Year of Blessing

I've been working on this posting since Friday morning... yet seem to get interrupted from actually concentrated writing time by more and more blessings! So, this may be two (or more) part posting...

I'm not usually one to "name the year" but I can only say that I very clearly felt the Lord calling me to "wait" in January/February 2006 and thus, I would call last year my "Year of Waiting." This year has certainly been the "Year of Blessing" (though I realize that every moment of every day is a blessing from Almighty God, that seems to be the best term for it). Obviously the most incredible blessing of this year was God bringing Sarah and I together in marriage and the amazing generosity and kindness of family and friends in celebrating our engagement and wedding with us. And the next most amazing gift is our little baby that is already growing and should arrive in mid-March 2008.

I usually get quite reflective at the end of the year, but it started a little earlier than usual this year as our new bedroom furniture was delivered on Thursday afternoon from Leon's. We purchased this furniture partially with wedding gift money and partially as M&D Ibbotson's wedding gift to us. MDI came over to see the furniture - and Dad patiently helped to move the couple of pieces that I misdirected the moving guys on (oops!) - and then they stayed for supper... after admiring how nice it looks! And that again reminded me of the blessing of our parents, who are always so helpful in these physical tasks that I cannot do, and yet both Dad I and Dad Hunt are so gracious and helpful and generous with their time and energy. They love to serve Jesus by serving others and they do it sooo well!

As we prayed together on Thurs night, we reflected on all that God has blessed us with over the past 18 months since we started dating... and I realized I should start a blog about this year. So, when I headed to the office on Friday morning, I began to think about the things to include in the "Year of Blessing" summary - Sarah, baby, family, friends, church family, new job, etc...

Yet before I could even get the computer on at work, I found in my mailbox more of God's gracious gifts... my paycheque in good time for the Christmas break, a Christmas bonus from Prairie Christian Academy Society, and of course all the friendly and supportive people I work with, and the students too! And then, just as I'm ready to put a temporary end to the list of gifts to blog about, our pastor and my dear friend Tim, shares a blessing with me/us too!

And to top it all off, I'm sitting here on a Saturday afternoon trying to help my amazing wife finish up the last of our wedding thank you's and I realize again all these people that gave so generously to us, not just in gifts, but esp for some of the people like "Uncle Ray & Auntie Anna" and "Uncle Rex & Auntie Dot" (and their families) who have known the Ibbotson family from our days in South Africa (and even before) and prayed for MDI and their "sick baby" many years ago... and now they are part of the crowd that is cheering us on, praying for us still, and so thrilled for us.

So... I close off with words from the Matt Redman song, "Blessed Be Your Name." There were many times over the past few years when I could sing and feel the "when the darkness closes in" or "I'm found in the dessert place" for various reasons. And I trust that I was praising Him nonetheless. Yet in this year when "the sun has been shining down on me/us" and "the land is plentiful" and "the world's all as it should be", I/we want to be sure that we realize it is not MY/OUR doing. It is all GOD'S grace and work. "Every blessing you pour out, we'll turn back to praise... Blessed be Your Name."

PCA Teacher Hunt

Last night the PCA secondary school students went on a teacher hunt at Chinook Centre in Calgary. The idea is that various teachers dress up in some costume and the students try to find them as they walk around the mall and shop. I am not much of a dress-up person (or a shopper!) yet I wanted to try to be involved in some way in a outside-of-school event. My wonderful wife had the excellent idea of "dressing up" as a young child and sitting in the children's section of Chapters. So I wore my Calgary Flames hoodie and sat in the kid's books section of Chapters for the first hour or so. While there were lots of people at Chapters, none of the PCA students were searching for me there! I guess they get enough of books during the school day!

It was amazing to sit and look through different children's books... esp now that Sarah and I are expecting our first baby in just over three months time. I found a new series about a kid named Brady Brady that seemed to teach some good lessons - and it related to hockey and sports so I was interested in that. Of course I also saw a number of Robert Munsch books... a name I'm familiar with for many books, but especially for the story, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." My friends Stan & Lynay Parker read that book to her son Christopher when he was little and then wrote a song to it and she and Christopher sang it just before they moved on from the Prairie Tabernacle to begin serving at Campbell River Baptist Church.

But what really got me was seeing the "Curious George" collection. Its just as well that none of the PCA students did come searching for me because as soon as I started reading Curious George goes to Hospital I could feel my eyes welling up with tears. You see, my amazing parents did everything possible to help their young Steven prepare for hospitals and surgery when I was young. And since we'd been in Africa for almost 3 years before coming back to Canada, the Curious George collection was another "connection" point. Yes, mom & dad Ibbotson prayed with me and committed my life and the doctor's hand and the surgery to Jesus. And as I grew older I liked Math and did not like reading as much. And yet I have very distinct... and obviously fond memories... of sitting with mom or dad and reading Curious George books (and others) as a way my parents used to try to explain to a 3-4-5 year old that hospitals and operations were not something to be scared of and that God would take care of me even if mom or dad were not there in the operating room (cuz they were there any other time). I remember later as our family began to adopt... first my sister, Ruth, then my sister Sara, etc that we also had books about Why Was I Adopted that could try to help Ruth and Sara understand what adoption was in basic terms. And so, all those memories flooded back last night as I sat in the children's book section of Chapters at Chinook Centre!

So thanks mom and dad for reading to us as kids, and for doing all you could to explain a complex world of strange situations to each of us through the use of stories. Your thoughtful and intentional parenting is such a rich blessing and heritage for me as I begin my life as a parent.

Mitch Albom's "For One More Day"

Last night my wife and I watched “For One More Day,” an Oprah Winfrey movie production of the book by that title by Mitch Albom (I read the book a couple years ago so knew what I was getting into). The essence of the movie is that a son, Chick Benetto is the character's name, always seeks his father’s approval and affirmation, even though his dad is hard on him and eventually leaves his mother and the family before he is a teenager. Yet even when he is in college or even after he has retired from pro baseball, his dad shows up and the son does whatever he asks. And "Chick Benetto" lives his whole life trying to win his father's approval. When he almost dies in a car accident, drunk and ready to shoot himself anyway, he realizes that all this time his mother did everything for him and he would give anything “for one more day” to tell her how much he loves her… but she has been dead for nine years. The book/movie point to the desire of every boy to please his father, for the father to be proud of him and express that affirmation.

I would suggest that John Eldredge's books – Wild at Heart and its follow ups (criticized in some Christian circles) - are a good response to this reality. The reason that his books were such best-sellers in the Christian world in the mid 1990's and early part of this decade are because there is a large generation of men... including Christian men... who have experiences more like "Chick Benetto" in For One More Day than the biblical ideals of a father-son relationship.

A father-son relationship and a father-daughter relationship are different, though obviously there’s some common responsibilities. A son needs to hear a father express, “I’m proud of you, you did great,” and I feel so blessed that Dad Ibbotson did (and still does!) that regularly for me and my brothers. A daughter needs to know that her father cherishes and treasures and adores her… and when I see Dad Hunt and Sarah (or her sisters) you know that is true. We are sooooo blessed.

And since we don’t know if our baby is a boy or girl it got me thinking a little more last night… Amazingly, my dear wife listens to my philosophizing and appreciates it. That's all for now...

Fun, Family & Friends in the cold Alberta winter

Overall the end of another pretty great week! (No I won't blog this week about how amazing my wife is... at least not too much... though it is still very true!)

On Thursday, we had a "School Spirit Chapel" (assembly) at PCA Secondary School culminating in the men from the Colombia Missions Team performing the "Evolution of Dance." It was a whole lot of fun and laughs and along with the students, teacher John Stewart and Principal Randy Wood were such good sports... and thus the reason the extra funds were given to the team. It is good to be able have some "good clean fun" as Christians. Most times, people think that if you choose to follow Christ, you give up all the good fun and life is just one somber moment after another. But Christians of all people should be the most joyful people and the best partiers!

Also great to have my brother Tim and his two daughters, Lauren and Macey visiting this weekend. Even though we won't all be getting together for, this is like a "family Christmas" with all of us being together - and the weather being soooo Christmas-like (cold and snowy!)

And just a few minutes ago, Sarah's friend Shirley (Selvaraj) who is visiting her sister for the weekend here in Three Hills stopped by and we got to have a good visit. We last saw her for just a few minutes as we were returing from part 1 of our honeymoon on Vancouver Island. And today is my friend Phil Krahn's birthday, though I don't think we'll be able to get into Calgary to see him and his family until the Christmas holidays. Hopefully the Flames will win tonight for his birthday.