Saturday, June 14, 2008
Travis is Sweet 16: Party #1
Travis is 16! We celebrated his birthday with all our Passion Play friends this evening after rehearsal. What fun! Everyone lighted a sparkler in the campfire for him and sang Happy Birthday and then Travis swung at the pinata we hung from a giant cotton wood tree.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Ten years ago today, my dear dad passed away. It was sudden and unexpected. He, my mom and my youngest sister had just been home less than two weeks from their mission work in the Philippines. It's interesting that this 10 year anniversary should fall on the same day of the week as it actually happened. It is also the day before my son, Travis' birthday, and just before Father's Day.
My dad was a wonderful Christian man. I so wish that my children could have known him longer. However, he left us with the story of his life written in his own hand, an incredible story, and even more amazing, a written legacy, which he had penned shortly before his death. The morning after Dad died and his family was all gathered together, I was helping my mom gather some of their things (they were visiting and staying with my grandmother) when I came upon his journal and it fell open to this writing. I do believe that God purposely placed this before us to comfort us and provide us with Dad's greatest desire for his family. I include it here now, in his honor, and so others can reap from his great insight and wisdom.
God has blessed me with such a wonderful family, right from my grandparents down through my own parents, to my dear wife and our four wonderful daughters, and on to my grandchildren (some hopefully yet to come) so that I would like to see the bond or legacy of God’s ordained family connection carried on and passed on down to each succeeding generation as they come along.
From the earliest beginnings of time, God uniquely ordained the family as the primary human organism to transmit His life. The entire structure of God’s chosen people, Israel, was founded on family. Chief among the commands of Moses to those under His charge was: Teach and pass these things down to your sons and daughters.
The scriptures make abundantly clear that God’s intent when He created the family was that His life be carried down through time, through the family, forever- for a thousand generations. Each individual was designed to be nurtured by roots which reached deeply into the soil of the past, giving strength, which then in turn extended into the future.
In Satan’s devious cunning, however, he infiltrates and cuts off that umbilical cord of inner life which God implanted within the ongoing and extended family institution. When he is thus allowed to destroy family roots, this many generational process is undone, and the result is that every successive generation or two, men and women have to discover their heritage and faith anew. The ongoing vitality and strength of a permanent, life giving root system is made impotent.
For if I had a record of the faith and struggles and successes of my grandparents to encourage and bolster me in times of struggle or pain (which do come in life) I could hopefully gain strength and assurance from realizing that they had risen above all the obstacles and uncertainties that surely must have arisen when they ventured forth into a new and unknown land of Canada so many years ago.
God has given us, however, and prompted me strongly, to shoulder the responsibility to infuse a heritage into our present generations- a heritage involving both the past and the future, and a heritage far broader in scope than the mere story of my life. God desires a permanency from His people, an ongoing fight against Satan’s ways, a continual breaking of the chains of evil and mistakes of the past, even to the third and fourth generation back, and a passing on of the mandate of obedience to God to all the generations ahead.
I’m afraid that few apprehend the legacy which has been given us to pass down. We leave the treasure of God’s life and His working in our lives buried. The story of my life with Verone and our conversion to Christ is but a repeat of the universal story which God has been working to infuse within the human chain of generations with every family on the face of the earth. For He created mankind and ordained the family because He loves us. In reality, the heritage of God’s life within us is a legacy He intended for all families, for all time!
So hopefully this will not be merely my story, or Verone’s and mine, but my desire would be that you, Shauna and Tammy and Janelle and Twyla, would step into it in your own time and in your own way, and that you would bring Greg and Scott and Chris and ? into it, as well as my four present grandchildren and all the future ones the Lord may provide. You, my precious daughters were born into my bloodline; others like Greg and Scott and Chris, and who is yours going to be Twyla?, these must be grafted in. But it would also be most interesting for posterity if they would record their own story.
For the life of God’s Spirit moves mightily throughout time, and every man and woman must one day face their own place in that life, in that legacy, just as the people in the lineage of Jesus were, as told in Matthew 1.
God takes us where we are, farmers, teachers, salesmen, homemakers- in need of a Father, in search of our true Home- and makes us an integral part of that legacy.
In marrying Verone, I became more than I could have alone, because the stream of God’s purpose swept over us, drew us into it, and made it ours. The legacy of our story is God’s life, not ours, but through our trust and obedience it was sublimated, and thereby hopefully passed on into future generations.
At every time, in every era, within every human heart, my dear family, the decision must be faced whether to accept one’s place within that legacy. Will we abandon ourselves to God’s plan and life for us, or will we ignore the river of the Spirit sweeping over us, and let it pass without bringing us up into its inherent life? In every successive generation, every person must face the choices which will determine the impact God’s lifeblood will have in his or her own existence, and whether it will move through them into the future, or die. In this regard, I thank God daily, that at the time of this writing you are all safe in the love of Christ as your Savior.
But please be aware that at every turn Satan will try to steal the inheritance which has been given us. Forces can infiltrate our families telling of false priorities, false ambitions, false attitudes which are not God’s . But we are commanded and impelled to stand firm, to walk in the calling of the one true legacy, and to pass on His heritage to those who come after us in the ongoing flow of generations.
The story of my life and my family is true and as accurate as my simple ability will allow. But beyond the reality of my earthly physical life, and the blessing and treasured times involved in it, there is a real treasure, a life, a land, a home, and a heritage that it is all too easy for our earthly eyes to lose sight of. As Jesus said, the mysteries of the kingdom of God are hid, like parables, so that only those with eyes to see and perceive, may truly apprehend them.
In too many families, in so many generations, the treasure gets buried, hidden, sometimes for centuries. May it not be so in ours. For the treasure forms the very strength of God’s family, of which you are all a part. May from you flow the ongoing knowledge of God’s love and His life in the world. For it is a treasure awaiting discovery by every family, by every man, woman, boy and girl, by every child of God in every new generation. Be sure to pass it on, for your loving God isn’t willing that any should perish.
God bless you, one and all. It has been truly a joy to share my past life with you, and I hope to experience ‘real joy’ by sharing my future life with you all in heaven.
Selah!
My dad was a wonderful Christian man. I so wish that my children could have known him longer. However, he left us with the story of his life written in his own hand, an incredible story, and even more amazing, a written legacy, which he had penned shortly before his death. The morning after Dad died and his family was all gathered together, I was helping my mom gather some of their things (they were visiting and staying with my grandmother) when I came upon his journal and it fell open to this writing. I do believe that God purposely placed this before us to comfort us and provide us with Dad's greatest desire for his family. I include it here now, in his honor, and so others can reap from his great insight and wisdom.
Dad's Legacy
God has blessed me with such a wonderful family, right from my grandparents down through my own parents, to my dear wife and our four wonderful daughters, and on to my grandchildren (some hopefully yet to come) so that I would like to see the bond or legacy of God’s ordained family connection carried on and passed on down to each succeeding generation as they come along.
From the earliest beginnings of time, God uniquely ordained the family as the primary human organism to transmit His life. The entire structure of God’s chosen people, Israel, was founded on family. Chief among the commands of Moses to those under His charge was: Teach and pass these things down to your sons and daughters.
The scriptures make abundantly clear that God’s intent when He created the family was that His life be carried down through time, through the family, forever- for a thousand generations. Each individual was designed to be nurtured by roots which reached deeply into the soil of the past, giving strength, which then in turn extended into the future.
In Satan’s devious cunning, however, he infiltrates and cuts off that umbilical cord of inner life which God implanted within the ongoing and extended family institution. When he is thus allowed to destroy family roots, this many generational process is undone, and the result is that every successive generation or two, men and women have to discover their heritage and faith anew. The ongoing vitality and strength of a permanent, life giving root system is made impotent.
For if I had a record of the faith and struggles and successes of my grandparents to encourage and bolster me in times of struggle or pain (which do come in life) I could hopefully gain strength and assurance from realizing that they had risen above all the obstacles and uncertainties that surely must have arisen when they ventured forth into a new and unknown land of Canada so many years ago.
God has given us, however, and prompted me strongly, to shoulder the responsibility to infuse a heritage into our present generations- a heritage involving both the past and the future, and a heritage far broader in scope than the mere story of my life. God desires a permanency from His people, an ongoing fight against Satan’s ways, a continual breaking of the chains of evil and mistakes of the past, even to the third and fourth generation back, and a passing on of the mandate of obedience to God to all the generations ahead.
I’m afraid that few apprehend the legacy which has been given us to pass down. We leave the treasure of God’s life and His working in our lives buried. The story of my life with Verone and our conversion to Christ is but a repeat of the universal story which God has been working to infuse within the human chain of generations with every family on the face of the earth. For He created mankind and ordained the family because He loves us. In reality, the heritage of God’s life within us is a legacy He intended for all families, for all time!
So hopefully this will not be merely my story, or Verone’s and mine, but my desire would be that you, Shauna and Tammy and Janelle and Twyla, would step into it in your own time and in your own way, and that you would bring Greg and Scott and Chris and ? into it, as well as my four present grandchildren and all the future ones the Lord may provide. You, my precious daughters were born into my bloodline; others like Greg and Scott and Chris, and who is yours going to be Twyla?, these must be grafted in. But it would also be most interesting for posterity if they would record their own story.
For the life of God’s Spirit moves mightily throughout time, and every man and woman must one day face their own place in that life, in that legacy, just as the people in the lineage of Jesus were, as told in Matthew 1.
God takes us where we are, farmers, teachers, salesmen, homemakers- in need of a Father, in search of our true Home- and makes us an integral part of that legacy.
In marrying Verone, I became more than I could have alone, because the stream of God’s purpose swept over us, drew us into it, and made it ours. The legacy of our story is God’s life, not ours, but through our trust and obedience it was sublimated, and thereby hopefully passed on into future generations.
At every time, in every era, within every human heart, my dear family, the decision must be faced whether to accept one’s place within that legacy. Will we abandon ourselves to God’s plan and life for us, or will we ignore the river of the Spirit sweeping over us, and let it pass without bringing us up into its inherent life? In every successive generation, every person must face the choices which will determine the impact God’s lifeblood will have in his or her own existence, and whether it will move through them into the future, or die. In this regard, I thank God daily, that at the time of this writing you are all safe in the love of Christ as your Savior.
But please be aware that at every turn Satan will try to steal the inheritance which has been given us. Forces can infiltrate our families telling of false priorities, false ambitions, false attitudes which are not God’s . But we are commanded and impelled to stand firm, to walk in the calling of the one true legacy, and to pass on His heritage to those who come after us in the ongoing flow of generations.
The story of my life and my family is true and as accurate as my simple ability will allow. But beyond the reality of my earthly physical life, and the blessing and treasured times involved in it, there is a real treasure, a life, a land, a home, and a heritage that it is all too easy for our earthly eyes to lose sight of. As Jesus said, the mysteries of the kingdom of God are hid, like parables, so that only those with eyes to see and perceive, may truly apprehend them.
In too many families, in so many generations, the treasure gets buried, hidden, sometimes for centuries. May it not be so in ours. For the treasure forms the very strength of God’s family, of which you are all a part. May from you flow the ongoing knowledge of God’s love and His life in the world. For it is a treasure awaiting discovery by every family, by every man, woman, boy and girl, by every child of God in every new generation. Be sure to pass it on, for your loving God isn’t willing that any should perish.
God bless you, one and all. It has been truly a joy to share my past life with you, and I hope to experience ‘real joy’ by sharing my future life with you all in heaven.
Selah!
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