Training
by Sam Renfro
It’s spring now and although we have only been here for a short part of the winter, there is quite a contrast between the two. The grass is no longer brown but a beautiful green. The trees are no longer bare but producing new leaves. The flowers are no longer hidden beneath the soil, but they are forcing their way up to show off all their lovely colors. Spring has arrived and with it many new things to be learned.
This brings me to my main thought. Spring is a time for training. When I played football, every year we would go through the process of spring training. No one, including me, ever liked spring training. It was long, hard and in Texas it was hot! As a young man I could see no real purpose in it. Now that I am older I can certainly see the value in training.
Just as athletes go through spring training and military men go through basic training, we as Christians go through training as well. Take Moses for example. His life was divided into different times of training. Forty years of training in Egypt, then forty years of training in the desert, followed by forty years wandering in the wilderness. God spent time training Moses for all those years in what to do, what to say, how to lead and yet, at the end, Moses could only look over into what could have been his next forty years of training in the Promised Land.
I want to train and learn everything I can about Buffalo Ridge. I want to learn what it takes to maintain the grounds, care for the animals, produce good crops and most of all how we can better meet the needs of the guests that God brings to Buffalo Ridge. By the way, I am already learning a thing or two. I have added a few new terms to my vocabulary:
“Boinking” - buffalo term for hopping
“Burning” - farmer term for ‘Call the fire department’
“Blessing” - Christian term for God is so good
Truly God is good. What a privilege it is to be counted worthy to be in “training” to be used by God to help others in their work for Him.
In I Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul speaks of an athlete in training. He goes through the training in order to win the crown. Paul says, “…that crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed.” He also says, “I train so that I myself will not be disqualified.”
It’s spring training at Buffalo Ridge; Lord, help me not to be a castaway!
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