A Tour Of Roses, Day 4

Dear Friends of Improbable People Ministries and A Tour Of Roses,

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:

WE MAKE PLANS . . . AND GOD LAUGHS!

So yes, this is the A Tour Of Roses Update, Day 4. You’re in the right place. And I hate to make this all about me—Michael O’Connor, husband of Sally Klein O’Connor, born July 15, 1955 in Sacramento, CA to Charles and Dorothy O’Connor—as I said I hate to make this all about me despite being a devilishly handsome senior citizen who loves baseball, classic TV, a good book and great humor by favorite authors, a truly great hamburger and fried seafood of almost any variety; I truly hate to make this all about me . . . but a funny thing happened on the way to writing and compiling the Day 4 update.

Microsoft Word happened.

Or, more precisely, didn’t happen!

I received the daily Team Testimonies Robert Emmert sends me with all the stories of the day’s events and intimate encounters with the Israeli people. He sends them to me in Microsoft Word because it is the most compatible software between his phone app and my computer. Then I gathered the few photos I received from various team members to help bring these scenes to life for you, our dedicated readers. I clicked on the first Word file which held Dave Panther’s  adventures for the day. The file opened as it always does. But it contained a yellow banner across the top and the banner informed me that I would either need to purchase the software I was opening or to please sign in with my already-purchased license.

I sought out my trusty password manager (how did I ever live with all my passwords on 3 by 5 color-coded cards in a blue plastic 4 by 6 box?) and found the license we had purchased many years before. I filled in the form and pressed the button that would free me to go about informing you, our dear, sweet, patient readers and faithful prayer warriors about how you might be praying for our dedicated team of rose purveyors. Tragically—ok, maybe that’s a bit dramatic—sadly, this was of no help at all. For when I pressed that button which has always been dependable and I’ve always been able to trust to do my bidding in the past (but remember, please—this is not about me!) the screen went blank for a second before offering a spinning dial which moved clockwise into eternity. After three minutes, it occurred to me that even the patience of Job wasn’t going to get me to The Promised land of technical and, in this case, Biblical fulfillment.

I tried twice more with the same result. In desperation, I think I even uttered the phrase, “Open sesame!” Zip! Zero! Nada!

The file was open. I could read Dave’s words. But I couldn’t edit and I couldn’t even cut and paste the text from MS Word into a different text application. And as my two-finger typing is slower than fresh syrup dripping from a maple tree into a Maine bucket, there was no hope in getting this update out before Christmas. So here is the new plan. There are three important points to make, which I will do. Then I will go to sleep and get up Wednesday morning to contact tech support at Microsoft. Maybe I’ll even ask for Bill Gates and give him a piece . .  . er, an encouraging word about his wonderful flagship product with a couple of prayerful pointers on how it might be improved. And if that doesn’t work I may have to purchase a new license which would be unfortunate—but possibly necessary under the circumstances. Then tomorrow I will publish a double dose of ATOR mission news. Day 4 & 5 for the price of one. Double your pleasure, double your fun. Hey, it worked in the 70s for The DoubleMint Twins!

So here are the take-aways from all this:

● After reading the testimonies from a full day of handing out roses, the stories were amazing. Really, really wonderful! Divine Appointments galore! God truly used the team today in a powerful way that their stories will reflect once, y’know–once Microsoft Word decides to play ball.

● Air France finally tired of playing the child’s game of “Keep Away” with Sally’s bag and returned it to her four days after she landed in Tel Aviv.

● Air France has temporarily halted flights in and out of Tel Aviv due to a world event that, if you haven’t read about it, may be found here. Air France is the airline much of the team is flying home with on 9/29. Many different airlines have cancelled flights for a day or two during the past month due to the tumultuous nature of the region. But they have resumed flights to Israel soon after. The cancellations were for two flights on Wednesday only at the time of the announcement, and there are more than 10 days to go before the ATOR Team needs to pack up and travel home. Please let us be praying fervently that the events in Israel will be calm and that Air France flights, among others, will resume normal operations.

So that’s it from Houston. Please be praying all goes well in the morning with Mr. Gates or whomever answers the phone at Microsoft. Remember, to return tomorrow for all the ATOR news that’s fit to print. We’ve promised a double issue and tomorrow we hope to have one for you. But remember these two things:

● We make plans , , , and God laughs.

● IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!

—Michael O’Connor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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