To Ponder...

DREAMS

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

~ Langston Hughes

Settlers Solution

Tired of chasing all your Settlers paraphenalia through multiple game boxes and numerous expansion packs? Then mosey on down the your local Walmart sporting goods department and pick up some tackle boxes. The top one is thinner with lots of little compartments for all the little stuff, plus enough room to sqeeze in those big boarder pieces, and the lower one is thick enough to take the hexs and cards and even the Cities and Knights chart thingys. After a few weeks of testing the devices, I'm please to say it works like a charm. Settin' up is easy, and clean up's a breeze. And for 'bout $5 a shot, the tight-wads won't even do too much sqeakin'.

I Love the West Coast!

Most of Canada under winter weather warnings
Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2008OTTAWA — Environment Canada issued weather warnings for all parts of Canada Wednesday except B.C., Yukon, and southern Ontario.

• Toronto residents woke up Wednesday morning with 10 cm to 20 cm of snow...


• Residents in New Brunswick are expected to be hit with a mixture of snow and ice pellets, anywhere from 10 cm to 20 cm. “This is shaping up to be a really big event for Atlantic Canada.”


• The prairies are experiencing a bitter cold snap. Heavy snowfall warnings were issued for portions of southeastern Alberta, where winds are combining with snow and generating blizzard conditions.


• Blizzard conditions are also affecting residents across Saskatchewan, where officials are warning people to stay off the roads.


• Environment Canada issued a number of warnings for southern Manitoba where blowing snow and high winds are creating dangerous wind chill values. “Winds of 10 to 15 km/h are producing wind chills of minus 50.”


• Wind chill warnings and blizzard conditions are also listed for parts of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Nanaimo Weather Current Conditions

7 °C Observed at: Nanaimo Airport
Date: 11:00 AM PST Wednesday 13 February 2008
Condition: Sunny
Forcast: High of 9 °C

Missional

I came across a great definition of missional in an article by Rob Lindeman in and old copy of the Pentecostal Testimony (July, 2006). Food for New Year's thought.

He says “The word missional has been around for about a hundred years. Missional is an adjective that describes the way in which we do all of our activities, rather than identifying any one particular activity. For Christians, to be missional means to align all of the functions and activities of our lives around the mission of God in the world.”

12 Days Of Christmas

Here's a YouTube clip worth watching! The original members of Straight No Chaser perform their comedic vrsion of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at the Musical Arts Center, Bloomington, Indiana.

Opening Night

Yeah, it's 'Tree Time' again! After 8 months of preperation and 3 months of rehearsals, it was show time. By all accounts, opening night went very well. The best blooper was when Sir Julius crashed his giant tricycle into the people in the first row, namely Pastor Les. It was great! Oops. Thanfully no one was seriously hurt. And we did have a sound track problem that hopefully will never happen again ~ it's very annoying when the music gets stuck halfway through the introduction!

1 performance down, 9 to go.

Christmas time is near...

It's not as romantic as it looks. 20cm of wet cement in 12 hours. At least I had my fair share of shoveling this fall to get in shape for it. Now we'll see if we can get to church tomorrow ~ and if anyone else will show up! Thankfully this was not a 'Tree' weekend!
The view across the valley:

My New Hobby

'Tis the Season...almost

Okay, maybe I'm rushing things abit, but seeing as I've been working Christmas since April it seems about time! Besides, it wasn't raining this morning, so you have to make hay while the sun shines. Actually, the sun wasn't shining either... But we'll see it soon. Maybe in May.

Getting the lights up are actually a HUGE moral victory. I had lights up and down about four times last year before I finally gave up in disgust. First it was the stupid light clips that were a total joke, then it was stupid light strings that either didn't work, broke whenever you touched them, or were pink, white, or purple when they were supposed to be red. Hmmph. So this year, Santa is happy, and my girls are very impressed with Dad.

By the way...notice the grass? Day 57.

Lumber Jacks

Yes, we have real, live lumber jacks out here in BC. I heard the chain saws buzzing and was surprised to see them trimming up a huge tree in the school yard above our house. He lopped off the lower branches on his way up, and I guess they are going to take the tree down. It may have been damaged in the huge wind storm Sunday night, making it unsafe, particularily for a school yard. As of tonight, it was still there, so maybe they had concerns about which way it was going to come down and needed to bring in some different equipement. Wouldn't want to wipe out a house or something...

I hope this guy isn't afraid of heights, 'cause he's a looooooooong way up!

Beautiful Bride

Yes, I'd marry her all over again! Gotta love the '80's poofie sleeves - all we need is the poofie hair to go with it! Even more beautiful almost 20 years after the first time I saw her wear this.
The girls dug it out for a bridal party fashion show that's coming up this weekend for a young lady in the church. And yes, it still fits perfect.

Church on the Move...very slowly

Here is an interesting visual metaphor to think about.

Here's the story: Heuersdorf, Germany, October 25, 2007—A flatbed truck slowly drags the 660-ton Emmaus Church toward its new home in the town of Borna, 7 miles (11 kilometers) away from its native village of Heuersdorf in eastern Germany. More than 700 years old, the Romanesque stone church had to be relocated to make way for open-pit coal mining near Heuersdorf. Traveling at a speed of 1 miles-an-hour (1.6 kilometers-an-hour), the church will arrive in Borna on Wednesday.

Compare the above picture to this one. Any thougths?

Mark and Katie

Some friends of mine have moved to New Delhi India for a bit to help launch a marketplace missions project. Check out Mark and Katie's blog...they are having quite and adventure!

Day 43 - Guess What I Did Today!

Guess what I did today...I put custom stripes on my new lawn. Okay, so it probably really didn't need mowing, but I needed to mow it. I mean, what's the point of having a lawn mower if you never use it?

I love how you can alter the colour in the computer and make things look really green. Actually, I just made it look as green as it looks in real life!

Single Leadership Structures

Okay, I'm bored with watching grass grow. It looks like I won't get to mow my lawn until next spring, which is a huge disappointment...Oh well, I just have to get over it and move on.

Here's a provoking thought from Alex McManus (Erwin's brother):

"Take this first list:
1) The single leadership structures that are assumed at every popular leadership conference are unbiblical.
2) The leadership structures of almost every church in America are not scriptural.
3) There are no examples of single leadership in the NT.
4) Practically every Pastor we admire leads from an unbiblical leadership paradigm.

Do these ideas cut against the current corporate church leadership culture? You bet they do."

A question I have is whether church leadership structure a cultural issue rather than a 'biblical' issue. Was plural leadership a reflection of the culture of the NT and is singular leadership merely a reflection of today's culture?

Another thought is that I don't think the leading pastors we admire today are a 'alone' as they may appear. I bet everyone of them has an close leadership team that works with them. They just happen to be the 'face' of the organization, which is merely a cultural reflection of the way we do things. So maybe McManus' comments are much to do about nothing...

Day 30

One of the great things about living on the Coast is that you get to plant winter flowers! (Eat your root seller out, all you prairie people suffering through killer frosts and serious snow!)

Day 29

Things are green, but not thick or long enough to need mowing. I'm begining to think that the lawn mower will sit until next spring. Also, with all the rain, the ground is really soft, so at this point it would be good to avoid walking on it. Now If I can just get the deer to cooperate!

Day 24

Day 21

Day 15

The difference a couple of days make...