Friday Mashup

August is almost half over! Summer is going by too quickly. Starting next week things ramp up for me at Pacific Life Bible College as we get ready for another year of equipping leaders for service to the local Church. It looks like we'll have the largest freshman class in our history so there will be lots of enthusiasm and lots of work!

On Saturday we headed over to my Aunt & Uncle's in Coquitlam for a Nelson family reunion. It was a great day filled with eating good food, swimming, and connecting with wonderful people. Angela and I consider ourselves super blessed because of the families we have. They are a family who have supported us so much with kind words, prayer, and fasting.  During the first leg of our journey with Angela's cancer I don't think there was a day that went by where one of our relatives wasn't praying and fasting for us. Many signed up for their 'day of the week' and are starting back up again for this next leg. Due to schedules and proximity we don't get to see each all that much, but when we do it is so much fun.

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed our gathering on Sunday. Tony always does such a great job in leading our Church family in worship through song. Our kids had a blast in nursery and Sunday School. The Vanson's rocked the continental breakfast and I enjoyed interviewing Calvin W. I love hearing people's stories.

On Monday some friends and I surprised Angela with a small birthday party at the Hersey's. It was a fun evening filled with more good food, more swimming, and some karaoke! Mark and Katy are such gracious hosts and we were blessed to celebrate Angela's 30th birthday with such nice and loving people.

On Tuesday, Angela had a nice birthday lunch with her parents and then I "cooked" dinner... we had Prawn Garden (best Chinese in Mission), McDonald's, and slurpees. The kids thought they had died and gone to Heaven... so did I...

Wednesday night was filled with more nice people and good food. We spent the entire dinner laughing at our parents and their struggles with technology (sorry, Mom and Dad). When our friend's mom got her first laptop, she opened it up and then proceeded to speak slowly and loudly, "Email Linda".  When the computer didn't do anything, she repeated herself. This went on for a while until her kids broke it to her that it didn't recognize voice commands. We reminisced about watching our parents painfully figure out how to use a debit card... hoping they could find the chequing account button before the system timed out. I could go on, but it's a bit painful.

In my spare hours I'm working on taking apart an upright piano and converting it to be my home office desk. The monitors will go in the upper cabinet part and the keyboard will go in between the keys. It's proving to be more difficult than anticipated. Getting the cast-iron harp part of the piano out is a pain.

Today we have the annual Foursquare Invitational golf tournament at Redwoods in Langley. There's nothing like golfing for work! Angela's going away with a couple friends till Sunday morning so I'm on kid duty. We are going to weed on Saturday. Ruby is not excited. Charlie can't wait to use all the shovels.

I hope you have a great weekend filled with God's grace and power!

Blog Block

I've attempted to blog a few times over the past month, but have struggled. So much going on internally and externally that I've experienced a case of writer's block. I still have no idea what to write so I figured that I should simply start and see what comes out.

Over the last few weeks, I've discovered that this past season of Angela's stomach cancer took a lot out of me. In hindsight I think a combination of adrenaline and strength in God got me through. Now I feel tired.  It hit the night before we had our big celebration. The last couple weeks have consisted of sleeping a lot and not getting much more than the essentials accomplished. Call it a funk, burnout, or the result of going through a difficult season, I am being to recuperate.

Angela and the kids are doing remarkably well in spite of us being at another medical crossroad. On July 2 we drove to Calgary to see a specialist about Angela's case. He said that in his experience, even though we have this good news, the cancer will come back. He advised us to engage in a proactive surgery where he would cut out parts that had the cancer. It would be a pretty invasive surgery that might result in her losing her stomach.  The recovery required would include spending three weeks in the Calgary hospital and another 3-4 months at home on light duty. His surgery tactic is cutting edge and reports say that many surgeons are learning from him and a few others on how to offer this to their patients. Since this approach is new(er) there isn't much data, but in his 300+ cases they have seen exceptional results.

We have as long as we want to consider this option. In dialogue with our local oncologist, scope doctor, and family doctor we are beginning to weigh all the data. Angela goes in for another scope this Tuesday to collect more information.

We haven't made a decision as we are still considering all the options. We continue to seek God's wisdom and leading. Please remember us in prayer.

In other news, summer is in full swing. Ruby enjoyed a VBS at Northside Community Church this week, Angela picked three gallons of raspberries yesterday, and Charlie is having "fun" learning how to live life without a diaper.

Intern Isaac is working on lots of different projects and doing a great job. Yesterday he helped Peter install fence posts around our five apple trees to protect them from bears. He learns more in an hour with Peter than he does with me in a month.

Life with our Church has been awesome. I love our Church family so much. I haven't laughed so hard as at our "Moose the Dam Over" game. It makes me look forward to our disc golf tournament this Sunday and even more so to our water fight on the 29th.

Things are beginning to heat up over at Pacific Life Bible College as we've begun a dorm renovation and as we ramp up for another great year of seeing men and women further equipped for ministry. I love being a part of what this school is and does.

Well, hopefully the blog block has been broken. I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Friday Mashup

I hope you had a great week filled with God's grace and power! This week was real mashup of College, Church, and personal activities. Throughout the week I tuned in to the Foursquare US's Convention in Phoenix, AZ. It featured speakers like Wayne Cordeiro, Ted Olbrich, Ed Stetzer and many more. I was really encouraged by their example and their words.

On Wednesday, Angela and I met with her oncologist and stomach scope doctor (still not sure what he's supposed to be called). They both reiterated how rare her response was. The oncologist said this is what they call a 'complete response' and is rarely seen. The new path we are on is to go in for a CT and stomach scope every three months to monitor the body. They did not recommend having her stomach removed (we were told before this might be their recommendation). We left both appointments relieved and encouraged (see photo above).  No more chemo!  Our Church is planning a night of celebration and it looks to be on June 24th.

At the College, a volunteer demolition team from Northgate Foursquare completed their good work of tearing down the old facade of the dormitory building. A construction crew has now descended and has begun the new look.

Last night I picked up my old joiner from a friend who was storing it for me. I am also storing a few tools for another friend so I have a pretty sweet wood-shop now. On second thought, I don't think that this new reality is a good thing for the 'Honey Do List'.

I met with Calvin this morning for coffee and we had a good chat about the future of his role with YFC/Youth Unlimited here in town. I met with Isaac for lunch and we planned out his summer internship with our Church. He'll be doing everything from maintenance to preaching.  The rest of the day consisted of calling in the Bugman (pavement ants near the Church kitchen), emailing, planning, and scheduling.

Hope you have a great weekend!  If you're in town this Sunday, stop by our Church family at 10:00am and join us!

Ship Happens & Other Things

One of the things I've discovered in life is Ship Happens. It's a parcel receiving place just a stone's throw south of the Sumas-Huntingdon border crossing.  It allows me to take advantage of US online shopping and avoid paying the crazy shipping and brokerage rates. Sometimes I even save the HST if I happen to catch a nice border guard. In the last two days I've saved $320 on $780 worth of purchases. Most of these purchases were for the College and Church so it saves us mucho dollars.

Our Church garage sale is tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:00am at the Safeway parking lot. Come down with your stuff to give away.  Come down with lots of cash to buy some cool stuff. Come down and help out (especially with the clean-up from 2:00 - 3:00pm). All proceeds go to summer camp bursaries.

I'm excited for our gathering this Sunday! It's Mother's Day and we'll be playing a cute little video with some of our kids where they share why they love their mom. We are continuing in Acts (I'm loving our journey through this part of Scripture). We are having a water baptism where six folks will make a public declaration of their faith in Jesus. We get to see one another and meet some new folks.  We get to worship Jesus... together!

It's been a crazy-fun week so far. The Moses' had a baby boy! Another boy in our Church accepted Christ as His Savior! Prayer requests are pouring in and we get to respond with faith!

I also took a load to the dump this week and came back with a vintage mailbox [see above photo]. Someone threw it out in the metal recycling bin and I am repurposing it. I'm guessing I could get $50 for it, but I will keep it and convert it to something cool in my home office.

Friday Mashup

Haven't blogged in eleven days due to busyness and higher priorities, so get ready for a schwack of stuff.  

Ruby went to visit her Island Nana for a week.  That meant Charlie ruled the roost while the queen was away... a role he quite enjoyed.  I enjoyed spending more solo time with him.  We went to the park, walked to the goats, and rode his bike.

I'm also glad to announce that I still hold the record for Parkside's shortest sermon (14 minutes). Isaac tried to challenge the record last Sunday, but lost by six minutes!  I assigned him the "fun" and awkward passage on circumcision.  It reminds me of the time I stayed over at my grandparents and in the morning they asked me to read their morning Scripture aloud to them as they ate breakfast.  Their text that morning just so happened to be one of the juicy bits from Song of Solomon.

On Monday night we had our first hermeneutics club meeting.  Nine folks showed up and we had a great time.  We read the text that I will be preaching from this Sunday, asked questions arising from the text, and then began some more research into the text.  I also enjoyed getting to know everyone a bit more.  We found out that Vaughan W. was literally stoned when he and his family were missionaries in Brazil!  We went for almost two hours.  The club is open to any and all (sporadic attendance is allowed)!  We'll meet again this Monday at 7:00pm.

I've been enjoying our new delegation and empowering process with our Church council.  You may remember a while back me communicating that our Church council would be moving from serving solely in an advisory capacity to adding on an administrative capacity.  Our journey through Acts (specifically Acts 6:1-7) inspired this change and it will take about another six months or so to fully implement.

This change in Council has already been a blessing to me and our Church family.  Here's how.  Last week, Cindy (our Office Administrator) dropped a stack of papers on my desk that contained our 'chart of accounts' so that I could proof them (we are in the process of changing our accounting software and system). Without batting an eye, I gave them back to her and instructed her to give them to Nicole (our Treasurer). Nicole took them and is doing a better job than I ever did of proofing them.  The next day, I sent an email to Chad (our Council Secretary) to begin the process of planning his first Council meeting.  I gave him the agenda items that I needed to be there and instructions on the other components.  What usually takes one to two hours in prepping all the documents for the meeting is now off my plate.  I have no doubt that Chad will do a better job than I ever did.

What did I do with the spare time?  I was able to give more time to my role of 'prayer and the ministry of the word'.  I have been able to read and study more Scripture.  I was able to start the hermeneutics club which will teach others how to "feed" themselves and others.  I was also able to spend more time in prayer.  The overall result has been that I have drawn closer to Jesus.  Our Church and community will benefit from my drawing closer to Christ.  Our Church and community will benefit from more people studying and applying Scripture.  Our Church and community will benefit from Chad and Nicole using their gifts because they will do it better than me and they will grow closer to Jesus through their service to Him. 

This serving thing is starting to catch on around here too!  This week Cliff came in and replaced four old sink basins in our main washrooms.  Lynn volunteered to oversee our food service for the Easter brunch.  Dave is serving communion at our community Good Friday service. Monica and Aaron are going to town with Easter Brunch decor and set-up plans.  That's in addition to all the others who serve so generously week in, week out!

Last night, our Elders met to begin a series of meetings aimed at reflecting and seeking the Lord.  It is a process of discovering what our Church in Mission, BC and on planet Earth needs to look like, how we look now, and then what steps we need to take to get to there.  This process was initiated in a desire to see our baptism tank never dry.  We long to see more people meet and follow Jesus.  We know that the byproduct of this will be a community and world with less chaos, less selfishness, more love, and more justice.  We know that we are called to go and make disciples and that we need to become better at doing that!  Now, it's not too difficult to figure out the 'where we are' and 'where we need to go' part, it's the 'how do we get there' part that requires listening to the Spirit and following Him in faith.  I'm excited to begin this journey as I believe it will result in us becoming better followers of Jesus and therefore more people coming to know Him.

That brings us to today.  It's sunny and Spring is here!  I look forward to a season filled with power-raking my moss out, over-seeding, trimming, and mowing.  Our vacuum died this week so I'm on the hunt for a new one.  I am supervising a course tomorrow at the College.  I am looking forward to our gathering this Sunday. 

Angela's starting to feel a bit better so I'm happy for her.  She gets an extra week off this round for Easter!!

Have a great weekend!

My Happiest Place on Earth

We just returned from a pretty amazing trip to Disneyland.  Angela enjoyed many special moments, our kids were in awe, and I restrained myself to only eating four churos!  We experienced some magical moments alongside some very real meltdowns (a couple by me).  All in all, it was a great trip... one for the history books.  We were spoiled like crazy with VIP status throughout our entire stay which gave us access to the front of every line and reserved seating at all the big shows.  We were met at the airport and returned promptly by the Williams', Patti, and Kelly (our new and gracious SoCal friends).  On top of that, friends and family blessed us with gifts that allowed us to do the entire trip for free.  I'm normally a scrooge, but the purse strings were open on this trip.  We stayed in the premier hotel which allowed us to simply walk right into the park and easily return for naps and breaks.  We are still a bit overwhelmed with all of the love and perks we received!

All of that being said, what I am most looking forward to is our gathering this Sunday.  Call me crazy, but the happiest place on Earth for me takes place with our Church family every Sunday morning at 10:00am.  I struggle to find words to describe the joy and hope that fills my life when we gather together.  I love seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones. I love knowing what good things have happened in our lives during the week and then together raising our hands in worship and gratitude.  My faith is strengthened when I see a loved one going through a difficult time and then joining with their Church family to worship, pray, and support one another.  I love seeing the little kids running around before, after, and sometimes, during ;) our gathering.  I love that we get to sing songs of our faith, words of praise, and posture our lives with a heart of worship.  I love that we take time to catch-up, pray, cry, and laugh together.  I love the moment that we open God's Word together... this moment always humbles me as I think, "Wow! All of these people got up on a sunny Sunday morning to surrender to God through His Son, His Spirit, His Word, and His Church!  We could be sleeping in, going to the lake, cooking a big breakfast, or heading up the slopes, but God has our heart and He wants to speak to us today!"  I love the sense of family and community that is experienced.  I love the way that God works through us in the formal and informal ways of our gathering.  Sunday morning really is the highlight of my week.  I've missed the last two and I can't wait for this one!

The thing that has helped fill a bit of the void created by my absence from our Church family on Sundays has been facebook.  It sounds weird to say, but our Church facebook group has given me a connection through out the week to our Church family.  It has helped me stay up to date on the lives of our Church family, informed me of prayer requests, given me things to praise God for, strengthened my patience when Jim or Chris post six of the same things :),  and encouraged me through others sharing what God has been speaking to them.  I was really encouraged by Val's journey this week as shared in our facebook group.  I was also encouraged by a scripture that Elisa posted on her own wall.  Thank you to everyone who is a part of this group.  Thank you for patience when sometimes it feels like you're being spammed.  Thank you for supporting one another through out the week with your encouragement, input, and support.  Thank you for taking it from the virtual world and applying it in the real world through prayer, physical help, and face-to-face support (still very much needed in life).

I hope I get to see you this Sunday.  I am eagerly anticipating our gathering.

Princess Ruby

This family is leaving for Disneyland tomorrow!  We are pretty excited.  It's been about 10 years since either Angela or myself last visited the happiest place on Earth.  It will be the first for our kids.  Many friends, family, and friends of friends have blessed us with this trip.  One friend hooked us up with the President of Disneyland so we'll get VIP seating/access and even a VIP Park Guide to guide us through the park.  We are 'just a bit' overwhelmed with everyone's love and support.

Last night, Ruby had a massive melt down over her princess dress.  One of the extras of this trip is a princess makeover (kill me now) for Ruby.  Needless to say, she's quite excited.  She envisioned herself entering the park each day in her princess dress.  Angela had made her one for either Halloween or a birthday party.  However, Ruby had it in her head that she needed an official Belle, Cinderella, or some other character's official dress.  The tears and "woe is me's" were a flowing.  After a quiet time and a perspective talk with her overly pragmatic father she came back to reality.  Then, this morning I went to take out the trash and saw a couple presents sitting at our front door.  One was for Ruby and the other for Charlie.  Charlie opened his and found a Woody (from Toy Story) costume.  Ruby opened hers and found an official Cinderella dress.  The gifts came from a friend who had no idea about the "need" for an official dress or last night's melt down.  I'm not sure what Ruby prayed about last night, but I hope this doesn't create a genie lamp view of God. :)

While there's lots of temporary good things on the mind right now, I've also been moved this week for the nine year old boy that was hit by a car last week.  Although they live in Aldergrove, he and his mom have attended our Church gatherings in the past.  Our Church has been praying for them and each day little miracles have happened.  One night, his mom prayed that upon her return in the morning he'd open his eyes.  The next morning, five minutes after her arrival, he did!   From being in a coma at BC Children's Hospital ICU to only a week later playing tricks on the nurses, his recovery has been steady and miraculous.  There are still lots of issues, including brain damage, so we must continue to pray for him.  In addition to our prayers, know that our Church is also sending a gift to help with their everyday expenses.

This gift comes from our Church being in a healthy financial place.  Thank you to all of our Church family that have given in faith over the past two years to get us to this place.  As a Church family we now look to grow in financial health so that we can not only continue to be a help to those in need, but increase our health and love!

We are also praying for a family connected to both a Church in Langley and one of our Church members that has a 10 month old twin with a cancerous tumour on his liver.  He is going through chemo and eventually surgery. Their Church has been very supportive of them and I'd love for our Church to join with them in praying for healing and strength.

All of this makes me think of how naive I was in my thinking a decade ago.  I thought I was so strong and self-sufficient.  Yet the journey God has graced me with has revealed my significant weakness, my need for His grace in Jesus, and His love as given through family, friends, and the Church.  God is good even though I act in ignorance, arrogance, and disobedience.

I also have to give a special shout out to my employers, the College and Church.  Over the past three months they have been overwhelmingly gracious and generous.  Between all the medical appointments, support for Angela, and help with our kids, I have had to scale back my work responsibilities.  There has also been times where I've been physically present, but emotionally absent.  In these times, other staff, students, and volunteers have helped to fill in the gaps by either taking on my responsibilities or extending patience.  Both the College and Church have been very patient with me, allowing for less productivity while continuing to provide for our family.  So, from our family to Pacific Life Bible College and Parkside Church, thank you!

I have also been meaning to respond to last Sunday's inter-Church worship and prayer night.  About double the number from the Fall gathering attended this one (about 40-50 folks).  I want us to work towards seeing this as a priority in our calendars.  It's good for us, the Kingdom, and our City, to gather in unity.  Thank you to Doug Dunbar of North Valley Baptist Church for organizing this initiative and hosting it!  I would love to see this grow to a place where Sunday's attendance of all the Churches in Mission is matched at this inter-Church event.  Can you imagine all of Mission's Christ followers joined together in worship and prayer!  We've been praying for more of neighbours to come to faith in Christ, for greater participation in the life of every local Church, and for an increase of finances.

Have a great weekend and week.  The next time you will most likely hear from me will be a week from now.  Continue to pray for your MY5!


Thanks to Katy of www.picturemefoto.com for taking our photo!

My Inner Metis and Other Things

We had another good gathering on Sunday.  Three of our youth helped lead us in worship and they did a great job.  We opened our Bibles to Acts 12 and discovered that a Church that advances does so on its knees.  James was beheaded, Peter imprisoned, and the Church engaged in earnest prayer.  No petitions were made, no political or armed force was needed... just the humble submission of the Church and a willingness to lay down one's life.

Sunday afternoon, we headed into Richmond to spend time with Angela's family.  We had nice dinner and visit.  My niece must be learning about First Nations at school because she decided to put on a pow wow.  The kid's danced and drummed while yours truly brought out his inner Metis and belted out some chants and shrills.  I had to stop at Tim's on the way home to get a steeped tea (I love their new sizes) to soothe the throat and keep me awake for the drive.

Monday was chemo day for Angela.  Thanks to the portacath, her new diet, and a small change in her chemo recipe things have been much better this round.  Less nausea and less fatigue.  Praise God for gracing us with wisdom and a good chemo nurse.  Ang's sister came out for chemo day and was a huge help.  My mother-in-law has been here for most of this week and I have subsequently called her Cinderella.  She's been helping with everything... kid's, meals, housework, and Angela duty.

On Wednesday, I picked up my new t-shirt order... four Oregon Ducks shirts!  I'm stocked for another year or two.  I'll have at least one year to wear them proudly and gloat about our Rose Bowl win.
 
I'm away this weekend for a retreat with the student leadership team at the college.  It will be nice to spend some time with them.  Catherine is preaching this Sunday and I'm excited to hear what she has discovered about the last part of Acts 12.  I also hear there's some event called the Super Bowl this Sunday afternoon too?

Sunday night we are going to my sister's to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday.  Then I'll race back over to North Valley Baptist Church to join with the rest of the Church in Mission as we worship and pray together.

I hope you have a great weekend, filled and overflowing with the life and love of Christ through His Spirit.  I hope you enjoy praying for your MY5.  I hope you're able to find extra time this weekend to spend a more concentrated amount of time in His Word.  Your time and life investment into these things will not only help you in the present, but will also pay eternal dividends.

 

Death, Hospitals, and Disneyland

Another interesting week filled with all kinds of experiences.

• Sunday: We started off the week off with an encouraging gathering at Church.
• Monday: Worked at PLBC, really felt privileged to be praying for my "MY5", and had a good council meeting in the evening.
• Tuesday: Went to a naturopath doctor with Angela, heard my grandfather graduated to Heaven, and worked in the evening.
• Wednesday: met with the one and only Geoff Stewart, taught some great students at the College, and worked in the evening.
• Thursday: went with Angela for tests, completed a cancer counselling session, and then worked again.
• Friday: sat in the hospital all day with Angela for her procedure.
• Saturday: worked, had a nice family visit with Christina Williams, and then had dinner at the Parson's.

Grandpa Nelson
On Tuesday, I received word that my grandfather graduated to Heaven.  He has joined his wife in receiving his reward in Christ.  I'm really happy for him.  I took the above photo about ten years ago of his old shop and even though he hadn't lived on the farm for some time at that point, one of his old sweater jackets was still hanging up.

Grandpa Nelson was man's man.  He grew up in the prairies, was a farmer, served in the tank corps, became a welder, and raised six kids.  He could build and fix anything (although it never looked pretty). I wish I had a picture of his homemade cider press to demonstrate this.

I grew up on his farm, spending many Saturdays hanging out with him as he puttered around the barns and shop.  When I was younger, I'd sit on his lap or wheel well of the tractor and watch him go about his work. In my teen years, I was the one operating the tractor and he was the one yelling, "whoah, whoah, hey, hey, hey!!"  He would do various hand signals and assume that others knew what they meant.  For the odd job, he'd actually pay me to do tasks. I called them nickel jobs because that's about how much he'd pay me.

He knew how to hunt (usually from his back porch) and skin a deer. He knew how make some pretty tasty and spicy deer sausage too.  Although sometimes a batch of it would get lot in one his freezers and then turn up 15 years later.

One of his fingers was a knob (I think it was from a chainsaw accident).  It always scared me as a little kid and I would steal glances at it. Later in life, I came to respect it... especially when it worked to his advantage in crokinole.

The house I grew up in was about 1km through the woods from his and we always joked that even though he was on the phone, we could hear him with out it. He was an exceptionally loud talker on the phone. His calls were often accompanied by panicked pacing and head scratching.

I observed that he lived life in one of three modes: 1) chuckling; 2) panicking; or 3) crying.  Grandpa's chuckle was usually due to the cute and light side of life (telling a funny story, observing his dog, or watching his grand kids goof around). His panicking was due a lack of patience and a great desire to fix a problem as fast as possible (I wouldn't want him in charge of the 'red button' during a war).  His crying was due to moments of clarity where he saw his failures and weaknesses in light of Jesus and the many blessings bestowed upon him by God.

Some of my favorite memories include drinking water with him from an ice cream bucket, watching hockey games on Saturday nights, getting candy from his lazy boy compartment, watching him shower his food with "No-Salt", and hearing him start up his brake-less motorbike, hear it backfire along the road, then pull up unannounced to our house (he would use a stick to help stop the bike).

My least favorite memories include the time he volunteered to cut my hair with his rusty electric razor. I was hesitant, but my mom reassured me it would be okay.  It started out painful and then I knew it was bad when, through my tears, I saw a clump of hair attached to skin along with some blood.  I was young, but I seem to remember my mom stepping in and offering to finish it at home.  I still laugh and cringe thinking about that.  Then there was the time he caught me starting a "controlled" fire in his garage.  He wasn't very happy about that.  I can't blame him either.  He helped stop a number of our childhood fires.

I could probably write a book about my memories of him.  However, the most significant impact he and my grandma had on me and my family was their sincere love for Jesus and their service to the Kingdom.  He will be missed, but His legacy lives on!

Naturopath Visit
On Tuesday we went to see a naturopath doctor that specializes in cancer.  It was worth going to ease the mind of all options, but didn't offer too much different news.  His recommendation was to eat very healthy (i.e. whole grains and vegetables) and to go to Germany for chemo.  In Germany the have a clinic that dispenses chemo simultaneously with heating up the body.  In short, the heating process helps the chemo be more effective towards cancer.  He offered a few other options as well, but nothing that significantly increased her timeline or comfort.

Other Hospital Visits
Thursday, we saw the oncologist again and she didn't offer any different news.  Friday, we were at the hospital again as Angela had portacath installed.  The device is installed under her skin and connects to a vein much closer to the heart. It will help future chemo rounds have less side effects on the blood vessels in her arms.  The side effects of chemo on her vessels were already realized before the procedure as it took the nurses five tries to get an IV connected.  Angela was a good sport in spite of a hard day.  I think we need to buy shares in impark to get something back from the hours we've spent on hospital parking lots.

Disneyland
On a more fun note, we've also been planning a trip in February to Disneyland.  We had some friends of Angela's family give us our flights and hotel.  We feel so blessed and loved.  We are very grateful.  Ruby is excited.  Charlie doesn't know what is going to hit him.  Angela can't wait to share this experience with them.

That's been our week in a nutshell.  Thank you for your prayers and love.

Friday Mashup

Loving the snow!  A number of Foursquare pastors from our area, braved the roads for a meeting in our building.  We caught up with one another, shared a bit, and they prayed for me and our Church family.  It was a good morning.

Cindy W. and Alison O. came in and did a complete clean of all our dishes in the kitchen!  Donna was in to clean the bathrooms and rooms.  I appreciate their generosity in service.   Youth For Christ is conducting their annual banquet in our building tomorrow, so they are getting everything ready.

Tonight is a movie night in the youth centre... looking forward to raising some more funds for summer camp.  Before that I have a wedding rehearsal to run with Chad and Ariana (they are getting married tomorrow night)!

Tomorrow, our kids are going to Nana's on the Island for a week, so they're out of our hair while Angela goes through surgery and the first week of recovery.  Thank you to everyone for your kind words and prayers.  Thank you to those who have generously signed up to help us with some meals too!

I'm looking forward to Sunday... Isaac's preaching his first sermon!  We'll be in Acts 11:19-26.  Then on Sunday night (6:30pm) we have an extended time of worship through song.

I also have to recognize Bernie V.  I asked him if he could take a look at the Church ride-on mower as it wasn't working.  He came out, fixed it, and mowed the lawn... just in time for winter!

I hope you have a great weekend and that we get to see each other at some point!

Friday Mashup

Friday morning is where my responsibilities collide: college, Church, and family.  I'm wrapping up College projects, beginning and completing Church projects, and then doing my best to carve out a relaxing Saturday.  I look forward to everyday, as being a part of these three "entities" is continuous joy.

To give you a picture of why it's a joy... here's what happened in my week:  At the college I serve the students in the Youth Ministry program.  I currently have the shared responsibility, with their local Churches and our humble faculty, of training 25 of our future youth workers and youth pastors.  This week either directly through their love and/or the youth ministries they intern with, we saw 17 youth come to faith in Christ!

Last night I got a phone call from the Dagneau's as they were on the other line with a past neighbour/friend, now living in Vancouver, that had a gun and was going to commit suicide.  Through Isaac and Catherine's loving words and quick action, they were able to get the VPD to intervene and save his life!  One of the main reasons this man attempted to kill himself was because of his decision to follow Christ and the subsequent dishoning by his family.  He couldn't bare the thought of living life outside of the love of his parents and family.  Please pray for him that Christ's love would overtake His life, that He would see the hope He has in Christ, and that we could love Him as Christ loves us.

I met with Chad & Ariana as they are tying the knot in a few weeks and got to share some of my "wisdom" on marriage.  Talk about one beggar telling another beggar where to find food!!  They are both great people and I'm really happy for them as the begin a life of discovering God's love.  The Friesen's will be their marriage coach for the next year to cheer them on and offer wisdom and love.

This morning, I got to have a rare moment (I'm usually out of the house before everyone else is up) where both our kids climbed into our bed and cuddled for a bit.

Now I'm at Tim Horton's in the Automall, waiting for the servicing of my car.  I enjoy hearing the conversations of old men grumbling about the cost of batteries for their hearing aids and recalling what they did during the flood of '48.  A school bus of junior high kids just pulled up and crammed the line-up... you should see the looks of frustration and injustice from people that "need" their Tim's when they get inside and see the line-up.

For the rest of today, I'm making phone calls, doing some admin stuff, meeting with the Williams', and then we get to have the Van Marrum's over for dinner.

Vaughan's mom died this week at the age of 89 and I'm heading over to their house today to hear more about her life and will help them plan the graveside and memorial.  The memorial is set for Saturday, November 12 at 1:00pm at our Church building and will be hosted by our Church family.  If you're up for helping with set-up, food prep/service, and clean-up, please let me know and/or sign-up on Sunday.

I hope you have a great day, especially with the gorgeous weather and an even more beautiful Creator and Saviour!  I hope you have a great weekend.  I'm looking forward to our gathering on Sunday!

Friday Mashup

The heat is on.  And, I feel like more of a man.  Last Friday, I went to light the Church boiler and I couldn't get it going.  Turns out, it wasn't me, but a faulty gas valve.  A few days later and another cold night at Freedom Sessions and we've got heat!

Last night I got to meet with our Ministry Leadership Team.  They are a great group of men and women that serve our Church family with grace, love, and dedication.  We spent some time reflecting on the summer trimester (June-September) of ministry and looked to the rest of the Fall and Christmas season.

Today, Angela and I are heading to Vancouver General for a meeting with our surgeon.   We'll find out his thoughts on Angela's condition (growths on her ovaries) and then he'll schedule surgery.  We are praying for God's heal her and appreciate you joining us in prayer.

Later today, I'll be picking our apples from our trees and giving them to a bunch of our youth.  They are going to make apple pies this week to serve next Sunday.  Slices of pie will be available by donation and proceeds will go to youth heading to "Consumed Youth Conference" on Vancouver Island at Northgate Foursquare Church. It will be our first ever apple pie Sunday.

Tomorrow night we've got an inter-Church night of worship and prayer at our Church building.  Come on down at 7:00pm.  I'm really looking forward to this evening and I hope you'll be able to make it out.

Friday Mashup

Our Sunday gathering was good. Moses' rocked the breakfast.  Chad did a great job in leading us in worship through music.  I really enjoyed God's Word and I hope you did too!


Following our service, I got to cook my first turkey on Sunday and had some of my family over to enjoy.  Angela was a great turkey cooking coach.  My sister made some sweet desserts... pumpkin cheesecake, homemade ice cream, and apple turnovers!

I had a great Thanksgiving Monday.  Relaxed, read a book, and then had another great turkey dinner with Angela's family.  We did a first for our family... we had turkey dinner at the Sandbar restaurant on Granville Island.  It was nice not having to cook or clean-up.

I made it through my first week of my new exercise program.  I downloaded a new app for my phone called "Couch to 10K".  It promises that 12 weeks from now, I'll be able to run 10K.  I've been going down to the Matsqui Trail on the river and I'm having a great time.  I listen to music, pray, and think.  It's amazing how exercise helps to organize thoughts.  My new shoes are awesome... right now it takes me about 45 minutes to cover 5 miles and my feet feel great after.

On Monday, I went to exercise down at the trail and there were a bunch of men fishing with hip waders and insulated jackets.  It was 11 degrees and the rain was horizontal.  As I scanned the river's edge, I noticed right in front of me two women fishing in just shorts and flip flops!  I had to take a picture.

As I mentioned on Sunday, Angela has a couple growths on her ovaries.  We met with the gynecologist yesterday and he's fairly confident that it's not cancer.  Next week we are going to see a specialist at Vancouver General to see what kind of surgery he will do and when it will take place.  Your prayers are appreciated.

In the tech side of life, I updated my iPhone to iOS 5 and like the changes.  I also updated my 'Lappy 4000' to Lion last night and so far don't really notice much of a difference.

I've got a couple meetings today, need to light the boiler to get heat back on at the Church building, do a bunch of admin stuff, and then attend the Mexico information night.

Tomorrow we are having a family party to celebrate Charlie's second birthday.  He is a great kid... so much personality and style.  He loves to push Ruby's buttons.  He's a great cuddler.  And what he lakes in his vocabulary, he makes up for with charade skills.  I'm looking forward to another year of loving and leading him.
 

Friday Mashup

I am overwhelmed today.  Lot's on the plate... both good and painful things.  I think there's a reason that I've been drawn to James 1 for the past few weeks... I needed not only to read it, but understand it.  So, today I am practicing 'considering it pure joy' by seeing with eyes of faith the way in which the trials of today are used by God bring about great things for our future.

I believe that our Church is transitioning into a new season that will be filled with more of God's grace and power.  Even though I don't understand how we'll get there and even though I don't feel capable of getting there, I know that God will be faithful work it out... "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6).

I also feel as though the things I am doing in serving as our Church's pastor (under Jesus who is our Pastor) are so fragile and sometimes worry about the what if's.  My flesh response is to run around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to tie up all the loose ends and shore up weak areas.  I know that I am fool to think that I am the answer to all our loose ends, but I love our Church family so much and believe in our purpose that I don't want anything to hit the floor or anyone to fall through the cracks.  I also know that the heavy lifting is always done by Christ, so I will begin my day on my knees surrendered to Him... trusting that as I put Him first the rest will fall into place.

This season that we are entering is definitely interesting...

• We are beginning Freedom Sessions and I'm sensing a lot of tension around those wrestling with their decision to go or not to go.  There is a spiritual and flesh battle that is going on in the lives of our Church.  I am praying for clarity and strength for all those in the decision making process.  I am praying for Eugene and Catherine as they lead us in this ministry that they would be strengthened and encouraged.
• Our Church is hosting an inter-church young adults outreach on Saturday nights in the Youth Centre.  Its design is to help those who made a commitment to Christ in their youth and now struggle with their faith to be encouraged, equipped, and connected.  We'll be starting with the Truth Project series.  Please be in prayer for this ministry and consider helping out: we need help in the area of set-up, food serving, and clean-up.
• We are entering a pivotal few months in the life of Church where we can either repeat history or embrace with a heart of faith new opportunities to be the Church.  We have some new families metaphorically knocking on our door to see if there's room for them in our family... our willingness to take the awkward hit, initiate and pursue a loving relationship with them, and adjust to the new feel of our Church family is up to us.  My hope is that every "regular" will develop a new relationships with someone else.  My hope is that every "regular" will step out and serve in ways that require faith and not comfort.
• Our Council will be increasing their involvement in the administration of our Church.  Please pray for them, encourage them, and make it easy for them to support and lead us.
• Our Elders will be entering a season of greater reflection of where we've been and where we are going.  Please pray for them, encourage them, and make it easy for them to support and lead us.
• Zain's promotion to Heaven, I am coming to believe, has been very timely.  In some ways I think his life and his death serves to illustrate to me the changing of seasons in our Church.  Zain was a man who would give you the shirt off his back; serve our Church family from sun up to sun down; stand behind you and with you no matter what; and do it all out of a humble love for Christ and His Bride.  John 16:7 comes to mind where Jesus said to his disciples, "It is for your good that I am going away."  Everyone I talk to about Zain says that they are happy for him, but sad for everyone he left behind.  Yet, through eyes of faith, I am beginning to believe that it is actually better for us that Zain is with the Lord... his promotion is not only great for him, but it is great for us.  Jesus knew when He said those words that the only way the disciples would grow and the Kingdom could expand would be if Jesus left and sent the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples to reach the world.  Zain's promotion will be a good thing for us... the hole he left in our Church family now allows for others to experience the joy he had in serving in the many ways that he did.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14 (NIV) "1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him."

Friday Mashup

It's Friday already?!  There are weeks that fly by and then there are weeks that just disappear.  This was one of those weeks.  Too much work and too little week.  I had some good meetings this week and got a lot done at the Bible College.  This morning I taught Isaac how to swing a pick axe and the rest of today is administrative stuff and sermon preparation.

Tomorrow we're hanging out with some of my family then on Sunday we get to worship God and dig in to Acts!  That's about all I have time for today.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Post-it Notes & Fruit

This week was a preview for the next five weeks of my life as things are ramping up at the Bible College for the Fall semester.  What did this week and what will the next five look like?  16 hour days, a gracious wife,  and a smile on my face.  I love this time of year... people are returning from holidays and getting ready for another school year; I get to meet a bunch of new students (many of whom are called to vocational ministry); and the weather is perfect.

Yesterday I golfed for the second time this week (I know that it's a stretch to call that work) at the Foursquare Invitational.  I enjoyed golfing with some good friends and we raised around $4,000 for scholarships and youth camp.

Today I'm working on stuff for our gathering tomorrow.  I'm really looking forward to Rev. Deo coming to share his testimony tomorrow.  Deo is from the DR of Congo where he works with Foursquare and ICM.  His dramatic conversion from Islam to faith in Christ is a great story of God's power to save.  If you're in the area tomorrow make sure you come out at 10:00am to hear him.

In other news, my office was bombarded with post-it notes.  I think it was Jonathan C. and few of his cronies.  My suspicion is still be to be confirmed.

I was reading Hebrews 13 this morning when verse 15 jumped off the page (I think due in part to Dave's message a couple weeks back)... "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name."  It made me ask the question, what is the fruit of my lips?  Are my words centred around me or are they centred around the Good News and Work of Jesus?  That then lead me to ask myself the question, if praise for Jesus isn't consuming my speech perhaps I'm spending more time focused on myself then following and relying on Him?  These words were an encouragement to realize again the need to follow Him in every moment... if I do that, praise will come naturally and joyfully.

Friday Mashup

The Mission Foursquare Church Geyser has been stopped... thanks to the quick work of John C. the parking lot was dug up and the leaking pipe repaired all in a day!

This week... I worked at the Church for a bit on Monday then weeded in my backyard a bunch.  Tuesday evening, I met with Eugene & Catherine D. to talk about our plans for the Fall in running Freedom Sessions.  The more we talked the more we got excited about the good things that will happen in and through this program.  On Wednesday night I worked on our bathroom renovation (yes, it's still in progress).

Today I've got lots to do at the Church.  The Justice Festival starts tonight and runs this weekend.  The Chili Cook-off is this Sunday.  The Skatin Team leaves on Sunday too.

Friday Mashup

I never thought I'd watch 15 hours of Robin Hood in one day, but that was my Wednesday.  Beginning Tuesday afternoon I felt my body lock up with aches in my joints and so I left the College and slept at home for 12 hours.  I woke up the next day still feeling horrible, but not able to sleep so I watched 15 hours of Robin Hood on Netflix (we're trying out the free month).  I slept for another 12 hours the next night and woke up on Thursday morning feeling okay.  I'm not sure if it was a flu or what, but it wasn't fun.

Last night was awesome.  I got to hang out at Hotel Hersey with good friends and enjoy their cool new place and good food.  We drove a sweet go-kart, chased frogs, and learned about gates.

This morning I've got three energetic and passionate interns sitting in my office.  Isaac, our faithful intern, and two missionaries/interns from Northridge Foursquare Church.  We'll be going over a bit of what I do on Fridays, showing them the beauty of Mission, and giving them an opportunity to put their servant's heart to work.  Isaac is a lucky man.

Tonight I'm going to a Lions' game with my brother-in-law.  I'm looking forward to stealing my boss' (at the College) free parking spot before he gets there.  Tomorrow I'm hanging with my in-laws in Port Moody... always good to spend time with the fam'.  I hope to get to my lawn tomorrow as well (parts of it are a foot tall).

On Sunday, Dave is preaching from Acts... it's a really good passage so I'm pumped.  Following the service we're heading over to Hayward Lake for a picnic.   You're all welcome to join.

I'll leave you with Isaac's infamous dance at his sister's wedding:

Friday Mashup

What did I learn while being a bachelor for seven days?  Other than missing my family, I learned that I like to eat at random times (set meal times are overrated), it's really nice to be able to spread out like a starfish when sleeping, and that clean underwear doesn't magically appear back in my drawer.  I lived off of beans and weiners, honey nut cheerios, toast, pb+j sandwiches, cherry 7-Up (found it in the back of our pantry), chocolate milk, apples, and fast food.  Reading that you'd think that I gained weight over the week, but I actually lost weight (I am calling it the "bachelor diet").

The reason I lost a few pounds wasn't because of my diet, but was due to a little project I took on.  On Sunday, I realized that Angela's birthday is coming up quickly and that I must do something.  So, I thought she'd appreciate a renovation to our ensuite bathroom.  I set a goal of renovating our bathroom in four days for under $300.  Beginning that afternoon I proceeded to demo the bathroom.  Everything went fine until it came time to ripping out the sub-floor (comprised of a gallon of glue that soaked into 3/8" particle board.  Needless to say it came out in clumps.  After seven hours of chiseling, scraping, and using five belts up on my belt sander, the floor was down to the plywood.  It took three days for my index finger and palm to heal from the constant vibration of the metal scraper I used as a chisel.  I realized two days in that I wasn't going to be done by the time Angela got home.  When they got home last night, Angela came home to a present half-wrapped.  The tile is in, but the painting, trim, and other finishing touches are still to be done.  My new goal is to have it done by her actual birthday... and due to some thrifty shopping and clever reuses of old/leftover materials, I should come out under budget.  I'll post before and after pictures when it's all done.

Angela came home last night with a "great" surprise.  Charlie threw up in the car on the way home, so I got the pleasure of washing his clothes, car upholstery, and his car seat, while Angela raced him up to have a bath.  Gotta love that smell.  The whole time I'm cleaning up trying to keep from creating more mess, Ruby regaled me, undaunted, with her great exploits during her time at Nana and Papa's.

Today I am working at the Church, getting ready for Tal & Carmen's wedding tomorrow, our Sunday gathering, and our Waterballoon Volleyball match!  I hope you have a great weekend and that I get to see you Sunday!

   

Friday Mashup

Woke up before my alarm today... love that!  Angela and the kids are over on the Island for a week visiting my parents, so that means I get to work on lots of projects and eat dinner at 8:00pm.

This week has been good... got a lot done at the Bible College, finished some reading in the evenings, and met with Tal & Carmen (they're getting married on July 30th).  I'm excited for them as they prepare to enter into holy wedlock.  The ceremony will be visually engaging.

This afternoon Isaac and I delivered some food to a 64 year old lady on disability. Reminder: if you're able, please continue to bring food on Sundays to stock our emergency food bank.  After our delivery, we tried out Dakota Joe's and I shared some thoughts on preparing sermons (from the little that I know).  Tonight I am meeting with Dave P.

I just found out, Calvin & Elisa had their baby!  Russel was born today and weighs in at 8lbs!

Tomorrow I will work some more and then enjoy a wedding reception featuring a burrito truck!  Looking forward to that (I'll post a photo after).

On Sunday, we will continue reflecting and applying Acts.  We'll also be giving out a free book that you can enjoy as summer reading.