Napier Baptist

Okay, I have to admit that it doesn't happen all that often but when it does, man, it's incredible!! When Christianity in all it's depth is shown to you in a simple act, when God comes and graces you through the love of other people.

Last winter was our first in Hawkes Bay after living in Auckland. We were used to 2 frosts per year in Auckland not 3 or 4 frosts per week! Towards the end of winter we ran out of wood and our house became like living in Narnia! And it was little comfort to be told that the winter that we suffered through was a mild one. So this year we were determined to stock up and fight the evil called frost. Today, we had a 2 cords (which is quite a lot) of wood delivered in our driveway. Margaret is pregnant and my evenings for the rest of the week are booked out, so I was wondering when will I stack this wood? Today, just after I'd posted how grace breeds grace, I went home for lunch and received a phone call out of the blue from an amazing couple from our church who had driven past our house and noticed that we had a pile of wood in our driveway. They rung to tell me that they wanted to come and stack it for us. They didn't know what my week was like. Out of the riches of their hearts they wanted to come around and stack the wood for us while I was at work! Wow! Isn't it awesome to see cute phrases like 'the graced become gracers', that sound so good on paper but so often dissolve into the air like aerosol, actually become flesh. Deep Christianity comes with a wheel barrow and wood splinters to grace because it's been graced. "The Word became flesh and moved into our neigbourhood . . ." (John 1:14, The Message Version)

To the gracers that graced us: thank you, thank you, thank you!! I can see frost being defeated this year and warmth standing victorious!