I Remember...

Whenever I see a poppy to mark Canada's November 11th Remembrance Day, I think of my father-in-law, Thomas.

Before the second world war, Tom worked on a trolley in Darwen, Lancashire, England. He met a pretty young lady who rode the line, named Estella. They went to dances together. When war broke out, Tom enlisted in Her Majesty's Royal Marines to defend his country. He said goodbye to his sweetheart, promising to keep in touch.

The men were supplied with cigarettes and rum each week. Tom wasn't a smoker or drinker, so he traded his rations for treats for Stella... stockings, chocolates, other rare finds during the war.

One of the training exercises Tom endured was swimming in the English channel, from one boat to another, in frigid waters. His arms and legs stiffened, he could barely move them, but somehow, he willed himself to finish. When he reached the second vessel and was dragged aboard, someone handed him a bottle of rum and told him to take a swig. He did. The fiery liquid warmed him to his toes.

One night, Tom's battalion received word... they were shipping out soon to France, to the shores of Dieppe. Would he ever see his sweetheart again?

The night before, Tom and the other men were marching in a training exercise. The alarms had sounded; bombers overhead forced a black-out. The men continued to march in the pitch black. Tom heard the hum of a motor bike growing louder. Suddenly it was on his foot. Tom was sent to the infirmary with broken bones in his foot. He wouldn't be shipping out the next day, afterall.

Stats show that 4,384 of the 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured; they were mostly Canadian forces. Tom's reprieve was bittersweet.

In 1944, Tom and Estella married. Eventaully, their third child was born in Canada, my husband Jeff.


Thomas & Estella Bentley. (They didn't smile in photos in those days.)

Decades later, while sitting on my patio under the shade of a huge birch tree watching his grandchildren playing, sadness crossed Tom's eyes and a few tears sprang up, thinking of his friends, the men who hadn't come home from Dieppe. There were many others who lost their lives during the war.

He remembered...
Now I remember, too.

Olympic Torch Relay came to town...

The Olympic Torch came to Fort McMurray on Friday November 6th. I love the winter Olympics, so my husband and I decided to head downtown and catch some of the show, and the highlight, the lighting of the cauldron in our city.

The organizers of the event arranged a park-and-ride system. We parked at Walmart, waited about 15 minutes to board a school bus, then the bus got held up in a traffic jam while the main street was closed... the torch relay made its way past us, just out of sight, on its way to MacDonald Island, the site of the celebration. There was no way we were going to make it on time. We missed the whole thing, so got off the bus and went shopping.

Later, we caught the event on the news, and my good friend, Molytail, posted about the event. Here are a few pics of the
Olympic Torch Ceremony in Fort McMurray.

Keys

Locks and keys are part of everyday family life. The earliest ones, which turned up around 4,000 years ago, were quite large and made of wood. Everyone uses them now, but for centuries, possessing keys was a sign of status and authority.

In ancient Egypt, the head of the household was obvious by the number of keys he owned. Since keys were large, slaves carried the keys on their backs. The number of slave key bearers a man owned was a sign of his importance.

Some things haven’t changed. Have you ever taken note of how many keys the man of the house carries? Fortunately, they aren’t as cumbersome as they once were and so help isn’t needed in the form of extra people to carry them. But some guys need special heavy-duty key rings worn on the belt. Others go so far as to have that shiny metal circle with a retractable chain holding all their keys. I suppose their pockets aren’t big enough. Or else their wives gave them an ultimatum: ‘You’re going to have to do something else with your keys. I don’t have time to sew up any more pockets!”

Losing keys is a big problem these days, primarily for women without large key rings. Keys are so small and easy to mislay. It must have been difficult to misplace a key that someone carried on their back. “I’m so sorry honey. I don’t know what happened. I just put the key down for a few minutes next to the camel trough when I went by the pyramids today and when I went back, it was gone!”

I think I’ve lost just about every key at least once. I’ve done the coat hanger thing on car doors, climbed in through windows, and boosted little ones in. Only as a last resort will I call a locksmith—once when I accidentally locked my daughter as a baby into the car when it was running. It was frigid outside so the car’s heater was tuned on high. I was afraid the baby would overheat in her snowsuit. After explaining the situation frantically over my cell, help arrived in five minutes.

For a couple of years, we couldn’t use the front door (at our old house) because we couldn’t find any of its key. We had replaced the back door and its knob, so at least we could get into the house.

Though they’ve been around for a while, I think the greatest innovation has been the keyless entry.

Apparently, leaving this life for the next won’t eliminate keys. Jesus says in the book of Revelation he holds the keys to hell and death; then in Mathew, Peter is promised the keys to the kingdom of heaven. I hope I won’t be asked to keep track of any keys.

Learning at Home

Here is my 16 year old son, Aaron. He just bought himself his first set of wheels: a Nissan X-Terra, equipped to 4X4. He is so excited. I am so afraid.

From a young age, we set up an allowance system. The kids earned cash each week for accomplishing a list of chores, and doing them with a good attitude. When he was fifteen, he got his first real job at a grocery store, in the produce section. This summer and fall, he's gotten up around six each morning and gone to his job as a landscaper. Since school began, he has continued working from about seven in the morning until noon, then comes home and does his book work. He is thinking he'll be finished twelfth grade next spring. We'll see.

The trouble with off-road ready vehicles is the driver usually wants to see all the stuff they can make it through. My husband Jeff and I are not looking forward to getting phone calls to pull him out. He has a winch. His dad told him if he gets himself stuck and cannot pull himself out with that, we can't help him.

'The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.' (Proverbs 13:4)

This is not a prosperity teaching. It's hard work.

The Lighthouse

God is Sovereign.

He is in charge of everything: where you live, the job you have, the people in your life, the trials you go through. This might be a far stretch for some to believe.

First consider that God created the world. Not just the world, but the whole universe. He created people. He knows what makes us tick. Goals of people are different than God's goals. We want what is fun, comfortable, easy. God wants us to believe in Him, accept His grace and forgiveness, trust Him for the tiny things and the huge things.

God promises that all things will work together for good--even situations that tempt us, or try us to our limits. He allows those things into our lives to help us grow.

We need to consider it all joy when we face trials, since they produce patience and perseverance, and in the long haul, good character. Now, that is the heart of the matter-- our hearts changing gradually over time, to love what God loves, to hate what God hates.

God is loving, and gentle, and gracious. He never gives us more than we can handle, but along with the trial or temptation will provide a way out.

Always think about what character trait God is working in you... how will this test make you stronger?

When you feel lost in a sea of tossing waves, cling to the Lighthouse, God's standards, to guide.

He promises to never let those who trust in Him be put to shame.

Learning to Let Go

Dorothy Bentley

One of the joys of being a parent, is watching children grow and do things on their own. My husband and I recently said goodbye to our girl as she headed off for more than two weeks on a short-term mission canoe adventure into the wilds of northern Saskatchewan. Personally, I’ve been happy and excited for the experience she’ll have, but some strange feelings came to the surface.

I’ve felt them before. If you’re a parent, you know exactly what I mean. I felt it when our kids first learned to ride their bikes around the block. I felt it when they had their first sleepover. And again when they earned their driver’s licence and disappeared around the corner for the first time in a fuel-powered vehicle capable of going speeds in excess of 100 km an hour, (in my car, I might add).

It’s a mingling of pride for helping them achieve a new ability, fear of what they may do to themselves and others, and joy that their new found freedom will bring with it a little more freedom for them—-and me.

There is usually a long list of reminders at first: keep the music down so you can hear other cars; don’t forget to shoulder-check; don’t talk on your cell phone while driving; and on and on.

After our girl left, I wore a smile for a while. Our kids get along really well most of the time, but I wouldn’t miss the occasional conflict. Aw… joy. I made myself a cup of tea and relaxed with a good book. Sweet tranquillity.

Unbeckoned, a sadness came into my peaceful space. I tried to ignore it. If I pretended it wasn’t there, I reasoned, maybe it would slip quietly back where it came from.

I swallowed hard. My throat was tight. My little girl would be gone for more than two weeks with no phone contact. No email. No late-night talks or girl shows. I was to be the only female surrounded by boys of all sizes.

I couldn’t help remembering the film I had taken my boys to see at the movies: Transformers II. The main character’s mother was having a difficult time adjusting to her son leaving for college. The writers of the flick took it to the extreme. The mother sobbed and laughed, carried her son’s baby booties around the house and flipped out once at the college. I couldn’t help laughing again while thinking about it. Okay, my girl has not gone away to college—-yet.

I will not carry her baby booties around and cry. That’s just silly.
Looking back over the years, I was happy to recall all the weekend trips our daughter had under her belt. She survived them just fine. She learned about pushing herself physically, interacting with the world without me, her main mentor at her side, and that she’s capable of whatever she sets her mind to.

The old adage, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder,’ is definitely true. I am so glad my husband and I have such a great relationship with our daughter. We want her in our lives always. I made a silent promise to myself to never be one of those controlling mothers who won’t let their adult kids make their own decisions and have their own identity and life. I want her to become all she’s meant to be.

Now, where are her baby booties?

You've Got Mail

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Dear God,

Please help me check the Bible more than I check my e-mail. Help me "turn on" my life like I turn on my computer each morning. Instead of pushing a button, I will push a page of Scripture open and let your Spirit move me to a new way of living. Your words are flawless. They will never get a virus or crash. Grace and mercy will fill my soul; I will greet the day with confidence because you are with me.

Matt Koceich
CWG Craftsman


The Koceich Family Coffee Store exists to help Matt and his wife Cindi to receive a special delivery from Ethiopia--an orphan. How wonderful!

The Gentlemen's Conspiracy, Book Review

The Gentlemen's Conspiracy, by Nick Daniels, combines mystery and romance with long debated geological & theological topics. With a cast of characters that includes some who have stepped right from the pages of history, (Charles Lyell & Adam Sedgewick among them), this tale takes you on an adventure following amateur geologist Daniel Young in his discoveries. This is not a fluff story—you'll have to pay attention and may find yourself wanting to read further about specific issues and ideas.



Those who enjoy Inspirational fiction, particularly those with an interest in science meeting biblical truths, will not want to miss this well written story.
(Reviewed by C.G.)

Author Nick Daniels, CWG Craftsman