It’s Saturday morning and as I sit down to write… the house is still quiet. Liz is up but still in “stealth mode” and the kids haven’t yet stirred. No telling when that will change. Pollux, surprisingly is not feverishly wagging his tail and staring deep into our eyes… his way of telling us “It’s time for a walk!”
If I can hear one thing… it’s via anticipation and it’s your voice… yes you.
“Has he fallen off his rocker!? It’s not thanksgiving… either in Canada OR the US!”
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It’s a FIRST!
This is the first morning of 2017 where I’m sitting, writing today’s post in front of a lit Christmas tree… and it feels wonderful!
I know that many people have been enjoying their tree for weeks already but artificial trees here – while they exist – costs an arm and a leg… (maybe TWO!) and aren’t as nice as back home generally. What’s more… having a real tree makes us feel just a bit closer to home, though we’re about 5,000 km away.
So I have a confession to make. Most of the time, I try to write posts on Friday night and schedule them for Saturday morning. This week however, it truly is a “Saturday morning over hot chocolate” kind of morning. The house is quiet and began with just me, Pollux (our dog) and a cuppa hot chocolate. Not a bad way to start the day.
I’ve been thinking a bit about tunnel vision this week… you know, when you’re too deep into the trees to be able to see the forest.
We can go through times of spiritual tunnel vision as well. Times when you get so focused on a specific scenario, a specific problem that you’re trying to resolve… that you find yourself feeling like your back is up against a wall.
At times like that, even something as simple as a physical change of scenery can help you to gain perspective, Continue reading
Grapes. Lots & lots of grapes.
I’ve always loved the symbolism and from the time I had my own home, had a grapevine planted somewhere in the garden. “Symbolism?”, you may ask, “What symbolism?”
In the Old Testament book of Numbers (13:23-25) the Israelites sent to spy out the promised land discovered a place of plenty. In particular, they found a grapevine that was producing so well that they clipped a bunch of grapes to take back to the rest of their countrymen as proof. That bunch of grapes was so big that it took two men to carry it on a stick. It was proof that God had provided a good place for them to enter, a place of provision… truly a promised land!
Yet again… France has been struck by an attack designed to kill innocents and strike fear in the hearts of the rest of the nation. The date: July 14th – France’s National Holiday (like US’s July 4th or Canada Day)… Crowds were gathered in city squares & parks all over the country and in Nice, the crowd was diminished by 84 lives immediately following the end of the fireworks display.
Several months ago, we were able to baptize Danielle in Jesus’ name for the remission of sins (Acts 2.38) and Sunday she was able to be with us in service for the first time!
We’ve done it. We’ve had one of the quintessential French culinary experiences. You know those hard-shelled things that you peel off of garden walls or off of leaves in the garden, the ones that leave a slobbery trail of slime in their wake… we can now say we’ve eaten them! Continue reading
As you can imagine, there are many things that need to be considered when planning a move like that which we are planning in less than 4 months! In the context of dealing with some of those preparations, we found ourselves sitting across from a personal banking representative yesterday and I had a thought.
For readers who don’t know us personally, Liz and I married in 1997 and have spent our entire married life in the same neighbourhood. Our house has been paid off for a couple of years and we have only limited debt, however there are still other financial preparations that need to be done, over and above simply raising financial support. One of the big questions has been, “What about your house? Will you rent it or sell?” So, yesterday we went to the bank to examine our options in that area as well as when it comes to managing things like life insurance payments, pre-existing RRSPs (the Canadian equivalent of the American 401K), etc.
Near the outset of the meeting, our banker indicated that she had a few questions to ask as part of a general Financial Health Check, the answers to which would help her make suggestions that would be the right fit for us. The questions were straightforward enough: Tolerance for risk? Desired time of retirement? Investment knowledge? and so on… which leads me to the thought.
As she went through a lot of information I found myself, at one point, thinking: “Lord, help me to process what I’m hearing.” and, alternatively, “Lord, help her to help us in the best possible way.” It caused me to draw the following parallel:
When we’re at a cross-roads in the area of our physical health, we often rely more heavily on the Lord or are at least more conscious of our need for his help. We also consult someone with greater knowledge of the normal functioning of the body and who, where readjustment is needed, is best suited to advise on how that readjustment can happen.
Similarly, when it came time to understanding multiple financial tools available, how each works on its own and how they interact when used together, we had come to seek counsel from someone with more knowledge than we have. …and I found myself praying.
It occurred to me… how often to we prepare for “average, everyday meetings” by praying? Oh I know that when pastors or missionaries are going for a new building or a land-purchase, they’ll request prayer, but this is just “managing our everyday finances”… no biggie, right? Wrong.
Over and above our banker’s very valuable counsel and advice, everything we possess is from the Lord and our dependence is ultimately on him. I was glad that I could call on Him for help to wade through the options and trust that he is guiding both our banker and ourselves.
Got questions? Pray. God’s as interested in seeing us succeed in the everyday things as he is in the big decisions. As for us and our house… well, now we wade through the options and trust that the Lord’s hand will guide us. He’s never failed us yet and we don’t expect him to anytime soon.
Thanks for stopping by… let it feed your prayers for us!
God bless you today!
AIM Long 