In Maine

Halifax was wonderful yesterday. Today we were greeted with a view of the Maine coast. We will take a "tender" from ship to shore where we will meet my sister and nephew.

Rolling Seas and Fog Horns

Fog and rain today in Nova Scotia. Shopped a quilt store in Sidney. Toni is having a hard time keeping her hair on these days.

Our Dining View of PEI

Today we visited the fabled "Green Gabled" home of Anne, walked her "Haunted Woods," and toured Prince Edward Island by bus.

Two Heritages

To the left of this fortress in Quebec is a field once owned by a "10 times great," great-grandfather. Because of a famous battle there, on the "Plains of Abraham," his name is still remembered. (Google Abraham Martin and Quebec for more info). Apparently he was from an English family of Catholic faith, who sided with "Bloody Queen Mary" who had martyred nearly 300 English reformation protesters. When Mary was dethroned they apparently fled to France and then moved on to the new world. Abraham became known as "The Scot," navigating the Saint Lawrence River as a boatsman. He was rewarded with a royal land grant.

I have another heritage through another Abraham spoken of in Genesis 12 and Hebrews 11. My children and GRANDkids have two exciting family heritage stories concerning an "Abraham." Both involve "royal" land grants!

We are on Our Way

Yesterday we flew to Montreal, last night walked her steets, this morning took a bus tour the area, in minutes we leave port! A city of converted churches and cathedrals that are now government buildings, businesses and condos. She has the worlds largest "underground city" of over 1000 stores and shops. At 7:30 dinner with Richard in a jacket and tie!

Thoughts from here and there today

I thought of Toni and her encounters with our six grandkids, when I read and prayed over Proverbs 31:26., “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.”

A marriage counselor asks the couple to punctuate correctly: “woman without her man is nothing.” One wrote, “Woman, without her man, is nothing.” The other wrote, “Woman! Without her, man is nothing.” … Adam said “WOW!” … This is!” (Genesis 2:23)

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, claimed, conservatism is the policy of “make no change and consult your grandmother when in doubt.”

I enjoyed noting the survival courage of the men of the Essex. It is the true story that is the basis for the novel Moby Dick. R.C. Sproul considers this work of Herman Melville as one of the deepest theological novels in American literature. I was struck with the two leadership styles of the captain and the first mate. The phlegmatic Captain leaves too many choices to democracy and the choleric First Mate can be a Jekyll and Hyde paternal autocrat. But after they are separated in the open waters both come more to the center and each commands their own whaling craft with strength and hope until they are rescued. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick

George Whitefield’s message “Method Grace” was very thought provoking…I loved his use of language. His description of any righteousness apart from Christ, as “… so many splendid sins,” is a great twist of words!

A Papa Walk

Today, I listened to Job talk about praying graciously for friends with goofy theology and goofy advice. I heard George Whitefield speak about the “Method of Grace.” And I conversed with Benji. The perspectives were refreshing; one from a life lived millennia ago, anther a couple of centuries ago and a third life that has not yet touched a decade. Countless people have also listen to Job and George but only two will remember this day and this walk. Only two will talked again about walking several miles and finding shine pieces of fresh asphalt, a sand scoured penny and a bottle cap. Only two will remember a fragile “butterfly skin” along a road and the brutally honest speculations about its demise.

A Good Start

Toni gets camera happy