Miles Apart, Still at Home

A few good things to bring you this week, and just enough energy to bring them to you.

Can’t remember who it was I was mentioning this too, but I’m more or less exhausted truth be told.

I remember one time, Liz went to see our family doctor, back in Canada. Liz was still working, we has small kids at home and we were homeschooling them. The doctor asked Liz if she ever felt tired or run down.

Liz’s answer…. “Fatigue is my constant companion.”

That’s kind of where I’m at. In the midst of all that however, there are bright spots …

An Unexpected Home Bible Study

You may remember, from the beginning of summer, that I’d been doing some online English tutoring during the summer months.

It would be impossible to continue tutoring all my summer students while at the same time picking up the regular teaching schedule of the school year. I did, however, keep some of my students.

One of them, in a country on the border of Europe, expressed an interest in discussing things pertaining to faith. Wanting to become familiar with the Bible, as well as other important religious texts, I suggested he take a look at the Exploring God’s Word videos that I’d recorded for North American Missions, back in 2007.

He recently shared this photo with me, and a couple of our tutoring sessions have turned into Q&A about the study. What an unexpected joy to go beyond simply discussion English grammar. Pray for my friend as he continues studying.

General Conference for Dominic & Melanie

I mentioned last time that Dominic & Melanie were headed stateside for a couple of weeks, visiting Melanie’s family in Indiana. While there, they were able to attend General Conference as well (Dominic’s first).

Not only were they incredibly blessed to attend the services, participate in the worship and hear the preaching, they were also able to connect with some precious folks from back home as well, not the least of which was our pastor from back in Saint John; Pastor & Mrs. Brent Carter. There was also Pastor Kahozi from Montreal, Pastor & Mrs. Mike Wittemeier from New Brunswick, and the Sullys once again.

…. a lovely picture of the two of them with Melanie’s grandmother as well.

Loneliness Among Men

I read a statement in the news the other day. It referred to an epidemic of male loneliness, primarily among dads, but also very present in the lives of men more broadly.

It mentioned newer trends such as stay-at-home dads, but also, interestingly, the lack of traditional male support structures – specifically mentioning a drop in church attendance, where men could typically be transparent and both express and receive the interest and care of other men.

I’ve experienced that…

So it was a particular pleasure to connect with my friend Dan Desroches this week, while driving to one of my teaching gigs.

Once again, I spend a lot of time in the car now, compared to the summer months when a tank of gas lasted much longer. I generally don’t mind the driving, and go through some lovely hamlets and villages. I typically use the time to listen to various podcasts (eg. the Building Great Lives Podcast, Rev. Trent Gillam), but to spend it talking with an old friend from back home is a particular treat.