My daughter is doing well on her mission trip in Argentina. We have spoken with her twice on Skype (thank God for technology). She will be teaching English and working with the local missionaries wherever she's needed.

And now some looking back,,,,
tomorrow is father's day and I can't spend that day with my dad since he passed away many years ago. I was a senior in high school when his heart gave out and he got a new body in heaven. I was a great deal selfish then and didn't take the time I should have to talk with him about life, his life and what he expected of mine. I wish now that he had sat me down to talk about things, but I guess he was just thinking he'd get better soon.

He fought hard in WWII in N. Africa and Italy and came close to death over there a number of times. We found out a little of his adventures when his captain came over and they spent the evening swapping stories. My mom sat up and listened and passed all she could remember on to us. He was blown out of fox holes, drug his captain back into his foxhole, spent time trapped behind enemy lines and fought in close quarters in town after town. I would imagine it was similar to Saving Private Ryan and the battles they encoutered in the countryside. He was not even able to finish high school but was drafted in his senior year. Fortunately, Georgia Power didn't require that back then if he could pass and entrance exam.

And when he came home with all of those horrible memories still fresh in him mind, he got married, got a job, had kids and went to work, never asking for a 'thank you' and never feeling sorry for the turn his life took. Mom told us that when he first came home and the alarm clock would go off, he'd grab it and throw it across the room thinking it was a grenade. He just put it out of his mind as best he could and got to work raising his family.

I wish I could sit down with him now and ask him all about everything he experienced in life. I would love to know about his life growing up; when he got his first job; his first fight; his first kiss; his thoughts when he got drafted; his life over there; and all about his fears, failings and triumphs. I am a lot of who I am because of him. Jesus changed me a great deal after I met Him, but I'm still the son of John Richard Mulkey Jr. and and thankful for that.

Dad, set aside a few years for when I get to heaven. We've got some catching up to do.

My third child is heading overseas today for a mission trip to Argentina. We are very excited for her but will miss her weekend visits of course.

Angela has always had a heart for missions. We read mission books to our children when they were young and encouraged them all to take short term mission trips with our churches. Angela really took it to heart and has gone on trips all over the world during the summers. This summer she'll be gone for 6 weeks so she can get a feel for what it's like on extended stays. She really wants to know if she can do it full time and thinks this will give her a feel for it.

Every child is different and each child has a different calling in their life. I never tried to point any of my kids in any particular field, but we did try and influence them to love Jesus. We encouraged them to do their very best, to work hard, to get along with others and to study. All of them have been successful in their lives and we're proud of all of them, but we're glad that God gave Angela a heart for missions. I think all of our kids have an interest in missions but they haven't been called to it as Angela has.

It's hard to let go of your kids and let God lead them away from you. My oldest daughter lives in Columbus and that's a long way to me, but if God calls Angela overseas it will be really hard to take. I know if He prepares her heart to go, He'll prepare ours to let her. It may not be easy, but I'm willing if she is.

It was a little on the hot side this weekend, with occasional bursts of cool breezes. I was able to get lots of stuff done, but it was a struggle.

I'm on this medicine for the cancer and it has chosen to affect other areas of my body too. For one thing, it makes me sorta tired and, of course, it gives me hot flashes. Now, being tired and trying to work is a challenge, but couple that with hot flashes in 80 degree weather and you can see how it can kick your butt.

I managed to get my mom's yard cut Saturday and helped my wife clean her house. We then headed to Columbus to work in my daughter and son-in-law's yard with them on Sunday. We planted around 25 bushs on Sunday and it was hard with those sudden attacks of internal heat that set me on my butt. On Monday we were able to clear out some grown-up weeks and lay pine straw over the various islands in the front yard. We just took our time getting that done so as not to get to hot, so it wasn't too bad.

All in all it was a good, fruitful weekend and we were able to enjoy the view as we drove away. That's the nice thing about gardening and landscaping, you get such a feeling of accomplishment everytime you look on the results of your hard labor.