Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Should Get Renamed

Ever since Don Atchison has been mayor in Saskatoon we have had a yearly prayer breakfast for him. It has been a tradition in Saskatoon for a long time, but when Jim Maddin was Mayor he got rid of it. I'm glad Don reinstated it.

The problem is that this prayer breakfast is no longer a focus on prayer for the Mayor. It used to be a time where the people who came actually wanted to pray for the Mayor. Now the focus has completely shifted away from that and I think they just tack on a quick prayer at the end so they can still call it that.

Last year I went and it was a packed house of over 2500 people. The food was great, there were a lot of "important" people there as well as families of all the fallen soldiers Saskatoon has had as of late. The problem was that the entire event was basically focused on these fallen soldiers. Now I have nothing against that at all and am glad those soldiers are willing to fight for our country, but I don't think this event is the time or place to honour them. I would have been fine with a short tribute to them, however it went on and on and the entire event dragged on for way too long (I think it got near 3 hours). Then they tacked on a prayer at the end.

This year they have announced that they will be honouring the three football teams that had great seasons...the Hilltops, the Riders, and the Aden Bowman Bears, and Kent Austin is to be the keynote speaker. What does that have anything to do with a Mayor's Prayer Breakfast!! I also have nothing against football (except that it in no way is as good as soccer), but do we really need to honour the Riders during a Mayor's prayer breakfast?

I think the organizers of this event are simply trying to propel this event into a huge thing and get as many people there as possible. They want to get 5000 people there this year! It used to be a more intimate event of around 250 people who actually cared about the prayer part of the event and the focus was on the Mayor.

So what do you think? Is this event really a Mayor's prayer breakfast anymore or is it ok to tack along all these other things in order to attract a much larger number of people?

New Favourite Worship Song

I love music although I don't consider myself musical. For Christmas Shiela bought me a satellite radio so now I can listen to music all day of any genre I like. Listening to the Christian station Spirit I have heard this great new song....Song of Hope by Robbie Seay Band. If you haven't heard it yet, stop reading my blog and go to ITUNES and buy the track (or download it for free if you are into that kind of thing)...you won't regret it.

Click here to read the lyrics.

Playing Catchup

This past week was once again spent in Toronto. I flew out Monday and got back home about midnight on Thursday. We were doing training with all our Marketing Coordinators from across Canada for the Hbc Run for Canada and it was great to be able to meet the people I would be working with for the next 6 months. Other years we have always done the training over the phone and this was by far better!

I really enjoyed my time there this time around. We were staying at the Marriott Eaton Centre which is connected to the huge Eaton Centre mall. They have the softest beds ever and my king size bed was so comfortable. They also have large 37" (I think) flat screen TV's in all the rooms with lots of TV channels. I also ended up having VIP status since I was in charge of the group so when I got to my room I had a fruit bowel waiting for me along with a 1L glass bottle of water. I also had access to the VIP lounge which served a free breakfast every morning as well as hors doeuvres in the evening. It was great to use that a bit and I took a few of their mini jams home because they came in little one serving jars which I thought was cool. It was a great time but I only ended up sleeping about 4-5 hours per night as I was always ensuring things were ready for the next day. It also didn't help that at 1:00am in the morning one night the hotel also had a fire alarm. It turned out to be a false alarm but it still woke everyone up in the hotel.

I arrived home Thursday night after a terrible flight on Air Canada. First, the take off was horrible and as we started into the air the entire plane swayed back and forth. Then for the entire first hour they wouldn't turn off the seat belt sign because they were worried about turbulence. So that meant no snacks, no drinks, no headphones (they give you free ones) and they didn't turn the movies on (they also have free movies to watch). Finally they turned off the seat belt sign and the TV's came to life...but after about 2 minutes the seat belt sign was on again. Luckily the TV's stayed on and so those people who happened to already have headsets they had brought (or taken from a seat as they walked in the plane like I did) were able to watch movies. The problem was the person I was travelling with did not have headphones. I told her to just quickly get up and go see if she could grab some off the seats in front of us as we saw lots of them on the way in. So she quickly got up and walked up a few rows. Instantly, over the speaker system on the entire plane, the flight attendant said "Miss, you need to sit down...I don't want to embarrass you but you can't walk around." I guess they take that sign seriously.

So then I started to watch a movie and chose to watch Stardust. But I could hardly hear the sound because the plane was so loud you had to press the headphones to your ears to hear anything. And it was freezing cold as well! Finally the seat belt sign went off and due to all the sitting they offered everyone free drinks, including alcohol. So although I rarely drink, I decided to have a rum and Coke...and didn't really enjoy it, but at least I got my money's worth! Then it happened once again...with about 10 minutes left in my movie they turned off the TV's because we were going to land. UGHHH! That is the second time now. The first time was about a year ago when I missed the last 15 minutes of The Departed (I still don't know what happens) and now I don't know what happens at the end of Stardust. That is very annoying.

Now I'm back and home and glad it's the weekend. Although travelling is fun, it is exhausting and I'm glad I'm home for a while...until we go to the Dominican...but that's another story.

Handy Dandy Man

Now although I’ve watched the movie What Women Want, it is still a mystery to me exactly what women look for when they make that big decision and pick their man for life. But if there is one thing Shiela didn’t marry me for it was my handyman skills.

A couple months ago Shiela and I cleaned up our basement and so now we can actually go down there and hang out if we wanted. But I wasn't satisfied with just that and I wanted to make it even better…so I decided to add a dimmer switch.

So I got started. First things first, I pulled out my handy dandy Home Depot Guide that helps people like me do regular handyman things around the house. I flipped the book open to the “How to install a dimmer switch” and began this very simple task. It looked very simple and according to the book a beginner should take 45 minutes to complete this task. I’m a beginner, I told myself, and I can’t see it taking longer than that. Besides, the book tells you how to do it and I also had the instructions from the dimmer switch.

I finally had everything ready to go. I had the book open, the instructions laid out, my tools laid out and I was ready to go. I had mentioned this idea to a few friends and they assured me that I wouldn’t need to turn off the power. Knowing how my friends are I did the opposite and flicked the breaker and saw the lights go out. I was ready to begin.

It started easy enough and I had the wall plate off quickly. "I’m on a roll," I thought as the cocky meter went up a few notches. I pulled out the old light switch and stared at the wires protruding from it. Then I glanced at the instructions and at their diagram. Then back at the real light switch wires. Then back to the instructions. Then to the book. Then to the instructions. Then to the light switch. The quick head movements left me dizzy and I hit the floor realizing I was stuck. None of the images looked the same and I was not sure where to even begin. So I did the only reasonable thing I could think of…I went upstairs for a Coke!

Once I had some of the sweetest nectar on earth I went back at it. There were more wires in the light switch then there were suppose to be and that threw me off for a bit, but I slowly started to figure it out. I finally figured out which were the two main wires and why there was that extra one and got the old light fixture off. Then I had the simple task of stripping the wires so I could connect them to the switch. Easy enough I figured since I had this tool they call a wire stripper. I clasped the tool around the wire and let go to watch the show. Nothing happened. Ah, I knew the problem. I went to the stereo, turned on some dance music and sat back to watch. Still nothing. Ah, whatever, so much for a wire stripper. I guess you have to help it out. Now I have seen some men use this tool before and it is very easy. Although their's must have been broken too because it wasn’t stripping on its own. They simply clasped the tool around the plastic surrounding the wire, pulled, and the plastic came off. Easy enough I figured. So I clasped the tool around the plastic wire, pulled, and…nothing. The plastic wouldn’t come off. I tried again. Nothing. What the! I finally had to pull out my exacto knife and slowly cut the plastic off the wire which took forever, but finally the wire was stripped and ready to be attached.

Inch by inch I slowly moved my hand towards the light socket wire and was ready to connect the two. It was easier then I thought and I was able to twist them together and put on the little protector thingy. That was simple I thought. I grabbed the next wire and grabbed the wire from the wall to twist them together and it was easy. Wow this was easy. I sniffed the air like a man who was in total control and reached in to the light socket to see what wires were left. The next thing I knew my finger felt like a lightening bolt and I was on my back staring at the ceiling. As I staggered back to my feet I realized that the wires from the other light switch in the same socket (it was a dual light switch) were still live. I won’t forget that again.

Finally, after only 3 hours and 12 minutes of total working time over the course of 36 hours, I had the dimmer switch installed. I was excited and couldn’t wait to try it out. I went to the breaker box and flicked the switch that had been off for the last 36 hours. As the switch flicked on, the first thing I heard was a motor starting up again. "What did I install?" I thought to myself. But then the noise got louder and I looked to my left. Low and behold, there was our upright freezer that had once again started running now that I had turned the breaker back on. My heart dropped as I realized I had turned off the power to the freezer at the same time as the light switch and hadn’t noticed! I dropped to my knees imagining the steaks starting to moo again as they slowly came back to life from being frozen. But I figured I had enough adventure for one day and as I heard the mooing of the cattle behind me I turned off my newly installed and working perfectly dimmer switch, walked up the stairs, and went to the computer to inform the writers of the Home Depot book that they needed a new category for people like me called “Don’t Have a Stinkin’ Clue.”

A Wonderful Holiday

The holidays are basically over and I will be back to work tomorrow. Normally when it's time to go back to work it's a little disappointing because I feel like I never got enough of a holiday, but this time it feels different. Although I could easily stay on holidays for longer I feel that I had an excellent break and it's time to get back into a regular routine.

One of my favourite days this holiday season (besides Christmas day) was the day we set aside for video games. I don't play many video games, mainly because I don't have a new gaming machine, so when I get a chance to play vids I like to play a lot...and a lot is what we did. We set aside Dec 28 as vids day and a friend came over with his Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii along with Guitar Hero III and so myself along with 5 other people played video games for 14 hours straight! My fingers hurt quite a bit from playing Guitar Hero, but that game was so sweet it was totally worth it. You really feel like you are playing guitar for real!!

The rest of my vacation was spent relaxing while watching movies, playing board games and working on a new business idea. It was a great time and each day I woke up I was happy because I still had so many days off still to come.

Now that it is a New Year I once again thought about resolutions. I glanced back at my post I made last year about what I wanted to accomplish this year and I didn't follow it too well. I did not get back in shape, I didn't finish my book, and I didn't accomplish any of my ideas I come up with. However I did manage to go an a date night most weeks with Shiela, and I did work less before Christmas. So this year I'm not making any resolutions, however I do want to finish my book (already started), get back in shape (already bought a leisure card and am actually using it) and hopefully start up a new business. I guess we'll see how it goes!

Happy New Year!

Let Me Set You Straight

There are apparently some people out there who if you asked them to their face if they were superstitious they would say No...and then in the next breath they do one of my pet peeves of all time...forward chainletters onto people's Facebook walls.

So let me help clarify a few things for those of you who feel the need to forward on those things:

1) No, you do not have to forward on that post so you don't get seven years bad luck
2) No, your crushes name will not appear if you forward that 10 times and press F7 while picking your nose
3) No, you do not need to forward on that post if you love Jesus
4) No, Jesus will not stop loving you if you don't forward it on to 77 other people
5) No, Facebook is not overpopulated and you won't get kicked off if you don't forward it to all your friends

So please save us all the pain of having to delete the chain letters off our walls and just post the funny videos and pictures. I promise you...nothing bad will happen!

(Forward this on to 17 people if you don't believe me..come on, I dare ya!)

Almost Famous

This may be the most famous I ever get. My sister phoned me today to tell me that my picture is on the webpage advertising the 10K run for the 2008 Saskatchewan Marathon! It might be hard to tell it's me due to the blue sunglasses and headphones along with my red Hbc Run for Canada shirt, but trust me...the exhaustion I felt at that point was very real and it is me!

I think I'll sign up again this year! Anyone want to join me?

An Early Sunday Morning

Every once in a while I do something that makes absolutely no sense. This past Sunday was one of them. Normally on Sunday morning my routine is the same. I go to bed late Saturday night and set my alarm for around 9:15am or so. Then when it starts beeping I scramble in the dark trying to find it and after elbowing my wife in the face and knocking over my glass of water on the bedside table I finally feel my fingers grasp it, just to have it fall off the table and get lost in the pile of clothes lying on the floor. After a minute or so of this battle I finally slam my head back against the pillow and wish I could sleep for another hour or so. But I soon realize that although Pillow Creek Community Church has extremely comfortable seats, I just dont' seem to learn much and I force myself into the shower.

But this Sunday was different. The alarm clock battle still happened at what felt like the dawn of time which was in reality around 7:30am (I didn't even know there was a 7:30am on Sunday). Unfortunately I lost the battle with the alarm clock and bolted from bed at 8:00am when I realized I had slept in...I had decided to go to Sunday school. I used to always go to Sunday School at my old church, but since attending this new church I was still in the feeling out stages...which has gone on about 3 years now! So it was time to get involved and today was the day.

I looked in the bulletin ahead of time to see what the topic was..."Living the LIFE at West Portal)". LIFE is an acronym for something (I'm not sure what) and relates to our small groups. They used to be CARE groups, but I guess they figured those groups weren't about caring anymore so they got rid of that :-) I at first thought that maybe only small group leaders could attend, but I figured I'd crash the party if that was the case...wouldn't be the first time! At church I ran into a few people who attended the 1st service and the shock on their faces to see me up at this hour was priceless. I explained to them I was going to Sunday School and they gave me this weird look like I was some kind of pedofile. Realizing what they were thinking I quickly added that I was attending ADULT Sunday School, not stalking the kids at kids Sunday School. The relief on their face was quite evident and I secretly saw them hang up their cell phones from dialing 911.

The class was in Room 112 and being the smart guy I am with a Bachelor of Commerce I knew that in order to find this room I just had to find Rooms 111 and 113 and then enter the room in between. I walked down a hallway and found Room 111...the Library. I then looked to the right and found Room 113...the Men's bathroom. In between those two was about 6" of wall and no door. I was stumped at first, but luckily I had read Harry Potter and knew how they got to the hidden train station. So I took a running start and slammed into that 6" of wall thinking I would magically appear in Room 112. Apparently the designers of the church had not read Harry Potter when they built the place back in the mid 1900's and all I got was a sore forehead and arm as I lay on the floor dazed. A passerby graciously helped me up (what loving people at this church) and directed me to where Room 112 was...clear across the church down a completely different hallway. I sauntered on over there thinking to myself that I should mention to one of the pastors that they might want to try renumbering the rooms.

I walked into the class and immediately sat down at a table. I didn't want to do the typical thing of playing shy because it was my first time there and be all timid. I figured I wanted to get right into things and I sat down right next to this other lady. The pastor there was quite surprised to see a new person in the room and I noticed a few other people frozen in time as they stared at this new person who dared to venture into their Sunday School class. I signed the attendance sheet and watched as the lady beside me signed her name...and one more. I suddenly realized I had sat in her husbands chair but she was too nice to tell me! So I scooted over one and graciously apologized. Now I was facing the complete opposite direction from the front and realized that I was not in a good spot. So off I went to my own table...all alone...so much for getting to know people! Luckily by the time it started two other people who I semi know joined my table and the class began.

I was excited for the topic of "Living the LIFE at West Portal" and couldn't wait to get started. However, as the class began I realized that wasn't today's topic...that had been last weeks topic! Arrgg! I think they should put next weeks Sunday School class into this week's bulletin because by the time anyone reads the bulletin the class is over! Anyways, I digress. The topic was "Let's talk about any of the past topics we've talked about so far." Hmmmm...not such a great topic for someone who is here for the first time! But I wasn't about to let that stop me and at our table I asked what this previous topic on Barbarian Christanity was all about. We had some great discussion on that and we eventually went on to a new topic for that week which was "If God knows everything, why should we pray?" It was a great topic, however all the discussion questions following that just talked about the Lords prayer. So although I didn't feel like we really talked about that topic, I did learn some good stuff about the Lords prayer.

The class ended and we all walked out. The pastor had been talking about this book called "Surprised by Jesus" that a lot of the previous topics had been from and he was putting it back into the library. So I quickly grabbed him after the class and asked to borrow it. So far it's a great book and I'm looking forward to my holidays to start to read it. And in regards to this class, just like the Terminator, "I'll be back!" and I encourage anyone else to also come join me...I'll save you a spot at my table.

The Princess Shop

This really has nothing to do with me and I can't even relate to it, but I just came across it and I think it is a great idea so I wanted to write about it here. Some people in Saskatoon have started an organization called The Princess Shop. Here is what they say they do:

The Princess Shop is a nonprofit organization based in Saskatoon SK and established in 2007. The project's mission is to provide less-fortunate female students with a beautiful gown for their Grade 12 graduation.The founders of the The Princess Shop hope to build confidence in Saskatoon's female youth and create a memorable graduation experience for all girls.The Princess Shop... where princesses prepare for the Royal Ball.

I think this is a great idea. Like I said, I can't really relate because I don't have any old dresses or anything but Grade 12 graduation is such a big day for students and to be able to help those who are a bit less fortunate is such a great idea. If anyone wants to donate no longer worn dresses, bridal dresses, gowns, makeup, jewellery and now they are even taking wedding dresses! They are opening up a drop off spot on 21sts street soon, but for now you can email them at the.princess.shop@shaw.ca to tell them you have a dress or other items for them. They also have a group on Facebook so if you like this idea join the group to show your support.

I sometimes (maybe often depending on who you talk to) wish I was better off than I am. But man, when I really think about it I am so blessed it is unreal. I have a house, a good job, a car, a lovely wife whom I love, a great family and a relationship with my loving God! What could I possibly complain about...the fact that I don't have a larger TV, don't have cable, or don't go on three vacations per year to some hot island? Sometimes I wonder if God looks at me and wonders why I keep asking for blessings as if I've got nothing. Shiela reminds me often that I sometimes get materialistic and I tell her I don't, but when a person looks at what he has compared to so many others and yet still wants more...how can that not be materialistic. I need to be more thankful!

Want To Play Some Sports Over Christmas

There is a tournament on over the Christmas holidays called the Best Athletic Team Challenge. It looks like a lot of fun and if you want to join the team let me know as I have to enter our team by Friday.

The way it works is that you play a variety of different sports including a minimum of one game of volleyball, soccer, floor hockey and then your choice of either Dodgeball or Ultimate Disc. The team will consist of 8-12 players and it is over three days which are Dec 28, 29, 30. Cost would be around $35 if we had 12 people. All games are held at the old Saskatoon Soccer Centre.

So let me know if you want to play! It looks like a ton of fun and a great way to stay in shape over the holidays!

This Says It All

Rant #2 - Don't Stop Me From Celebrating Holidays

I'm tired of hearing about all the people out there who complain about certain holidays and how we can't celebrate them like we want. For example, most stores and restaurants won't say "Merry Christmas" anymore and instead say "Happy Holidays" because not everyone believes in Christmas. For all you people out there who get offended at certain holidays I've got three words for you..."GET OVER IT!"

Yeah, that's right....Get Over It! If you don't believe in Christmas, whatever, but don't make a big stink about it and tell everyone to stop celebrating. If you don't like the fact that airports put up Christmas trees, don't make a stink about it and tell them to take it down (which some people of a certain religion did). Just ignore it and live your life. Nobody is forcing you to look at its beauty.

Obviously we aren't all going to agree with everything, but just let things go sometimes. It's time people stopped fighting for all their "religious rights" and just let everyone live. If it's not normal to wear a scarf when you play soccer, then don't. If you can't show your legs because of your religion, then don't play soccer, don't complain and say you have to be able to wear pants when you play. When people are getting killed in the streets all the time, don't complain when the police tell you not to wear your ceremonially (yet extremely sharp) dagger down the street or into a bar. It really comes down to a safety issue a lot of the time and that needs to trump your religious rights.

I mean seriously, how far is it going to go. Maybe I find it offensive that people wear turbans. Maybe I should make a big stink about it and start knocking off people's turbans because I find it offensive (I won't, but you get the point). Actually, did you hear about the religion that has started in southern Arizona? The religion is based on the fact that God wants you to be healthy by eating right, exercising and not being overweight. The followers of this religion are very strict on what they eat and they exercise daily. That's all fine, but wait until you hear how they witness. These people witness by going out in groups of 4-5 people and walk around until they find someone who is overweight. Then they surround the person and verbally abuse them about their weight and tell them how God won't let them into heaven unless they start eating right, exercising and lose weight. And the police there can't stop it or charge them for this abuse because it is within their religious rights.

Ok, that last bit on the healthy religious group was made up, but you see where I'm going with this. Complaining about your rights all the time because of religion is stupid. If you don't agree with certain holidays, please keep your mouth shut and ignore it. Let the rest of us enjoy our holidays and celebrate it the way we want. Oh, and by the way, "Merry Christmas!"

Rant #1 - CUPE Workers Get Back To Work!

For the last 5 or so weeks the CUPE workers have been on strike in Saskatoon. These are the employees that work at the University such as the janitors, food services, etc. They went on strike because they didn't like what the University was offering them. Keep in mind that these workers already are paid extremely well for the type of work they do. I tried to find an exact number but couldn't, but I've heard through the grapevine that these workers are making around $12-$15 per hour...and that includes those who just make pizza or run the till in the bookstore.

Now I don't know all the details but this is a rant and I'll focus on the aspects that I want. The University offered them a 17% increase in wages and benefits over 3 years. However, 6% of that raise is based on acceptable performance. In other words, if they get a poor performance review they won't get all of that 6%, although they still get the other 11% which works out to 3.67% per year. The union thought this was terrible because they did not think any of it should be based on performance. One of the union reps even said and I loosely quote "tying wage increase to performance is an archaic way of thinking!"

WHAT!! I have never heard such lazy words in my life. So basically, these workers just want to show up to work, do their job (they don't even have to do it well, just show up and pretend to work) and they want a 17% increase. Meanwhile, the rest of us who work for companies have basically all our wage increases tied to performance...if we don't perform they won't be giving us a raise and will probably fire us.

These CUPE workers are some of the laziest people I know of. All they have to do is actually do their job well and they will get their total wage increase. And besides, it's a union, so if they feel the performance review is unfair they can just grieve it and the union will have to prove why they got a low review. It's a perfect system and actually makes these CUPE workers care about their jobs, the university, and the students they are serving. Kudos to President Peter McKinnon for not backing down on that issue as I feel he strongly believes that these workers need to be doing an excellent job in serving the students.

So to any CUPE workers out there....GET BACK TO WORK AND STOP BEING LAZY!!!

Lifehouse's Everything Skit

This skit is really great. I love how it shows that God is always there for us. We can get so distracted with other things and the further we focus on them the harder it appears to get back to Jesus. Yet Jesus is still only a prayer away and although Satan wants us to think he is long gone, He isn't and He is right there waiting for us to come back to Him...and that is when He can step in and fight for us. It's up to us to choose. What a great, powerful and loving Saviour!

Your Favourite Worship Songs

So I'm trying to make a worship CD of all the best worship songs out there right now. And by make I just mean compile the songs on my computer for my own personal listening enjoyment. But I want to know which songs I should include on it. I have a few current favourites, but I'd like some help from anyone who reads this blog. I'd like to know not only what your top 3-5 worship songs are, but also who sings them. There are lots of versions of these worship songs out there and I want to know which ones you like best.

I'll start things off with five of my current favourites:

• You are holy (Prince of Peace) - by Newsong (although the Michael W. Smith version is also really good)
• Beautiful One - Jeremy Camp (I love the intro)
• Till I See You - Hillsong United
• Only One - Hillsong United
• How Great is our God - Chris Tomlin

So let me know in the comments what your favourite ones are! I'd sure love to hear from ya!

When Will Your TV Shows Go Dark

Due to the writers strike our favourite tv shows will soon run out of episodes. If you want to know exactly when your favourite show will be finished, you should probably check it out here.

Party Weekend

I haven't posted much lately because I've been too busy partying! I was in Toronto last weekend for a fun time with some of our Marketing Coordinators from the Hbc Run for Canada. Any Marketing Coordinator that reached their goals of participants, fundraising and volunteers got a trip to Toronto...and I got to be their host (sort of like the blind leading the blind since I don't know Toronto well either! Luckily we had a Toronto person from work help us out)

We had a great time and had a lot of fun. I won't go into all the details but as you can tell by the pictures we:

Did some touring around Kensington Market and Queens Street West

Went to a Toronto Maple Leafs game which was awesome, especially since Toronto beat the Senators!

And then went to a birthday party later on.

It was a great weekend all around and fun to finally meet these people in person. We had the Marketing Coordinators from Victoria, Halifax and St. John's so pretty basically we had people there from coast to coast.

I said goodbye to them all Sunday morning and then I kept on partying...by going to the Eastern Final football game at the Rogers Centre with the owner of TrojanOne, his kids and another guy from work. That was also a great time. I cheered for the Argos just because I couldn't bring myself to cheer for our arch rivals the Bombers. The Argos didn't play all that well which was too bad, but at a couple points in the game the dome got so loud I couldn't hear a thing. That was awesome!

This is the view from my seat at the game.

So now I'm back at home and back at work.

I've Been Inspired...the Full Story (Uncensored!)

A little while ago I wrote a brief little post about being inspired. That was all that was said. Well, after receiving hundreds of comments on it (ok, actually just one, but you know what they say about comments...for every person that comments 99 other people were thinking the same thing!) I decided to post what I was inspired about.

I want to be a humourist.

There. It's out. I've come out of the closet (not in that way though..not that I'm in the closet...ah, forget it)

The person who inspired me was Phil Callaway. I've been a fan of Phil for quite a few years now although I had never read one of his books. And by fan I mean I heard him once at Breakforth a number of years ago, attended his session on learning how to tell a good story, and then completely forgot about him until about 2 weeks ago. That was when I heard that our church, West Portal, was bringing Phil in to speak at our annual Christmas banquet. I immediately got excited to hear him speak again, but like Microsoft Vista every 47 minutes, it eventually crashed on me when I realized I was going to be in BC at that time and wasn't coming back until the day after he spoke. Regardless, I was inspired to do something similar to him...get people all excited and then crush their dreams. No, I'm just kidding. I realized that if there is one thing I think I am good at it is telling and writing stories.

Now many of you who read this blog are probably thinking to yourself, "You? A humourist? The only time I found you funny was when I saw you demonstrating how to do the breakdance move The Worm and it looked more like a beached whale trying to get back to water!" Well, that may be true and you are very much entitled to your opinion. Ironically, the other night Shiela and I were over at some friends and I decided to share this new ambition in my life. And what did they do...they laughed. I mean, I guess that's what I wanted, but I didn't realize I had told a joke yet :-)

For a long time now I've been struggling with what I am good at. I look at all the people around me and wonder why I can't play music or do construction or draw or be a handyman or know things about cars or be creative enough to come up with the concept of The Wiggles and have every kid in the world loving me. Now I'm not wanting to be envious of any of you and I am glad God has gifted all of you with those talents. I've just been wanting to find out what God has gifted me with and use it for Him. I really feel that this is an area I can be good at and feel that God has given me a talent to do this.

So there it is. I'm writing a book and I hope I can make you all laugh by sharing my life experiences. Since I'm sure you'll all want to buy about 10 copies each I'll let you know that it should be out sometime in...oh...let's say sometime in 2008. Oh, and if anyone knows any publishers that want to sign me on already tell them to give me a call (no really, I'm serious).

Why Do Christians Support War?

I'm sure the first thought many of you had after reading that headline was "What ya talkin' bout fool! I don't support war!" And for all I know you are telling the truth. The interesting part though is there are many Christians and others who say war is wrong but we have to protect ourselves so we don't have a choice.

Now I don't have the answers and don't pretend to either. But lucky for you, my friend John Campea has made his first documentary about this very thing entitled Prince of Peace - God of War. The DVD has just come out and you can buy it on his website over here. It has also been shown at two different film festivals in the United States and received great reviews.

I've already ordered my copy and I would encourage all of you to get one too! You can also check out the first 5 minutes of the documentary right here.

A Spooky House

As you can see from the pictures we had one of the most decorated houses around this Halloween. Shiela and I had the largest number of Halloween decorations we've ever had on our house before. But having that many decorations obviously comes with a price...wait a minute, no it doesn't! That's right, because every single decoration on our house was actually borrowed to us (and decorated by) our neighbour. She had so many Halloween decorations that she decorated our house too! So although we had the most decorations ever, it was nothing compared to her house.

I thought is was pretty cool...it almost makes me want to go out and buy decorations for next year. But then again, why do that if our neighbor has enough for both of us! So thank you neighbor for lending us the decorations and getting our house into the "mood".

The kids of course loved all the decorations! As I watched through the peephole on our door like a stalker, I even saw one kid not want to come up the stairs of our house because he was too scared (but his mom helped him overcome). Another boy had to be carried up to the door by his dad as he was too scared as well. Ah, what fun...scaring kids so much that they'll probably have nightmares for weeks! Gotta love Halloween.
(pictures are a little blurry as I was trying a different setting on my camera that didn't work too well)