Merry Monday

Two busy weeks down and one more to go!  It's a fun and busy season at our Church and the Bible College.  We've wrapped up Easter and are now preparing for Spring and Summer.  Angela began her sixth round of chemo last Tuesday.  She is doing much better this round, even though scientifically it should be the worst.  Praise God!

I need to go into an 'Oscar' speech and thank many people who are so filled with God's love that it gushes out into loving others.  First, my two mothers are awesome... they have been on full-time duty, taking care of our kids and helping Angela.  Our Church family continues to make meals for us (it's been six months) and they (the meals and the people) are awesome!  On Friday, a bunch of energetic adults and youth set-up and ran the Lower Mainland Kid's Camp Rally... thank you for your investment into our kid's!  On Saturday, about 10-12 volunteers helped set-up and host Jim Moses' memorial... thank you for your love given to the Moses family.  On Sunday, as usual, we had a great number of gracious people serve in our Kid's program, main service, breakfast, and after-service coffee!  On Sunday night, we held an evening of prayer and worship.  It was awesome.  Around 40-50 folks came out to pray for the needs of our Church family and for one another.  We laid hands on the sick; interceded for others; shared words of encouragement; gave words of wisdom; and worshipped Jesus.  Thank you to those that came out, shared in faith what God laid on your heart, and gave of your time! Throw in a birthday lunch for my mom and the first mow of the year and it was a full, but great weekend.

This week will be busy getting ready for the College's graduation weekend.  We have a banquet on Saturday and a ceremony on Sunday night.  At the Church this week we have a family movie night on Friday, bake sale prep on Saturday, and then the actual bake sale on Sunday. Proceeds from the movie night and bake sale go to our summer camp bursary program.

I hope you have the best week of your life!   Wrap your heart around Jesus, surrender to His way of life, and you'll live a life without worry or regrets.

Merry Monday

We had a fantastic Easter Brunch yesterday.  Our auditorium was packed and our Church family brought so much food there was enough for fourths!  We were also able to bless StreetHope with the leftovers.  Nigel & Maureen organized a bunch of fun activities for our kids and we showed a mini-video that some have requested to see again:



This past week was pretty relaxing due to some amazing servants!  Aaron & Monica M. headed up our decorating and set-up.  They did a great job coordinating everything and our brunch never looked better!  Dave P. helped represent our Church on Good Friday, then serve on Saturday with set-up, and then serve again on Sunday!  He and Nicole are a huge blessing to me and our Church.  Lynn B. and all of her helpful crew did an awesome job of facilitating the food and kitchen work.  They were all such hard workers and blessed us so much.  Many people stuck around after to help clean-up.  Thank you to the Olsen's, Espezel's, Parson's and everyone else.

This week will be much more hectic. Angela goes in tomorrow for her last round (for now) of chemo.  Both of our mom's will be taking shifts this week! Things are ramping up at the College with end of semester stuff.  I also have a bunch of meetings including our summer camp fundraising team, Church council, Jim Moses' memorial planning and prep, our Kid's Camp Rally on Friday, and then our Sunday gathering and evening of prayer and worship!

I hope you have a great post-Easter week living in the reality and with the resources He has given us.

Distant Prayers

The first two years of our marriage, Angela and I lived on the third floor of a condo building that overlooked St. Joseph's Catholic Church.  Every once and I while I would pause and pray for their Church. My prayers were the type similar to when an ambulance rushes by... I stop to pray to pray for the paramedics, the patient, and the patient's family, but then never think that the patient would ever be connected to me personally.  That's kind of how I prayed for St. Joseph's.  They were meaningful, but distant.

Tonight, a man stopped by with an overflowing gift basket from St. Joseph's.  In it were beautiful gifts for Angela and our kids.  Our eyes then turned to a tin filled with little cards. We opened one after the other (about 200 in total).  Each card was filled with personal notes of encouragement and prayer from members of St. Joseph's.  People that we've never met and probably never will, yet moved with compassion towards our family.

Thank you to St. Joseph's Catholic Church.  You have touched our hearts in a very personal and unexpected way.  We will continue to pray for you and thank God for you, but now you will be much closer to our hearts!
  

Audit Results

Well, the CRA has come and gone and their unofficial report (we'll get the official report in the mail) said we're doing fine.  The auditor was a nice gentleman.  This process, although a bit boring, confirms and affirms the hard work of our Council and most importantly our administrator, Cindy.  Special thanks to Cindy for serving our Church family in this way.

Spring Clean-up, A Great Day!

Thank you to the 30 volunteers who helped spruce up our building and property.  We did a thorough clean of the main and youth centre kitchens; washed all the chairs in the auditorium; decluttered three storage rooms; picked up trash and debris along our road, property, and neighboring creek; painted the men's washroom and front entrance door trim; did some gardening; and began the installation of a garden beds along our entrance (see above).  Kudos to the ones who worked so diligently in the pouring rain.

Kid's Raise $360 for Local Missionary

Our Church is blessed with the best youth pastor in the world!  Calvin Williams was custom crafted by God to work with our city's youth.  His heart for youth is as gentle as it is huge and his love for Christ overflows into everything He does.  He is a missionary to the youth of our city and he does a fantastic job.  He's also a great husband and dad!

This summer our Kid's collected their change and it totaled $359!  I'd like to thank all our kid's for giving so generously and thank Diane Kim for sparking the idea.  When you get moment you would you consider supporting the ministry Calvin is called to?  You can pick-up some information in the Church lobby or go to Calvin's website: http://www.hopefortheyouth.com/.  He'd really benefit from monthly prayer and financial support.

Easter Brunch Recap

On Sunday we hosted a Easter Brunch and it was a lot of fun.  Just over 180 came out for a morning of good food, company, music, drama, and of course.... chocolate (well, the kids got that part).

I'd really like thank all our volunteers who worked very hard and gave of their time so that others could enjoy their time.  Half a dozen came out on Saturday to help set-up.  The George's did amazing at organizing the buffet.  Louie W. and Laura B. made amazing pancakes.  Casey and Charmaine worked their butts off serving in the kitchen.  Then Chris K. and Dave P. (even after acting in the drama) lead us in clean-up.  Dave vacuumed the auditorium and lobby in record time!  Mo, Diane, Seyong, Christina, and Nigel did an amazing job with the kids program.  Tony and Alison performed beautifully.  And Jack, Dave, Eugene, and Martin did a fantastic job with their dramatic presentation.  Thank you to everyone who helped make the morning a lot of fun and a great time to celebrate together the resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus!

Pictures should be coming soon!

A Great Work Bee

Today we had our annual Spring Work Bee and it was awesome!  Over 30 came out for to weed, clean, sort, build, and haul.  Thank you to everyone who worked so hard.

Haiti - Final Numbers

Well... our final numbers are in and we have raised $2500 for Haiti!  Thank you to everyone who gave so sacrificially of their time, talents, and money.

Remembering Brian

Yesterday we spent a couple hours remembering and celebrating Brian (Big B) Hunter's life.  See my thoughts on his life here.  A side note that I want to respond to from the service was the way our church was the church!  We had lots of people bring food and a many helped with the set-up, preparation, and clean-up.  Thank you to everyone who gave in this way.  I know Brian's family was blown away by our hospitality.

Feed Them & They Will Come

This morning we had our first contintental breakfast and it was a lot of fun!  Over 50 people came in time to enjoy bagels, muffins, coffee, prayer, and fellowship.  On a personal level I really appreciated the extra time to connect with others.  Special thanks to Chris & Jonathan for helping host the breakfast table; the Ewert's for leading the pre-service prayer; and Teresa for cleaning up!

If you missed out, no worries... you can join us next Sunday from 9:15-9:55am.

In the service we got to hear just a bit of Francesca's missions trip to Turkey and then thank God for doing the miraculous!  Wilf and team literally "rocked on" in worship.  I got to share how Philippians 2:1-11 works in our current setting.  Then we prayed, enjoyed some coffee and juice, then went on our way.

For lunch, Ruby and I got to eat with the Kim's and enjoyed being with them.   The Kim's are such a loving and faithful family... our church family is blessed so much by them.  Next time you make a moment, thank them too for all they do for God through serving in our children's ministry!

Now I get to organize my week and then go home and enjoy being with my family!!  Have a great week and make the most of it by "seeing others as better than yourself".  Aren't you glad Jesus lived like that?

Let the Kids Camp Fundraising Begin!

Thanks to all the parents who organized and helped with today's bottle drive!  All of these bottles plus a couple (stinky) vans full were collected and sorted.

Fun at the Corn Maze

Last night I had the privilege of driving to and from the Chilliwack Corn Maze in a van filled with 7th & 8th graders.  They sang Hannah Montanna and a number of other equally annoying songs over and over... but I loved it (not the songs, but their enthusiasm and energy).  We arrived at the muddy corn maze and spent a little over an hour getting lost together... arguing over which way to go and in the process, learning patience and teamwork.  Then around the campfire we scorched our tongues with hot chocolate and received prizes for our costumes (the theme was "Cinderella" and I was an ugly step-sister).  Chrystal L. organized a great night and we all had a lot of fun.  Thank you to all the leaders/drivers for your investment!