Jill passed away on May 17th, 2012 in Saskatoon.  Her memorial service – Tuesday, May 22nd at 2:00 at the Kindersley Alliance Church.

Here are the final words in Jill’s journal, written two days before her death.

Trying not to worry about tomorrow’s test.  Tonite was feeling calmer about it.  I know God is in control.

How true!! 

Over the decades, Jill had a number  of corrective heart surgeries.  All this lent towards a lady of compassion and grace, as she ministered to others who experienced life’s quirks – bringing to them hope and heaven!

Jill’s open heart surgery at 12 years of age led to total heart block at 17 years of age.  This condition required the implant of a pacemaker – something that powered her life until her death.

Not to be stopped by adversity, Jill completed her Grade 13 in Ontario in 1972 and headed to the bald prairies, landing in Regina at Canadian Bible College for studies.  In 1973 she met a fellow student, Ron Baker.  She graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Music in 1976.  The same year she married Ron and moved to Kindersley, Saskatchewan to begin Christian ministry with her new husband.

In 1984 their son Tim was born and adopted into their family.  Two years later, in 1986, their daughter Allison was born and also adopted into the family.

Jill served as co-minister with Ron in two pastorates in Saskatchewan – Prince Albert (1994-2005) and Kindersley (1976-80; 2005-2012).  She also provided support for Ron in his educational endevours at the University of Albert (1984-1986) and at Canadian Theological Seminary (1980-1983) – where he later served as Registrar (1986-1994).

Jill was known, among other things, for her excited and quick talking, her musical accomplishment and her love of nutritional cooking!  More than once it was remarked that even at 1/2 speed she was twice as fast as those around her.

Jill’s love for Jesus and her obvious love for others were foundational to her daily walk in this world.  She was particularly thrilled with the opportunity to enjoy her two grandchildren, Christopher and Hannah.

Jill was predeceased by her father, Allan and is survived by her mother, Betty, sisters Brenda and Laura and brothers Marc and Phil, her husband Ron, children Tim and Allison (married to Scott Opseth), and grandchildren Christopher and Hannah.

Love you, Jill!!

The document has a number of main points, and then sub-points with very pointed outcomes.  This week I will approach the area of relationships.  Love God, love others, love yourself all fit here. 

I particularly like the idea the idea that – “knowing and walking with God will be the principal appetite of my life.”  Since working with committees on drug and alcohol addictions, I’ve come to realize that we all have appetites in our lives.  Some are destructive – we call them addictions.  Others are constructive – we call them what??

I suppose we could say disciplines, others might call them desires and passions. 

So here’s my question to you.  What would you call the appetites of life that are best for us?

We’ve heard that the new generation is computer literate – their source of information flows most often through electronic means.  This generation texts (oops, talks) constantly via cell phones, Facebook sites and twitter.

This is generalized.  Millennials will also fast for an extended period from electronics.  And some will find that a weekly fast is helpful.

Millennials work from story and use media to communicate with each other and the world.  An older approach of “reasoning” and “systematic lists” doesn’t come easily to the Millennial. 

Again, this is a generalization.  My son is logical and works well training others with a systematized approach. 

But many are not.  To them, the point comes through a story that illustrates the point.  Written blogs like this one are being eclipsed by video blogs that are visual.   Email is becoming obsolete as a way of “talking” to each other – that’s being left to Facebook and twitter!

It’s a new world, and we have the great opportunity to work within this world.  I’m excited to do so.  But it does mean a whole new approach to communicating!

Later I talked to my daughter – she has a daughter who has a cold.  And my sister-in-law phoned – her cold continues on.

What do we do as we deal with colds?  We find our minds are a bit confused – or at best slow.  We find our emotions are dampened or heightened – depending on the moment.  We find our spirits feel separated from our bodies – as though we walk behind ourselves.

No wonder our greatest prayer and desire is to place the cold behind us.  May these dis-eases move on quickly.

But colds tracking us! 

Jill is watching herself carefully – the coughing is still there but hopefully a bit less intense.  I was in to the office and work for around 11 hours.  Spent the evening doing very little.

And now to bed – hopefully both of us will find our selves in better shape tomorrow!

Now, I’m preparing for a day in the city.  Hopefully I’ll be able to survive without passing on my cold or being overcome with the cold.

Which is life.  We seek balanced health, but some days the colds just sneak in.

http://www.sermoncloud.com/kindersley-alliance/turnor-lake-report/

One phrase we have been using at our church has been – “committed to the community.”  I’ve been looking at adding two further thoughts – “Submitted to Christ,” and “Excited to serve.”  They probably need a little more tweaking – so . . . any thoughts?

“In a culture where the commoditication of relationships is so severe that we have disposable kinfold, it may come as somewhat of a surprise that “good relationships” are key to a healthy, happy life.  This book was written because of the need for more specificity in what kinds of “good relatinships” keep us from not needing a therapist.”

Sweet goes on to talk about a Nathan, a Jonathan, Jethro, Timothy, Barnabas, Peter, Paul, Deborah, Zacchaeus, Rhoda, VIPS, Jerusalme and the Paraclete.  Although at sometimes the writing feels a little rushed, the overall idea of the book is great!