daily life as life goes on . . .

They're coming!

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Mom and Dad Baker are here for the holidays!

So, yesterday we started arranging for people they will want to see.  Dad was born here in Kindersley back on December 29th, 1918.  So we have a family birthday celebration planned for the 28th (they fly back home on the 29th).  Two sisters, our daughter, grandson (this will be the first time mom and dad see him in the flesh!), and families will all gather here.  And the party will be fun.

Before that my dad’s sisters are planning to get together.  Now, you have to understand, none of them are young — at least in body.  But otherwise you can’t keep them down.  I’m afraid to try to keep up with them when they get going.  So, I’ll sit back and laugh and serve coffee, and learn something new.

As well, there are the old friends who have been with them (some of them from the time my dad was born).  The best man, the couple who got married around the same time as them, the girlfriend from the days my mom worked at the local hospital, the friend from down the road (and don’t forget this was a country road) who used to walk over to hang out with my dad’s family.  We’re trying to contact them all and see if they can come over.

This is the first time in decades that my mom and dad will be with us for Christmas.  The memories will be great!  I’ll keep you posted!

The Good, Bad and Ugly

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I’ve just finished Paul Chamberlain’s book “Talking about Good and Bad without getting Ugly.”

In our current society we are discouraged from embarking on moral persuasion.  Everyone is said to have their own morals and none is better than the other. 

Chamberlain disputes that approach and with the use of dialogue, examples and logic puts together a good case for seeing a culture change morally and socially.  He uses William Wilberforce as an example of a man of humour, of influence and of conviction who made a difference in his world.

“Incremental strategy” is the approach Chamberlain takes for changing society’s views.  While you can’t change the slow moving ship of culture overnight, at least get on board where some positive movement can be capitalized upon.  Sounds like a strategy politicians need to consider.

I kind of wonder if Steven Harper hasn’t read this book!

Prickly Proverbs

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So, I’m reading through the Proverbs in the Christian Scriptures (they are the same ones that are in the Jewish Scriptures).  I just hit chapter 17.

Try these on for size:

·  Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished. (5)

·  Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children. (6) 

·   Disregarding another person’s faults preserves love; telling about them separates close friends. (9)

·  It is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool who has no heart for wisdom. (16)

·  Even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent; when they kep their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.  (28)

Credit where credit is due

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Saturday we hit the thriving metropolis of Saskatoon. 

Miraculously we were there just as one of our congregation headed into surgery, and back a few hours later just as the surgeon explained the results of the surgery.  That one has to see the credit go to God — our timing could never have been that coordinated.

For the rest of the day we did shopping — for items our town does not have, or for the same items for cheaper.  We racked up a few hundred dollars.

In the case of shopping we try to stay away from credit.  Over the years we have had mortgages, borrowed from relatives and used credit cards.  Overall, though, we still try to keep credit where credit is due.

Which means a simple life is not a bad thing.  In today’s Men of Integrity devotional Patrick Morley talks about a boat he wanted to buy — a specialty boat.  He was ready to buy the boat but . . .

I concluded that I shouldn’t buy something just because I can, that denying myself the boat would be a good lesson in self-restraint and personal discipline.

I love the scripture attached to this meditation – “If your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life” (Psalm 62:10).