What a week!!!

Please be praying for God's grace and wisdom for Lakeview Church. We are in a very challenging time. God is supreme. God is soveriegn! All we need to do is to follow.

God is good, life is good COMMENTARY

Today warmed to 16 degrees it was glorious and as much as I talked about it with Zou kids last night I realize I did not have a conscious thought toward how I could see God through the activity of the day.... How is it that some days it is easy to perceive God and others it is easy to avoid those thoughts? I guess I was relaxing more than being deliberate in my day....Except during the Riders game dueling with Lesley!

Today I reaffirmed I am a peace lover! I was part of a Facebook encounter and I wanted to run SCARED!!!!!!!!!!! The written word, emotion, humour, spirit, loyalty can work together in a beautiful way but can also be so easily misinterpreted. I am a pretty passionate person and often wear the safe mask when in public view, don't I. Oh wait, my blog is one place I don't always wear the 'safe mask'. I do try to be aware, smart, considered while being open. I try to show vulnerability without being vulnerable to abuse or attack.

My thoughts are kind of empty or racing or flowing or not connected or wandering so this is it for today.

Oh wait, a cousin's daughter and family are going to serve in Mexico for 6 months leaving winter behind with a trailer and 3 kids sounds FUN! see I am strange. A friend's father passed away, not unexpected but still sooner than expected. Her mother passed away in the last 6 months too. Melissa has a new job that will help with cash and permanent residency processes. Still no word from Jay and Julie, SIGH, silent tear, hmmmmmm. Church was good connection time, 2 missions service teams talked about Mulenga and their experience there this summer. They spoke of a family feeling that we can identify with from our time in Kaohsiung. Now to see who God has for our house this year while we are in Taiwan.

No witty retort

it's been 3 weeks since i expounded anywhere but Facebook. I need to spend more pondering time.

I've been trying to rationalize Facebook and blogging. I can pretty easily dismiss twitter and regularly use email for specific person to person communication. I even use the phone occassionally.

A good friend is now out of the hospital after repair of a broken femur. Now the hard part begins for him, PATIENCE. And it will take a while for their famuily routine to return to normal.

Life here is pretty normal...Colleen works 10-4 3 day a week, I'm doing a variety of electrical work: replacing ballasts and fluorscent tubes, wiring some basements and a garage. I think I dislocated my shoulder holding ballasts in place on tuesday! Well OK not dislocated but it sure hurts, whiney, whiney........ My chiropractor treatment tomorrow should help. Then I can do some wiring and see if it is fixed or hurt............

I grieved for a while today!

Buying a birthday card and children's gift wrap didn't bring the excitement and joy it should.

I'm not sure what I grieved more: expecting to miss another of our grandson's birthdays, missing another day of relationship with our son, missing another day of relationship with Jay's wife Julie, missing another day of relationship with our granddaughter or just being grumpy.

And then the work I was going to do didn't happen so grumble, gripe, feel sad, try to NOT feel mad! Oh well, I am not on the way to the hospital nor do I have anyone in the hospital that I know of. Unfortunately one of my dear friends/relatives' father is in the last stages of cancer that was only recently discovered. Hmmm, we identify a young child without parents as an orphan; when you are in your 30's or 60's it can seem just as real!

Well I don't feel as low as I did the last half of the morning so I can now put the thoughts into words and contemplate for a few days.

I miss my mommy!

this doesn't have the same effect when I have to repost it due to IE issues!

Yep even at 59 I miss my mommy some days. Mom died in 1988 and strangely since Colleen's mom has moved here to Saskatoon I more frequently think of and miss my mother. They are not at all similar but this isn't about similarity. I even find myself wanting to drop in and visit mom after dropping Colleen at work but often she is not up and around by then.......and later she is involved in the many activities organized by the Resident's Association at her apartment. Poor me, right!

It has been a beautiful day here.....mid 20's so I was able to do the small amount of weeding in the front bed area. Now I am giving the birch tree its Fall watering.

Tomorrow is another chapter change. The PA church is having a farewell lunch and presentation for Mom after church. She has been a member there for probably 70 years! well OK maybe not quite that long but close. This is the first time she will be returning to Prince Albert and not be staying at her own home. It sold in 2 days with 2 weeks possession! Whew, 3 months ago she had just barely seen some of the apartments here!

Have a great day and weekend and week.

Brief thoughts.......

God sustains me but I still have to put in the effort each day! I have had 32 years of responding to an employer's schedule and now am learning how to develop the responsibility and discipline for my own scheduling. I look forward to following your adventure!

Time FLIES, well at least keeps moving along

It seems like lurking on Facebook keeps me from reading blogs and then sharing more of the depth of my life. Hmmm.

There is certainly more opportunity to share in the surface dimensions of people's lives via FB but there is a personal depth that I prefer to share through Blogging. I think it might be because I want to unload and unwind to a smaller audience. Oh and also so it doesn't FORCE someone to join something to be able to access the info.

Having said all that the last few weeks seem to have been fairly full. Colleen's Mom's house was listed Sept 1 and sold Sept 3rd! Fantastic and yet PANIC with a Sept 15th possession date! It feels like I did that 90 mile trip every 3 days since them! Today finished the last things, I thought I had the last trip 3 times!!!) This is the end of an era! Mom has a great 2 bedroom apartment that overlooks the river and the city.

Other aspects of life continue much as they have. No contact with Jay & Julie due to Jay's "Please do not come here uninvited" [sigh] Melissa continues to do well but permanent resident status continues to elude her. It is exciting and a bit frustrating for her to wait to see what God unfolds.

Christmas is in 3 months and 10 days!! We will be heading back to Taiwan before New Years. Melissa might be here for Christmas.

Lloyd Colborne thoughts

Some of these thoughts are pondering that have been percolating for a while but brought to the surface with the Memorial Service for Lloyd Colborne. Each of his children and grandchildren had written a note to Pastor Dean so he could incorporate it into the eulogy. Unfortunately I cannot recall them. When asked why he thought God called him so directly Lloyd had said "so my family could know Him" I trust that strikes a chord with many of us!! Lloyd has 1 wife, 2 sons, 2 daughter in laws, 4 grandchildren and one grandchild, oh and a couple grandchildren in law (if there is such a label) I don't know if all have accepted Christ but I know many have! THAT'S QUITE A MARK FOR US TO HOLD BEFORE US

I know there are times I have failed my wife and children. I also know there are times I have succeeded. So how do I go from here? What do I do for Melissa? What do I do for Jay? What do I do for Julie? What do I do for Alex? What do I do for Gaby? What do I do for Colleen? What do I do for YOU? HELP ME, TELL ME. Some days I think I know, some days I find out I didn't! Some days I find out I was wrong! Some days I can't undo the wrong...........

I keep looking for answers or ways to fix my mistakes.............................some days I can't no matter how hard I try.

Keep you eyes on your fries!

Today's sermon focused on Psalm 37 concluding with thoughts on living life with expectancy. We all have expectations but that is different than living with an expectancy of what God will do in and through our lives.

Each of us have expectations of ourselves and those in our lives and fortunately for most of us these do not adversely affect relationships. I know I have expectations for my children even now that they are adults in their 30's. I also now suspect those expectations have not always been the supportive undergirding I have hoped for. Am I being hard on myself, no, just pondering.

Another week of life

Some working, some playing, some helping others that bordered on play and work.

As with most weeks a mixture !

Lloyd Colborne passing at the age of 88. I have not known him well but the last several years I have known him as a prayer warrior praying consistently for leaders and regular folk daily, weekly or whatever they needed. Some in simple support and others in times of crisis or significant events.

A facebook chat with one of my aunts who is dealing with separation from her son too. We have covenanted to pray for each other's sons understanding. I think she has had more catastrophic events on her trail but that does not make the separation pain any less for either of us. I do know that we each have said we would do anything to renew the connection if we only knew what to do to bring change.

Farmer's Market was a GONG SHOW for us. I'm sure it was a very successful day for most with twice as many people as we have seen! Parking was impossible within 3 blocks or 45 minutes but I enjoyed watching people as I drove around........ Of course that meant Colleen's expectations were DASHED AND SMASHED especially after I called her cellphone 4 times and it was on silent mode, argh. Hear me fume and try to be lovingly calm? I failed! She still loves me but like was not at the top of her list.

Tomorrow is Church BBQ day and in a few weeks we will get the fall season kicked off. WOW FALL STARTUP!?

Now to finish a couple electrical jobs I'm doing and get to some houses in PA that need smoke detectors........

Does Facebook membership displace blogging?

it sure has for me.......or maybe I am in a place where I am not as filled with words of angst. Maybe Facebook allows the brief spurts of thought and wit a release so the blog urgency takes longer to build. Kind of like being on a liquid diet!!!! HA HA

Melissa has only had moderate impact from the typhoon that has devastated many areas of Taiwan. Although she has had a few days without water due to system shutdowns. I suspect the amount of debris and silt overload filtration systems but we will never get a clear explanation............you can't say systems are inadequate, can you!

I survived the 2 day yard sale at Colleen's Moms' house in PA, Wendell and Odette did a gargantuan job preparing for it. Josh and Cordell and Yvonne have helped tremendously too. We sold EVERYTHING that was ready for the decision. EVEN THE OLD DEEP FREEZE! Only the floor area of the 2 upstairs bedrooms is left. Now for a few kitchen cupboards and the bedrooms........................you can only process so much at a time and keep processing!

Oh, please keep praying for insight and open hearts and minds regarding Jay & Julie. We don't know what to do and Jay has expressly asked me to 'respect his privacy and not come there uninvited' hmmmm, argh, SIGH, whimper..............

Finally third warm day in a row!

I am NOT COMPLAINING. we don't get overheated.........but it does make it a bit tricky to plan outdoor play!

Colleen is working 3 days a week back at Birks so that means we have to get up early once in a while. We had a nice time in Crosby ND last weekend to celebrate my and Louise Aalund's birthdays. And had a MARVELOUS dinner with Susan, Suhky and Nicole in Regina on the way back. We sure enjoy travelling in the PT and it's decent on gas too.

My electrical work is flowing fairly smoothly but I now realize I need to formalize more things like liability and worker's comp insurance! I think I'm going to have to up my rates just to keep even!

Oh and not a lot of angst filled pondering even though we have not seen or heard from Jay & Julie except an occasional FB comment they leave for a mutual friend. Please pray for wisdom and peace.

Yes, still around just not getting to the BLOG

I knew it had been a while but 3 weeks! Life seems ordinary, but let's see.....getting myself going doing some electrical contracting while trying to not get too busy either. Getting Colleen's mom along the path of setting up her apartment at Riverside Terrace will be an ADVENTURE with many dimensions, hopefully I can keep my mouth quiet and face properly tuned!

Still now word on Melissa's permanent residency, just one more place to demonstrate patience. the next 2 weeks she will be very busy with the World Games. I'm sure there will be some good stories from it.

My current electrical job is a basement suite with some existing walls. Working with my hands and arms inside them makes it look like I was attacked by a cat!

Today we were greeted with 8 degrees and promise of rain.........................my feet are cold! I refuse socks!

Another Tuesday, another emotion

Well my blogging hasn't been very frequent lately.....................Colleen and I went to The Soloist with Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx ( not WITH, you know what I mean). Very Good! The character portrayals were good. But MAN, or as my cousins might say DANG IT, I didn't need the thought processing that the relationships, homelessness and mental health are generating! Whew! It consumes most of my emotional margin!!! I thought I had more margin............. Oh well it tires me enough I will sleep soundly tonight!

I went past the point of The Soloist being based on a book and saw the misguided cleaning up of an area populated by Homeless people, homeless being portrayed as having major mental health issues and the care/attention needed in relationships. Of course I can reign myself in enough to see the dynamics of the primary relationship as the purpose and nature of it evolves, enjoy the music and acting. I particularly liked the scene where Jamie is listening to the Orchestra practise and it switched to a swirling and pulsing of light colours to match the music! Kind of like that thing that happens when I am in the bright sun and kick back, close my eyes relax and let my brain register what happens. COOL

Well this has let my emotional margin refresh a bit.............................only a bit though. I'll need a couple days to get back to my tough exterior. Ok, not so tough but at least stronger.

Pondering ...........................

Tell me....why is it so easy to share joyful news but I protect the dissapointing stuff?

Melissa made the Taipei Times!

http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/2009/06/16/TT-980616-P04-IB.pdf

And here's her diplomatic comment at http://accesskaohsiung.blogspot.com/2009/06/taipei-times-article.html:

Taipei Times article
Check out today's (6/16) "Community Compass" in Taipei Times:http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/2009/06/16/TT-980616-P04-IB.pdfI think the article was well written, but maybe lays more blame on Kaohsiung City Government than they are actually responsible for. Unfortunately, a project at the bureau took the i-center building out of their hands and it was the management company that would not get the center re-opened. Different vision led to a lot of confusion and broken relationships. We had a good run of about 2 years initially about 4 years ago but was at a standstill for over a year.I'm excited about the possibilities of developing International Friendship House and the benefit it can be to the foreign community of Kaohsiung City and area.Thanks for all your support!Check out http://internationalfriendshiphouse.blogspot.com for more information about upcoming activities.
Posted by Access Kaohsiung Community Services/ International Friendship House

Tuesday June 9, 2009

Well I think it's been a pretty ordinary week.

I got to help Ryan and Allison with floor tiles again, attend a 90th BD tea, do Zou, church floors and hopefully learn a few things. Colleen and I even got some wall tiles glued on! It only took about 7 years! Now to cut 2 to size and grout them all in a few days.

We are still baffled by what to do regarding contacting Jay and Julie so I guess our DO is waiting for God to direct us, them or others.

Now if we could get more that 1 day out of 10 above 15 degrees.........................................

It's TUESDAY

looks special but it isn't. Well every day should be seen as special. It is so easy to get into the ordinary of each day so I am trying to see the special of each day. Varied success................

We are still managing our attitude with temperatures that struggle to stay above 15 for more than 2 days in a row. Some plants are in the ground and don't seem to have suffered from last nights temperatures near freezing.

We get to chat with Melissa almost every day and usually twice. She got a new 'do'. She is going to get a better background one soon for her World Games volunteer shot and wanted to post a picture............well, this isn't her new do but us in Pinang, Malaysia last Christmas!

This is at the base of the train up the mountain, as usual, we got there late enough in the day the remaining trips were booked so we didn't ride it!

It will be a few more days before we get flowers like this in Saskatoon.

Ah, Canadian Pizza

Hmmm Kernel corn is a staple on pizza in Taiwan. I DON'T miss it. Online ordering from Pizza 73 rocks. I don't think we will reorder the chicken melt but the Grand Slam was great!

A relaxing day of breakfast, puttering at yardwork, pruning, relocating bricks and ordering pizza. I expect Zou is doing well without me on my week off.

This has been a funeral week. Wednesday was Ken Crocker, an extended family member, Thursday was Ralph Hill, a friend, and tomorrow is David Ochitwa, a slightly more extended family member.


Life is an interesting deal isn't it?

My First Zamboni driving

Well it wasn't REALLY a Zamboni even though many call it one. I spent about 2 hours riding on a floor scrubber at church today. Not the joy riding type some of you have tried, this one has a real seat on it! It's neat how it vacuums the water before it spreads all over the floor. Yep I am easily enthralled some days.