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I think I have told you the story of my conversation with my grandmother about her decision to move to Alberta at the turn of the last century to homestead. I say her decision because she was not married to my grandfather when she left home.

They were both born and raised on Prince Edward Island and met there. She was a girl of nineteen and he a man of thirty. Both were single. He took a liking to her and said he was headed west to pioneer and asked her to join him and be his bride on the frontier. What happened was he went first then she followed by rail, virtually crossing the continent to meet the man she would wed. Theirs was a stormy relationship and one of many hardships and perils. She once had what would be called a near death experience and used to tell us how she saw the gates of heaven. She was a very plain spoken woman and there was . . .

Last week I was tootling along without a care in the world. Actually, I did have several cares but I was ignoring them as much as possible. My basic philosophy is this, the more you ignore something the less you have to deal with it. This, however, does not apply to the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.

Experience has taught me one lesson concerning women, especially wives. They will not stand to be ignored, particularly by their husbands. I have learned the less attention I pay to my wife the more I pay in other areas of life, if you know what I mean.

So, ignoring the cares I had last week, I was caught off guard when I received a letter from my credit card company. This was no friendly, "how are you," kind of a letter. Nor was it a cheery birthday greeting. I can't tell you how many times I have reminded them of my birthday but to date they have not picked up on my hint.

The ominous letter I did receive informed me that . . .

It's been said that Judaism is the only religion that has in it a commandment to the believers that they 'remember?. In Deuteronomy 8:2 it states, 'remember how the Lord your God led you on this long journey through the desert these past forty years.? It isn't just a call to remember for the sake of information, it is a call to remember and then live by what you remember. Interestingly, in the New Testament there is another call to remember, except this time we are encouraged to remember the future, to live in the light of what we know will come to be. A good father will seek to direct his children in anticipation of the things that will come, whether that be in finances, relationships or work or faith. Paul the apostle was this kind of father figure to a number of young Christians, it was he who encouraged the Thessalonians to 'remember the Future.? In 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 1 -5, he seeks to assure them of God's deliberate and securing hand upon them even as ruin comes upon the world. In this mornings message the main context is the assurance we can have in Christ, a context that does not come . . .

Our eleven year-old granddaughter, Mary Kathryn, leaves in the morning for a church sponsored Christian Athletic Camp. The whole family is excited for her to have the opportunity to work and play and worship with other athletes this week. She has had her schedule and been in the process of getting ready for weeks.

Basketball, tennis, and soccer are the three sports Mary Kathryn has chosen to participate in. Some new clothes and new cleats were setting on the floor ready to be packed.

Mary Kathryn has about the gentlest, sweetest and kindest spirit you will ever know. But organization is another story. So, this afternoon her older sister, Faith, decided she would make a list of everything needed and they would check it off as it was placed in the suitcase. This would never have been Mary Kathryn's way of doing things, but she was happy when they were finished that everything was neat and in order for . . .