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PSALM 19:4-6

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 15, 2020
Psalm 19:4b-6 “In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.”
 
You, Lord, in your wisdom, goodness and might, created the sun, making it exactly the right size, burning at precisely the right temperature. Then you placed the earth in just the right orbit around it, not too far, not too close, providing exactly the right amount of heat, light and energy for carbon-based life. The sun speaks to us of your provision and love, your wisdom and power.
 
When simple observation shows us the exactness and wisdom of your design, with so many factors being preciously what is needed, why do so many not believe? Your Word tells us that they have a veil over their faces, put there by Satan and held there by their sin and selfishness. Only as they turn to you is it taken away (2 Cor. 3:15, 4:3,4).
 
Praise be to you, Lord, that you call all to turn to you, even though you know that all will not choose to believe. Like the sun, you constantly shine out on us your warm love, your light giving grace and your energy providing goodness.
You are the God of undying, unending kindness, of supremely positive provision, of ever-flowing grace and goodness. And, in spite of what we are in our nature, you constantly give good to us, because it is your nature do so: you are Love, you are Light, you are Life. And you will go on doing good to your creatures no matter how they respond.
 
I praise you for your graciousness, for your righteousness, for your holiness, for your loveliness. I praise you that you have caused your face to shine upon us; that in your great love, you have equipped us for life and godliness; that you protect us from true evil; that you call us to partnership with you in the great plans you have for the conclusion of the world, for the sweeping of many into your Kingdom, and for the ending of evil in the universe.
 
You are completely worthy of all worship, you are supremely worthy of honor and praise, you are richly worthy of all exaltation and obedience. I bow now before you this morning, Lord; help me to rise up to give you glory and honor and praise by walking in the light of your Word, living an obedient life worthy of you, doing what I know pleases you, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving. I praise you now for your provision to do this.
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Our Lavish God

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 14, 2020
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious…” (Ps. 103:8a).
 
You are full of rich love, caring for your creatures with deep, overflowing, unending compassion. You are intimately concerned for each one and each situation. You watch, observe, protect, guide and reveal yourself to each one, calling them all to drink of your grace.
 
You are the ever-giving, ever-sharing, ever-generous, ever-kind and ever-helping God. You provide air, sunshine, food, water, relationships, beauty, protection, guidance and wisdom. You generously pour out on us your goodness every day. When we awake, you are there, while we sleep you watch over us. Your unending supply of all that is good never fails, you are graciousness itself and we exalt you for that.
 
“…slow to anger, abounding in love” (Ps. 103:8b). You, Lord God, are patient, working with your stubborn, rebellious, obstinate creatures over long periods of time. With Abraham, you endured his fear of Pharaoh, his listening to his wife’s cultural urgings, his repeated failures; you waited and taught, taught and waited. In the end, Abraham trusted you completely, being willing to offer his only son, the promised son, and became the spiritual father of faith for us all.
 
With Jacob, you promised him all but he did not believe you. So, you patiently waited while he manipulated, twisted and turned everything to what he thought was his advantage. You gently wrestled with him through his whole life, for 137 years, and in the end, he finally bowed before you in worship. You are slow to anger, your love abounds, it is immeasurable, it is ever flowing.
 
Praise be to you, Great God, Lavish Lord, King of Glory, Commander of Compassion, God of Grace, Lord of Love, Revealer of Reality, Provider of Patience, Teller of Truth, Redeemer of rebels—for you are worthy.
 
Prayer: “To you be glory and honor in my life today, Lord God, the compassionate, gracious and patient One. I bow before you in adoration, I rise up to obey you in love. Guide me in doing all in your wisdom and power today. Amen.”
 
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Return to US 2012

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 13, 2020
After leaving Germany it was so good to arrive back in Connecticut and settle into our little house by the water. We could sit in our living room, look out the big windows and enjoy the ever-changing view of our pond.
 
The quietness, the rich green, the sunny days all began the healing process for Barbara. It took more than a year for her to see improvement in her immune system and physical strength, but she was able to get back to gardening, walking and enjoying her good friends here.
 
The first year was one of visiting all our supporting churches to report on the events of the last five years, so we did quite a bit of traveling. Then, at the end of 2012 Barbara officially retired and was very glad not to have to write any more monthly reports and do any official traveling.
 
Although I continued on with Christar, my role changed. I gave over my area directorship to one of my disciples. Shortly afterwards he was asked to become the International Director of Christar, and passed on the area directorship to another of my disciples.
 
My new role was being a Life Coach to anyone in Christar who wants input on anything. And I will do that for anyone else, too. Sometimes people are assigned to me for counseling, which is a bit more challenging. Most of this work was done with Skype over the internet, so in any one week, I may visit several areas of the world via my computer.
 
Along with this I continued to teach in various training sessions for Christar, travelling to Texas, Michigan and overseas. The Lord also brought invitations to speak in various churches, and I continued to write, working on books and lessons.
 
Living on the family homestead (my boys are the sixth generation of our family to live here) adds another dimension, that of physical labor, which I enjoy very much. There is never any lack of things to do, with numerous old buildings that need upkeep after thirty years of neglect. It’s great to get my hands dirty and my muscles toned up with such work.
 
What the future holds, the Lord knows. I suspect more of the same as people come for advice, teaching and input. My first book, EQUIPPED! continues to change lives and bring opportunities to speak and counsel. I suspect the other books will do the same.
 
So, as I look back over the last 68 years, remembering the many and wonderful things God has done in my life, two emotions stand out.
 
First is the wonder at why God invited me to join Him in His plans; I didn’t deserve it, I wasn’t equipped or trained for it, but that’s the essence of the gospel. God calls His enemies to become His children and calls them to work with Him! And so He did with me; and so He desires to do with all who will answer His invitation to become children of God.
 
The second emotion is thankfulness. I am thankful for how He set me free and for how He protected and used me and my little family over the years to bring a bit more honor to His name. What a privilege to be an instrument in His hands.
 
Now with a few more years left to live for Him here, eternity stretches out before me: an endless time to serve Jesus, to know Him more and more, to revel in His love and rejoice in His goodness. May you join us there, too: Jesus stands with the door open to all who will come.
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Psalm 19:1-4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 13, 2020
Psalm 19 Praise you, Lord, that you are the God of communication, laying out before all mankind the message of your existence: the Almighty One who is there. As it says in Psalm 19:1,
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
[Even in its fallen and twisted state, all creation shouts out that there is a good and wise Creator. Anyone honestly looking at the way things are has to see that they are intentionally designed–made, not the result of chance. The beauty, the complexity, the rhythms of life, the power, the expanse—all speak of a Creator.
Psalm 19:2 “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”
[We are constantly surrounded with the message of the skies and stars, of birds and butterflies, ants and elephants, blooms and babies. Plan and purpose are everywhere, beauty abounds and colors bring joy–the happy yellow of a daffodil, the royal purple of an iris, the bright blue of the sky all shout, “There is a Creator and He is wise and wonderful, powerful and present!”]
Psalm 19:3,4 “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
[I think of my 78 year old Eskimo friend who grew up on the Eastern shore of Siberia, really at the end of the earth. As a teen, looking at the beauty of the animals, sea and mountains, he came to the conclusion that the demons they worshiped, who did such ugly things, could never have created all this beauty as they claimed.
 
“There must be a good creator God,” he thought. And, at 18, God brought him into contact with a follower of Jesus, who opened the Bible for him, and he was ready to believe. He had heard the message of creation and understood it and has now been a follower of Jesus for 60 years!
Paul echoes this same truth in the New Testament, “…what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19,20).
You, Lord, have revealed yourself to all through creation, giving all a chance to see and understand that there is a good Creator God. You give them enough light to make them think, and if they want to know more, you will bring further light into their life.
Praise be to you for your great love for your rebellious creatures, your marvelous grace and your persistent pursuit of sinners, saving all who are willing. You are the One we can trust, if we will just look around us! Open our eyes so we may delight in your love of beauty, that our faith may deepen every day!]
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Is God Fair? Part 3

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 11, 2020
Is God Fair? Part 3
In answering the question, “Is God fair?” (meaning, in today’s thinking, “Does He give everyone the same things?”), we have looked at the first two parts of the answer: “No” and “Yes.”
The third answer to this question is another, “No.” In His dealings with us, in what He gives to His creatures in general and His beloved children in specific, God, humanly speaking, is divinely, magnificently and magnanimously unfair.
God loves diversity and we see this in how He works in our lives. He is able to take the negative effects of the Fall, where all creation was twisted, and use them for good in us. In this scheme of things each gets what he or she needs to come to know Him and then to serve Him.
–Some people He creates with great intelligence, others with simple minds.
–Some are born beautiful, others plain, the rest are somewhere in between.
–Some are born healthy , others with birth defects or serious illnesses.
–Some grow up strong and live long, some die as babies, others die in between.
–Some grow up with many opportunities, some with few, others with none.
–Some have wonderful parents, some are totally neglected and abused, most have average ones.
–Some live in wealth, some in poverty, some in middle class income.
–Some have prominent spiritual gifts, like teaching, or leading, while others have gifts used in the background, like mercy or service.
Humanly speaking God is unfair in this, but divinely speaking, we know that He is wise and has a purpose for each in what He gives and allows; we can trust Him to do and give what is best for each.
He knows what challenges each person requires to see his or her need for a Savior, and then to grow spiritually. He does what is best for each, individually tailoring circumstances and events.
This is very “unfair” from the politically correct perspective, but very loving and wise from God’s perspective of Truth, Wisdom, and his ultimate goal to eliminate evil, to save all who are willing and to bring in a new and perfect heaven and earth.
God has also distributed roles as He sees fit, much to the consternation of many today. This includes roles in the spiritual (gifts), intellectual, physical and relational realms. Here are some very obvious, yet in our society, often rejected examples of the roles He’s given to men and women.
–Men are to procreate. Women are to bear and nurse babies.
–Men are to voluntarily, wholeheartedly love, be understanding, nurture & encourage their wives. Women are to voluntarily respect and follow their husbands.
–Men are to lead their families. Wives are to be helpers to their husbands. Men are to listen to women’s perspectives and take them into account in making decisions.
–Men are to teach and lead mixed groups in the Kingdom. Women are to teach and lead women and children in the Kingdom.
 
In this “unfair” distribution of roles, God knows and does what is best. We can trust Him in His wisdom, love, grace and sovereignty to give to each person what that one needs to come to Him, to live a useful and meaningful life, to develop in a healthy and effective way.
So is God fair? “No,” “Yes,” and “No.” Does God have the right to be so? Absolutely: He is the Creator of all, the Most High, the Almighty, the Beginner and Ender of time. There is no one who can challenge Him (as Job found in chapters 38-41 of his book), for the Lord God is perfect in every way.
 
No human could think up such a wonderful God whose character is multifacetedly perfect and beyond comprehension in His Wisdom, Power, Grace and Love. He is totally independent of His creation, he has no need of us; for in His triuneness there is perfect community, love and completeness, which have existed from eternity. This is the God who knows what He’s doing and I choose to trust Him! How about you?
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Is God Fair Part 2

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 10, 2020
Is God fair? Part 2
As stated in part one, fairness, as defined in our age of tolerance, is that everyone should to get the same thing. In light of this, we have to answer the question, “Is God fair” with “No,” “Yes” and “No.” We looked at the first “No” in part one–God is not fair, in that He doesn’t give us what we deserve, rather He gives us mercy. Now we will look at this from another perspective.
“Yes, God is fair.” As you know, He has provided a way of salvation , and in this we see His “fairness:” He gives the same potential to everyone. Here are several points of this fairness.
–In creating all human beings in His image, God bequeathed to all the same worth and possibility of relationships (Gen. 1:26,27).
–Jesus confirmed this worth when He died and provided the potential for salvation for all who have ever lived and ever will live. “Christ Jesus…gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Tim 2:6, as well as 1John 2:2, Heb. 2:9, 4:10)
–We can only be saved by faith; this is true for everyone, no matter what his or her age, intelligence, education, religion, status, wealth, health, strength, home or family. It’s the same for all. (Eph. 2:8, Rom. 1:17)
–The Holy Spirit works in the life of every person in the whole world to convince each one of his or her need for Jesus as Savior. The Spirit “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (John 16:7-11).
Every person has the revelation of God’s character in creation “…what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom. 1″19,20).
–God watches over each person, is aware of the heart condition of each, and loves each with the same great love. (Psalm 33:13-15, Psalm 145:10-16,)
–God has the same desire for everyone: that all be saved, although because of their unbelief, many will refuse His salvation. “God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:4, also 2 Peter 3:9, John 1:7)
–God will condemn all sin, and anyone who clings to it rather than accepting His offer of grace and protection, will condemn themselves, along with the sin they chose and loved. (John 3:18)
In this non-exhaustive list of Scriptural points, God offers to all the same possibility of having eternal life, of becoming His child, of entering His Kingdom and Family and of receiving the same gifts and privileges He has for them. And the way to accept them is the same for all: by faith, a gift He also offers to all. In His mercy God is fair in offering salvation to all, and I am thankful for it! This is the God we can trust wholeheartedly. Help us to do so today, Lord!
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Is God Fair I

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 9, 2020
Is God fair? Part 1
Fairness, as defined in our age of “tolerance,” is that everyone should get the same thing, be given “what we deserve.” In light of this, when we ask the question, “Is God fair?” we have to answer the question, with “No,” “Yes” and “No.” We’ll look at the first answer today.
So, is God fair? “No!” If God were fully fair and gave us what we actually and naturally deserved, all people, as sin-twisted rebels, would immediately be sent to Hell. As the Word says, we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and in our natural selves there dwells no good thing (Rom 7:18).
Since God is righteous, He must punish sin–if He did not punish it, there would be no justice, with no hope of change for the good, and no solution to the problem of evil. Before a just God, we would naturally all go to Hell right now–if He acted only from fairness.
However, praise God, His character is not limited to the low and simplistic standard of being fair. He is merciful, loving and full of grace. Therefore, in this area, He chooses to not be fair; that is, He does not give us what we deserve, but instead offers the possibility of pardon.
An entry in my worship journal expands on this.
You, Lord Jesus are faithful–faithful to Your righteousness, to your holiness, to your justice, to perfect judgment of evil. And you, Heavenly Father, being love itself, are faithful to your hatred of sin, of evil, of anything contrary to your character.
In your love, you judge sin, rebellion, and all that does not measure up to your perfect righteousness; if you didn’t judge them, you would not be love, for love that is righteous, pure and perfect cannot abide with anything that is tainted by anti-love: selfishness, pride and evil.
I praise you, O Lord God, that you rise far above our ability to comprehend. How could One who hates sin so profoundly, provide–against all logic we know–a pardon for your creatures who are so thoroughly sinful, selfish, evil and rebellious–so contrary to you?
Yet, in your wonderful, rich grace, you refused to be fair and instead opened the way by grace, at great personal expense, to provide reconciliation through crushing your Son without mercy, that mercy might flow to all your enemies, giving us the potential for redemption, reconciliation, transformation, and eternal life with you.

Praise you that you are forcefully faithful to your character—that you are Light, you are Love and you are Life itself. You are altogether lovely. In this, you have not been fair, but merciful and gracious; you have given us the opposite of what we deserve—the very definition of grace–and we praise you for it!

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Significance

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 8, 2020
 
We have been working through a book called Search for Significance by Robert McGee (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003). After establishing that our foundational significance comes from God (being made in His image, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, chosen before the foundation of the world, and adopted as a child of the King), the author asks two questions.
 
First, “What do I have to do in order to feel good about myself?” This points us to where we actually draw our significance. If we are resting in the Truth of our being Sons and Daughters of the King, we don’t need to add anything to “feel good” about ourselves. Our true source of stability, significance and “feeling good” is not what we do, but who we are in Christ.
 
God does want us to have satisfaction in a job well done, pleasure in doing what is right and joy in good relationships, but none of these are the source of the significance and worth that flow through a correct understanding of who we are.
 
As I honestly evaluated this, it became clear that there are a lot of items on my “to do list” which are there so I can feel good about myself; that is, my motive in doing them is wrong. These are things like: get up early, have a good quiet time, pray through my list, don’t eat too much, exercise enough, and be nice to everyone around me.
 
All of these are good things, many of which I am responsible to do, but they are not to be the source of my significance, stability or sense of goodness. I must switch my motive from doing these to feel good, to doing them because I love the Lord and want to obey and please Him.
 
My wrong motives point to the disparity between intellectually grasping a truth and the deep implementation of it in one’s life. The way out of this is to be aware of the tendency to look for significance in the wrong areas and to counter it with Truth. Memorizing verses that give God’s viewpoint, such as, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…” (Col 3:12), and “Chosen before the foundation of the world, accepted in the beloved…” (Eph. 1:4)—the meditating on them, certainly helps to internalize it. When trying to decide what to do, examining my motives and rejecting the wrong ones also helps.
 
The second question is: “Are you a ‘have to’ person or a ‘want to’ person?” If I can grasp my significance in Christ and rest in that, then I will “want to” do those things which are pleasing to Him, not “have to” do them in a legalistic, self-saving way.
 
This is part of the freedom of the abundant life Christ is calling us to: knowing who we are and, as a result, acting in obedience to Him for the right motives rather than just to make ourselves feel good. There are several very important consequences that flow from this.
 
First, instead of being pushed by the inner drive for gaining significance through getting this or that done, we can listen more quietly to what the Lord wants us to do.
 
Second, we can be more willing to do the unpleasant but necessary things that do not bring us any sense of significance.
 
Third, since we do less, (having eliminated the unnecessary “have to” things) there is more time to do well the things God has for us.
 
Fourth, flexibility, grace and kindness can replace the harried, nervous, pressured attitude of the “have to” Christian.
These things I am learning. It reminds me that my walk with Christ is one long and wonderful process of growth, deepening and transformation. And we can constantly praise God for His wonderful, unending patience with us in it.
 
Prayer: “Lord, help me to regularly check my motives before you so I can deepen my rest in the significance you have given. Help me to be a “want to” believer, not a “have to” one. May I love you through obeying your Truth. Amen
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The One!

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 7, 2020
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your kind and constant work when I am not faithful, for your unceasing love and goodness in spite of my rebellion and unbelief. I praise you that you never give up on us and will pursue us to the end.
Thank you for your wide, comprehensive and complete plan for our lives: you miss no detail, your timing is perfect and your grace is more than sufficient.
Thank you for the powerful and perceptive work of your Spirit in and for us: teaching, convicting, rebuking and leading. Help us to be more and more wholeheartedly obedient to the Spirit’s leading.
To you belongs all honor and glory, Lord Jesus. Your great and deep love, shared with the Father and Spirit, is now shared with us. It is so good to be in your kingdom, in your family, in your warm embrace.
I praise you for the power of your affection–that you can and do love all those who are your enemies, who seek to bring you harm, who are destructive and dangerous to your cause.
I thank you that you love me, naturally a man of unbelief, of fear, of rebellion, of selfishness and laziness, of pride and criticalness–in spite of what I am, you love me. Your love is beyond comprehension, flowing without regard to the response or lack of it in the objects of your love.
You loved all in the world so much that you took upon yourself every sin of every person from the beginning of creation to the end of history (“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2)—even though you knew that the majority would not choose for you! That is agape love: full, faithful, unlimited, ever flowing, unquenchable and unending.
I praise you, Lord Jesus, for the great privilege of being one whom you love, to live in the warmth and protection, the goodness and grace of your compassion which surpasses understanding. Thank you that we don’t have to understand your love to live in it.
No, we can bask in it, revel in it, rejoice in it and rest in it–while being transformed by it. “As we gaze upon him with unveiled faces, we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
What a wonder: you call us to your love, you give us joy in it, and as we see more and more of it, we are being changed to be like you—able to love the unlovely, to be wise and useful for you, to bring you more and more honor.
 
I praise you, Lord Jesus, for your great and wonderful grace, your rich and deep character, your persistent and patient working in our lives. You are more wonderful than anyone can adequately express.
 
Truly you are the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Eph 3:20). To you be honor and glory in my life today, as you shine the light of your love on me.
 
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Major Change

Published by S.M. Wibberley on June 6, 2020
Chapter 88 Shifting To a New Era in Life
 
In the Fall of 2011 Barbara spoke often of how tired she was, how discouraged she was because she was unable to care adequately for her mother. For the past year Barbara had slept six nights a week at her mother’s to help her get to bed and get up in the morning. The one night a week off was not enough for her to recover.
 
It was obvious to me that the burden of being a care-taker had become too much. I could see that if we didn’t make a change soon Barbara was headed for an emotional break-down. The question was, what should we do?
 
Her mother had been on the waiting list for a single room at a local nursing home for ten years. It was not easy to find space in an aging society like Germany’s.
 
I went to see the director of the nursing home, who was a member of our church. He suggested I look at other options, including a new facility that had opened recently. Everyone said it was outrageously expensive, so I’d not considered it. But when I checked into it, the cost was literally only about a dollar a month more than the other one!
 
So I went, made application, and miraculoysly within a week a private room opened up and Barbara’s mother was able to move into that large, spacious single room with a great view of pine trees in the back yard. It was God’s provision.
 
Barbara felt guilty because she had been unable to help her mother to the end, but I kept reminding her that I was the one who put Omi into the nursing home, not her.
 
Surprisingly, Omi was happier in there than she had been in her own home. She didn’t realize this, but we saw how after the move she no longer had before her all the things she longed to do but was incapable of: her sewing, cooking, cleaning, yard and garden work. Now she was focused more on the routine of the nursing home. She also now had many more visitors to keep her occupied. Her home had been in an out of the way place, while the nursing home was in the center of town where relatives and friends came to shop and would stop by.
 
The next big task before us was to clear out Omi’s house and put it up for sale. Being in a foreign country, there were a lot of potential pitfalls for me here, but the Lord brought along the aid needed to steer us through the process.
 
One great help was a “Russian-German” church. These folks had been born and raised in the Soviet Union, descendants of Mennonite farmers that Katherine the Great (a German princess who became Queen of Russia) invited to move into the Ukraine to develop farms there. After the advent of Communism, these families had been moved by Stalin to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Then in the 80s and 90s many were allowed to leave and resettle in Germany.
 
They were fine believers who had a heart for those left behind in the poverty of the former Soviet Union and would send supplies back to them. At our invitation they came and took lots of useful items from Omi’s house to send to those in great need. We were thrilled with the help and with the fact that things weren’t thrown away, but were going to be used again.
 
In the meantime we made plans to move back to the States so Barbara could recover from her debilitated state. That meant closing out our apartment, too, which turned into a bigger job than we’d guessed.
 
As the deadline of our departure drew nearer, Omi’s unsold house hung on us. However, the Lord reminded us of the need to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, which we did, willfully trusting Him.
 
With only two weeks left before our departure date, the Lord brought along a Russian-German who expressed interest in the house, wanting to buy it for his parents. Although he was ill, he was able to complete the necessary formalities just a couple of days before we left. We were so thankful for God’s provision. He sometimes makes us wait til the last moment so the wonder of His provision is greater!
 
We struggled to get all of our things packed up, stored or given away, but were still at it by 3 AM of the day we left. We were so thankful for the help of friends who made our departure possible, the end of an era, the beginning of a new life in Canterbury.
 
Picture: Omi with Nat as a baby
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