Nigel and Forgiveness

Well, our new puppy has given us the opportunity to practice forgiveness.  During his first night with us he was missing his mommy and all his brothers and sisters so he put up quite a fuss.  Around 3 am Gwen and I heard the loud honking of a car horn. We wondered what the purpose of that was at that time of the morning. We didn't have to wait long until we found out.  Right after the horn stopped honking our doorbell began ringing incessantly. I quickly unplugged the bell so as not to awaken everyone in the house and then I saw through the window that there was a man at our gate who was obviously very agitated.  When I opened the door he began a tirade about how my dog was keeping him awake and how I was cruel (apparently he thought I was mistreating the dog).  His mostly one-sided conversation was punctuated with obscene language and even a threat to me personally. 

Well, obviously I was a bit shocked as that was my first experience of being the recipient of such curses, especially at three in the morning. I quietly shut the door and brought the puppy in near our bedroom where the rest of the night I tried to get a little rest between the times of keeping the dog quiet.

The next day (Sunday) on our way home from church I saw our neighbor was out in his yard, so I went to ask his forgiveness for keeping him awake in the night.  Immediately he apologized for his language.  I understand the man is a rather rough man, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to show God's love and forgiveness to him.

Anniversary "Time Away" Four Months Late

Our tenth wedding anniversary was back in June but a lot was happening during that time so we really didn't do anything special. This past week though we were able to schedule some time away, so the boys stayed with Uncle Philip and Aunt Amrie and Gwen and I went to Bloemfontein. I surprised Gwen by taking her to the Free State Botanical Gardens. That's where we got the pictures of the clivia miniata (above).

We stayed at a little Bed & Breakfast for one night. It wasn't high class but it was comfortable and relaxing.

Sitting at the little table above was a nice place to read the Bible and enjoy the cool morning air from the backyard of the B&B.  Below you can see our little breakfast corner. The food was first class.  We couldn't eat everything our host provided.  We had a nice time and we are thankful God has given us ten years together.

Nigel

Our boys have been wanting a puppy for a long time, so

when we found some labs for sale we decided it was

time to get a dog. It seems that his handle will be "Nigel".

One of the meanings for the name is "Dark Night", and

since he is black we thought it would be appropriate.

I've been struggling to remember what his name is

let alone call him by one that is so high-class.

Isaac suggested we call him "Snicklefritz".

RAIN!

It has been cloudy for the past three days and we have been anticipating some precipitation. In a place where rain comes infrequently I find myself longing for wet days.  Last night during the night we finally got a little rain. Though it wasn't much at least the ground is wet, the leaves are greener and the air has a delicious, fresh, rainy smell.  Thank God for the RAIN!

I feel sorry for those who dislike rainy days.

Picnic and Mud

Our lives continue with the weekly Bible studies, preaching, visiting, correspondence and the long list of normal responsibilities. We look forward to a visit from our Regional Director, Mr. Jim Howard and his wife in a couple of weeks. We also hope to do some special outreach here in our community in the near future. Once in a while though, we plan a special day to get away and relax a bit. Last week we planned to spend one day with Fanie and Rose Blignaut and their family. What was to be a nice, relaxing picnic turned into a lot of hard work when the land cruiser got stuck in mud. To make matter worse we were a couple of miles away from anyone and it was also a holiday. In spite of the unexpected we did have a nice time and made some memories!

Wild Fire

These are the charred remains of the wildfires that swept through this area last week. Thousands of acres of mountainside and grassland burned over a period of about three days. We could see the flames on the mountains that surround Ladybrand. Smoke was really bad for about two days. Every year this happens during the winter, but this fire was the worst I have personally seen.

Spring

Yes, that's right, here in South Africa, September 1st is the official first day of Spring. While we certainly welcome the return of warmer temperatures to the southern hemisphere many trees are decked out in their spring best ready to celebrate new life. With the coming of Spring, other less welcome aspects of life make their annual reappearance, like allergies, mosquitoes and the like. But in spite of such annoyances we are thankful that the cold is gone...until next year.

TJG

Here's the picture that's worth a thousand words.

Bull Fight

I forgot to tell you that a little over a week ago when we were out on the farm I had a little encounter with a young bull. A gate was left open and this frisky fellow got out. I was walking down to the corral when this young bull started coming my way. Unfortunately my two oldest boys and some other children were with me. So while I waited for them to get inside the fence the bull started challenging me. Just as the last child was inside the gate they closed it behind me. The bull, thankfully a young one without horns, knocked me over, pushing the gate open in the process and landed on top of me. He was struggling to get up and I was doing the same. In the mean time he dragged me over against a thorn tree and gave me a few painful souvenirs on my arm. Thankfully the tangle didn't last long and besides the hurt arm I didn't sustain any other wounds. My back, chest, and legs were quite sore, though, for several days as I am not in the practice of bull fighting, especially with the bull on top. We thank God for the protection He gives. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the fight.

New Post

I know you wonder what happened to us and you're tired of seeing the same post every time you get on our blog so I thought I would post something new. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in the absence of a new picture I guess it will have to be a thousand words. :-) Actually there have been a number of happenings lately but they're not picture worthy. Some circumstances have to do with our church people and the joys, frustrations, and sorrow that go with ministry. At the same time I continue to teach through the book A Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay E. Adams, and I have also begun a new class teaching through Philip Brown's book, Loving God. I am excited about this new class as it provides an opportunity to minister to more people and to help them get established in their relationship with God. There are between 15 and 18 people that have been invited to attend this class. The first week there were 14 in attendance. Last week we had 6 come. We'll see what happens as the weeks go on. One goal of this class is to have more individuals better equipped to use in the church and for building the Kingdom of God. Keep us in your prayers.