New Faith

New faith. I cannot think of anything more exhilarating than new, fresh, faith. Today, was a trip to the house of 3 new believers. A widow and her two teenage children. A family that just buried their father not more than 5 weeks ago. But through the whole event, they have thrown themselves upon the "God who is near" and they are so excited about what they are learning and experiencing. The 16 year old son said, "we should have church every two days. It is what keeps me going, it makes me excited and fills me with great hope." His 18 year old sister said that she is totally amazed that God hears her prayers and that he is answering them and the prayers of her family in such an amazing ways. "It is unmistakably God and I feel sorry for those who have to go though this without him?" The mother said she was over to visit a friend who doesn't believe in God yet. She was shocked to see her friend, who had lost her husband over 3 years ago, still grieving deeply and was basically at the same place. "The difference is hope, she said, we have so much hope!" Her friend believes in annihilation and it was obvious it had basically held her captive in a dungeon of grief. I left them about an hour after I arrived and I felt rejuvenate from a visit that normally would have left me pretty drained. At one point in the conversation (over a mean cup of coffee shuana) they had so many excellent questions about faith and God. It was absolute fun for me to lead them in a simple bible study and to watch their eyes light up as they began to see the truth revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. I love new faith.

Good Sunday.

Good Sunday. Made early morning omelets for the lasses before they left me in an empty house by 7:15 AM to hit the pitch for three rugged games of football (hear the Scottish brogue in there). Once again I was able to take advantage of the silence. I also did a bit of prep for the morning, had a nice long hot shower, and headed off to the service. We have made a conscious decision as leadership to "linger-longer" much longer, over the bread and the cup. We have dubbed the last Sunday of each month as "1st Priority Sunday" (sorry Chris) in order to accomplish this. Each time I will give a short 10 min talk on some aspect of either baptism, Communion or prayer. Then we have made more room in the service for the elders to come to the front with oil for anointing and prayers for those who come. The people really responded. Many came forward to be prayed with for many different situations and needs. We went so long that the "sermon time" was reduced to 10 minutes. I loved it. There is something very rewarding and revitalizing when we linger over the Lord's Table and pray for each other in this fashion. Very spiritually energizing to say the least. We were given a treat by a couple of teens at the end of the morning service. They won a couple of awards at a local film festival so we finished off the morning service and invited the folks to stay and watch the 11 min. production called CSI Kitchen. It was amazing! We have so much hidden talent in this little church! After that I had lunch with friends, headed home for a change of clothing and a 10 minute nap, and went off to coach my last soccer game of the spring league. And you all know the rest of the story by now. Proud moment for a dad and a coach!(hear the buttons popping off the shirt I am wearing and ricocheting around the room). So... just as it started out this morning there is silence in this house again. Everyone is sound asleep and so I am able to catch up on all the blogs and even write my own.

Enjoyed the day

Early morning stillness just sat there in the silence, then coffee with my girlfriend, a leadership meeting, coaching last Saturday game of soccer(two more tomorrow), eating at Wendy's, fed goldfish, watched goldfish, worked on church stuff, went to our small group for a wiener roast, had a good chat with a teenager from church, brought two of kids friends home for a sleep over, came home tired,watched movie called BIG FISH, must go to bed now. night night all:)

A blessing And I Didn't Even Know It!

Last night after the ball game Mackenzie begged and begged and wore me down until I finally gave in and went for a "last-ball-game-of-the-season-slushie" at our local Petrocan. I ended up parking outside the building and waiting while kenzie took my debit card and went in and bought a good sized slushie as a reward for her stellar season. As I waited I was looking in my rear view mirror and I watched as a 1/2 ton pick up truck without a muffler came roaring into the gas station parking lot. The boys tumbled out one by one laughing, swearing, and smoking, looking like they were looking for some mischief to get into. By that time Kenzie had made her purchase and had jumped into the passenger seat of my truck and started sucking on her straw enjoying the sugary ice. I noticed one of the boys was heading towards my truck and as he came closer I recognized him as a kid who I had worked with when I was involved in the Restorative Justice program. "Jack" (not his real name) came over to the window and said hey Mr. Nichol how's it going? He proceeded to tell me how his life had changed since his incident with the law. He had made restitution with those he wronged and in fact was friends with their two daughters. He told me he graduated from high school and that he now was working 14 hour days, 6 days a week for a paving company. He said over and over again how much he appreciated my input into his life. He said that what I had done for him had really helped him get through a rough period in his life. I was blessed by his words. I figured that I had had very little input into his life and that he really wasn't that interested in the tough work of making some serious changes to his behavior. I remembered how I had prayed that I would be able to be at least one positive male adult in this kids life. The Lord graciously answered my prayers.
I got thinking about how often that has happened to me. Many times I have been thanked by those who I really didn't think I had had that much influence on. But I was determined to bring the light of the kingdom of God into their situation and trust God that something good was going to happen even if I never got to see it. He often uses us when we are completely unaware of it. I think it will make heaven even more delightful as we bump into people whose lives were changed by having been near us.

Full day

Tonight we played our last ball game of the season for Mackenzie's team. We got to end on a victory note so that was nice and our party is next week Thursday night. All in all it was a terrific season and I had a lot of fun coaching the kids and working with their parents. A good group of people all around. I had a pretty full day only touching down in my office for about 15 minutes late in the afternoon. The rest of the day was spent with people. Walking, talking, coffeeing, and doing life together. One of my co-mentor groups I belong to is working its way through a book I would highly recommend to all of you. It is called The Power of Full Engagement. It really is one of the best books I have read for practical steps to fully engage life in all its aspects. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. By following some of its ideals 3 of the 5 other pastors have found significant changes to their energy levels. Pretty cool.

the peachland piranhas 

the team....contemplating the season.... 

The Awesome Power of Music and Songs

Last night our girls ball game was cancelled so we decided to have team photos and play a game of Kalifornia Kick Ball along with the parents. We had just nicely gotten into the top of the 3rd inning when ZZZZZZAP CRASH BOOOOOOM a massive lightening and thunder storm came over our heads. That was the end of kickball! After a few seconds of what-should-we-do-now, we decided to hustle the girls and the few adults there down to the local restaurant for some good old fashioned ice cream cones. While we were there some guy showed up with his big expensive Karaoke machine and to our surprise we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Karaoke night at the Peachland Garage Grill and Pump. Well, the rest is history. The kids started singing songs, laughing, ribbing each other, some started being the back up singers to the two or three girls that were singing. Some of the kids could really sing and some of them, well, you know they did try anyway! I even ended up joining in on the fun and sang one song with Paige and one song with Mackenzie. We stayed there for over an hour and a half and everyone went home with a little ice cream in their tummies and a big smile on their faces (adults included).
Music and songs are such powerful things. They have the power to make us laugh or cry. They have the power to attach themselves to our memories and suddenly take us back to those moments. They have the power to take a good time and turn it into a great time. We are made to hum or sing or just be moved by music and song by a humming, singing, dancing creative God. The stack of evidence is thick. Just look in the bible and see the poetry, the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. From funeral durges to loud angelic choirs and from flutes to drums it's all in there. We are instructed that making music and melodies in our hearts to God is meant the be a picture of a heart set free from sin and engaged by the beauty of the savior. Interestingly enough in the end times one of the things that the angels will destroy is mentioned in Rev 18:22 "The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,will never be heard in you again." One of my favorite passages of the scripture is found in Zeph 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
I can almost hear him.....

The missing man, money,mat,and meat!

Today I mowed the lawn and was surprised at how damp the ground was. The grass is so wet it kept plugging up my mower! When I had finished I headed down to pick up the van from Cheryl's office to take into Kelowna to have it cleaned inside and out. After a weekend of sandy, muddy and wet shoes plus the mess that 5 people can make it really needed a bath. When I arrived Cheryl's friend Yvonne was there. She had picked up Tim Hortons coffee for everyone in the office. But Brian, Cheryl's boss was missing, so I ended up drinking his cup of coffee (sorry Brian if your reading this). Then I headed into Kelowna but about 5 minutes into the drive I checked my wallet and my debit card was missing! So I headed back and picked up Cheryl's card (I later found mine in my bedroom). Then I went to have my van cleaned. When they had finished I drove off and at the first stop light I noticed the passenger side floor mat was missing. So I turned around, went back and was told they often get put into the wrong car and a day or so later are returned. So I am supposed to call back tomorrow and find out if it showed and if not they will replace it. By that time it was lunch time so I headed to Tim Hortons for one of there sub sandwiches. I ordered the BLT with turkey meat. I was driving down the road towards home when I opened my sandwich, took a bit and discovered that the turkey meat was missing! The most serious thing that went missing this week was a fellow pastor. He was missing after he had taken a buddy off on a hike in one of the near by wooded areas of Westbank. They were found the next day a bit tired and scared but no worse for wear.
I figured there must be something to all of these things going missing. I thought I should stop and contemplate this before I ended up 'missing' the point all together. I did a little search of scripture and landed on a terrific passage in Isaiah 34:16. God told the prophet to tell the people to search out the scriptures. They would find that not one prophesy nor one promise was missing it's intended fulfillment! The point was that his word is 100% complete and utterly trustworthy. What he says he will do for his word and who he is are one and the same. Pretty cool. This was meant to calm the people and to free them from worry and fear.
So, don't miss the point here. The bible has so much in it and no matter what it is you can take it to the bank. Prophecies, promises, proverbs, poetry and parables. All written down for our wisdom, instruction, encouragement, hope, and for teaching in righteousness. Nothing is missing!

Happy 17th Sweetie

Just got back from my 17th anniversary dinner with Cheryl at our favorite restaurant in town. We had a nice lunch together as the rain poured down and we ate under covered roof to the sound of rain dripping and splashing in the nearby puddles. The rain seemed to set the rhythm for our unforced and delightful conversation. What a ride it has been and I'm more in love with you than the day we made this thing official. I think I will just let King Solomon say what my words would fail to say. This is for you sweetie.
A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long. Her clothes are well-made and elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-GOD.
I really like the line- "she treats him generously all her life long"- it really says so clearly how you treat me.
Thanks for the 17 years and Lord willing we will enjoy the next 17 as well.

Are Your Arms Crossed or Your fingers Crossed?

I was listening to CBC radio the other day. The interviewer was interviewing a young up and coming actress. They were laughing and enjoying themselves over the questions and answers. Then the actress was asked, do you get nervous when you go on stage? The answer went something like this... "Before it starts I am all nerves but once I get going and get into character it's what makes my soul sing. I love acting. The worst is when you are all alone on stage and it is opening night. No one comes to opening night because they love the theater. Most of the people sitting out there have their arms crossed rather than their fingers crossed. They are there as critics and not supportive..." Her words created quite a picture in my mind. I began to think about how I respond to those who appear to have their arms crossed rather than their fingers crossed in my own life. Arms crossed folks are the frowners, nay sayers, wait and see people, negative, usually legalistic, unforgiving, gruff, control freaks, and sour pusses! Howard Hendricks once said they are those who appear to have been weaned on a dill pickle! They seem to have all day to develop their judgmental muscles. The fingers crossed folks are the well wishers, the positive, yes-sayers, merciful, kind, encouraging, the hope for the best and pray for the rest, kind of folks. The arms crossed folks usually get very little out of me while the fingers crossed folks bring me great joy.
Then I wondered if I was a cross the arms or cross the fingers kind of guy? Do I speak life to people or do I deal in death with my words? Am I a joy bringer to those around me or do I smother with condemning words and sour attitudes?
I also wondered if there was a right time to cross the arms and a right time to cross the fingers? Jesus seemed to cross his arms when those around him were legalistic, harsh and unforgiving. But he seemed to cross his fingers when it came to the common people. He longed so much to see them be filled with life and the true kingdom of God. He despised what the preachers of the Law had laid on them. He worked himself to the cross to set them free from all the burdens that the arms crossed religious leaders had laid upon them.
I pray that I would have the kind of wisdom and sense of timing that Jesus had. Arms crossed over sin and selfishness, over power and control or just plain nastiness. But fingers crossed hoping for the best and praying for the rest in the lives of those around me.

Heaven and Earth

Yesterday I attended the funeral service of Mrs. Margret Bedford. Her son Wes and their family attend our fellowship and so I went to support and encourage them. I knew Mrs. Bedford as a fun loving, hard working, Christ loving, Proverbs 31 kind of women. All 5 of her sons got up and offered stories and characteristics of this deeply loved lady. Kind, firm, joyful, prayerful, happy, faithful, contented, wise, understanding, a person who loved family and friends and had 25 grand kids and 10 great grand kids who all rose up and called her blessed. There were even a few unofficially adopted sons and their families who did the same. Then the preacher got up and did a good job of passing this saintly mother's mantle to the remaining family. Then he went into a gospel presentation that focused mostly on heaven and hell. I was uncomfortable with his presentation. The way it came across it made it seem that the life she had lived on earth was not really as important as the final destination she had arrived at. Statements like "she finally has received her reward" only fueled my thinking about this. Yes, there is a reward coming, that's not what I am talking about. However, what about the reward that was sitting right in front of us? What about the life of heaven, (i.e. the kingdom of heaven) she brought to this earth by her passionate faith and vigorous service? As we looked on and saw an amazing heritage of Godliness and faithfulness it was impossible to mistake who was receiving the glory for the life she lived and the blessings she bestowed. Sometimes we make heaven out to be so far away and that this life doest really matter all that much. It seems like as long as we get to heaven in the great bye and bye ( or avoid hell which ever comes first) that's what really counts. The kingdom of heaven is within us and it is meant to be lived out in the here and now for good of all people. In Jesus great prayer it was heaven on earth that was of great importance. It is to bring heaven on earth that he fills us with his Spirit for and uses us for. Heaven in the great bye and bye will be awesome to be sure. But, I think it is faulty and shallow thinking that makes the here and now seem less important than the hereafter! The lure of the comforts of heaven far to often become our selfish reason for being Christian at all. Tragically, in some ways, I think we can play into the devils hand when we think and speak like this. Our mission should we choice to accept it is to be like Margret Bedford. The women who experienced a great portion of her reward by bringing heaven to this earth. And now she has entered into her complete rest in Heaven. Thanks for the legacy Mrs. Bedford.

Weekend Report

Well I finally have some time to sit and work on writing down some thoughts from the weekend. It has been a few days since my last blog. Friday morning as usual I mentor about 5 other guys and this one was especially rewarding. Friday afternoon was a go at the local lynx with our "retiring" District Superintendent Brian Thom. We had a beautiful afternoon and really enjoyed ourselves. It will more than likely be my last game with Brian at least in his current role. I will miss our golf games.
Saturday, after making everyone a bacon, eggs and hashbrown breakfast it was off to coach soccer for Paige's team. We won 3-0 and played the best game I have seen them play to date. Our paigey had so many chances but just couldn't put the ball in the net! She is so close to chalking one up so hopefully next game she pop a couple in. The game was followed up by a mini family reunion of Cheryl's cousins. We were going to have a picnic but got rained out so we went to East Side Mario's for supper. Fantastic meal and what a busy place. This morning was an excellent church experience, followed by a nice relaxing afternoon and then at 5 I went to play ball. Paige and Danae brought a couple of friends out to watch the game and Cheryl also decided to join them so I had a cheering section. We won our game and then decided to head over to the team captains house for an after game party. They are the proud owners of two bull dogs. Those dogs were definitely the show of the party. Each waddling around snorting like pigs eating what ever happened to fall to the ground. Very funny. I have made such good friends by being involved in our local fire department. It was a fitting finish to a great weekend to hang out with these bunch of crazy guys. As I write this my whole family has slipped into bed and are starting to drift off to sleep. I have been blessed with such a good and enjoyable life. I am very gratefully.

Emotional maturity must accompany Spiritual maturity

Well today I was able to attend a free workshop for pastors sponsored by Focus on the Family. My good friend from Bible School, Steve Wilson, was the organizer of the event so I went mostly to support him in his ministry. I did go with lower expectations as I am not always the biggest fan of the focus on the family ministry. However I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of speaker they brought in all the way from N.Y. His name is Peter Scazzero and he started his church 17 years ago and has stuck with it all these years. That alone was interesting as his journey closely paralleled my own here in Peachland. He authored a book entitled "the emotionally healthy church" and that was the focus of our seminar today. His basic thesis is that Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible for a Christian to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. That when we join Gods family we need to be "re-parented" into emotional wholeness and this is the basic direction of discipleship ministry within the church. Things he mentioned were like, as a leader start with yourself embracing the new person you were called to be in Christ. Then knowing your gifts and limits, embracing grief and loss in all it forms as normal and finally he did a really good job of establishing the need for a contemplative lifestyle of silence, solitude and Sabbath.
Anyway, it was very good so I bought the book and hope to use it to teach my leadership with.

Rain

Rain. I love rain. I love how the sky changes color from blue into ever increasing shades of gray-blackness. I love the sound of deep rumbling thunder that shacks the house and makes the dog go crazy. I love the sight of lightening as it cracks open the sky with absolute brilliance. I love to hear the sound of rain on the window or roof or the windshield of my truck as I drive. I love how everything is cleaned up by rain and afterwards there is that fresh pungent smell that cuts through the air from the ground up. Rain. For some reason I couldn't remember the last time we had an all day all night rain here in Peachland. I found myself constantly looking out the window of the store where my office is located to watch the rain fall and drops splashing on the road forming huge puddles. Today when Cheryl and I were walking we watched a boy on a scooter run through a huge puddle over and over again. Making waves! The rain brought a reprieve from our busy baseball schedule, it gave us the night off so we played family card games till bedtime. Rain. I love it when I feel rain in my soul. God pouring out his love and mercy drops into my life. The sound of his grace splashing upon the surface of my heart. The waves of his forgiveness washing over me leaving a fresh clean smell from the ground up. Rain in me Lord.

Gone fishing

Took our empty water bottles to my friends house this morning. Tony the water guy was there to meet me in his house coat. We made the exchange of empty ones for full water jugs then started yaking. He was on the opposite ball team yesterday so we reminisced over the game and re-lived the fun moments and the plays that stood out in our minds. I ended up going in for a cup of freshly ground coffee and more horse tales. During our chat he kept looking at his watch. As it turns out he was scheduled to go fishing with his brother. However, his brother ended up calling him from his vehicle and he was 1/2 way to the lake they had planned to go to. Tony was not one bit impressed and some good old fashioned brotherly "love" was exercised! It is true brothers are born for adversity! Anyway, because he was geared up to go fishing he decided to go down to Okanogan lake and put his boat in and go fishing. One of his customers who works downtown told him she sees big fish jumping all the time about 1000 feet off the shore. I quickly returned home, grabbed my fishing gear, hustled down to the Sears depot to get a fishing license and met Tony at the boat launch. Two and a half hours of sunshine, shooting the breeze, chomping on spitz and dragging the lines. I was the only one who had some action, 2 big bits and caught one 15"Rainbow Trout. We had a great time. I would have stayed out longer but I had scheduled a lunch date with Danae and had to hustle off to pick her up from school. We also had a great time together. When I told her about my adventure with Tony she was immediately making plans to invite a friend, take me and Tony out on the lake and do a little fishing of her own. That sounds good to me. Nice start to a day off.

Sports imitates life

What a great service today. Awesome Holy Spirit saturated worship and a fantastic testimony from one our young people who recently returned from Guiana, South America. I am pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye among us as she wept her way through her talk sharing of Gods powerful grace in her life. She was so moved by how God used their ministry group to literally deliver people from evil, to open the eyes of the blind and to see the lame walk. It was a tremendous time and our church was deeply moved by it.
After that I went out and played my first game of softball in about 3 years! I absolutely had a blast. They put me on 3rd base and fortunately I was able to make a couple of exciting plays. One play in particular was a diving catch but after making the snag I realized I would be too slow to get up and throw it so while lying face down in the dirt I passed it off to the pitcher who threw it to first for the out. Later people were calling it the Panasonic turning point of the game. I also hit a homer.
Something interesting did catch my attention while we were playing. I was playing with the firefighters team and in the middle of the game we had two emergency calls. So, while the team on field looked on, the "team" on the bench answered the emergency calls. We continued to play with sirens blaring. In the middle of playing we were in the middle of two emergencies. It was kind of a snap shot of what life is like. Parts of life are just skipping along while other parts of our life are experiencing some sort of trauma. I wondered about how many of the people on the two teams who were playing a great game of baseball, were quietly suffering relational trauma, or personal pain, or a health crisis or some other emergency. As I looked around I recognized a few who would fall into this category. It is amazing how sport imitates life! The great bible missionary Paul recognized this connection and used athletics to help us understand how the Christian life works. Thanks for the fun of sports God, and thanks that they can teach us about life in you as well.
Oh by the way, the game ended in a 14 to 14 tie!

SSSSSSSSSSSSnake

This morning it was so beautiful outside I decided to walk down to my office for my 9:00 am elders meeting. I grabbed a handful of grapes and a tall Starbucks coffee mug, filled it with piping hot coffee from Tim Hortons and headed down the hill. The scenery was spectacular as the sun shimmered off the water below, the grapes were delightful and the coffee was impossible to drink. Have you ever tried to walk down a steep road and drink coffee at the same time? It was all over my hands, up my nose, splattered across my sunglasses, down my shirt, and the cream and sugar made it into a sticky gooey mess! DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!! Anyway, as I cut across a big open grassy area and came to the road side I almost stepped on a mound of snake! At first is was motionless, so I tapped it with my shoe to see if it was alive and its tale began to rattle and so I knocked it about again and he went into his defensive "S" formation like he was ready to strike. I moved back because I was suddenly aware that it may not have been a bull snake (harmless) but an actual rattle snake (you know what that means). So I quickly alerted the fellow doing his yard work near by. However, by the time we got back to the location of the snake it had already wisely vanished into a deep grassy ditch. After I told him about the encounter he was pretty sure that no rattle snake had been sited around that area for as long as he could remember (I think he mentioned 50 years), however, he did grab his little dog up into the safety of his arms. When he grabbed his little Schitzu like that his actions definitely spoke louder than his words. He swooped that little mutt up into his arms and whisked him away to safety. I looked a bit further in the ditch but decided I was going to be late for my meeting. I also didn't want to risk being the first person in Peachland to discover a rattle snake the hard way!
Just some of my adventures in Peachland. Hope your having a good day.

Lacking Nothing

Well it is nearing the end of my Friday office time. Thought I would jot down the good news that came out of my regularly scheduled eye doctors appointment this afternoon. After a very thorough investigation Dr. Noell said, " Kevin without a doubt something supernatural has been a work here!" He was responding to how well my eye had healed and how almost all of the scar tissue is gone from my left eye. It is barely recognizable that there was any problem at all. He must have said he was happy to see how well I was doing about 5 times during the examination.
I have to say, this whole journey with the eye has definitely been a faith building experience. I have seen and sensed the presence of God at work in my life while going through this life changing event. It is one of those things that you would never wish to see happen to anyone but in the end, after seeing the positive results, way down deep inside, you're glad for the experience. James the half brother of Jesus said it this way. "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials brothers and sisters knowing this, that the testing of your faith produced patience and let patience have it perfect work that you may be perfect and entire lacking nothing."
Thanks Lord for the experience and for drawing near to me as I drew near to you. Thanks for your healing touch and thanks for the prayers of church, family and friends that knit us closer together and that you built up our faith by your gracious answers. It is true, it definitely feels like I am lacking absolutely nothing!

Accusations

I'm on a lunch break so I thought I would write a little quickie. Today I had a guy who called himself Eugene Peterson stop by at around 10 AM while I was working in my office. He came barging in, plunked his stuff down on my office floor, told me his name, told me he had talked to me before, (which he hadn't) then he let me have it. Both barrel's of pure slimmy accusations. All about how I never did anything for the lost, those who need assistance I just ignore. He said I was just like all the rest of those pastors out there just looking after their own. Nobody ever helps him, they take one look at his he dirty clothes, unshaven face and walk away. He had had it with Christians who just left him hungry and angry. This went on and on for about 10 minutes and I just sat there and let him cough up his hairball. He kept stopping to see if he was going to get a reaction out of me but I just sat there quietly listening. My silence unnerved him a bit. Then I finally asked what it was he wanted help with and it started the whole show all over again. I finally took him for a bowl of soup and a quick ride to Westbank where I bought him a one way ticket to Armstrong. That is where he wanted to go. After he got into my truck I confronted him on his horrible way of asking for help. All he had to do was tell me honestly what he wanted without all the unfounded accusations. I said it was not suprising to me that he received very little help. He sat for a bit in silence and then he apologized. He asked me if I knew Pastor Tom from Cold lake and I said yes and that my brother works with him. He really liked that. He also asked me if I knew Kevin Hogan in Sylvan Lake and a few other Alliance pastors even the one in Hythe Alberta. He even asked me if I had ever heard of Eugene Peterson, you know the guy who wrote The Message? I told him I had and that I enjoyed his "book". Anyway I dropped him off, he thanked me and began to down his soup while he waited for 10 min. until the bus came. Come to think of it I should have had him sign my copy of The Message! There is never a dull moment around here.

CHEERS!

Yesterday at fire practice one of the female firefighters in our hall had her birthday announced. She was turning 25 years old. Instantly and without any forethought or hesitation I started in with one of the baseball cheers my girls use when someone on the field makes it home. Or sometimes the opposition team will come over and with arms up create a kind of arch-way that the girls run through while being cheered on. It goes like this; "we are proud of you, we are proud of you (clap clap) and then repeats itself over and over again. Well that's what I did without thinking and before I could hold back the words the cheer spilled out. One of the guys turned and looked at me kind of strange like and muttered that he thought that was kind of a wired birthday song. A few others just chuckled at how strange of a guy they know I am. I felt the need to explain but somehow knew it would be lost in translation.


Cheering is such a big part of our game plan that during baseball season I often go to bed with some crazy cheer running loose in my mind. I even wake up with them swimming around in my head. As I am writing this I am realizing that this same thing happens to me every year and without fail the cheers come out of me in some situation other than a baseball game.
It got me to thinking, why is it somehow "unacceptable behavior" to cheer someone else just for the sake of cheering for them. We all need to be cheered on, even the bible indicates that we all have a "heavenly cheering section". I've decided I don't care any more about the looks and the jeers about my cheering. I am going to give as many cheers as I can to whomever needs one.
Whose in your corner cheering you on? If you've got someone it sure feels good but if you don't have anyone cheering you on you are really missing out!

CHEERS!