May 2, 1957 - 2012: My 55th Birthday!

Yes, it's true! And although it's hard to believe, I have reached my 55th Birthday! We can only look back and say: Where have the years gone? Days, months, and years seem to fly by faster all the time. Yet we may say that God has been faithful and so GOOD for us... We are still able to enjoy good health and the ability to care for each other and the farm as well as many other things which we enjoy.
The day began with one of the worst jobs we have every year around my birthday: training young chickens to find their feed and water after moving them from the pullet barns into the lay barns where they will soon begin their work. It's a tough job that leaves me totally spent and exhausted. But we managed, and were able to do the rest of our work that day as well. During our morning coffee time we were able to Skype with Joyce and her girls, who sang Happy Birthday to me. In the afternoon Brian and Anne-Marie stopped in with their children, who also came to say good-bye as they were leaving on their cross-country trek the next morning.
I missed my Birthday call from my Dad...
The best part of the day was that we were hosting our prayer meeting that night. We had a small group but our discussions and the prayers were inspired by the Spirit of God which we felt was among us. I was brave and read a meditation that I had read a few days earlier from Spurgeon:

April 27, 2012 "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope."Psalm 119:49

"Whatever your especial need may be, you may readily find some promise in the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough and you are weary? Here is the promise--"He giveth power to the faint." When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask him to fulfil his own word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer communion with him? This promise shines like a star upon you--"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Take that promise to the throne continually; do not plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this--"Lord, thou hast said it, do as thou hast said." Are you distressed because of sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities? Listen to these words--"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will no more remember thy sins." You have no merit of your own to plead why he should pardon you, but plead his written engagements and he will perform them. Are you afraid lest you should not be able to hold on to the end, lest, after having thought yourself a child of God, you should prove a castaway? If that is your state, take this word of grace to the throne and plead it: "The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the covenant of my love shall not depart from thee." If you have lost the sweet sense of the Saviour's presence, and are seeking him with a sorrowful heart, remember the promises: "Return unto me, and I will return unto you;" "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." Banquet your faith upon God's own word, and whatever your fears or wants, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father's note of hand, saying, "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope."

When I read this, it reminded me vividly of an incident that happened some 27 or 28 years ago... and I was able to share this with our prayer meeting group. It happened on a day during the time that I was

really struggling... I wanted to know that I could live my life in a way that would please God, but no matter what I did and how hard I tried I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into despair and finding no peace or hope. Then my doorbell rang, and there stood Mr. and Mrs. A. Krul Sr. They had come to deliver an envelope from my parents, because they had visited them in Alberta. They were very observant, and asked if they could come in. So we sat at the kitchen table, and Mr. Krul managed to get me to open up and share what was burdening me. After giving me some encouragement they left, but later they came back to give me a photocopy of a portion of a sermon by Ralph Erskine: SERMON XXXIV "Faith's Plea Upon God's Word". To make the long story short, this incident was one of the moments that made it possible for me to finally see the LIGHT! It was part of a long line of happenings that changed my life forever. I have always remembered Mr. Krul as one of my mentors who led me through the desert of my life and taught me to find the answers to my struggles in the words of Scripture...
 

Romans 8:1-2

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."