Simple Blessing

Sat, 21 Dec 1996

Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 337 Following on "Simple Living" (CLM 336), here is Alwyn telling us how something doubtless very commonplace to many of us - a computer, a modem, faxes, e-mail and the Internet - was a simple but significant blessing. However, as you read his story, you will see God's love and grace in action. Can we think of a simple blessing for somebody we know "out there" this Christmas? This appeared in ALL ABOUT FAMILIES, edited by Norman Bales who wrote: We recently received a letter from one of our international subscribers, which we thought you would appreciate. I have edited it for length. ---------------------- Dear Christian Friends, Greetings in the precious Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Two weeks ago I joined the internet. I believe this is the direction the Lord has led me in - I don't know why, or how, or where....but here I am! Then last week I began to use the fax facility on the modem - wow! And today I have at last found Christian companionship from somewhere out there in cyberspace. But it's not by chance that I'm here.... Physically disabled by poliomyelitis when I was two weeks old, I was abandoned by my [unmarried?] mother. God protected me and undertook for my needs: He placed me in the care of a Christian institution, where I was reared and educated until the age of 16. During my time here I was hospitalised on a number of occasions for major surgery related to the effects of polio: for example, straightening of spine and legs, etc. Strenuous efforts were made to help me walk with the aid of calipers and crutches, but these were finally abandoned at the orthopaedic consultant's recommendation: the bones that kept breaking through my frequent falls were one day going to be non-repairable! And so I am confined to a wheelchair (now electric) for mobility. Although I do not remember doing it, apparently I asked Jesus into my life when I was very young; accordingly I grew up as a young Christian - sheltered from the influences of the world. In 1967 I was employed as a telephone switchboard operator at the local hospital. . . . I went courting the world into deeper and deeper pits. Some members from the Nurses' Christian Fellowship invited me to various meetings: I went, and heard the Gospel faithfully proclaimed - but no, my companionship was well and truly settled in sin.... Working as a telephonist was very rewarding and very fulfilling: meeting new people, chatting with old friends, comforting the distressed, taking ambulance requests, being on stand-by relief should another hospital in the province find itself temporarily short of staff, etc, etc. And then one day on the phone with the Salaries and Wages office, I met Evelyn....and that was to change the rest of my life! We have grown steadily but not dramatically in the faith: God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and has undertaken to supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. The cross we must bear is not an easy one (I would have worried if it had been); but we take comfort in knowing that the cross Christ bore for us was exceedingly heavier, and in this context ours is so much lighter. For very many years I have been unable to work: I've since had two heart attacks, fell over a wall from my wheelchair and lost the sight of my left eye (from perfect vision), developed ulcerative colitis and diverticulitis, and endured poverty at the highest level. It's not an easy life; and when we see so many prosper around us, we ask "Why, God; why?" So many can have their homes beautifully decorated and carpeted and furnished: and yet we know that He is faithful to His Word, and will keep us right to the very end of time and eternity. We have a peace that surpasses all understanding - even our own! Thus saith the Lord: I will never leave you, nor forsake you! Praise to His wonderful Name. Only a fool fails to comprehend the magnificence of His promise! Read it forwards: I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Read it backwards: you forsake, nor you leave, never will I! The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. And so to today. Our church bought a computer for me to use: compiling the weekly announcements bulletin, corresponding, dealing with baptismal enquiries and searches - and Evelyn bought the modem for my big 5-0! That accounts for my new-found interest in the internet and e-mail! It's a route I believe God has brought me along: I know not why, how or where....but here am I! May God bless you in your ministry. I look forward to receiving your e-mail magazine each week, and I'm sure we at this end will be as richly blessed through the reading of it as you will be for the sending of it. Yours in that Name that is above all names, and in His service, Alwyn. _______________________ Minden Church of Christ mcoc@mindchurch.org with the Subject line SUBSCRIBE FAMILY, if you wish to subscribe direct to All About Families E-mail: nlbales@prysm.net Web: http://www.mindchurch.org/family ____________________________ Clergy/Leaders' Mailing List (Moderated) This mailing list is open to all Christians via Internet e-mail and most fax destinations. Submissions welcome: clergy@pastornet.net.au To unsubscribe, e-mail to: clergy-request@pastornet.net.au with SUBJECT reading UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright: Postings may be re-sent ONLY with all copyright notifications intact. A PastorNET ministry: manager@pastornet.net.au

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