here is mine chris

http://www.myheritage.com

Weekend of Celebrations

Saturday evening will always be held as a great memory for me. Cheryl and I attended the PFRS Officers Banquet. During the evening Fire Chief Grant Topham and Assistant Chief Paul Cloutier presented me with my retirement gift. A pencil sketched picture of our old parade truck, a 1950-something Dodge and our new 2004 American Lefrance Engine 22 parked in front of our hall, Station 21. It is beautifully framed and will be a nice addition to whatever office I may end up having in the future. When they presented it to me the whole room stood their feet and clapped, it was humbling to say the least. Here are a few pictures of my time here with PFRS.

Sunday Morning was also a celebration. Westside Alliance Church held their 25th Anniversary. They honoured us with an offering at the end of the service and also had me pray a prayer of blessing upon the church. It was fun to reconnect with a great bunch of folks who were with me in my first 6 years of ministry. It was a grace-filled place to "get my wings" and for that I will always feel a debt of gratitude. There were some pictures taken at this event as well that I tried to include here but for whatever reason they are not cooperating!
Oh well, it was a very fun weekend.

So Long Little Buddy

Well, the first of our little fuzzy creatures has found a good home. Sonny went to a family full of young kids who are crazy about him. In fact I heard reports yesterday that he had already made his way into one of the kid’s classrooms as a show and tell item. He really liked that when we took him there for the girls when they were that age. He enjoys all the attention and that just makes me feel good. He is happy and adjusting just fine to his new surroundings. Sonny’s leaving was not that hard on us as a family, only Paige was sad as the other two girls both have their cats that they spend all their attention on. I suppose that will be a much sadder day for them when it arrives. We plan on handing them over to their new owners on November 30th. That’s the cats not the girls!
I woke up this morning thinking of our 3 awesome girls and how they will handle that day and prayed for them. They have had such great attitudes about this move and all the sacrifices they are willing to make to see it happen. Not too many teenagers are so willing to have as good an attitude as these 3 beautiful girls. I thank God on a regular basis for them; they are a great source of joy in my life. And I thank God for such a great woman of faith they have to follow as an example in their mother. WOW this is getting kinda sappy!
On another note, we were able to find a buyer for our van. And just as everything else about this move it has fallen into place in a beautiful fashion. The folks who want it are willing to let us keep it until we leave and are willing to take it whenever we are ready to hand it over. Isn’t God just amazing! He even cares about silly material stuff like this! We know that the van will be a great blessing to this young family.
Today is day #1 of our moving schedule. I have a friend coming over with his truck and we will be moving most of our bedroom stuff, a hutch and our TV stand over to Bruce and Niki's basement suite. We are also moving Paiges dresser and Mackenzies desk to a family here in Peachland. Then tonight we have our Annual Peachland Fire and Rescue Officers Christmas Banquet. Apparently they are going to be giving me some sort of plaque for my years of service here in Peachland. That should be interesting and fun.
Well, I guess I had better get moving---literally!
God is good all the time.

Champions

Near Half Moon Bay in August in the dead of winter


As my cousin Stu so elequently put it in his most recent email, "Hopefully living in Half Moon Bay will remind Kevin to pull up his pants!" Both Cheryl and I got a great laugh out of it but then I started wondering just how much of my moon he has seen; was there emotional truama; nightmares; shortness of breath; cold sweats????? I think you should consider getting some professional help cuz!

Any way, this past Sunday I was able to preach again for the first time in over a month. I sooooooooooooo enjoyed it. The invitation came from some friends of ours from Westside Alliance days who moved out to Armstrong several years ago. Their pastor has resigned recently and so they have asked me to preach a few Sundays which of course I am happy to oblige them. Speaking of Westside Alliance, they are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this coming Sunday and have asked me to come and participate in the festivities. We've also been informed of their desire to do something really nice for us in support of our new upcoming ministry in New Zealand. We are blessed and humbled that they would consider doing this for us on such a special day for them. What a great support team we have!
So this weekend went smoothly, not to many hick-ups as we spent most of it buried in boxes, drawers, and bedrooms. Cheryl is the mastermind behind the time lines and what to pack on which weekend and where to put it. She is such a great organizer and the feeling of accomplishment that comes over the family when we have been able to conquer a part of the packing war on schedule is really good. One thing we would ask you to pray for is the selling of both our van and truck. We would like to see this done as soon as possible.
Emotionally, we had a bit of a roller coaster week including a few tears, some short fuses with each other and of coarse some awesome prayer times and answers to those prayers. There are moments when we are overwhelmed with the massiveness of this whole ordeal. We question God, we question our motives, we pile up some worry over all the "what-ifs" of the future, we battle our fears, and we sometimes battle each other. The tests that come from following after God in transition really do show us what we are made of. Both the good and the not so good! But through all this we get some encouraging emails that we can laugh at and we read of those who have been praying for us. At that moment we are suddenly aware we are in a spiritual war. We know our Commander and Chief has assigned us to a new place and we know that our champions of prayer are behind us and their prayers have sustained us; and empowered us; and keep us going. So thanks for your prayers they mean so much to us, more than words can say.
Well, that's all for now... until next time... play nice in the sandbox out there will ya! (to quote one of our local DJ's)
God is Good all the Time!

Death & Dying

This morning during the breakfast hour we had a strange and unusual conversation going on. It was about our life insurance and the certainty of our deaths, all of our deaths really. The facial expressions of our kids as they listened in were priceless to say the least. Every once in a while there was an extended sigh or awe followed by a mumbled confidence builder that we weren’t planning on dying any time soon – right?
Lets face it, death is just one of those subjects that doesn’t get a lot of air time unless your hanging around funeral homes, cancer wards or watching the history channel. The reality of course that we all must face our own deaths, therefore, being prepared is really wise, helpful even hopeful.
This week one of my best friends in Peachland suffered a heart attack. (See blog below) His story was fascinating to say the least. While taking a nice Sunday afternoon hike with his wife he began to feel the symptoms. Eventually his wife who is a nurse began to suspect the worst and had him lie down while she hustled down to our neighbourhood to call 911. While lying there, trying to control his breath to find a rhythm that reduced the pressure in his chest, he was suddenly aware that this may be the place where he was to pass away. He said that he told the Lord he was ready and that if this was going to be the last thing he saw on earth it was sure beautiful. He was at peace and he was ready to meet his Lord and friend Jesus. Death held no fear over him. Like the bible says, Death is the destiny of everyone; the wise man takes it to heart and prepares for it. My friend is prepared!
How about you? When was the last time you had a good chin wag over the subject of your own death? Are you ready to meet your creator? I certainly hope so. It is possible to be like my friend, ready at a moments notice to go on into eternity with Jesus. It begins with trusting him to give you new life in exchange for your sin ridden old life. It is one of those things that just should not be procrastinated over!
God is Good All the Time!

Pray for my Friend

Cheryl and I were out in Kelowna and Danae had stayed home. Our cell phone rang and it was Danae wondering about all the commotion happening right outside our front door. She reported that there were a couple of ambulances and the PFRS fire truck parked outside with emergency lights flashing. We told her everything would be fine and that I would be home in very short while. And that was about all there was to this story until the next day. In the morning I was trying to get my computer up and running and I was on the phone with my computer expert friend Jamie. At the end of our conversation he mentioned that it was too bad about what happened to one of the fellows in our Friday morning men's group. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and that's when he spilled the news that our good friend and brother in Christ had suffered a heart attack while hiking up in the woods above our house on Sunday afternoon.
I couldn't get into Kelowna on Monday but yesterday I was able to go in and see him. He doing OK and under observation. He seemed in good spirits and is recovering. Though it was a mild heart attack it was a heart attack none the less and in that sense there is nothing mild about it! Any way if those of you who read my blogs wouldn't mind, I would love it if you could send up a prayer for his complete recovery from all this scary stuff.
Thanks and bless you all
God is Good All the Time!

Band Of Brothers

Yesterday I was able to attend my regular Friday morning 9-11 event. It is a group of about 6-8 men who meet together each week to enjoy a great homemade breakfast, cup or two of coffee, discuss the topics of the day, and eventually we enter into a time around God's Word and prayer. I started this group about 7 or 8 years ago and some of the members have come and gone but for the most part there is a solid core of terrific fellows. Doing life together, sharing the good times and the hard times, seeking the council of respected brothers, finding support when times are really tough, and being able to return the favour when times are tough for others. It is easily one of the most rewarding and beneficial events of my life here in Peachland. I will defiantly miss this group when it is time to set sail for NZ.
A band of brothers is what every man needs. Good brothers who are there for us, who are committed to our well-being, who have our best interests in mind even when it is a hard thing to say (or hear). "As Iron sharpens Iron so one man sharpens another"
Latter in the evening Cheryl and I took Paige and Danae to “The Santa Clause 3” movie. They invited their friends along and there was 8 of us in total. We had a very relaxing evening and it was fun to be together. Mackenzie went to a B.C. wide United Church Camp with a really close friend of hers out in Naramata. She will be back on Monday.
This morning Cheryl and I went for brunch with a couple of really great friends. It is something that we really enjoy doing together. Later this afternoon, P & D are having 15 friends over for a make-up party! I think I will go swimming or something just to get out of here. Then it is off to church in Vernon tonight.
I think I will drop by my old church tomorrow morning and say hello to everyone there.
Have a good one everybody!

God is Good All the Time!

YEE HA Cowboys for Jesus!

Winter happened yesterday! We got snow... 5 cm of the white stuff... which is pretty normal around this time of year I guess. I decided with a few promptings from my wife to go out into the wintery weather and drop in on a little local church gathering that meets on Thursday nights. Around the end of September our family friends, Blair and Brenda Bates felt led of the Lord to start a local cowboy church. It meets every second Thursday up the Peachland Riding Club in their club house. It all started back in late spring from a local fella who happened to be watching a cowboy church gathering on TV. He decided that Peachland needed one of those churches though he himself is not a "church-going" man much at all. He approached Blair because he knew he was an ordained minister and asked him if he would ever consider doing this sort of thing for the local cowboy community. After some prayer and careful planning they decided not to let this invitation slip by and started up a local chapter. They went online and found out there is quite the growing phenomenon that stretches from Texas to Alberta and BC and everywhere in between. The Lord led them to some very helpful folks who were already involved in the Cowboy Church movement and the rest as they say is history.
The service meets on Thursday evening’s because many of the weekends are taken up with rodeos. The format is simple, a few country sounding songs, a reading of some cowboy poetry, a simple salvation message and a few closing comments followed by some coffee, cookies and cake. I was blessed for having been there and Brenda, who happened to be the speaker last night, did a fantastic job of communicating the hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you want to check out this little church here is the link. http://www.bestlifesuccess.com/cowboyvalleychurch/
Enjoy, God is Good All the Time!

Macbeth RD Style

RD stands for readers digest. That’s what happened last night when MacKenzie’s drama class did a 30 minute drama of a play that would normally take closer to 2 hours. It was fun. Of course MacKenzie did an awesome job of her witch’s part. No pictures were taken last night but there is a rumour going around that tonight will be picture night. That means once again that I will post some pictures of this event later to the blog.
The theme of the story is clear; it is not good to want something you shouldn’t have but could take. And, if you end up taking what is not right for you to take you certainly will not enjoy it for long. And when you take something that does not belong to you then the chances of even your once best friend deciding to take it from you are very real. Basically, Macbeth is a masterpiece of the consequences of deciding to ignore the very basic moral codes of life given by God in the 10 commandments - not to covet - not to kill - not steal - and not to lie. It also includes a healthy dose of "bad company corrupts good morals" and be careful who you marry! Even though the kids raced through the key moments of the Shakespearean play the message was clear as if a preacher had stood up and preached a sermon. I loved it. Tonight I will post the pictures.
God Is Good All the Time! (PS Mackenzie wants you to check out her blog as well...kenz911.blogspot.com)

Take your Daughter to Work Day

Today should be a pile-0-fun. MacKenzie has a class at school that is expecting me to take her along with me to work. As it turns out she inadvertently invited 3 of her friends to join us for take your daughter to work day. Right to left... Teala, Bryanne, Catilena (cat) and MacKenzie. So now I have to come up with enough work for them to do to keep them busy. I spoke to the fire chief about it yesterday and we have one exciting time planned for them. They will be able to help me clean a couple of shelves, return a whole lot of pylons to thier proper place in the hall, tag SCBA bottles for service and go for a fire truck ride along. Should be a real busy time. I have a suspicion that they will be working pretty hard and that the time will go by pretty fast. (Although they may not think so) Anyway, I am just happy to have my kid hang around with me for a good part of the day. We have lunch planned at the fire hall and during that time they have planned an interview with me. What a fun day ahead. Then tonight, we are all off to watch MacKenzie’s school play, Macbeth I believe it is. She ended up with one of the Witches parts with a few others. If we take a few pictures of our time together today I will post a couple later on.
Have a good one everyone.
God is Good All the Time!