Issue 1219 – Down Memory Lane – August 11, 2023

Kathy and the granddaughters at the entrance to Fort Langley National Historic Site, a former Hudson Bay Company trading post
Fort Langley National Historic Site

We spent yesterday at the Fort Langley National Historic Site. It was an interesting and informative trip down memory lane. The original Fort Langley, Hudson Bay Company fur trading post opened in 1827, was not far from the present site.

While I am nowhere near that old, there were plenty of exhibits there I could relate to. Much of the trapping gear was the same as when I was growing up. 

The northern stores of the Hudson Bay Company still had resident fur buyers until 1991. I have been in one of those stores and watched the furs being bought and sold.

The snowshoe style on display was identical to the ones I learned on. The canoes reminded me of family camping trips in freighter canoes large enough to hold a family of six and all their gear or a couple of hunters and a moose.

The buildings in the fort were heated exclusively with wood, and outhouses were used for bodily functions. When my parents bought their farm in the 1980s, that was how it was equipped.

Panning for gold was a hobby of mine for some years, and I still enjoy it when I get a chance. The girls loved trying their hands. After that, we watched the blacksmith at work, and the girls were fascinated.

They also tried their hands at assembling buckets in the cooper shop. I have a handmade nail keg in my office like those made in the fort’s cooper shop. Mine was built by a shirttail relative at the Ross Farm, on the opposite end of the country, using the same techniques and tools.

I have a handmade nail keg in my office like those made at the fort’s cooper shop. Mine was built by a shirttail relative at the Ross Farm, on the opposite end of the country, using the same techniques and tools.

I am blessed to have lived in both the end of the analog and the beginning of the digital eras. There are a lot of the old ways that I am familiar with, but I still have the benefit of the newer ways.

We all have our stories. Except for a few people who became believers very early, we all have memories of life before Christ and with Him. Perhaps we grew up in loving functional homes with strong Christian influences, or maybe we grew up in hard-core pagan, highly dysfunctional environments. Most of us likely fall between the two extremes.

Each of our stories, our trips down memory lane, is different. Christ came into our lives at different times and when we were in different circumstances. No two conversion situations are precisely the same.

Part of our story, our testimony, is to show how no one is beyond the reach of Christ. My story may touch someone that yours doesn’t, and vice versa. All of them, individually and collectively, point to the love of Jesus and bring Him glory.

Whatever your story is, God has given it to you, not as a place to dwell and wallow in mistakes but to show where you have come from and where you are headed. For some, it was a short easy journey to the foot of the cross. For others, it was a lifetime of struggles. Still, as long as there is life, there is hope of redemption.

One of the thieves crucified with Jesus learned that firsthand.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:39-43

Whatever our story, we bring nothing to the cross except baggage and faith. The baggage is left behind, and the faith moves us forward.

When you look back and walk down memory lane, don’t forget to consider where you are now and trust in where Christ will take you. Give Him all the glory.

Be Blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

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