Just a couple more pictures of our smiling and growing boy Caleb!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Reflections on another Weekend
1) The four female friends from the PHS class of 96 - my wife Sarah, my sister Ruth, and Andrea P and Lois P - and their respective families got together in Edmonton over the weekend and we had a nice time together. My sister Ruth and her husband Nathan graciously hosted all of us - eight adults plus six children under age 5. Among various other thoughts going through my head, I again am more convinced than ever that the LORD kept the most fabulous one of the four for me... to be/come my wife!... actually the most fabulous woman in the whole-wide-world!
2) I don't know what tonight's episode of "House, MD" will be like... the last two have been deeply challenging. "Birthmarks" (episode 504) really made one think about the impact of a father's life on a son, specifically how one lives his life among his peers, both superiors and subordinates at work, and how that same "issue" appears in home relationships. Last Tuesday's episode (Lucky Thirteen, episode 505) dealt with the issue of how does someone choose to live when you know life is terminal. Of course, I've thought about that issue much in my life... and pretty much always presumed I was living on "borrowed time" so make the most of it. Of course, the reality is that we are all going to die, some medical conditions and diagnosis just happen to give a more specific range of date than most of us want to know.
3) Sarah and I watched "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno tonight including the interview with Michelle Obama. Both Barack and Michelle strike me as truly real, genuine, people. While I realize that there will need to be some "distance" officially if he is elected as President of the USA next Tuesday and Michelle becomes the first lady, I really do sense that they are down-to-earth people. Frankly, I don't get that feel from Sarah Palin or from John McCain's wife, though I do think John McCain is a pretty straightforward guy. It will be interesting to see what happens next week in the US election.
4) Just a few miscellaneous "funny/strange" things happening across the sidewalk that give me cause to laugh fairly regularly. Ask me in person and I'll tell you about them!
5) Just came across a nice short article on Leading in a Climate of Fear, especially relating to the current financial crisis. It comes from John Maxwell's INJOY leadership group (though the article is not written by him).
2) I don't know what tonight's episode of "House, MD" will be like... the last two have been deeply challenging. "Birthmarks" (episode 504) really made one think about the impact of a father's life on a son, specifically how one lives his life among his peers, both superiors and subordinates at work, and how that same "issue" appears in home relationships. Last Tuesday's episode (Lucky Thirteen, episode 505) dealt with the issue of how does someone choose to live when you know life is terminal. Of course, I've thought about that issue much in my life... and pretty much always presumed I was living on "borrowed time" so make the most of it. Of course, the reality is that we are all going to die, some medical conditions and diagnosis just happen to give a more specific range of date than most of us want to know.
3) Sarah and I watched "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno tonight including the interview with Michelle Obama. Both Barack and Michelle strike me as truly real, genuine, people. While I realize that there will need to be some "distance" officially if he is elected as President of the USA next Tuesday and Michelle becomes the first lady, I really do sense that they are down-to-earth people. Frankly, I don't get that feel from Sarah Palin or from John McCain's wife, though I do think John McCain is a pretty straightforward guy. It will be interesting to see what happens next week in the US election.
4) Just a few miscellaneous "funny/strange" things happening across the sidewalk that give me cause to laugh fairly regularly. Ask me in person and I'll tell you about them!
5) Just came across a nice short article on Leading in a Climate of Fear, especially relating to the current financial crisis. It comes from John Maxwell's INJOY leadership group (though the article is not written by him).
Friday, October 17, 2008
Miscellaneous thoughts
Just some miscellaneous thoughts to blog about on a Friday...
1) I can't wait til our dear boy, Caleb, sleeps through the night! He is a precious little fella and always so smiley... and yet I wonder how much longer Sarah and I can continue with no more than 3-4 hours stretches of sleep at a time. I thank the Lord (but not enough) for my amazing wife!
2) I'm glad for the election results here in Canada... though as I suspected, it didn't actually accomplish much. The Conservative party still has a minority government - though they have a few more seats - and the Liberal party has proof that not too many people are willing to follow their leader. The Green party... for all their hullabaloo... got about the same percent of the popular vote (almost 7% this time) and yet still did not win one seat in parliament. And the Bloc Quebecois and NDP will continually battle for third place... though admittedly Jack Layton does have a bit of "pizzazz" to him, though he's not particularly astute.
3) Major League Baseball must be trying to hide their disappointment that the World Series is not Boston vs LA Dodgers - that would have been a boon for the tv ratings with two "big market" teams... as well as the fun of watching Man-Ram try to beat his old teammates while still being paid however-many-million-dollars by the Red Sox. Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia should be a decent series but it sure doesn't have the glamour of LA-Boston. Gotta appreciate the manager of Tampa Bay who seems so mellow and patient and "grandfatherly" with such a young group of players, who until this year were pathetic on the field. And I was glad to see Canadian Matt Stairs hit the big pinch hit two-run homer in game 3 to give the Phillies the victory... after he was the odd man out late in the year in the BlueJays scheme.
OOPS... perhaps I blogged too soon. When I went to bed last night it was 7-0 Tampa Bay in the seventh inning so I just presumed they finished off the Red Sox. I just checked MLB.com and realized that Boston pulled off one of the great comebacks in post-season history, winning 8-7 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. So... if TBay wins one of the next two games...
1) I can't wait til our dear boy, Caleb, sleeps through the night! He is a precious little fella and always so smiley... and yet I wonder how much longer Sarah and I can continue with no more than 3-4 hours stretches of sleep at a time. I thank the Lord (but not enough) for my amazing wife!
2) I'm glad for the election results here in Canada... though as I suspected, it didn't actually accomplish much. The Conservative party still has a minority government - though they have a few more seats - and the Liberal party has proof that not too many people are willing to follow their leader. The Green party... for all their hullabaloo... got about the same percent of the popular vote (almost 7% this time) and yet still did not win one seat in parliament. And the Bloc Quebecois and NDP will continually battle for third place... though admittedly Jack Layton does have a bit of "pizzazz" to him, though he's not particularly astute.
3) Major League Baseball must be trying to hide their disappointment that the World Series is not Boston vs LA Dodgers - that would have been a boon for the tv ratings with two "big market" teams... as well as the fun of watching Man-Ram try to beat his old teammates while still being paid however-many-million-dollars by the Red Sox. Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia should be a decent series but it sure doesn't have the glamour of LA-Boston. Gotta appreciate the manager of Tampa Bay who seems so mellow and patient and "grandfatherly" with such a young group of players, who until this year were pathetic on the field. And I was glad to see Canadian Matt Stairs hit the big pinch hit two-run homer in game 3 to give the Phillies the victory... after he was the odd man out late in the year in the BlueJays scheme.
OOPS... perhaps I blogged too soon. When I went to bed last night it was 7-0 Tampa Bay in the seventh inning so I just presumed they finished off the Red Sox. I just checked MLB.com and realized that Boston pulled off one of the great comebacks in post-season history, winning 8-7 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. So... if TBay wins one of the next two games...
Friday, October 10, 2008
Early October pictures in Three Hills
Caleb is sitting up on his own!
These pictures are taken in our backyard in Three Hills on Caleb's seven month birthday!
Pictures of Sarah and Caleb's trip to Iowa
Sarah and Caleb with great-grandma Hunt!
Sarah and Caleb in the "cornfields of Iowa."
Sarah and Caleb in the "cornfields of Iowa."
Happy Thanksgiving!
So much to be thankful as we move into Thanksgiving weekend. Here's just a few of the many blessings our God has poured out on me...
1. Salvation through Jesus Christ.
2. Amazing, beautiful wife, Sarah.
3. Our precious, handsome, growing son, Caleb.
4. Incredible families... who love us, support us, pray for us, etc? Probably the "stressful" choice these week with our families will be do we have a thanksgiving dinner at Hunts on Sunday and then one at Ibbotsons on Monday? or vice versa?
5. A warm house in our cool Canadian winter (which will soon be here) and an even more wonderful home filled with love and joy and grace. (mostly thanks to Sarah!)
6. Food and clothes... and plenty of them!
7. Our country of Canada
8. Work which allows me to use my gifts (teaching, administration & leadership especially) to honour and glorify God and see young people grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.
9. And incredible people to support and work with here at Prairie Christian Academy!
10. Our church community at the Prairie Tabernacle... a group of people that bless us and, we trust, we bless them also!
And so many more blessings too numerous to count! Thank You, Lord.
1. Salvation through Jesus Christ.
2. Amazing, beautiful wife, Sarah.
3. Our precious, handsome, growing son, Caleb.
4. Incredible families... who love us, support us, pray for us, etc? Probably the "stressful" choice these week with our families will be do we have a thanksgiving dinner at Hunts on Sunday and then one at Ibbotsons on Monday? or vice versa?
5. A warm house in our cool Canadian winter (which will soon be here) and an even more wonderful home filled with love and joy and grace. (mostly thanks to Sarah!)
6. Food and clothes... and plenty of them!
7. Our country of Canada
8. Work which allows me to use my gifts (teaching, administration & leadership especially) to honour and glorify God and see young people grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.
9. And incredible people to support and work with here at Prairie Christian Academy!
10. Our church community at the Prairie Tabernacle... a group of people that bless us and, we trust, we bless them also!
And so many more blessings too numerous to count! Thank You, Lord.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Interesting Website
Came across the following website that presents some very interesting food for thought. The site is maintained by Dr. Douglas Kmeic (a law professor) and suggests that though although US presidential candidate Barack Obama has stated that he is "pro-choice," his policies are more likely than those of John McCain to actually reduce the number of abortions in America.
I've been thinking about how our Christian community can encourage and support those women who make the good and right choice to not have an abortion but rather choose life in less-than-ideal circumstances and either raise the child or give him/her up for adoption.
On a tangential note, today is Caleb's seven month birthday! WOW! What a precious gift from God he is to us. We are going to have a "baby dedication" this Sunday, October 12, Lord willing, with the Prairie Tabernacle Congregation. Hopefully I'll post up a couple new pictures soon!
I've been thinking about how our Christian community can encourage and support those women who make the good and right choice to not have an abortion but rather choose life in less-than-ideal circumstances and either raise the child or give him/her up for adoption.
On a tangential note, today is Caleb's seven month birthday! WOW! What a precious gift from God he is to us. We are going to have a "baby dedication" this Sunday, October 12, Lord willing, with the Prairie Tabernacle Congregation. Hopefully I'll post up a couple new pictures soon!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Books Books and more Books!
If one of the keys to continual growth as a leader is to be a regular reader, than I should be progressing well in the next few months. Yesterday, I received two emails inviting me to be part of a blog tour and thus will review two books upon their arrival. Later, I checked the mail and a parcel arrived from Amazon.ca with a pile of books. One is a new book by Stephen Altrogge titled Game Day for the Glory of God - a book that talks about two of my favorite topics: sports and theology. I'm especially hoping our PCA students will find this book valuable as they wrestle with what it means to live as a follower of Christ and be an intense, competitive athlete. Also, a grade 12 student here at PCA took it upon himself to lead a Bible study using Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life. I think it is so great for high school guys to think about the topics in that book now (rather than when they get to a mid-life crisis!). Today, the Three Hills Ministerial had our monthly meeting with a special guest, Bruxy Cavy from the Meeting Place in Toronto. A copy of his book, The End of Religion, was given to each local church (and to me as the PCA representative) by the president of PBI, Dr Jon Ohlhauser, as Bruxy is here to speak at their Christian Life Week. Hopefully I will post some book reviews on each of these titles in the near future.
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