I get a great deal of satisfaction when I make something. I'm not really a crafty person since it always takes more time and planning. One thing I intentionally took time to learn to do recently was make home made beer. I was surprised how good it turned out and how community is built in the process.
There's not that much to it. These are the basic ingredients. 
There isn't much precision to homebrewing. Just measuring temperatures at certain points. You get some great aromas during this process. After boiling everything and checking some temps we add the yeast to the mixture and then on to fermentation for about two weeks all together. 
After fermentation you add a sugar solution to your beer and bottle it. From a 23 litre container you get about 50 pints of home made beer. It works out to be about 50 cents per bottle after cost of equipment. 
This gets you instant popularity amongst many of your friends. 
I'm so excited to come home I could almost barf. I have had a lot to anticipate and wait for this advent season. Good food, friends, family, stories, and best of all eggnog. It's gonna be awesome.
Man, I love learning more about myself.
One of the things that is inteded about our experiences is that we discover more of ourselves and what God wants for us.
Recently I took a test called Stregths Finder 2.0. This is a test designed to uncover your strengths and what makes you stand out from others. It also gives an action plan of how to use these strengths throughout your life. It is great. I dicovered that my five top strengths are:
Adaptability- this means that I am a go with the flow sort of person and that I discover the future one day at a time.
Empathy- which means that I have the ability to sense feelings of others by imaging myself in their place.
Maximizer- says that I seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Developer- this means that I recognize and cultivate the potential in others and that I derive satisfaction from small improvements.
Positivity- (I especially like this one) this says that I have an enthusiasm that is contagious.
I am pretty pleased with these strengths and hope to be in a position to use them to their fullest potential now and in the future.
The time is quickly approaching to go home to Cincinnati for a couple of weeks and we couldn't be more excited to reconnect with friends and family and get some more vision for what is going in our lives when we go home for good. We miss home a lot, but while we are here God has blessed us with a great community of people that have filled in as family while we are away. We have spent so much time together and done a lot of life together it is hard to imagine that in a couple of months we won't see them on a daily basis and discuss hard questions life has for us.
Last night we had our usual Monday night meal where we all gather and enjoy dinner together and just hang out or play games or whatever. Last night we tried to make it a little more special in light of the Christmas season.
We sang a few carols led by Deric's redneck twin brother...
We decorated and ate too many cookies and played a few games that I didn't have the attention span for. The only thing this party didn't have was some spiked egg nog. But there are more Christmas Parties yet to be experienced this season.
It was great. It's amazing how God weaves people into our lives. I was reminded how others are put in our lives while we are away to love and care for us as family would. It's not always easy or enjoyable, but it is worthwhile and necessary.
He looked amazingly terrible with those teeth. I love his goofiness.
I just watched Princess Bride and was reminded of how precious our wives are. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but it's easy to forget about that sometimes. We should be willing to lay our lives down for our wife. I was thankful for the simple truth this evening that my wife is a person to be cherished and fought for.
Boy am I lucky to have her. 
This is actually me and Carrie horseback riding on our one year wedding anniversary.
I want to be more passionate and dedicated in life. Not like this guy but you know what I mean.
This is what my good friend Wikipedia says:
Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host, and it also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill.
Hospitality is also known as the act of providing kindness and comfort to whomever may be in need.
Haha. Just a joke. Nobody take that seriously. I LOVE GAY PEOPLE!
This is one huge thing I feel that has been laid on my heart to explore during my experiences in Vancouver. How do we show hospitality to those who are different than I am? What could it look like to be hospitable to strangers and friends? We should give others the best we can. If we are going to give food to someone, give the best or at least something you yourself would eat. 
This will change the world.
I feel challenged to: be creative, employ the gifts available in our community, be inviting, put Christ on display to the world (in a non condeming way), be relevant with out abandoning truth, and enjoy life.
Today started as an early morning down to Bellingham. I had to pick up Deric and Amber this morning. Any time I have to cross the border it can be a little nerve racking to say the least. Although I have a visa to get back into Canada they question me like I am some sort of criminal.
One of the worst visits to the border was with my buddy Ryan. The man fired questions at us and was over the top with his rudeness. He even crumpled our papers up and threw them back at us, and then told us to go inside for further questions. All in all we escaped with little emotional damage and we even got all of our firearms and explosives across the border. Yippie Horray!
Luckily this morning they didn't ask me a thing. They just handed me my passport right back and they even said "have a nice day". That is monumental for the Canadian Border Patrol to say to an American. It just doesn't happen. In order to get the job, they must have a burning hatred for all Americans. Or maybe that is just the way it is for all Canadian citizens. I have met one woman here who said that she loves Americans. That was cool.
We Americans need to throw out some crazy insane love to these Canadians to break down the streotypes all the Canucks have up here.
How would Jesus love the Border Patrol?
Unfortunately this is the reality of so many people in the world. Even here in Canada people in our community are dying of Aids at the same rate they are dying in Africa. People are not getting the help they need to treat the virus. Although many people are sending relief to African countries and other parts of the world, the people there are being oppressed and probably not seeing any of those funds. The first step to action is getting educated.
www.ijm.org
can be a good place to start.
Yesterday I just happend to watch the old family favorite...Remembering the Titans. What a great movie. It's funny, cus I have actually had racism on my heart a lot lately. I'm not sure if it's because Vancouver is one of the most diverse cities or what. I have begun to really search myself and ask myself the question, how many people do I really KNOW that are different than me? Probably not too many. Since being in Vancouver I have found some difficulty in getting to know people who are from different parts of the globe. Cultural differences and accents and other things require more effort to really break through and get to know a person that is totally different than me and my midwestern way of thinking.
A few clips to illustrate differences and what it could look like to over come those things.
I never thought of myself as subconciously racist, but maybe I am. I spend most of my time with people who are as similar to myslef as I can find.
A few lines from some recent bedtime reading...
"Tolerance allows us to survive; love allows us to thrive."
"Stereotypes exist because we are not willing to form friendships with others who differ from us"
"If we aren't willing to diversify in order to connect to God's heart, then we should be willing to diversify ourselves to show God's heart to those in our lives who do not yet follow Christ."
"When we choose to reach out and love everyone around us, we will experience a glimpse of heaven on earth."
Well my friends we have entered into the imagination posture of our learning here. We are now starting the life compass process. This is something that takes our whole past and all sorts of stuff and hopefully we will get a better idea for what God wants for our future. We get to do all this in the midst of community and it is wonderful...sort of. Actually it can be pretty painful and difficult. At least those of us who might have led a life that is not exactly "normal" or somewhat painful this can be a difficult process.
I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. I'm sure that is sort of the nature of this experience. But man it hurts most of the time. People ask us if we are "happy" or enjoying life to the fullest. I can honestly say that we are enjoying life as best we can, but growth does not come without pain. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.
Let's face it...life as I knew it is gone. I have no close friends. I have no cars to go where ever I want. I have no house or place to call my own. I don't have that spending money to be crazy with. I don't even have decent appliances or utensils to cook with. I have lost my identity no matter how positive or negative it was.
Not to mention the ones we are building relationship with here. Most of them are extremely poor, drug addicted, mentally ill, dying from disease. It makes my crap seem more insignificant. It puts things into perspective. I really don't need that other stuff, no matter how much I think I do. Most of the people in the world are extremely poor. The kingdom of God crashed into my comfortable life and messed it all up.
Yeah things are good..
really good.
Just what is life going to look like for me and Carrie?
I'm going to try my best to think big.
I can't wait to see all my loved ones.
So I came home the other day and found this. 
Only in Vancouver is this the norm. Amazing.
I thought this might be a sight I might see like once while being here. It's December first and the snow greeted me as I woke this morning. 
A great thing for any winter day is some good soup and bread (to be shared with neighbors). I am smelling some fruit of my labor as sweet aromas come from the amazing soup simmering in the kitchen. It is beautiful. This weekend is being known as the homemade craft weekend. You can make all the wonderful things in your life right at home with the right ingredients.
This weekend we are making some of my favorite things in life: Beer (about 50 bottles worth, cost $25), Scarves, apple butter, cards, amazing food, and some other stuff. More info to come. Tis the season to give until it hurts.
I get great enjoyment from watching good movies. I love relaxing and going into the world of Braveheart or Nacho Libre. This however, was one of the worst movies that has ever been produced. It was rediculous. I'm sure others with a tv actually knew from the previews that is was going to be terrible. I just saw two of my favorite cheap movie actors and thought it was a shoe in. No such luck.
It was far to crude for even me. The worst homosexual jokes ever.
I turned it off halfway through. There was no getting better.
All the copies were out at blockbuster when I was there. Don't fall victim to this stinker.
Ho Ho Ho
The shopping season has come around again. I'm sure the stores have already logged some successful shopping days after the Thanksgiving holiday. Yippie HOrAy! I was tooling around on the interweb and found some nerdy statistics on shopping over the last decade. This year American Adults are expecting to spend an average of $859 on Christmas gifts. That is great. People are so giving. That number is actually down from $907 last year. If people actually have that much to spend on Christmas gifts without putting in on the old Visa or Mastercard that would be wonderful to be so generous.
This year Carrie and I are looking to put what little money we do have towards gifts that can actually make a difference in someone's life. I don't really need anything this year (not that I needed anything in years past) maybe some cat butt magnets would do nicely. I guess I could use some underwear since all of mine has been attacked by killer moths apparently judging from all the holes they have recently gotten in them. What gifts we are buying; we are trying to spend our money where it goes to something more than some shirt bought at JC Penny.
Investments in Fair Trade items and world vision make a difference in lives around the world. I was wondering if there are anyother suggestions out there on good gift ideas? Let's end some poverty while we are enjoying a nice Christmas with our loved ones.
I have a confession to make. I am no thealogian. I probably didn't even spell it right. Anyway; one thing I am convinced that the world really needs is relationship with others. We were not meant to do life by ourselves. Today I was at the pottery studio and my good friend Roger came in. We were already full to capacity, but we told Roger he could hang out and have some coffee. I could instantly see that Roger was not his normal self. He was wasted, but it still wasn't his normal drunken state. I asked Roger if he wanted to talk about anything. He said sure. I knew he was going through an extra difficult time and to top things off his girlfriend that he had just broken things off with works at the studio as well. Roger expressed to me that in so many words his life wasn't worth anything and he wanted to end it all and not deal with any more pain.
I am so thankful that God does not leave us alone with situations like this. Over the next hour or so the holy spirit did some serious work and was able to speak words to Roger in the midst of drunkenness. Roger was buying into so many lies. It simply wasn't Roger I was talking to. God was able to speak encouragement and a sense of worth into Roger as he cried like a child in my arms. Although I didn't really know what to do, it was so amazing. I am so thankful to have been apart of that Kingdom breakthrough.
Without a relationship with Roger who knows what might have happened. Not that I really did anything. He felt safe enough to come in there and be received with love. We need more places like this that accept people no matter where they come from and what they have done in their lives. The Kingdom came crashing into the world today and repaired some brokenness. I am so fortunate to be apart of the blessed work that God is doing in the place.
Man I love Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I can't be home for the amazing Holiday that brings folks together. I think in many ways our relationships are strengthened by being away. Absence does seem to make the heart grow fonder. We miss you all so much. Carrie talked to her family today as they were all gathered and laughing and getting ready to gorge themselves with some turkey and stuffing. It made both of us sad. However; I can't wait to get together tomorrow with some fellow Americans who have been like family in some ways while we are here in Vancouver. We will be having a full on turkey dinner and I'm sure we will be laughing it up.
I think about the last year and I have so much to be thankful for. Too much to list really. Some of the big things are:
an amazing wife
great friends
a year in Vancouver (although difficult)
provision in overabundance (food, clothes, money)
coffee; lattes; americanos
glittens (not gloves and not quite mittens) and other warm garments
ability to do whatever I feel I'm to do with this life
half of a brain
love
chance to make a difference in the world
I can't wait until the next turkey day already.
For the last few months I have scooped up some new hobbies. Both of which I actually took part in today. I just got back from drumming (djembe) lesson. Earlier today I worked in someone's basement remodeling project. I love going down there and spending as much time as I can. My goal in doing this is to provide decent service for dirt cheap and get them ready to rent the basement suite out by January the first. That would be sweet if it actually came together and we met our goal. What I should also mention is that I am not too handy. I grew up with my mom for crying out loud. She never taught me how to fix anything. Maybe a good sandwich or something...hehe. Sorry about that. That was lame.
So anyway. I have been doing this and it gives me great pleasure. I get to do something for someone and I am learning something new and I get immediat gratifacation for my work. I can see tangible results when I am done. I get to give myself a big pat on the back and head home. The work of human hands is a great thing. We have had similar results in our neighborhood garden this year as well. That started out as a real dump and we mangaged to turn it into something better than average. As you can see it is not looking too bad. Wink
Not too shabby hugh. My work looks very similar to these photos. That's why I included them. Sure I occassionally screw up a piece of drywall or something, but in the end I see perfection.
Ahh time sure goes by fast. It seems like just yesterday I was watching Rocky four lay the smack down on that huge Russion Robot Drago. Those were the good old days when Rocky was having a pretty good life and his family was in tact, however, this Russian fool killed one of Rocky's best buds. I would be pretty ticked too. Oh and need I mention Rocky was in great shape.
Well for his latest and greatest, life for Rocky seemed anything but good. His wife had died somewhere in between number five and this last one. To top things off his son is always mad at him for his previous success. What is a guy to do. That's right get back in the ring again and show some young chump and the world who is boss.
All in all it was a pretty good movie. A nice ending to the Rocky saga. I was wondering what happened to that guy. I found it to be mildly depressing with the loss of his wife and all, but he managed to pull himself up by his bootstraps and have one more glory day. He went back for a little taste of the glory...to see what it tasted like. I must admit for an old fella he was in decent shape. Kuddos to Sly. This movie is worth watching if you have seen the old movies and are dying to see how it all ends up.
As some of you may have known, we have had some pretty intense time within our community and our places of ministry over the last six weeks. This is great, but I need time to step back and see just what is going on in my life. I have felt so stressed over the last coupe of weeks because of all the conflict going on amongst our immediate community and folks in the community where we do ministry. We are not called to an easy life all the time my friends. Rich and plentiful yes, but not always enjoyable.
In the last couple of weeks I have been faced with personal challenges and conflicts that I could run from and never think about them again. I could have told myself that it is not worth it, or it won't matter to try to talk things out with people. However, I feel that it is experiences such as these that define who we really are. It is easy to love those who are nice to us. We can easily be nice to people who are nice to us. Chosing to love and go the extra mile for someone who would like to physically harm you is what can change the world around you. Just a thought.
Today was a Canadian Holiday called Remembrance Day. I don't spend enough time praying for those who are suffering. What would the world look like if we just prayed more?
The big things to Remember and pray for are the places of suffering in the world. People are suffering everywhere. Darfur and places all over Africa come to mind. I can't imagine the horror that is taking place in that part of the world. 
The war all over the middle east is something that I find easy to not think about unless you know someone in the midst of the fighting, but we need to continue to pray for that situation and world peace. I was just watching some crazy footage on ABC news and I was shocked at what they were capturing on video.
Jesus says to love our neighbors. Are we really fulfilling that commandment? I don't feel that I am. This day in age we have a hard time claiming ignorance to many issues, especially these big ones. One of the best things to actually do in order to bring about the Kingdom of God is to pray for these situations. Collaborate with God to change the world.
A different reality is possible.
Being in an uncomfortable place I often can't help but to look for pieces of home in an unfamiliar city. One of the places I go is Starbucks. I know the regular coffee is terrible but I go for the familiar atmosphere. It is strange how it makes you feel right at home. This particular store is actually down in Seattle. It is one of the first if not the first store ever.
The logo has changed a little bit since they went really big. I don't think everyone would appreciate it. I think it's kinda cool looking though.
This is just one of the things that brings us comfort in addition to the generous donations of skyline chili and other wonderful things that cincy has to offer the world.
Carrie and I are so lucky to have such great friends and family back home. I am often reminded how blessed we are. We have such a great life why would anyone want to leave it? Well I don't know. Sometimes we are called to step out and do things that look really rediculous. There is just something that goes on inside you that is so strong it consumes you and you have to make a move. I am thankful for that discontentment that was so strong it made us act and redirect the course of our lives. Otherwise in fifty years we would have been wondering what life might have looked like if we had made a move.
A lot of the time we aren't really having fun here. We know that we are growing individualy and together in ways that we can't even realize here. Growth hurts at times. I just rest assured that this is only temporary and we will be back before you know it. Then who knows what. Sometimes it is hard to go through life like this because our society tells us that this is not wise. There isn't much security in this plan. I like to call it faith, others might think of it as stupidity or immaturity.
Well this last weekend was awesome. I felt like I was really in another world. It is amazing how fast you can get away from all the noise of the city and quickly find yourself in a great bed and breakfast where you can eat like a king and your wife can get pampered with a quite affordable massage. We ate, laughed, celebrated, relaxed, hiked among other physical exercise, and even fell down some stairs. Seriously. The retreat was wonderful and well worth the cost.
We all need one of these babies in our homes. The two person soaker tub is to die for. 
The best burger I might of ever had. So good. All in all the one year wedding anniversary was perfect.
That's right folks the big one year wedding anniversary is today. We are so excited to get a night away tonight at a bed and breakfast out of the city. We are going to Buntzen Lake and staying in what seems to be a rather nice place of retreat. We are trying our best on a limited budget to make this event special. I must say I got Carrie a rather nice floral arrangement this morning and a fine bottle of wine for the evening. 
Who knows we may even conceive our first child. Any good names out there?
We should celebrate more often.
Today I am feeling better, and a little less congested. That is until I got nauziated while reading this CNN Posting on a church who believes that the war in Iraq is God's wrath on us for condoning homosexuality. It is just amazing that people could believe in such garbage and then go so far as to protest at dead soldiers funerals and memorial services. This is completely unacceptable to preach such messages. You all should read the short article. Here is the link. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/31/funeral.protests.ap/index.html
Things like this really makes me wonder what God thinks about something like this. He surely can't be anything but furious that people are painting such a distorted picture of him for all to see. All over the world this is the message that people are hearing and seeing. Our God is certainly not about hating people. I feel like I need to calm down now. How can we change this picture?
I can't seem to keep myself in good health no matter how hard I try. Yes I am taking my vitamins as well. What can you do?
That sounds like a good time to me. Well Saturday night the inhabitants of Vancouver came out dressed up for what they call the parade of lost souls. Man is that depressing. It actually wasn't too bad. I was expecting down right devil worshiping or something, but got a rather mild form of a Halloween festival. Quite honestly I found Halloween at Ohio University to be much darker in a spiritual and depressing sort of way.
This strange wizard guy did manage to creep me out though. This party did have its fair share of strange people.
All in all it was a good night and I was not over run with demons. Thank you Jesus.
Another great weekend has gone by quickly and I am left wondering and anticipating a new week ahead. Time really goes so fast here it is amazing to me. I am desperately trying my best to enjoy each moment we are here and get whatever God wants me to take away from this place.
I have the greatest father in law ever. A couple weeks ago I received a few of my favorite cigars in the mail from the good ole' boy and it made me grin from ear to ear. They are so tasty. They might make you smell a little bit, but luckily God blessed me with a woman who likes those brown turds. The big man really does take all the details into consideration. What am I talking about?
MMM...so yummy. I can just relax and ponder life's big questions with one of these babies while sitting out on the balcony. It is great. One of the big, really big questions I am constantly thinking about is why am I here? In Vancouver that is. I don't feel like I am doing anything miraculous for the Kingdom of God most of the time. So what the heck. What am I doing besides trying to maintain my sanity most of the time? Not that I'll ever really figure out all the reasons why God would have us come so far away from home without anything but faith. The best I can figure lately is that a big reason for us here is to help in restoring dignity to so many here who have been hurt and shamed for most of their lives. Making people feel valued and hopefully even worthy of love. That is awesome. I am glad to be a part of it.
I know those are pretty big words, but for some reason the cosmos aligned today and it felt like the best day ever. Why is that? Well a number of small events led me to feel this way. Let's see... well, right out of bed this morning it was a beautiful day. The air smelled great and the temp was amazing. The sun was out and everything seemed to have an overabundance of life. Then we all had some breakfast together this morning and went for a time of worship. We decided to go for a walk to one of the most amazing local parks in the area. With the fall leaves changing all sorts of colors, the sun, and the mountains in the background it seemed like I was in heaven. Literally, the way life was going on in this park on such a gorgeous day it is the way I envision heaven to some extent.
Then after that Carrie and I came home and she gave me a haircut to make me feel like a new man and not someone who has been living in a cave for about six months. Then some other great things happened that married people do and that was great. Then we watched a great movie. Little Miss sunshine has such great messages and was relaxing for me and Carrie. After that I did a little work in a basement that I have been working on. It is quite nice to see some tangible results for your labor. It really makes you feel like a man. Then a lovely dinner prepared by someone else. It tasted great. Now I am just relaxin.
Today almost felt like a vacation day or something. Maybe that is why it seemed so great. I think we all have been in great need of a wonderful, stress free day. I am so thankful. I love days like these.
This morning I awoke to the sight of a clear sunny day outside. Although it has only been about a week since I have seen that sight it feels like forever. The warmth of the sun and smell of the air were amazing. I try the best I can to revel in God's beauty. I am continuously humbled by God's creation.
Anyway, what should I do with a morning such as this. Thats right, go down the street for a little sausage and eggs. The cottage restaurant has been serving for nearly forty years and still going strong here on Commercial Drive. Although the folks in the restaurant may not be the most personable of people on the planet they are intriguing to me. They are all elderly Italian people. Sitting in the midst of that community I feel as though I am in a small Italian village or something. They go on and on in their native tongue to one another. It is really great to experience that culture just sitting in that restaurant having some eggs. So this morning I was able to experience different culture in a different more beautiful way. This morning I didn't feel like an outsider, but rather a part mixed right into everything. I gotta get about my day. Lots to do.
We are now in a new season of the year and life. Almost overnight Vancouver found itself in the fall season. With it comes colder weather, changing leaves, and a good bit of rain. I thought I would have no problem with the wet climate, but I may be proven wrong rather soon. I am currently a bit discouraged when I think about spending the majority of the next four months getting soaked every time I walk out the door.
All in all, with the new season brings new challenges as we are on the down hill slope toward coming home. That is so exciting to both Carrie and I. As we were having coffee with a new friend of ours last night I came to a realization again, which was that I need to enjoy each moment as best as possible wherever possible and not let rain keep us from doing things. I don't want to always feel that the grass is always greener on...you know that saying.
Although the great city of Vancouver is lacking many things that I love back home, it does make up for some in espresso. I love coffee as many know and I have all the coffee I can handle here. I am currently in the end cafe sipping on a sensual latte. There is something very seductive about coffee for me. It could be the smells, the taste, or the ambiance. I'm sure it all plays a part, not just the caffeine buzz you might get.
I have a newsletter to crank out. Much love.
Tuesday nights never fail to produce amazing results. Last night I went to Jacob's Well so incredibly tired. I was dragging all through the night. Then all of a sudden I was engaged in a great conversation with someone I met last week and it was great. The kingdom all of a sudden came crashing in and nothing else mattered. God continuously puts amazing experiences in my day to keep me going.
I love getting outdoors and practically freezing to death. You never know what you might eat, or what might eat you. As long as you are with good friends that is all that matters. It makes us feel like men.
Since Carrie and I have been here in Vancouver we have surely been through some highs and lows and some coasting along. I am pleased to say that the past week or so has brought with it some great highs. Sickness unfortunately plagued my body with a sore throat for a few days. I received some great prayer and apparently God chose to heal my body. That is always awesome.
We are now in the contending posture. How is God contending for us and how do we contend for others? More good questions to wrestle with. And to kick it all off my best brother in Christ has been out visiting and living life with us. What an almost surreal experience to have him here from home. I love hearing and envisioning what God is doing back home. Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of months and see how things are changing.
Good news...God is always working and fighting for us. Rain here kind of stinks today. I have a feeling I am going to be saying that a lot.
I love it when God gives me direct answers to direction in life. It doesn't always happen in easy immediate ways, but when it does it makes me excited. So yesterday I was walking and trying to engage God through prayer about direction of one of my places of ministry. I have been feeling a little unsure about one of my places of intentional ministry in the city. There was a lot going into those feelings, but to put it simply I was questioning whether or not my presence was serving a purpose really. This is a place that I physically only spend about two to three hours per week. I have added a lot to my schedule and have gotten really busy since I started there, and ultimately I want to be open to God's leading. So I was talking to God about it. Afterwards I went to this place and it was a struggle. I didn't enjoy it. However, at the end of my time I went for coffee with the lady who runs this place. By the way I am talking about the pottery studio for people to come in off the street and make a wage while learning skills. So we go out for coffee and this lady tells me how important I am there and just how my presence changes the dynamic of the people there. I couldn't believe it. I totally felt that I got confirmation from the big guy. What an answer to prayer. I instantly begin to have vision and excitement for the future of Just Pottery.
Man I wish I were a kid again at times. Life is great and I love doing whatever I want, but sometimes I miss being a kid and not really having to think a whole heck of a lot. Kids are great. One of the thoughts that has been on my mind a lot lately is just how formative kids are. Children are so vulnerable to whatever is going on around them. I am saying all of this in response to all of the brokenness that Carrie and I see on a daily basis here in Vancouver. One of the shocking discoveries we have made in our time here is the correlation of the people on the downtown eastside and the foster care system. First of all the DTES as we sometimes call it is the poorest postal code in Canada. This is a ten block area with a great deal of open drug dealing, drug using, prostitution, mentally ill, and a bunch of others who are just on tough times. Yep thats right this is an area full of suffering. Now back to my point. Studies have shown that a very high number of people who are in the DTES have been through the foster care system. This makes me feel like there are big problems in many children's lives by no fault of their own and they end up suffering for the rest of their lives. I feel that this is one reason why God's heart is with the poor and suffering. The other feeling I have is that as Christians we are not doing a good job of taking care of the orphaned. We need to be reminded of God's heart for the widowed and the orphaned.
We spent the weekend in FairHaven Washington. It was nice, peaceful, relaxing, quiet, and fun. The staff and everyone joined in the festivities. We had a great time of fellowship and celebration and reflection.
Today was another day of reflection for us. We were discussing the last six weeks of our lives here. The posture was called inviting. The big question was what is God inviting us into? And in turn what are we inviting people into? I clearly don't have any good answers for these questions, but we are trying to make something of it. It was exciting to see what God has shown us over the last month and a half.
One thing that I think is important about our invitation to others is that we need a community of people around us at times to invite people into. It is arrogant for me to expect someone to get a picture of Christlikeness from only me. I know we are image bearers of Christ, but only a piece. This has been a loaded time for us because a lot has happened and we are constantly wrestling with at least one thing.
I was out at the lumber yard this morning. Some of you are probably asking why. I am currently picking up some work on the side helping one of our staff members dry wall his basement. It is good work for my soul, as long as I don't have to measure too much. Exact sciences are not some of my spiritual gifts. Any way, I noticed this morning as I approached one of the clerks I automatically used the word "sir". This made for a very harsh response that puzzled me. I instantly remembered some other encounters with Canadians here that yielded the same result. They are very offended by that term that I use as a sign of respect. It's all really funny to me, but these people get really mad.
Here in Vancouver we are all currently suffering due to the strike that is going on. The city workers have been on strike now for at least two months while negotiations are going on. What this really means is that no trash service is happening and garbage is everywhere. It really stinks especially on hot days. I imagine they will get things resolved at some point, but as for now things are piling up all over. Image a major city with over two months of trash filling the streets and alleyways. I hope someone gives in.
This morning Carrie and I went for a jog at a nearby park with a dirt track going around it. It was so beautiful. There was a light breeze, the sun was out, and there were people all around enjoying life. There were people walking their dogs and children playing soccer. Other folks were out walking with no agenda. What is so great about Vancouver is that there are people from all over. I could hear the soccer coach yelling out commands to his team and I could tell he was from some South American country. It was great to see all sorts of people from so many different nations enjoying the Saturday morning.
This made me think of Jesus saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. I think that at certain moments or points our world and heaven overlap and we can almost seem to smell something perfect. One other group in the park this morning that I failed to mention was a group of special needs people or handicap enjoying the beautiful day with a little bit of exercise. They were being led through a few stretches and a light jog around. It made me feel like nothing else matters in the world. At that moment all of the darkness had lifted and things seemed to almost taste sweet. I love it when that happens.
This is a tough word. Where does it come from? Are we all compassionate? Since being in this city I have really struggled with what it means to have compassion for someone. To some extent I feel that compassion is something that drives us to act in situations of injustice or suffering. I am trying to sort this out in my head. Especially when I read the gospels in the bible in certain passages the author writes that Jesus had compassion and then he healed whatever the ailment. The bible doesn't always say this before Jesus heals someone. I think of how Jesus reaches out and touches people with leprosy and heals them. That is crazy. I know that I would have a tough time touching someone like that. I feel that having true compassion for the injustice and suffering in the world pushes us into action. Without it we could easily walk on by and forget about someone hurting.
That's right I feel like God has so many reasons for us to be here. God is shaping our hearts here. I know God is giving us a passion or vision for things to come. I see others lives changing as well. I am so exctited to see what is going to happen in our lives as we continually submit to his will. I have to be honest and say that things here in Vancouver are not very enjoyable all the time. We feel often that we are missing out on what is going on back home in those important relationships. Time is going fast and I feel that we are being equipped for something else to come. I want to display God by the joy that he gives me and not be held back by anything. How great would it be to constantly be joyful.
I am just shocked and amazed to think about how much stuff there is to do in the world. I am not complaining or overwhelmed by it all. Well maybe I am to some extent because I could be complaining that we are not doing enough in the world or that we are blind and many of the worlds big issues should not have happened in the first place. On a brighter note. I take comfort in that I never have to really worry about what to do. There is always something. I know this sounds wierd but there is always something to be done or pursued. God says that there will always be the poor. That is a good one to pursue or solve certain issues. So as Christians always know that there is something to do in the world.
Today I ventured into something new on my list of things that I can do okay. On Thursday I led worship for the first time. It was crazy. I really enjoyed it. It was definately difficult because I am not the most musically talented dude on the planet. I felt that if it were going to be the least bit engaging and not distracting it would have to be led by the holy spirit. I feel that it was. I did make many mistakes, but hopefully it wasn't too bad.
I am learning that I am fighting myself in so many ways. Feelings of inadequacy keep me from doing or trying so many things in life. That is a shame. I should not buy into those lies. None of us should. We would never do anything. There are so many biblical examples of people who are not adequate but God uses them anyway. Look at the disciples and how they were not the best of the best to follow a Rabbi. Not even close. Or Moses who felt that he was not good enough to speak to people and God was angered badly. It says in Exodus that God's anger burned. Ouch. I wouldn't want to tick God off like that. Although it is hard, if God is calling us to do something let's not let ourselves get in the way. Easier said than done I know.
I love the weekends when I have no agenda. Not that weekends aren't enjoyable when I have things to do. There is just something so wonderful about having a couple of days to catch up on reading, chores, or just enjoy the time by taking a walk or something. We need to take time to catch our breath in life. Things shouldn't always be about work or some agenda. God also wants us to enjoy life and each other. This is not always easy to do in a world of excessive stimulation and endless things to DO. I recognize I am constantly searching for a balance in life. I think that this will always be a constant struggle.
Canadians are not all that different. I mean we live right next to each other on the same continent. As I am living life in this country I am finding that there is some sort of strange underlying tension between Canadian people and America. They don't dislike me personally, but you can clearly tell that they feel that they are certainly superior at times. There does seem to be a stereotyping of US citizens. Apparently Canadians feel like American people are wasteful, uneducated, and just stupid. I'll be honest, that is getting really old. I really don't mind what opinion people have about our country, but the jokes are getting old. Canadians just need to lighten up and have some fun in life. Can't we all just get along. I don't see what the big deal is.
We are currently in the inviting posture of our time here in Vancouver.
To recap for everyone. We started with listening. How do we listen to God and what is he saying to us individually and as a community? The second posture was Submerge. What does it mean to submerge into a culture as Jesus did? Big questions and good to think through with others and try to live out.
So inviting. The challenge we are working through in life and discussion is what are we invited into with God and just what are we inviting others into with us? Sounds simple right.
Some of the struggles I have with this question is that I should make Christianity appealing to others. The fact of the matter is that living out our faith is not always fun or attractive. It can be down right hard and anything but enjoyable. What is in it for us? Joy or deeper sense of a purpose in life maybe...
One way I interpret God's invitation to us is that he invites us to share in his Glory. Partly here on earth, but the fullest extent at Christ's returning. I will let you know of any new revelations on this one.
Hey all. I am now back from Washington. I had the opportunity to visit a youth retreat camp where one of our staff members was the guest speaker. The weekend was a great opportunity to visit the good ole US of A. Although I had to sleep in the seventh grade bunk I had a great time. It was relaxing to get out of the city and share a little bit about my life with some younger generations and older generations. The youth leaders there were really fantastic. Even though America seems to be a place of excessive materialism and waste, I really miss being around Americans at times.
I also got to make a stop in Seattle and see some of the city on our way home. So now I am getting back into the week and what God has for our lives here in Vancouver. What a journey. Rest is something that I am still constantly trying to catch up on. As I go through this journey I am trying to always put into practice what we are learning and reading here in this experience for a life long ministry. May God remove the scales from my eyes so that I may see clearer. The journey is the destination...
Hey folks. I just got my computer back yesterday and it seems to be working great. Mac just handed me over a new battery with no questions asked. I thought I would have to put up a fight. I really would rather just do things the easy way. It doesn't always happen that way though.
I wanted to tell you all about a friend of mine that I have made since coming here to Vancouver. His name is Dance and he is a first nations homeless man here. He has claimed the corner of commercial drive and kitchener. Not too long ago he was sleeping one morning on his corner and a large semi came up on the sidewalk and ran over Dance's feet. The truck crushed his feet and leaving one foot with a large open wound, which has gotten severely infected since that morning. The truck driver took off without even turning back. Since then Dance has gotten a lot of attention from news and doctors and lawyers and people walking down the street. Some give him money and time or whatever.
How do we respond as christians? Especially Christians that live right next door. The best I can come up with is to first of all see to it that justice is being carried out by making sure things are put right. Beyond justice there are things that need immediate attention and care. For example he is lying on the street and it is hard to go get food or drink. I don't feel responsible to do that twenty four seven because one thing I havn't mentioned about Dance is that he actually does have housing, but chooses to stay on the street. I think we often get too caught up in that stuff and miss needs that we can help with at the time. There are always needs to have met. The greater challenge is making sure things are made right. As Christians we should seek justice in our community and not just medicating our problems. How do we stop things from happening?
As some of you may know, in recent past a dear friend of ours left the community in Vancouver to embark on another direction in life. That event stirred a lot of different things in me for many reasons I feel. I was really amazed what God did with our four months living and journeying together. I was blown away with how differently we can care for someone when we live in close quarters with them. Any way, what I'm getting at here is that since our friend left our immediate community life here I have felt a large void since I am the only male presence here. I am finding that I am having a hard time with this.
So how does this change things for me exactly? I feel that I need to create more close relationships with other guys. I probably should have done this before now, but I am finding just how imortant it is to have other outlets and influences that are good solid guys. As men we need our guy time to just hang out or drink a good beer. I also find that I must take another look at my relationships with the women in our community. All of a sudden I feel like an outcast amongst all this estrogen. Women are great, but I just feel like there are barriers that as a man I can't cross. This poses an interesting question when living in a community. How much do you share between a married man and single women in a community? This means like emotions and struggles and such. I don't know why it took me being the only guy here to think about these questions, but I guess I always had another guy to bounce things off of.
I love waking up a little later on Tuesday mornings. It is great to sleep in a little and see Carrie of to her place of ministry. Then for the next few hours I get to read, play guitar, make lunch, and email. I love it. Then from noon on out I spend my time and energy giving myself to community, friends, and ministry. I go to a pottery studio for people off the streets called Just Potters. This is a place for people to come who cannot get normal employment otherwise. There they can make a wage making pottery pieces to be sold as handmade pottery. They do a great job taking time for each piece and making it look great. Great enough people want to put it in their homes. I get to work along side people making pieces with intensions of making more than a nice dish or something, but meaningful relationships for God to do what he wants with.
Then from there I go straight to the downtown eastside (poorest postal code in Canada) where there is a great deal of hurting, drug use, and people dying of hiv and hepatitis. This is a place of great suffering and despair. I get to go down and give my time at Jacobs Well (www.jacobswell.ca). This is a place wherer the whole goal is to be intentional about creating deep relationships in the lives of those on the downtown eastside. These people may not have anyone who cares for them otherwise. On Tuesday evenings we sit down with our friends and have a meal together around the table; which is sacred in this communtiy. This is because around the table all identity falls away and we all can share life and it's experiences. Our hope is to give people some dignity and community which they lack otherwise.
We had a community Monday meal this evening where we all get together and enjoy one another and have great food, conversation, and sometimes games. Usually the food is always great. Tonight was no exception. A big piece of red meat never makes me too angry. It was delicious. I am spending the rest of the night reflecting and reading.
I am finding that I have become more sensitive to noise as a result of living in the city. I do not like hearing every car that goes by and every person that walks down the street talking to someone. I'm not sure how people live in the city for a long period of time. All of this noise and distraction make me want to retreat to the wilderness in search of peace and quiet. People are great, but sometimes I feel that everyone needs to get away and experience the beauty of what God created. The scenery and lanscapes here are so amazing. I could spend weeks out in the woods and mountains here. I absolutely love all of the natural beauty here. It does something inside you to be close to the mountains. It makes you feel so much smaller it humbles you in a way. God is so big and can do anything at any moment.
As many of you know my wife and I have been living and doing life with others in the great city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Here God is continually challening us with questions on how to live out the gospel in a different culture. We are making the most of our time here seeking out what God would have for us to learn about ourselves, others, and the world around us. It is very uncommon to have a time in life to go through the hard questions about sprituality while living in community with other brothers and sisters of Christ. Community is not always easy, but it does allow us to live together, and by doing so we find ourselves loving in ways we never thought we were capable of. Crazy things happen through community with one another. Not that we are all called to live in a house full of strangers, but God does desire for us to have close community with others, because we can't do it alone. Individually we are only a small piece of the body.