Today is a road day.
Headed to Saskatoon to visit my sister-in-law who has cancer. Going along with other relatives.
These are good times of fellowship around rotten times of health. May God give strength and wisdom, fun and future in the midst of all that happens!
What fun to hang out with others.
In the midst of much that has needed to be done lately, the opportunity (less often than I would like) does arise to spend time with different people all in one day.
Yesterday was a five visit day. I find I come home with the most interesting comments from these visits.
One person commented that they were not going to die yet. Another that they felt like they were sixteen. Another that my sermon had pushed them to make a tough decision. Another that town politics is part of the life of a small town. Another that Kindersley is still monocultural.
What a variety of comments. They are not unusual comments. In fact, they could have come from any number of people. You could name someone who would have made similar comments.
The difference is that each comment comes from a very specific context. Each person lives in their own world, and my opportunity is to enter that world and encourage them. Towards godliness. Towards hope. Towards a true sense and understanding of God revealed in Jesus and enlivened through the Holy Spirit.
There are many things that Christians do in this world. One is just that – in our one on one times with others we share life as fellow human travelers and we share our hope in Jesus. That is a sacred calling. Found in the mundane of life!
I’m sure we have a new name for such ventures. If I were to revise the nomenclature I would call them “Get to know, see what’s happening, on you r way” meetings.
We attended a session today where we met with five teachers in less than an hours time. On higher volume days, the meeting areas would have been fuller – I think we just hit the right time. We didn’t even have to wait to interview each teacher!
Most of the teachers were new to us. We shook hands, exchanged names and listened to thoughts from the teacher. Partially the design is to let us know what curricular matters will be addressed in the next while. Partially the design is to let us know how our teen is doing.
On the count of our teen – good news! He is doing well. He fits in well socially, is considerate of his teachers and gets good grades.
This is welcome news. I’ve had other PTI days that were not so good. Those kids have turned out well. But in the midst of the teen years, life is not always so easy.
And so, I turn to pray. For my children and step-children who are continuing through their lives. May God grant peace for the day and wisdom therein. May they have radical gratitude and marathon strength to complete their lives with a focus on God and his goodness.
Nothing forces change like a lack of continued service.
On the computer side, that means that soon my Windows version will be obsolete. In past years, I have appreciated what a particular version of Windows could do for me. Since I’m not a MAC user, I realize that there are often great threats to the system that I use.
At the same time, I become used to what my programs can do for me. I tend to exploit them to the extreme. I know what I can do, and what more could be done. Unfortunately, there are those who use that exploring spirit to find ways to be malicious.
So, Windows XP is about to lose its support system to keep that malicious threat at bay. I can stay away from those who create problems by not using the internet. In our current communications state, that is going to be next to impossible.
The alternatives are costly. Some exploration shows that I could maintain my current state for awhile, but eventually . . .
I guess that’s how many of us live our lives. We are warned of upcoming disaster. We are even told how to avoid that disaster. And we continue on, thinking what we are doing will be just fine. Until . . .