Caleb's First Birthday Party

Just a couple pictures from Caleb's first birthday party this past Sunday, March 8.

pic #1) Digging into the special birthday cake mommy made!
pic #2) Surrounded by many fun presents and many loving people.


We have been so blessed by the Lord to have such a happy, content and active boy! And to have so many encouraging and praying family members to support us.

Disappointed in Obama's leadership

Although I agree with Rick Warren's recent article emphasizing that culture is influened by God's Holy Spirit changing hearts and not be change in laws, I must admit to being deeply disappointed thus far in US President Barack Obama's "law-making"... or more accurately law-rescinding... abilities. While I still believe Obama in an intelligent and thoughtful man and a compelling orator, he so far has shown little policy uniqueness. He has rescinded the Mexico City Policy, and today he removed the restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research. Again, I was/am not a big fan of the Bush administration or the policies on most things, but it seems as if Obama is setting policy (or more accurately rescinding policy) simply by choosing the opposite of Bush. Is this really "a new way to do politics?"

While as a new leader it can be tempting to show how different you are to your predecessor by "doing" something new or undoing the previous leader's mistakes, wise leadership usually takes some time to gain some perspective, understand some of the reasons decisions may have been made that to others look foolish, ignorant, or (insert your own adjective). You may still need to develop new policies or revert back to former procedures, and then a clear explanation for the changes needs to given, even if the popular opinion is that such-and-such was a poor policy in the first place. I don't think I have ever seen politeness or courtesy to previous leadership be wrong, even if there was much unlikeable or wrong about the predecessor's leadership. One does not need to be rude and condescending to be truthful and progressive. A new leader can still be kind and gracious without affirming mistaken or wrong policies/practices.

Book Review - The Echo Within by Robert Benson

This is my first read of a Robert Benson book, though he has written extensively on spiritual formation matters. Though the book will not likely appear on my "recommended" list, the writing is engaging and stimulating. If you would like to buy it, you can always visit Amazon.ca

Initially, I think Benson gives too much trust to the soul/spirit in discerning the voice of God accurately, not seeming to consider the deceptiveness of the human heart. This is best summarized in the quote, "We can trust that Voice when it is calling to us, and we can trust that Voice when it speaks for us." (p. 18). Later in the book, the idea that a person needs to know who s/he is when sensing their call/vocation, explains this "trust your inner voice" a bit more clearly, though ability for self-deception still seems minimized.

By the same token, Benson presents a solid chapter reflecting on the way God uses other people to speak into our lives... and most of the time these are in average, everyday moments of life. Benson notes that when we share with the person later (years later?) the impact their sentence had on our life, they don't even remember saying it. My journey has included many of those moments that show God using His people to speak into one another's life. "Sometimes people hesitate to give God any credit for being able to work through the ordinary of our lives, through the very sentences we hear and say." (p. 56)

As someone who has works/ed with high/school college students looking to "know God's will" for future decisions (eg. spouse, career, further education, etc), I think I would personally agree with Benson's overall view of how God directs a person, illustrated in the quote "The plan is for you to become the person God intended. However, the details are up to you." (p. 42) Even as Benson has used his literary talents to write poetry, advertisements, edit technical pieces and now write in relation to spiritual formation, I would agree that God has given him a gift for written communication.