Thank You!

Well, the first entry for the year 2012! I want to begin this entry by stating a fact - "God is good and His love endures forever!" As I have time to reflect on the year past and move into this new year I can take strength from the way God has worked in my family and I give Him thanks for every blessing we have in Christ! As a father, I take joy in the efforts and choices my girls are making and on the occasions we get to talk intimately, I am thrilled to see evidence of their faith laced throughout their plans and life. Christ makes the difference. I look at my wife and continually thank God for her true beauty, our girls and I are blessed! So, as we gird up and anticipate a new year in the kingdom I am prayerful that God finds purpose and channel through our lives to proclaim to this world that in Christ there is LIFE!

Where to begin? There have already been occasions for my family to look hard at life and be confident that God is in control and that only in Him there is meaning and hope to life. We had the joy of having Patrick Boynes make a short visit to be with us. I have known Patrick for a while, predominantly through our efforts at Camp Tayside, and although I had great appreciation for him I was never able to spend much time getting to know him closer. It was a joy to be with him! He is a gentleman and through all the facial hair you can't help but notice his eyes. Patrick has such honesty and consideration in his eyes. I loved looking on around our dinner table as he would captivate Hannah and Holly with his quirky knowledge and ability to communicate beautifully with them. I have a special affection for adults who make an effort and give due consideration to young ones. Patrick did so much good for my family in the two short days he was with us! His constant expressions of faith and trust in God have left their mark on Fenella and I. Thank you Patrick!

I was provoked to give glory to God in light of those who continually provide financially for my family and make it possible for me to focus on ministry here in Peterhead. I do confess that I am not mindful enough of those who, I and sure at times sacrificially, give in order to support my family. I do tend to rest in the fact that God will do the blessing for your efforts. I do not make light of this and the truth is that there is an enduring sense of humility, knowing that people love God to the extent that they give above and beyond to help support my family. We also take great joy in the fact that God provides and He allows His people the joy of bestowing the gift :) Thank you all!!! With all this in mind I want to highlight the impact this has on my family's faith. Over the Christmas holidays we got a phone call from a couple telling us of their plan to send a gift of money for our ministry. I mentioned earlier about the humbling effects your generosity has on us, listen to this. This couple must love the kingdom dearly because the husband has, other than a couple of phone conversations, no experience of my family. His wife visited on campaign on a couple of occasions and has a bit more of an idea, but still, how do you account for abundant generosity, other than hearts that love the kingdom and more importantly love their God! Again, thank you to everyone who continues to be considerate of my family and the work of the kingdom here in Peterhead. Your gift of support is a tower of strength and a beacon of faith continually reminding us that our Father provides through His people.

I want to share another story of faith that is so near and dear to my family. Fenella's mum Alexa continues in her journey with cancer. I do not want to go into all the detail about treatment and the like, but want to focus on the important points and that being her faith. Alexa is a huge example to my family and her gentle spirit, although being tested to breaking point, continues to shine bright. There is no doubt that her impact in the lives of our girls is massive and there is no shortage of love and support for their Grandma. Alexa might not know the impact her gentle spirit is having on her granddaughter's, but in a kingdom sense it is absolutely priceless! I all this I have to mention Fenella's selfless pursuit of her mum's best interests. Fenella loves her mum and in light of this love is doing whatever it takes. Jackie continues to soldier on. It is not easy to handle the feeling of being powerless, when in a heartbeat you know he would do anything for his wife. He continues to make every effort to keep Alexa's spirits up and even though he spends most of his time in Alexa's "bad books" he is a devoted husband who loves his wife :) It goes without saying that we need your prayers and in the quietness of you reading this post, you may offer a prayer for Alexa's faith to sustain her as she  journey's through this trying chapter of her life.

Let me just touch on some of the ministry happenings so far this year. The first Monday the kids were back in school we began with our primary age class! It was a most excellent new year beginning. The kids were excited to be back and there was a real atmosphere of joy in everything we did together. We shared a slide show of the last years togetherness. The class is growing and it is always good to see the signs that the kids are bringing their friends to something they themselves value enough to share - joy! We are excited for the term ahead pray that God's Spirit continues to find avenues to serve through the lives of all involved in the class, from the kids to the teens and to the adults! The same spirit continues into Wednesday and Friday nights. The same anticipation for being together is evident through all the ages. I want to make a mention of two of our older teens, Ryan and Donnie, who have impressed over the past weeks. I know we all have rough edges and stuff, but it is good to see evidence of maturity and in Ryan's case it is unmistakable. Donnie has only been coming a short time, but again I am so encouraged to see him investing time in church and building relationships with godly people, it shows courage and will be blessed. Both Ryan and Donnie have faithfully been coming on Sunday nights as well as on Wednesday and Friday's too. I know there are a bunch who deserve to be highlighted and it is impossible to mention everything, but it is refreshing to see that lives are being affected and are turning, however slowly and gradually, to acknowledge their maker and begin to lay a foundation for their faith. 

The break over Christmas was good! I realised how relaxed and mellow I had become when everything started back and my mind had to jump back into gear and engage in preparing lessons and teaching classes. I have loved the material God has led me to these past weeks. It was my joy to be  preaching last Sunday night and yesterday morning and on both occasions we looked at Christ. Last Sunday night as the Word in John 1:1, and His being the very reason for life and the only way for meaning and purpose to become real in our lives. Yesterday morning we looked at "Emmanuel," GOD the Creator desiring to be in a close relationship WITH those of US He created, who desire to come with nothing but the knowledge that WE NEED CHRIST! Isn't God Wonderful! Can I also share a lesson that made an impact last Friday night with the teens. We looked at the fruit of the Spirit and then looked at the parable of the Prodigal Son and in small groups identified the times when the various fruit were evident in the characters of Jesus teaching. It was really effective. I suppose it stands to reason that when Jesus is portraying the character of God in this parable, that of course the fruit of the Spirit being the essence of His nature, will be the obvious result. 

I pray that this post has given you reason to praise God for His goodness and His faithfulness.

God bless!