Zzzzzambia

Most of you faithful readers know that our family has been invited by MCC to serve in Zambia for three years. More on this can be read on my wife's blog at http://offeringupmylife.blogspot.ca/. We got rid of a lot of our STUFF on Saturday. We had invited some friends, church, coworkers to come and help themselves, by donation. So it was kind of a condo-moving sale. We had all kinds of kids stuff, clothes, games, books, kitchen appliances, dishes, etc. strewn all over the living room. And people came, and took some stuff, and made generous donations. Then my parents and another guy from church helped us take it two blocks away to the MCC Thrift Store. It was so nice to be free of all that extra stuff (even though some of it was hard to let go of)! The sad thing is, we have just as much still sitting around that we 'need' for a few more months. But, at least the clutter is a lot less as we try to list our condo for sale. While it was good to get rid of things, it was also good to connect with the friends that came by. Friends are good!

During this whirlwind of packing and sorting, I got a bit sick. Just didn't feel good. I was fine for most of the day of our sale, but my tummy hurt a bit in the evening. The next day (Sunday), I got the runs, and I don't mean the running to church kind like I was sort of planning. I cancelled playing bass on the worship team and still planned to teach Sunday School, but our Kidzone Leader graciously took over the class for me. The church also prayed for us (and others) during what I felt was a 'holy moment' of listening to the Holy Spirit. Church is good!

We get to go visit the Travel Doctor tomorrow and see what kinds of weird medicines we'll need for three years in Africa. The main things to worry about are malaria, and to a lesser degree Yellow Fever, though that's more of a travel ticket vaccination, it looks like. We're also trying to figure out our Orientation in Pennsylvania in July, combined with our vacation in Colorado in August, and then a bit of time back home before we head overseas in September. Lots of preparation to do.

Deliciously Different Book Reviews

I finished reading the following books in the space of a few days:

Evolving in Monkey Town

by Rachel Held Evans. This book was given to me by a family member who said that instead of giving out tracts, they give out books. My wife has been following this author's blog for some time and had also wanted to read it.

Heaven is for Real

by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent. Michelle picked this up at the thrift store the other day; I had heard a bit about it and wanted to give it a read. Michelle thought it was funny that it was the first book I picked up over the other three Ted Dekker books I had chosen. (puns intended, Ted Dekker fans)

Some Comparisons

These books have many similarities. They are both written by Evangelical Christians. They are both centered around topics of faith and belief. I find both authors to be humble in the presentation of their work. I find both to be well-written, engaging, not too heavy; enjoyable. And both use their subject's uniqueness to draw the reader in with curiosity.

Some Differences

As you can tell from the titles, the subjects of faith are different. Rachel Evans discusses her journey from a conservative apologist to an open-minded believer who's no longer afraid of the difficult questions. Using the example of the Scopes Monkey Trial that took place in her hometown before she was born (which fined a professor for teaching evolution but also seemed to poke some holes in the Creationist doctrine), Rachel describes how faith itself must evolve to survive. I identified with the author because she is only a year younger than myself and had similar experiences learning about God in school and Bible College. Lately I've been finding my faith stretched as I am confronted with some of the grey areas of my theology. The answers aren't always as clear as they used to be, and I am encouraged to live in the questions a bit more.

Todd Burpo's story about his pre-schooler who experienced heaven firsthand during a near-death experience is very interesting. For those of us who dream of going to heaven someday, it is very encouraging. For the skeptics and the people whose faith is evolving (see above) and don't know what to believe any more, it is still encouraging because it offers confirmation to some of the church's common teachings about God, His Love, and what children can teach us. Personally I had a bit more patience with my own pre-schoolers tonight when they took a few hours to settle down to sleep, because between the yelling for 'Daddy!' and the complaints about things hurting, etc, I was reading about a man who almost lost his young son in a hospital. (Now whenever my kids have the flu, I'll be scared it's appendicitis. Incidentally, I thought I had appendicitis once and went to ER for it but it turned out to be some other stomach pain.)

Conclusion

They're both good reads. Read them! (Especially if you get them for free or for under $3) Let God speak to you through the authors' vulnerability and humanity. Learn from their wisdom and mistakes. Grow closer to "Jesus and his Dad."

"I have a great idea!"

"I have a great idea!" This is a line that Kate has been increasingly using with her brother. It generally involves a change in whatever game they have been playing together. Sometimes the new idea is brilliant, and other times it seems designed to distract Malachi from some destructive tendency and redirect his interest into something constructive. I'm not sure if this is a leadership quality developing in her, or simply part of preschooler play. But it's interesting. And it usually means a new mess being created somewhere, so at times I inwardly groan. However, anything that keeps the munchkins busy and happy is usually good!

February Picnic

Literally growing up in his sister's shadow

We were given a beautiful spring day here in the middle of February, so I wanted to get to the park at some point and enjoy the sunshine. However, Kate and Malachi were busy eating and playing and drawing, and then Kate wanted to put on a 'show' before we left, so Malachi and I grudgingly participated in story time, tinker-toy lollipops, train track building, play-doh ice cream and present wrapping. By this time it was almost lunch time, and after lunch is Malachi's nap, so I knew we were running out of time. I lured the kids out the door with the promise of a picnic, and off we went!

We strolled along, Kate sitting in the sit-and-stand stroller, and Malachi walking along nicely while holding onto the side. When we got to the park, I put a blanket down on the sunny grass and passed out lunch containers--crackers, cheese, and green peppers, along with water bottles. That seemed to satisfy everyone; Malachi sat and munched quietly, while Kate hopped around, only finishing her lunch when she noticed her brother get a granola bar for dessert. But then a fly or two joined us and, since Kate is not fond of flies, it was time to play a bit on the playground before heading home for naptime. This is the day that the Lord has made!

christmas work

After a wonderful, cold, chocolatey, white Christmas in Alberta, we got back home and went to work with a few days off we had at the end of December. Michelle did some work at school and I did some work at home for her school. She was looking for a certain shelf for her classroom, and I was able to make one cheaper than the one she liked in the catalogue, so we got the OK to go ahead, and I started cutting and gluing and nailing. Then there was the issue of delivery. I'll let this next picture do the talking:

One side of the shelf is a regular 3-story shelf; there is a divider behind it:

The other side has 25 compartments for plastic buckets (filled with center time activities, toys, games, etc.)

The top is a smooth surface for writing or storing stuff. I made it out of 1/2" plywood with a small oak edge on the ends, and lacquered the whole thing. It was very stinky for a few days!

Flight

This is a picture Kate made by tracing her hand and her Daddy's, then colouring them in and writing our names in them. It is quite the privilege to be her Daddy! Although:

Some days go by so slowly when I'm home with Kate and her brother--especially when one of them is tired and they start to fight. It's like waiting for molasses to come out of the carton (not that I do that very often)...waiting for Michelle to come home from school to help me deal with the fallout. But other days go well. Now we re-enter the 2 year old stage with Malachi, as Kate continues to spread her little wings and slowly train to fly. Empty nesting is only 16 years away!

(I've been told many times that "they grow up so fast." This is usually followed by the qualifier, "it doesn't seem like it at the time, but it really does go by fast." While I believe this must be true, I'll wait until they're grown up to make this advice my own.)

As an update to my previous post about S.A.D., I have been feeling much better lately. My lousy mood only lasted for a few days, and then lifted. It then came back a few weeks later for a day or two. I happened to have a doctor's appointment around then and according to his quick test I had a mild case of the blues--not clinically depressed. But he gave me a tool to look at for help; it is called the Antidepressant Skills Workbook. So it's something to keep in mind should I need it. Interestingly enough, neither my N.D. or my M.D. mentioned light therapy, although they both checked to make sure I was getting enough Vitamin D.

Sad

I felt sad today. So much so that I shared my feelings with a few people, noting that it might be Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), a result of being cooped up inside for most of the week, lots of rain/no sun, not getting much exercise, etc. I had forgotten the physical feeling that accompanies this--it is hard to describe to someone who hasn't experience depression, but it's a heaviness somewhere in the stomach. Anyway, if it doesn't clear up soon, I'll do something about it--or I won't, because I won't feel like it...it's a bit insidious that way.

I went to Prayer Night at church tonight--that always helps lift my spirits on the best or worst of days.

...which reminds me, there has been lots going on at church lately, and more to come, especially with Christmas coming. That may be part of my problem--too much to do. Where's the Grinch when you need him, anyway??!