Bittersweet Farm
This is the drive away from the cottage where we are staying for the Eternal Impact Summit.
This is the view from the house on Duck Point. This is one of the quietest and most beautiful places I have ever been. I wake up ever morining with a profound sense of the kindness and goodness of God. From this point it is a run of a little more than four miles around Wolf Lake. Every step is like a postcard picture.
I have a treat for you. We are at our Northwoods Conference Center just west of Watersmeet in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have been participating and speaking for a retreat for single young people called; Eternal Impact Summit. I discovered they have up-graded to wireless here so I am going to send a live report or two. Let me know if you enjoy them.
Between services yesterday I was lured out into the cloudless, cool autumn afternoon. All four of my sons were there in the yard. We played football. I am the all-time quarterback. Wes, the youngest, pairs with Kyle, the oldest. Chuk, the fleet, teams with Daniel, the rising star. It was an aerial display. Every play was a passing play. I am sure I tossed more touchdown passes than any pro quarterback in the nation yesterday. Everybody scored over and over again.
That’s when I had a really bad idea. [Read more…] about The Clock is Running
Last Monday morning I sent the Stonebridge Newsletter and then got the family together to get bagels and coffee. We drove to Grand Blanc and tried to decide between Panera Bread and Big Apple Bagel. I said; “Wes, why don’t you decide where you want to get bagels?”
He chose Big Apple. We stopped there and horsed around in the parking lot for a few minutes. When we got in and ordered the bill was a little higher than I expected, but the clerk did not take my money. She held up a 100.00 bill and said, “I’ll just take it out of this.”
“Where did you get that?” I said.
“O, we just had extra money sitting around here.”
I looked at her with puzzlement and said, “It’s not mine. Where did you get it?”
She nodded in the direction of the dining room. There was a young man sitting there working on is laptop computer. I walked over to thank him. He said; “I just finished reading the Stonebridge Newsletter and when I looked up you drove in. I just sent a copy of your story to the people of our church and told them how much we are going to miss you in this area. You’ve been a blessing to us. We wanted to be a blessing to you.” His name was Robb Klaty.
We all thanked him for his generous gift and then we thanked the Lord. We try to give freely a little bit every week by sending the Stonebridge Newsletter and forming relationships though it to encourage a and inspire others. Regularly people give back to us in some way.
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (2Co 9:6-8 KJV)
Once again God demonstrated to me and to my family in a very sweet way, that if we give what we have to others, he will provide what we need to keep giving.
Ken Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
September 18, 2006
Here in Michigan (we are in Flint hotel-sitting the Inn for one final week) people like to drive the back roads on autumn days and take in the color. During an excursion like that you want to keep your eyes open for apple orchards and cider mills. For the last three years or so we have made a family event of visiting the Parshallville Mill. https://www.parshallvillecidergristmill.com/
At the Parshallville Mill They have fresh apple cider and diet-wrecker cinnamon-sugar donuts. There is an old grist mill there and a dam and water running over rocks reflecting the bright colors of the leaves. There are a couple foot bridges and the proprietor has a nicely-restored old Ford 9-N that brings back sweet memories of my grandpa’s farm in Licking County, Ohio. If you catch them on a slow day they are always eager to talk about cider-making or the history of the mill or area. Its close enough to be convenient and far enough to be an event.
Sometimes our little family outings just don’t work. They get rained out, or the kids fuss, or the parents fuss, or schedule conflicts choke them out, or the budget gets in the way but they are important. They are effort but they are worth it.
I consider it a Dad’s duty to arrange family memories. That requires planning, sacrifice, investment, and selfless energy. Making memories is serious business, but it’s the kind of thing that makes kids want to hang around home and listen to mom and dad, and learn to love and value what mom and dad love and value. Sometimes truth just goes down a lot better with cider and donuts under a flaming Maple on a crisp autumn day beside a gurgling stream. I think that’s the way Jesus did it. When he Jesus re-recruited Peter he didn’t invite him to a lecture. He fixed him breakfast beside the lake at sunrise. He knew what he was doing.
I just think if our families aren’t fun they are not worthy of the name Christian. If there is no joy in our homes there is no evidence of the Spirit’s presence because the fruit of the Spirit of joy. Where families lack joy, they lack the magnetic power that draws children to the One who was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Jesus was a joyful happy man. (See the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews verse nine).
“No, Dan, I really am going to have to pass this time. I promised my wife I would have the garage clean this weekend. She is having a garage sale next week and it looks like something exploded in there. I’m going to have to leave the clubs in the trunk this weekend. I’ll have to take a rain check. Maybe next time I can join you.”
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