Foundations

I stood at the entrance of the driveway slowly allowing my eyes to drift from one side to the other as I surveyed the farm once again.

Oh, I had been there before, but yet, it was like I was seeing it for the very first time all over again.

The farm house painted red and white stood firm in its rightful place. Each piece of lumbar; each section of the cement wall; each color carefully chosen and placed revealing the work of a skilled craftsman and hard working farmer.

Standing firm on a strong foundation.

Small cabins, each with their own unique sense of style and artistry, built by the farmer himself were also standing firm and strong.

Each one carefully built so that as children brought home grandchildren, they would have a place to stay. Little cabins that they would forever call home.

Each cabin showing signs that they had not only weathered many a winter and spring storm, but had seen many years of laughter and tears and pranks and slumber

parties.

All still standing firm on a strong foundation.

There were the barns and the tractors that had seen many a day on the fields bringing in the harvest. There were the trees that had been planted many years before, now standing tall and strong providing coolness on a hot summer day.

But as my eyes slowly drifted from one side to another, something else caught my eye.

It was more than just farm homes and cabins built on a strong foundation.

It was a family.

A family that had been built on a strong foundation for generations.

Four generations.

Four, because I was bringing my children to see the “great-grandparents”, the hardworking farmer and his beautiful bride. I was bringing my wife home

to see her grandparents.

Four generations would visit for a few hours one sunny summer afternoon day. Recalling the “good old days”. Catching up on the present activities of daily life and looking forward to the days the lie ahead with anticipation.

Yes, it was a family built on a strong foundation.

Not built on wood and stone and cement. But built on the precious Word of God.

Words spoken by the patriarch, the farmer himself, revealed a depth of wisdom that only comes through the living out the powerful and true Word of God.

Words passed on from generation to generation to generation to yet another generation.

Like the Psalmist reveals, “We will not keep the Word from our children, we will tell the generations to come about the works of the Lord.”

It was a good day.

It was good to stand. To look. To gaze and ponder. And see it anew once again.

And to be thankful for a strong foundation.

Rudy V. Evans

Children's Pastor

North Peace MB Church