Reach

Proverbs 22:6

Maybe it's because I just had another birthday. Maybe it's because I'm a granddad several times over. Or maybe it's because of a struggling young seminarian I met recently who wishes he had been higher on his parents' priority list than, say, fifth or sixth. He was hurried and ignored through childhood, then tolerated and misunderstood through adolescence, and finally expected to "be a man" without having been taught how.

The annual Poppy Campaign launched today, Friday, October 25, with the presentation of the season’s first poppies to County of Grande Prairie Reeve Bob Marshall and Mayor of Grande Prairie, Jackie Clayton. Poppies are now available at local stores and businesses, with all proceeds going to support veterans and their families. For details on upcoming Remembrance Day services, visit the events calendar at reachfm.ca.

The City of Grande Prairie's snow removal teams are fully prepared for the 2024/2025 winter season, having already responded to significant snowfall over the past weekend.

As winter sets in, crews will continue managing snow to ensure safe and efficient travel throughout the city. Full winter operations, including sanding and plowing priority roads, were underway this week, with crews ready for any upcoming snowfalls.

Snow Removal Operations
The City manages snow removal in three key ways:

With the winter approaching rapidly CN Rail is looking at a lot of movement coming as winter approaches the prairies.

With plenty of grain left in prairie bins following the harvest, CN Rail will be moving quite a bit of that to buyers over the coming months.

Assistant Vice President of Grain at CN Rail David Przednoweck says that they've been seeing a lot of movement over the previous two weeks.

Home sweet home. In many cases, when a holiday comes to an end, people are longing for one or two more days away. But for Dan Joudrey, a recent experience in Cuba had him longing for the usual uncomfortable plane ride so he could finally get home.

Joudrey recently vacationed in Cuba with a family member and it did not turn out as planned. Thanks to economic conditions on the island and a prolonged power outage that lasted an entire week, the trip was anything but relaxing. In fact the lack of basic resources made it difficult to survive, let alone enjoy a vacation.

Professional surfer and Christian writer, Bethany Hamilton is mourning the loss of her three-year-old nephew. 

A week ago, Hamilton reached out to her friends, family and followers on social media to pray for the young boy. 

"HELP‼️ My precious nephew was medivaced to Kapiolani in Oahu this morning after drowning last night," said Hamilton in a post on Instagram. "He still has a heartbeat and has fight in him. Please pray. Thank you!"

Unfortunately, a few days later he passed away.

The Bible App YouVersion has had over 800 million downloads worldwide.

Bobby Gruenewald is the founder of YouVersion. Before it became one of the most downloaded apps around the world, it had very humble beginnings. 

Ephesians 5:19-20

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Matthew 13

Stories transport us into another world. They hold our attention. They become remarkable vehicles for the communication of truth and meaningful lessons that cannot be easily forgotten. If a picture is better than a thousand words, a story is better than a million!

Some of the best stories are those spun from everyday life or from our past. Family histories are held together and handed down from generation to generation in stories. And these strong cords of memory actually become the ties that bind.

The federal government is slashing immigration targets to levels that will flatten population growth as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits the government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government had targeted bringing in 500,000 new permanent residents in both 2025 and 2026.

Next year's target will instead be 395,000 new permanent residents, and that will fall to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.