Flying Squirrels

Christmas Blessings from Our Home to Yours!

Over the past few months four black squirrels have decided to fling themselves boldly from one of our evergreens in our backyard to another, a span of about eight feet.  I gasp every time I see them take on this dare devil fete as I am sure one of them will hit the ground unexpectedly.  Maybe they are trying to be like their cousin, the flying squirrel.  Do you know about this nocturnal rodent that glides with its furry membranes stretched between its wrists and ankles from one tree to the next? There are two kinds of species in North America – northern flying squirrels and southern flying squirrels. We learned about them when we resided in Timmins a few years ago.  God’s world of nature is so interesting!

Hope is a precocious, eight-year old black girl who was baptized a couple of weeks ago in the church Gary and I  were visiting.  We don’t know about her background but there is a story there to tell as she is being raised by her white grandparents and aunt.  When the pastor asked her why she wanted to be baptized, she quickly retorted, “I want to be baptized because I love Jesus!”  Hankies and cameras appeared all over the congregation (about 80 in attendance) as they witnessed this little girl’s keen desire to be obedient to her Friend.  She reminds me of those bold squirrels in our backyard.  She, no doubt, will fling herself into many a challenge she faces throughout her life with courage and fearlessness.

Gary continues to work on his course for baptism (baptismbooster.com) which he is creating to encourage pastors and churches to become more focused on this command of Christ.  Often young followers are too fearful to take this step in their Christian maturity. Before they know it, the years have piled up and it becomes much harder to obey. We were able to come up with 52 benefits of baptism – one to be mentioned every Sunday in the church calendar year. For instance, baptism presents an example for all ages to follow and it defines a specific time to look back upon as a marker for tough times of doubt, discouragement or crisis.

Please pray for the ongoing outreach program for Hillside Church particularly in the upcoming new year.  Any new church plant requires lots of hours spent in this activity to help it become well established and flourishing.  It takes much determination to fling oneself out one’s own front door to “get it done”; but then the sense of fulfillment is unexplainable.  There are so many hurting people out there that we need to attract for them to hear about the hope that is found in the Gospel.

May we all prepare to fling ourselves into the new year facing us with gusto like our “flying” squirrels, Hope and the apostle Paul who “… entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there …” (Acts 19:8).

Have a super time with your family and friends during one more Christmas season!

Wendy

Wendy.carter@kainos.org