BOXING DAY is a holiday celebration in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. It is also , Saint Stephen's Day, rembering the first Christian to die for his faith, mentioned in the Bible (The Book of Acts 7 and 8)Boxing Day is so called because on this day it was customary for tradesmen to collect their Christmas Box (gift or tip) in return for their good service through the past year. Also it included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, and the needy.
FOR us in Testimony it is usually a day when all the children in the four Homes, with their carers, all come together with us for a pic-nic ......usually in a neighbouring school's Swimming Pool. TO-DAY the skies are cloudy and grey, no sign of sunshine. It has RAINED all night! BUT the children still clamour for the chance of a swim......SO it looks as if we shall all pile into a couple of our school buses and make our way to what looks to be a rather damp and chilly venue!!! Is this WISE? Surely NOT, the children will catch a chill - us as well....... BUT this is part of the fun and joy of being ONE FAMILY for a few hours together, Granpa and Granma as well. The children want to have the chance to show off and make a splash. It has happened before on colder occasions - and no ill effects - just laughter and high jinks. It's already noon as I type this, and by 1p.m. we should all be together having lunch amidst the shouts and screams of excited kids. It will be a good time - they will play till they are tired, then back to their family homes for a quiet evening and probably an early night!
Yesterday, Christmas Day, we were all in church together, and there was Carol Singing - the group that had gone singing all around our neighbourhood on the 23rd treated us to m
any beautiful carols that had been in their presentations. There were testimonies and words of Thanksgiving for the year behind us. AND our two new little boys, now resident in Testimony House were there with us all. Did I mention last week that they were to come? I think I did.....Yes.... Their names are Ezekiel and Noah. We have about four other Ezekiel's but this is the first Noah that has ever come to stay with us. It has taken them a few days to get used to so many new faces, and a new environment, but they are already looking settled. They are brothers aged 10 and 9 years old. This photo was taken just a day after they arrived.
any beautiful carols that had been in their presentations. There were testimonies and words of Thanksgiving for the year behind us. AND our two new little boys, now resident in Testimony House were there with us all. Did I mention last week that they were to come? I think I did.....Yes.... Their names are Ezekiel and Noah. We have about four other Ezekiel's but this is the first Noah that has ever come to stay with us. It has taken them a few days to get used to so many new faces, and a new environment, but they are already looking settled. They are brothers aged 10 and 9 years old. This photo was taken just a day after they arrived.I shared a while on Luke 2v7 - '..there was no room or place for them in the inn.'
When the Son said to the Father, in Heaven, "Lo I have come to do Thy will -prepare me a body..." did he know he would be born in a cattle shed, unable to communicate or fend for himself? Did he know what 'Doing the Will of His Father' would in fact expose him to? Did our Father in Heaven know? Yes HE knew. They both knew, and they 
did not shrink from it. They both new that 'In the VOLUME of the Book it was written (of God's Son - and ever consecutive child of god) that he had come to do God's Will'. It IS written through all Scripture, through ALL of the Word of God, both written and demonstrated in Christ, that we are ALL brought into existence - each one of us - to DO the Will of God. To DO what God wants done, no matter where or how, or how difficult or how costly it might be to our own fleshly inclination. The ONLY way for any of us to get back to God, back home to where we belong, IS the way of the Cross; the way of doing what GOD needs doing - even if it means death......... Remember not only those that die like Stephen the evangelist are in fact MARTYRES. A Martyr is one basically anyone who sets him or herself to die to self's desires in order to DO the Will of God. These and only these are the True SAINTS of GOD. Baby Jesus is the first of MANY BRETHREN born to fulfill the Words of the BOOK, and to DO the Will of God. Jesus did not always enjoy doing it. BUT He did it, and we are told that - looking back on the pains, sorrows and anguish of his human sufferings - he would be satisfied that it was for a right and profitable reason. - Isaiah 53v10-11.
did not shrink from it. They both new that 'In the VOLUME of the Book it was written (of God's Son - and ever consecutive child of god) that he had come to do God's Will'. It IS written through all Scripture, through ALL of the Word of God, both written and demonstrated in Christ, that we are ALL brought into existence - each one of us - to DO the Will of God. To DO what God wants done, no matter where or how, or how difficult or how costly it might be to our own fleshly inclination. The ONLY way for any of us to get back to God, back home to where we belong, IS the way of the Cross; the way of doing what GOD needs doing - even if it means death......... Remember not only those that die like Stephen the evangelist are in fact MARTYRES. A Martyr is one basically anyone who sets him or herself to die to self's desires in order to DO the Will of God. These and only these are the True SAINTS of GOD. Baby Jesus is the first of MANY BRETHREN born to fulfill the Words of the BOOK, and to DO the Will of God. Jesus did not always enjoy doing it. BUT He did it, and we are told that - looking back on the pains, sorrows and anguish of his human sufferings - he would be satisfied that it was for a right and profitable reason. - Isaiah 53v10-11.It is 1.45p.m. The sun has come out! The clouds are dispersing! The children are already splashing and shrieking with delight in the pool. Isn't God Good, all the time! Yes He is. This Christmas has been full of good things for Esther and me - but not without some distress and disquiet brought by the Evil One. Yet this is not to be always avoided, and He who has suffered with and for us, stands with us still to give us of HIS strength and faith to bear all things for the Father.
Next Saturday it will be the 2nd day of a new year. May our God prepare each one of us for this unique year of 2010 A.D. We hope it will be HAPPY, but if it is not always so, we know the Father will have known of our hurt and pain and disappointment before it came upon us, and that He allowed it for a purpose - that His Will might be DONE in us and by us.
God Bless you all with His Love
John and Esther
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