STUDY AND
PREPARATION
IN THIS PICTURE, HENRY WAS WORKING WITH SOME MEN
AT CRESCENT, OREGON TO HELP. 1953 OR 1954, HE WAS STILL SINGLE.
My husband
worked for the U. S. Forest Service for many years,
as well as pastoring small churches in the Northwest.
As I look
back, I am filled with a grateful sense of God's blessing in my life, because
this dear man chose to manage his time in such a way that the Word of God was
first in his life, and that he counted preparation as being an important
ingredient to his work both for the Forest Service and for his pastoral
ministry.
A young mother
with three children, I found that he was flexible enough to let me call him on
a Thursday or Friday morning and ask, "May we go to the Lake
tonight?" And most of the time, he said yes. It meant
that for my children, a chance to be with their Daddy, to be out in
nature, and to sing all the way to where we had a "picnic" by
the Lake.
Daddy built the fire and cooked the hamburg I had brought, and
we did the rest. The girls would always want to swim.
Sitting while the children played, he read the Newspaper, and cheerfully noted
their activities.
Crescent Lake OR here. Later, when we lived in Parkdale, it was Lost Lake OR to which we would travel.
Heading back just as it was getting dark, my dear
Henry would smile, and ask "what CODE" shall we put this under?
His little reference to the many, many codes and numbering methods
the Government has for keeping track of its activities.
The
children would fall asleep in the car, while Henry drove home. He had
been working all day, studied in the Word of God before he had breakfast, and
now was driving them home, all of them unaware of anything except full security
in the knowledge that their Daddy loved them.
He would, upon arriving at home, sit down to his desk, and prepare
for his message either for the Sunday morning, evening, or for the Wednesday
nights in a "farmhouse" up in the mountain town of Appleton, WA.
Even when he was at work he studied. He took
all the "books" they gave him to study and did the work
of retaining the information so that in time he became a liason
between the government and the tree planters, or,
teaching new recruits what to do on a PLANTATION EXAM,
or HOW TO PREPARE FOR A PLANTING CREW.
As I remember not once did he ever complain that I was asking too
much for him to go and take us for this outing. Not ever, no, never, did
he complain or remark that he was pressured or not feeling like he wanted to.
Now, here I am, looking at his papers and calendars that he left
as his legacy for me and the children, and reflect how much importance that
STUDY TIME and PREPARATION time was for him. He fed on God's Word every
opportunity that he could. And yet, he included his family in his life
enough that he could be flexible and work around what he must do, and should
do, to do what he liked to do - fellowship with his family.
My lesson in this post, is that I urge you to put the study of
God's Word and the preparation of your Heart for what happens in your life, by
preparing for the expected duties and jobs you have to do, but be flexible
enough that like Jesus who never turned anyone away, you can find time for the
people who love you and are closest to you. Your family is
important. However, unless a man or women puts their dependence on God,
and His Word first and foremost, you will not have the ability to manage your
time as well as you should.
This was his desk which he had for many years in our
home. He often would study before I got up in the morning,
and again, would be at it in the evening after the day's events.
Keep Climbing. I am looking forward to this new year with a view to setting new goals. One of these is to STUDY AND PREPARE. God takes care of the rest.
