Here we go again!

I'm feeling that need for a fix again! I need another dose of Ariana. Hopefully, we can see her for a few minutes this Sunday. I also need some more favorite pictures. This is one of my favorites. Not because of me, cause I hate my picture, but because of the good memory of spending some quality time with my granddaughter. Next Sunday she gets dedicated and we will get together with the whole family. I'm so thankful her parents are bringing her up to know the Lord. That is a generational blessing that will be passed down to future generations. She has three grampas and three grandmas. Figure that one out!

We're having 20 baptisms at our church this Sunday. That will be exciting. Every week we have attended somebody new has given their life to the Lord. I loved what Pastor Alan said a few weeks ago. " It's not about the building and it's not about the programs, it's about helping each individual become mature in Christ." That is what church is supposed to do. Take new converts and disciple them to maturity so they in turn can effectively impact their world with the love of Jesus and produce more good fruit. That can only come from good teaching of the word of God. We need to be able to digest the "meat" of scripture rather than just be satisfied with "milk" like a baby does. About three weeks ago, about 800 people came forward in response to Pastor John's call to join him in his dream of reaching the City for Jesus. I believe it's going to happen. I'm looking forward to what God has in store for this City. Revival is on the horizon. But, it starts in us first. My life seems to be a series of new beginnings. I like change. It's refreshing and challenging. Isn't life grand? For me it's grandpa! lol

NEW CONTRACT

Well, after six months of arbitration, a plethora of meetings eating up tens of thousands of dollars in wages and expenses, we finally have a contract. It is almost identical to the one we were offered and that we turned down. I personally didn't turn it down, because under our current economic circumstances, I thought it was pretty good. A reasonable wage increase of 9% over 3 years and an increase in our benefits. How can you beat that? I am very thankful I have such a good secure job, that I love doing. We really are taken care of and I believe properly compensated for our work. I feel bad for those in the auto industry that are facing lay offs and termination of employment. I hope they are able to be placed in other jobs or get retrained for something else. If not, we are all going to feel the consequences . The benefits alone, I figure, must be worth at least $10/hr over and above our hourly rate.
The big debate now is should we be made an essential service. I think we all know the real answer to that, even though City counsel voted down ( lost by one vote) approaching the province to ask them for it. I think the fact we were ordered back to work only 1 1/2 days after going on a legal strike, says it all. WE ARE an essential service, or they would not have done that. The reason they are hesitating to make it official, is traditionally, it will cost them much more money to run the service, which they are trying to avoid like the plague. I guess you can't blame them really. It is costing more than they have funding for now. Why should they, when we will just get ordered back to work every time we go on strike. It kind of makes striking redundant. That's OK with me, since I think striking is counter productive in this day and age when we have arbitration already available to us through the current system. I am happy with the outcome.
I'm praying for those men and women who's jobs are in jeopardy, while being very thankful for mine.
One day, the economies of the world are going to fail. That has been prophesied. Those unbelievers who have not been reunited with Jesus in the rapture will be subject to the dictates of a Satan possessed world leader.
That is why my faith is in Christ and not in the security of a job or in a government which are sure to failure.
Ephesians 2: 8-9. " For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
That is the message I desire to deliver today.
Will you join me and have real security for life?

Have you seen an angel lately?

Hebrews 13:2 " Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

Kim asked on her blog if babies could see angels. I think they can. Babies, because of the nature of their condition, have no fear, no prejudices, and have the innocence that produces faith. They haven't learned these things yet, so doubt is not part of their conscious thinking. In fact, I'm not sure they even have the ability to think. They just accept whatever comes their way, because they don't have much other choice. They can't make decisions. So I think God, in his wisdom, places a special protection around babies. Even if something bad should happen and they die, I think he takes them straight to heaven. Kim's blog got me thinking of my own experiences. I believe I have seen angels on about 5 different occasions, the most recent being 3 nights ago. How do I know for sure? Well, who can be absolutely certain, unless of course they introduce themselves as such and prove it somehow. I just believe they were. Why? Because they seemed to me to be out of character for the surroundings that I was very familiar with, they would look straight at me, give an approving sort of hand gesture and when I looked back to see where they had gone, they had disappeared never to be seen again, that's why. I just knew in my knower, that it was an angel. It left me with a sense of satisfaction as if God was saying " everything is OK, I see what you are doing and I approve of you." That was a comforting feeling. Not spooky or unusual in some way. That seems to me to be like in God's nature to leave someone feeling that kind of comfort from a mere sighting of what looked like just another human being. They look and I might add, feel just like we do. How do I know that? I had the opportunity to shake ones hand the other night. You see after thinking about Kim's blog post, I said to God; " I haven't seen an angel for a while Lord. I think it's time for another sighting." Guess what, that night I saw another angel. It took me totally by surprise. He looked like a derelict. I was doing the Royal York North route which is a very high class route. I don't think there is a house under $1,000,000 on the first part of the route and there are several that would exceed the $5,000,000 range. I've been doing this route quite often for the past 10 years and this guy was out of character to be seen on this route. I thought he was drunk at first, because he was being very loud and rather overly friendly with all the other passengers. It was a very busy day and I was a bit stressed out. I didn't feel like handling a drunk. My fear is I would get angry with him and do some damage if I lost my cool. I do not like doing that. Before leaving the station I said a little prayer; " Lord I don't feel like dealing with this guy, please give me the patience or get him off my bus". We left the station on time. About 5 minutes after departing, the guy comes up to me and asks; " are you going to Lakeshore?" I said; " No, that is in the other direction you need to get off this bus and get the one going the other way back to the station and take the 76 south." Another passenger hearing his question told him the same thing. As he stood beside me, he looked right into my eyes. I realized at this point he was not drunk. He didn't smell of alcohol, and believe me I know when somebody has been drinking, and his eyes were as clear as could be. No signs of inebriation of any kind. Before he exited at the stop he said to me; " who is your best friend?"
I hesitated for a moment, because I knew my answer, but I was conscious of the passengers on the bus. We don't usually express our faith at work unless specifically asked about it, which rarely happens. As public service we normally remain opinionless and neutral on these matters unless , as I said, if pressed I would not deny my faith. In this case, I needed to give my honest answer. I said;" JE". I no sooner got the first syllables out of my mouth, when he , at the exact precise moment said the same thing, just as if we had practised this in harmony for hours,
" J E S U S ! " I knew at that moment, this was no derelict. He smiled, stepped off the bus, turned and gave me that tell tale hand gesture, this time a thumbs up! In the past it was a salute. I knew, that I knew, that I knew this was no man, it was an angel sent by God to give me that comforting feeling and sense of approval. He disappeared, and I did not see him again. God had answered my prayer from earlier that morning. I had another encounter with an angel. The closest one I have ever had. So be alert. You may entertain an angel without knowing it. He may not look or act like you expected either. Be nice to what appear to be street people! There might just be an angel among them. I had the privilege of knowing.
Want to see an angel? Just ask God for the opportunity, watch, and believe. He may answer your prayer! Thank you Lord!

I Changed My Mind

I can do that you know. I'm going to be putting up one post, when I get some time to do some research, and will leave it there. I just won't be posting on a regular basis, and I may comment on yours from time to time. That's what happens when you are being led by the spirit. He's the one who's really driving the bus!

THE BABY IS HERE!!

Yes, at about 8:43am Friday, September 12Th, this morning, Kim gave birth to baby Ariana Lynn Morrison. Now, I could have the name wrong, because although they knew what they were going to name her before birth, they were reserving their right to change their minds after they saw her, just to make sure her looks and personality suited the name. She is perfect and beautiful and weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 10oz. Everyone is healthy, but tired, and Kim obviously has some serious recovering to do. When God said in Genesis, after the fall, that he was going to increase the pain for a women in childbirth, he wasn't kidding. Ruth was their and witnessed the birth. She said it was amazing. We have after pictures of the baby, and if I ever can figure out how to put pictures on my blog, I will show some to you.
Thank God, everything went OK. The next few days will involve multiple trips to the hospital, so you may not see much of us of over the next week or so, especially since Ruth will be staying at Dan and Kim's for a while until they get settled to help out.
Looks like no one guessed the date right. Dan and Louise were the closest. I knew the baby would have a mind of her own. She takes after her mother in that regard and that's a good thing!
I'll keep you posted and hopefully pictured too!

That was a week

Have you ever had the experience that things were happening so fast that it was like you were sitting back watching a movie of your life? Absolutely no control over what was happening, yet a sense that it was all good and God was definitely the one in control.
It started with the sale of my car last Wednesday. That was an answer to prayer, especially in this economy and totally unexpected. I had all but given up on selling it. The guy was a very nice fellow, an artist, who writes an article in the Hamilton Magazine. Very interesting person and a new connection I was happy to make. A God moment? I think so. Then tragedy strikes! The free car I was to receive from my in-laws suddenly became unavailable due to the fact it was uncertifiable. Had a hole in the frame. Not repairable. I could have been killed driving down the QEW as it split in two and broke apart at 100km's per hour. I drove this car for a whole month back and forth to Toronto. My plans have been derailed! YIKES! I have no car to get to work next Tuesday and only about 4 days to find one! I might as well have not sold mine, right? Nope, God knows more than I do. Ruth and I had discussed the possibility of getting a van. Lot's of room for carrying people and stuff and since commuting will no longer be an issue, neither will gas consumption. I found one on Kijiji that we liked in my price range. Actually made an appointment to go see it, but that's when I was offered the "free" car. I cancelled the appointment. Four days later, I have no free car. When I learned I wasn't getting a free car, I was about to leave for work and rather panicked that I needed to get one soon. Absolutely no time to look for one myself. I don't know if you have bought and sold cars yourself recently, but it is not as easy as it looks. Their is a few things that have to be in place like certification, e-testing, sales kits, lineups at ministry offices, etc. Time consuming and potentially expensive. What if you buy a lemon? It's buyer beware you know! I called the guy with the van hoping it was still available. I had a good feeling about him. Turns out he is a retired pastor that is involved in a street ministry here in Hamilton. A God moment? I think so. I trusted him and his vehicle. It was absolutely in immaculate condition. Somebody had beat me to it, made an offer on it sealed with a hand shake pending approval of the potential buyers wife, but........ no money had changed hands yet. Not a done deal. Since I had no time, my wonderful wife and great dad went on my behalf to look at the van with my unseen approval that if they both liked it, Ruth was to give the guy some money and buy it, quickly. The potential buyers wife disapproved of the purchase. We were in! Ruth made a fantastic offer on it which was hesitantly accepted! The van was ours! We are the proud owners of a beautiful Toyota van and it runs as good as it looks! God knew that all along. He also knew we needed funds to replace the old roof on our house which has been ravaged by rain and sun this year. Something that was out of the question only one week ago with the loan I had on my old newer car which I don't have (either of) cause I unexpectedly sold it and paid off the loan. Now I have the funds available for a new roof and the roofer who lives in this area with 40 years experience who just did my Grandfathers old house around the corner and did a very good job cause I saw it and his truck in the driveway where I got his name from and my wife also got a good feeling that he was the one and he gave us a price that was $3,500 under the closest estimate........ "breath"............. can you tell I'm excited? My grammar has gone right out the window.
Then, you know the best part of this whole thing for me was the guy who bought our car tells Ruth while they were waiting at the bank for me to pay the loan off that he chose us over other potential purchases because we were so honest and up front in our dealings with him. You know that's something we really strive for is complete honesty. That sometimes can get you in trouble with people. This time it paid off and God allowed us to hear about it. We needed that encouragement from our Heavenly Papa.
The moral of the story. Each morning we give our lives over to God and he is the one running the show. Father knows best. He is in control. His will be done. Thank you Abba!

Plans coming together

Found a home for the bed, sold my car( on kijiji for free!), getting another one for free, going to sell the couch and get a new one.( Ruth needs one she can get out of, this one is way too soft) I just know everything is going to work out according to plan. God has always looked after us. I love it when a plan comes together even despite those moments of doubt. God is much bigger than my doubt. I have peace. That's worth more than anything. Plus, I'm going to be a grampa very soon. Thank you Lord!
A thought for the day: When God gives you a plan, believe him, step out in faith and follow it, stay focused despite the obstacles that get in the way and he will see you through to the end.