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Just the other week, my wife Wendy and I received notification from the Salvation Army that we would be moving appointments. Right now we are the Salvation Army Officers in Ayr, but by the time the summer comes we will be leaving our congregation and moving on to pastures new.
We have enjoyed seven happy years in Ayr, and we will be sorry to leave the many good friends we have made here.
But it got me to thinking that life is never often terribly straight forward. It’s true that life has its twists and turns; its ups and downs – that’s certainly been true in my life.
Christians know that God promises to be with us through it all. He never promises that there will always be good times, but he does say “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you”.
In fact, he recognises and tries to prepare us for the tough times we will go through and promises in his Word “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown”.
Whatever your circumstances, whatever you are going through today, be it good or bad, I trust you will know the presence of Almighty God with you just where you are.
Graeme Parkhill
During the week of June 10-17 our very own Capt. Graeme Parkhill and Daniel Elliott are planning to cycle from John O' Groats to Ayr in order to raise funds for our building renovation project. They are collecting sponsors for this effort and you can sponsor them online! Capt. Graeme has set up a donations page at http://www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Parkhill where you can support their effort!
Pray for fair winds and strong legs as they undertake this adventure!
Just the other day I was talking with one of the teenagers in our congregation and he was telling me that he has just finished his prelim exams. He’s a 6th year pupil at Prestwick Academy and is hoping to study at the Strathclyde Business School – one of my old stomping grounds.
As we were talking, it put me in mind of a conversation that I had with one of my teenage neighbours a couple of years ago.
She was struggling with higher maths – don’t we all – and she knew that when I was at school, maths was one of my best subjects. So she came and asked if I would tutor her.
I explained that it had been some years since I had studied maths, but agreed to at least look through her text books to see if I could help.
However, although my exam certificate proudly shows an ‘A’ for higher maths, when I looked at her text books, it was like Double Dutch. And I mused – It’s true – “If you don’t use it you lose it”.
Religion is better kept when it is practiced. Faith is about relationships. Christianity – living a relationship with a loving God –relationships are strongest when there is much contact and communication. The same is true with our relationship with God – but watch out – if you don’t use it you lose it.
Graeme Parkhill
