First – the “bundle of joy”: Bayleigh Elizabeth Lansdell was born 6:30 a.m. Friday August 4 - Her parents Kyle & Anna and first time grandparent’s Roger & Sandra are understandably proud and joyful about this. The picture of her with “Grandma” Sandra is one sent by Roger the morning she was born. Refer to my postings from June 27 (Roger resigns) and July 2 (Jessica’s graduation) for more info on the Lansdell’s and our connection with them.Have you ever gotten into ”hot water”? – well this literally happened to us this week. Wednesday evening Linda noticed that the tile in our downstairs bathroom was lifting a bit. Thursday morning she checked and there was water seeping up from under the tiles. – we started tracing it and found that our hot water tank was leaking. So the rest of Thursday and part of Friday morning was taken up with draining and removing the old tank and installing a new one.
We used the dehumidifier to dry up the water that had seeped into the bathroom and into the carpet in the adjoining bedroom but there wasn’t a major “flood”. As with so many things that happen, we were very thankful about the timing. If it had been doing that the whole time we were away there likely would have been damage to the tiles and carpet to deal with in addition to the replacement of the tank.
So, we had the expense of a new tank; I got to brush up on my limited plumbing skills. (No leaks!!); Roger had the “pleasure” of helping me carry out the old tank and bring in the new one and we were “out of hot water” (well actually we had hot water again but it was inside the tank where it was supposed to be!!!
"New beginnings" come with mixed emotions -
This morning was Kyle & Anna’s last Sunday with us. Kyle was leaving this afternoon with a trailer moving their stuff to Thunderbay where heisentering the NorthernMedicalschool . Anna’s parents are taking her up on Tuesday. Kyle was taking care of the Lord’s Table and he did a really neat thing that was very powerful.(I didn’t have my camera or I would have had a good picture to go with this). Anyhow, he went up with Bayleigh (the new baby) in his arms. He talked about how he & Anna had prayed together and ”dedicated” the baby to God. Then he said he realized that as a father it was very difficult to say “whatever you want God take her for your service”. He then went on to read the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac and talked about how difficult it would be for a father to do that – even though in the end God provided another sacrifice. He then said – but God didn’t spare his own son who had been sacrificed for our sins and how he (Kyle) as a father now had a small idea of how much the parent God loves us- because he sent his much loved son to die on our behalf. The sight of that young father using this illustration to help us appreciate God’s love for us brought tears to many eyes as the reality of this truth of the illustration .
At the close of the service we had a presentation to wish them well and we prayed for God's blessings on them as they begin this new stage in their lives. They will be missed here but I am confident that they will be a blessing to those they meet in their new situation.
We are off on another short trip this week –leaving Monday returning Friday. We are going to the Manitoulin Island taking my Dad so he can golf with my cousin Norris and also to spend a couple of days camping with our dear friends David & Maxine Bringleson. I probably won’t be able to do apost again until next Saturday.
As a closing thought , I’ve mentioned before that Linda & I are doing a daily Bible reading from the “365 day Bible. The Old Testament reading recently was from Ezra 8:21-23. I think we might call this the “traveller’s prayer”.
21There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
How often do we fail to be ashamed that we depend on our own preparations rather than humbling ourselves before God and petitioning him for a safe journey?
I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t do everything we can reasonably do to be prepared for our trips but I do know that I often fail to make the one preparation that is the most important.
Prayer –don’t leave home without it!!
God Bless
Charlie & Linda
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