We have gathered to share in the dedication of four new facilities in the Big Springs village.  We wish to thank the Mabee Foundation, Meadows Foundation, the Peterson Foundation, and Ed and Trudy Brune, for the momentous accomplishment they have made possible in the past year. 

I wish Oma Bell Perry could be here today.  This is the first dedication she has missed.  Oma Bell will be 90 in about ten days, and it will be fun to tell her about this gathering, and the progress on her beautiful Ranch.

Oma Bell was always fond of saying that she generally considered me to be an intelligent person, except for turning down twice the gift of the Big Springs Ranch.  I can still hear her saying, “Who in his right mind would turn down a gift of 7000 acres on the Frio River?”

And she’s right.  I did turn her down twice.  I thought it was too high a mountain.  So I said no, the first time in 1990 and again in 1995.  Between those years, Oma Bell tried two larger organizations.  St. Judes of Nevada spent four years planning, but never got going. 

Then a call came from Dr. Otis Moore, former administrator of Mo Ranch and also a friend of Oma Bell’s.  I’ll never forget what he said.  “Gary, Oma Bell has a vision and a promise to fulfill.  Sometimes, a calling like this doesn’t leave you with as much choice as you think.”  Another mutual friend, Dr. John Givens, said we just had to do this;  he’d take care of getting the school started if I’d just work on the children’s village. 

It became harder to resist these folks’ conviction about what was supposed to happen.  When I finally relented, I told Oma Bell, “you’ve got a wonderful vision and the most beautiful Ranch in Texas.  I am persuaded that there are serious forces at work to help you get this off the ground, but it’s still a huge undertaking.  I’ll accept provided you’ll pray with me about our need for others to come and join us.  This will take the work of many angels, most still unknown to us.”  She didn’t hesitate and we said the prayer.

Today I look out and see many of the angels we prayed about.  And I now believe that it’s all possible, provided we continue to live in faith that what is being done among us is beyond what we can see in our practical minds, which will always provide us with ample evidence to produce reluctance. 

It’s something along the lines of “Love casts out fear.”

I hesitate to use the word Love as if I understand all Jesus meant by the term.  But Jesus left important clues in his parables, like the Prodigal Son, about the nature of love and its power.  It seems God’s love for us is overwhelmingly huge, prodigal, unflinching, and that, somehow, if we can surrender to the Vine Dresser of John 15, letting Him prune us ever closer to the vine, such love can be born in us, too.