Ron's eye check up was good!

Yesterday, Ron completed his check ups by having an eye evaluation at Emory Eye Clinic.   The eye that has been so painful and red for some months is not the result of the mole Ethan Wright discovered in his evaluation last summer.    The doctor said the size of the mole has not changed and appears to him to have been there for a long time.   He said to have it checked again next year. 

The son of a preacher we know had a brain tumor recently.   The first thing they checked was his eyes since they felt the malignancy had a primary source.   His eyes were not the cause of the melanoma but having a mole in the eye could result in such a situation.   We are relieved to get a good report and know this is not a risk with Ron's mole!

Ron has dry eyes and during the time we were in the Philippines, he did his work in an air conditioned room due to the excessive heat.  Apparently, his eyes got too dry and this was the basic problem.   I used the small sitting room to do my work in the Philippines and it did get hot in the afternoons, but my dry eyes were not subjected to the air conditioning all day.

We have not used air conditioning since we arrived in Woodstock, GA.     Ron got windows to open and we let the breeze flow through with the help of fans, part of the time.   The house has many trees and until noon each day, the house is nice and cool.   

We continue to get a few more things done and more settled into our life in a house again.    Without constant travel, we are getting more rest and trying to catch up with our computer work that got a little behind while we were busy moving in.

Ron has not yet sold the RVs but he is checking to see where it would be best to put them on the market.    I am concerned we will wait until this season is too far gone to sell this them year.   Like all vehicles, they depreciate more in value each year.

Our work is going as well as expected during this pandemic.  Our girls are all well.  Borders are still closed and some places still endure shutdowns of businesses and schools.   Our girls who are now in their own tailoring shops have not had much business to bring them income so we have had to help them with food and the purchase of fabric. 

Ron has sent newsletters out about the many families we have helped in Nepal and Laos with food.  We continue to provide food to some areas bordering India and Nepal and now some Christians in Thailand are requesting help.    Until people can return to work and make a steady income, this may continue to be a problem.

With the virus still causing as many as 50 deaths a day in Georgia, we are staying in as much as possible.   When having to do things, we wear masks and keep our distance, using hand sanitizers.  Ron had to take care of problems with tires on the car and we dealt with the restrictions at Emory yesterday in regard to his check up.

Whenever there are news or changes in our lives, I will post again.     We are doing fine and pray that all of our Christian family everywhere is safe and healthy. 

In Christian love, we remain as servants doing Christ's work on earth.   Pray for us as we pray for you.

Move completed!

Our furniture arrived from being in storage in Albany, GA on July 9th.    It was a tough day unloaded a U-Haul truck with two strong guys helping us.    We got it all in the house and set up a bed to sleep and went to bed.   This is our son and daughter-in-law's house located at 406 Justin Court, Woodstock, GA 30188.    Our daughter, Leigh Ann and granddaughter, Tatum, lived here until last fall when they moved to Florida.  The house has been vacant since they left so the yard was really a mess.    The young man next door cuts the grass but limbs were everywhere and things in general made the house look deserted.

We made the decision while we were in the Philippines that we would share this house as our base home with Ronald and Gigi as we both continue our mission work.   Due to our quarantine in the Philippines, we could not get here sooner or get the furniture moved here until now. 

Ron and I both knew this was probably our last chance to have the ability to handle a move ourselves without having to hire everything done.   We were almost forced to do it now because of the virus and our inability to travel to visit at various congregations.   Everything changed and we adjusted our plans accordingly.    I promised Ron that I would do everything I could to relieve him of the work.  He has helped or done the impossible for me to do but I have done my share of unloading box after box and getting the house in order. 

Here are a few pictures to show how lovely the house is now. The dining room furniture was loaned (or given) to Leigh Ann when she moved into this house.   She has no room for it in her condo.   She still has things stored around in this room that she will take with her when she comes to visit.

Leigh Ann left the glass table in the breakfast room and the backyard with the birds feeding is what we enjoy at each mealtime.

The next pictures are of the large living room.    The cubes to sit on in front of the fireplace and the gold chair were left by Leigh Ann,   

The glass table belongs to Ronald.   This house now belongs to the entire Brown Family!

 I mixed in my furniture whether it really matches or not to complete the room.   As my decorator friend says, "some of it is early basement" style.    

I used gifts and pictures that have been given to us by family, friends and acquaintances, both at home and abroad.  My oriental corner and gifts from our friends cover the tables and include pictures on the walls.   The fun of decorating is remembering where everything came from and when we received it.   

Ronald and Gigi have their room in the master bedroom and it will always be ready for them when they return home.    I will have to take a picture of it and post it in the next segment.   

Here is my office set up in one of the bedrooms.    

I have a corner for reading and a bed for resting.    

Ron has a large table in the other bedroom and his office is set up with a cabinet for storage of offices supplies and a closet for his clothing with shelving on each side which provides a lot of space.   He does not have it neat enough for a picture but I will post one soon. We share whichever bed we feel like and sleep separately when we are tired and need to have uninterrupted sleep.   Our patterns of sleep are not good and as we get older, it seems to get worse.

There is another room upstairs that will be used for a guest room but I have not completed that room yet.   It is a big house with four bedrooms and 3 full baths but Ron and I will use less than l/2 of it, closing off unused rooms in the winter months and using radiator type electric heaters in our rooms.  

Ron still hopes to go back to Thailand for this winter but the virus situation and our health will determine what we are able to do by winter.   In the meantime, we have a very lovely place to live.  We feel very blessed and thankful for all that God provides for us. 

Here are some outside pictures to complete this blog.

Update from Woodstock, GA

We left Texas early on June 18th and drove to Mobile, AL   We can park at Regency church of Christ in the back parking lot where they have RV hookups.   We rested another day there before driving to Raintree Village Children's home in Valdosta, GA where they also have RV hookups.    On Monday, June 22 and again on June 23, we drove to Jacksonville, FL early each morning, arriving back at the RV late each evening.   Ron had appointments to check his heart, knees and a neurologist specialist.    Everything checked out well and we were pleased there were no complications and no surgeries needed.   He did not get to see the eye doctor because the specialist to see about the retina problem was booked until the middle of July.   They recommended he try to see someone at Emory while we are in Atlanta.    I hope he can see someone soon but his eye is doing somewhat better with a higher humidity and lower temperature.     Ron was 83 yesterday.

We drove to Woodstock, GA on June 25th.    Our RV is parked in our son's house driveway.  Some time this past year, we discussed with him about both of us making this our base home.   Our daughter, Leigh Ann and granddaughter, Tatum, moved to Florida in October and left this house vacant.  Ron thought Ronald should rent it but he had very bad renters twice before and he does not want to sell the house.   Ron and I have debated for the past 2-3 years where we should try to settle when we could no longer drive the RV and travel full-time.    We considered several cities but never settled on any place we really want to live.    Ron is not ready to totally give up the traveling but due to the virus, we are forced to do less the rest of this year.   Many churches are not meeting and we cannot visit and give reports on the work.

We spent two days unloading the RV into the house.    We go back to the RV to sleep at night until we can get our stored furniture brought here from Albany, GA.     We set up temporary offices in the house and are working to catch up our work.   We will move the furniture in soon and live here until we can travel again.   

Ron plans to sell or trade the larger RV for a very small RV that will be easier for short trips.   We will no longer live in an RV but take short trips in a much smaller RV if we can make a trade soon.  Ron feels the long drives and maintenance he has always done before is just too difficult for him now.

Because of our age and the high risk of getting the virus and not surviving it, we have been forced to stay in as much as possible.   We have to do banking and grocery shopping but those places are near and not in the middle of crowds.   We had groceries delivered when we arrived in TX and the Kroger store near us will deliver here if we decide to do that.   

We have a lot of computer work to catch up so we are very busy.   I hope to catch up before the furniture arrives from Albany.   Then, I will be busy for a few weeks getting things in place. 

We only have one phone at this time so if you really need to reach us by phone, Ron's number is 678-877-6300.   We are easily reached by email at ronbrown20@gmail.com or patbrown10@gmail.com.
The mailing address is 406 Justin Court, Woodstock, GA 30188.