On Being Conscientious

We had babies!  Small baby brown wrens, that is.  Earlier this summer a couple of wrens moved into the birdhouse we purchased last spring which is hanging from the corner of our barn at the back of our yard. We knew they were around by their loud, vibrant, complex songs.  Soon we realized that the female was in there laying eggs, one per day – usually five or six in her second “clutch” of the season. The male was right by her side bringing her spiders, other insects and seeds that he had foraged with his long thin bill.  Then it got really noisy for the eggs had hatched about 2 weeks later.  Both of these parents became extremely busy as they tried to meet the demands of their squawking children.  They conscientiously flew in food for their babies every few minutes throughout the day.  It is interesting that the mother does not sleep in the birdhouse overnight.  After another two weeks all was silent when I was sitting in our gazebo nearby as everyone had moved out and moved on.  Would you believe these tiny God-made flyers migrate to Mexico or the southern states for the winter!  Incredible! They are the state bird of South Carolina.

Gary learned recently that being conscientious is a good characteristic to develop for it may help in your longevity.  That is a great result for those who attend church on a regular basis, make their beds every morning, keep their home in a tidy fashion etc.  Wives of “noble character” as described in Proverbs 31:10-31 are not that easily found.  It’s a tall order for she watched over all “the affairs of her household” and was worthy of much praise because she feared the Lord.  I wonder how long she lived because of her conscientious lifestyle!

Sadly, our progress with Hillside Church has been very slow over this past month even though we continue to be as conscientious as we can in getting this church established.  We have moved our fall launch date to October 16.  Scott Lockhart did talk with the manager at Kelsey’s restaurant about using their facilities for our Sunday services.  We started off there a couple of years ago and it does look favourable that we can return.  Scott still needs a new place to live, and his health is currently not the best.  We always appreciate your prayers for this ministry.

We received word from Thomas, our friend in Myanmar recently.  He is in the process of building an orphanage and keeps running into problems with his military government.  He, however, never seems to be deterred but continues to conscientiously and faithfully do the next thing to complete this project for his ministry.  Periodically our church is able to send him money since his resources are limited.  Thank you for praying for Thomas, his wife Maven and their two young boys too.

Don’t work too hard this Labour Day weekend unless you want to really grow old!

Wendy   

Wendy.carter@kainos.org