Building Blocks and a Little Kid's Faith

This past Sunday our team was on for Kids' Church. The organization of it all has been shaken up and redrawn this year. It's much more group-orientated, and it's working well. My group is the "Superdudes," and is made up of 6 kindergarten and grades 1-3 boys. This past Sunday, only one little guy came out. It was a great morning, though! Last year, this little guy, Tyler, was quite the handful. He'd spend his time running around, climbing on other kids (or leaders), ripping up whatever we gave him, throwing stuff around, and being generally disruptive. He'd usually end up informing us at some point, "I hate kids' church! I'm going back to my parents!" And so we'd let him go. Why force him to stay if he hates it this much?

But this year, he's a totally different little man! We've had a great time so far this year. He's very attentive, loves to share stories, and loves to participate with whatever is going on. There are a number of factors that I think may have brought about this change, but whatever those may actually be, I'm really glad that he's having a better time!

This past Sunday, specifically, I was really impressed by his grasp of the story we were going over. We were covering the Beatitudes (all in one Sunday -- how is it possible to do that well?!). For sanity's sake, I just focused on one aspect for Tyler and I to talk about -- Jesus' parable of building a house on the rock or on the sand.

To illustrate this as we talked about it, we built two houses out of Lego. He built the strong one, firmly routed on his Lego platform, and I built the weak one, just built on the table and (purposefully) not well connected so we could easily smash it later...

While we were building, Tyler came out with some great stuff! He said, "The guy who built his house on the sand didn't care about God." Or, "He didn't built his house on the rock of God; he built it on the sand of Satan!" Wow! This little guy in grade 1 with a speech impediment has some pretty good wisdom for his small age. Or any age, really. I'm sure God is pleased to watch this little guy working away and thinking about his young life. Ty's words actually felt like an exhortation for me: In all my busyness, thinking about grad school and finances and other things, where am I routed? Better make sure that I'm actively giving the Lord my trust and not setting out to accomplish all these plans myself. Otherwise, I don't think the end of my story will be all that different from the sandman's story at the end of Luke 6. "And its destruction was complete." Luke has some stinging words there for anyone who thinks they can go about their business with no concern for what God demands of us. As the Creator and adhesive of creation, I think ignoring God is probably the worst idea anyone could ever have, and most likely the worst way to spend your time.

Take it from Tyler -- upon what sort of ground is your foundation built?

Radar! Unbelievable!

If this doesn't make your head spin, check your pulse!

Winter!

Well, that was fast... Fall doesn't ever seem to stick around too long in Saskatchewan. As my friend Paul always says, it should rather be called "Blow" for the way it's hot one week, then incredibly windy for a couple of days, and then suddenly Fall is over. The picture above is the view from our patio door. October 9, 8:45am.

The first snow actually came yesterday. I was at work, north of Moose Jaw by 30 minutes, and around 2pm, snowflakes the size of Loonies were falling so thick that we could hardly see 20 feet in front of us!

I'm still holding on to some optimism because there are still some leaves on the trees. But out there in the wind, they look like they are shivering, and about ready to give up... And with highs of -5 C for the next while, that doesn't really shout out "Summer is coming back!"

Anyway, Winter brings other things to our lives that aren't bad at all. It's a time to sit inside and watch hockey, to order books and read them, and to be even more glad than I usually am that I live indoors.

If it's Winter where you are, take care and bundle up! It might be here to stay!

This is wonderful.

If you like Flight of the Conchords (and also if you've never heard of them --) you'll love this!

These are a few of my favorite things...

sung to part of "Raindrops on Roses..."

Kayaking in summer and fruit topped with candles,

Picnics by lakes and fresh farmer's markets.

Watching the sunset with Luke at my side,

These are a few of my favorite things!

When it's over,

and it's time to,

go back to work!

I simply remember my birthday divine,

and then I don't feel, SO bad.

Jenn

I'm not a book thief!

My name is cleared. For weeks (actually months) I searched high and low for two items I had borrowed from the U of R's libraries. I use a lot of books. I usually go to great lengths to ensure that I know what I have and when it's due to be returned (such as Google Calendar, email reminders, a homemade website with library login info, etc).

So, it was very bewildering to discover that, despite my efforts, I had lost two books! When my last renewal had expired, I emailed the library and explained that I had lost their books... But not two days later did they email back, and tell me that someone at their end had incorrectly scanned the returned books, and placed them back on the shelf, while my account showed them as still in my possession! All this time those books were safe and sound on the shelves, and here I was in a panic (or at least with a little pinch in the back of my brain, constantly reminding me that I failed the library).

I felt like Dr. House in that episode when Dr. Cuddy lets him believe that he had wrongly diagnosed a patient. For weeks after that, House was insecure about his diagnostic ability -- that is, until it got out that he was right. And so, much like House, I feel reaffirmed in my care of borrowed books.

I am not a book thief.

Remembering Ryan Chute

This afternoon I took in Ryan Chute's funeral along with thousands of others. It was a beautiful service. I was able to chat with his 4-year old son, Rhett. He's an amazing little guy, who loved his dad and wants to be just like him. When I found him, he was drawing on a pie plate. When I asked what he was drawing, he said, "A picture of my dad."

Click here if you'd like to read Ryan's eulogy from the back of the funeral program.