Bittersweet Farm
Christmas Day my daughter Hannah added a treasure to my library. Jerry Dennis has written another wonderful new book. This one is about the Great Lakes in winter. It is called “The Windward Shore.” Jerry is a skilled writer who lives in Northern Michigan. If you love good writing and nature and Michigan you will love his books.
Before the message Hope sang “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” and Holly and I sang back-up. Here is a little amateur video of it.
This is the final message in my Christmas Series for 2011. This message was preached at Evangel Baptist Church in Taylor, Michigan on Christmas Morning 2011. During the message I tell a little story about James Taylor’s Christmas album. Hope you are helped by the message.
A Classic re-post from 2001 We went on our annual Christmas tree excursion Saturday. If you don’t have beautiful fluffy white snow blanketing the brown earth, bright sunshine on a cold winter day is the next best weather for getting the tree. We stopped for donuts and cappuccino. On the way we sang a few carols.
At the farm all ten of us spilled out and hiked back a lane and over a little hill to where the trees grew. Most of them were huge but there were still dozens small enough to fit into our living room. We searched up and down long rows of trees and among stumps of last year’s choices. Eventually we complied a short list of finalists. We all offer our opinion but the final decision is always left to mom.
Finally we settled on a beautiful Douglas Fir. I knelt to cut its umbilical cord and make it ours. It has been growing there just for us since about 1993. It’s a year older than Wes and a couple years younger than Dan.
Through the long warm days of seven summers it has stood on that pleasant hillside. On the fresh rain of seven springs it thrived. Seven winters flocked its branches with snow. And the geese of seven gold and auburn autumns passed over it by moonlight.
Somewhere this spring someone will plant the tree we will gather around Christmas of 2010. By then our family should have grown. Somewhere a the tiny tree is taking shape around which our oldest son will celebrate Christ’ s birth with his new wife five years from now. We’re not sure who she is yet but she is out there somewhere waiting for him, just like their tree.
Our tree grew up gracefully within sight of the farmhouse a few hundred feet back of the barn surround by its kin. It sheltered fowl and shaded rabbits and ground hogs and squirrels and deer. Incredibly we adopted this beautiful creation of God into our family for the paltry sum of only ten dollars.
Kyle and I carried it back to the van and put it on top. On the way back to the car with our tree it occurred to me that at a place where you can cut your own tree for only ten dollars you should not expect many extras. It is unlikely that they are going to shake it, trim it, bind it, tie it on top of your car and offer you a train ride and hot chocolate for a family of ten. We had noting to secure it to the top but a set of jumper cables.
I asked Wes who is now a strapping six-year-old if he would mind riding back on top of the car holding the tree on. It was only about fifteen miles. He said he would but he forgot his gloves and he thought his hands might get cold. They don’t make kids as tough as they did when my grandpa was a kid. So we used the jumper cables.
We were able to get to a little store and buy a bungee cord to secure our treasure. (The bungee cord has got to be one of the greatest innovations of civilized humanity since the invention of the wheel).
I love Christmas. The birth of Jesus was predicted all the way back in the book of Genesis. The prophet Isaiah announced the virgin birth of Jesus seven hundred years before it happened. For years we will remember our Christmas celebration because God has had it on his mind for all time. I’m glad he plans ahead better than I do.
Check out the Tebow Family Website
This has been my most popular blog post ever 🙂 Our family has great admiration for the Tebow family and how they have devoted their lives to the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We used the same home-education program to train our families so we have followed Tim Tebow and his family with great interest. Since you surfed in I hope you will take a few minutes to check out some of my writing while you are here. There are over 1000 original stories on the site, all free for you to enjoy.
God Bless You…. and GO TIM TEBOW.
We ventured out yesterday to our tree farm. I have the ultimate Christmas-tree-getting vehicle—a Jeep Cherokee, fire-engine red. On days like this it seems like a bright, festive sleigh. We bundled up, plugged in some Christmas music and we were on our way. Hazard made the trip with us for the second year in a row. He was on his best behavior, except that in his excitement he threw up on the floor. On the farm are a couple large, athletic hounds. He wanted out be we feared for their safety.
The tree farm we like is in a pretty spot. The land rolls some there and the trees grow on a gentle slope nestled among ponds and woods. The ground had a dusting of snow and the trees were pretty with flocking of snow on them, too.
Wesley did the cutting, noting that our tree was about seven years old. We were living in Flint when it was planted. It’s a beautiful Frasier Fir.
It was special this year. Hannah had her Dale and there are few things as beautiful as a romance at Christmas time. We lunched at the Grand Traverse Pie Company for the second year in a row. We may have a tradition growing here. It was a delightful day.
In the afternoon I left the house to come to the church to prepare a message for the Mid-Week Service. Chuk and Wes were setting up the tree in the corner of the family room. The fire was crackling and the room was filled with the fragrance of the tree. I looked forward to enjoying it late in the evening when I would get home from my meetings.
This morning I rose early. The tree was glowing beautifully in the corner. Wes and Chuk were camping out to be near it.
I don’t mind going to great Christmas efforts. I believe it will contribute to my children having a great love for the things of
Christ.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
December 9, 2011
This was the sign we made for the Pine Street Parsonage in Fremont, Michigan. I believe the graphic was made by my brother, Kevin, for our original web-site. Larry Barber created the sign for us. I still have it in my study where it reminds me to pray for the good folk at First Baptist Church in Fremont and remember the kindness of the people, the good had of God and the memories of Fremont we will always treasure. Hope America was born in Fremont at the Gerber Hospital.
While I was pastoring in Fremont I wrote the people a little column one November. It is interesting now to read. Thought I would share it with you.
In this little column we hope to keep you informed about what’s happening around the Pine Street Parsonage. We also always want to include some encouraging words here, too. Next month in our Christmas letter we’ll let you know what the family is up to.
Things are quiet around the parsonage these days. We’re enjoying the mellow transition from autumn to winter. We snatch an occasional evening with a fire on the hearth, soup on the stove, quiet music on the radio, and good conversation or reading, with Anne (the parsonage kitty) dozing at our feet.
It’s Thanksgiving time, a good time to realize how little it takes to be truly happy. It’s a time to foster simplicity and contentment. I like this definition of contentment: “Realizing God has already given us everything we need for our present happiness.” You don’t have to acquire more to have everything you want, you can simply choose to want less. Ben Franklin said: “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.”
Most of us have more than we realize. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to get through the house or garage without tripping over material blessings. Our most pressing need is for storage. In many parts of the world parents worry about where to get food for their children. We try out new diet plans. Christmas time is coming. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find gifts for people who already have everything they need?
In a few days we will gather around the big table and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast. We’ll turn our table into a place of worship. Our hearts will be filled with gratitude. We’ll join hands and bow our heads in deep humility and thankfulness. As we have so many times before, we will shed tears of joyful gratitude. We have seven precious children and another due in April. We have our needs met and many wants. We have a warm beautiful home in which to live and we are blessed with good health. We have fulfilling work that occupies our lives and we have many dear friends. Above all we have experienced the bountiful grace and daily mercy of God in our lives. Because of that we know that no matter what is taken from us, the foundational source of our gratitude is something we can never loose.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NKJV)
A blessed Thanksgiving to each of you from the Pine Street Parsonage.
Pastor Kenneth L. Pierpont and Family.
Recent Comments