We all have learned from others, we start out learning from our parents and family, then as we move out of the house we start to pick up from friends and others that happen to come into our lives as we walk this journey of life. We have a choice as to the life we want to live even though many believe the life they have is because of the way the cards were delt to them. Each and every one of us no matter where or how we came into the world have a free will and the opportunity to choose the direction of our lives, no matter the situation we are born into. Some of us may feel we are in a hopless situation today and what's the use. I just today recieved a email from a friend and his son- in-law has been missing since yesterday and he was in a very depressed state of mind when last seen, he's asked that we all pray for his son- in-law. To so many, the new year seems hopless and there seems to be no where to turn to, even some churches seem more focused on themselves and the condition of their buildings then the condition of the lost around them. I was once told that it's like the banking system if the servicing cost is too high don't get involved, be smart with your money and invest wisely. I've found that one way or another there will always be a cost when we pick up our cross and follow Jesus, as we seek and draw the lost to back to Him. When you imagine the scene at the cross one criminal hurling insults at Jesus but the other seeing the hope even at the end cried out to Jesus " remember me when you come into your kingdom." But as absurd as it may appear, that's exactly what happened. He who deserved hell got heaven, and we are left with a puzzle, a riddle. What for goodness sake was Jesus tring to tell us? What was he trying to prove by pardoning this strong arm thug, who in all probability had never said grace, much less done anything to deserve it? You see if there was anything Jesus wanted everyone of us to understand, it was this. A person is worth something simply because he is a person. He created us all. That is why he treated people the way He did. Just think about it. It had nothing to do with the cost it was all about the cause and compassion for the lost. If anyone was ever worthless, this one was. If any man ever deserved dying, this man probably did. If any fellow was ever a looser, this fellow was at the top of the list. Perhaps that's why Jesus chose this fellow to show us what His purpose was and where our focus needs to be. So all in all it makes me smile to think that there is a grinning ex-con walking the golden streets of heaven who knows more about grace than many that sit in our churches today. For your new year's resolution give God a chance, try Him at His word for six months and see what He'll do for you. What the heck, if you don't like what you've become your old life will be waiting for you.

Most of us will live the first 22 years of our lives give or take 2-4 years seeking who we are. The next 22 years give or take 2-4 years we will live out who we have chosen to become. Then the final 22 years give or take 2-4 years we will get to enjoy the fruit of the life that we chose!!! Choices again go figure!!!!

The ranch will be a place that life choices will be easier, with positive and productive input into their lives everyday, that's got to be a good thing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL AND GOD'S ABUNDANT BLESSINGS BE WITH YOU, AMEN!

Wednesday Report

WHY WOULD GOD BECOME A MAN? WHO WOULD EVER BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS REAL. There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His friends, however, did believe, and they raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments they still loved him and cared about him. One snowy Christmas eve, as they were taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. They asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man even if there was a God? That's ridiculous!" So they and the children left, and he stayed home alone. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening alone as usual. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and could not go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumbs trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "What do I have to do to be a goose, hmm, is that what it'll take to save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn, and one by one the other geese followed it to safety. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese - blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about - - why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!" Author unknown JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON! GIVE HIM A CHANCE! Wishing you a Very Happy and Holy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2010. "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9 Thank you Vicki for passing on the story.

Sunday can't beat that day

Beautiful story ... Makes you understand that things happen for

a reason
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry, to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities. When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.


They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
painting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.


On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.


On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall
of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit,
beginning about head high.


The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was
having a flea market type sale for charity, so he
stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just
the right size to cover the hole in the front
wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
the next bus 45 minutes later.



She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and
it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor,"
she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The
woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria .

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but she made the pastor keep it for the church..
The pastor insisted on driving her home. That
was the least he could do. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn
for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas
Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the
spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn't leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the front wall because it was identical to one
that his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war and how
could there be two tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to
take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.

True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid and sent to us by a

good friend of the ranch. Frank.

thursday the day of change

MANY MANY MANY BLESSING TO YOU ALL JUST GIVE JESUS A CHANCE

Mondays momentum

PRAYER TIME OUT Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You. Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God. And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you that I believe. I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and e very mouth that confesses them willingly.. This is my prayer. In Jesus' Name, Amen. (From an email I recieved)

Sunday can't beat that day

Sometime or other everyone wants a bit of attention and at church today Pastor Lyle's message was such that he definitely had everyone's attention. He shared about how God sent His one and only Son and how the wise men gave their best gifts to the Christ child. We now are God's ambassadors to the world and we need to speak life into the lives around us each day. Those of us that are blessed to be parents know too well that our children seek and need our attention and far too often we have all kinds of excuses, like we are too busy or not now. Wait until we get home, or I'm too tired. Then they're all grown up and gone and we missed the best times a parent can have. Diane and I did as much as we could to be there for our kids and yet we could have done a whole lot more. Diane home schooled most of our kids and as we had our own family business, very often the kids took turns coming along with me to work to learn about the plumbing trade. I remember one time working at a job and one guy said, "hey Harold, you know there's a law against child labour." We were never wealthy financially but we were billionaires when it came to a great family. I remember a time when I had an appointment out of town and it was summer time so I decided to ride my bike, Jacqui always wanted to ride with me so, we packed a picnic lunch and away we went. Once I had finished my appointment we found a great hill along the highway drove the bike up and set out the picnic, it was great! Another time I was on a road trip and Michael was with me this time, it was a cold winter day. I was in a bit of a hurry, but that never stopped Michael from talking non- stop to me as I drove. He was looking through a pamphlet about drums (go figure) and he kept trying to show me the pictures of the different drums that he wanted. Soon, I was getting a bit concerned, as the road was not great and it was a bit stormy out. So I said to Mike, "if I keep looking at pictures of drums I'm going to end up in the ditch, stuck in the snow." Then without hesitation Michael says, "WOW dad that would be great, then we can talk better. He was not concerned with an accident or being stuck out in the middle of nowhere, no, he just knew, then we could talk. We love our kids so much and like everyone else, we've made a lot of mistakes, but today we are blessed with a family that plays together, prays together, works together and are there for each other. So this Christmas be sure to give the best you've got and be sure it's from the heart, spend lots of time with family and drink deeply of the Spirit of God as He blesses us all with abundant life. Diane and I wish you all a very Blessed Christmas and may the peace, hope and blessing of the Christ child be with you all.

We are going to take some time away from the blog unless God really puts it on our hearts to share something immediately as we will be spending time with our family. So, we will talk to you in the new year, if not before. All the best to you in 2010!

Saturday surprise

MERRY CHRISTMAS, the day we celebrate the Savior's birth. This in itself should blow our socks off with excitement and anticipation. But for many reasons there are a lot of people out there that don't agree with even saying Merry Christmas. They believe so many people will be offended. Everywhere we went the people were happy to say Merry Christmas, if some don't believe in Christmas, they don't have to respond, or they can simply say, they don't believe in Christmas. That's their choice and that's okay, but why should everyone else pretend there is no Christmas because a few don't want to? Many of us want to celebrate that our Savior came as a baby, even if it's not the exact day, it's just good to give Him praise and thanksgiving for giving us hope and eternal life. So many live without hope and it can make such a difference to know the hope that Jesus brought us over 2000 years ago. Many people are hurting at this time, it brings back memories and some are very hurtful. Some marriages are broken and they need to deal with blended families, which isn't an easy thing sometimes. We need to keep these people in prayer and work to keep the marriages we are in getting better every day by giving in a little and not always expecting to get our own way. The saying that comes to mind is "Put your partner first."-Do you want it your way and always be right- or -D0 you want a good marriage, we all have this choice and now many are suffering the consequences.

This evening we got to do some carolling at a couple of senior's homes and what a great time that was. I've been told, I can't sing very well but by the grace of God and Diane's help and instead of being told that I can't sing she has encouraged me and little by little it's coming. It is amazing what encouragement can do to a person and we saw a lot of that tonight as we sang and hugged and spent time talking to many seniors. The smiles, tears and the look in their eyes said it all and they wanted to know when we would come back and do it again. What a blessing to be asked by the Alexander family to join them in blessing so many.

Well, we have most of our gift shopping done and we're getting ready for the family to arrive Monday. So our home will be filled with a lot of little ones, a lot of laughs and the best of all is we all know the reason for the season what joy that brings. I remember the first Christmas after we quit drinking it was so strange not to be pouring the drinks but what we got today is so much better than any bottle ever gave us. The spirit that we get to drink of today not only gives us life and hope but it's the life and hope we get to share to everyone. Someone once said to me, wish we had the old Harold and Diane back but they are dead and gone. P.T.L. It's amazing the people that God brings together, I remember a few years ago we were invited to a home in Caronport for a pre- Christmas supper with some other friends and after supper we all sat and passed a candle around and shared some of what we were thankful for. The reason it was a bit weird was across from me sat an RCMP officer that really shared and was open about the many blessing in his life and what God had done for him. WOW here was a guy that at one time I would have hated and feared and now was sitting across from me talking like this and today we are really good friends. The things God will do with your life and in your life all depends on if you'll give Him a chance. Sunday again tomorrow, well we know the best place to be is at church with our family, if you're wondering about a safe church to go to where you'll feel at home and be challenged draw closer to God in your walk, meet us at the Lloyd Gospel Fellowship Church 10:30 tomorrow morning. Hope to see you there, we'll be sitting near the front.

Fridays Frenzy

Christmas is a time of miracles and today is just another day of miracles. One evening as I was on my knees before our Lord and giving thanks for my day, (now before I go any further I want you all to know and try to accept that I believe that God will impart His will throught His Holy Spirit, and not to get any of you friends offended, that are attending a church where you may be told to be careful of that Holy Spirit stuff. I believe that God never stopped talking to His people or impowering us to do His work.) anyway, as I was giving thanks one evening and in need of a miracle in my life I was told by someone, and I'm sure it was God (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) that if we are not watching and aware of the many small miracles that God pours out on us every, single day, then don't hold your breath waiting for the big ones. There now that's out of the way. We can go on with the blog, "right Diane,"

"that's right Harold." We could never do this without each others help. P.T.L. After yesterdays blog I prayed because I needed a miracle or I didn't know what I would write about next. Sure enough we got our miracle of the day today, in fact we got three but I think I've probably bored you all enough for today and we can continue tomorrow........read tomorrow for the rest of the story........

( Just kidding Wendy and Dan!) This morning we got a call from the owner of the gas wells at the ranch. We have been trying to contact him for several months about sharing the lease road up to the acreages and he agreed that that should be no problem and he would like to meet with us early in the New Year to give him more info on the ranch project and what's all happening to date.

After lunch Ben and I worked on some more Christmas gifts out in the shop and then headed out to drop off some more gifts around town. I needed a watch repaired and every store I checked needed to send it away for this minor repair. We then stopped in at a little Jewelers on 50th. Well, they just fixed it right there and somehow we got talking about the ranch and well, we now have the owner, Lawrence, interested in coming out to the ranch and teaching his trade, they also have blessed us, as they asked if they could display our crosses in their store and sell them, as he said they are very well made. Thank you Lord for the gifts that you give us. It's so awesome how God puts us in the right place at the right time with the right people that want to help us with the ranch. P.T.L. Oh yah, last but not least, Mr. Ken Fast of Motion Picture Inc. phoned and we had tea this afternoon. He also he had a colleague along Ross, and they would like to explain the motion picture industry that they are setting up and wondered if we would like to be involved in several areas of the operation. Either building sets or buildings for sets and maybe to do some actual shooting and teaching out at the ranch on movie production. How great is our God!!!! and how cool is that? Gen. 1:3 "Then God said, "Let there be light

and light appeared." Yes He's amazing and He can do anything! Give Him control over your life, you'll never regret it.

Thursday the day of change

PRAISE GOD

FROM WHOM

ALL BLESSINGS

FLOW

THANKYOU

JESUS

GOD IS

GOOD ALL

THE TIME

AMEN

AMEN

How blessed we are that we serve

an awesome God,

He has no limits and we can go to Him

anytime with anything we are dealing

with and He just wants to pick us up

and carry us through whatever it is.

He is faithful!

We are blessed and highly favoured

and loved by

our Lord and Savior.

"God loved us so much that He gave

His only begotten Son, that

whoever should believe in Him,

shall not perish, but have

everlasting life." John 3:16