Fathers by Bill

Greatings from Atlin everyone! This is my first time writing on our blog and I would like to apolagize for that. I've thought a few times of what I might write to a general audiance but wasn't moved to do so until early this Father's Day morning.  I do love the idea of this blogging, of giving our friends and fellow Brother's and Sister's in Christ a way to follow where we are and what we're doing.  We have been very blessed to meet so many others in service of the King! Please continue to pray for us, Tammy and I both covet and cherish your prayers and support. Thank you!

It rianed all night here last night and any of you who have spent time in a RV will know how loud it can be. Anyway, it was a restless sleep and I finally decided to just get up at 5am this morning. I got dressed, grabbed a much needed cup of coffee and went for a walk through the freshly washed RV park.  As I strolled and listened to the early morning sounds of nature my thoughts went to Father's Day. I began to think about this buisness of being a Father.  What does it mean to be a Father?.....Are we men today being good Father's?........What do Father's need to be anyway?......How do we know if we're doing a good job as Father's?......What's the plum line?.....What should we be measuring up to?  As I emptied that first cup and all these questions rolled through my head. My thoughts went something like this.  I began to think of my heavenly Father.  Of course! HE, is the model we are to follow.  So if God is Our model....and I know I've read in scripture that God is love....then we are to be.....love? Hhhhmmmm.......love eh.....and what is love......Love is patient, love is kind, something, something, something......I know I've read that definition somewhere.......I think in the book of Corinthians?....Yes of course here it is,  1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.   

Our Father above is the model for us men. HE, is the perfect example of a perfect Father. HE is what we must make the plum line for ourselves as Father's. And HE.....is love. So allow me to re-write this familiar piece of scripture for all the Father's out there today as an encouragment and challenge for us.

Fathers are patient, Fathers are kind. Fathers do not envy, nor boast, they are not proud. They are not rude, nor self-seeking, they are not easily angered, they keep no record of wrongs. Fathers do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. Fathers always protect, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres. Fathers never fail.

Oh Lord, Father in heaven. Please forgive me for every time I've fallen short of this with my children. Please help me to fulfill this posistion as Father to those you've entrusted to me. Guide me and help me. Thank you Lord, for your perfect example. Thank you for being patient and kind and for keeping no record of my wrongs!  I praise you this Father's day morning for all that you are Lord! I praise you for your goodness to me! For my 2 amazing step-sons, my precious little girls, and my wonderful wife. You've blessed me with the gift of family and I praise you for that. Thank you Lord for my earthly Fathers as well and for other men that you've provided to help me along the way. I praise you and thank you LORD! Amen.  



  

S'mores

The wheels are turning! Last week we met with Pastor Irv here at the Atlin Christian Centre for dinner and we made some plans to get a few things going on here! Tuesday nights will be our prayer evenings. Nothing really structured, just praising and praying. We had one new attendant and he spent a couple of hours just dumping some stuff he needed to be rid of in his life. We prayed with him and talked and it was an amazing time! Friday evening we held the first of the Friday night fireside fellowships! We roasted marshmallows,  made s'mores, hot dogs and sang songs. We chatted to everyone who walked by and waved at all who drove by. We had a few people pull in and join us. It always takes awhile for people to see that it is "safe" to show up. Our goal for the camp fires is just to get the community members to come. There is no sermon at these, the music is camp fire guitar worship songs, but they would have to listen closely to the words to know this. We are really hoping to encourage people just to show up! Enjoy some fellowship and free food. In tough little towns it is so important to promote a sense of community and show that segregation is not on the agenda. Sharing a meal seems to be the universal language for fellowship. From the people we have talked too, the response when asked,why don't you pop over for a hot dog, is, well I don't go to church, or I am not a Christian. We just tell them after that, well we aren't asking you to come to church, just come hang out at the camp fire on Friday night! SO if you would pray that the local people would just feel like stopping in to see what's going on, that would be great!
    There are so many people desiring prayer and guidance for their lives. So many broken hearts and broken lives.We have had a great moments of acceptance  and encouragement the past two  weeks, a fellow from the village stumbled over in his drunken state to give us some worship cd's he thought we might like. He told us he likes the book of John, as his middle name is John. So Bill read scriptures to him, and drove him to his flight out to work in the bush for a couple of weeks. People have come asking questions about us and our changed lives. Our coffee pot is always on and I bake daily to share a treat with those who venture over or to take to the church to have goodies on hand there.We also have a handful of children from the village who come over faithfully every afternoon for freezies and play time with Ella. My studies are a real struggle but I don't mind a bit! Bill has more work than he can do by himself at this point. We will be happy when our friends arrive from Sylvan Lake Alberta in a couple of weeks! We are blessed, and feel so very humbled that we can be serving our Lord here in this way. God has so graciously answered our prayers to use us. Thank you again to those that have prayed for us and that are praying for us!

Ella & Pastor Erv sweeping the front deck of  ACC

As we excited as we are to be actually physically working with and for the church here and praying with people here, there is an obvious resistance also. Almost every time we have really pressed in and had a chance to pray with some one here or share our stories  and faith with some one , we get hit with an exhaustion or depression. We have come to recognize it and are praying against it, but would appreciate your prayers for covering for us also. Bill lost an Aunt this week and my Grandfather is hanging on to life by a thread, there are always things in the back ground , but we feel God's guidance and loving hand protecting us.

Blessing,

Bill & Tammy & Ella!

Follow Me............

So sorry it has taken me so long to get back on here. As I am sure most of you know we are in Atlin now, and have been for almost a week now. After 4 days  of  gorgeous scenery, hundreds of hills, thousands of bugs, and many bears and rabbits and moose, we arrived. Pulling into Atlin always brings back a huge load of emotions. It is so incredibly beautiful, but for both Bill and I it brings back a lot of memories. With the passing of my friend on May1st in Atlin, I was a bit nervous to pull into town in case I was overwhelmed with emotions and grief.

As soon as we pulled off the Alaska highway and onto the Atlin Hwy we hit construction and as Bill and I sat in the truck with slight apprehension in our hearts, we were greeted by a very weathered Northern beauty flag person, controlling the traffic through a very large construction site on the hwy. It hit me like a ton of bricks as the lady explained that a pilot car would be taking us through the heavy equipment section and that it would be just a short wait until we were ready to roll, and because we were the first ones in line to stay close to the pilot car. As the pilot truck pulled up and made a u turn through the mud and backed up to us I started to weep. Follow me, those were the only words I could see. I remember when I first came to be a believer 7 years ago my favourite scripture in the bible was, when Jesus said to Peter, "follow me". I loved the simplicity and comprehensiveness of that statement. He didn't say the road will be tough in spots, you may need four wheel drive, and other times there will be clear sailing, however, watch for wild life...........He just said "follow me". So as we endeavour to follow Him where He leads us, I can honestly say I felt so happy He sent the message, that He is leading us through the rough spots. There have been a few rough spots, but His grace always shows up when we need that encouragement to keep on. To time and time again reaffirm for us that He has work for us, work for Him. All the time working in our hearts, and in our lives.

Upon arriving in Atlin, as the first rv'ers of the season here, we were made "the office" for the RV park in town so the owner could go back down south for a few more weeks. We are parked directly across from the local First Nations Village and the back of the RV, our bedroom, faces right out onto the most amazing lake view ever. The sun doesn't set til well after 10:00 pm and rises shortly after 3:00am. The view out the back of the RV is breath taking, so is the view out the front, but in an entirely different way. We have two bald eagles perched right out  in front of the RV, one on each power pole in front of us. Feels like they are watching over us.

Our first Sunday at the Atlin Christian Centre was great! I think there were 12 in attendance including us, but it was a great service. You can just feel that the Holy Spirit is there! Pastor Erwin has does a great job renovating and expanding the church. I think that he is really in his element here.  We will be heading out to the reserve tonight to pray there in one of the elders homes. We met him last summer and started a prayer night there that has managed to carry through all winter! After the hockey game of course. Bill has been over whelmed with work here. Everyday he gets more and more and more. We are so grateful and humbled by the way that the Lord looks after us.  Please pray for us as we engage with the town. We have had several locals from the First Nations Village wander over to chat with us. We explain to them about how God delivered us from our life styles here and how there is hope to break free from the bondage.

God bless you all!