Happy Thanksgiving

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

The theme at church today was Thanksgiving. A lot of kids thanked God for things like family and Lego. I stepped in to help by teaching the grade 3-4-5 class and I was thankful...when it was over! :) We managed to read the first eight verses of Psalm 107. It provides context to Thanksgiving by chronicling the life of some people who were at their wits end (within an inch of their lives!) and then were delivered from their troubles when they cried to the LORD. I asked the kids if they could think of any examples from their own lives when they were in trouble and needed rescuing. One guy said he had to wait a whole month to play a new video game; another was grounded for two weeks and couldn't play any video games. Tough stuff!

I'm thankful for lots of stuff.
A day off
healing
healthy happy kids
work
wife
carob chips

Gibsons

Michelle's parents treated us to a waterfront cabin in Gibsons for a few nights. It was very nice! The photo above was taken from the deck. That is the ocean and a wharf in the background...I hiked up the local knoll, went kayaking with Michelle (my first time in a kayak!), and read a book that I found in the house. As well I looked after the kids a bit, although not as much since we had grandparents and Uncle Michael around! We did a bit of touristy stuff like go to the beach and go out for lunch at Molly's Reach as well.

With the vacation-y mindset and lots of snacks around, I cheated on my diet a bit more than usual but seemed to handle it fine. I seem to be able to tolerate more foods again. It's a nice feeling!

We now have a 9 month old and a 36 month old. I'm really enjoying playing with Malachi now since he can respond more. He's been crawling for about 2 weeks so he keeps us on our toes. He still detests going to bed at a reasonable hour. When Kate decides not to go to sleep it can be a rough evening. It got so bad at one point that it drove us to a prayer of desperation--ever since it has been better, though not perfect--thanks God for looking after our needs when we ask!

Slogging Along

It's been awhile since I posted anything. Half the summer, actually! We went to Ontario for a wedding--stayed in a rented lodge with family and family friends that get together every 2 years for an MCC Nigeria reunion. It was hot and the heat was welcome after our cool summer here in British Columbia. There is a sweet splash park in Leamington with a huge tomato-bucket that dumps gallons of water on excited kids every few minutes. Kate loved it. I rented a car from Discount in Windsor and saved $150 by not renting directly from the airport area. It was a bit of a hassle, and the Ford Fiesta hatchback was painfully small (as my wife pointed out on several occasions), but it got us and our stuff from point A to point B. Our flight back home was delayed a bit so it made for a long day of travel, topped off by my backpack not arriving in Vancouver...but it all worked out!

Since then it has been work, work, work...lots of it at my job since different people are on holidays. Things seem to be slowing down a little bit but overall I've been busy. Michelle also feels the work, work, work at home with two busy kids. It would be nice if they would nap at the same time once in awhile, but alas they do not seem to understand the concept. Malachi is sleeping a little bit more, at least, although he can still stay up pretty late.

We also went camping for the first time all summer. Ross Lake (near Hope) is beautiful, but camping with these munchkins is so much work...Michelle came down with a fever/cold during our first night, so we left the next day. Maybe we'll try again in a few years!

I have been feeling well most of the time now. My Naturopath says my digestion has improved a lot. I no longer need vitamin B2 supplements, and I'm weaning myself off my digestive enzyme (M7+) pills. I still get tired after about 6 hours of work on my feet--will that ever change? I had a root canal re-done recently and had to take antibiotics.

stretched between rich and poor

Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die.
Keep falsehood and lies from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

At times I find myself at opposing ends of the same economic spectrum. When I look around at some of my friends, neighbours, co-workers, and Christians that attend my church, I find myself comparing my economic status with what theirs appears to be, and wishing mine was higher. I half-listen to the constant talk revolving around higher wages at work, wondering if/when I should inquire about a raise.

I also see myself on the global scale and to my surprise, I'm pretty close to the top of the rich pile. My condo is comfortable in summer and winter. I have enough food to eat, a car to drive, credit to fall back on. My family has access to excellent health care, even benefits such as free dental care. I saw in the news today that the current drought situation in Somalia is called 'the worst humanitarian disaster' in the world.

A couple of books I've recently read have not helped me find black-and-white answers to which end of this continuum I should be striving towards. One is The Upside Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill, which examines Jesus' teachings and the negative political implications they had which got him killed. The other is called Jesus wants to save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden. This book focuses on the Exodus as the central event in Jewish religion, showing Jesus' ministry as a new Exodus of sorts. One thing that stood out to me was the way that God heard the cry of the Israelite slaves at the hands of the Egyptians, yet once God freed them, they eventually became slave drivers themselves (in King Solomon's time), and were sent into exile as a result. It is so easy to forget where you've come from.

Which is why I will continue to hover somewhere in the grey area between rich and poor, never quite knowing where I fit in. Somehow the poor side seems safer, though.

An Ominous Warning

I received an ominous warning tonight: Bob is coming.

The tone with which it was delivered was serious. It implied that there was much to be afraid of. The warning continued: "Bob going to eat your feet."

"But not eat Kate's feet."

"Bob coming to get you."

I'm not quite sure what to make of my 2 year old's prediction. Especially since I know exactly who Bob is. What could he possibly want with me?

Summer Snailing

Kate and I went for a walk last night--to take out the garbage, but also to get outside for a few minutes and enjoy the evening sun after a cloudy day. We noticed some snails on the parkade wall--quite a few, actually. I don't know what brought them all out, but they were all sunning themselves. It was so picturesque that we made the long troop back around the building and up three flights of stairs to get the camera.

Mommy and Malachi are galavanting on an adventure out east this week so Kate and I are batching it. Today for supper we had boiled sweet potato and edamame beans. Last night we had escargot. Just kidding!

Earlier this month our family went to a wedding of some friends in Red Deer; in a few weeks we will go to another wedding in Ontario. We are making vacations out of these trips and spending time with family and friends. Summer is here but it will be short so we will try to make the most of it!

Planters with dirt

I bought some dirt the other day and carried it home on the back of the double stroller. Kate and I planted some sweet peas in one of the planter boxes. Kate likes to blow bubbles on the balcony. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.