We're still in lockdown. I think it's been 2 months since we've been allowed to see any 'safe six'...or maybe 4 months? SInce October? Anyway, overall we're fine because yay we still have school for the kids. And Tyler and I spend a LOT of evenings together, and we just read or chat or watch something. It's quite nice. But man. I MISS MY FrIENDS!!!! I did get the vaccine exactly two weeks ago (Pfizer), and had a really sore arm but otherwise was fine. They had extra doses at a long term care facility so PAH sent out the call for other staff to go - so I did! Unfortunately I still have to abide by the rules...but ya. We haven't gone to church (besides for communion) in a long while, too. Bonnie Henry is to make an announcement on February 5th about whether to extend our lockdown or what and I tell ya - if she doesn't let me see anyone, I might just consider breaking the law! So hard! Anyway. This is what's been going on otherwise:
Nothing like a Friday night, poking Isaac's finger. I signed the kiddos up to participate in the Spring study at UBC (to look for antibodies in their blood for Covid...this will help to facilitate with daycare/preschool/school decisions).
Yay! Got the blood!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! Oeleboelen.
Circa 2016
2020
Isaac is often found in the office, playing Axis and Allies.
Skype night with the six of us!! How...fun :) CANNOT WAIT TO GO OUT WITH THESE LADIES AGAIN!!
Lucy got a lot of painting stuff for Christmas from Nana Sue.
Saint in the making. Golly she's adorable.
Walking around the block while James is in preschool.
Bringing mail to the mailbox, and cookies to a neighbour. Coming home from preschool drop-off the day prior, I saw two ambulances (one being advanced life support) and a firetruck there. So obviously stuff was going down. I knocked on the door and met the lady there - an older south asian lady who was a bit shy and curious why I had cookies for her. I explained I saw the first responders the day prior. She told me her father-in-law has heart issues and is now in the hospital. Sounded like he would either leave soon, or die soon...I didn't really want to inquire further :).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!! He's nine. Wild. (PS - Yes, Errol is part of our bubble and allowed to come over!).
My old tea cozy from my childhood!
Beautiful girl. Also, Heather made the scarf - so pretty, eh?!
Opi gave each kid 20$ for Christmas, so we went out last weekend and got the toys. Isaac thrilled to have more soldiers/fighters in the house.
Lucy picked this little guy from the shelf. His name = Jack. His birthday = July 1st. Just like Opi!
We went to Vancouver to walk around. It was chilly but lovely.
Good-bye, Deck. Currently discussing hiring people or Tyler and Dan doing it. Main concern with Tyler doing it is the time required. I'd like it done by Spring Break.
It occurred to me just the other day that there is a huge electronic graveyard of long neglected and expired blog, twitter, and facebook accounts just floating around in the internet. I was on blogger trying to set up a new blog for an (un)church plant that I am heading up and my favourite choices for addresses were all taken. So, I became curious about what the blog was like that had the address I desired. When I saw that the most recent post was from several years ago it got me thinking about this enormous graveyard of abandoned accounts. I think it made it a little easier to seriously consider abandoning mine.
Perhaps I'll revisit some of my old posts and have a read. I don't know. I enjoyed blogging, exploring and sharing my thoughts about a whole range of topics. I began this blog with a post on gratitude and the riches that I possess. It seems likewise an appropriate way to finish.
I do indeed feel like a rich man. I have much to be thankful for. I have a beautiful, wonderful wife, who loves, supports, and encourages me. I have an amazing little son, who is too incredible for words. I have communities of which I am blessed to be a part of; I am surrounded by loving friends who speak wisdom and grace into my life. I have a new career into which I am just about to embark. I have a future about which I am very excited and a present in which I am very much content. I can think of one appropriate response to the gift that my life is. It is for me to smile, raise my eyes to heaven, and say "Thanks be to God".
And, by the grace of God, the adventure goes on...
Yes, we have a Pope (Habemus Papam). I'm very excited to meet Pope Francis and get to know him - not personally of course but through his words and writings.
I can't tell you how very excited I was to hear on CBC that the white smoke has been sighted (the traditional signal that the College of Cardinals had selected a new Pope). I ran to the computer to stream in the news live and watch. I felt like I was there as the name of the new Pope was announced and Pope Francis eventually came out onto the balcony to address the faithful. He asked for the prayers of the faithful around the world as he stepped into this new and daunting role as the head of the Church. I was able to add my prayer alongside those of millions around the world for our spiritual leader.
Our previous Pope was a phenomenal writer and theologian. I am currently rereading Benedict XVI's Deus Charitas Est ("God Is Love"). His encyclicals and his three part series "Jesus of Nazareth" are amazing works of theology and biblical studies. There will be critics who will remember Benedict only for his apparent inability to properly address the problems of the Catholic Church. I will remember him for his incredible ability to teach me more about Faith, Hope, and Love - ultimately, about God.
What Pope Francis will bring to the Church, only time will tell. I'm hopeful that God will use this man to bring about wonderful things in the Church and in the world. May God bless him in the new role that he has been entrusted with.
There is a Hebrew word, הוֹן(hon), which carries a semantic range of meaning which includes both 'wealth' and 'sufficiency'.
It is a great place to be when one possesses this. I am not in the career to which I aspire and am currently underemployed. There are goals to which my wife and I would like to move towards... we are certainly not there. But, having said this, I do feel like a rich man. I am greatly content with the life and the gifts that I have been entrusted with.
Our society is geared towards the mindset of bigger and more, towards discontentment and unfulfilled desire. We are constantly made to feel that 'enough' is a place at which we will arrive someday (but we tacitly know that 'enough' is a moving horizon).
A man who feels truly content, who feels that he is sufficiently provided for in all things, is a blessed man indeed.
"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return"
Every Ash Wednesday I hear these words spoken to me as my priest uses ashes to mark my forehead with the sign of the cross. The ashes are an ancient sign speaking of the frailty and uncertainty of human life; they are a sign of our mortality and - to the christian during Lent - a sign of penitence.
A couple days ago, as I sat in our living room and watched our 13 month old son playing, I was suddenly struck by the thought of him giving a eulogy at my funeral. Indeed, I was struck by the contrast of his vitality and my own mortality (and his too). I smiled at the thought of him speaking about his papa: sharing memories, tears, and smiles.
At the Ash Wednesday service, we share in the celebration of the Eucharist following the imposition of ashes. As Christians we can affirm that death is both inevitable and temporary. In the Eucharist we share in Christ's death and resurrection. Nonetheless, before we can celebration the Resurrection at Easter we must travel through Ash Wednesday and Lent in preparation. We must remember our mortality so that we can remember our coming immortality; we must contemplate our death that we might live our life.
- - - - - - - - - -
One of the things that I greatly enjoy about the lead-up to Christmas is the discussions that inevitably take place on the meaning and place of the Holiday. The newspapers, blogs, and television always seem to have stories on the proper place of religion (and Christmas in particular) in a pluralist, secular democratic society. Editorials and Op-Eds will explore the historicity of Christmas (the virgin birth, the star, angels, etc.), the commercialization of the holiday, and the "true meaning of Christmas". Devout atheists will dogmatically decry the ubiquity of religion this time of year. Staunch conservative evangelicals will lament and rail against the increasing loss of the "reason for the season" as well as their freedom to wish their neighbour a "Merry Christmas" without fear of social judgment.
Sure, there are the same old objections being raised my nominally informed individuals eager to educate the seemingly ignorant masses: Jesus wasn't born in December; many aspects of what we know of as Christmas have been appropriated from pagan celebrations, etc. I have a little smile on the inside when I hear these objections being raises as if they were any sort of threat to the Christian celebration.
I enjoy that at this time of year people feel a little bit more able and free to discuss those topics which are grossly neglected for the other eleven months of the year. I enjoy that people of all creeds and cultures are able to consider what it means to be filled with peace, hope, and love. I enjoy that people feel it a socially acceptable thing to help out their neighbours this time of year, to give a stranger a friendly greeting, to carry a generous spirit. Sure, there are malls packed with frantic shoppers, there are angry, frustrated drivers, and grumbling Scrooges... I guess it's a package deal. I'll take it though.
