Norfords' Ramblings

Monday January 5, 2009

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal 6:9-10.

We have not only enjoyed the company of good friends and relatives over the past two or three weeks while travelling to our ultimate destination here in Worthing, England, but also the benefits of their kindness and generosity. Much of our travelling would be expensive and isolated if it weren’t for the help we’ve received from those who have “not become weary in doing good.” In particular, we have received delightful hospitality from our daughter and family in Montreal, long time friends and their family in Oxford England and my sister and her family in Brighton. I trust they will all “reap a harvest” in due time.

But on a personal note, facing prostate cancer and the surgery that goes with it would be far more daunting without my wife Ann beside me. I am not the gregarious type she is, and her constant companionship for a lifetime has filled almost all my needs for human company. Needless to say, her need for others and my natural tendency to avoid them creates interesting exchanges on occasion and well expresses our happy incompatibility! But despite our differences—perhaps even because of them—Ann has been a faithful partner in all our earthly adventures for the nearly sixty years we have known each other. Because of this, I know she will be there with me during a period of uncertainty; her care and love my primary mainstay. My confidence for the future is buoyed up by her unwavering closeness and exuberance.

At this point I can almost hear you thinking: “But he said earlier that his confidence was in God. And doesn’t the Bible say we mustn’t put confidence in the flesh?” This idea assumes that confidence in people and confidence in God are mutually exclusive. I have confidence in Ann partly because she is the gift that God has given to me. We have all been created to be interconnected, and God serves us through others. Ann deserves my confidence because of her trust in God and her faithfulness to me through our life together. Therefore, I can have faith in God because of his faithfulness expressed through her.

Without Ann, my life would have been much more difficult and a lot less exciting. She certainly has not wearied in doing good, although I am not necessarily her reward. God could provide for my needs in other ways, but I like it the way it is. Stay the way you are Ann! I love you.