I spent my younger years growing up in a small community in northern Saskatchewan, I was a city boy and I discovered a beauty in the northern part of the province that I could never get enough of. God has created such magnificent and beautiful places on this earth, and his glory is in everything all around us, and I have never grown tired of seeing it.
I think heaven will be a lot like some of the places on earth, after all he created this earth and he created heaven, it stands to reason that places on earth would be represented in heaven. I think we will see a lot of what was created on earth in heaven. There will also be wonders that we can not even dream of, some of it will be familiar to us but muck h of it will be beyond belief. I found that I was never at a loss to find something to do, nor did I ever grow tired of wondering through the trees and looking at God’s wonder. No matter what time of year it was I would be outside involved in my latest project. I found something beautiful about each season, and enjoyed exploring the country at every time of the year. In spring when the air is warming up and everything seems to be waking up, the smell of the damp trees that are coming back to life, and the warmth of the sun is a wonderful time in nature. Then there is summer when everything is alive, the wind in the trees and the sounds of the various animals moving about reminds me of all God has created. Then there is fall when an almost unimaginable collection of colors come together and paint a picture that no man could of ever thought of, the warmth of the fading sun and the lack of insects always made fall a special time of the year for me. Then we have winter, many complain about winter but if we look close this too is a great part of this earth. I often go for hikes when it’s –40c out or even colder and the world is a very different place then. It almost seems like you are no longer on this earth and have been moved elsewhere. Everything is so different like no other time of the year. There is something of God in every time of the year all we have to do is look for it.
In the spring of 1970 on Easter break we moved to Meadow Lake from Regina I was six years old at the time and in grade one. My grandparents had a restaurant/service station a mile north of town surrounded by a river and trees. My grandparent’s house was also on the same property, it was about 20 feet out the back door of the restaurant and I spent many days in and around the house while my mom worked in the restaurant. The property was situated on 5 acres with a river that wrapped around two sides of the property. They maintained a park which was right on the river bank, where there were swings and a teeter totter for the kids. The adults could have a game of horseshoes and I remember watching my dad and grandpa play sometimes after work in the long summer evenings, or on the weekends. I spent many hours on the swings facing the river and seeing how high I could get, but I never was able to get over the trees.
My mom helped out in the restaurant on a daily basis’s, so that meant that I spent a great deal of time there, and enjoyed many of my meals consisting of cheeseburgers and fries, which I never seemed to tire of and is still one of my favorite meals. You would of thought that after all the cheeseburgers and fries with gravy that I have had I would be sick of the them, but it hasn’t happened yet.
My uncle Les, who was in high school at the time, would pick me up from school at noon and bring me to the restaurant to eat and then back to school. Les was only 10 years older than me, and to some extent we grew up together. Even now the relationship is not one so much a nephew\uncle type as more a friendship. One time he picked me up from school in a volkswagon that he was driving and decided to go home on the river it was winter and the river was frozen quite solid. At least I hoped it was at the time, never did tell anyone about that.
Les always picked up wild animals and would bring them home and I would help look after them. At one point the dog, cat and rabbit were so friendly with each other that on a summer afternoon they would curl up together under a truck and sleep together. The rabbit was allowed to run around free most of the time and would even come when I called it by name, but this only lasted till one of the local dogs got hungry. I got there one morning to find fur all over the yard and no rabbit. My uncle also had a baby skunk for a while, and I would take it outside with me, a kind of pet that not many could say they’ve had. Not one that I would recommend to everyone, but one that I won't forget. Around the back of the house in the river was a swimming hole and small change house where all the local kids would come and spend the hot days of summer. I spent many hours playing, fishing, swimming or trying to trap some small animal that would be dumb enough to get caught in the obvious snare that I had set up. None ever were dumb enough, I think the animals at that time had a higher degree of intelligence or I didn't know much about trapping, I'm sure it must have been the former reason though.
When my grandfather wasn't chasing me out of the garage, where I got in the way more that once, I was hiking through the trees. I could spend hours walking through the bush and never get tired of it. I could be found there spring, summer, fall, and even in winter. God seemed so much closer to me when I was in nature, it wouldn't matter what problem I had, all I had to do was spend a couple of hours with God in the woods and my problem just wasn't that important anymore. When allowed to God can make the biggest problem wash away and seem insignificant. This carried with me the rest of my life, the Lord was a friend to me and I would talk to him as if he were with me. Even at the age of 8 I thought a lot about God and spent a large amount of time talking to him. I knew God existed and never thought of doubting it. I had a personal relationship with the Jesus and knew him as a friend.
My faith in God came at a young age, at the age of 3 when we lived in Saskatoon; my grandma lived 4 blocks away. I decided that I would run away and go see her, so I picked up my bible and started walking without telling my mom. I had to cross a very busy intersection that was on the way, and being only 3 years old I didn't know much about waiting for the traffic lights to change. I just crossed, I don't know how I made it across, but I know that God played a large part in it, carrying Gods word protected me like a shield and still protects me now. Knowing Gods word is even better that a suit of armor, armor wears out, but God's word is the same today and tomorrow. God tells us to put on the armor of Christ and we are promised to be protected, although it didn't provide much help with the punishment later, but I was certain to never run away again. We need to know God's word to be protected in all ways. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness Jesus quoted scriptures to Satan and he was defeated. Knowing God's word can break the power that Satan likes to think he has over you.
I was considered very different because of my faith. I didn't curse, or fight, or do any of the other things that a normal child does when growing up. I was by no means perfect, but God and his teachings always played a big part in any decisions that I would make. As a result it kept me from getting into some of the trouble kids do, whenever a friend would cook up an idea I would be the one that would remind everyone of the trouble we could get into. I guess I was the wet blanket of the crowd, but I was never able to act without thinking it through. I didn't hide my relationship with Christ and spoke openly about Jesus; this caused me a lot of problems with the other kids. I was viewed as weak and in Meadow Lake if you weren't getting into trouble you were weak, this of course cut down on the number of friends that I had while I was growing up. It also meant taunting and some of the other things that goes along with being different. But even this was not without rewards, more than once one of the guys that when in front of everyone else would have to be cool, and pick on me would come to me when he thought that no one was looking, and asked about Jesus and why I was different. They noticed something that they would never admit to anyone else, but it was something that they wanted. I was more than happy to share with them, and looking back I wonder today if those seeds sowed at that time are baring any fruit today. We won't always see people saved through our serving Christ but seeds planted are an important step to them making a decision to follow Christ in the future.
I would pray to the Lord often and talk to him, as I would walk through the trees. I always knew that God heard me when I prayed even though I couldn’t see him I knew he was listening. There was never any doubt in my mind that God listened and answered prays. One incident comes to mind, when I was 11. I was walking to school in the morning and I really didn't want to go, that wasn't so unusual I never wanted to go to school, but this day I really didn't want to go. I was tired of not having many friends and it was weighing heavy on me this particular day. So I called on God, I knew that we had library first thing that morning so I asked God to have this group of boys to ask me over to their table and sit with them. And that I would be treated as a friend, This had never happened before but I had faith. I walked into the Library and events played out exactly as I asked of God, they asked me over to sit with them and not only that they used the exact wording that I had asked God to have them say. They treated me as a friend for that day anyway, but it showed me that our Lord listens. God proved to me that he listens to our prayers and that he is faithful. That event went a long ways to building my faith.
It amazed me that he would listen to our prays, even the prayer of a young boy, not someone powerful or important, not a leader or a evangelist on TV, but a eleven year old boy. I have never forgotten that day, and there have been many other times that God held true to his word and answered my prays, but I still think of that day often, especially when I think he's not listening to me now. The Lord showed me how glorious and loving he is. And I praise the Lord.
Mat 19:13 Then were there brought unto him
little children that he should put his hands
on them, and pray: and the disciples
rebuked them.
Mat 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children,
and forbid them not, to come unto me:
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
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