“Now we who are
strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just
please ourselves” (Rom. 15:1).
Hey Gang: I have just
reread the last three blogs and feel the need to add a period to what I shared
in these epistles. I love
Nehemiah. If I have a model that I have
tried to follow in my years of serving the King of kings and Lord of lords, it
is Nehemiah.
He was given the nearly
impossible task of restoring the walls to Jerusalem. But now the restoration of the walls had been
completed, the only thing remaining was the restoration of the gates (Neh.
6:1), when he received an invitation to meet with his enemies. His
answer to them, “I am doing a great work
and I cannot come down. Why should the
work stop while I leave and come down to you?” (Neh. 6:3). His prayer, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands”.
When God called, it was a call to my entire family - for
they would sacrifice in the same measure that their parents did. And how did they respond? They have picked up the vision of their
parents and have also made the vow ‘not come down from the wall’ as long as God
give direction and strength and there is a child out there who needs their
help.
From the moment we left California to pick up the gauntlet,
throw out a life line to youth who had needs, we have experienced crisis, heart
ache, sacrifice and daily challenges as a way of life. I tell you this, not to say that my family
and I are anything special, but rather for the faithfulness of God for in every
crisis, heartache and sacrifice -His provision was there.
From a freeze plug in the middle of the night in Reno,
Nevada, to a generator in a tiny cross road shop in Elko, Nevada, that had been
out of business for years but just happened
to have a generator for a fifteen-year-old Econo van, God’s provision was
always there.
June 2018, we will celebrate fifty years of throwing out
life-lines to hurting kids and families. We have been blessed to hear from many
of our past kids and staff. One, who has
been very successful recently came and spoke to our kids in chapel. He told the
story of when and how he turned his life around.
He said, “One day I was having an especially tough day, and
my house parent sent me to work at the barn. There I ran into a kid just two years older
than I. He handed me a pitch fork and
told me to clean the dung from the horse pens.
Later, he added, “While you are cleaning out the horse dung, you might
want to see where the dung in your life has taken you.” He also said, “With each pitch fork of dung you
pitch, you might consider adding a chunk out of your own life.” I learned that day, from a kid by the name of
David Hainley, that action is needed to make a change in your life! Words often
just do not fit.”
Our challenge to you from the Hainley family: “How then will they call on Him in whom they
have not believed? How will they believe
in Him whom they have not heard? And how
will they hear without a preacher” (Rom. 10:14). Do you realize you are the only Bible and
witness of God that many will see? Are
you prepared to hand someone who is hurting a pitch fork?
Yes, For us it was worth it!, Yes, we would do it again!
Blessings,
Gramps
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