The week it's been

You may remember from my last post that my son was quite sick (croup).  Well that sickness jumped to my wife, then to me.  All three of us were sick for several days, making it a rough few days.  I stayed home in bed the past three days, trying to get better.  Not fun being sick - and not fun being sick on your birthday! - but at least there were a couple of bright spots.

One was being at home with my family for a few days.  Again, we were all sick, so it's not like we were playing games and going out and having fun.  We stayed at home, did nothing, and tried to get better.  But it was still nice to be together.

The second thing was that I got to watch a lot of the Olympics!  Sick at home in bed, what else am I going to do?  I love sports and the Olympics, so I wasn't complaining about this part.  In hockey, the quarterfinal game between Canada and Latvia was amazing, and the women's gold medal  game was fantastic.  Seeing Jennifer Jones win gold was cool too, as was the gold for the women's bobsleigh team.  It's great to see Canada doing so well, and it's really fun watching the Olympics...and yet...constantly in the back of my mind is the fact that they spent $57 billion in setting up these games.  No matter how fun and exciting the games are, can we really justify spending that much on sports when that money could be used to do SOOO much good around the world?  There are starving people who need food, wells that need to be built for clean drinking water, homeless people who are just trying to stay warm at night, and thousands of other social issues...  These are matters of life and death, and we spend $57 billion on sports??  Yes, the Olympics are a global stage, yes they are about uniting mankind and humanity on something we can all enjoy, yes they are about dreaming big and striving for your goals, yes it's about inspiration.  Yes, clearly it's about more than just sports.  But are we really uniting mankind when half the world's population is too poor to have a TV or internet to follow the Olympics, and when many countries aren't involved?  Is someone who is wondering where their next meal will come from - and if they'll even last till then - really going to be interested in who the best skier in the world is?

I wasn't intending to write a blog on social conciousness when I started this post, but it's near and dear to my heart, and as much as I love watching the Olympics, I can't separate it from the bigger picture of a broken and hurting world.  It just seems like we have our priorities off-kilter.  Imagine half that money was used for social good - $28.5 billion.  How far would that go??  Now imagine you were one of those starving/thirsty/homeless people, and you found out that $57 billion was being spent on sports while you were on the verge of starving to death...  Changes things a bit, doesn't it...

The pain of fatherhood

I know I talk on the radio and blog about my son a lot, but I can't help it, I'm a proud papa.  But what happened last night showed me that I REALLY love him.  I mean, I always knew that before of course, there was never any doubt, but last night just made it more real.

Yesterday my son (13.5 months old) had a pretty bad cough.  We decided that if it got worse we'd take him to the doctor.  Well last night, it got worse.  He had that cough that sounds like a seal barking...that really painful cough in the back of your throat and in your lungs.  But what made me really nervous was hearing him breathe.  He was labouring, especially when he was coughing.  Every time he inhaled, it sounded like he was struggling for air.  It was killing me, I couldn't stand to hear him like that.  So there I was in the middle of the night, trying to comfort him and get him back to sleep while my wife was surfing the net looking up what kind of cough he had.  We found that it sounded a whole lot like whooping cough, and then I found out that that's potentially fatal for young kids...and at that point sleep was out the question for me.

You might be wondering, "If you were so worried and it sounded so bad, why didn't you take him to the hospital right away??"  Simple.  Because it wasn't actually that bad.  I'm a first-time parent who was over-reacting a bit, and I knew it.  He only had one or two short coughing fits throughout the night, but the rest of the time he was sleeping well, breathing fine, and not coughing.  Deep down I knew it wasn't as life-threatening as I was making it out to be in my head.  But those couple of coughing fits...some of the worst sounds I've ever heard in my life.  I was just wishing I could help, wishing I could do something, anything to make it better, wishing I could take it for him so he could just sleep and not be struggling or in pain.

And then I realized...that's how much God loves US.  I'll let you take that one to think about.

For those that are curious, we took him to the doctor this morning.  He has a respiratory infection, maybe slight signs of whooping cough, but nothing that won't go away with the use of an inhaler.  He should be okay in a few days.

Festival of Hope

This past Wednesday I was privileged to go to a very cool event in Toronto, the launch of the 'Festival of Hope'.  This will be a three day event at the Air Canada Centre, September 12-14, where Franklin Graham will preach the gospel message.  His father did it in 1995, now he's doing it.  His father brought DC Talk and Michael W. Smith.  Franklin is bringing Lecrae, the Newsboys, Michael W. Smith (for round 2!), Kari Jobe, Thousand Foot Krutch, and the City Harmonic.

There are three different reactions I think we can have as Christians.

The first is that I'm sure many of us will feel a draw to attend - after all, it's Franklin Graham and a bunch of fantastic Christian artists!  But we have to remember the biggest thing - this event is not for us.  It is for us to bring our friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, hockey buddies, etc...  It is an opportunity for them to hear the gospel message in a clear and unintimidating way (it's at the ACC, not at a church).  If we show up as Christians without bringing someone who needs to hear the gospel message, then we're just taking up a valuable seat.

On other other end of the spectrum are those who will be cynical.  For a lot of Christians, myself included, it can be easy to think of this as 'one of those cheesy televangelist/crusade events that don't work anymore".  But that's not the case.  First off, it's not just a weekend event.  There is a whole slew of events and activities planned for the months leading up to the September weekend.  You can find it all at www.festivalofhope.ca.  The goal is to get as many churches as possible to be active in this, to reach out to their individual communities, and to work together...and that's a pretty great way to spread the gospel!

Secondly, it's Franklin Graham, with the Billy Graham name behind him.  It's not about him of course, because it's God that will change people.  But let's be honest, a name garners attention, and the bigger the name, the more interest it generates - for Christians and non-Christians alike.

Thirdly, I loved what Franklin shared.  His father Billy always says that there are three keys to any major event like this - prayer, prayer, and prayer.  This event is being doused in prayer from thousands of people across the GTA, for months.

The third reaction would be the perfect one - we're excited about the event, and we're already thinking and praying about who we can invite.  If you fall into this category, NICE!  Inspire others to follow your lead!

This is going to be huge, with lives won for Christ.  I'm excited.  It's great to see churches coming together to work on a huge initiative like this.  It's great to see so much prayer happening for the lost.  It's great to see Christians excited about possibilities.  It's great to see a big scale event that you know will have a wow-factor happening at the ACC.  And I encourage you and your church to get involved and pray.  Check out the Festival of Hope website.

One last thing, a sidenote.  I arrived early on Wednesday for a press conference.  As we were sitting waiting, a gentleman walked in and started shaking everyone's hand and getting their names.  I was sitting closest to the door so I was first.  As I looked up at the man, I thought, "This looks a lot like Franklin Graham...but it couldn't be...could it?"  I was just so surprised that he stopped and chatted with each one of us instead of going straight for the mics to make his big announcement...especially as he was SO busy that day.  That's something that will stick with me for a long time, and it says a lot about Franklin's character.

Grief turns to joy with God

This was a tough week.  Last Sunday, an incredible young woman from my church was involved in a car accident and she passed away.  Talented, athletic, literally brilliant, infectiously warm, and a lover of God.  Amazing girl from an amazing family.  It was a jarring, heartbreaking loss.  There's so much to say about her, but I want to focus on a bit of a different aspect below, so you can get a brief synopsis about Amanda here - http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2014/01/07/amanda-kelsall-killed-sunday-in-vehicle-crash

I went to the funeral today, and it's amazing how God works.  In the midst of tragedy and heartache, each of her family members took the opportunity to talk about her love of Christ during their eulogies, and then to tell of how Christ's strength was keeping them strong.  They were witnessing!  They were laughing!  They were full of joy!  They were excited for their daughter/sister in heaven!  It was incredible to see their faith and their strength.  About 1,000 people were at the funeral, many non-believers, and they heard the message of Christ loud and clear - several times from many speakers.  That in itself was a testament to Amanda's faith and legacy.

I really can't say enough about this girl and this family.  I had so much respect for them before this all happened...I didn't think it was possible to gain even more respect for them, and yet here were are today.  Meanwhile, her boyfriend is in hospital with serious injuries.  I have just as much respect for his family (who also go to our church).  Both families are truly anchored in God, I have always looked up to both, and both have always inspired my faith in the past, and even more so now.

In the end, there were two things that captivated me today, shared by Amanda's family.  One was her determination to excellence.  No matter what she did, she gave it her all.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says that we run a race, but only one wins.  We should run to win, and train our bodies for that - we push our hardest and strive for our best, and it's all for God.

The second thing was that we have no fear in death.  As Christians, we really do have no fear in death because death means something better for us.  Philippians 1:21 - "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  The family got that message across clearly.  In fact, if there was one thing that was comforting all week, it's been picturing Amanda having the time of her life in heaven, and just waiting for everyone here back on earth to join here.  She's thrilled right now, and we as Christians have no fear in death because we have something better that awaits us!

Still, it is hard for those left behind right now.  We will miss her and grieve with the family.  But Christ is our strength and our joy, and her family did so well to remind us of that today.

NEW YEARS!!...resolutions...ugh...

Does anyone still make these anymore?  Apparently so.  I really like the idea - starting a new year, starting a change, starting fresh...  But I think it all comes down to the approach.

Forbes says only 8% of people actually achieve their resolutions each year.  This is just my take, but here's why I think so many people are unsuccessful.

Unreasonable goals.  It's a bit ridiculous to say, "I'm going to hit the gym 4-5 times a week" when you've never hit the gym in your life.  It's unreasonable to say "I'm going to lose 200 pounds this year" because...well, because that's a lot of weight and it takes time.  It's unreasonable to say "I'm going to fall in love this year" because you never know when that's going to happen, and forcing it is usually a bad situation.

Goals are too generic.  You can't make a resolution that you'll make more money this year without having a plan to do it. You can't tell yourself that you're going to spend more time with your family without looking at your schedule and figuring out what you're going to drop to free up some time.  Telling yourself you're going to lose weight this year without creating a reasonable plan to do it will get you nowhere.  Well actually, that's not true, you will to one place - a point of frustration..

Discipline.  Perhaps the biggest one.  Anyone can make a New Year's resolution, but only a select few will follow through with it.  Most people stick with it for 2-3 weeks, and then it's back to the daily routine they had before New Year's hit.  That's where the two points above come in handy - having a reasonable goal, and a proper plan to achieve that goal will help keep you motivated.


I didn't make an official resolution this year, but I did join a gym.  My plan is to go 1-3 times a week, and I'm not going to kick myself if I miss a week, I'll just try to get back at it the next week.  At the beginning I'm not setting specific goals until I actually start hitting the gym and seeing where I am, and then how quickly I progress.  Then I'll evaluate and make a plan of how much weight I'd like to lose and by when, how good I'd like my cardio to be, and how much I want to be able to bench press (for example) and by when.

For me, I'm working at a slow and steady approach, and trying to make it something that won't overwhelm me.  That'll just lead to failure, and I want to be in that 8%.

Friday Thoughts

It's Friday, December 20th, 5 days to go until Christmas...and there are a thousand thoughts whipping through my head.  This truly is one of the busiest times of the year...

The first thought is work.  Finishing up everything I have to do today so that I can rush home and do a thousand things at home.

The second thought is Christmas shopping.  Sadly, I haven't started.  I really tried to be better this year.  I REALLY tried.  But it's tough to find the time!  This is part of the thousand things mentioned above.  The saving grace is that I know what a few of my gifts will be, it's just a matter of going out and actually getting them.

The third thought running through my head is scheduling out the next week and a half.  My family wants me to drive down and visit them this weekend...but I'm not sure if I'll have time to do that with everything else still on my plate.  I work for a couple of days next week, then head straight out of town to see family for 4 days...then come back and head straight out of town again to visit the other side of the family for 4 days...and then it's straight back to work.  Meanwhile, where's the time to go Christmas shopping, and the time to relax a bit on my own and with my wife and son at home?

The fourth thing - vacation!  But this is not a relaxing thought...at least not yet.  When I think about going on vacation for a week starting on Christmas day, the thought right now is about everything that has to be done before I go.  And then it comes back to the scheduling mentioned above.

And the fifth thing on my mind is trying to slow down and not let Christmas rush me by.  I've been trying to do this all along, but it hasn't really happened.  I really do want to take time over the next few days to reflect on this season, and make sure I know what we're celebrating.

Fifth should be first, I know.  Maybe that's my problem.  Maybe that's why I feel like I'm so rushed, because my priorities are all out of whack.  And so maybe the order of my priorities changes today.

Communion

I really wasn't going to blog about Israel (again) this week, but something happened on Sunday that has left me with no choice because it's all I've been thinking about since.

So what happened on Sunday?  Nothing major - we took communion.  That actually IS major when you really think about it, but most of us have just gotten used to it, myself included.  I've taken it a thousand times before...but I've never taken it like I took it this past week.  As we took the bread, all I could think about was my time in the Garden of Gethsemane almost exactly one month ago.  Being in the garden I thought of Jesus kneeling where I was standing, crying out to Father God in anguish and yet submitting to His will.  I pictured him standing in the garden and looking at the temple just up the hill, his heart breaking for the people who did not understand his message.  And in the garden, I had one of the deepest understandings of the love of Christ that I've ever had.  I pictured him walking past the trees with a heartbroken smile saying , "I remember creating you."  And as he looked at the temple, He must have thought about the people..."I just love you so much, I just want you to see the truth, I just want the best for you...and you don't see it..."

All these thoughts came flooding back this past Sunday during communion, and God reminded me how much He loves ME too...that I'm included in all that.  That understanding of God's love is one of the things I will cherish most from my trip to Israel...just pure love, no strings attached.  He just loves us.  I literally can't express it.  I'm humbled, and thankful, that He's given me what is probably just an inkling of understanding...which is enough in itself to floor me.

And with Christmas around the corner, it's even more poignant.  The phrase born to die has really taken on new meaning this with this communion.  Christ was born with one purpose - to suffer and die so that we could be saved.  Yes, He rose, but not after some serious anguish and pain.  All for us.

Did you catch that last part?

All for us.  That's you.  And me.