• Left to Montreal Friday to hang out with Michael! We had an amazing time lounging, eating pizza, and catching up. We were in need of some face time! I have to say he is such an amazing friend.  

• On the drive to Montreal I had an incredible discussion with Doug Penner. It seems every time I talk to Doug my life direction gets radically altered.  We are in the process of securing our board and organizational models and I have to say it is a little out of my league so I am grateful for the friends I have who love this stuff. Thanks for the help Doug! 

• The Montreal church had a mens day on Saturday and we talked about how are relationship with God is doing, how to walk together as men and how to pursue women in  Christ like way. A fun day with lots of great discussion. Michael is building a great church and investing so much relationally into these guys, so encouraging and honoring to be a part of it. 

• Best friends of ours moved to Ottawa to join the team and participate in the church plant. It is great to have them here. 

• Rushed home to make it to the CIS (Canadian University) basketball championships in Ottawa. The Calgary, U of C Dinos made it to the semi's and our friends son was playing in the game. It was a close game but they lost by 3 to UBC. In the end Ottawa's Carleton ended up beating UBC for the championship. Go Ravens!  

• Our Sunday gathering was amazing. God continues to do great things in peoples lives and hearts. In this season of Lent we are working through what needs to be left behind so we can become followers of Christ who reflect Him to the world. My sermon was on leaving control for faith. I may do a larger post this week on this… 

This week is spring break and our plan is to enjoy our family and do some fun activities with the kids. God is amazing and no matter what we go through he is with us. This sums up my thoughts these days:

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After preparing for our launch Sunday and hosting company for what seemed like weeks,(Emily asked me Friday when are we going to stop having people over), I got the cold. I always think I missed it this time but no such luck. I am sitting on the couch with a kleenex box close by trying to rest and recover. I am sorry but posting will be delayed until I can think straight. 

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As I enter into this week of prayer and fasting I am longing for Jesus to become more real and following Him more simple. What I know to be true is following Jesus is a journey and I have a choice to move forward, backwards, or just sit on the side of the road. Jesus calls us to follow him which is an active, daily pursuit of Him so why do so many of us opt to sit, to wait, to do nothing? What are we waiting for? Are we crippled by fear? Or afraid of where trusting actually may take us? A pastor friend of mine always talked about avoiding "Jacuzzi" church where everyone sits in this comfortable place THIS is not what God has called us into. God made you to move, to dream, to live abundant lives and that can't happen sitting. What this world needs are stories of the journey, stories of what it looks like to follow Jesus! It is time to not just be a worshiper of Jesus but a follower…. it is time to move.

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This morning we were awakened to the reality that our neighbour has lost his life serving our country in Afghanistan. Every family that has loved ones serving over seas hopes they never face the man at the door bearing bad news. Their are a lot of emotions in the moment, anger, shock, denial and I ask why is the world such a mess, what about the kids who now have no daddy, what can I do… And then I get this sense of hope. The first Christians spoke about a day in the future when God would restore everything – you, me, everything and in that I find great hope. My prayer today is that I would not be so selfish as to miss the pain and suffering of others around me and that I could be for them the embodiment of His love and truth. When I see what others are going through my problems seem to fade and all I want to do is show them Jesus…

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1. Our Launch Team meeting this Saturday, I can hardly wait to see what God does.
2. Starbucks Christmas drinks are out! I prefer the eggnog latte… 
3. The Christmas season is HERE! I love Christmas. 
4. A couples night out on Monday… no kids.
5. The outdoor hockey rinks will be ready soon, that means lots of hockey with Kellan.
6. Our church Christmas party! Stay posted for the details.
7. Securing an amazing facility for our January launch in the neighbourhood we know God wants us! 
8. Watching Wall-ee with the kids tonight, go get your copy it is out on DVD. 
9. My best friend moving to Ottawa… I will give more details hopefully next week.
10. Taking the gospel to our community this December. I will keep you posted on the details.

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There are two food items I would classify myself as a snob. First I am a coffee snob, nothing worse than a bad cup of coffee. Ottawa has come through big time in this regard as it has the best coffee I have ever had at “bridgehead”.

The other food item is sushi. Having lived in Vancouver for 6 years we have been exposed to some of the best sushi on the planet. Ottawa, lets just say is not known for its sushi. I asked one guy if he knew of a good sushi restaurant and he replied “you have to try this place, they make the sushi when you order it” whaaat! You actually eat sushi thats not made on the spot. We ate at a sushi restaurant tonight, not bad considering, but way over priced. I will keep looking…

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I am not sure if any of you have noticed self check out at grocery stores, not only did we notice it but we tried it today. It was a family outing so everyone was present and it was our big shopping trip so we had a cart full. Both I would advise against. So the kids are scanning things, fun right? “not” because the computer freaks out when items are scanned and not put in the bag on this weigh scale. I am trying to pack the bags and the computer keeps yelling at me to put the stuff in the bag after I have just put the stuff in the bag. In the meantime I am watching how many people went through the regular check out, a lot… I saw at least 10, but we were having fun, a family moment…

Keep working on the technology cause its not as fun as it looks.

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It seems every summer my spiritual life goes on vacation. During the year I am loving Jesus, Life, flowin with living missionally and then summer hits… I am burnt out from reading (I read so much over the year), I am tired of thinking, strategizing… maybe the reality is I need a reboot. I need to get recharged with what really matters. I was venting my frustration to God this week and he said take time off from all the stuff you fill your mind with and focus on my word. I am just reading the Bible this summer, nothing else. I need Jesus in a fresh way.

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I am sorry about how wonky my site has been these days. I am a mac lover and when mobile.me was released I thought it was the answer to creating a more personalized blog as well as the answer to many more things…. the problem is it is too unstable and keeps messin things up. But I have learned so much about myself… I am a freak when it comes to technology and gadgets. I want the latest, the best, and I actually believe that every new thing will somehow make my life a little easier. What is up with that? Where did I get that from? All this has done is steal time away from my family and yes God, and make me a little more irritable. I really need to work this out… When I have moments like I had this week I just want to go back to life on the farm when things were simpler; all we had was one rotary phone that was shared between two neighbours. Gotta love the old party lines…

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Wow am I tired! I have not worked that hard since my days on the farm. Today we tackled our back yard. It was full of weeds and an eyesore, so something needed to happen. We moved more dirt, I felt like a personal bobcat. But after 5 hours of intense work I felt really good. There is something about being outside playing in the dirt. My dad always said that there was something spiritual about farming; and today I felt that. My body is a little achy but I feel refreshed. Laying sod early this week…

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