Souljourn

See you next year!

Things are going to be pretty quiet around here for the next few days.  Our family is headed to Camp Homewood for their New Years Family Camp so I won't be updating this blog until January 1, 2009.

Here's my blog post from January 1, 2008 if you'd like to do a little 'blog reminiscing'.   

And here's the link for my blog post from January 5th about preparing for worship.  It is one of the funniest videos I think I saw all year.  I think you'll enjoy it.

See you next year!

New Years Resolution?

Do you plan on making some New Years resolutions?  Maybe this will give you some incentive to carry them out.

What will you do?

Imagine if you could somehow 'magically' add time to a day.  What would you do?  Would you use it to sleep longer?  Exercise? Read a good book? Visit with friends? Have some quite time alone? Work on household renovations? 

Well whatever your answer is, assuming you answered and didn't just write my question off as hypothetical nonsense, you are in for a treat. This Wednesday (December 31st) is going to have an extra second added to it!  That may not seem like a lot of extra time, but don't forget, it is extra time!  Gifts like this don't come around every day. 

So let's make the most of this extra time.

Maybe I should have added, Blink? Sneeze? or, Exhale? to my list.

This wouldn't happen in Quebec

With a new law mandating all cars in Quebec have winter tires, the rest of the country has had a lot of difficulty finding winter tires.  Looks like these guys should have looked harder...

Pray for peace

It looks like the conflict in Israel is about to get worse.  Both sides have threatened to increase their attacks, and one group is even quoted as saying they are prepared to 'unleash hell'.  I don't pretend to understand all the complexities of this situation, and the generations of conflict that have caused untold loss, destruction, and pain.  What I do know is that Psalm 122:6 tells us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem". 

We need to remember that the word "peace" in this verse is the Hebrew word "Shalom", which has much greater implications than our understanding of peace.  When we pray for the Shalom (peace) of something, we are praying for there to be wholeness and well-being, in the sense that everything is working together smoothly as God would have it.  

So when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we aren't praying for a certain political party/individual, and neither are we praying for specific border/boundaries to be established.  We are simply praying that the perfect purposes of God in this region, and for those individuals, would be realized.

the build continues...

 

...the finish line is in sight!

consideration, evaluation, rumination, but NO condemnation

This is one of my favourite periods of the year, the lull between Christmas and the New Year.  I like to take some time during this period and reflect on the past year and evaluate the different arenas of my life.  I want to intentionally consider my relationship with God, Naomi, our children, and the people around me.  I want to evaluate my service, and leadership, in the different areas where I have responsibility and, I want to spend some time asking God about the coming year and my place in it.

This past year was a great year, in all the above mentioned arenas, but not one of them was good enough to do again.  I don't ever want to fall into the trap of repeating what I've already done.  I want my relationships to be deeper and more life giving.  I want my service to flow out of a son's love for his Father, not a servants duty to His master, and I want my leadership to be more Christ-like, effective, and proactive than ever before.

None of this happens by accident.  It takes intention.  There are things that I have done that I know I'll need to not do, and there are things that I have not done, that I know I'll need to do.  

I fully expect this time of reflection to require application.  I'm not considering what was with an eye to the past, but with a preparation for the future.

I do not want to live with any regrets.  I want to steward wisely, and well, what God has given me and I know He'll give me the wisdom to do so.  All I have to do is ask, listen, and respond.

Can I invite you to do the same?

The opportunities ahead of us are immense.  

The responsibilities we've been entrusted with are great. 

The privileges afforded us are beyond comprehension. 

And, the consequences of our inaction are grave.

  

Rome wasn't built in a day

The lego construction continues.  953 more pieces down.  Here's a few shots: (notice the lego coffee maker, water cooler and interrogation room)

       

and counting....

1068 pieces = 

2000+ still to go...

Too many to count

The presents have been opened.  Breakfast has been eaten.  The table is being cleared, and the turkey is  being prepared to go in the oven.  It has been a great morning!  We started at 8:00 with the Christmas story from Luke 2, a prayer of thanksgiving by my Dad, and then it was into the stockings and then under the tree.

It was great to see not only the joy of receiving, but even more the joy of giving.  Our kids all shopped individually for us, and Grandma and Grandpa, and it was wonderful to see their faces light up as they called for a stop in all the activity so everyone could watch the presents being opened.

Just before breakfast Naomi came over to me and with tears in her eyes she said, 'we are so blessed!'.  And she is right!  We have so  much to be thankful for.

Here's a few interesting items from the morning:

      * Emerson found the Christmas pickle
      * Hudson received 3533 pieces of lego!   

      * Mercedes got a ring 
      * I got a new robe.  I'm going to miss the old one (I got it when I was 13). Here's a picture of the old robe (notice the sleeve length and the height of the waist tie)

 *Naomi and I received a book entitled One Month to Live (I'm hoping there's no hidden meaning in it preparing me for something, I just got a new robe!)

  

I hope you're having a great Christmas day.  Celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ with those dear to you.