Tuesday, August 5, 2008

7 & 12

I am doing a couple of things to shake you up a bit here tonight. First i named the post title in numbers. This is not because we've converted to Kabbala so squash those rumors right now but because those numbers have a lesson for me. The second is I am posting a video clip in our post.
Let me know how it goes.

The 7 comes from the movie The Magnificent Seven is an adaptation of another movie. This movie was the springboard for a lot of seventies movie stars but that is not the point. The point specifically here is that there are a lot of good scenes that I like. The set up is as follows. A poor Mexican village is terrorized by a bandit who robs there coffers on a routine basis. The villagers seek guns to help them fight off said bandit. They meet Yul Brynner's character (who is a hired gunman) and find out that hiring men is cheaper than buying guns..... in the ensuing conversation this takes place:



That sentiment has been running through my mind a lot this week (in Anna's as well but she would not frame it in terms of a bald-headed gunfighter....after 11 years of marriage I'm still not sure why:)) as we say goodbye to friends and family here in MT and as we prepare to move to Quebec. We are being offered a lot.

This intensified yesterday as we met and worshiped with the Cut Bank Community Bible Church yesterday. It was especially encouraging to be prayed over and "Sent Out" from there and to hear the encouragement of the folks there.

The 12 comes in as a boy who is a little older than Ian comes up and gives us a dozen eggs. "They're collector eggs" he told me proudly and he wanted to give them to me. This young man actually has a thriving business in farm fresh eggs and he was giving what he could. He gave cheerfully and not in expectation of anything in return and those eggs are incredibly appreciated.


I often marvel at the freshness and sincerity of nonadults as opposed to adults and I praise God for that. I confess that in the past week as we increased our business that a degree of self importance creeped into my attitude and my actions and God used that dozen to remind me all gifts are from Him and without Him, without Love we really are nothing.


Continue to pray for us as we load up on 8/5, move out on 8/6 and hope to be in Bismarck ND on 8/7, on the other side of the Twin Cities on 8/8 and then on from there.


Thanks to all of you who have given us encouragement and prayers a long the way.


Stephen

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