So..
I grew up in Alberta and was always a Conservative. Makes sense as the Conservative government has been in provincial power for as long as I can remember. Ralph Klein is a boyhood hero and Stephen Harper, our Conservative Prime Minister, has his local riding in Calgary, Alberta.
It was quite a shock coming to Manitoba. Weekly I get surveys in the mail from the various political parties. One such survey asked me who, and by who means which political party, is best served to guide the economy in Canada. Being born and raised in Alberta, the answer is very simple, 'whoever puts the most money in my pocket'
I was sharing this at work one day and another co-worker commented 'You are such an Albertan Conservative, we need taxes!' I was taken aback as I have never in my life heard such a response.
I did some research and found that, as I get paid bi-monthly, in Manitoba, I pay $44.17 more in taxes. Now you may not think that is alot, but in the course of a year, 24 pay periods x $44.17 = $1060.08 per year. This may not seem like much to you either, but if you think of how much one works say from 22 years of age to 62 years of age that's $42,403.20 over 40 years. That's a pretty nice chunk of change, enough to easily live a year without working, so in essence from my point of view, if I lived in Alberta, I would get to retire one year early and if you were to ask my Mom how she likes early retirement, she says she absolutely loves it!
Plus, there is an 8% provincial sales tax, so in essence, when I buy something, I pay 8% more than my friends in Manitoba.
Now you may think I am being quite judgmental of Manitoba, and please know that I am not. I am just trying to let you, the reader, know how different life is, even 10 hours away by car.
Life here, though is much less fast paced. For instance, when it snows, I don't have to go out and shovel my snow, really at all all winter if I do not wish to. The town sends someone around to clear my public portion of sidewalk, so I am only responsible to shovel the snow by my house. Growing up in Vegreville, we lived on an almost busy street and the snow clearing crew would come and clean our streets of snow 1 time a year, sometime in March. In Dauphin, we live on an extremely quiet street and it gets cleared every time it snows.
I don't have to pay for a library card at the public library, there is a free indoor playground for my children to play at during the winter (and summer when it gets too hot), and Parcels in the mail get delivered to my house.
I admit, I have only lived in Manitoba for 4 1/2 months now, but I think I would be OK to work for another year of my life if it means I don't have to break my back shoveling snow, and get the mail delivered straight to my door. And, (wink, wink) I have people back in Alberta who can always buy me stuff PST free if I ever just feel like I am under the burden of the government.
That and it is pretty awesome that people feel sorry for me that I am an Oilers fan.
Sorry nothing Spiritual this week, unless you think of heaven and if we will be paying taxes there, or will our whole wage/worship go directly to God and all of our needs will be met and more! Until next week, enjoy the taxes you spend and God bless.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Thoughts on Creation
Lately, God has been teaching me about creation. How there is so much theology in the first chapter of Genesis. It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. Life as a Youth pastor has bee much busier than expected. Blogging has been on my list every week, but in the "doesn't have to get done immediately" section and as a result, it made it's way to the back burner and even pushed off the stove.
Lots has happened in our lives, our son Elkanon (pronounced el-cannon) Jude Johnson was born on September 24, 2014. There were may complications with the birth and as a result, Colleen crashed 6 hours later and had to have emergency surgery to save her life, which in God's grace was, and not a day goes by that I am brought to tears of how good God is.
With this in perspective, and learning about this generation of youth that do not know Bible stories, God brought me to a series for the youth starting with stories from the beginning. I also was able to preach at a local church who is in need of Pulpit supply. I would like to share this sermon with you. Don't feel bad if you do not make it through as it is quite long. Enjoy!
Stories from the Bible – Grace Bible Church – November 30, 2014
Creation – Genesis 1-2
- I love reading novels. The development of the story, how everything ties in together, is just amazing.
- When a good novel is written, the reader`s imagination soars into the clouds.
- The first 2 chapters of genesis is no exception. When you reads them, you can`t help but daydream about what it used to be like.
- My favourite genre of the Bible is the stories. I love seeing how it all ties in. Not only that, how the Bible is one exceptional story of how we as people continually turn away from God, and in His grace and mercy, provides a way to himself.
- This is done through stories, songs, poems, essays, and letters. Every type of writing styles written by people from farmers and fishermen to lawyers and Kings.
- The beginning of a book usually makes or breaks a novel. Is the author able to develop the story enough and make a good foundation, with as little of paper, so the full story can be told.
- The Bible is no exception to this. The first 2 chapters of Genesis set the stage and foundation for what happens in not only the rest of the Bible, but for the unfolding story that happens today as well.
- As I have been interacting with this generation of Youth, I have realized they don’t know the Bible stories
- The stories that I grew up knowing like the back of my hand are new and exciting to them.
- As I contemplated this, and wondered where to go from there, God led me quite simply to the Beginning.
- So, for you today, I would like to go there as well.
- Show of hands, Who here knows the first verse of the Bible? That question is probably as simple as asking what John 3:16 says.
- Now I ask you, Show of hands again, who can tell me the second verse of the Bible, Genesis, 1:2
- Don’t feel bad if you don’t know it, when I asked the youth this question, nearly everyone knew the first, but only 1 knew the second.
- "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." From the New International Version.
- So the stage is set, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- There are many theories within Christian circles of how old the Earth is. Some say millions and millions of years old, and others hold to a young Earth theory some say as young as 6000 years, and from what the Bible says, the infallible Word of God, the answer is quite simple.
- From the beginning.
- So, I am happy to let the Scholars and Scientists debate this because I believe God wanted us to know that the Earth has been around since Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- As important as the first verse of the Bible is, I would argue that the second is equally as important.
- Now the second verse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters is very significant.
- Why you may ask? Because there was water. What is essential for life? Water.
- This means from the beginning, there was this potential for life.
- God from the very beginning of the heavens and the earth had a plan.
- He didn’t create humanity on a whim, or as an afterthought, but was purposeful from the beginning.
- Now, raise your hand if you know how many days of creation there are?
- Take a moment now as I ask you this question. Do you know what happened on each of those days in order?
- I know I can tell you with certainty what the days are.
- If you have small children, have grandkids, were a kid in the last 10 years, you will know Dora the Explorer
- Having 3 young kids, I watch alot of Dora the Explorer.
- As I was reading Genesis 1, I thought I was watching a Dora the Explorer episode.
- Every episode, Dora and Boots accomplish 3 tasks. These tasks are repeated over and over throughout the episode. In Genesis 1 it follows the same pattern.
- Light, Water, Dirt. Say it with me, Light, Water, Dirt. Light Water Dirt.
- And this cycle repeats itself. Days 1-3 go light water dirt, days 4-6 Light Water Dirt then on the seventh day, God rested.
- So day 1 - Light - What did god create? Light.
- A man was talking to God one day and had an idea. “God,” the man asked, “I have heard a second to you is like a 100 years and 100 years is like a second”
- “That is true”
- “And a penny to you is like a million dollars and a million dollars to you is like a penny”
- “Also true”
- “So God, please grant me this request, would you give me a penny?”
- God replies, “Sure, just give me a second.”
- I will wait a couple of seconds for you to get it. Maybe not.
- There is a lot of discussion as to what a day is. Is it millions of years? Because 2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
- Was it 24 hours; was it millions upon millions of years? Again, it doesn’t matter to me, what matters is it happened. God spoke and created Light.
- 1 thing only 1thing – Light - now this is pretty significant, but I will come back to this.
- Day 2 – “And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.”
- There are different theories out there as to what this vault of water was. Some believe it was a large shield of water that created a greenhouse effect on the earth that basically made the whole earth a tropical forest.
- Others say it is the Ozone layer that keeps the atmosphere in and “space” out
- Either way, having an atmosphere was essential for life.
- I was reading an article on nationalgeographic.com and it states NASA has come up with a criteria for life to exist.
- The Criteria are:
o proper temperature – one in which water will not freeze or boil
o water – around since the beginning
o Light – created on the first day
o Nitrogen – I found this humorous as Oxygen is not on the list but Nitrogen is
It is essential for the formation of amino acids
The Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen – so when God created sky – He must have known what He was doing
o The last criteria is quite funny, but very important – Nothing that will kill you
Something as important as the Ozone layer to protect form UV light
Or the magnetic field of earth that deflects harmful radiation
- In 2 days, the life is now possible.
- As we look at our own Christian walk with God. We often want God to act now and fast, yet as we look at creation, God sets a foundation first, so He can create his greatest work, Us.
- Now we have water, light, air. What else is needed to have and sustain life – Think Biology – Photosynthesis – Plants
- Day 3 – God creates land with plants. Life not only is possible, but now is sustainable, again, God creating a means for us to continue living.
- We have gone through 1 cycle of Light Water Dirt. And now we are onto the next
- Day 4 – What was created? Sun, moon and stars
- The sun is 150 million km from Earth, it converts hydrogen into helium through thermonuclear fusion at a rate of 620 million metric tons per second and will eventually burn up in about 5.4 billion years give or take a couple years.
- The moon, responsible for ocean tides and the means by which ancient empires counted the months, seasons and years. From a humanitarian standpoint, the moon has a significant place human history.
- As I was studying this, I found it quite humorous. – How many stars are there in the Universe?
- Astronomists say there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the earth. How many grains of sand are there? And there are more stars?
- It gives a new meaning to Genesis 15:5-6 5
He took him (Abraham) outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
- Wow, that’s a lot of descendants and we are a part of that
- Galatians 3: 7-9 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
- Just think of all the people there will be to meet in Heaven, in some ways, I understand why we will be there for an eternity, it will take that long just to say hi to all of them.
- Back to Genesis, listen to how it is accounted for in the Bible
- Verse 16 “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” 5 words to describe the billions upon billions of stars out there – by the way, He also made the stars.
- Now, just for one moment think about it. How long did God take to create all of the stars?
- Ok now what did God create on the First day? Light. How much time did God take to just create one thing? 1 full day. How amazing must light be if God can create the billions and billions of stars in a day, but in that same timeframe, create 1 thing - Light
- Light is an amazing thing – it travels at 299 792 458 m/s . Which if you calculate the distance from the sun, it takes about 8 minutes to get there. So, when you are looking at the sun, you are looking at the past, 8 minutes ago.
- Light has no weight, just pure energy. In the formula E=mc2 the constant is the speed of light squared.
- According to the Wikipedia (because we know everything on the internet is true) – if an object of mass was to travel at the speed of light, it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so.
- How fast is God? Faster than light? Does God supersede light? How much energy does God have? More than an infinite amount.
The Nicene Creed states “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
- Did you hear that about Jesus “Light of Light” How fitting that Jesus is called the Light of the World!
- So, now, reflect on this Christmas season. Jesus is 100% Human and Jesus is 100% God.
- How did God take all that bigness and complexity and cram it into a human being. That to me is more mind-blowing than how Big and powerful God is, but how did He make it fit in such a little package?
- Then Day 5 – fish and birds
- I have often wondered why create sea and air animals on a separate day than land animals. And really the only conclusion I come to is that they are vastly different.
- For instance, when talking about types of meat, usually the one that gets the bad publicity is red meat like beef and pork.
- Somehow chicken, turkey and fish seem to escape the negativity and even lots of diets will embrace them, but not the red meat.
- Now we move to Day 6 – Land animals – when one reads a story and the author writes 10 pages on Uncle John but only briefly mentions Auntie Sue, who do you think is the more important in the story? Uncle John or Auntie Sue? Uncle John.
- Same here – the first 25 verses of the Bible are devoted to creation of everything – the next 31 – except the 3 that are devoted to the 7th day – are devoted to the creation of humans – namely Adam and Eve
- So, creation – light, the stars, oceans, animals, humans and the Sabbath, from the very beginning – all fit into 59 verses and 31 of them – over 50%, are devoted to the creation of humans.
- I would say we are pretty important to God.
- Not only are we important the Bible says that we are made in God’s image, that He formed us, not just spoke, but formed and then breathed life into us.
- Isn’t that amazing, we hold the very breath of God in us.
- Also very interesting is that God created mankind to decide. To think and make a decision.
- We were not created to follow our animal instincts but to create and have options.
Genesis 2:19-20 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found.
- I find it interesting that God brought all of the animals to the man “to see what he would name them.”
- God not only created Adam with the ability to make a decision, but also to be creative.
- If he wanted to call an animal a platypus, he did. Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus orangutan, And the list goes on.
- We were not created to be robots, but to think an embrace that we don`t just blindly follow, but are to have substance in our faith.
- So…God searched all of creation and did not find a suitable helper for Adam so he took a rib from Adam and used it to form eve.
- Now if you follow Dora the Explorer, Adam looked at Eve and said “Wo-Man” (like Swiper)
- But we all know Adam was probably older than a child and was pretty ecstatic to see a beautiful lady and said “woah – Man” (like a happy teenager)
- The point of the story of Creation is not necessarily what was created, like the stars, air, light and fish, but the focus is that Mankind was created in God’s image!
- Think about it, you are the reflection of God in this world; you hold the breath of God. Does that not make you want to praise Him!
- The Creation account also brings a new meaning to John chapter 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.?”
- And Colossians 1:115-17 “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
- We are physically alive on this earth, Only because of Jesus. We are Spiritually Alive in our Hearts, Only Because of Jesus.
- As I was saying in the beginning. I believe Creation is the perfect foundation to the rest of the Bible, The stage is now set.
- The rest of the Bible is the story of how Mankind turned from God and how God brought us back to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus, if we would only ask Him to do so.
- As you go this week, remember, I am made in God’s image, I hold His breath.
- As you look at others, remember that too, each one of you is special, because you are each a unique creation of God’s design.
- Pray
And a few pictures of our family for you to enjoy. Tune in next week (that's the plan at least) for 'The Marvelouseness of Manitoba!'
Lots has happened in our lives, our son Elkanon (pronounced el-cannon) Jude Johnson was born on September 24, 2014. There were may complications with the birth and as a result, Colleen crashed 6 hours later and had to have emergency surgery to save her life, which in God's grace was, and not a day goes by that I am brought to tears of how good God is.
With this in perspective, and learning about this generation of youth that do not know Bible stories, God brought me to a series for the youth starting with stories from the beginning. I also was able to preach at a local church who is in need of Pulpit supply. I would like to share this sermon with you. Don't feel bad if you do not make it through as it is quite long. Enjoy!
Stories from the Bible – Grace Bible Church – November 30, 2014
Creation – Genesis 1-2
- I love reading novels. The development of the story, how everything ties in together, is just amazing.
- When a good novel is written, the reader`s imagination soars into the clouds.
- The first 2 chapters of genesis is no exception. When you reads them, you can`t help but daydream about what it used to be like.
- My favourite genre of the Bible is the stories. I love seeing how it all ties in. Not only that, how the Bible is one exceptional story of how we as people continually turn away from God, and in His grace and mercy, provides a way to himself.
- This is done through stories, songs, poems, essays, and letters. Every type of writing styles written by people from farmers and fishermen to lawyers and Kings.
- The beginning of a book usually makes or breaks a novel. Is the author able to develop the story enough and make a good foundation, with as little of paper, so the full story can be told.
- The Bible is no exception to this. The first 2 chapters of Genesis set the stage and foundation for what happens in not only the rest of the Bible, but for the unfolding story that happens today as well.
- As I have been interacting with this generation of Youth, I have realized they don’t know the Bible stories
- The stories that I grew up knowing like the back of my hand are new and exciting to them.
- As I contemplated this, and wondered where to go from there, God led me quite simply to the Beginning.
- So, for you today, I would like to go there as well.
- Show of hands, Who here knows the first verse of the Bible? That question is probably as simple as asking what John 3:16 says.
- Now I ask you, Show of hands again, who can tell me the second verse of the Bible, Genesis, 1:2
- Don’t feel bad if you don’t know it, when I asked the youth this question, nearly everyone knew the first, but only 1 knew the second.
- "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." From the New International Version.
- So the stage is set, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- There are many theories within Christian circles of how old the Earth is. Some say millions and millions of years old, and others hold to a young Earth theory some say as young as 6000 years, and from what the Bible says, the infallible Word of God, the answer is quite simple.
- From the beginning.
- So, I am happy to let the Scholars and Scientists debate this because I believe God wanted us to know that the Earth has been around since Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- As important as the first verse of the Bible is, I would argue that the second is equally as important.
- Now the second verse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters is very significant.
- Why you may ask? Because there was water. What is essential for life? Water.
- This means from the beginning, there was this potential for life.
- God from the very beginning of the heavens and the earth had a plan.
- He didn’t create humanity on a whim, or as an afterthought, but was purposeful from the beginning.
- Now, raise your hand if you know how many days of creation there are?
- Take a moment now as I ask you this question. Do you know what happened on each of those days in order?
- I know I can tell you with certainty what the days are.
- If you have small children, have grandkids, were a kid in the last 10 years, you will know Dora the Explorer
- Having 3 young kids, I watch alot of Dora the Explorer.
- As I was reading Genesis 1, I thought I was watching a Dora the Explorer episode.
- Every episode, Dora and Boots accomplish 3 tasks. These tasks are repeated over and over throughout the episode. In Genesis 1 it follows the same pattern.
- Light, Water, Dirt. Say it with me, Light, Water, Dirt. Light Water Dirt.
- And this cycle repeats itself. Days 1-3 go light water dirt, days 4-6 Light Water Dirt then on the seventh day, God rested.
- So day 1 - Light - What did god create? Light.
- A man was talking to God one day and had an idea. “God,” the man asked, “I have heard a second to you is like a 100 years and 100 years is like a second”
- “That is true”
- “And a penny to you is like a million dollars and a million dollars to you is like a penny”
- “Also true”
- “So God, please grant me this request, would you give me a penny?”
- God replies, “Sure, just give me a second.”
- I will wait a couple of seconds for you to get it. Maybe not.
- There is a lot of discussion as to what a day is. Is it millions of years? Because 2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
- Was it 24 hours; was it millions upon millions of years? Again, it doesn’t matter to me, what matters is it happened. God spoke and created Light.
- 1 thing only 1thing – Light - now this is pretty significant, but I will come back to this.
- Day 2 – “And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.”
- There are different theories out there as to what this vault of water was. Some believe it was a large shield of water that created a greenhouse effect on the earth that basically made the whole earth a tropical forest.
- Others say it is the Ozone layer that keeps the atmosphere in and “space” out
- Either way, having an atmosphere was essential for life.
- I was reading an article on nationalgeographic.com and it states NASA has come up with a criteria for life to exist.
- The Criteria are:
o proper temperature – one in which water will not freeze or boil
o water – around since the beginning
o Light – created on the first day
o Nitrogen – I found this humorous as Oxygen is not on the list but Nitrogen is
It is essential for the formation of amino acids
The Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen – so when God created sky – He must have known what He was doing
o The last criteria is quite funny, but very important – Nothing that will kill you
Something as important as the Ozone layer to protect form UV light
Or the magnetic field of earth that deflects harmful radiation
- In 2 days, the life is now possible.
- As we look at our own Christian walk with God. We often want God to act now and fast, yet as we look at creation, God sets a foundation first, so He can create his greatest work, Us.
- Now we have water, light, air. What else is needed to have and sustain life – Think Biology – Photosynthesis – Plants
- Day 3 – God creates land with plants. Life not only is possible, but now is sustainable, again, God creating a means for us to continue living.
- We have gone through 1 cycle of Light Water Dirt. And now we are onto the next
- Day 4 – What was created? Sun, moon and stars
- The sun is 150 million km from Earth, it converts hydrogen into helium through thermonuclear fusion at a rate of 620 million metric tons per second and will eventually burn up in about 5.4 billion years give or take a couple years.
- The moon, responsible for ocean tides and the means by which ancient empires counted the months, seasons and years. From a humanitarian standpoint, the moon has a significant place human history.
- As I was studying this, I found it quite humorous. – How many stars are there in the Universe?
- Astronomists say there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the earth. How many grains of sand are there? And there are more stars?
- It gives a new meaning to Genesis 15:5-6 5
He took him (Abraham) outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
- Wow, that’s a lot of descendants and we are a part of that
- Galatians 3: 7-9 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
- Just think of all the people there will be to meet in Heaven, in some ways, I understand why we will be there for an eternity, it will take that long just to say hi to all of them.
- Back to Genesis, listen to how it is accounted for in the Bible
- Verse 16 “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” 5 words to describe the billions upon billions of stars out there – by the way, He also made the stars.
- Now, just for one moment think about it. How long did God take to create all of the stars?
- Ok now what did God create on the First day? Light. How much time did God take to just create one thing? 1 full day. How amazing must light be if God can create the billions and billions of stars in a day, but in that same timeframe, create 1 thing - Light
- Light is an amazing thing – it travels at 299 792 458 m/s . Which if you calculate the distance from the sun, it takes about 8 minutes to get there. So, when you are looking at the sun, you are looking at the past, 8 minutes ago.
- Light has no weight, just pure energy. In the formula E=mc2 the constant is the speed of light squared.
- According to the Wikipedia (because we know everything on the internet is true) – if an object of mass was to travel at the speed of light, it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so.
- How fast is God? Faster than light? Does God supersede light? How much energy does God have? More than an infinite amount.
The Nicene Creed states “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
- Did you hear that about Jesus “Light of Light” How fitting that Jesus is called the Light of the World!
- So, now, reflect on this Christmas season. Jesus is 100% Human and Jesus is 100% God.
- How did God take all that bigness and complexity and cram it into a human being. That to me is more mind-blowing than how Big and powerful God is, but how did He make it fit in such a little package?
- Then Day 5 – fish and birds
- I have often wondered why create sea and air animals on a separate day than land animals. And really the only conclusion I come to is that they are vastly different.
- For instance, when talking about types of meat, usually the one that gets the bad publicity is red meat like beef and pork.
- Somehow chicken, turkey and fish seem to escape the negativity and even lots of diets will embrace them, but not the red meat.
- Now we move to Day 6 – Land animals – when one reads a story and the author writes 10 pages on Uncle John but only briefly mentions Auntie Sue, who do you think is the more important in the story? Uncle John or Auntie Sue? Uncle John.
- Same here – the first 25 verses of the Bible are devoted to creation of everything – the next 31 – except the 3 that are devoted to the 7th day – are devoted to the creation of humans – namely Adam and Eve
- So, creation – light, the stars, oceans, animals, humans and the Sabbath, from the very beginning – all fit into 59 verses and 31 of them – over 50%, are devoted to the creation of humans.
- I would say we are pretty important to God.
- Not only are we important the Bible says that we are made in God’s image, that He formed us, not just spoke, but formed and then breathed life into us.
- Isn’t that amazing, we hold the very breath of God in us.
- Also very interesting is that God created mankind to decide. To think and make a decision.
- We were not created to follow our animal instincts but to create and have options.
Genesis 2:19-20 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found.
- I find it interesting that God brought all of the animals to the man “to see what he would name them.”
- God not only created Adam with the ability to make a decision, but also to be creative.
- If he wanted to call an animal a platypus, he did. Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus orangutan, And the list goes on.
- We were not created to be robots, but to think an embrace that we don`t just blindly follow, but are to have substance in our faith.
- So…God searched all of creation and did not find a suitable helper for Adam so he took a rib from Adam and used it to form eve.
- Now if you follow Dora the Explorer, Adam looked at Eve and said “Wo-Man” (like Swiper)
- But we all know Adam was probably older than a child and was pretty ecstatic to see a beautiful lady and said “woah – Man” (like a happy teenager)
- The point of the story of Creation is not necessarily what was created, like the stars, air, light and fish, but the focus is that Mankind was created in God’s image!
- Think about it, you are the reflection of God in this world; you hold the breath of God. Does that not make you want to praise Him!
- The Creation account also brings a new meaning to John chapter 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.?”
- And Colossians 1:115-17 “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
- We are physically alive on this earth, Only because of Jesus. We are Spiritually Alive in our Hearts, Only Because of Jesus.
- As I was saying in the beginning. I believe Creation is the perfect foundation to the rest of the Bible, The stage is now set.
- The rest of the Bible is the story of how Mankind turned from God and how God brought us back to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus, if we would only ask Him to do so.
- As you go this week, remember, I am made in God’s image, I hold His breath.
- As you look at others, remember that too, each one of you is special, because you are each a unique creation of God’s design.
- Pray
Along the same lines as my sermon, and if you have 45 minutes to spare, I would recommend this Louie Giglio sermon called Indescribable.
And a few pictures of our family for you to enjoy. Tune in next week (that's the plan at least) for 'The Marvelouseness of Manitoba!'
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Pastry Flop
This last week, we had the privilege of hosting our youth sponsors team at our house and had some pulled beef sandwiches, pasta salad and dessert! Pie by the Mile! Basically is pastry dough spread over a cookie sheet, pie filling in-between and then more dough on top. Altogether, one big pie the size of a cookie sheet.
To get the pastry dough recipe, Colleen messaged her mother and got the recipe, which called for one pound of shortening. If you know shortening packages, one pound is a whole container. She mixed the dough and while kneading it commented that it felt very moist, yet broke apart when rolling like it was too dry. We called my mother-in-law to find out what we should do, add more flour, or more liquid because we were at a loss of what to do. "Oh, I think the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, not one pound. (The difference is that 1 cup is about 1/4 of a package)
We did not want to make 4 times the pastry dough, so I went googling on the internet to find out what we can do to solve our problem. The best answer I got, and really the only one, was to throw it out and start over. "There must be a way to salvage something good out of that dough," I thought, but alas, it was a lost cause. We threw it out, I went to the store to get more shortening (as we had used up the whole package on the last batch) and we started fresh.
The pie was delicious and worked out great and we had a encouraging time preparing for the coming year at Youth group!
As I was running to the store for more shortening and disappointed previous dough was hopeless, I began thinking about being a Christian in this world.
Often I look at myself and desire to "save" my flesh; I want to hold onto those things I am called to give up. I keep insisting that they are not necessarily bad, but can be made good if I just try hard enough. But, as I remember the pastry dough, there is no saving the flesh, it must be thrown away and burned in the fire.
1 Peter 2:11 states that the fleshly desires we have war against our souls. We my think and try to take the things that are not from God and try to make them good, but it is clear, they war against us.
Kindof like Adam and Eve in the garden where eve saw the fruit was pleasing, good tasting and helpful in gaining wisdom yet, the act of eating it destroyed their relationship with God.
It is a pretty simple formula, if it is of the flesh, destroy it, and of God, embrace it.
Yet so difficult in practice, as even as we look at the war happening in Ukraine - simple in concept, but yet so complex and confusing.
To get the pastry dough recipe, Colleen messaged her mother and got the recipe, which called for one pound of shortening. If you know shortening packages, one pound is a whole container. She mixed the dough and while kneading it commented that it felt very moist, yet broke apart when rolling like it was too dry. We called my mother-in-law to find out what we should do, add more flour, or more liquid because we were at a loss of what to do. "Oh, I think the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, not one pound. (The difference is that 1 cup is about 1/4 of a package)
We did not want to make 4 times the pastry dough, so I went googling on the internet to find out what we can do to solve our problem. The best answer I got, and really the only one, was to throw it out and start over. "There must be a way to salvage something good out of that dough," I thought, but alas, it was a lost cause. We threw it out, I went to the store to get more shortening (as we had used up the whole package on the last batch) and we started fresh.
The pie was delicious and worked out great and we had a encouraging time preparing for the coming year at Youth group!
As I was running to the store for more shortening and disappointed previous dough was hopeless, I began thinking about being a Christian in this world.
Often I look at myself and desire to "save" my flesh; I want to hold onto those things I am called to give up. I keep insisting that they are not necessarily bad, but can be made good if I just try hard enough. But, as I remember the pastry dough, there is no saving the flesh, it must be thrown away and burned in the fire.
1 Peter 2:11 states that the fleshly desires we have war against our souls. We my think and try to take the things that are not from God and try to make them good, but it is clear, they war against us.
Kindof like Adam and Eve in the garden where eve saw the fruit was pleasing, good tasting and helpful in gaining wisdom yet, the act of eating it destroyed their relationship with God.
It is a pretty simple formula, if it is of the flesh, destroy it, and of God, embrace it.
Yet so difficult in practice, as even as we look at the war happening in Ukraine - simple in concept, but yet so complex and confusing.
Monday, August 18, 2014
The Mulching Mower Conundrum
As part of our rental agreement for our duplex, we are responsible for the upkeep of the lawn on our side of the property. Part of upkeep is making sure your lawn is mowed. Having lived in an apartment building in Sexsmith and then in Kiev (where the grass would get to the point where it needed mowing and then it would take them a month to actually mow it with a weedwacker), we have not had a need of a mower and one did not make the trip with us to Dauphin.
So, the first Saturday we were here, I went garage saling to find one. Low and behold, the first sale I went to, they had an electric mulching mower. Electric! Great! No need to fill with gas. Electric! Great! GUTLESS! The chord that came with it even almost stretches to all parts of our lawn, save 10 Ft Squared that I have to start up the mower and move fast because it will unplug and stop. But enough about the electricity problem.
The thing that got me was the mulching property the mower has. When I was a young sprout, we had a mower, but it had a bag. So, one always had to check the bag and find a place to put all of the clippings.
I remember thinking to myself, "I wish there was a way to mow without having to always empty the bag" and then it happened, a friend asked me to mow their lawn, and they didn't use a bag. They just shot it out the side. This was an ingenious idea, you mow the lawn and spew it everywhere. It took much less time; well except for every 3rd time you mowed, you had to rake it up and bag it because it would begin to look unsightly. Once again, I thought, "If only there was a way to not have to rake every 3rd time." And then it happened, I bought an electric mulching mower 3 weeks ago, and no more bags, no more raking, just everything gets picked up, chopped and put back to keep nutrients in the soil. Whoever thought of this was a genius!
Well, actually, whoever thought of this had no weeds in their lawn.
When we moved, we maybe had 10 dandelion plants on our yard; within 3 weeks of mulching (picking up the dandelion seeds and spreading them), our lawn has grown dandelions exponentially! And all the money I have saved on not buying gas, I have spent at Canadian Tire buying Killex dandelion spray, but the battle is a lost cause.
As I was mowing the lawn this last time, I began thinking about those little seeds and sharing the gospel with others. There are 3 different ways I thought of: Someone who bags it all up and doesn't share, Someone who shares with everyone, and others who share within a small, yet specific area.
On one hand, the lawn of the person who bags looks beautiful, with no dandelions. Another spreads the seed everywhere, but with little aim and purpose, and the third, although only in a specific area, spreads exponentially.
I will be the first to admit that I do not go out and share Jesus with everyone, but, my prayer is that God will give me specific times to share and the wisdom and boldness to share when and where He desires.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Manitoba Bound!
 |
| Our Uhaul ready to go! |
To catch you up to date, we left Grande Prairie on Monday July 21 for Bow Island. Tuesday we packed up the Uhaul and Wednesday we left for Dauphin at 4:00 am and arrived in time for supper at 6:00 pm, losing and hour on the way.
A very busy few days, but it is also good to have a home our kids can call home for more than a month as since February we have lived (constituting at least 5 days) in Poland, Ukraine, back to Poland, Parksville BC, Grande Prairie, Vegreville, Dauphin (ok so this was only a 3 day trip), back to Vegreville, Bow Island, Grande Prairie again and finally back to Dauphin where we have been for 20 days and counting!
I am pretty sure our kids are setting themselves up to move again, however, they like their own beds and Ellianna has started calling our duplex our house. It also helps that we have not gone more than a 10 minutes drive away from the city (8000 people in Dauphin, but a Walmart, McDonalds and Tims!).
I was reminded when I put the title "Manitoba Bound" of the song Alberta Bound by Paul Brandt. (Just a little video that really has no point to this blog, but a little piece of "home" for us)
I had the privilege of marching with the Grande Prairie Marching Band as we celebrated Grande Prairie's 100 years, so history is a little on the brain. As part of moving to Dauphin, I went to city hall to register for Manitoba health insurance. And noticed Fort Dauphin has been around since 1741. And at one point was one of the most western settlements of North America. Fort Edmonton was only around since 1795 (thanks Wikipedia for all that information (because everything on the internet is true!)) So we are living in a ton of history.
Manitoba has been very Friendly as their licence plates state; however, having only ever paid GST tacking on another 8% PST totaling 13% has been quite "unfriendly"
But with the extra tax comes alot of free things like no Library fees. I was watching a Bomber's game with some guys this past week (for some reason, they don't want to get together to watch Eskimo's games) and I was explaining the difficulty of transferring our licence and registration.
There is a reason you have 90 days to transfer your vehicle as it takes 90 days to fill out the paperwork and jump through the hoops to get it done. One guy commented "Welcome to Friendly Manitoba. Socialism, everything is free, but you have to do a lot of work to get it!"
I started work last week and am starting to make connections; I even got to go inline skating at the skatepark and boy was I bad.
A few highlights include Celebrating Ellianna's birthday and going to the street fair (which happened to be on the same day)
And Jolen riding a horse for the first time (the wrangler said he was the littlest kid she has ever had ride by themselves)
We are excited for what God has in store for us and the community and if you would like to connect sometime, don't hesitate to comment or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Здравствуйте!
I was reminded this week about Ukraine and learning the language. The title of this blog is "Strasvoche" the Russian word for hello. If you know how to sound out the Slavic alphabet, you can sound out words but have no idea what you are saying. While riding the busses, I would constantly be reading billboards just to sound out the letters, but I would have no idea what they were saying. (When I went to Venezuela, to learn Spanish I would sound out graffiti until our translator kindly told me to stop swearing, so that lesson had been learned before heading to Ukraine!)
We were driving through Grande Prairie, Alberta and saw this sign and thought of all of our times of trying to figure out what was being said and missing the humour. So, I hope you are not offended but laugh for the humour that is the sign.
For instance, when I was building houses, I remember building the house my brother-in-law now lives in and walking into the house, I remember all the mistakes I made on the house, but not the things I did right. And everytime I walk into his house, I remember two things, "I really love his house and think it is the best designed house I ever built, and, I built a rake wall wrong and we had to adjust the trusses to fix my mistake." None of the stuff I did wrong was structurally unsound and it all got covered up by drywall and shingles, but I know it is there.
When I think of heaven, a question comes to mind, will I remember my sins? Will I constantly know what I have been saved from and this brings rejoicing because Jesus forgave my sins and I am counted as righteous because of it. Or will my mind be wiped blank and be rejoicing because of who God is or maybe a little of both? I know that there will not be pain when I remember life on earth. Also, we talk alot of the Bible enduring for eternity and in the Bible speaks of all kind of sins and keeps record of David's sin, Solomon, and even mentions sins of those who are not spending eternity in heaven. Many questions, few answers, but the answers I know is that God is perfect, so however I remember life on Earth, it will be in His perfect wisdom and not my own.
Speaking of life on this Earth, our hair is constantly growing. And sometimes it needs to be cut off.
We were driving through Grande Prairie, Alberta and saw this sign and thought of all of our times of trying to figure out what was being said and missing the humour. So, I hope you are not offended but laugh for the humour that is the sign.
If you are not from Grande Prairie, Fourward is a bike, skate and board shop, so it fits the "surfer" type humour. But what if you could not speak English and were riding the bus and saw this sign and were reading outloud. I get this image of a guy in his 30s or so sounding out words and you usually can only sound out 2 words at most. Next to this guy learning English is a pretty girl checking out her appearance in her mirror and the guy reads the sign outloud "Fat, Ugly" It could be that I have made my fair share of cultural mistakes and I feel for those that make them as well, but the most learning I did, especially learning about culture, was making mistakes. You remember things you got wrong and not things you did right.For instance, when I was building houses, I remember building the house my brother-in-law now lives in and walking into the house, I remember all the mistakes I made on the house, but not the things I did right. And everytime I walk into his house, I remember two things, "I really love his house and think it is the best designed house I ever built, and, I built a rake wall wrong and we had to adjust the trusses to fix my mistake." None of the stuff I did wrong was structurally unsound and it all got covered up by drywall and shingles, but I know it is there.
When I think of heaven, a question comes to mind, will I remember my sins? Will I constantly know what I have been saved from and this brings rejoicing because Jesus forgave my sins and I am counted as righteous because of it. Or will my mind be wiped blank and be rejoicing because of who God is or maybe a little of both? I know that there will not be pain when I remember life on earth. Also, we talk alot of the Bible enduring for eternity and in the Bible speaks of all kind of sins and keeps record of David's sin, Solomon, and even mentions sins of those who are not spending eternity in heaven. Many questions, few answers, but the answers I know is that God is perfect, so however I remember life on Earth, it will be in His perfect wisdom and not my own.
Speaking of life on this Earth, our hair is constantly growing. And sometimes it needs to be cut off.
Thank you, my son the model, for showing everyone what must happen sometimes. It is really hot up here and the shave is a welcome addition.
Also, If I was to start my own business, it would be in the deck building category. I would say that decks are my specialty! I love building decks and enjoy the finished product.
100 feet or so of deck, and I am finally finished. The whole front of the house, the side and another 10 feet on the back! 14 rises, 7 different platforms, I am happy to be done.
I noticed that the Dauphin First Baptist Church has added me to their blogs list, so if you are in Dauphin and would like some advice on building a deck, I am your man. We are leaving next Monday and hopefully arriving in Dauphin next Thursday or Friday! The end is near, and it has only just begun! God Bless!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
This blog post is brought to you by the letter "P"
I remember growing up watching Sesame Street. Every episode of was brought to you by a specific letter. Well, this week it was the letter P in the Johnson household.
Potty, Pee, Poop, Panties and Treat (I know it isn't a P word, but it was a big word).
You have probably guessed, but Potty training has begun. Not only Ellianna, but now Jolen is sitting on the green and orange froggy potty we got at Superstore.
The interesting thing about potty training is I was really surprized at how it relates to the Christian life. As mentioned in previous posts, God has been teaching me alot about the process of life and our daily walk with Jesus.
When Ellianna started, the battle of the wills began and it was sitting on the toilet for 3 hour stretches waiting for something to come out. As the days progressed, the three hours shortened to 15 minutes every 2 hours, to less than 30 seconds from entering the bathroom to exiting. I really didn't notice the shortening of time in the process, until we would say, "Ellianna, it is time to go potty," and then before I got off of the sofa, she came streaking back, "I peed."
Again, another revelation happened yesterday when Ellianna came streaking (I emphasise streaking, because she was she really without clothes running around the house) into the room. "Why does she have her clothes off?" I wondered. "I peed!" without being told to go to the bathroom. She had moved to sensing the need to empty her bladder. (I know I am being quite descriptive, but I am one very proud father!)
As our time in Dauphin is coming soon (in two weeks we are leaving Sexsmith and heading East), I have really begun reflecting on connecting with and discipling teenagers. I mentioned on the youth trip to Edmonton that I forget the way youth think, but more than that, I realize the need to tell youth what they should do.
I know youth don't like to hear what they are supposed to do and want to figure things out on their own, but there also needs to be someone to show them the right way. Kindof like my daughter on the potty. She didn't know really what to do, but eventually she came to the point where she knew what to do.
We can't expect young and new Christians, and even those who are not as sensitive to Holy Spirit like someone who has been forgiven for 30 years. We are all on a journey and some are farther than others, but we are called to help each other along the way. So next time you stop and shake your head because of something someone has done, or said, come alongside them and think of where they are coming from.
Potty, Pee, Poop, Panties and Treat (I know it isn't a P word, but it was a big word).
You have probably guessed, but Potty training has begun. Not only Ellianna, but now Jolen is sitting on the green and orange froggy potty we got at Superstore.
The interesting thing about potty training is I was really surprized at how it relates to the Christian life. As mentioned in previous posts, God has been teaching me alot about the process of life and our daily walk with Jesus.
When Ellianna started, the battle of the wills began and it was sitting on the toilet for 3 hour stretches waiting for something to come out. As the days progressed, the three hours shortened to 15 minutes every 2 hours, to less than 30 seconds from entering the bathroom to exiting. I really didn't notice the shortening of time in the process, until we would say, "Ellianna, it is time to go potty," and then before I got off of the sofa, she came streaking back, "I peed."
Again, another revelation happened yesterday when Ellianna came streaking (I emphasise streaking, because she was she really without clothes running around the house) into the room. "Why does she have her clothes off?" I wondered. "I peed!" without being told to go to the bathroom. She had moved to sensing the need to empty her bladder. (I know I am being quite descriptive, but I am one very proud father!)
As our time in Dauphin is coming soon (in two weeks we are leaving Sexsmith and heading East), I have really begun reflecting on connecting with and discipling teenagers. I mentioned on the youth trip to Edmonton that I forget the way youth think, but more than that, I realize the need to tell youth what they should do.
I know youth don't like to hear what they are supposed to do and want to figure things out on their own, but there also needs to be someone to show them the right way. Kindof like my daughter on the potty. She didn't know really what to do, but eventually she came to the point where she knew what to do.
We can't expect young and new Christians, and even those who are not as sensitive to Holy Spirit like someone who has been forgiven for 30 years. We are all on a journey and some are farther than others, but we are called to help each other along the way. So next time you stop and shake your head because of something someone has done, or said, come alongside them and think of where they are coming from.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Adresses and Emergency Rooms
As I mentioned last week, we got a duplex to rent in Dauphin. This last week, I phoned to get the electricity and gas hooked up and was in for a pleasant surprize. We know what our mailing address will be. The previous renters got their mail delivered to the duplex and with us moving in, our new mailing address is 3 Kirby Ave. East, Dauphin, Manitoba, R7N 0E8. It feels kind of weird having an address for a mailing address. Ever since we have been married, we have lived in small towns that only have post office boxes but now, an address! Ok, so I guess we had an address while we lived in Ukraine, but in some ways that doesn't count as we still had a PO Box number in Canada and it took 1-2 months for mail to arrive. We hope this will be an address will have for a while, but as has been the theme of our lives, God only knows and we are along for the ride wherever He leads.
So, back to last week's post, I mentioned a scary incident with Jolen. This week, we went to the emergency room with him. He usually is a very stable sitter and we have put him on many chairs and he doesn't fall off, well almost never. This week he did and straight on his head. He lost consciousness a couple of times and we were off to the hospital to have him checked out. Definitely not a trip I want to take again.
Going to the hospital and waiting 4 hours or so is not my idea of how I want to spend my time, but how I want to spend my money. We are very blessed in Alberta to have free healthcare. This means I can go to the hospital, see a doctor, have immunizations for free, no dinero. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a few American teachers in Ukraine. We were talking about wait times in Canada and how it takes so long to see a doctor and they would say they would get in quickly and efficiently. Then the conversation would switch to money and the deductible on their insurance would be $2000. This means that every time they go to visit the doctor, it is money (and no little amount) out of their pocket. I think me, growing up not paying for doctors visits would take the waiting to the lightening of the wallet. Jolen, ended up being fine, we had to check on him every 2 hours but a small amount of time to make sure everything is ok.
Reflecting on this last week, one can't help but think of when we have a permanent eternal home with no tears, no pain and no hospital visits. We are so blessed to be granted life on this earth, but we often forget that this is not were we are to stay forever. We have an eternal hope in Jesus and we will truly be home when we embrace our Saviour!
So, back to last week's post, I mentioned a scary incident with Jolen. This week, we went to the emergency room with him. He usually is a very stable sitter and we have put him on many chairs and he doesn't fall off, well almost never. This week he did and straight on his head. He lost consciousness a couple of times and we were off to the hospital to have him checked out. Definitely not a trip I want to take again.
Going to the hospital and waiting 4 hours or so is not my idea of how I want to spend my time, but how I want to spend my money. We are very blessed in Alberta to have free healthcare. This means I can go to the hospital, see a doctor, have immunizations for free, no dinero. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a few American teachers in Ukraine. We were talking about wait times in Canada and how it takes so long to see a doctor and they would say they would get in quickly and efficiently. Then the conversation would switch to money and the deductible on their insurance would be $2000. This means that every time they go to visit the doctor, it is money (and no little amount) out of their pocket. I think me, growing up not paying for doctors visits would take the waiting to the lightening of the wallet. Jolen, ended up being fine, we had to check on him every 2 hours but a small amount of time to make sure everything is ok.
Reflecting on this last week, one can't help but think of when we have a permanent eternal home with no tears, no pain and no hospital visits. We are so blessed to be granted life on this earth, but we often forget that this is not were we are to stay forever. We have an eternal hope in Jesus and we will truly be home when we embrace our Saviour!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
A Terrifying Experience
We have made it to our last supporting church up here in Sexsmith, Alberta at Grace Bible Fellowship. We have been fortunate to have "family" up here as the Lovrod family is not blood related, but don't tell our kids that. They have a house that can hold the four of us in a single room, so we have been all together, and will be until the middle of July, when we pack everything and move to Manitoba.
On a side note, they are BlueBombers fans in Manitoba, and my 2nd cousin (Teague Sherman) plays safety for them, so I may (but probably wont) cheer a bit for the home team (Unless they play the Eskimos of course).
Well, back to the story, we are on a farm and me being a carpenter, there are always things to do around the yard like building a deck and a roof over the entranceway, but I can't complain as they are putting up with us for a month and not charging us room and board.
On the farm, there are many things to get into for a small child. These items include a creek nearby and a dugout, both of which contain water that my son could drown in as when he sees the water, he runs full tilt. We were loading up some of the scraps from the deck to take to the dump and Jolen was going to come with us men to do the manly work of smelling like garbage at the landfill.
All of a sudden, he was gone. "Oh no!" I thought, so I bolted for the creek, screaming his name, hoping to hear some sort of sound from his little lungs, but nothing. In a panic, I ran faster only to hear a "Wheeeeee! Wheeeeeeee! Wheeeee!"
I caught a glimpse of him.
On a side note, they are BlueBombers fans in Manitoba, and my 2nd cousin (Teague Sherman) plays safety for them, so I may (but probably wont) cheer a bit for the home team (Unless they play the Eskimos of course).
Well, back to the story, we are on a farm and me being a carpenter, there are always things to do around the yard like building a deck and a roof over the entranceway, but I can't complain as they are putting up with us for a month and not charging us room and board.
On the farm, there are many things to get into for a small child. These items include a creek nearby and a dugout, both of which contain water that my son could drown in as when he sees the water, he runs full tilt. We were loading up some of the scraps from the deck to take to the dump and Jolen was going to come with us men to do the manly work of smelling like garbage at the landfill.
All of a sudden, he was gone. "Oh no!" I thought, so I bolted for the creek, screaming his name, hoping to hear some sort of sound from his little lungs, but nothing. In a panic, I ran faster only to hear a "Wheeeeee! Wheeeeeeee! Wheeeee!"
I caught a glimpse of him.
Without a doubt, that boy is going to grow up to be a farmer.
It did make me think of the parables Jesus told of the lost coin and sheep. The rejoicing that went on when they were found. And how Jesus relates the celebration to that in Heaven when a person who is lost, finds his way to Jesus. A time of terror, turns to one of pure joy!
Thank you again for all of your prayers as I will be making our final presentation on July 6.
We have a place to rent in Dauphin, a 3 bedroom duplex that is a wee bit (as in a lot) less expensive than the house I had shown earlier, we are so excited as we continue on this journey towards heaven that we call life on earth.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
The Common Sense
I was super fortunate this weekend to travel with the Grace Bible Fellowship Youth group to West Edmonton Mall. The difficulty I had was that I have not been involved in youth ministry since March, so one kind of forgets the way teenagers think.
For instance, we stopped off at Whitecout for McDonalds supper on our way. McDonalds was across the street kiddy corner so, this meant we had to cross the street twice to reach our destination. Simple, right? Not with kids who have not developed the common-sense portion of their brain. And me, being the mature responsible one of course, used common sense. So, crossing the street started off quite routinely, we waited for the little white man to appear signaling we were to cross, and we did with no incident. However, when we reached the other side, the group proceeded to begin crossing the street in the next direction walking directly into oncoming traffic that had a green light. A couple of horns later, the group made it across safely, laughed and continued on their way walking on the street instead of the sidewalk.
It brought to mind an incident I remember when I was young. We were waiting to go to an Eskimos game and the crosswalk signal switched from white to a red hand, the light turned yellow and then I decided that it would be a great time to run across the street in the middle of rush-hour Edmonton. The engines revved, the horns honked, you youth leaders yelled and lets just say that I am still alive today despite my "need" to disregard what I knew was the smart choice to make.
Now that the trip is over and my memory is jogged, I am reminded the great desire God has placed in my heart to see youth grow in their faith. I will be the first to admit that I am old and am not as crazy as I used to be, but there is a thankfulness that God still brings my days of yore back to mind. Young Christians, do not have the same growth and maturity us who have grown in the faith, yet it is important we remember the time when our relationship with the Holy One was fresh and new. We were much more "reckless" for Jesus and I think it would be a benefit if we could harness that passion with the maturity that comes with knowing Christ.
I guess the meat of what I am writing about is that we often write off teens and new Christians as naïve and lacking wisdom, but forget passion in our Christian walk. We need each other, the old to lead the young and the inexperienced to remind the experienced that there is more than one way to skin a cat (why one would want to skin one is beyond me). So, next time you are challenged, instead of taking offence, step back and wonder how this can teach you the lesson God has in store for you!
For instance, we stopped off at Whitecout for McDonalds supper on our way. McDonalds was across the street kiddy corner so, this meant we had to cross the street twice to reach our destination. Simple, right? Not with kids who have not developed the common-sense portion of their brain. And me, being the mature responsible one of course, used common sense. So, crossing the street started off quite routinely, we waited for the little white man to appear signaling we were to cross, and we did with no incident. However, when we reached the other side, the group proceeded to begin crossing the street in the next direction walking directly into oncoming traffic that had a green light. A couple of horns later, the group made it across safely, laughed and continued on their way walking on the street instead of the sidewalk.
It brought to mind an incident I remember when I was young. We were waiting to go to an Eskimos game and the crosswalk signal switched from white to a red hand, the light turned yellow and then I decided that it would be a great time to run across the street in the middle of rush-hour Edmonton. The engines revved, the horns honked, you youth leaders yelled and lets just say that I am still alive today despite my "need" to disregard what I knew was the smart choice to make.
Now that the trip is over and my memory is jogged, I am reminded the great desire God has placed in my heart to see youth grow in their faith. I will be the first to admit that I am old and am not as crazy as I used to be, but there is a thankfulness that God still brings my days of yore back to mind. Young Christians, do not have the same growth and maturity us who have grown in the faith, yet it is important we remember the time when our relationship with the Holy One was fresh and new. We were much more "reckless" for Jesus and I think it would be a benefit if we could harness that passion with the maturity that comes with knowing Christ.
I guess the meat of what I am writing about is that we often write off teens and new Christians as naïve and lacking wisdom, but forget passion in our Christian walk. We need each other, the old to lead the young and the inexperienced to remind the experienced that there is more than one way to skin a cat (why one would want to skin one is beyond me). So, next time you are challenged, instead of taking offence, step back and wonder how this can teach you the lesson God has in store for you!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Are we still in Ukriane?
The culture in Ukraine is very community minded. For example, we were riding on the subway and a man with about 3 teeth comes up to us and gives us a bag of apples and cookies without saying a word, and then gets off the train. Colleen and I looked at each other and said, "If we were in Canada, these cookies and apples would go straight to the trash, but because we are in Ukraine, we will eat them." People in Ukraine give stuff away for free, without anyone thinking suspicious thoughts. As well, if you have leftover food and it is still good, you put it in a clean bag and place it beside a trash can, signaling it is still good food and whoever wants it can have it. As we lived in Ukraine, we began to accept free things with gratitude.
Move months later to Canada. In the past couple of weeks, I have been given things for free, whether it be a service or items.
Our van came with a signal switch that does not cancel, meaning that if I turn on my signal light and turn a corner, it would not turn off. I bought a used one from the auto-wrecker and installed it. When we took the van out for a drive to check it, it would not cancel when we turned left. So, the next day I called the auto-wrecker to inform them that I needed a different switch and was told it was in working order when they sold it to me so there was no problem with the switch and there must be a problem with the driveshaft. Discouraged, and not knowing a thing about driveshafts, I took the van to the mechanic to check out the problem. He looked at the steering column and the switch and concluded the switch was at fault and wrote me a note to give to the auto-wrecker. I asked how much I owe, because I took up his time, and he said it was free of charge.
Nervously, I made my way to the auto-wrecker, expecting a fight. I went in, made my case and got the switch ordered with no difficulty; they didn't even want the note from the mechanic. Myself and the partsman walked to the van because we needed a couple more small parts and he put them on order with the new switch I needed. Wondering how much these other parts would cost, I got a phone call 2 days later that my parts were in and they were free. No charge.
We were driving on a gravel road a couple of days ago and ran over some gravel that had been piled up by the grader. Now funny noises were coming from my van. Begrudgingly, I brought the van in again to the mechanic, wondering the cost of the fix this time. He looked at it, said there were a couple of pebbles stuck in the serpentine belt, but it would weaken the belt to remove them so they left them in and the noises were normal and he could not see a problem. Again, no charge.
Coming from a culture where people look out for each other and returning to Canada, I have been blessed to learn that people here still care. I would challenge you to look for opportunities this week to bless someone else without expecting something in return. For example, buy the coffee for the person behind you in the drive through, or buy a chocolate bar for the kid in line next to you. Share God's love as He freely bestows it upon us.
On a separate note, I laugh because the majority of pictures I take of Jolen are of him eating. Hope you enjoy our cute kids and how they are enjoying being spoiled by everyone here in Canada!
Move months later to Canada. In the past couple of weeks, I have been given things for free, whether it be a service or items.
Our van came with a signal switch that does not cancel, meaning that if I turn on my signal light and turn a corner, it would not turn off. I bought a used one from the auto-wrecker and installed it. When we took the van out for a drive to check it, it would not cancel when we turned left. So, the next day I called the auto-wrecker to inform them that I needed a different switch and was told it was in working order when they sold it to me so there was no problem with the switch and there must be a problem with the driveshaft. Discouraged, and not knowing a thing about driveshafts, I took the van to the mechanic to check out the problem. He looked at the steering column and the switch and concluded the switch was at fault and wrote me a note to give to the auto-wrecker. I asked how much I owe, because I took up his time, and he said it was free of charge.
Nervously, I made my way to the auto-wrecker, expecting a fight. I went in, made my case and got the switch ordered with no difficulty; they didn't even want the note from the mechanic. Myself and the partsman walked to the van because we needed a couple more small parts and he put them on order with the new switch I needed. Wondering how much these other parts would cost, I got a phone call 2 days later that my parts were in and they were free. No charge.
We were driving on a gravel road a couple of days ago and ran over some gravel that had been piled up by the grader. Now funny noises were coming from my van. Begrudgingly, I brought the van in again to the mechanic, wondering the cost of the fix this time. He looked at it, said there were a couple of pebbles stuck in the serpentine belt, but it would weaken the belt to remove them so they left them in and the noises were normal and he could not see a problem. Again, no charge.
Coming from a culture where people look out for each other and returning to Canada, I have been blessed to learn that people here still care. I would challenge you to look for opportunities this week to bless someone else without expecting something in return. For example, buy the coffee for the person behind you in the drive through, or buy a chocolate bar for the kid in line next to you. Share God's love as He freely bestows it upon us.
On a separate note, I laugh because the majority of pictures I take of Jolen are of him eating. Hope you enjoy our cute kids and how they are enjoying being spoiled by everyone here in Canada!
 |
| Ellianna is her father's daughter |
 |
| Felt good to catch some good old Canadian Jackfish |
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Skinny Diapers and Soup Kitchens - Memories of Kiev Christian Academy
As Thursday was KCA's Graduation, (Congratulations to all of the graduates) I thought I would share a couple of memories from each class I taught.
Grade 12 - Seniors
I only taught this class the first semester but had a wonderful time teaching Spiritual Formation.
Part of the curriculum is to teach Spiritual Disciplines by Richard Foster. The time came to teach Service and I thought to myself, why not act out Service instead of just teaching. So for the class, we went outside and raked the leaves. Now, you have to understand Ukraine, or maybe just Maple trees in general. They don't have small leaves that are easy to rake, but huge leaves that take alot of effort. Me, being from Canada (The Maple Leaf Country) I have never witnessed a Maple tree as we don't' have them very much in Alberta. Afterwards, I went out to the local coffee shop and bought them coffees and really enjoyed teaching through action and not just standing in front of the class.
Another memory was how I tried to set JooSeok (Pronounced Jew-Sack) up with every girl in the class. I wasn't successful but I sure had alot of fun trying and someday JooSeok, you will find the girl of your dreams!
Grade 11 - Sophomores
(Funny thing, me being Canadian wrote Softmores and had to get it spellchecked)
I taught a class on Ideas and how to achieve great ideas. If you have ever studied the process of idea-ology, or if you have ever brainstormed, you will know there are three stages of idea creating. 1st - the obvious - the safe answers are thrown out first. 2nd - the crazy ridiculous - Usually this is where the idea creating stops as the more conservative people out there think this is pointless and shut down the frivolousness. 3rd - the Awesome - from the silly and crazy comes a great idea so Please don't stop your brainstorming when things get silly, this just means you are poised for greatness!!! I asked the class if they had any crazy ideas that had potential to be awesome - THEN - Krash stood up and yelled out "Skinny Diapers" - Diapers that don't look like diapers so you don't have to run to the bathroom all the time between classes - said the man who drinks 2 litres of water each and every class and wonders why he is always late because he has to go to the bathroom!
Another memory was when our class was doing presentations on heroes of the Faith. One student asked if it had to be someone famous or anyone. I said anyone, so they told a story in class of a father in Kazakhstan who took his two daughters to school one morning and returned home to find robbers in his house. His wife was killed but through this the seed of the Gospel spread and the church grew. And then the student ended the presentation with "And ... I really miss my Mom." You can read about this stuff in a book or on a blog, but it really hit home that people are out there dying for Jesus every single day.
Grade 9 - Freshmen
I have a couple of projects to show you of book charts they were to do (if you went to PRBI 10 years ago, these should look all too familiar)
Grade 12 - Seniors
I only taught this class the first semester but had a wonderful time teaching Spiritual Formation.
Part of the curriculum is to teach Spiritual Disciplines by Richard Foster. The time came to teach Service and I thought to myself, why not act out Service instead of just teaching. So for the class, we went outside and raked the leaves. Now, you have to understand Ukraine, or maybe just Maple trees in general. They don't have small leaves that are easy to rake, but huge leaves that take alot of effort. Me, being from Canada (The Maple Leaf Country) I have never witnessed a Maple tree as we don't' have them very much in Alberta. Afterwards, I went out to the local coffee shop and bought them coffees and really enjoyed teaching through action and not just standing in front of the class.
Another memory was how I tried to set JooSeok (Pronounced Jew-Sack) up with every girl in the class. I wasn't successful but I sure had alot of fun trying and someday JooSeok, you will find the girl of your dreams!
Grade 11 - Sophomores
(Funny thing, me being Canadian wrote Softmores and had to get it spellchecked)
I taught a class on Ideas and how to achieve great ideas. If you have ever studied the process of idea-ology, or if you have ever brainstormed, you will know there are three stages of idea creating. 1st - the obvious - the safe answers are thrown out first. 2nd - the crazy ridiculous - Usually this is where the idea creating stops as the more conservative people out there think this is pointless and shut down the frivolousness. 3rd - the Awesome - from the silly and crazy comes a great idea so Please don't stop your brainstorming when things get silly, this just means you are poised for greatness!!! I asked the class if they had any crazy ideas that had potential to be awesome - THEN - Krash stood up and yelled out "Skinny Diapers" - Diapers that don't look like diapers so you don't have to run to the bathroom all the time between classes - said the man who drinks 2 litres of water each and every class and wonders why he is always late because he has to go to the bathroom!
Another memory was when our class was doing presentations on heroes of the Faith. One student asked if it had to be someone famous or anyone. I said anyone, so they told a story in class of a father in Kazakhstan who took his two daughters to school one morning and returned home to find robbers in his house. His wife was killed but through this the seed of the Gospel spread and the church grew. And then the student ended the presentation with "And ... I really miss my Mom." You can read about this stuff in a book or on a blog, but it really hit home that people are out there dying for Jesus every single day.
Grade 9 - Freshmen
I have a couple of projects to show you of book charts they were to do (if you went to PRBI 10 years ago, these should look all too familiar)
We were raising money for a Soup Kitchen ministry that the school supported and I told my grade 9 class that if they raised the most money, I would treat them to Pizza at our apartment one day. Well, every class I passed around the jar for money and one student confessed to me that she packed a lunch that day but told her mom she needed money to buy food from the school canteen. Then proceeded to put all of that money into the Soup Kitchen Jar. (Not an action I condone by the way) The students gave from their allowances and babysitting money and raised over $100. Every day they would complain about giving money and what if they didn't win the pizza party. My answer remained the same "Who is the real winner?" and they learned to respond in a monotone reply "The Soup Kitchen" At the end of the campaign, my class won and had a wonderful time eating pizza and watching Veggietales at our apartment.
Grade 8
I remember trying to explain how God loves us no matter what and that His love is equal for us and it is not dependant on what we do. So, I married off a couple of students who had 3 kids, also students, who married other students. At the end of the lesson, one student robbed the bank of his brother-in-laws who confessed to the other brother in law who was a pastor. I don't know how it got there, but, the question came to the parent "Which child do you love more? The one who married a pastor? The one who married a Banker? Or the one in Jail?" And the answer came back "All of them equally." So maybe that was a lesson that hit home. And the rest of the year we would joke about how Andrew married Ye-Jin and how Fisher robbed Lukas' bank. Great memories, maybe you just had to be there, but if you have ever met me, this story may make some sense.
Study Hall
I was the X and O Champion and I challenge anyone to a game - if you dare!
French
I laugh at this one because, I am Canadian, therefore, I must know French. Sorry, I speak Spanish and Russian better.
Overall, Thank you KCA for a great year and a million memories of only a couple I could share with you today because of space! I Love you all and Miss you tons.
Friday, May 16, 2014
The Downside of Evangelism
As we visited with friends and missionaries in Ukraine, one thing became apparent. Flash in the pan Evangelism crusades that save thousands of people can cause immense hurt feelings with the local church. I have been to and a part of these crusades and I even got to talk to a couple of teens who gave their lives to Jesus at the altar call. I then proceeded to talk with these 2 boys for a couple of minutes, even walked them to the exit door and then, they disappeared out of my life and quite possibly out of the church. As I was walking with them, I mentioned they needed to go to church and grow in Christ, but I had no relationship with them, my words of wisdom were words from a stranger.
Missionary friends in Ukraine mentioned a similar story where a group came in and had hundreds of converts in the local villages, and then told the church in the big city of all these people that needed churches in their villages and the church worked overtime to see these churches flourish, but again, they didn't really have trained leaders who had relationship with the locals and the churches folded. Often we focus on the immediate impact of the gospel instead of how to fan the immediate spark into a burning flame.
Up until this last week, I have always thought that when Jesus called His disciples, it was sudden and immediate. Then I was reading through the Gospel of Luke. Each Gospel writer had a different reason for writing and Luke's is quite obvious. Reading through Luke and Acts, the reader sees the process of Jesus coming to Earth, teaching the disciples, dying on the cross, the Resurrection and the Gospel, through the disciples, spreading to the entire Roman world.
Reading Luke 4:38-5:11 one cannot help but see the process in the calling of Peter (Simon).
First, Jesus already was teaching, healing and had crowds following Him. We gather from this that Jesus was a known person. Second, Jesus personally went to Peter's home and healed his mother-in-law. Third, Jesus got into Peter's boat and taught the large crowds from the boat. Fourth, Jesus met Peter where he was at, by physically bringing in a large catch of fish. Lastly, we see Peter's heart moved and Peter realizes his sin and from that point Peter left everything and followed Jesus.
I encourage you to read the passage yourself and see this progression.
I guess what I am trying to say is, we often focus on the immediate impact of the Gospel and forget the process and buildup of the relationship with the Almighty. Remembering that God is concerned with the process as well as the product.
Missionary friends in Ukraine mentioned a similar story where a group came in and had hundreds of converts in the local villages, and then told the church in the big city of all these people that needed churches in their villages and the church worked overtime to see these churches flourish, but again, they didn't really have trained leaders who had relationship with the locals and the churches folded. Often we focus on the immediate impact of the gospel instead of how to fan the immediate spark into a burning flame.
Up until this last week, I have always thought that when Jesus called His disciples, it was sudden and immediate. Then I was reading through the Gospel of Luke. Each Gospel writer had a different reason for writing and Luke's is quite obvious. Reading through Luke and Acts, the reader sees the process of Jesus coming to Earth, teaching the disciples, dying on the cross, the Resurrection and the Gospel, through the disciples, spreading to the entire Roman world.
Reading Luke 4:38-5:11 one cannot help but see the process in the calling of Peter (Simon).
First, Jesus already was teaching, healing and had crowds following Him. We gather from this that Jesus was a known person. Second, Jesus personally went to Peter's home and healed his mother-in-law. Third, Jesus got into Peter's boat and taught the large crowds from the boat. Fourth, Jesus met Peter where he was at, by physically bringing in a large catch of fish. Lastly, we see Peter's heart moved and Peter realizes his sin and from that point Peter left everything and followed Jesus.
I encourage you to read the passage yourself and see this progression.
I guess what I am trying to say is, we often focus on the immediate impact of the Gospel and forget the process and buildup of the relationship with the Almighty. Remembering that God is concerned with the process as well as the product.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
We Bought a Van!!!
So it isn't new by any means, but it is fully paid for and alot more room than the Jeep Patriot we used to own. We are travelling around the country (From Vancouver Island to Dauphin, Manitoba and many stops in between) so living out of your suitcase can be cumbersome but having more room makes travel much easier!
I know I have mentioned this before, but seeing how God works is amazing and how we ended up with this van seems ordinary, yet totally God moving and working! It all started about 3 years ago when we found out we were pregnant and not going to Mozambique. We had just sold our Mazda 3 and we needed a family vehicle and preferably one that we would not have to bend over to put in a car seat. "Why not a van?" "No! They are UGLY!" so, we didn't buy a van but an suv.
Then, right before we were going to go to Ukraine, we hit a deer. Fortunately, we had rental insurance (if you do not have rental insurance, I would strongly recommend you get it) and our insurance company rented us a van. Well, because we had no choice, we drove a van (by this time we had 2 kids) and we could carry more people than our family! (If you know Emily from Grassy Lake, ask her about our trip from PRBI to Bow Island in our Jeep!).
We sold our Jeep to go to Ukraine and there was no looking back. So when we returned, a van was on the docket. We thought we would take out a loan at a dealer and talked to our agent, Glen, at Bluesky's in Vegreville. He helped us buy our Jeep and we
would recommend him to anyone wanting to buy Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep. Well, in the time of waiting for Glen to get back to us, we went to Dauphin. There, we found a house we really loved.
.png)
.png)
It is an old 1914 manse - the house occupied by a minister of a Presbyterian church (thank you google.ca for the definition). A beautiful brick house with lots of room on the main floor for youth and an upstairs that will fit our family without disturbing guests downstairs. From our earthly perspective, looking at ministry, this house is perfect. But, of course would be out of our price range if we had a loan for a van. We are praying hard about this house, that God would provide the place He would have for us (even if it isn't this house).
So, keeping the story moving, we began looking at lower priced vans, but only at dealerships at my dad's advice. We found a van we liked and talked to my dad about it. He then proceeded to go to Kijiji and found a newer van that had a few more bells and whistles for $ 500 dollars less. The key to this is it was posted 15 hours ago. We would have never seen this van if we hadn't gone through the whole process as it was a new listing. We saw the van and offered $1000 less and got ourselves a van for $7500 less than we were hoping to spend on a van one month ago. The great part about it is it is equity and not debt so maybe we can afford a house in Dauphin?
God is moving in ways we would have never thought of and, in some-ways, ways we would not have even seen if we had not been looking. It is a very similar way we ended up in Dauphin.
I have taken my wife to Vegreville (a Ukrainian town) numerous times and the end result is a resounding "I would never move to a Ukrainian town!" (smells like garlic or something like that). Then God moves us to Ukraine to show us that is not where He would have us but calls us to Dauphin (another Ukrainian town) and we would have never considered moving to a place with a bunch of Ukrainians had we not gone to Ukraine. Again God's had is in all of this and we would not have seen this had we not been looking.
Where is God moving in your life? Look back the last couple of years before you need to make a decision and usually the answer is pretty clear. God isn't playing hide and seek with your future, but carefully directing each step He has for you!
 |
| I have a feeling where God is directing Jolen's future! |
Thursday, May 1, 2014
One Month Ago Today
One moth ago today, I was super ecstatic to be back blogging again. I think I have mentioned before how important it is to be recording your life in a journal, or something to be able to look back and remember the lessons God has taught you throughout your life. For me, it is this blog. It was difficult when SEND asked us to keep our electronic footprint extremely small as we were unsure of the government keeping tabs on us and if we would harm the ministry over there. But now we are in Canada, the ban is lifted and I can get back to regular blogging; or so I thought as without everything going on in Ukraine it would be easy to keep up a blog.
Take our last Tuesday for instance. We woke up, had breakfast, left the kids in Vegreville and went to Edmonton. There, we went to Carters/OshKosh, the bank, a bookstore, we looked at vans, went out for lunch, went grocery shopping, got some coffee, drove back to Vegreville, made homemade pizza, went out to the playground (more on playgrounds later) put the kids to bed, watched a hockey game and finally went to bed only to wake up the next morning to have another "typical" day in Canada.
Now this may seem pretty normal, this is far from a day that we would have in Ukraine. In Kiev, if you can get one thing accomplished in a day you have done well that day, if two things, you are talented and most likely very tired. Now, if we count the many things we do in a day here in Canada, it usually adds up to 10 or so. That is a huge difference that we were not prepared for or that we have not even adjusted to. At the end of each day, we are very tired. So, with all the busyness of life, I have not gotten a chance in the last moth to sit down and reflect and record my thoughts here on this blog.
God has really been teaching me alot out on the playgrounds lately.
Take our last Tuesday for instance. We woke up, had breakfast, left the kids in Vegreville and went to Edmonton. There, we went to Carters/OshKosh, the bank, a bookstore, we looked at vans, went out for lunch, went grocery shopping, got some coffee, drove back to Vegreville, made homemade pizza, went out to the playground (more on playgrounds later) put the kids to bed, watched a hockey game and finally went to bed only to wake up the next morning to have another "typical" day in Canada.
Now this may seem pretty normal, this is far from a day that we would have in Ukraine. In Kiev, if you can get one thing accomplished in a day you have done well that day, if two things, you are talented and most likely very tired. Now, if we count the many things we do in a day here in Canada, it usually adds up to 10 or so. That is a huge difference that we were not prepared for or that we have not even adjusted to. At the end of each day, we are very tired. So, with all the busyness of life, I have not gotten a chance in the last moth to sit down and reflect and record my thoughts here on this blog.
God has really been teaching me alot out on the playgrounds lately.
One thing has been about Joy. How God has created us to not only live life, but to enjoy it as well. Although the playgrounds are no longer just outside our door, the smiles our kids have every time we visit one, is a nice reminder of how we work and work and work to provide for your family, but you go to a playground with your kids and it all is worth it to play with them on those joyous grounds.
Another humourous lesson for me was: you don't touch another person's kids. In Ukraine, no one thought anything of picking up a kid that was not yours and moving them out of the way. In Canada, a different story. We were out at a playground and a small kid who was not walking went down the slide with her older sister and afterwards, the kid was sitting at the bottom of the slide. Ellianna, seeing their fun climbed up to the top of the slide and was ready to go. The kid was still at the bottom, so being the kind, caring and concerned person on the playground that Ellianna was going to go down the slide and run over this child, picked her up and moved her. No sooner had I done this, the mother screamed "Don't touch my kid!" I was caught off-guard. We would rather our children come to harm than have a stranger move them out of the way. It to me still seem s quite backwards thinking that we would like to know the harm that will come than the safety from the unknown.
Do we not do this in our Christian life too? As a church body, we are content to stagnate and not grow (we may not say this, but our actions speak otherwise) than to welcome newcomers or even "god-forbid" invite someone to church. We have become so scared to let others in because things might change? Weird how God takes simple events in life to teach such great lessons. The Frozen Disney movie song "Let it Go" is quite a good line and maybe the North American Church could take a few hints.
So, until next time (which hopefully is next week) keep stepping outside your box and getting uncomfortable in your faith, it may lead to healing instead of harm.
PS - a few more pictures of Easter
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Quite a Journey
It has been quite a while since I last posted anything
here. Most of you (if not all) know we
have returned to Canada early. However,
I am still teaching at KCA, just online from the safety of these Canadian
borders.
A lot has happened in Ukraine since the previous President
was impeached and Russia took control of Crimea. Although there has been tension since the middle
of November, it all came to a head in Kyiv and 100 people lost their lives in
the people’s stand against corruption.
At the end of February, our organization phoned us and gave us the
opportunity to get away from Ukraine and have a rest period in Poland. We took this chance as I was teaching online
anyways and I could fulfil my commitment to KCA there. It was a wonderful time of refreshing and we
felt de-stressed and ready to return to Ukraine. But, things in Crimea escalated and we were
asked to stay another week, bringing stress back into the fold. We were able to return to Ukraine. Our hope and request was that we not be asked
to leave again, that things would get back to normal. Well, a week later, we were strongly advised
to leave again. More stress on the
family. After another week, SEND gave us
the choice, we could return to Kyiv, with bags packed, ready to leave within 1
hour at any time, or return to Canada.
In previous posts, I have mentioned how God has been
teaching me the importance of family and they need to come first, not
ministry. The time had come to put my
money where my mouth was. Put my family
over ministry, even though it was not completed, but midstream. A very easy choice to make, yet extremely
difficult.
Have you ever heard the joke about the sailor whose ship was
sinking. Well, along came another ship
and offered assistance. The reply “I
trust God and He will save me!” Another
ship to the rescue and the same response.
“I trust God and He will save me!”
A third ship – “I trust God and He will save me!”
The man drowns.
In heaven, the man asks God, “Why didn’t you save me?”
God replies, “I sent 3 ships to save you!”
Sometimes the answer God has for us is staring us right in
the face and we thinking it is too simple for God to act this way. But the reality is that sometimes God calls
us off of our knees to action.
We are called to be people of prayer.
We are called to be people of action as well.
Our tentative schedule right now is to be in the Vegreville
region Mid April. Bow Island – Beginning
of May and Grande Prairie at the end of May.
And then off to Dauphin, MB where I have been offered a Youth Pastor
position in the community.
As of right now, we are currently on support through SEND
until June and then we start our salary + support position in Dauphin, so if
you are interested in continuing Supporting us in prayer and finances, we will
have details for you, all you need to do is ask.
Until Next week (Lord willing)!
Blessings,
Blake, Colleen, Ellianna and Jolen
P.S. funny story trying to buy groceries the other day. In Ukraine, you buy your groceries and bag
them yourself. You hold onto your bags
you bring and you do it yourself. Well,
I was in line and the clerk asked me for my bag. Not wanting to be charged for it as I had
brought it, I refused. She then
explained she simply wanted to bag my groceries for me. It was very awkward and slow as she scanned
each item and placed them in the bag while I twiddled my thumbs, checked the
weather, danced a jig, and then paid for my groceries and left the store
feeling quite useless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)