Beginnings
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Vision and “Wish Dreams”
I do believe that God plants into our souls an expectation of His miraculous presence in our world, and He is pleased when we do not simply submit to the mundane, to the ho-hum life of mediocrity, but press for the life that is “above and beyond all that we ask or think.” Perhaps, the verse “I would have fainted if I had not seen the hand of the Lord in the land of the living,” was the impetus to my vision, my dreams. I seemed to be blessed with vision; my dear mother accused me of wearing “rose colored glasses” in my early years. Maybe it was good that…
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The Beginnings of True Community
This group now calling itself Wellspring, was becoming a true community of like-minded people. One of the couples who sat with us during the discussion that evening was Charles and Kay Bascom. God creates community, and I fully believe that he brings together those with gifts to accomplish his purposes. Through the years, Charles has served in an unofficial capacity as “pastor” to our little community, and Kay has been the model of gracious love, hospitality, wisdom, and a true support to her husband. I remember working with Kay setting up the farm for that first Spiritual Dynamics conference. As we were winding up our preparations in the house Kay…
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A Name for the Group . . .and the Place
This well story had been about our family until now. First, it meant that we would not have to haul water; second, it meant that we had God’s affirmation on our calling at the farm; third, and most affirming to me, was the promise of God’s blessing. Always, but now even more so, I saw this land as God’s land, and we were but his stewards The week quickly flew by. Finding water was not the end of the story. Now we had to hire someone to dig the line from the well to the house, a distance of about three hundred yards, farther than we had…
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His Answer
As much as I hate to admit my naiveté, I dared to wish that we would find, not only the needed water, but perhaps . . . could I even dare to believe, we would find oil? Excitement had filled my whole being as my soul waited on tiptoe to see how God was going to fulfill this promise. He was going to “pour out” blessings. What did this mean? Water right away, I am sure, since this was not really the issue. The real issue was that he was going to bless the land with an anointing of his Spirit. But, God also knew that we had little financial…
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A Promise
As I dialed the number that would connect me to Judd’s department at the University, I tried to collect my thoughts. Yes, I had tried the other taps. There was NO water coming from any of them. Obviously, at least to me, this was God’s response to my plea for direction; it was no coincidence. But now I was faced with explaining all of this to Judd who ultimately would feel the responsibility of determining the next step. Yes, we would discuss it and seek God’s direction, but a man will often feel the burden of the final decision. We were now in this together. “Judd, we have a problem.”…
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A Well Story
The school bus pulled out of the drive and I began clearing the table of its breakfast remains. Without the luxury of a dishwasher, I filled the sink with hot soapy water and carefully slid the dirty dishes into the water. After six weeks of carrying water from town, I still celebrated running water from the faucet. This dishwashing process had become therapy. Shortly after we moved, we had located a spot near the house where Oscar, the original owner, had placed an old water hydrant. When the well diggers finally came, it had not taken long before we had a functioning well. The aquifer was only 60 feet down…