Michael and Susan did not have school on Friday, due to the cold snap. The heat pumps were beginning to shut down on Thursday. Ryan Petersheim arrived around 9:00 PM. He is spending this week trapping with Philip. They went shopping at Walmart to get their own food supplies. They've been friends since babyhood. Ryan's mother, Freda, is Phil's first cousin on his mom's side. Freeman spent the night at the Bantan's since he was too tired to drive home from Chi Alpha. He called Sat. morn. and we gave him a list for Walmart which included drinking water since our pipes were frozen. It was 4 degrees below 0 on Sat. morning. We flushed the toilet from the tub water I always leave in due to electrical outages and times like this. Michael brought in water from the cow's trough to heat it on the stove so he could make milk to bottle feed his little bullies. There was more than an inch of ice on the river so the boys couldn't even set their beaver traps. Philip had frost on his whiskers after being outside for awhile. I had made alot of food on Friday so it was easy to heat up instead of making more pans dirty. We got water around 4 in the afternoon and I was so happy to run the dishwasher, wash dishes, wash clothes, make cookies and shoofly cake. Everything takes water. It was a nice day though, and we were grateful for electricity. Susan and I played Dutch Blitz and watched a movie. I've been knitting on some scarves as well.
On Sunday morning, the menfolk got up early and went to the Hunter's Breakfast at church. Our contribution was bear scrapple. Delicious. I got to hold Sammy Jo again. She is a nice ice breaker. She helps me through any shyness I sometimes feel at church. Everyone talks to her and she smiles at them.
Our pastor spoke on God's Master Plan.
I used to sing a song with my dad with the words..."I cannot come....I cannot come to the banquet, don't trouble me now...I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow...I have fields and commitments, which cost a pretty sum. Pray hold me excused, I cannot come."
Pastor spoke from Luke 14. We are to compel others to come into the kingdom.
Our faith life is meant to be a faith community. We need each other. Like a redwood forest whose shallow roots are intertwined to help keep it standing during storms, so our lives are to be so entwined with each other. We are to encourage each other. We will either listen to the devil's lies or listen to God's encouragement and it is our responsibility to speak the words that others need to hear. It is not about us. It is about God and what His purposes are. Eph. 3:10 says that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be known. It is His plan to reveal Himself through the church.
This morning, in Bill Freeman's book, 'Supplied Life', the next reading was on that same scripture. (Eph.3:10) This is what he wrote. "The vision Paul opens up consists of God's eternal purpose, which He executed in His Son and which is now being worked out in and through the church. This purpose revolves around the church. The church, as the Body of Christ exhibiting and displaying God's manifold wisdom, is the governing vision that Paul and the apostles were under...my Christian life is not wasted. I am not aimlessly going on. I know why I am saved. I know why I am filled with the Spirit and growing in the Lord. I am saved and growing in the Lord for the purpose of being in the church, which displays the unsearchable riches of Christ and manifests the wisdom of God. The meaning of life centers in living the kind of church life that expresses God to the universe. This is the major thing on God's heart. This is the heavenly vision that directed and controlled Paul, and that he sought to open up to others...Our daily life is intended by God to be the testimony of Jesus--the church. This is the major thing on His heart."
This is a most important teaching. We come to church to hear the Word and be encouraged, to worship God, and to fellowship with each other. This is a safety net and a great place to compel others to come into, especially since it's scary out there. We have to come. We have to hang around. We have to be deliberate with our words and our loving actions. Someone we touch may be walking a fine line. We could make the difference in their lives. No church is perfect, but that is not the point. Even conflict results in relating to others. Even conflict can purify and get rid of the dross in our lives.
Travis, Chace, and Jordan came home with us for the afternoon. They played guitar hero and I am not sure what else. We had hotdogs and macaroni salad and Freeman's famous hot bean dip with chips. I like to make chocolate chip cookies for Chace whenever he comes. Susan and Freeman and I played Dutch Blitz. Not exactly fun, but it was relational. The boys and Michael went to a student leadership meeting in the afternoon. Phil went out and picked up Michael for me. That was nice.
Mon.~Ryan and Philip caught 2 foxes. The river is still frozen. They were able to walk on it. I heard a horrible sound this morning. I thought a crowd of crows was eating a cow. Here, the boys were hiding in the hayloft with their guns, trying to call in the crows, and I shooed them away before I saw that they had a speaker hooked up, calling them in. Sorry, boys.
I'm taking Michael to Wilkes Jewelry Store after school today, so he can design his own class ring. I'll have the little Robeson boys in tow. They are so smart. They could teach at Harvard tomorrow.
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