DANCING

Today (Sept 19/13) I was attentively listening in on someone’s conversation. I listened to them for 10 hours. The conversation was still going on when I left. That conversation was so refreshing to listen to and stirred my vivid imagination. It was moving and stimulating. Now let me explain.
I was diverted to the road reconstruction crew this morning. The road crew operate their CB communications on a different channel than we use at the airport construction site. It just so happened that another construction crew from a different company, working who knows where (I found out where the next day) chose to use the same channel as our road construction crew. And so for 10 hours I followed this one conversation as I worked.
The conversation was between a spotter on the roof and the crane operator on the ground who could not see what was happening on the roof and was completely guided by the spotter to move his boom, and lift and lower his load.  Both the crane operator and the spotter were well experienced. It was magic to hear them work together and to imagine what was going on. It was like the working out of a symphony, note by note. They were in perfect sync even though the crane operator could not see what was happening on the roof and the spotter could not see the crane operator below. Everything was done with prearranged words familiar to both of them. It was like a beautiful flowing dance between the spotter and the crane operator as together they moved each truss to its designated place.
Since this was my first time on the road crew running an 815 packer I had to be told a lot of things and made a few blunders. But by late afternoon I was "dancing" with the grader and we got into sync and I began to anticipate his movements and he mine. I noticed this same kind of synchronised dance about a month ago between two dozer operators who were working together on a berm. They moved toward and away from each other, sometimes coming within inches, as if the whole thing was choreographed. It just gives me a sense of joy and satisfaction inside to see such things. It also reminds me of how I am to live in sync with God through His Spirit, a dance of life filled with peace and joy and harmony as I abide in Him. One day the dance will be perfected, when there is no more sin and we have perfect bodies and minds and souls to respond to God. Until then we can abide in His amazing love and strive to be in sync with the Father every day.

THE BLESSINGS OF THE RIGHTEOUS

[I am leaving camp this morning (Monday) for some time off, returning to work on Friday. I will be visiting some kind friends in Ponoka who are willing to put me up for a few days.]

Last Wednesday all workers for the company I work for were called to a 9:00 AM meeting. There were over 50 of us present. We learned that we were going to be tested for alcohol and drug use then and there with a zero tolerance. The testing took 4 hours to complete. The big boss told anyone who knew they were not going to pass the test to get in their trucks and leave. That was the end of their employment. One fellow left. I know of three in my crew who failed and were dismissed.

I just so happened that in the morning while I was working (I start at 7 AM) that I was thinking of how God might show unbelievers around me how His children are blessed by their Father. In one way this showed the blessing of the righteous. Those who profess to be followers of the God of heaven should have no problem with a zero tolerance drug and alcohol test. I pray God may make those around me aware that as a believer this test was no threat because of the lifestyle believers are called to. Others have to play "dodge the bullet".

There is another blessing of the righteous. That blessing is called persecution. Many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world suffer and are killed for naming the name of Christ and possessing a Bible. Praise God many are finding truth and life in Christ and know that Christ is worth living and dying for. I hope that is how you feel about your Savior and your loving Father God. Why should we be embarrassed and ashamed and fear marginalization and humiliation? We have the truth, we have perfect righteousness in Christ, we have the great and true hope of eternal life. Those around us are in darkness, deceived, and spiritually dead. Their ways lead to death and ours to life - the blessings of the righteous. To remind yourself of our persecuted brothers subscribe to a weekly email from Voice of the Martyrs and pray for the requests sent to you <http://www.persecution.net/about-pnp.htm>.

Become more aware of what you truly have in Christ. Rejoice, stand tall, be joyful because you know that your way, which may seem so narrow, unsophisticated, old fashioned, goody-goody, and empty to the world, is the way of true life and blessing. Do I hear a LOUD AMEN and GLORY TO GOD?

Created by our Father to show His Glory

...your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value then they?

COMMUNICATION

Here are some new terms of communication I have been learning: push back, wing (or win) row, grade, subcut, cut, fill, apron, rip, sheepfoot packer, an 815, a 336, blade it, kill key, a lift, seal it.

Each cultural group has its own terms of communication or language and construction is one of those groups. In fact each type of construction has its own terms of communication.

I want to take this thought in two directions. First with regard to the unbeliever and second with regard to the believer. We as Christians, especially if we have been Christians in the church for a long time and have had little contact with unbelievers, can use the language of our cultural group and miss communicating with the unbelievers we come in contact with who are outside of that group. When I first came to the job site I was told to take my machine to the subcut. That was familiar language to my boss but a strange language to me. I had to ask and now I know where the subcut is and what it is and why it is called a subcut. When we communicate with unbelievers we need to use terms they will understand or if we use biblical terms we need to explain them in words and illustrations they will understand. "Now go get me an 815".

Second as believers we need to provide the Holy Spirit with a language so that He can communicate with us. The Spirit's language is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit speaks through the Word of God. When we place the Word of God in our minds through memory or familiarity with the Word, the Holy Spirit has a language by which He can get our attention and direct our paths. Learn the language of the Spirit by becoming evermore familiar with the Word of God.

Here are some communications from the camp road.

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THE BORROW PIT

"Borrow Pit" was not a term I was familiar with when I first heard it. I have since found out there are a number of them around. Can you guess what a Borrow Pit is?

A Borrow Pit is where we borrow pure, clean (no sand or topsoil), clay. Of course we just "borrow" the clay to use in the construction of a road, a lease pad, a pad for a new plant, or in our case an airstrip. Pure, clean clay is important to build a solid foundation so we borrow that clay from the Borrow Pit. (See Borrow Pit).

Yes, we do pay the Pit back. Only we pay it back with all the bad dirt we cannot use because it is too wet, poor quality or sand. No we do not bury topsoil. Topsoil must be stripped and kept aside and then replaced when the job is done. Here are some of the terms I hear on the radio in my vehicle for the stuff used to payback the Borrow Pit - slop, junk, crap, s***, bad dirt, waste, garbage, dump, muck, pit material, in the borrow.

At one time our Borrow Pit was about 60 feet deep. Now it is nearly full of unusable dirt. We are also responsible to reclaim the landscape after the pit is full to make the site look natural again. Some Pits are not filled and left as ponds but still need to be returned to a natural state.

Our Borrow Pit

Debris waiting to be pushed into the Borrow Pit

I thank God today that Jesus Christ is my Borrow Pit. From Him I have received the only righteousness that God accepts. In Christ I am pure and clean and accepted in the presence of a Holy God for all eternity. Jesus Christ took my sin and in exchange gave me the gift of eternal life and justification. Praise God that He has provided a Borrow Pit where eternal life can be exchanged for the filth of our sin. I will thank God forever. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 5.21, "For our sake he (God) made him (Christ) to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him (Christ) we (me) might become the righteousness of God."

After the Borrow Pit is reclaimed the site may look even better than before it was excavated but it is full of useless and unusable dirt. We can make ourselves look good and acceptable to God but only God can make us righteous and justified before Him, and He does that through the work of the cross. Those who put their trust in God to save them through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are new creations not sinners dressed in new clothes.

RAIN DELAY

When Ben and I arrived at camp on Friday afternoon, August 30th, after spending the rain day in Fort McMurray, we met with a big surprise. It had rained hard most of the night and was still raining when we arrived back at camp on Friday afternoon, so the oil company CNRL, who contracted the company I work for to build the airstrip, decided to close down the job for a couple of days. That meant that we had to leave camp because the oil company pays the cost of our stay in camp. No work means no camp, which means no food and no bed. In a moment Ben and I, along with 60 others, became displaced persons, wandering workmen without a home.

Resourceful Ben rented a hotel room in Lac La Biche for us for two days. We did not want to drive 10 hours to Nipawin, SK only to be called back to work in a couple of days. We spent a leisurely Friday evening and Saturday, eating and sleeping. I found an Evangelical Free Church to visit on Sunday morning but at 9 am Ben got a call to come back to work and pump water from the flooded work site. The job site was severely flooded from over 3 inches of rain. Clay does not drain well so pumping was in order. So Sunday I drove back to camp with Ben but I was not called back to work so I picked up my truck and drove 10 hours to Nipawin to stay at Ben's house (Ashley his wife was in Welland visiting Gloria and the family). On Monday I was able to visit relatives in Nipawin. On Tuesday I was called back to work and drove 9 hours to camp and started work on Wednesday morning, September 4th.

This rain delay may sound tragic but here are a couple of facts that provide a change of perspective. I had worked for 21 days in a row and the rain day counted as a standby day, so that is 22 days. After 24 days we need to take 4 or 5 days off to reset. I was ready to reset physically and by the number of days I had worked. My time off counted as my reset and I got some good rest and got to visit relatives in Nipawin and see the renovations at Ben's house. Now I am back working on my next 24 days.

Knowing all the facts sometimes gives a different perspective to circumstances. Knowing that God is Sovereign is one of those facts which allows the Christian to have a different perspective on circumstances than the unbeliever. Remember when you encounter people in their circumstances you may not know all the facts so lets hold our judgements until we find out all we can and wait on God for Christ's response.

RAIN DAY

Last Friday (August 30th) it started raining hard in the early hours just after midnight and the rain was still coming down in the morning when it was time to go to work. A rain day was declared. We cannot work when there is too much rain because of all the mud and slippery conditions. We would accomplish nothing and it would also be unsafe. Ben and I decided to make the two hour trip to visit Fort McMurray. We needed to purchase a few items and Ben wanted to get an oil change for his truck. We also wanted to visit the "Oil Sands Discovery Center".

Wall-mart provided the items we needed to purchase, oil changes were booking for September 17th so that did not happen, so after lunch we made our way to the Discovery Center to discover what the oil sands are, how they have been recovered and processed over the years, and what new technologies are being used today.

Tar sands are individual grains of sand, each coated with tar, packed together in a large deposit. At first both the sand and the tar were extracted by excavation for separation. That is still done today where the sand is close to the surface North of Fort McMurray. At first drag lines were used and then a rotating wheel of buckets at the end of a boom, and today large, very large trucks, are used.

Ben standing beside a drag line bucket

Standing by the front wheel of an excavation truck and its motor

Front of a large excavation truck

Only 10% of the volume of sand extracted is oil. In the early days the sand was excavated and transported to Edmonton for processing. That was a lot of extra bulk to carry such a long distance. Today the extraction process is done near the excavation.
A better process would be to extract the oil and leave the sand in the ground. That it the technology that is being developed today. Steam is forced into the tar sand through a pipe which causes the tar to become liquid and drain away from the sand particle by gravity. A second pipe at a lower level than the steam line sucks the liquid oil to the surface. This is called "Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage" (SAGD). The oil leases we are working on use this technology so oil wells are only about 20 feet apart because the steam has a limited heating range.

Ben and I had a very interesting and good day together. We drove back to camp in the pounding rain and upon our arrival there received a special surprise. I will tell you all about that next time.