Throughout the year I record our family highlights in a cartoon book. We look through twenty or so every year when all seventeen of us gather for Christmas dinner.
I call them 'smilestones.'
Some of the biggest hoots come from the worst mishaps.
The day when a drunk driver hit my son-in-law's police cruiser. The time when my other son-in-law crashed his mountain bike and lost his memory for a few days. Or the incident when I got stuck in my car in Death Valley, California.
Every year bring a series of 'smilestones' when we laugh together over family misfortunes.
Tomorrow bad things might happen to you. I mean something terrible.
Quick. Take a pencil and make a cartoon. If you don't you will have forgotten about it by Christmas.
Why not read Romans 8:28. It is the reason why we believe in 'smilestones.'
Ian
Almost forty years ago I came to Canada for the second time from England. My first visit was to preach, my second was to bring Pauline and the kids to see the great land to which we would emigrate.
To leave friends and family behind in England and make a 3,500 mile journey was a major step. All the more so because we had our own home situated in a picturesque Lancashire village and a good salary from my job as a high school teacher.
What brought us?
Like Peter of old we stepped out of the tiny boat of our comfort zone, believing that God had called us to a wider adventure of living by faith.
We have had wet shoes many times since but it has been exhilarating learning how to walk on water with His hand to hold us up.
Is God calling you to make a step of faith today? Take it.
He will never call you forth unless He keeps you up!
Ian
I spoke to my neighbour last week. Her husband had died suddenly from pancreatic cancer.
I stopped the car and went over to speak with her as she was doing some yard-work.
This lady was in her early fifties and her husband had been a very successful business man in our city.
What does a person say?
Well, I opened my mouth and trusted the Lord for the right words. I simply said that I had read in the papers how she and Gary had been a devoted couple and how sorry I was to hear of her loss.
Immediately there was a flood of tears. Then I said " Save and cherish the memories you have shared with Gary, but don't let the clock stop ticking. This is a milestone in your journey with God, not a millstone round your neck. God still has special things ahead for you. Let's believe that your future can still be bright and happy with God's help." With that I prayed for her.
She thanked me and I left.
Nothing too profound. But if you look at the photo I like to think that I might have put my shoulder to that big millstone and helped my neighbour along a difficult part of her journey.
Ian
On September 17th 2011 I plan to attend the class of '51 Reunion at my Alma Mater, Nelson Grammar School in England.
Brian Greenwood, a fellow compatriot, and myself were judged the most likely candidates to do 'hard time' in prison when we left school. Brian left early and I left prematurely, expelled at the tender age of 16.
Now how wrong could the pundits be?
Brian became a police officer in the North of England and I became a preacher.
Brian spent his years bringing miscreants to justice: I spent my life as a preacher seeking to keep people out of Brian's reach.
We were an unlikely duo in school and even more unlikely team when we left school.
Ah, but therein lies the mystery of the grace of God in His Son, Jesus Christ!
Ian
Last week Pauline & I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary! It was another milestone. The journey of life is marked by them.
Some people were astonished that we could live together for that long! Well, in 1968 on June the 1st in a little village in Lancashire, England, we promised to do just that, and we did.
What, may I ask, is wrong with someone keeping their word?
My sister wrote from England and observed that my wife should have received a medal for endurance. On that point I agree.
There are no finer words than the conditions given in the old marriage service which read "for better or worse, for richer or for poorer and in sickness and in health 'til death do us part."
At the moment you may be experiencing some of the "worse"in your marriage.
If you are thinking of changing your mind about your spouse DON'T. You will have to search long and hard to find a better one and besides that you will have broken your word.
Ian
