Down Home in Mississippi

Settling in to Retirement

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

As many fore-warned us, the pace of life has not slowed down since retiring from the International Mission Board more than three years ago. Our lifestyle has changed a bit since moving down home in Mississippi, but the Lord has given us many opportunities for ministry and using our years of experience and leadership to […]

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Celebrating Christmas 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

Everyone has Christmas traditions. As a child it probably involved traveling to Grandmother’s house and gathering with uncles and aunts and cousins for Christmas dinner. It continues to be characterized by hanging garlands and decorating the Christmas tree. Seasonal carols are featured music at church throughout December, and somewhere amidst all the special programs is […]

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Coping with Cold

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

Okay, so we are wimps down south when it comes to cold weather. We dodged the bullet in Central Mississippi this week of the severe winter storms that swept the country as we watched them skirt to the northwest of us. But anytime the temperature dips below 32 degrees it is too cold to venture […]

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Turkey Fried Turkey

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

  Okay, please disregard the sick joke by an unnamed relative as I was frying the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The Texas Thanksgiving holiday could not have been better with and abundance of family, feasting and football. Since our son moved back to Waco last summer, we have enjoyed the nostalgic of visits to the […]

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Touching the World

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

Jesus had just commissioned His disciples to be witnesses to the ends of the earth 40 days earlier. The Bible tells us that on the day of Pentecost “men from every nation under heaven were gathered in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:5), and what happened? They heard the gospel in their own language. It was if Jesus […]

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Stress and Joy of Homecoming

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

Why is it that we become so self-conscious as our school’s homecoming approaches? What are our former classmates going to think of us? Will they recognize me with gray hair, or no hair at all, and carrying an inner-tube around my waist? What if I don’t seem to have been as successful as others? Next […]

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Return to Richmond

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

It has been more than a year since we have had an occasion to return to Richmond, VA where we lived for 17 years prior to retirement. We are no longer leading sessions at new missionary orientation for the International Mission Board, so we have missed periodic interaction with staff and former colleagues. An invitation […]

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Shenandoah in the Fall

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

One of the perks of retirement is enjoying the journey. Instead of being subjected to the hassle of airline travel, security screening, crowded planes and delayed connections we get to enjoy the leisure travel of road trips, stopping at will and delighting in the scenery across the country. We have had a wonderful return visit […]

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Birthday on the Road

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

It is perplexing that birthdays seem to come with increasing regularity. With our travel schedule over the years we are seldom with family and are able to pass the addition of another year unnoticed. But they are markers to celebrate another year of God’s blessings and opportunities to serve Him. Bobbye transitioned to another year […]

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Blessings Continue to Flow

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Dr. Jerry Rankin

Over the years we have identified with the Apostle John’s desire in his third epistle, verse four—”I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” We are richly blessed that both our children and their spouses are faithfully serving the Lord and the passion of their lives […]

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