Don’t be alarmed if this blog is a little quiet over the next month. This time next week we will be on our summer holidays, heading back to the Rock for a little rest and relaxation. And fishing. In the totality of my life working fulltime, I don’t think I’ve ever been more eager for…
This week a dear woman from our church died after a short and sudden illness, and we all feel her loss. Muriel Wolanski was always helping others. She was the first to bring a meal after a baby was born and the first to visit in the hospital after a surgery. She sent a card…
Yesterday was my daughter Lucy’s fourth birthday. We had actually celebrated on Friday and as four year olds find these things a little confusing we didn’t make much of a fuss yesterday. However, we did get the influx of phone calls. With family all over the country, each time we heard the familiar long distance…
I recently came across this question that has messed with me every since: What are you doing right now that requires faith? To expand on that, what are you pursuing in your life that you could not do without God’s help? What are you trying that scares you – but is letting you learn to…
This Sunday is, for serious, my least favourite church service to plan each year. I don’t know if other pastors feel the same, but let me tell you: Father’s Day is a tricky one. Here is the tension: 1. Our men (and our dads) are awesome and I think it’s important to honour them, in…
The truth is I can’t pretend that I get it. When I came into work this morning I came into a (relatively) quiet office and waved at the kids from the daycare as I walked by. I didn’t have to change their diapers or deal with their feelings or listen to their parents suggest, encourage,…
“Living in a poor urban neighbourhood might bring certain dangers, but raising children in a suburban estate brings its own dangers. It’s just that we don’t rate being raised as a self-centred, egotistic consumer as all that dangerous.” (Michael Frost, “Incarnate: The Body of Christ in an Age of Disengagement”) This quote is from a…
For the past two weeks we have been talking about what it means to be a “Faithful Presence” in the place in which God has placed us. Dallas has given us some words each week to help us begin our journey of engaging our neighbourhoods: Walk, Talk, Eat, Listen. Here are some thoughts on what…
Today is McHappy Day at McDonalds, a day when profits from a number of their more famous items go to Ronald McDonald Charities. I admit I usually avoid McHappy Day like the plague. It means McDonald’s will be McBusy which drives me McCrazy. Also I like to carry an aura of someone far too healthy…
(Posted in honour of Roxanne Howse, 1965-2013) This weekend marks one year since my sister died of melanoma. Many people have asked me how I am going to honour this event. This is what I would like to do: I would like to honour her, someone who loved life and only wanted more of it,…
Leanne Friesen 