Jamie tells a couple of stories over at his site. They are reflections of the life he and his wife have chosen to live. Stories that come out of their experiences as they share the streets and neighborhood with the people in north Winnipeg.
Read them. They may challenge you to rethink some things about your own life and what God wants from you.
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Filed under Dealing with stuff, Reading
This afternoon I had to run to the closest shopping centre to pick up a bit of stuff for supper. As I was driving away from the grocery store, two police cruisers passed by in front of me. Unusual to have tow in a row I thought.
They pulled over a few feet ahead. On the bench "sat" a guy looking a bit passed out. The officer went over, picked up the remains of his twelve pack of beer and put it into his open trunk. Then he turned and was joined by the second officer. They were trying to rouse the fellow as I drove by.
It always makes me wonder when I happen upon an incident like this. I wonder – did something traumatic happen to him to make him turn to alcohol for solace? Did he spend his last money on such a short lived solace? Is he just another guy from a northern community that couldn’t resist the readily available booze available here? Is he really just another alcoholic? No way out of his addictions?
It is sad to see stuff like this. And yet there is so much more I don’t see on a regular basis that exists every day.
God have mercy.
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Filed under Reflections
Before Rachelle and Ronin left us for Toronto, we had a birthday celebration. Both of them had birthdays coming up in August. Today is the actual Big Birthday Day for Ronin.
Happy Birthday from Grandma!
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Filed under Day to Day, Photos
You’d think I had advertised a 10% off for Christians day at the office. First 4 patients were definite yeses – if I’d popped the faith question.
Seems as if a lot of young people are heading back to Bible college somewhere and are making sure their mouths are cleaned up!
And from the genuine nice behaviour of some other patients, I think they might have answered yes if the question was popped. And the one young woman that we gave a new smile to yesterday came in really smiling and happy so that was a huge blessing to me.
So far – a great day. Now we will have to see how the young children of Christian parents do late this afternoon. I’m not counting on smiles if they are like my grandchildren. But I can hope. (Of course I would never judge the faith of the parents by the behaviour of the children – should I?) 🙂
Update
The kids belonging to the perfectly wonderful mother were likewise perfectly wondeful. Way to go Luke and Madeline!
Yeah the cranky pastor was not too badly behaved either.
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Filed under Dental
It is good to spend time in good conversation over good coffee and a decadent dessert.
That is what I did tonight. It just is good to find someone - not from my own church group – that thinks in similar ways, has faith and dreams and hopes and ideals that I share.
We’ll be talking again. And exchanging some books.
Maybe the biggest blessing of my day.
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Filed under Day to Day
After work most of our staff headed up to one of the local pubs for wings and drinks. Now, I usually decline. It is not easy to just up and leave a starving family at home while head off to the pub. And sure, they really can look after themselves but there is this huge guilt thing about taking off to a pub after work, let alone leaving my family foodless.
But, tonight we were saying goodbye to the student who has been with us for the last six weeks or so, and he has been good to have around the office. How could I not want to say good bye in style?
I am glad I went. The kids survived and I had a nice glass of wine and some delicious lemon pepper wings.
Now – off on my bike to work those greasy little things off!
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Filed under Day to Day, Dental
Routines; we get tired of being stuck in them but when we have been out of them, it sure feels good to get back to them.
That is kind of what it feels like around here these days. It seems as if the routines of fall bring some kind of groundedness back to my life. So, it felt good to get up and go to work this morning. It kind of feels good to talk about getting Sara packed up and off to school. It feels good to be looking at starting up music lessons and orchestra again, getting back into the regular schedule of meetings, etc. And this week seems to be a bit on the full side of all of those things. I got out my bass and tuned it up this weekend and now must get back to practicing in earnest.
I think I will miss my own course work but I have already discovered a really good book that I am almost finished and want to read again because it was so full of stuff that resonated with who I have become – The Power of Solitude by Annamarie Kidder. And since I only borrowed this one, maybe I will have to buy it because I heard that her son wants to borrow it too. It is one that I think I would like to own so that’s okay I guess.
I’m also looking forward to getting back to meeting and talking with people – listening mostly. I find that I love the kind of listening I am able to do as a spiritual director. No better way to spend an hour than listening for the movement of God in a person’s life.
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Filed under Day to Day
This will probably sound like a strange post but…
Sometimes adults do things that are so tainted by evil. Running up against these things in people that previously were highly esteemed is hard. It shatters our sense of trust and confidence. We see them succumbing to the temptations of power and money and not even being aware that these things are eating out their very souls. Evil is not always blatant but can be subtly pervasive in its corruption.
It makes me aware of my own need to stand openly before God and others and to live a transparent life. I’ve lived long enough to know that I could succumb to the same pressures that bring others down and that I too could hide it – from everyone but God. But then there comes the almost inevitable series of unforeseen events that seem to bring selfish acts out into the open.
The way we adults live in this world must make God weep. What harm we can do to our children and the world we are leaving them!
It makes me realize that seeking God and living in ways that are right and pleasing to God should be always kind of at the top of my priority list. I also think that it takes a community effort to keep on track, to keep me accountable and true. I guess that should be the way the church works in this world. I hope we (the church) don’t fail to love each other enough to keep each other on track. I think that God wants to use his people to bring healing and health where evil tries to get away with destruction.
As I said, this post may seem to be dealing with a strange and obvious issue in rather non-specific terms. I guess I’ve just come up against a real situation I find baffling and sad.
And it has made me think.
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Filed under Reflections
Drove to Saskatoon yesterday to meet Patrick and Amanda – returning from their trip to Africa and Europe. I guess Amanda was very sick while in France, so that part of the trip was not terribly good. Africa was not good for them either. Two very tired people now.
They have some recovering to do. From a lot of different things. And I feel at a loss of where to begin to help. I can, however provide Patrick with a quiet place to sleep and recover from jet lag. So that is where I am starting.
Sorting out the stories will come in due time. For that I am going to need love, patience and lots and lots of wisdom.
And Patrick just asked if he could turn up the heat. He’s going to have to re-acclimatize too. Of course it was only 2 C out here this morning.
Around the house today it will be quiet. Leo is down south watching birds with Eric and Michelle and Kimia and visiting Paul. Sara is down in Saskatoon watching her boyfriend play in the Provincial soccer game. Everyone else is off in their spaces doing their own things. I will take advantage of the quiet to read and stuff. And maybe it is time to pick up my bass again. I am also beginning to think about writing and painting.
I also need to upgrade this site and make some of the a things at the top of the page work like they should – or at least as I had envisioned them working. I wish I could learn how to do some of that more on my own because I don’t get things done very well when I have to think ahead and make arrangements for someone to help me. Partly that is because I hate to bother people already busy with their own lives but mostly because I don’t plan ahead very well. Then I end up with some extra time when I could do stuff like this but …. well, you see the problem.
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Filed under Day to Day
It is great to have a day off – like today. The sad thing is that this is probably my last Friday off for several months. In two weeks time, school will have started and I will be back to doing dental check-ups for the kids at school enrolled in the school dental program. I enjoy that when I’m doing it but it leaves me little time off from dentistry.
So, today, I had better do some things I enjoy. I have errands to run and I wonder if there will be much time for anything else. I also plan to run down to Saskatoon to welcome Patrick and Amanda home after their visit to Africa. And there are some errands to do while I’m down there too.
This week has been full. We did have a good meeting with our potential buyer for the dental practice. I think he would like to buy the practice but maybe not for what we have evaluated it as being worth. We know we have a great practice but the cost of buying any practice, let alone ours, for a new grad is bound to be pretty intimidating. So, we are exchanging thoughts on the value of the practice and the value of the building. Then we wait.
We are sort of in the waiting phase for a lot of things.
Then, there are concerns for people, some ill and not wanting to be, so being stubborn about that. I think that Christians should not ignore the normal physical warning signs that our bodies give us, preferring that God speaks to us or writes signs across the sky before we can accept illness as a fact and start taking the steps doctors advise. It is frustrating to see a friend doing this. I would like her around for a few more years to learn from her how to listen to God in my life. But this kind of stubbornness with regards to her own health is not anything I want to imitate.
On the other hand, I think I have managed to go for a good long bike ride everyday this week. It is good to just get out and ride. It becomes a time to talk to God and I like the kind of communication that we carry on during my time outdoors. There is something about this prairie sky that I ride under in the evenings that displays God’s creative power in unique ways.
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Filed under Day to Day, Reflections
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