Marilyn and I got away to our holiday house at Mangakino for a few days over the weekend. It was good to get a break in what is a lovely spot, overlooking Lake Maraetai and the golf course. Beyond the lake are the Pine forests, so it is a very quiet peaceful place. There wasn’t a lot of rest though as the place was a bit over grown from winter; still I don’t mind tidying it up.

Sadly Marilyn’s sisters eldest son passed away after a period of sickness last Thursday. I took the service yesterday. It was a sad time for the family and not something any parent envisages. Our children, they are supposed to have dreams, plans, work and contribute to society, get married, raise their own children. Parents become grandparents. Well at least this is the dream parents have for their children when they are little. Life does not always work out as planned.
In Ecclesiastes the Bible says that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die.” The passage goes on and says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ray Stevens misquoted this verse; he sang “Everything is beautiful in its own way.” That’s not true; everything is not beautiful. The Bible says that God “makes” everything beautiful “in its time”. He will bring good out of bad, beauty out of ashes, life out of death.