Jim
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We’re sick, but poor Nathanael
We’re all sick, but these things seem to hit the little one the worst. Of course, maybe there’s worse to hit us yet! Anyway, Hannah and Nathanael especially have been sick for some time. But today something hit Nathanael like a ton of bricks. So he’s been in bed all day, thirsty but not really able to drink. And we’ve been taking care of him and … er … cleaning up after him.
We had many blessings yesterday, and yet another blessing was that Nathanael didn’t get really sick today. Yesterday was mostly a day off, and we had lots of fun in Calgary. Perhaps I can tell you more about it later, but at any rate I’ll post some photos.
Today we’re back to work, except not really because we’re busy with Nathanael. It should be an interesting week, no doubt! We discovered some issues yesterday with our health coverage too (how ironic!), so please pray because we need to get that figured out by Monday or else we won’t be able to leave the country (it’s a long story). (By the way, we did get the paperwork for our VISAs we mentioned in the last post. Praise the Lord!) Anyway, we’re moving on little by little, but concerned for the little guy.
It looks like he might be starting to keep some liquids down, so perhaps he’s on the mend. Here’s hoping!
Good news, bad news, no news…
On Wednesday I took our trailer into the shop and had it repaired. As suspected, there was a screw through one of the wires, and that’s what was causing all the problems. So now all the lights on the van and trailer work like a charm! Praise the Lord.
Too bad the trailer isn’t fit to live in, because at the moment we have no house in Mexico. The house we were looking at is no longer available (paper towel holder and all). So we’ll be looking into some other possibilities with the help of our friends Toby and Marilyn.
More good news, though – Nathanael’s passport arrived, so he can now come with us. We’re still waiting for one piece of paperwork for our VISAs…maybe that will arrive today. So no news on that. We still have some paperwork to complete that is required by our mission agency. We also need to finish cataloguing the things we’re packing, so that we can declare what we need to declare at the Mexico border. So, there’s lots to be done, but progress is being made! I’d better get back to work…
Back in Cochrane…for now…
Good morning everyone. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that we arrived back in Cochrane on Monday. We had a great trip in Saskatchewan and Alberta. We stored some things, and visited with Shari’s parents and sister, and with my parents.
We enjoyed a visit to Scarborough Baptist Church in Prince Albert. There have been a lot of people there who have encouraged us and prayed for us. The same goes for the folks at Provost Associated Gospel Church. Thanks to everyone!
Of course, there were a lot of other things that we did during our travels as we tried to get a start on all those last minute details. Now we’re on the home stretch – less than two weeks to go before we leave Canada. And the “to do” list is only getting longer! So I’d better get to it. Just wanted to stop by and let you know where we’re at.
Nathanael and Hannah with Grandpa and Grandma Cottrill’s dog, Sasha
Winger home movies
We’re still here at Shari’s parents’ home, and last night we were looking at some home movies. This is Shari and her brother Jeff.
Here’s a brief glimpse – not great quality, and no sound. Of course, these days you use sophisticated computer techniques to get a look like this! 😉
The show starts with Shari blowing bubbles (with bubble gum), then we see some shots of Christmas…
The most important thing – Results?
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When it comes to serving the Lord, what’s do we need to concentrate on the most? This post is the second in a series – read the introduction here.
So are results the most important thing? From my perspective, this aspect of ministry has suffered over the years from both overemphasis and more often underemphasis. Most of the time it seems it’s been almost taboo to focus on results of ministry. You know, the dreaded “number-counting“, for example. And I won’t deny, results is on the bottom of my list in order of importance. But that doesn’t mean they’re not important – they are.
We know that results are important to God. After all, He sent His Son to get results. He loved us so much He wanted us to be saved into a relationship of love with Him. There’s no doubt that He planned history with the end in mind.
But as believers we can’t put results first on the list. If that was the case, the end would justify the means. In other words, we’d tend toward shallow methods and shallow results, because our focus would be more on the visual.
We would also struggle with different attitudes, depending on how good our results were. If we had poor results, that would lead to a feeling of helplessness and despair – we did all we could, and it was all for nothing. If we have good results, overemphasis would lead to pride. Look where our brilliant plans and strategies brought us! No, results are important, but not that important. Not from our perspective.
Underemphasis of results can cause problems too, however. I don’t know about you, but I always heard stories of the poor missionary who faithfully handed out tracts for 40 years with no converts. Only after he’s gone are there any visible results from his ministry. The moral? God wants us to serve Him faithfully, results or no results.
Sure, that’s true. And we’ll get to that in another post. But the story ignores how helpful results can be as a signpost in our service. Good results do not “prove” that what we’re doing is right (after all, look how many people flock to churches that don’t teach the Word of God!). And bad results don’t “prove” that what we’re doing is wrong. But it may give an indication.
At one point in His ministry, Jesus had a strategy for His disciples. He sent His disciples to a city, and told them that if they weren’t listened to they should move on (see Matt 10:14). This is an example of how results can be used to help us strategize. If we’re not seeing fruit, we should take a good look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. It may be we need to continue the same way in spite of “visible” results. But God also may be showing us that there’s a better way. It’s not wrong to evaluate what we’re doing, as long as we evaluate it under God’s direction (more on this next time). Bad results may be a warning that something more important in our lives is lacking, as we’ll see.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says,”Let your light so shine before men”. Why? “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” That’s results. Not always visible, not always something you can count, but certainly important. Then again, when it comes to planning our service to the Lord, it’s not the most important thing…
Here’s an example of people struggling with the results issue (specifically numbers, which is only part of results of course), in a recent post entitled Working together is slower than working alone