Crashing California

This Sunday was our first Sunday of corporate worship @ our church plant, without "LC" (Little Chris). Our Pastor's son (who is also named Chris) who battled a very rare and aggressive cancer for seven months and was finally brought home on last Friday. I wasn't sure how our people would be. Would the mood be somber, tearful, quiet, non-existent? And who would come? Would some stay home because of grieving? I had prepared a somewhat different order of service, in anticipation for the mood, but not sure what to expect and not really sure exactly how I felt either. I was heavy. You can guess I was very surprised when we arrived at 7:45 in the morning at the school to see that Pastor Chris himself was there. This Pastor, husband and father who had just said his final goodbye this side of heaven, to his 16 month old son. Was at his church. He was not alone, he had brought the whole family. His wife June and their two daughters, and some inlaws. And they worshiped. He an...

... you know we sing those words, in a worship song "Blessed be your name" ... "You give and take Away" and it's true forsure, but I'm not sure we really grasp that meaning. Sure, we praise when things are given~thank you Lord for what you give. But it is most definitely harder to praise, to worship when He takes away. And is it obvious to our humanness that it is God who does the taking? Sometimes it's a job, a home, maybe a circumstance, maybe an addiction. All of which could be easier to spin to your benefit (esp of course the addiction). Those losses are "meant to be" and something better will come along. But inevitably at some point in time it will be a mother, a father, a brother or sister, sometimes, a child. And those losses are harder to stomach, harder to understand and more difficult to digest. In the case of a child, we don't want to think that it's God's plan and purpose to take away an innocent life. We certainly d...

The last couple days have been emotional and bittersweet. As Jay and I have been progressing on the album, he's finally finished guitar work and it's now officially my turn to begin recording vocals, first the minor stuff at home, and then a series of studio dates for the real stuff. I am anticipatory, excited and nervous at the prospect. I have been preparing myself physically, vocally and mentally and I still don't know if I am completely prepared. I continue to pray and I am hopeful. The Bitter side was this weekend we found out that LC (little Chris, our pastor's child who has been battling cancer the last 6 months) will be going home to hospice care today. The cancer has been very aggressive, not responding to chemo therapies. LC has undergone radiation treatments (usually not done on children so young) as a last attempt to see if the cancer would shrink, but it has not, in fact it has spread and one of the cancers has ruptured, causing internal bleeding, which...

I'm admitting my "still somewhat unaware of my new American-ness" with this post, but I am dedicating it to my mother-in-law who I'm thinking may truly appreciate it. Today, with the help of my beautiful All American Sweetheart co-worker Kaytee, I had my very first CORN DOG. That may sound ridiculous, I'm sure we may have these in Canada, but for some reason I think not, because I know, I myself have NEVER had one ... ever. At first I thought they had to do with actual corn on the cob and a hotdog, which is kind of "meh". However a corn dog is actually a wiener, coated in cornmeal type breading and deep fried to a crispy golden brown, then eaten. So, the idea of a fried wiener never really appealed to me either, and I am not a hot-dog type person. However, Kaytee INSISTED that I try one, because I guess at the fair its' the best thing there is, and it's "all American" and absolutely amazing. So, today, I caved and we went for lunch,...

One week today, Jay and I headed off to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary by driving 8 hours over mountain and desert plateau to the Grand Canyon -- The giant earth scar that winds itself over the Colorado Plateau for over 200 miles. I knew it would be a sight to behold, and honestly, I didn't really know what to expect. ------ I had pictured Arizona to be hot, dry and well, whatever a desert looks like. What I saw as we drove there, as the miles passed and we got higher and higher on this continent, was a lot of trees, and the looks and topography a lot more like that of Jasper (with smaller mountains) or the Alberta Foothills. High rolling rocks with small shrubs and Ponderosa pines dotting the harsh landscape. It looked like a terrain that was at present experiencing a bit of a pleasant reprieve from the sun's scorching rays. The first night we got there the wind was treacherous, and though we went out to look at the Canyon, we couldn't stay too long. We were wea...