Misty Hollow Carving and Misty Hollow Digital
Images
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“Misty Hollow
Carving” was launched in
October 2008
Misty Hollow Digital Images were
launched on September 26, 2012.
“Crop Circles’ Web Site” where all
my images are available.
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Losing our friend through a terrible
accident – Maureen Lancaster is gone
I am numb today. I laid down for an afternoon sleep yesterday
and when I got up my wife told me the terrible news. Our friend was dead and her husband was in
the ICU with some serious injuries. Oh God!
How terrible!
Our friend is Maureen
Lancaster and her husband is Rev. Doug Lancaster. They pastor the Avonhurst
Pentecostal Church in Regina, Saskatchewan.
On Saturday Evening they
were returning from an engagement where Doug spoke to a group of Seniors at a
Camp. They were on Doug’s motorcycle on
the highway east of Regina about two hours… somewhere near Moosomin, Sask. I
think. There was an area of the province that is heavily populated with White
Tail deer… and knowing that Doug slowed down.
However a deer jumped on to the highway and they hit the animal – or the
animal hit them.
Maureen died at that place and
Doug suffered some very extensive injuries placing him in the ICU of a Regina,
Hospital.
Even as I write this my mind
is struggling to wonder why it all happened?
“If they would have left a half hour earlier, 15 minutes earlier… two
minutes even – Would they have been okay?… or even a bit later?”
I am human and I wonder. I
struggle with some dark thoughts at terrible times.
And… yet… Pastor Doug and I
both have conducted hundreds of funerals and have tried to reassure all the families
that God only knows why. Now we both
have to live it.
When I was a pastor in Saskatchewan
one of my tasks was to serve as a Presbyter for a section of the Province. In one of the periods of time Doug and
Maureen were a pastoral team that I encouraged. They were part of my group. We became friends.
It was also during that time
that Doug stepped aside from pastoral duties. He had been pastoring the Southside
Pentecostal Church in Regina. We were
serving at Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
Doug and Maureen stepped out
of church work for about three years. But we still stayed in touch while they
lived in Saskatoon.
During that three years the
Southside church called Alida and I to become their new pastors, replacing Doug
and Maureen.
Southside had a huge debt
that had come when the Satanists had broken into the beautiful new church and
burned the building to the ground.
Instead of building on the property where the church was burned, they
chose to buy an old school… that sucked the money out of the congregation in
every way.
When we arrived to take on
the leadership task, the church was in deep debt, they had lost the pastor that
they loved and the small group was struggling.
At the end of three years
Doug and Maureen were ready to come back to church work again.
It was then that I contacted
them and invited them to come back to Southside on a Father’s Day morning to
enter ministry again.
That morning Maureen sang a beautiful
song and Doug ministered from his heart. At the end I had folk in the church
come forward to shake Doug and Maureen’s hands and “Welcome them home”... back
into the ministry.
At the same time Doug was
speaking a deal was signed for the sale of the Property of the old church
site. Two major burdens had been lifted
at that point in time. Forgiveness and faithfulness were part of the church’s
reward.
The history that followed
was good. Doug and Maureen became the Pastors of the other Pentecostal church
in Regina. Alida and I moved to
Peterborough – at almost the same time – in 1998.
Every time I was back in
Regina over these past 15 years I have had coffee and a long talk with Doug…
including April 2013 when we got together again at Avonhurst. He shared a lot
with me that day about their joy of the work they were doing, about being
Grandparents and loving it, their love for each other, and other ministerial stuff. Our friendship over the 21 years had been
good and remained the same – close.
I am writing this out of a
need to tell someone about a great couple that have done much together –
suffered and survived… and now have been torn apart because of a terrible accident.
I write because I am sad and
not knowing what to do…
Oh God! Help us all.
There is a tomorrow – but today hurts and it is heavy.
~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com
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