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3 RESPONDING TO GOD'S PROVISION Ephesians 5:15-20 By the time this letter reaches you, 1954 will be some days old. Let me belatedly wish for you and your loved ones a most blessed year. May you be able to testify with the Psalmist; He "daily loadeth us with benefits" (Ps. 68:19). Five days before Christmas, Mrs. Grounds and I went up into the Rockies with friends to find a Yuletide evergreen. Even a blinding snowstorm did not stop us. We tramped through the woods searching for long- needled pines of just the right shape and size. Can you imagine me as a woodsman? Well, that's what I was on that December afternoon, an ax over my shoulder and several trees laid low with the help of my pastor, Donald MacDonald. Then back to the Schoonhoven ranch—they are members of Trinity Church where we belong—for a meal and evening of fellowship before the blazing fireplace. When we finally drove home, the sky had cleared, the moon was full and bright, the stars aglow, and the mountains glistening in their spotless ermine. So, you see, life out in the West has its compensations. God has been under taking for us here at the Seminary in a remarkable fashion. We still face grave financial difficulties, but enough money has been contributed to pay all our current bills and nearly, though not quite, bring faculty salaries up to date. We have been amazed at the Lord's goodness in answering prayer. Truly He is as the Psalmist says, a help in the nick of time! Lately I have been reading the Phillips version of the Epistles. It is star tlingly good. Nothing better to jolt your soul than a fresh and gripping translation of God's Word. Let me share a few verses from Ephesians 5: "Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don't be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of God. Don't get your stimulus from wine (for there is always the danger of excessive drinking), but let the Spirit stimulate your souls." May all of us be able to carry out that challenging admonition in the coming year! -VCG, 1953 DECEMBER 1