daily life as life goes on . . .

In the last few days I have heard of marriage separations and ill advised decisions.  Not only heard of, but heard directly — from the “horse’s mouth”.

This is more than just the usual daily fare.  These have come piling in, more long the line of a summit of sadness, rather than a mole hill of distractions.

My heart has been punched and pummeled on behalf of others.  Some have accepted my offers of support, others are not sure they are ready to change.  And others?  I don’t know what to do.

So, pray for those around you.  Pray that they will be strong.  Pray that they will be humble.  Pray that they will accept help.  Pray that they will seek counsel.  Pray that God will break in where no one else can. 

And then, pray one more time, because now the only prayer left is one of helplessness and complete trust in God.  Just where we need to be!  Because when the answer comes, only God can get the credit.

I’ve been pushing.  A few more things each day.

Perhaps its part of the start up season of life, or a desire to take another step forwards — particularly in church work.

Today I watched as one of those who had taken on a little bit of my puzzle completed an initial task.  The job done was better than I could have done — in less time. 

When others can, let them!

Here in Kindersley we do “kids” with different approaches.

The church is not the only place where children are considered precious.  In fact, our surrounding community has always had a great concern for their own.

Recently the schools tried a new approach to provide parental training.  They have combined this with a meal and fun for the children.  Meanwhile parents have practical training sessions.  These are called Family & School Together (F&ST) sessions.

For the past three years our elders board at our church has volunteered.  This means we help serve a meal, we set up tables, we talk to people.  And we are not in charge, we are just there to say, “How can we help?”

Sometimes the most Christian thing we can do is to say just that — “How can we help?”  I seem to remember this idea that we are to love our neighbours.  Perhaps the place to start is serving.

Today I met with a young couple.  Just in the midst of figuring out who each other is.  Just out of high school.  Just in love.

How refreshing!  You can plug into their enthusiasm and enjoyment, and not even drain them.

So we sat and “coffeed”.  As the time finished I blessed them.  From the conversation I picked out a few highlights  and affirmed each one individually.  That was fun.

Oh, and on the side they gave me encouragement to get into Facebook more.  Since I’m moving to work more with youth, I can see this would be useful.  But I understand the interface has just changed.  There was some frustration expressed.  At 2:00 in the morning things were fine, but later in the morning Facebook’s look had changed.  Have any of you noticed this?

The coffee time was a highlight of the day.  Maybe having youth around is well worth the time!