Bucket Lists: My Bucket List

Bucket Lists

Everybody has lists of things they would like to do or experience in their life time. Some call them dream lists but I like the bucket idea better because I can rummage through the pieces of paper and choose a desire and work toward it or check an experience that has come my way as a gift of grace from the hand of God. God delights to give us the desires of our hearts when we delight in Him. (Psalm 37:4) When we had worked in northern Manitoba in the early seventies we did not have the resources to take the train up the bay

We had children living and working in London so we seized the opportunity to visit them and join them in a holiday tour of Wales and Ireland. I had always wanted to do a small sabbatical and so tied a study into that trip visiting and interviewing English Clergy involved in renewal including Nickey Gumbel author of the Alpha Course that has become an international inspirational tool. How special to visit Holy Trinity, Brompton in person when we had viewed it on DVD over and over in our yearly course presentations. Again it was a God Incident that just before we left for England contact came from a cousin we did not know existed who had been searching my family roots and had just located a wealth of information and family locations. We toured the very ground that my ancestors walked dating back to the 1400’s and David gave us a personal tour of original residences, Churches and graveyards in Somerset that made up a once- in- a- life- time experience! Shirley also had a similar experience as we were hosted by her relatives in Scotland and had the privilege of visiting her Dad’s place of birth in Glasgow. Prior to immigrating to Canada Sandy contracted measles and so the Craig family was not permitted at the last moment to board the Titanic on its’ maiden voyage. They were booked in accommodations in the lower hold of the ship and so would have all perished in that tragic event.

One day a couple we knew from Northern Manitoba came for a visit and casually said “let’s go to Christian Retreat in Bradenton Florida for a month! We laughed and said “sounds wonderful” and never gave it another thought. Then one day late in spring Len phoned and said “are you ready to go for the first of July?” To our amazement a few weeks later we were headed south with a sign “Florida or Bust” on the side of His old Econoline Ford Van with camper in tow. Four adults and five kids under 9 years travelled, lived, prayed and worshipped in each other’s back pocket for 30 days on a trip that took us to the Gulf of Mexico across to Cape Canaveral and home again as one family and still close friends! There were numerous God Incidents along the way! What we saw of God’s moving by his Holy Spirit at the retreat center would draw Shirley, me and our family back the next year in the same old van to spend three months of study and worship with the Gospel Crusade Congregation. We saw and participated in a Church like the one described in the Book of Acts in the life and ministry of mature and committed twentieth century Christians! I had to add this experience to my bucket list thanks to the faith and courage of a Christian brother and his wife who tucked us all under their wing and took us with them on that initial trip. This exposure to the work of the Holy