Standing Tall!
Sep 30
Recently, our neighbour came knocking at our back door. When I answered it, she pointed to the end of our backyard. It looked like a green wall had been built across the back of it as another portion of the Manitoba Maple tree had fallen down. This straggly, softwood tree has been disintegrating over the years and now our yard had opened up quite a bit taking away some of the shade with it. From our back porch we can clearly see our neighbour’s walnut tree standing tall in the middle of their yard. It is probably 150 feet tall which can be seen from a fair distance in Churchville. It is interesting how God creates his nature as these trees will bear lots of nuts one year and then not so much or not at all the next year. It is uncertain to us how long it has taken for this tree to grow that big – maybe50 or 75 years? In contrast I planted some Canna Lily bulbs near our front porch in June and they are now over 10 feet tall with raspberry-coloured flowers. They were fast growers, indeed. We never can know what God has in his mind.
We have been very encouraged lately by the progress we have seen in our two young Punjabi Indian students. Gary has nicknamed them M & M. They have been attending our church quite regularly now, making coffee at the beginning of our meeting and singing along with the songs. They are enjoying being a part of our church family, whereas a few months ago they weren’t too sure. Gary and I have been picking them up Sunday mornings at 8:30 and they are coming out on time instead of showing up ten minutes late. As it takes a long time for a tree to grow, it takes a while for people to learn to stand tall, doing what is right, particularly when they are newcomers to our country. M & M are moving to a Christian home in Milton this coming Tuesday which is exciting for them. Please pray that they will be able to find jobs. Their English has a heavy Punjabi accent and sometimes not very understandable.
Could you also pray for Scott and Chrissy Lockhart who will probably need to find another place to rent by the end of the year as their landlady wants to sell the home? They are continuing to build their Healthy Homes Cleaning business and trying to be patient for the arrival of some CRA funds owed them.
Scott has been taking us through the lives of King Saul and King David from the Old Testament for the past few months in our services. As a young man, Saul was a head taller than many others around him as found in I Samuel 9:2. When he became king, he stood tall initially but then decided to take over his own life and not follow God. Sadly, God brought him down low, and he died a tragic death. David then became king as ordained by God and he stood tall for most of his life following God’s lead. Another interesting contrast! Are you standing tall in whatever you are doing? It does take a lot of work.
Happy early Thanksgiving. We certainly have much to be thankful for in this great country of Canada.
Wendy