The goodness of this Easter

It was a good Easter.

That sounds a bit trite I guess, but Easter is good.  It is a celebration and it brings good into the realm of possibility for us.

So today was just good in many little ordinary ways. 

The Sunrise service.  The freezing cold morning – so clear.  Everyone coming in for hot drinks and buns to our home.

The worship service.  It is usually good but having a son there who hasn’t been for a long time drumming with our worship band made it good in more ways than just good music.

And then thirteen or so people for dinner.  Turkey, ham and all the stuff that goes with it.  Good food and good company. 

Celebrations should be like today.

 

And I know I have used good way too many times.  But today was – good.

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Cousins

Today I was a babysitting Grandmother to two young men.  Very young and very special.

We went for a walk down the path by the river, both of them sporting bright yellow rubber boots.  Kieran is an old hand at snow and puddles.  So he climbed up the piles of snow and slid down again.  He splashed vigourously in each puddle we went by.

Zaka is pretty new at this stuff.  The puddle splashing he got real well but that snow – must have been too cold.  Or too slippery.  He avoided even stepping on it.  Since there is still quite a bit of snow that meant I got to carry him.  He has packed a few pounds on – soon he’ll catch up in weight and size to his older cousin.  

 Those two sure kept me busy. 

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Good Friday

The service at St George’s was very small. About one third Covenanters. 

I overheard a couple of women in the row ahead of me whisper their disapproval of the way the day is treated by the commercial establishments in town.  They do not even bother to wait till noon to open on this,one of the most holy of Christian holy days. 

But there we were – just a few of us to be sure – and the Spirit of God was among us. 

I like that service – reading the passion account together. Participating in an ancient liturgy. Kind of gives a sense of continuity to the faith.
 
The sermon was good, reflective. Brought us to consider forgiveness and what a strong theme this is in the Christian faith.  And of course we have the possibility of forgiveness only because of what Christ did for us on this day –  Good Friday.  He gave us his own self; God gave us a way out of our sin once and for all time.  
 
I liked that we were given time to simply reflect on the cross.
 
Of course the singing could have been stronger. The key the songs were written in sure could have been lower.  But I think God was honoured by it. He didn’t make us all perfect singers and we just sang as our voices permitted.
 

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A Visit

So there we are tonight, gathered around the table, reading the story of the days events; Jesus washing his friends feet, showing them one more time what it means to be a servant, and then leaving them with a meal to remember him by. And there sharing the table with us is a strange couple. Well, strange to us anyway. We all know each other so well and are so comfortable with each other and good friends. But none of us really know this couple.
 
They were hoping the church might have a loaf of bread and maybe some eggs they could get from our small food box that we keep on hand. 
 
All we had to offer them was a bit of bread and wine/juice.
 
As we went to prayer I found I could not give voice to my prayers.   My prayers, prayed out of my comfortable circumstances seemed petty. I know they are not but tonight as this couple raised their voices with prayers for their families, my heart cried out to God for love. Because it seems to me that it is easy to love people in the abstract and it is easy to love institutions and groups that provide for needy people, but when they show up in your midst it raises things to a whole new level. 
 
And I honestly don’t know if I love any where near the level required of me as a follower of the one who gave everything. So that is what I was praying for.
 
I didn’t know Jesus would visit us tonight in this form.

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Thailand

Today Sara leaves for Thailand with the PA Youth Travel Club.  She is our world traveler and is pretty excited about this trip.  All except for the 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok tomorrow.  She tends to get airsick so has her Gravol with her.

She misses 5 days of school and is a bit anxious about that.  But I think the experience is going to be well worth it for her. 

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Pancakes for cancer

This morning we shut down the office for an hour so we could all attend the Cancer Society’s pancake breakfast fundraiser.  We cashed in our bottles and had more than enough for all of us to go.  We are cheap!  

Good pancakes for a good cause.

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Done

It was a good, if not tedious, afternoon.  I was sorting receipts for my taxes. 

Can’t say as it was enjoyable but it sure does feel good to have that bit of work done.

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One of the things I did today

I had an interesting meet up today with a guy who works with homeless/street people in this city.  He has purchased a building (well almost) and has set up a drop in centre.  I dropped in on the place today and he just happened to be in so I finally got to meet him.  We have talked on the phone but he wasn’t in the last two times I dropped in on him.  I brought in a box of dishes that have been sitting in my basement for just such an occasion.  They needed them and I didn’t. 
 
They offer anyone who drops in coffee and whatever they have on hand.  They have a free shower in the back that people can use and hope to have a washer and dryer soon.  They have a phone people may use to call for whatever reason.
 
And pictures on the wall – all the worst of Christian art – but definitely identifies them as Christ related.
 
They need a few things. Money. They need $3000 by May 1 to finish paying for the building.  That is a big need. They also need some cutlery. I guess the spoons go missing and they are thinking of switching to plastic spoons.  They also need a couple more old couches and chairs. They need more sitting room for those who come to the Bible studies on Sunday nights.
 
A laid back place. The sort of place that a street person would not feel out of place in.
 
While I was there one guy I knew walked in – George.  He was sober. That is good, especially for George.  
 
The other two that came in were pretty high.  Really looped on something. 
 
There is a whole other world out there needing love and needing healing.  Broken.
 
Not every one can do what Ray is trying to do.  God bless him and Hector. But I think there may be ways to help and I am going to try and look for some of the things I can do.

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Things I have not liked doing this week

– Setting a working daughter straight – I was not going to pay for her hair just because she thinks I should.

– letting her grouch about the above and while she did that keeping my mouth shut.  I think she understood the point even if she did not like it.

– dealing with a patient with a low pain tolerance – for about three appointments in one week and not being able to majically relieve her pain.

– trying to explain to another patient that his tissues were just so fragile that he simply was not healing in the normal time (he has several medical complications) and that I, again, could not make the surgical sites heal faster.

– taking eleven teeth out for a three year old

– scraping thick plaque off a child’s teeth in the operating room so that we could see the surface of the teeth we had to fill, knowing that the fillings don’t stand much of a chance of lasting a year.

– refusing to remove all a patients healthy teeth simply because she wants me to.

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Good news

Patrick called us last night pretty excited.  Finally he has a date to take the exam for Canadian Citizenship.  A long time waiting.  It will be good.  He will have freedom to travel.  Most of us have never experienced the restrictions to travel like a Congolese does all the time.

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