple of years, Granny had to move from her home on Drexal, where she had been for 30 years, by herself.  Initially to an assisted living and then to a nursing home.  As we would visit Granny, she would sometimes come back to the same conversations.  One of the things that she would usually say, at least once every time we visited, was how blessed she was. Granny would talk about how she had so many family and friends that loved her.  In fact, when I visited Granny in mid-February, her mind was starting to fade but we still had this conversation. Granny was easy to love.

Since my visit with her in February, she had a significant drop off in her physical status and her mentation.  She started to have trouble swallowing and had a fall, resulting in an ER visit and staples.  Our family had to make some difficult decisions, but Granny was placed on Hospice last Saturday.  My mom and I have discussed verses that might be used in her memorial service.  I thought of a couple, and I am sure that if you knew her, either as Toady or Granny, you could come up with some too.

John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

According to this, Granny was easy to spot as a disciple.  She had pretty much mastered the "love one another" thing.

Phillipians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Pray without ceasing was pretty much her specialty.

It’s 5:00am on April 3, 2019.  I am working a night shift in the ER currently.  I got the phone call at 2:43am from my mom telling me that Granny had died.  Fewer than 4 days after we put her on Hospice, her strength left her earthly body and she went to heaven.  I don’t think my heart could handle witnessing the sweet reunions there today. Flora/Toady/Granny Due was one of the strongest, most loving and gracious women that I will ever know. I already regret not learning more from her but feeling blessed that I knew her for 48 years.  “We lost a good one today”.

Jay