I’m gonna make it…

We’ve passed ‘hump day’ at VBS. I’ve reached that point where I know I’m going to make it through the week without having a breakdown. 🙂 In fact, the next two days will pass in the blink of an eye, and I will be sad to see that we are wrapping up for another year.

At the same time, I am at least as tired as I thought I’d be (though, I do think I’m doing a better job of taking care of myself this year), so I will welcome a slightly-slower pace once VBS ends. As with most things in life – it’s good and bad mixed together.

But before I rush on to other concerns and other ministries at St. A’s, I think I need to take a second and record some of the blessings I’ve experienced in ministering to this great group of kids this week. Here we go:

-we have an autistic boy who has really integrated well into the group, it’s unbelievably moving to see how the kids love and care for him

-today as we heard the story of Jesus’ arrest and trial, I could tell the kids were genuinely saddened at what Jesus went through – their hearts were hurting for him…never doubt that kids can have a powerful faith

-there are always some kids that are a little more of a handful than others…but when that kid who has been on your last nerve for the last half hour gives you a hug and says “but I don’t want to leave” at the end of the day – it just makes it all worth while

-our VBS kids have been truly outstanding when it comes to the Scriptures we have been memorizing and the Bible Points we have been learning…when it comes to VBS it is always my prayer that some of the seeds we plan will take route in the hearts of these children and the faith that grows there may carry them through all that life will throw at them. I truly believe I have seen some of that happening this week.

-I have great leaders and junior leaders…they are fun to be around and they care as deeply as I do about these children

-we have been doing something called “God Sightings” all week – where we write down any moments where we saw God’s hand at work in our midst…it was slow to get going, but today we had several kids who reported God Sightings. Beautiful!

Exhausted and happy…

As I suspected, VBS is already taking a tonne of energy. But it’s also a tonne of fun. I was really pleased by how today went and by the great group of kids we have this year. They had lots of fun (there is little in life that is as rewarding as a kid saying “no, I don’t wanna leave” at the end of a VBS day!).

We are learning all about trusting God this week. As much as it is a great lesson for the kids, I have to admit it’s something that we adults need to learn over and over again. Just about every time I think I know how to trust God with my problems and worries, I suddenly find myself trying to solve them on my own. I know better, but I don’t always do better.

I believe that’s why faith is a life-long journey. Although the lessons themselves are fairly simple, fairly easy to grasp, they are often very difficult to LIVE. It’s the difference between knowing something with your head, and actually having it enter your heart and transform how you live.

I am grateful that God does not give up on us. I am grateful that He keeps walking this road with us, helping us up when we fall.

And really, that’s why He deserves our trust!

 

Up, up and away!

So tomorrow our VBS begins at St. A’s. I love VBS week. It’s always a blast to explore faith with a bunch of great kids. This year we will be learning all about trusting God.

Today has been a day of prep – we decorated the sanctuary after worship this afternoon. This evening, I’ve been going over all the materials for the different sections I will be leading tomorrow. I even gave myself a sky mani-pedi (complete with white clouds on a blue background!).

As fun and lighthearted and good-for-my-soul as this week will be, it will also be a week that is completely exhausting. So before we begin, I’d like to ask for your prayers. Pray that the energy levels of the leaders may be sustained, that the campers would have a great and fun time, and most of all that God would be powerfully present, touching young lives and turning hearts toward Him.

Amen!

I like this. A lot!

So if you have been a Christian for more than about 5 minutes, you have probably heard the saying “love the sinner, hate the sin.” my friend Nancy posted this AWESOME take on that saying on FB the other day. Ever since seeing it, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

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Mark Lowry likes to play the lovable idiot. But dude is SMART. This reminded me of Teddy Roosevelt’s saying: comparison is the thief of joy. I think the world would be a much better place if we could all learn to take care of our own mess, instead of worrying about the messes of others.

Jesus had something to say on that matter, too. He said, worry about the plank (read: big honkin’ piece of wood) in your own eye before you point out the speck (read: tiny, barely noticeable flake of wood) in your brother’s (read: fellow human being) eye.

It isn’t an easy command to follow, and Jesus knows I fail at it regularly, but it certainly is something I continue to work on. And I am convinced it is one of the secrets to world peace.

Back to it. Like, for reals..

So many of you know that I hurt my foot last week. (You know this because I am an Olympic-gold-medal complainer when I am sick or injured. This is probably something I should work on, but there are so many other things on that list, and only so many hours in a day.) The really frustrating thing about the injury was that it happened when I was doing something so mundane and average that I didn’t even remember doing it afterward. I am of the belief that if one hurts oneself it should be because of an event that was momentous enough to be remembered. Yeesh.

Anyway, because of the foot injury I was not able to get back to the gym like I had hoped last week. In fact, I wasn’t even able to go for a decent walk for a number of days. Now, at another time of the year, I might have just grinned and thought: oh well, I am going to have to take it easy for a few days…that’s not so bad. But at this particular juncture I was more than a little frustrated. You see, I chose to be fairly (read: incredibly) lazy during my summer holiday. I decided this vacation would be a true break from all of the things I have been disciplined about in the last year. I didn’t track my Weight Watchers points, I didn’t exercise with anything resembling regularity, I just took it easy. And that was a good thing on the one hand: I had been severely struggling to stick to my WW points in the weeks leading up to holidays. Having the break was apparently just what I needed to get back on track: in the past week I haven’t had any issue sticking to my points. Sometimes, you just need a rest.

On the other hand, I lost ground over my vacation. I gained weight and I lost muscle. While being laid up with the foot injury I began to gain some ground on the weight (down 3.5lbs when I weighed in on Sunday thankyouverymuch), but I couldn’t do much about the muscle. Today, I am very pleased to say, I was able to return to the gym. I did a 60min BodyPump class. It was tough. I couldn’t believe how tough it was! But it was also good. My muscles (such as they are), are pleasantly fatigued. I am sure they will be telling me off tomorrow. But I know that today I took another step towards improving my health. Another step towards getting back on track. Another step away from just talking (read: whining) about the ground I have lost in the past few months, and towards actually regaining that ground. I feel strong and I feel accomplished.

I write this down now, because I know in another few months/weeks/whatever something will happen andI will need to be reminded of what this feels like. And I hope some of my friends may point me back to these words.

Any journey has its ups and downs. The ups are usually pretty easy to deal with. The downs are when we need friends to surround us and to speak the truth we cannot utter ourselves. I believe that is why Jesus gave us the church. Because He knew there would be times when we needed each other. When we just couldn’t do it on our own. When the strength of another would be the thing that gave us the ability to keep going.

Back to it…

I know, I know – about half way through my vacation I lost the drive to write and therefore the blog entries dried up (plus, I was watching a LOT of Olympics and having a LOT of fun…and I didn’t want to stop to write it all down!).

Now I am back home again, having just completed my first official day back at work (though, as all ministers can tell you, my hours aren’t neatly defined like a 9-5 job might be…sometimes I work while walking the dog or lying on the couch…).

Today was foodbank day at St. Andrew’s. It’s one of my favorite activities at the church. Sometimes it is heartbreaking and sometimes it is inspiring and sometimes it is really frustrating (it can be hard to love those who are so broken that they cannot engage in healthy relationships). Today was just good. I was welcomed back by volunteers and clients alike. Everyone wanted to know how my vacation was, and to tell me how happy they were to see me back.

They asked if I was glad to be back, and I think they expected me to say “I’d rather be on vacation.” I kept surprising people by smiling and saying “Yes, I’m really glad to be back.” The thing is – it’s true.

I have often said that church work can be tough, and there is no doubt I was exhausted and a little burnt out by the time I started my vacation. But now I have had rest. I have laughed and I have cried. I have slept in and I have eaten ridiculous amounts of really good bread. I have spent time with my family and with my chosen family. I have caught up with friends and read some really good books.

And through all of that my batteries have been recharged. I am ready to go. I am ready to blog again, I am ready to stick to my Weight Watchers plan again (I took a sabbatical during my vacation, hence the mountains of really good bread I ate!), I am ready to exercise regularly again.

I am back. I am blessed. I am excited to see what Jesus will do as we begin a new season of ministry at St. A’s.

Let the Games begin!

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I am a huge fan of the Olympics. I have no doubt that I am a bit of an idealist when it comes to the Games. I see them for all they are meant to represent and overlook the problems (judging scandals, doping scandals, insensitive comments from athletes and/or officials, etc.) that naturally arise as part of them.

At the heart of it, the Games represent the idea that for 16 days the world comes together to play. There is innocence and excellence in that idea. There is, I believe, a glimpse of Heaven in that idea.

For some athletes, a dream will be achieved. One that has been held dear, sweated over, concentrated upon through the haze of pain, and is finally within reach. For others, the dream will end in disaster. It happens every Games: there is some athlete who holds such expectation and promise, but something goes wrong and their hopes are dashed. For others still, a level of excellence will be achieved that they had not yet dreamt possible. There are alway surprises (of the good kind and the bad kind) at the Games.

And that is another thing I love about them: you just cannot predict what will happen next. There will be great, unpredictable stories being written in every moment of competition in London over the next 2+ weeks.

I cannot wait to see how these stories unfold. I pray for a safe and wonderful games. I pray that people will be inspired. I pray that the world has a blast playing together.

Let the Games begin!

Dark Knight of the soul…

Like so many movie fans, I have been waiting for The Dark Knight Rises for months and months. And like so many of us, I was shocked and horrified by the shootings at the midnight screening in Aurora, Colorado. I first caught wind of the incident from the posting of friends on Facebook, and then read of it on the Toronto Star App on my phone.

Suddenly a movie that had caused excitement and anticipation was now tinged with much darker emotions. My stomach clenched as I read details of what happened in that movie theatre. I wondered if I should go see the movie at all.

But then I thought about how many terrible things happen all the time in this world, and I realized that one of the worst things any of us can do in the face of tragedy is allow it to keep us from living. So today I went to the theatre alone (my Dad not being a fan of Nolan’s interpretation of Batman and my Mom being ambivalent towards action movies in general) to watch as the dark knight rose.

The movie isn’t perfect – criticisms are that it is too long, a little clunky in the telling of this final chapter of Nolan’s trilogy – but it was good. Good enough that I expect I will see it again. The theme of wearing a mask throbs at the centre of this film…every character wears a mask here, whether literal or emotional. The theme of fear – how we experience it and how we allow it to drive us – is also central.

The sad coincidence of how well these ideas fit into discussions of the Aurora, CO shootings was not lost on me as I watched the movie. The shootings were never far from my mind even as the movie drew me in. And I will readily admit that I was nervously aware of every single person who reentered the theatre after a bathroom break (at a running time of 2hrs40min, you can bet there were quite a few who took time for a bathroom break).

In the second installment of Nolan’s trilogy, Alfred explain’s the Joker’s unquenchable thirst for violence with these words “some men just want to watch the world burn.” I do not claim to understand such men – in fact, I hope to stand for all that is opposite to their worldview – but I do believe they exist. I do believe that the perpetrator of these shootings is such a one.

And my heart breaks for all who have lost a loved one, been injured, been terrified or been displaced by this tragedy. My heart breaks.

But despite all this, I stand on hope. I hope for a world that gets better, not worse. I hope for future generations to find a peace we have not yet achieved. I hope for a day when a night at the movies may just be a night at the movies. I hope for a world redeemed.

Jesus said, “Behold! I am making all things new!” and it is to this promise that my hope clings.

…and the livin’ is easy…

Today has been a truly great day. It started with a long (ridiculously hot but ultimately satisfying) walk with Koski. Then my Mom and I took off together to explore “the county” (Prince Edward County, south of Belleville). We visited my favorite store in Bloomfield where I bought earrings and a ring (a vacation tradition), we shared a great lunch, wandered through pretty shops and drove through gorgeous countryside. We got home right at dinner time and had another fabulous farmhouse meal with my Dad and brother (grilled eggplant and zucchini, fresh green salad with choose-your-own-toppings, grilled chicken breast and a nice rosĂ©).

As if all that wasn’t reason enough to be giving thanks to the Giver of All Good Gifts, I received word this evening that all went well at the Presbytery of Brampton this evening as they processed the call to the Rev. Geoff Ross for Lead Minister at St. A’s. This has been a long (though ultimately Spirit-filled and therefore beautiful) process. And I have to admit I have felt like I had my mouth taped shut (or my fingers glued together) when it comes to discussing it on my blog. I have wanted to log about so many different aspects and moments of the process. But to respect confidentiality, I have said nothing. Now as we move into the real “home stretch” of the process (all that is left is for Geoff’s Presbytery to approve the call and St. A’s to induct him), I am finally feeling free to write about it.

I guess what I most want to express is my sense of excitement when I think about this next phase in the ministry to which God has called all of us at St. A’s. I feel like God is up to something big, and I feel blessed to be part of it. I cannot wait to work with Geoff and to see what God will do as we work together in team ministry.

On that long hot walk this morning I listened to Matt Chandler’s book “The Explicit Gospel.” I was listening to a portion of the book in which Chandler does an impressive job of describing God’s greatness and why God deserves our worship. Chandler writes that it all belongs to God, every good thing is a gift straight from the Father’s hands. He writes that we don’t really do a good enough job in thanking God for all the good things in our every day. He states that we are quick to exclaim about the tragedy of a bridge collapsing (and there is nothing wrong with being moved by a tragedy), but we should be walking around amazed and thankful for all the bridges that have not collapsed.

As I listened and kept one foot moving in front of the other, I was reminded about how much I need to give thanks. After a great day like this, I am feeling the need to simply say: thank you, God, thank you.

Roots…

Today I had the rare opportunity to sit in worship and listen to my Father preach. It struck me as I listened, that there was a time when I did that every Sunday. And it struck me how long ago those childhood times are.

Listening to my Dad preach is a return to my roots. It was in those childhood days of watching and listening to my Dad that I learned most of what I know about leading worship. My Dad likes to tell me I am a good preacher, but as I listened to him today, I knew that any ability I have as a preacher has its roots in listening to him.

We are each our own person when we preach, but we also share phrases and language and theology. And that is kind of a beautiful thing. I love the thought that I am myself, but I am also my father. I love the thought that his fingerprints can be seen in me.

I am blessed to have been given great roots. I grew up knowing that I was loved more than I could ever imagine by One who died for me. And that out of that love, God had granted my folks the ability to love others. And God granted me the same ability.

I am convinced that it is because of such strong roots that my life flourishes now. And today, I have been reminded of my roots and I am thankful for them.