These are the gable ends for the new roof for the cabin which I made today.

Papa working hard the easy way

Papa at work as usual of course. Here he is helping to rehab an old cabin for Paul and Petra to stay in this Summer. I have had the privilege of working with Papa for the last 28 years. He is always thinking ahead looking for ways to make the job easier. Often I turn around to look for a specific tool to continue the job only to find that Papa anticipating my need, has it in his outstretched hand. He has given me two of the best gifts of my life first his daughter and second himself. I hope to be as good a father-in-law as he has been to me. Tim

Spring in Maine

It was looking like time to plow up the garden but one nights work by Mother Nature put us back into January. so no grass to mow or seedlings to plant for a while. The snow was beautiful though and although it took our power out for 3 days we did fine cooking our food on the cookstove and warming ourselves on the heated soapstone bench. Too bad there were no little boys at home to go sledding with Dad.

REST

Jesus said "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Mat11:28). Rest and peace, now those are what I want. "In the heart of Christ, which was in perfect harmony with his Father, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage. but many of his professed followers have an anxious troubled heart because they are afraid to trust themselves with God" DA330.
Jesus tells us how to obtain this rest. "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls" (Mat11:29). A yoke does two things for the oxen who usually wear them; first it keeps them working together, secondly it makes the job their trying to accomplish easier. The yoke that Jesus asks us to put on with Him is His law, that perfect law of love. This yoke keeps us side by side with Jesus in harmony with Him. The yoke is light and easy only because we are yoked to the omnipotent power of the Son of God. If we tried to bear this yoke alone it would crush us, but through His power we may accomplish the otherwise impossible and find true rest of soul. This rest of soul comes when our will is swallowed up in the will of God. It comes when our goal is perfect harmony between conscience and conduct. We may fail a thousand times and still have that blessed rest knowing that our standing before God is dependant upon the perfect performance of the One to whom we are yoked. So long as our goal remains to be in perfect harmony with Jesus, He who gives us the desires of our heart will see that it is accomplished. Yoked to Jesus we may rest from worry and fear. We may cast all our care upon Him knowing that He cares for us(IPet5:7).
"If you will seek the Lord and be converted every day; if you will of your own spiritual choice be free and joyous in God; if with gladsome consent of heart to His gracious call you come wearing the yoke of Christ,- the yoke of obediance and service,- all your murmurings will be stilled, all your difficulties will be removed, all the perplexing problems that now confront you will be solved" (TMB150). Now there's a rest and a peace I need. Dad

An Average Maine Sunset

Muskrat lessons

Last Sabbath we hiked far down the salt marsh and found a group or muskrat homes surrounded by some very tall reeds. They were well-made with various sizes of reeds and mud creating sturdy homes. The Marsh is frozen now, and the muskrats are safe inside their homes perhaps dreaming of Spring. It has been a very cold week here in Maine, but thanks to Dad and Papa, the house is toasty warm with fires in the mornings and evenings keeping the house really cozy. I was thinking how thankful I was to sleep in my bed and not Mrs. Muskrat's. We along with the Muskrats work hard to keep stay warm and safe, but I was thinking that if our eyes were opened to the spiritual warfare surrounding us, we would see our great need of God's help. There is no safety apart from Him. Nahum 1:7 says " The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him."
mom

Thoughts on the fall to the Boys

This past Sabbath the lesson at our church was on the Fall of man. Eve according to Paul in 1Timothy 2:14 was deceived into sin whereas Adam sinned undeceived or knowingly. Adam's sin was therefore the greater, as it was a sin of rebellion. His punishment should have been commissurately higher than Eve's. How is it then that he came to rule over Eve?
To ask the question implies that to rule is better than to be in submission but is that the case? First, with authority comes responsibility. Second, Christ said he that is greatest among you shall be servant of all. Adam before the fall (according to Paul) had authority over Eve by virtue of being created first. If this authority meant preiminence one would expect that Adam would lose it after his negligence in allowing Eve to stray from his side.
In the Christian economy Men are called to be leaders. This call to leadership is a call first to death to self, second to servanthood, and third to responsibility. In Ephesians 5:25 Paul calls men to death for their wife's sake even as Christ died for the church. This is first a death to self and if need be a death to life itself for our wives' sake. Adam was charged with provision of sustanence for his family through the sweat of his brow. Men today are called to the service of their families and communities to provide them with the necessities of life. Lastly, as Adam was in a measure responsible for the fall of Eve, so today Men are in a measure responsible for the safety, temporally and eternally, of their wives and children. It is a charge we should not take lightly.
As leaders Men should seek to liberate not subjugate, they should guide not dominate, they should seek to benefit not to be benefitted, they should spend and be spent for those in their charge. We have the highest calling to the lowest position, that of leadership. If we accept it it is likely that the fog of confusion engulfing male/female roles in leadership will burn away as we light the way through imitating the servant leadership of Christ. Love Dad