Precept Seminar

This past Saturday I attended a Precept/Women Alive Seminar held in St. Jacobs. Anything to do with Precept I enjoy. My friend, Donna Chapman, had emailed me about it and said she was going and several of our friends from Guelph were also going. It is through Donna that I started doing Bible studies using Precept materials.

The Seminar registration was at 8:30 a.m. It was hard to get up at 6:00 a.m. for me. No one should have to get up before 7:00 in the morning. St. Jacobs is about a hour and ten minutes from St Marys, so I felt I needed to leave shortly after 7:00. Jack had given me a good idea where the church was located in St. Jacobs, but I wanted to leave plenty of time in case I couldn't find it. He is pretty good at remembering where everything is located and he gave me good directions.

There were to be four women that were teaching sessions during the day. We chose one and stayed with her for the four sessions. I chose Darla Walker. She has a personal ministry called Her Hope Communications. The sessions dealt with the life of Joseph and were very profitable. We also had special music that was very uplifting. During the time when we were all together, Ruth Coghill challenged us in memorizing Scripture. We worked on Psalm 8 together.

It was great to spend time with Donna and to find out about the Precept classes that she is teaching this fall. She is teaching Psalms at Guelph Bible Chapel and at St. George's Anglican Church. Also she is teaching one of the Lord Series Studies at the Chapel. She has been teaching for almost 20 years and has touched hundreds of women with the Word of God. I'm very thankful that she has been part of my walk with the Lord. She has encouraged me and challenged me in my ministry for the Lord. Because of her I started teaching Precept classes.

Senior's Retreat at ABK

Last fall Jack was asked to speak at a Senior's Retreat in September 2008. The Retreat was to be held at Camp Aush-Bik-Koong. Starting in 1976, we worked at this camp for many years and made a lot of friends from Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay. It has special memories for us. Our children grew up going to that camp. They worked there during their teen years and loved it.

Two weeks ago we attended the Retreat and had a great time renewing friendships. Many of the couples there we hadn't seen for a number of years. Jack spoke on "Finishing Well", using the book of I Timothy. He did a very good job, challenging us to continue in our walk with the Lord, finishing well what the Lord had begun when we were first saved.

The program directors were Ted and Marg Windle. Ted kept us running on schedule, led the music, provided entertainment and games. Marg added so many extras for us, including having Tea and Crumpets two afternoons with beautiful China teacups, flowers, tablecloths, etc.

Dave and Shirley Lawrence were the cooks and they did feed us well. They are faithful in serving the Lord as Commended Workers with Brethren Assemblies. They certainly made the extra effort in cooking for us. We had homemade rolls, pies, cookies, etc. I think we all ended camp a little heavier than when we came.


One special memory I have is the time we spent singing worship songs to the Lord. As I looked around the room at these people that we have known for over 30 years, these believers that have weathered the storms of life, my heart could only praise the Lord. There we stood, singing to the Lord we love so much, Who has been so faithful to us, Who has held onto us through all kinds of difficulties, sorrows, troubles. There was a special bond between us, the Lord's love and faithfulness. Our God is an awesome God.

There was another thing that touched my heart deeply. One of the women there was a retired missionary. Her name is Pearl Winterburn. She served in the Congo for about 50 years. We were sitting at her table at lunch and she was talking about the Lord and His blessings. One thing she talked about was when she came home from the mission field. Her health wasn't good and she had been in the hospital. When she came out of the hospital they put her in a nursing home. She said the first day she was there she went to her room. When she got there she lay on the bed sobbing, wondering why the Lord had put her in this position. She didn't want to be there at all. As she was crying a knock came on her door. It was a young woman that worked there. Her words to Pearl were "I heard you were a missionary, could you tell me about God." Can you believe how quickly the Lord heard and answered her plea. Pearl said at that instant she knew why the Lord put her there and she started praising the Lord. It was all I could do to not cry, realizing what Pearl had been going through and then seeing how wonderful the Lord's plan for her is. She is still a missionary, even in the nursing home. The Lord has given her a burden to reach these women that don't know the Lord, that have so little time here on earth. Pearl is about 90 years old and is still used greatly by the Lord.

Jack has been asked to come back next year as the speaker. We look forward to our time there again. I'll include a few pictures of the campground and it's surroundings.

I love Bargains

Every morning I have a bowl of honey bunches of oats for breakfast. I'm always hoping that the grocery stores will have them on sale because I won't pay 4.50 for a box of cereal. Last week Foodland Grocery Store had them on sale for 1.66 a box. That is a good price for them, but I was able to get them for less. About a month ago I was at another grocery store and saw some coupons for 75 cents off of a box of honey bunches of oats. I grabbed a bunch, just in case I might see them on sale before the coupon expired. The expiry date was Sept. 30. With the coupon I got the cereal for 91 cents a box, an all time low price for me. I'm enclosing a picture of the 14 boxes of cereal that I got. I'll be enjoying my cereal for several months.

Another bargain I got was some cookie sheets that I needed. The regular price of one is 16.99. Canadian Tire had them on for 5.00 a piece. So, for less than the price of one I got three. Yes, I am a bargain hunter and love it.

Corn Roast

This past Saturday night we went to the Wagler Farm, close to Stratford, Ontario. Dave and Kari go to Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (where we attend) and once a year, in September, they have a corn roast and invite everyone from church to come. We bring chips and cookies and they provide the rest. Everyone is to come after 4:30.

The days are getting shorter, but still it doesn't get dark until after 8:00. As you can see by the pictures, everyone pitches in to shuck the corn. Dave has a big pot of water boiling on the fire for the corn. If you add hot dogs, salads and finger foods to the meal, it gets pretty good.

Sitting around outside, eating is the best way to get to know people and to catch up on what has been going on during the summer. The children also love it. They get to run free. After the meal, Dave got his tractor and wagon and the children with some adults went on a hayride ( I'm sorry that I didn't think to get a picture of the wagon). I was too full to think of much by that time.

Kari's father provided some fireworks this year, which was a delight. Also, one of the high school boys had been to camp and had learned a presentation having to do with small lights and Scripture. It was very good and the message of salvation was very clear. This corn roast is a good time to invite unsaved friends and family.

The Lord has richly blessed us with many friends in this Church. It was a good beginning to the new fall season.

The LORD my Rock

Trust is a very difficult thing at times. It seems when circumstances of uncertainty, fear, loneliness, discouragement, etc. surround me, my trusting in the Lord's care, protection and provision for me can be doubtful.

My heart's cry to the Lord is that I will memorize Scripture and fill my thoughts and being with it so that even though there are storms around me, I will have His peace. I want so much to dwell in the safety of His love and faithfulness to me.

The past few months I have been reading and studying a devotional book called "Praying the Names of God" by Ann Spangler. I can's say enough about this book. Using Scripture, she defines and describes each name. She makes it personal, including prayers and thoughts on how it can be applied to our lives.

Recently Jack and I were in northern Ontario. Everywhere you look you see rocks, from pebbles to the hills that are made of rock. The Lord is call "my Rock" numerous times in the Scriptures. He is also compared to a rock. In the Bible rocks provide shade, shelter, safety in the wilderness. They were used to construct altars, temples, houses, and city walls. God's commandments were written on stones.

In II Samuel 22:2-4 David says, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation...."

Two favorite verses of mine are found in Isaiah 26:3-4 "Thou will keep him in perfect peace because he trusts in Thee. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the rock eternal."

The Lord promises to be my faithful eternal rock and I do praise Him for His faithfulness. Even when I have doubt He remains faithful. II Timothy 2:13 "...He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." Isn't it wonderful that His faithfulness doesn't depend upon us.