Wednesday Report

Not too many of us take much time to think about what kind of country we live in as long as everything around us is going ok. As long as we have a few good friends, a nice home to live in, a nice truck or car to drive. And an added bonus would be a cottage at the lake and maybe a winter holiday to get away from all the cold for even just a little while. There is nothing wrong with any of the above, we work hard and maybe feel we have earned the right to make and afford these life's pleasures. In fact Diane and I were blessed to have spent two weeks in Mexico last year at this very time of the Canadian cold winter and it was a very nice holiday and we can't wait to get another chance to go again. Getting up in the morning whenever, having breakfast, spending time doing our exercises and devotions and then heading down for lunch and then off to the water and spending time in the sun meeting a lot of people and eating a lot of great food and of course shopping. What more could one ask for in a holiday, not much? Well one afternoon Diane and I were sitting down at the beach and we thought, lets sit down by the water on our chairs and let the waves wash our feet. Well, like most people we wanted more so we went into the water a little more and every once in a while we would get one heck of a wave that almost would knock us over. We would be laughing and soon we had others joining us and we were all talking away when a whopper of a wave came in and knocked us butt over tea kettle. Well everyone survived but Diane was slammed into the lady beside her who was talking with us and her glasses were knocked off her head and gone in the powerful waves. We all looked desperately for them but one of the guys with us said forget it, they are gone for good as the waves sucks them out and that's it for good. They'll be buried deep into the sand somewhere. Well, Diane got a bit upset with him and said she was believing they will show up as she was praying for God to give her a miracle. So, please not talk so negative. He said sorry but he lost a gold chain a few days ago worth 400.oo and not a chance to find that either. Well Diane's glasses were brand new and they cost us big bucks as they were progressives and we were not going to give up looking and believing. Many of the people on the beach stayed and searched the beach for them, but they didn't show up. Everyone was so helpful and really tried hard to find them. Two days before that two girls were playing in the ocean and one came out and her friend is saying, where are your sunglasses, Diane is standing there and a wave brings them up into her hands, the girl was so thankful as they were brand new $100.00 sunglasses. That evening after supper and the beach was a bit quieter, Diane and I went down to where the glasses were lost in the water and we spent time praying that God would bring those glasses back, we were sure they would be damaged but if we only had the glasses Diane could get them replaced under warranty. Another couple we had met came along and talked a bit and they felt for us but you could tell they felt it was a lost cause. Diane emailed all her prayer warriers to pray for a miracle and just kept speaking to the Lord, He knows the number of hairs on our heads and how many grains of sand in the ocean, so He can bring those glasses back even though it doesn't look good, humanly speaking. He also brought those sunglasses out right into Diane's hands, that the girl had lost previously so we prayed and prayed He would do that for us as well. For the next few days we kept asking everyone along that section of the beach if they had seen a pair of glasses and nothing. Everyday we would ask at all the information booths if anyone had turned them in. Then on the third day instead of going to the beach we did a bit of touring around town and when we got back later we headed down to the beach area and no sooner had we gotten to the pool area and everyone kept coming up to us asking if we had got the glasses back as someone said that they think maybe our glasses were found and that Lorenzo the security guard has them. So again we went to all the security guards and all the information desks and no-one seemed to know a Lorenzo the security guard. So we finally gave up and went to bed but a lot more hopeful that someone had the glasses. The next day we came out and a guy we had met from Winterpeg asked if Diane was the one who had lost the glasses, as he had been there looking when they were lost. We said "yes" and he said he might have them as he was on the beach when they washed up right around where they had disappeared and another man who had also been helping us look caught them and gave them to Lorenzo, who was just a tourist not a security guard. So we went back to their room with them and sure enough he had Diane's glasses and he said they had washed up right where we had lost them. They were sand blasted and Diane could not use them but when we got home she was able to return them and within a week she had a brand new pair. It's great to know that when we run out of self that we have an awesome God that loves us and takes care of even a pair of lost glasses. P.T.L. As someone has also shared we need to have that little mustard seed of faith, and don't let the nay-sayers take that faith away, our God is more than able.

Matthew 17:20 "He replied, "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith, as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

And that's the kind of faith we need to build this ranch. As we go out each day talking to leaders in our community, sharing the ranch vision with them all, and as Merv Loewen told us, show the picture and you will get all you need to build the ranch. So we continue to show the picture to everyone we meet even to the people we met on the beach in Mexico, which also helped to build their faith when we shared what the Lord was doing and how he brought the land we needed to build this ranch. One of the believers we met in Mexico was from Steinbach,

Mb. and wants to come and teach outdoor living at the Ranch when we get going, so it's great to share even in Mexico.

Today we met with the pastor at the Lutheran Church and had another great meeting.

Another miracle of the day is that we heard that Jonathon, a roofer wants to get in touch with us and would like to help us with teaching roofing out at the ranch, because someone was faithful to share what God is doing with the Ranch and shared that with him, so now he wants to be a part of it also. God is so Good!