When I was about five years old, maybe four. I remember one of my brothers, after attending Church coming home and discussing a new teaching with our Father. It was approaching milking time and Dad needed to go and wash the stainless steel vat in the milking shed and then go for the herd of cows which were on the pasture in a near by paddock.
As we walked down the tanker track on a lazy summer afternoon I remember swishing the fine hot sand between my toes and making a little plume of dust. When I got a bit too invested in doing this and a cloud of dust rose. Dad told me to stop it. So I just walked and listened to what they were talking about.
I don't remember the specifics of the conversation as well as I used too. I think it involved doctrine (salvation, justification, sanctification) and what my brother had learned at Church and what Dad knew about it.
I do remember being caught up in the conversation and it seemed that Dad was showing a side of himself that I hadn't seen before. As he spoke of Christian things it was as though we were lifted into the presence of God himself. As though Dad and my older brother were in a heavenly power. I felt safe and not at all intimidated by this turn of events, I remember asking Dad if he believed in God and he said that he did. I said "I believe in God too."
They continued to have a very deep discussion as they cleaned the vat and set up the shed for milking. Then Dad got the dogs (trained cattle dogs) and they walked down the race to get the herd in for milking. I decided to go back to the house and leave them to it.
There were many times in those years, in the '60's, up until the middle of 1967. When my brothers had conversations with our father. He was not well at the time and I don't think any of us suspected how close he was to leaving us. He could be moody and sometimes angry. He was always talented and and had many hobbies and interests. Training cattle and sheep dogs, breeding dairy cows and farming to name a few.
Dad was a Christian, a saved sinner but didn't attend church regularly. A number of pious Christians felt he wasn't a Christian at all. However, he had a great knowledge of the bible and Christian doctrine and could shift easily into the role of teacher and mentor to his children.
Thomas Alfred Gibbs was taken home as a result of a massive heart attack on June 19th 1967. He left behind a wife and seven children most of whom were in their mid to late teens. I was six at the time. It left a massive hole in our lives.
However God is good. All of his children are Christians. I can say that God has purpose in all that he does and many people have been saved through the ministrations of Thomas and Joy Gibbs's' children.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A28&version=KJV
As we walked down the tanker track on a lazy summer afternoon I remember swishing the fine hot sand between my toes and making a little plume of dust. When I got a bit too invested in doing this and a cloud of dust rose. Dad told me to stop it. So I just walked and listened to what they were talking about.
I don't remember the specifics of the conversation as well as I used too. I think it involved doctrine (salvation, justification, sanctification) and what my brother had learned at Church and what Dad knew about it.
I do remember being caught up in the conversation and it seemed that Dad was showing a side of himself that I hadn't seen before. As he spoke of Christian things it was as though we were lifted into the presence of God himself. As though Dad and my older brother were in a heavenly power. I felt safe and not at all intimidated by this turn of events, I remember asking Dad if he believed in God and he said that he did. I said "I believe in God too."
They continued to have a very deep discussion as they cleaned the vat and set up the shed for milking. Then Dad got the dogs (trained cattle dogs) and they walked down the race to get the herd in for milking. I decided to go back to the house and leave them to it.
There were many times in those years, in the '60's, up until the middle of 1967. When my brothers had conversations with our father. He was not well at the time and I don't think any of us suspected how close he was to leaving us. He could be moody and sometimes angry. He was always talented and and had many hobbies and interests. Training cattle and sheep dogs, breeding dairy cows and farming to name a few.
Dad was a Christian, a saved sinner but didn't attend church regularly. A number of pious Christians felt he wasn't a Christian at all. However, he had a great knowledge of the bible and Christian doctrine and could shift easily into the role of teacher and mentor to his children.
Thomas Alfred Gibbs was taken home as a result of a massive heart attack on June 19th 1967. He left behind a wife and seven children most of whom were in their mid to late teens. I was six at the time. It left a massive hole in our lives.
However God is good. All of his children are Christians. I can say that God has purpose in all that he does and many people have been saved through the ministrations of Thomas and Joy Gibbs's' children.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A28&version=KJV
No comments:
Post a Comment