October was a month of renewal. Renewed friendships, renewed fellowship in the Lord and renewed relationships with family. Spring is usually thought of as a time of renewal, not the autumn, but for Cindy and me it was a reversal this year. The month started out with the first ever All Ireland conference for the Calvary Chapel fellowships on the island. We were able to renew friendships with all the folks we had met just a few weeks before during the children’s ministry training. Also, some of our wonderful pastor friends came over there, too, including the great Irish ex-patriot John Henry Corcoran who is now based in Costa Mesa California.
The conference itself was themed around the “Parables of the Kingdom of God” and 9 messages were given by all the Irish pastors as well as those who had traveled from America. The result was a renewed closeness with the Lord.
The month ended on a high note with the visit of Dan and Deb Schell, Cindy’s oldest brother and his wife. We all had a delightful time and of course, good ‘craic’. It was nice to have them to ourselves in our own home. When the Schell family gathers there is always a flurry of activity and a lot of people around. Their visit with us this time resulted with a renewed and deepened relationship between brother and sister.
So it was all about family this month. We can see in our natural family an image of the family of God – we are brothers and sisters in the faith. God pours out His blessings on the family and in a variety of ways we received those blessings in this past month. We thank the Lord for the blessing of renewal in the family at home, the family of faith and the family on earth. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” 2Cor 4:16
Cindy, John Henry & Rick
Dan and Deb by Belfast City Hall
Dan, Deb, Cindy & Rick
Visiting an old graveyard
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Dan and Deb at Galgorm Castle
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