Two Are Better Than One

“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.  For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.  But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.  Furthermore, it to lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?  And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him.  A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart?  (Ecc. 4:9-12).

Hey Gang:  Celebrating 25^th and 50^th wedding anniversaries is becoming more and more of a endangered issue in this day of “If it does not satisfy my whim, throw it” out, mode.  The bride-of-my-youth has often said, “Divorce was never considered, murder maybe, but never divorce.”  We all know she is too loving to even consider either.

On our 25^th anniversary we took a trip to Alaska on the Alaskan Inland Ferry.  Wow, what an awesome trip that was.  Our first stop was in Haines, where we spent the night in a very rustic inn and were served the most elaborate breakfast we had ever eaten.  It was the last tour group for the season, so they emptied the refrigerators and freezers and “we pigged out”.

And then we boarded a bus for our trip through the Yukon Territory to Anchorage.  In route we experienced one of the most profound events of my life – we stopped at a river where the salmon come to lay their eggs and die.  And, where the salmon come to die is where the Eagles come to chow down, and take on the needed sustenance that will provide for their winter needs.

There were literally thousands of eagles that filled the trees and in the river.  It was a frosty morning and the trees were covered with frost. which only made the eagles glisten all the more.  

In discussion with a pilot friend, who was also on the trip, I learned that the eagle loses its white flying feathers and must remain grounded until the new blue feathers come in.  Then they can soar to new heights.  Eagles, like most humans, are not very patient and the waiting period is painful.  They see other eagles all around soaring.  Can you identify with that analogy?  God sometimes must ground us and replace our old feathers with new ones so that in Him we may soar to new heights.

When we accepted God’s call to leave California, move our family to Michigan to develop a home for kids that needed a shirt tail to hang onto, we were ready, filled with fire and anxious to get about it.  But, instead, God had laid out a training program that would equip me for the alligator trails that laid ahead.  For two years I was in training as the ‘only unemployed director of a non-existent boy’s program.’ 

In that two years I was blessed to have a fabulous lady, who happened to be my landlord and also my neighbor, who spent many hours with me showing me the fabulous miracles that are found in God’s word.  I also learned such things as patience, stamina, waiting on the Lord and a barrel full of other tools that I would use in the coming years. 

When God determined that I had enough book learning and was ready to put into practice all the neat things He had taught me, He said “Go for it”  A story I will share at a future date.  But one lesson learned -that was the key to the success of the development of the Village- was, I had learned that God knows how to close doors as well as open them.   

 I believe with all my heart that is the reason the Village has been a very special program.   The Village consists of innovative program components that were never done before in residential treatment programs. 

I have seen many folks, throughout my tenure as a program developer and since; I have seen many folks who had good ideas, but those ideas never materialized because they ‘were waiting for the Lord to open the door.’   One last point, many of those innovative program components were brought to the Village by God in the minds and hearts of those He sent to give of a portion of their lives to make the mission of the Village powerful and successful.  They did not originate with me.  Under God’s leading   I was able to put them in perspective and help create an atmosphere for them to develop.

I wonder how many who read this epistle have seeds that are lying dormant in their hearts, and heads waiting for God to send them a God-O-Gram.

Sooooo, my young friends, when things seem that your prayers are like bricks, or you lack the zeal or yearning in your heart in worshiping the King, it is a time in the ‘replacement-of-feather shop.'

Blessings,

Gramps