What can I say, the Lord must have thought I was pretty special to put such wonderful men in my life! Starting with a dad that was sold out to God, 11 wonderful brothers 5 of whom are great men of God, a wonderful Son that has been such a blessing to me, and a wonderful son in law that we love dearly as well as 2 beautiful grand sons we get to watch grow into great men!
.....but I met the best man of all back in 1977 in Saint John, New Brunswick. It all began one cold wintery night we went on a sleigh ride with our church family! Our next real date alone, was at the Saint John museum, ( he hadn't been serving the Lord that long, and thought "where do you take an apostolic girl on a date") I think the museum was a great spot! He showed to me from that day on his respect and love for me! To take such thought into where and what to do on a first date showed me he had great integrity! He has been a loving husband and a great provider to our family through the years!His faith and love for God has proven stronger and stronger as time moved us on in life! I remember one time while we were in bible school, we needed money for a bill, he prayed and the next week we recieved money from an anonymous source, he hadn't told me about the need or anyone else until after he recieved the blessing! We needed a car, and he had his eye on a little brown Vega, ( now that car alone has many funny stories, but that is another blog all together, lol )he really felt it would be a good car for us but we didn't have the money to purchase ( and it was believe me, smile)! Again we were in bible school, he once again never mentioned a word to anyone, wasn't long a friend from the school went to him and offered to lend him the very amount of money that was needed to get that car without ever asking for it! That car lasted us a long time, and Wayne always said it lasted us because God gave it to us! We have many stories of how God stepped in and made a way! A faithful man is hard to find, this man is faithful in all ways! He not only is a faithful husband to me, he has been and still is a faithful saint of God! He has the full respect of his children because of his great example as a Godly man, he knows the Word Of God because he has studied it, he is faithful in his relationship with Him! He is a best friend to our boy, he has shown him how to stand for God on a work site and proclaim the gospel there when the opportunity presents itself! Anytime they ever left a construction site most knew that he was a christian, what a wonderful example for a son!
Yes.... here we are 34 years later, his faith has not wavered, he is now a wonderful papa that loves his grand babies! Are good men hard to find? Yes, but when God gives you one it makes all the difference in the world.
Here I sit once again reminiscing over my childhood days! I was very blessed to have had parents that loved God with all their heart, soul, & mind! I have talked often of my godly mom and her great example she was to her children, but had not mentioned my dad too often! See I lost my dad when I was just 11 years old, so my time with him was very limited. Now that I have matured in years, I begin to think back and realize when he passed he had only been serving God for 10 years or so. That is not a terrbily long time, but to me I thought he had known God forever. He walked the walk daily and he talked the talk!! I giggle as I remember going into the little save easy with him there in the harbour and every one he came in contact with, he would offer a smile or a "how do you do" and often times a handshake! The employees would always welcome him with " how are you Mr.Bustard" to which he would often reply "Couldn't be better, Praise The Lord" he was known well for his walk with his Saviour! Daddy was never shy about it, he was so thankful for all the Lord had done for him. It didn't matter if it was the big shot of the village, aka. Mr Don McClain, his answer would stay the same, he wasn't one to leave his best friend aka "Jesus Christ" out of his conversations! He always had a testimony in his heart and on his lips, ready to glorify God at any given moment! As he laid in that dreadful sick bed, his body being destroyed by cancer, his faith in God never waivered once. He prayed daily for his kids and grandkids that they would submit their lives fully to His Master "Jesus Christ". I remember hearing him as a child praying from the little bedroom off of our tiny living room day in and day out, sometimes I would peek through the crack of the door and his weak frail arm would be lifted to the heavens! What an example of a consecrated heart that was and still is to me today! Although his body was slowly disintegrating his spirit kept getting Stronger! I am confident that he is with that One he would brag about daily. He used to sing "What a day that would be when my Jesus I shall see, When I look upon His face, the One who saved my by His grace,when He takes me by the hand leads me to the Promised land, O what a day Glorious day that will be." I am sure that when Jesus took him by the hand and led him into that promised land, daddy had the biggest grin on his face and without a doubt you would have heard him say " Thank You Jesus for saving me and keeping me in Your Grace and also Lord thank you for healing my boy Morton!!" He testified about that any chance he got, of the miracle of saving himself from the pit of sin and healing my brother Morton after he had run over him with his big old Chevy! I am very blessed to have had Mr. Raymond Charles Bustard as my dad for 11 years of my life! I am where I am today because of parents that dedicated their lives to serving the One who gives us life, and He gives it more abundantly!! I am blessed.........
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