January 12th, I can’t remember you ever being so welcome. It’s been a hard learned lesson for me, that what I wear is all important for enjoyment of a cold winter’s day. Finally though, I am embracing the cold and yes, even enjoying the frigid wintery wonder that wraps me in it’s cold beauty.

Perhaps it’s because 60 is just, well right there, within touching distance. Maybe it’s because I’m listening very carefully these days. It could be that as I listen to Lauren Daigle sing, It is Well With My Soul, I’m singing at the top of my voice and thinking of how God makes all the difference in how life looks.

Whatever the reason, no matter how it’s happening, I’m knowing these days, that I want to be in His presence wherever on Earth I am. Whatever on Earth I’m doing.

And now, This

This thing I’ve jumped into. What in the World could I be thinking? But why? Sometimes there isn’t really an answer to the Why, except

Just Because. Except, for we who commit our days to Him, there Is no

Just Because.

Every breath I take is His. Every decision I make is up to Him. At least, that’s what I Hope for. I trust in Him and His direction.

“Time is priceless, but it’s Free. You can’t own it, you can use it. You can spend it but you can’t keep it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back”–Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveller’s Wife.   Whatever you might think of the movie or the book, the quote gets a big YES from me. Except for the reality that God is God. Even though the time can never be retrieved, it can be redeemed. There’s nobody too lost, no action too terrible, no words too severe, that God can’t bring good.

And here I am in this place that has brought solace, peace, calm through the years. This place is a gift to be shared, to be given, to be used to encourage

others.

My prayer has been, since September 1st,

God, I don’t know your plan or who you’ll bring or why. I don’t know what you want me to do. But really, I do know because you told me, told us, when you were walking around in the land known as Holy. You told us that we are to care about people. We are to be hospitable even to those from other lands. We are to share what we have with people who need

You.

I am to give from the wealth of goodness and beauty that You are making in Me. What you ask of me is not what you ask of my neighbours or my friends. Your intention for my life, my response to your direction is something you do not require of anybody else. You want us to walk and sleep and rest and work in the beauty of who You are and if we do that, you will do good and lovely and amazing things. Not me. No not me, ever. You In Me.

And so, not surprisingly at all, He is answering and giving me opportunities to meet people who would not probably cross the threshold of this place, ever. There are people from Europe and Asia and Eastern, Western and central Canada. They have come in couples and quads. They have entered cautiously and uncertainly and stood quietly and felt the

welcome

and I am close to tears on more than a few occasions when they say, “thank you. Thank you for welcoming us. Thank you for letting us come. Thank you for the beauty you have created here, for us.” And you see, that’s the Why. That’s the, Just Because. These people who sit at my table and eat the food I’ve prepared and share about their lives, they are here Just Because

God has brought them. And while I’m writing this there is a couple, married for a while, who are dog sledding a few KM away. They are coming back, to warmth and good food and conversation and an embrace of care that is not visible and yet it’s here. Oh yes. When I served this young couple breakfast mid morning, (because it’s their weekend away after all and when you are having a weekend away, it’s so good to have breakfast mid morning) I asked what they would be doing today besides dog sledding. He looked at me, mid forkful and said, “nothing. We’re going to relax and just sit and talk to you” and that’s the Why. That’s the reason for my doing, This. “He laughed and said “I feel like we are ripping you off”. I asked why he felt that and he said, “Because, This.” I was a little confused and he said again, “This. All of this. The bed, the food, the view, the warmth, You”. And I must say I thought again, Yes God, This is The Because. Just Because You

brought them here and if you give me a chance I will tell them why they feel the warmth. I will tell them why they are here. Just Because, God brought them.

And there is another pair, they came last weekend. By the standards I have kept, out of solidarity for what is right and good, in years past I would have shaken my finger and maybe even told them they should not be here, together. Can you imagine?

A dear friend gave me a gift a few months ago. It was a gift of words and so much more. She maybe did not even know the impact it had on me and yet, it did. Words can be like that sometimes. I was ranting about somebody who had done something WRONG. It was something unacceptable. Of course I did not know this person. The Thing they Did was in a grocery store and I was so worked up, I was sure I should say something. I didn’t, say something, but was still a bit riled when I spoke to my friend later. We were laughing, but in response to my annoyance with this stranger, my friend said to me

“what a relief it is that God does not ask us to judge others. Aren’t you glad it isn’t your job?” My response, in true Pam fashion, was, “But I am so Good at it, judging”. We laughed again, but her words released something in me and from that day to this, I have known a certain (not complete, quite yet) freedom from my judgmental thoughts and yes, words.

So, back to the young couple who were here last week. I knew when they walked through the door that there was a problem. I knew when I looked into the young man’s eyes that he was troubled and worse. God had prepared me. I don’t know how, but I was not surprised to see these two. The fire was burning, the candles were lit and their bed was ready. The cookies were in their cookie jar and they needed rest. I showed them to their place and could feel the calm settling in. It was at breakfast the next morning, as is often the case with my guests, as I was serving them and silently embracing them, that the sharing began. The pain of the past and the destruction that had touched the. young man, were almost oppressive to me. The life he has lived and the sadness he has endured are unthinkable and God said, “they are here because they need to be here.” I listened and I talked and we shared and the young man told me he had been at his wits end and knew that God was the only answer. Then God

gave me words that I had not prepared, but that the young man needed to hear. God told me to Love that boy and to explain how much God Loves Him. The girl began to talk and it was clear that she knew God and had at one time wanted Him to direct her life. I could have told her that she should not be with this boy. I could have told them that In My opinion, God probably had other plans for them. I didn’t. My lips were shut, tight and I listened and then we prayed, together and I hugged him. He cried and his sobs shook my body from the outside to the depths of my heart. He didn’t want to let go and I reminded him that God loved him and if he will listen and turn away from the things that are literally Killing him, God will heal, renew and redeem and will take him forward into good. Later, when they went down to prepare for their day, she, the girl, ran back up the stairs. I heard her coming. She came close and said. “I just want to tell you that I know God brought us here this weekend. God brought us to this place where there is someone to care about us and tell us truth.” I have prayed for this boy and for this girl in the six days since they slept in the room down the stairs. I have prayed and God reminded me, more than once, that if I don’t pray for those two, then who will? They had little money and I invited them to be my guests at dinner on Saturday. I made pizza and they ate it, gobbled it up actually. They thanked me and thanked me again and I told them I loved having them.

I’m going now, to prepare the promised dinner for this weekend’s guests. We are having chicken, roasted and since their choice of carb is noodles, I will make something tasty with noodles.

Why? Why am I here, doing this? Because! Just Because! Just because God, is here and enabling and giving me direction. That’s why! And it’s a snowy, cold winter’s day, but this place will be warm and welcoming.