Here are a few pictures from our trip:
As you can see, we hit up some waterslides, which were great fun.
Hopefully we'll do it again next year!!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Camping trip
Last weekend my wife was gone at a women's retreat, so I decided to go camping with my two boys. I took them to Cultus Lake near Chilliwack, BC. My sister Terri, brother Jeremy, and cousin Cameron all came as well. We had a great weekend. The boys were pretty good. A few tired times, but they were great.
Here are a few pictures from our trip:
As you can see, we hit up some waterslides, which were great fun.
Hopefully we'll do it again next year!!
Here are a few pictures from our trip:
As you can see, we hit up some waterslides, which were great fun.
Hopefully we'll do it again next year!!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Change of blog idea!
Alright, so it seems that I'm not good at the 'thoughts' part of Neil's Thoughts, so I've decided to change it to 'Neil's life with kids' and keep you all updated on what my precious little angels are doing. Hopefully I'll be better at doing this than I was at sharing my thoughts.
So just this morning Jen and I found red crayon all over our white couch! It must have been Ben because Nathan is too old to do silly things like that (unless he's figured out that he can do something and Ben will be blamed for it!). Also today, Nathan has informed Jen and myself about how he once jumped off of his loft bed onto Ben's bed below in the middle of the night! He said it was a lot of fun, and we said that he's in big trouble if he ever does it again!
Anyway, we'll see how I do at this.
Neil
So just this morning Jen and I found red crayon all over our white couch! It must have been Ben because Nathan is too old to do silly things like that (unless he's figured out that he can do something and Ben will be blamed for it!). Also today, Nathan has informed Jen and myself about how he once jumped off of his loft bed onto Ben's bed below in the middle of the night! He said it was a lot of fun, and we said that he's in big trouble if he ever does it again!
Anyway, we'll see how I do at this.
Neil
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Decisions
It's been a while since I've written on this thing. I guess I just got so busy with life that I actually forgot it existed. It seems hard to keep everything straight these days. Life just seems to fly by and there is never enough time to do everything that needs to get done. I just remembered that I have this blog and decided to update anyone who still checks it on what life decisions we are being faced with right now!
We are still in Vernon and we love it here. I'm just scared that there is not much in terms of career advancment in Vernon. My job is fine for now, but the funding might very well be up at the end of February 2007. After that, I don't know if I have a job or not. With this in mind, we're always thinking of what God has in store for us next. Some ideas we've had are to become Officers in The Salvation Army. I strongly believe that that is where we'll end up someday so why not just do it now and get it over with!! Another idea is to move back to Vancouver Island to attend university so I can finish off a degree in Criminology and get a job as a youth probation officer. I'd do it on the island because there is no Criminology programs in the Vernon area or full degrees online (if you find one, let me know. It obviously has to be a Canadian institution, preferably BC). We could also just stay in Vernon and hope that my job will be here next year, or I could get a job in the labour force and possibly not enjoy it very much, plus definately not make as much as I do now, which would be difficult. There is also possibly a youth pastor position opening up at the church I grew up in, in Port Alberni in the next few months. I will consider applying to this if it is where I feel God is calling me and my family.
Anyway, it is very hard to make decisions like this and I wish that I didn't have to make them. But we do, and we continue to trust that God will bless us no matter what or where we serve, as long as we're serving Him and being obediant to Him.
Thanks for listening. If you have any thoughts as to what we should do, send me a comment.
Cheers,
Neil
We are still in Vernon and we love it here. I'm just scared that there is not much in terms of career advancment in Vernon. My job is fine for now, but the funding might very well be up at the end of February 2007. After that, I don't know if I have a job or not. With this in mind, we're always thinking of what God has in store for us next. Some ideas we've had are to become Officers in The Salvation Army. I strongly believe that that is where we'll end up someday so why not just do it now and get it over with!! Another idea is to move back to Vancouver Island to attend university so I can finish off a degree in Criminology and get a job as a youth probation officer. I'd do it on the island because there is no Criminology programs in the Vernon area or full degrees online (if you find one, let me know. It obviously has to be a Canadian institution, preferably BC). We could also just stay in Vernon and hope that my job will be here next year, or I could get a job in the labour force and possibly not enjoy it very much, plus definately not make as much as I do now, which would be difficult. There is also possibly a youth pastor position opening up at the church I grew up in, in Port Alberni in the next few months. I will consider applying to this if it is where I feel God is calling me and my family.
Anyway, it is very hard to make decisions like this and I wish that I didn't have to make them. But we do, and we continue to trust that God will bless us no matter what or where we serve, as long as we're serving Him and being obediant to Him.
Thanks for listening. If you have any thoughts as to what we should do, send me a comment.
Cheers,
Neil
Monday, April 10, 2006
God's Word
Man it's been a long while since I've written anything on this blog. Life is so busy that I forget most of the time that I even have it. Anyway, here it goes for today.
The other day I was in the 24/7 prayer room that Pathways, my church plant has opened up. I was doing a Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) excercise which is an excercise where you listen to God through the reading of His word. Man, did God ever give me a kick in the pants. I was reading Psalm 23... The Lord is my Shepard...etc. As I was reading it, I was stopping to reflect on each promise that God was giving us. In the midst of reading it, I decided to sing it in praise to God. After I was done reading the passage a few times, I just sat and listened for the still, silent voice. All of a sudden, into my head popped three chapters of the Bible. The first was Hebrews 4, then 2 Timothy 2, finally Romans 10. So I cracked open my Bible to these chapters and read them. In each of the chapters, God spoke to me about His Word being alive and active. Hebrews 4:12-13 says: "For the Word of God is alive and active; sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." This really spoke to me about how reading His Word really will bring you closer to Him. I've been doing terribly lately at reading the Bible, but after God spoke to me through this, I've been doing better. Why wouldn't we want to read His Word. If that is one of His primary communication tools to us, we should utilize it and listen to Him from the words that we read. In 2 Timothy 2:9b says "But God's Word is not chained". Paul was explaining that he is writing his gospel even when he is chained. Romans 10:17 says: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ". This just tied up what God was saying to me: Faith comes through reading His Word.
Anyway, time is running out for me to finish, but I just wanted to encourage people to really sit and focus on a small passage from the Bible. Read it over and over again and really focus on what God is saying to you through it. Listen for that still, silent voice. He still speaks to us, just like He spoke to Elijah on the mountain.
Cheers.
The other day I was in the 24/7 prayer room that Pathways, my church plant has opened up. I was doing a Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) excercise which is an excercise where you listen to God through the reading of His word. Man, did God ever give me a kick in the pants. I was reading Psalm 23... The Lord is my Shepard...etc. As I was reading it, I was stopping to reflect on each promise that God was giving us. In the midst of reading it, I decided to sing it in praise to God. After I was done reading the passage a few times, I just sat and listened for the still, silent voice. All of a sudden, into my head popped three chapters of the Bible. The first was Hebrews 4, then 2 Timothy 2, finally Romans 10. So I cracked open my Bible to these chapters and read them. In each of the chapters, God spoke to me about His Word being alive and active. Hebrews 4:12-13 says: "For the Word of God is alive and active; sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." This really spoke to me about how reading His Word really will bring you closer to Him. I've been doing terribly lately at reading the Bible, but after God spoke to me through this, I've been doing better. Why wouldn't we want to read His Word. If that is one of His primary communication tools to us, we should utilize it and listen to Him from the words that we read. In 2 Timothy 2:9b says "But God's Word is not chained". Paul was explaining that he is writing his gospel even when he is chained. Romans 10:17 says: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ". This just tied up what God was saying to me: Faith comes through reading His Word.
Anyway, time is running out for me to finish, but I just wanted to encourage people to really sit and focus on a small passage from the Bible. Read it over and over again and really focus on what God is saying to you through it. Listen for that still, silent voice. He still speaks to us, just like He spoke to Elijah on the mountain.
Cheers.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Congrats Canada!!
I meant to post this the other day (when the Olympics were over) but I didn't have a chance. I just wanted to say how proud I am about how well Canada did at the Olympics this last month. If fourth place finishes were included on the podium, I'll bet that we would have had the most medals. Great job Olympians!! Can't wait till 2010 when we will show the world what we're really made of!!
When I saw some of the gold medalists being interviewed, I realized that this was it for them, they had achieved everything they had set out in life to do. Now what, I wondered. After the excitement of it all wears off will they find themselves wondering 'now what?'?
I was thinking about how great it would be if every believer had the same determination as the Olympic medalists, except for that their only goal in life was to live a life of Christlikeness, getting gold medals in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Everybody knows what these are... The Fruit of the Spirit. Wow, could you imagine a church body that only used these characteristics!! We wouldn't have to deal with politics, unforgiveness, unjustified critisism. We wouldn't be without mistakes but if we truly have Christ, we will be willing to take responsibility for our mistakes and apologize. We would all be about loving each other and others, and with love comes the rest of the fruits of the spirit. If we have true love, then we truly have Christ working through us.
Please continue to pray that I will be able to show all the fruits of the Spirit to my family because as of late, I have been failing to do so and I don't like it!! Also pray that my baby Benjamin will start to sleep better so that we can all get some rest. I am taking him to a Chiropractor today to see if that will help.
Take it easy today and really try to reflect on Galations 5:19-26 and see which category you find yourself living in now. Unfortunately, upon reflection I found myself relating to the list of sins more than the fruit.
Cheers
When I saw some of the gold medalists being interviewed, I realized that this was it for them, they had achieved everything they had set out in life to do. Now what, I wondered. After the excitement of it all wears off will they find themselves wondering 'now what?'?
I was thinking about how great it would be if every believer had the same determination as the Olympic medalists, except for that their only goal in life was to live a life of Christlikeness, getting gold medals in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Everybody knows what these are... The Fruit of the Spirit. Wow, could you imagine a church body that only used these characteristics!! We wouldn't have to deal with politics, unforgiveness, unjustified critisism. We wouldn't be without mistakes but if we truly have Christ, we will be willing to take responsibility for our mistakes and apologize. We would all be about loving each other and others, and with love comes the rest of the fruits of the spirit. If we have true love, then we truly have Christ working through us.
Please continue to pray that I will be able to show all the fruits of the Spirit to my family because as of late, I have been failing to do so and I don't like it!! Also pray that my baby Benjamin will start to sleep better so that we can all get some rest. I am taking him to a Chiropractor today to see if that will help.
Take it easy today and really try to reflect on Galations 5:19-26 and see which category you find yourself living in now. Unfortunately, upon reflection I found myself relating to the list of sins more than the fruit.
Cheers
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Missional Cafe
As a main part of Pathways (the church plant that I am involved in) we are excited about opening up a 'missional cafe'. I have removed the name of the cafe because we want the first 'google' spot to be for the official website and right now it is for my blog. The main focus behind this cafe is to connect with people primarily the ages of 13-30 (this doesn't mean we are leaving older people out, we are simply decorating and having the feel of the place focused on attracting the younger generation). We will be offering fair trade products (simply put, we are buying the coffee and other products from overseas at a price that will enable them to make a profit). Most other places who offer fair trade coffee (ie. Starbucks) have only one blend that is fair trade and the rest they pay peanuts for. As well as being a coffee house where we will interact and meet new people, it will also be our place of worship. In October, we will be returning to weekly or bi-weekly worship services where all the cell groups come together in corporate worship. Currently we meet every 6-8 weeks at some random location. This will be great to be able to go to the Cafe.
Anyway, please pray that all goes well with getting the Coffee House up and running and that we will be successful at it.
Cheers
Anyway, please pray that all goes well with getting the Coffee House up and running and that we will be successful at it.
Cheers
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