Wednesday Report

We were so blessed to spend a few hours with the owner of one the best restaurants in the country

Spiro. At Spiro's each and every year he feeds over 400 people at his thanks giving meal for

free. Like Spiro said God puts it on our hearts to do something and the choice is ours whether

or not to do it. Spiro may not have been God's first choice or even His best choice to do this

incredible blessing of out reach and love to our community, but Spiro was the one to listen and

do what needed to be done. Can you even imagine what the world could be like if every one of

did what God has or had whispered into our hearts to do, that would make a difference in the

lives of those that live in the world that we live in. WoW go figure that one out !!!

Many of you are probably thinking at this moment who's this guy and what's this Ranch thing all about. Well, can you even imagine a place, a Ranch that would have a large guest house, a beautiful old style hip roof barn with corrals and horses to ride, a big shop to store construction and building equipment and all kinds of tools, a green house that could grow tomatoes all year round and a restaurant to feed travellers and workers as they travel down the highway. In the middle of it all would be an old style chapel. But the best part would be that the entire ranch would be a place where men and women could come to learn about life skills and trades and how to be a positive, productive and purposeful member of society or in a nut shell HOPE. A place where one can find out where your strengths are and to be able to be shown and instructed in such a way that you are able to be the best that God created you to be. It may be framing a house, doing the plumbing, electrical, drywall or building the cabinets. But it could also be growing a garden or learning to work alongside a powerful horse. You may also be full of musical talent and have never had a chance to play an instrument or had anyone take the time to show you what and where your gifts are. A place where you can spend a month learning about working in the trades and getting to know the lingo and how to be a good helper or worker on a job site and in that month you would also get safety training. Also you may want to learn to how to work in a kitchen and learn about food service or how to be a good waitress and serve others with your skills and positive attitude. Each and every one of us has been blessed with purpose and gifts that need only to be drawn out of us by someone that is patient enough to encourage and help you to be the best at what you are called to be.

Now if you will just give me a few moments of your time I would like to share a few things with you. Back in the late 60's when I was in grade 7 our mother left home never to return and we four kids and our Dad were left to continue on our own. At a high school reunion they read an essay that I had written about how I wished there were a place where kids could go when there was trouble at home. About the same time as I had written that essay I remember late one evening sitting on the steps of our municipal office that was just around the corner from our old house, and as I sat there I could hear a sound that with every second was getting louder and louder and a few minutes later the main street of our little town was filled with so many motorcycles and they were so loud. They traveled up and down the main street in front of me for quite some time and every bike was unique and the chrome really shone, especially in the dark and under the street lights. The neatest machine of all was a trike built out of an old Volkswagen car and they had a piece if steel sticking out of the rear so that when ever the driver would crack the throttle it would almost instantly pull into a great cat walk, the piece of steel out the back kept him from flipping that thing over on to his head and as that steel wheelie bar hit the ground the sparks would fly and what a sight that was. As I watched not a car would drive onto main street and anyone walking on the sidewalks just stepped back and watched the bike gang have their way. Eventually all the bikers would park their bikes in front of the local bar and

head on in to the bar for more fun. When I was sure that they were all inside I got up the nerve to walk across the street and down to where the bikes were parked. The noise from inside the bar was very familiar to me as many times I went to the door marked beverage room asking for my dad to come home for supper or if he had some spare change which quite often he would give me. As I walked by the bikes the smell of burnt oil and hot pipes was everywhere and I didn't mind it a bit. The paint jobs on some of the bikes was great and yet on others there was only scratched up fenders and tanks and different old colors left. I wandered back to my step in front of the old brick office building and as I sat there I knew that some day I wanted the same freedom and power that these bikers had and obviously enjoyed to the max but boy each and every one of them put a real fear into a boy. As I continued in my state of dreamland I almost jumped out of my skin when ..........