links, part 1

I've changed a few of the links at the left...

May I point out one in particular? It's the link titled "Karen Refugees". Why am I pointing it out? Because I thought you'd like to know a little about their story and their culture...before you meet a few of them in church on Sunday.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Did that get your attention?)

It's about a half hour video, so if you're going to take a look at it, set aside some time. It's a documentary based on the Karen refugees in another city.

And maybe there will be a "links, part 2" next week, just to tweak your interest. Feel free to explore them, you know...in your spare time.

pen to paper, part 2

OK, I'm back!! Sorry...I know you've been in suspense, wondering what powerful and exciting things were going on in my life...

Let's see...well...Jeff got groceries, so we're eating again...still driving a rental, but our car should be fixed by the end of the week...we're going to visit my Grandma for her 99th birthday on Saturday (we got long-livin' genes in my family)...we will be eating KFC there, because that's what she likes. I know, I know, that stuff will kill ya, except it hasn't killed her, and when you're 99, you've gained some authority on the subject of "what'll kill ya".

AND...exciting news...can I get a drumroll, please???

We got an email from Afghanistan!!!! (Remember the letter-writing night a few weeks ago?)

Here's an excerpt - you can look at the full letter on the bulletin board on Sunday!

"We here in Afghanistan have received your parcel of letters and I'm answering a few here now....Thanks for all the kind words and all the letters. It means so much to us here that you all take the time and send us letters. It really makes us feel good here....I have a nice picture that was sent in a letter of your group all dressed in red shirts saying, "God bless our troops"....Hello, I'm Wallace, pleased to meet you....Well you all look like a happy group there in your red shirts, hahahahahaha."

You can read the rest at your leisure.

You know what? You guys are awesome!

P.S. My thanks to the anonymous blogger who came forward this week to talk things through; and to all you post-ers who add value to our conversations!

P.S. again If you were here Sunday night for Let's Talk, you might want to check out the WonderCafe link to the left!

laugh with me!

I know you want to hear about it, don't you? The Dodge Aspen of our youth??

Well, we had just moved. My sister and I were at that teenage age when appearance REALLY MATTERS. Our family vehicle had passed on at a ripe old age, and we were getting a new one. (Using the term "new" loosely.) My sister and I dreamed of coming home from school one day, to find a shiny new cool set of wheels in the driveway. Quiet comments of "tight budget" from my parents didn't register.


One day we came home...and there it was. A burgundy Dodge Aspen with 4 wheels, a weird smell and not much else. In cold weather, the passenger door wouldn't latch until the car was toasty warm (which took a long time). We had to thread a scarf through the door handle to keep it from flying open as we rounded corners. We learned the value of a seatbelt in that car!





Jeff and I were getting married, we needed a vehicle. Got a powder blue Ford tempo with no weird smells or stains. However, a few weeks later we noticed a weird white cloud emanating from the rear of the vehicle each time we started forward. Cracked engine block I think, and a less than honest previous owner. Don't remember what we did with it, but driving it was not an option.






Days before our wedding, we got a phone call. We could buy a Toyota Corolla for a dollar. It needed some body work....

One of the doors was rusted right out. We called Jeff's cousin who muttered something about never telling anyone that the body work was done by him, and he went to work. Pulled out a pizza box - I kid you not - and bonded it to the door. Fixed all the other holes and we were good to go. It was the ugliest looking vehicle you ever saw, but it was dependable, and probably is still running today, 15 years later.

ding!

DING! That's the sound ending that round....

Let's take a moment for some clarification.

The point of this space is to have some conversation, exchange some ideas, give-and-receive some feedback, have a few laughs, and mostly - give opportunity for us to develop relationship in another way. As you know - that's a big focus at CF - we don't do nuthin' without relationship!!

With this in mind, I am choosing to delete a few comments from the last discussion, not because I only want comments from those I agree with - how boring would that be??!! - but because it seems to me that some of the comments are a little more "tearing-down" than "building-up".

Also - up to this moment, I have allowed "anonymous" comments, and I hope to continue to do so, to give safety to some of our shyer people. So, if you've got somethin' to say - consider...would I be willing to say this in face-to-face conversation? And if you've got some serious concerns...let's talk about it in person!

Still smiling...still breathing....

By the way - our car hit another one yesterday, with no one driving it. Got any accident stories to share in sympathy for our plight?

what's better?

In my inbox today, I found the following quote. It's from a conference I considered going to, but couldn't get there...this is part of the conversation after-the-fact. (with one or two edits of my own, for the purpose of clarity in this space)

"It's more important to be kind than right." With these words I introduced this year's speaker. Many theologian types in the room breathed a sigh of relief when Brian McLaren got up and modified my intro with, “I’m not sure it’s correct to say that it’s more important to be kind than right but I can say that if you are not kind, you are not right.” With this we launched our two day exploration into the surprisingly controversial land of kindness.

I found this thought very life-giving and refreshing. I don't like putting kindness and right-ness in opposition to each other. I don't want to be pushed into sacrificing one to the other, either way.

How does this quote hit you? Do you find it easier to be kind or to be right? What complications come up when we try to incorporate both? How did Jesus handle right-ness vs. kindness? Is the Church (not just ours, but the Church in general) better at being kind or being right, in your experience?

taking pen to paper

Fifty-two letters got dropped in the mail on Monday, to Canadian soldiers serving in Sinai, Jerusalem, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Moment of Note: I didn't know we had a veteran in our congregation! What a personal pleasure it was for me to thank him for his service to Canada.

Another Moment of Note: People came who have never been to CF before - I think this event became an important one in CF's story, and I expect we will do it again.



















And an unrelated thought...wow on the municipal elections!!! Were you on the edge of your seat too on Monday evening, watching the numbers roll in? For an election that was supposed to be a snoozer, the whole city got taken by surprise, I think. Even the school trustees experienced some change. I believe God is at work, and people said with their votes that integrity is very important, whether real or perceived - that can't be bad for our city!! We sent out letters this week to every councillor (and the Mayor too) who was elected, letting them know that we pray for them in their positions of authority.

Any thoughts?

prayer for our city

We have been praying a written prayer the last 2 weeks on Sundays. As headline follows headline, and a municipal election is only a few days away, I am praying this prayer daily.

Lord, we call for Your righteousness in this city. Your people have been praying for revival, we have prayed in the seat of authority, we have prayed for those in authority, and we have invited You into our city. Now come, not just in our hearts, but in authority. Bring Your truth and justice and righteousness. Cover and vindicate those who have done right. Expose the wrongs of the enemy. we choose to bless those who see themselves as our enemies. We choose to bless those in authority. We see the strongholds of the city, the spiritual warfare, and we aren't looking for a fight, but we say, "The LORD rebuke you! We are the army of God, and we take a stand for righteousness and justice and honouring of the LORD. The LORD rebuke you." We will not be deceived into seeing people as our enemies. We pray for blessing on our enemies. We pray for blessing in this city. We pray for blessing on this election, and we pray for God's will to be done in every ward and at every level. This is not about fighting people. It is about taking a stand under the authority and covering of the LORD, of Almighty God, and saying, "Let truth prevail."

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

strings, slogans, headlines

I have no single prevailing thought today....

First Item:
Went to a Bowfire concert with my favourite pre-teen nephew on the weekend. Wow, and may I say - wow - again. How do people make their fingers move at that speed, step-dance at the same time, apparently without even breaking a sweat, and keep smiling at the audience, all at the same time?? Saw two bows shred WHILE they were playing.

Amusing bits of the evening - apparently my nephew and I weren't the only ones with this fabulous idea to go to Bowfire. Papa, Nana and Mom decided to go too. But they were going separately from us, so that J & I could spend quality time together, first eating pizza, and then comparing our secret thoughts on the rest of the family. But the show did NOT sell out. Our cheap seats got bumped to better seats. So did everyone else's. We ended up 4 seats away from the rest of the family.

We pretended we didn't know them, and they returned the favour.

J. fantasized about an odd object hanging on the ceiling far above us. He decided it was a water balloon, and if it fell, it would most likely land on Nana or Mom.

What has entertained you lately?


Item B
Horton's drive-thru...waiting patiently behind a truck that belongs to a paving company...slogan on the back of the truck was "We pave paradise and put up parking lots."

haha!!! It takes a certain kind of personality to defy Joni Mitchell like that.

What has made you snort or chuckle lately?

Item the III
How about those newspaper headlines this week?? Lots going on at City Hall. I prayed with the newspaper in hand this morning, and then prayed the prayer we have used the last two Sundays at CF. Someone mentioned to me that they are using that prayer this week as we come up to the election.

What is God up to in our city?

any ideas?

Not to end the conversations happening below...you can still comment there...but I'm going to pick your brains!

On November 12, we're writing letters to Canadian soldiers around the world. (It's not a political statement or an evangelism campaign, just encouraging our troops who are far from home!) One idea I had is to print stickers of pictures that represent Canada - people can stick these in their letters. Like...a Canadian flag, a Mountie, a moose, a Tim Horton's cup, a Canadian hockey player...

Got any ideas? Imagine you were overseas and someone sent you a letter to remind you of home, and to encourage you - what would you want a picture of?

Let's hear your thoughts!