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.