“From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai—descendants of Anak.”
~ Joshua 15:14
Hi James and Ellen,
Where would you really like to live for the rest of your lives? Your grandmaa and grandpaa have lived in a lot of different places. Your grandpaa grew up on the 160 acre farm that his dad and ma owned – that is one mile west and two miles north of Volga, South Dakota. Your grandmaa grew up in Wilmington, Delaware – which is near where you are living with your dad and ma in Newark Delaware. Your grandmaa and grandpaa met each other in Sioux Center, Iowa – at Dordt College. After your grandmaa returned to her home at the end of the one school year that she spent at Dordt College, your grandpaa worked that summer stacking flax bales near where he grew up. Your grandpaa then went to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he spent about six months living and working. Your grandpaa then drove to Wilmington to find work and to be close to the beautiful gal who he had met at Dordt College and who became your grandmaa. A year after your grandpaa arrived in Wilmington, your grandmaa and grandpaa were married. Your grandmaa and grandpaa lived in an apartment in the Kynlyn Apartments complex the first year that they were married. Your grandmaa and grandpaa lived in an apartment in the Clifton Park Apartments complex the second year that they were married. Your grandmaa and grandpaa then bought a house in Claymont, Delaware – in the Green Tree housing development. Your grandpaa about two years later was asked by Liberty Loan – the finance company that your grandpaa had been working for as a loan collector, to transfer to Massachusetts to manage the Liberty Loan office that was located in Springfield. Even though your grandmaa and grandpaa enjoyed living in Massachusetts, your grandpaa and grandmaa decided because Massachusetts was an expensive place to live and because your grandpaa had talked about returning to South Dakota to live, your grandpaa, grandmaa and your dad moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where your grandpaa began working in the Beneficial Finance office that was there as a loan collector. After your grandmaa, grandpaa and dad had lived in Sioux Falls for about fifteen months, Beneficial Finance asked your grandpaa to transfer to Aberdeen, South Dakota to manage their office that is there. About spending two years later living in Aberdeen – where they connected with a church that really blessed them and where they made a number of really good friends, your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn moved to Chicago, Illinois where they lived for about three years – most of the time living in a funeral home, while your grandpaa was a student at Moody Bible Institute. After your grandpaa graduated from Moody Bible Institute, your grandmaa and grandpaa traveled to Edinburg, Texas where your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn stayed for about nine months while your grandmaa and grandpaa tried to learn Spanish. Your grandmaa and grandpaa then flew to Santa Cruz, Bolivia in South America with your dad and Aunt Lynn where they lived the next twelve years as South America Mission assigned missionaries. Your grandmaa and grandpaa at the end of their third furlough were asked by South American Mission’s leadership to move to Lantana, Florida so that they could work at the South American Mission headquarters that was located in Lake Worth. After your grandmaa and grandpaa lived in Florida for about ten months, they at the request of the South American Mission leadership moved again – this time to Canada – to Guelph, Ontario, where your grandpaa took over the responsibilities of being the Executive Director of the Canadian South American Mission office. After they lived for about two and a half years in Canada, your grandmaa and grandpaa were led by God to change mission agencies. After being accepted by OC International, your grandmaa and grandpaa opted for Guatemala to be their field assignment. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been living in Guatemala City for the past seven and a half years
If your grandmaa and grandpaa had to make a decision today of a place where they would like to live for the rest of their lives, they would be hard pressed to make that decision as they have lived in and have seen several places that they really liked. Even though there were giants living on the land that Caleb had either wanted or that Joshua was giving to him to be his to live in as his very own land, Caleb seemed to perfectly fine with that land. Caleb had been one of the two guys out of twelve guys who Moses sent into the land that God had told the Israelite people group’s guys and gals – God’s specially chosen guys and gals, that they would always have to live in as their very own land if . . . to spy out the land. Because Caleb thought forty years earlier that God’s specially chosen guys and gals should march right into the land area that God had told His specially chosen guys and gals that . . . Caleb was promised a special allotment of land once all the guys, gals and kids were killed who were living in the land area that was known as Canaan. Caleb was a Judah tribal clan leader. Joshua 15 is about the Judah tribal clan being allotted by lot the first land portion of the land that God had told His specially chosen guys and gals that they would always have to live in as their very own land if . . . Joshua – as he recorded the parameters of the Judah tribal clan’s land allotment, includes what his fellow former spy – Caleb, did in verse 14 “From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai—descendants of Anak.” Anakites were giants who lived in the land area that Caleb was given. Caleb is your grandpaa’s second most favorite character in the Bible.
If you could choose a place to live, would you choose a place to live that has giants living in it just as Caleb did? Caleb’s giants were real. Your grandpaa believes that every guy, gal and kid has figurative giants in their lives.
Joshua 15 (412)