An Appointment with Wisdom

  About a week and a half ago I had the privilege of visiting a church in the city.  Instead of a traditional message, the pastor’s father shared his life’s story.  At the close of the service the pastor challenged us to think of an older person we could sit down with that week.  I didn’t make it a priority to consider this challenge, let alone pursue it.  But without my intentionality, by the end of the week I had sat down on three occasions with three different older couples.

  The first visit was actually with my mentor couple, Willie and Rodi Longenecker.  So because I was visiting them for the purpose of getting advice and understanding, it’s not very surprising that I should receive it in the course of our time together.  Willie shared with me from his life that no matter how busy we are the devil likes to tell us that we’re not doing enough, or even, not doing anything.  That was refreshing for me, just as I’ve been asking myself for a while if I’m really accomplishing anything.  They also gave practicial suggestions of how to be more effective in ministry.  One thing Rodi brought up was physical excercise, which may seem silly to some.  What would physical activity have to do with ministry?  But, as she is learning, it increases energy, alertness and even increases singing capacity.  What I really enjoyed about this visit is that as Willie and Rodi shared from their lives, I could see and hear that they are also learning.  They’re a few steps ahead of me, quite a few, but God is teaching them new things all the time too.  And as they learn they can pass the lessons down to those who follow, like me.

  The second visit was with my grandparents on a Thursday morning over breakfast.  What I took away from this time was that it is important that we are sensitive to older people in the volume of our music, especially in church settings.  As the younger generation we’re used to it but they totally are not.  It would do us good to at least think about them when we are setting volume levels or even arranging songs, in the case of leading praise and worship.

  The third was a visit with the couple with whom I went to Africa in May.  The Fuhrers.  We had a lovely visit with them Saturday morning.  We being myself and my parents.  (There are benefits to living at home; you get to see people you would never see otherwise)  Much was talked about of course, a lot of catching up to do, as they now live in Alberta.  Mr. Fuhrer’s words of wisdom to me was to not marry a non-Christian.  This is not new, but it was a passing on of a lesson they have learned through their children.  The other note of marital wisdom was the importance of communication.  If a husband and wife cannot talk together, the marriage is lost, they said.  (Not necessarily lost in the sense that it must end in divorce, but that it will not be a happy, lively marriage)

  I think we can learn a lot from those who have gone and are going before us.  I havn’t had a lot of interaction with older people, at least not those who are in the grandparent, reaching the sunset years kind, but I am coming to value them more. 

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, 

turning a man from the snares of death.

Proverbs 13:14

Happy Birthday Dad!

  So tomorrow my dad turns 52.  Because tomorrow is going to be a bit of a crazy day, we celebrated with a roast beef dinner tonight and I presented him with his present, and my first sewing attempt: the pajamas he’s wearing in the picture. 

  What can I say about my dad?  He will probably never read this so this is more to brag about him behind his back.  Over the years I have come to value his wisdom on a variety of subjects, which we often discuss around the table, especially over coffee on Saturday mornings, or dessert on Sunday afternoons. 

  I put this under the category of ‘Legacy Makers’ because my dad’s life has been the legacy of an early riser.  He has, for decades now, risen before dawn to prepare for the day and most of all to spend time with the Lord.  Of course, he leaves for work early, around 5am.  But he gets up at 3:30am.  It used to be 4am.  He also does this on Sunday mornings.  He always tells people not to feel sorry for him that he ‘has’ to get up that early in the morning because he enjoys those hours of the morning so much.  For that I stand in awe and admiration. 

  He gets so thrilled when he hears of people he knows serving the Lord, especially those who are not from a church background.  It is the testimonies of others that has gotten him the most excited over the years.  That and various ministries and ideas for ministry that he or others he knows are involved in or can get invovled in.  Even though what I do is completely out of his realm of experience, he is one of my strongest supporters and consistently asks how things are going.  Of course, another way he shows his support is by choosing to let me live rent free at home until I can be independent. 

 

  The other thing that thrills him is his Model D John Deere that he bought on his 50th birthday.  I had no idea how much he loved tractors until then.  He’ll think up reasons to take it for a drive.

 

  And sometimes he’s just down right goofy.  Not often.  But every once in a while, out of the blue, he’ll do something random that makes me shake my head and smile for the rest of the day. 

 

  All in all, considering I had no choice in the matter as to who my dad would be, I’ve been blessed with a wonderful Father who loves the Lord and is growing in Him.  It doesn’t get better than that.

Bragging

  I just have to brag on this couple from my church.  They are such an amazing example of Christian love and generosity.  They are older, in their seventies.  In a few weeks they will be moving to Alberta.  This Saturday, my church put on a community farewell for them.  I did absolutely nothing to be of assistence to this event, although I don’t think they knew that because when I got home this evening there was a bouquet of flowers waiting for me with a thank you card from this couple.  On the dinning room table was a second bouquet for my mom.  Did they buy bouquets for everyone?  I don’t know.  I can only assume so. 

  This is the same couple who will be taking their fifth missions trip in ten years this May.  Yes, they are the couple who invited me to join them in May (and are substantially supporting me financially to do this).  They love to share Jesus with their neighbours and family.  At the farewell celebration there were many people who have never come near our church who’s lives have been touched by this couple.  Recently they went to Switzerland when the Mrs.’s sister passed away.  They decided to stay an extra two weeks so that they could visit more of their family, especially those who do not know Jesus Christ and share Him with them. 

  Interestingly, not all of their immediate family is serving the Lord.  But it’s obvious that they pray diligently for their family and love them.  Even this cannot dampen their joy in the Lord.

  I am excited for the opportunity to spend the month of May with them, getting to know them better and soaking in their wisdom, even with the language barrier.  (Their native language is Swiss German, closely followed by French)  We need to treasure the saints that have gone before us.  They are very special people.  They won’t boast themselves, they are much to humble for that.  But I want to call attention to the legacy they are leaving so that we may be encouraged to leave a similar one.