The jack-in-the-box

Growing up as a child we had a jack-in-the-box in our family. Sometimes I would grab that handle and spin it as fast as I could to see how fast I could get the music to go while holding down the lid. I can still remember the tune it played.

I bought the jack-in-the-box pictured here for my niece and what was the first thing I did when I got it? Spun that handle as fast as I could to see how fast the music would go. Is this a guy thing? Focus! Focus!

The jack-in-the-box we had was a clown with thin plastic hands. Sometimes I would stick his hands out, push the rest of him into the box and close the lid. The only part of the clown sticking out was his little plastic hands pinched between the lid. I wonder what is in that box? I see some plastic hands so there must be something in there, but what?

I heard a sermon recently about God living inside of us. It reminded me of this jack-in-the-box. How much of God's character do we show, just the hands? If somebody was to turn your handle, what would pop out? What music would you play? Let God out of your box. He wants to come out.

Life in the Inuksuk Pile

I was in Duncan on Monday visiting a friend. We went to Dairy Queen for something to eat. Dairy Queen in Duncan has planters along the booths with white stones in the planters. Being a mature adult waiting for a meal and sitting next to loose rocks I decided to build with them. What does a mature adult build with rocks? An Inuksuk (Innuit spelling).

I went on the internet today to try to figure out how to spell Inuksuk as I could not find a spelling in my dictionary. I also found out a little about them. Each stone is balanced and supported by others.

You provide balance and support to others. You are important! You are here for a purpose; your life has meaning. Why? Because that is the way God designed you.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

Kevin's Lumber Yard

Since about the middle of October I have been working Sundays. So no more going to church. This week I have been very annoyed by the fact that only one person has called me to see why I haven't been at church. Many people know why I haven't been to church, but I haven't been to anything else either due to my fluctuating schedule or because I just didn't want to go. Why hasn't anyone called me to see how I am doing?

Ring Ring!
"Hello?"
"Hey Kevin, it's God."
"Oh hey God"
"I would like to order four 2X4's and six 2X8's."
"What?"
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all time there is a plank in your own eye?" Mattew 7:3-4

Some time ago a man at our church had a stroke. I never went to the hospital to see him and I never called when I heard he had come home...I still haven't called.
When I was teaching Sunday School there was kids that just seemed to stop coming. What happened to Dakota, Cameron, Lizzy, Shania...? The list goes on and on.

Welcome to Kevin's Lumber Yard.

Fishing buddies and Tonka Joe

I was looking through some old papers a while ago and found a quote from a sermon I had heard, "Lone Rangers are Dead Rangers." This got me thinking about my post, "In the harbour". Not a good idea to be heading out to the open sea without other fishing buddies. As Ecclesiastes 4:12 puts it, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
We need fishing buddies for defense and preventitive maintenance.

As I heard from a sermon that was about loneliness: to overcome loniless, build bridges, not walls. It's hard to make friends when you are surrounded by walls. I have been reminded recently that if I am waiting for somebody to call me to say something like, "Hey man! What's going on?"It's not going to happen. I have to put my engineer hat on and start building bridges. You can call me Tonka Joe, from Tonka Joe Construction. Gotta go, I am expecting a delivery of steel girders.

I Will Praise You In This Storm

The waves they just seem to keep coming, relentlessy,

Again and again.

Lord, will you calm the storm?

You have calmed the storms so many times in my life

So why do I find myself questioning if you will do it again.

This time it's different though.

But is it really?

You are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Lord, calm me.

In the harbour

It's is nice in the harbour, even on a foggy day. The colours may be muted, but it is still a pretty place to be. A harbour by nature is a shelther from the storm.

I was at a church service this week and the question was asked, "What are you hungry for?"
During the service I could picture a fishing vessel heading out of the harbour into the open water, bobbing up and down with seagulls flying around.

Out in the open it is not so safe. The water is much deeper and the wind much stronger, but the water is much fresher. Am I hungry to go deeper with God? Am I willing to get knocked around by the storms of life because of what I believe? Am I willing to put my faith into action? Is God really my anchor in the sea of suffering?

Maybe you are just coming into the harbour from being battered around out there. Welcome, enjoy your stay and get refreshed, repaired, restored and whatever else you need to do. You can take my berth, I've been in the harbour far too long.

Turn signals

One of my pet peeves while driving is the fact that people don't use their turn signals."Nice signal buddy!" All vehicles have them and I am sure the majority of them work. People just decide not to use them. They benefit the driver but they also benefit those around the driver, maybe even more so than the driver.

God has given us all gifts. They benefit us, but they are also given to benefit those around us. Use your gifts!

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Reminders

I must admit I am struggling with this flight back down to the ground. Maybe it was a case of friendly fire? No, I don't think so. Below are reminders that tell me to just wait.

"Will you follow where I lead?"
"Will you surrender all to me? All the dreams, all the plans?"

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..." Jeremiah 29:11

God does the impossible. He is an impossible God

He sees each tear that falls and he hears me when I call - song, He knows my name

Maybe God wants for me the exact thing that I want.

Don't settle for second best.

I got to tell you I feel a lot better now than when I started entering this blog.

Boom Baby!

Ahhhh, flying the friendly skies. I think today I will fly over enemy territory and see if that special young lady has any mutal feelings for me. BOOM! Whoa! Taking some damage, but I am still flying. No worries, I'll just head back to base. BOOM! Direct hit! Mayday Mayday! I can't hold her any longer. I'm going down. I have to bail out!

So off comes the canopy and a push of the ejection button and whoosh, I am clear of my burning wreakage I once called a possibility. Another dream shot down to earth in a heap of flames, but it's not so bad. The journey back to earth is a time to reflect on what happened. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Better to live in reality than fantasy.

Prayer is a dangerous thing.

"Lord help me to know if I should pursue a relationship with this particular person."

"Sure, no problem. I can do that."

BOOM! BOOM!

"Thanks Lord...your hilarious."

When I finally reach the ground, it will be time to find the airport, get in another plane, and wait for clearance to go flying again.

What do you want?

Every once and awhile somebody will approach me and I know that the only reason they are going to come talk to me is because they want something, not because they care to know how I am doing, or anything else about me. Sometimes I wish they would just want to say hello.

Having said that, do I treat God that way? "Hey God, how are you? Yah yah whatever. I got this problem and I need you to fix it for me."

I met this fellow a few years ago and he said that he told God jokes. I thought he was crazy. Telling God jokes! Seriously? As I think about it now, maybe it's not so crazy. Maybe that is the way our relationship with God is supposed to be. A real relationship, not just wanting stuff all the time but wanting to just spend time with Him.

I might not start telling Him jokes, but I can cetainly improve on my just spending time with Him.

What happened???

I have been offline for a month. That is why there has not been any recent posts to my blog. But why, why has there not been any posts? When your arms are fuzzy it is hard to type. Now that I have shaved my arms here is the reason.

In the middle of October I went away to a thing called an Encounter Weekend. This is when you dedicate the whole weekend to being with God and learning more about Him. At the end of the weekend there is an option to take a 30 day media fast. That includes no books, no music, no tv, no video games, no internet-unless it is for work. The idea being it helps you focus on God. Oh, you can read your Bible.

It was hard at times but for the most part I didn't miss the media. The other day I turned on my radio and shortly after it was on I turned it off. I didn't need it, it was annoying.

I had a few blog ideas while I was on my media fast and I hope to share them shortly.

Pick your battles

Have you ever received a poison email? Maybe you have sent a poison email. The old adage is true. It is better to give than receive.

Oh how techonology has opened up wonderful ways for us to get back at each other. Unfortunately email lacks inflection in tone, and body language. At least with the phone you used to be able to slam the reciever back into it's cradle to make a point. But now there is a pleasant little 'click'.

My point. Think twice before you send that email. Is it really worth the battle you may start, or continue?

An offended brother is more unyeilding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel - Proverbs 18:19

Do you hear what I hear?

WARNING: If you don't like gross things, you won't want to read the first part, just skip to the second paragraph.

This morning I was awoken by a familiar sound. The sound of one of my cats vomitting somewhere in the apartment. As I lay in my bed I was trying to figure out which cat it was before I got up to find out where they where and how much of a mess they had made. I am familiar enough with the sounds that I able to figure out most times which cat is disloding a hairball, plant dirt or whatever it is that is disagreeing with them. This skill, if you can call it a skill, takes time.

How skillfull are we at distinguishing the voice of God from our own? I don't always get it right as I am very good at justifying what I want to do and somehow line it up Biblically. The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. Jeremiah 17:9. You would be wise to check it out for yourself.

Let's not give up on the practicing of listening for God. Tune your internal radio to His station and in time there will be less and less static and we will hear Him more clearly.

Animal Tracks

I work at a golf course and at this particular golf course we have sand traps. We also have wildlife, such as, blacktailed deer, Canadian Geese, American Geese if their passports are up to date, racoons and other such critters. These animals sometimes like to walk through the sand traps. They leave footprints which give us evidence that they have been in the sand trap.

The other day on my way home from work I had a statement come up in my mind as might be asked by a non-Christian. "Show me evidence that He lives inside of you."

I thought about some of the things I do. Is this evidence, or is it just a show? "We can do it too Poochanella Poochanella" as the Elementary song goes.

Where is the God Print in my life?

Go Deep

On the weekend I was playing flag football. In one of the huddles the quaterback told me to run straight down the field and just keep going. If I was open he would throw me the ball. After the play started, off I went. I beat my coverage, Shadow Brown, and had gone a far distance down the field and thought to myself, I have gone to far; he can't throw it that far. I could hear the quaterback faintly in the distance, "keep going, keep going". I slowed down but kept moving farther down the field. The quaterback let go of the ball and it sailed way over my head. The quaterback knew he could throw that far. He knew what he was talking about.

How many times do we limit God. God, you can't do that. It's too far, it's too hard, it's not natural.

What's that Lord? Yes Lord, going deep.

Broken Wheelbarrow

A long long time ago in a land not so far away, I was using a wheelbarrow. I was piling rocks in it and hauling them away. On one of those loads I put too many rocks in it and the wheelbarrow tipped over. The wheelbarrow was made of hard plastic and when it tipped the cargo area flexed with the weight that was in it and large crack was created in the bottom of the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow still works but it makes it hard to put water in it to wash tools or soak potted plants when water keeps leaking out of it.

We are like that wheelbarrow. We make mistakes and get cracked and broken and then figure God can't use us anymore. We may be broken but God can still use us. The Bible is full of people just like you and me who have made bad choices who have gone on to do incredible things for God. David and Moses come to mind right away. You may be broken but God can still use you...and he can use me too.

When the fog rolls in

Oh the joy of oil painting. I start out with such vigor and things go great. The painting gets further and further along and then it happens. I realize something is not right. Now what am I going do?Oil painting is not like drawing where out comes the Pink Pearl eraser when I make a booboo. I have two choices, wipe it off or use more paint. Trying to cover up mistakes is difficult and the painting starts to look like a big fog has come in covering over all the details.

How often in life do we start out with great vigor? What happens when the fog rolls in? How close are those rocks in the sea of life that looked so far in the distance before the fog rolled in?

Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death. How about the valley of what ever we are going through? I believe He will. Maybe at this time, you are like me, and you seem to be in that fog and the details have become smudged. Rest assure if we look to our Shepherd He will lead us through and the sun will once again shine.

And my painting will once again have details and be finished.

Favourite Inventor

Do you have a favourite inventor? I do and it's Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb.
How about a second favourite inventor? How about Archimedes, you know, the maker of the Archimedes screw for drawing water up from ditches to irrigation canals.

The great thing I like about the stories about Edison is that he was accustomed to failure. But he didn't quit. "Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10, 000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed." - Thomas Edison.

Failure is normal, and haven't we all failed. I know I have, whether it be failed tests, failed relationships, failed dreams, or failing to clean up my apartment. I am working on the apartment thing...really I am.

I am reading a book called, "The Art of Rejection" by Hayley DiMarco and Michael DiMarco. They use Edison as an example and his invention of the lightbulb, and maybe that is why I like the book so much.

Every undesirable result brings me one step closer to finding the answer. One day I will invent the lightbulb.

How hard could it be?

Today I made my way down to Duncan to visit a friend to play some golf...I totally rallied, great word Heather. Anyhow, while I was down there I thought I might as well go find the airport in Duncan after I had finished visiting. I have had some interest in finding it as I am a former student pilot. So the time came for the adventure to the airport.

I had a general idea of where to go, but not really. How hard could it be? Things where going great until I came to a four way stop, or was it a five way stop? Anyhow, which was the right way? I choose a direction and went with it. After driving for what seemed a long time I decided to pull over and see if my map of the Cowichan Valley was still in my vehicle. It was, so I located it and still got a little lost but eventually found my way to the private airstrip. When it came time to drive back to town, with the help of the map, I discovered that the airstrip really wasn't that far from the main road. I had made my journey way harder than it had to be without the map.

My adventure is not unlike my Spiritual walk at times. I figure I can make it on my own. How hard could it be? After awhile I eventually do pull over and look for the map I have had from the very start.

"Maybe you should pull over?"
"No Lord, just a little bit further I think I can make it from here."
"Ok, but I am here when you need me."

I may have the Bible but it also helpful to have people to guide us who have been down the same road. Just like when I asked a gentleman working in his garden if he knew where the airport was. I read the map wrong and it lead to his house, but he had been down the road to the airport before and was able to guide me back on the right path.

I am reminded of a message given by Chris King that went something like this. As long as we keep moving God can still direct us. It may take longer to get where He wants us, but we will eventually get there.

Get those roots down

Back in elementary school I can clearly remember a science project I saw in one of our text books dealing with erosion. It had a before and after picture of the effects of erosion. There was pile of soil with coloured popsicle sticks placed in it. The popsicle sticks where standing straight up. After water was applied to the soil the popsicle sticks where no longer straight but a various angles. Erosion changes things.

My Christian life is also subject to erosion. Erosion doesn't happen all of a sudden, it's gradual, from my understanding. My thought life can erode my Christian walk. Summer is tough on a guy. There is a lot of erosion out there...any time of the year. If you think you are going to be safe at church, don't kid yourself. I find that can be one of the worst places. The mall ranks right up there in the top three. Not sure what the third is? I will have to think about that one.

So how do we fight erosion? "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands." Psalm 119: 9-10

One way to stop erosion in the natural is by having plants send down roots. So we should do the same. I need to send my roots deeper into the word of God. Psalm 1 talks about the righteous, being "...like a tree that is planted by the sreams of water which yeilds its fruit in season and does not wither." I want to be that tree.