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I preached on this a few years ago.

What if we cleaned out our houses – giving away all sorts of things that are not necessary (or maybe putting them on a garage sale site!)?  What if we increased our church giving every year by 1%?  What if, every time we bought something, we gave something away??

I know that is radical.  And counter to a consumerist, greedy society.

Recently I sat with two of my sisters.  We were talking about our parents and their philosophy on life.  If there was a need, they went about finding ways to care for that need – from the abundance that they had.  They bought a furnace for a church that was just starting.  They paid an outrageous amount of money to help a Bible College that was in need of expanding.  They gave money to each of us children to help us through rough patches. 

God is stretching all of us to live outside our boundary points.  When the town of Kindersley set up lots, they put a stake on each corner of the lot.  All you needed to do was find the metal post and you knew how you were being limited.   

I think God calls us to live outside our self imposed boundaries – to live by faith.  We have driven stakes into the ground over the years, saying this is as far as I will go.  Perhaps we have been hurt.  Perhaps we want financial stability.  Perhaps we just like being comfortable.

I wonder if it is time to find each of those stakes and ask God if maybe we need to move those stakes a little further out!

Saskatchewan has a few “grid road” ferries.

These are not the fancy ferry of the East or West Coast, or even the Great Lakes.  They accommodate four cars in an open space.   The controls are situated on a panel as wide as your arm spread and as tall as your head.  The captain moves the handles for motion an arms length from your car window.   

Speaking in the town of Leader gave us an opportunity to head out on a Sunday afternoon drive.  We skittled (great word, nothing to do with Skittles) eastward down the road for a half hour.  Our tour then led us through the town of Lancer – described by our Sunday morning congregation as “true small town” and “very quiet.”  No traffic jams here – in fact, I wasn’t sure the stop sign off Main Street was even needed!

The return route would take us back in a U shape because of “The River”.  Unless . . . we used a prairie ferry, cutting across The River, providing a straight line to our destination.  We noted the sign to “Lemsford Ferry” showed that the winter season was over and the ferry was ready for passengers (OK, the sign just said that it was open). 

The dust plumed out from the back of the car as we headed down the gravelled road.  As we came to the ferry, a car was just disembarking.  We were able to get on the deck of the boat immediately.  The apparent heavy traffic flow was an illusion.  The ferry captain explained that the business of the day was not so much cars going across the water as the cell phone ringing asking if the ferry was open. 

As we reached the other side, my wife mentioned that this was the first time she had ever taken a Saskatchewan ferry.  For the approximate seven minutes the ride took, this was the ultimate adventure of the day.

May you find a great adventure today – just something that may be ordinary to others but can put a thrill back into your life!

I’m am looking very much forward to worshipping with a new congregation today.  Leader is just an hour down the road, but in the past ten years, I have never attended a Sunday morning service there.

My own responsibilities, up until this point, have meant I was either at the Kindersley Alliance Church, or taking holidays somewhere else.

Now, I am able to take a weekend here and there.  Where I can preach or serve in other churches.

Leader holds an interesting background for me.  In the late ‘70’s I was leading a youth group in Kindersley.  We prepared a play that we took down to leader.  Was it professional?  No.  Were all the lines right?  No.  What was right was the heart of the actors and the reception of the audience.

From that church, we also had opportunity to provide an hours long ride to a youth conference for one interested youth.  His name was Mark Bergen.  He is now pastoring the Prince Albert Alliance Church, where I formerly worked.

In the late 00’s (not quite sure how you write that), I met Jessica Kiunga, who hailed from Leader.  She became a vibrant part of our congregation before moving up to Prince Albert.  And recently our Alliance pastor’s wife in Rosetown also hails from Leader.  Can anything good come from Leader?  YES!

And so, I head to Leader to speak and to enjoy a time together with them.  Should be good!

Spring cleaning. 

I’m trying to find space for many things that have accumulated over the years.  Amalgamating the resources of two families, caring for materials from two estates of which I am an executor (and a third estate on the way), and my own immediate family’s stuff creates an indistinguishable mound in the basement.

And that mound needs definition.  So I have been attempting an inventory on one of those mounds. 

The effort returned me to thoughts of my archival studies.  We would seek out provenance, assure ourselves of the warehoused location, and then write an extensive description of the materials.

Maybe I’m getting old.  I know where the stuff came from, I know where it is and all I need to describe it is a picture.

So, I’ve spent the last day or so laying out the resources on the table, taking a photo with my phone, and passing on the information to anyone who could help me with the old question:  “What do I do with this?”

For those of you who think this is even too extensive – who would rather just throw the whole thing out (based on the years the boxes have not been opened) – this is fun for me!

At the end of the other day, my wife asked me if I was tired.  I had to answer honestly.  I was exhilarated.  Today I’m up early once again, ready to have fun.

Let’s see what is at the bottom of the well!