The Long and Winding Road

I drove out to Osoyoos today and let me tell ya when the brass band arrangement of The Long and Winding Road came on through my shuffle all I could think was - how appropriate. I spent several hours today winding up and then back down in the Rocky Mountains. It was beautiful and certainly not a boring ride. I'm enjoying the opportunity to see even more of southern BC than I have before.

I pretty much just wanted to mention the good timing of a song today and that's it :).

Songs in the Head

Anyone else have songs in their head all the time? I feel like I'm constantly walking around with some tune or another stuck in my head. Most of the time if I know the words of the full arrangement it's okay. It only drives me nuts if I only know say the first line. However, the songs that have been bouncing around in there...(pause for obvious joke)...the past few days are songs that I am quite familiar with and actually seem to work nicely together in theme.

One of them is Showers of Blessing as played in the band arrangement Las Lluvias Grandes. This is a very fun arrangement of the tune to listen to and a favourite of mine. The words that most come into my head are "There shall be showers of blessing, This is the promise of love".

The other song is by Mandisa and it's called Broken Hallelujah. The song is sung from the perspective of someone who is in pain, even shattered yet brings the message that even if it's a broken hallelujah, praise will still rise to the Lord. The second verse is about how the Lord has given so much more than the singer (or listener in my case) deserves.

That is where the linking point comes in for me on these two songs. They both remind me just how much God has given me, of just how faithful God has been to me and as Mandisa sings "if all that I can sing is a broken hallelujah, if my only offering is shattered praise, still a song of adoration will rise up from these ruins..." It's not about a perfect sound, or being in a perfect place in our lives...We simply should praise God who has given us so much, who has blessed us and who will always be with us.

Where it's at

As usual I find myself wondering what to blog about :). Maybe I need a monthly planner or something...or weekly if I do want to blog more often.

I could always go on and on about the scenery here. You really could not land in a more beautiful spot. Granted there are many places around the world that are equally as beautiful in different ways but for me the mountains do it all. The mountains for me have always provided a sense of strength and peace. These come from a few realizations. One, that the creator of those glorious, majestic mountains is my creator and is looking out for me. Two, that something that has lasted so long is still standing secure. These both come into my mind frequently and so I give thanks that I am living surrounded by these amazing mountains.

Then there's the new glasses - love the frames but very different for me to look out. They sit a lot higher on my nose than my old ones and so when I try to look down I keep forgetting to move my whole head and all of a sudden find myself unable to see :). It's almost like I'm getting used to bifocals or something. I also really notice the thickness of my prescription in these because the frames are very thin. Someone mentioned saving for laser eye surgery and I think it might be time to consider that. Although I do love these glasses....maybe funky reading glasses.

Then there's the topic of having my adorable if lead filled cat back. I honestly don't understand how a cat that small makes more noise than I do. I was coming home one day and as I stood outside the door I could hear her thumping down the steps to the entry way. She is some good company though. I enjoy having her around to play with, tease and curl up with to read my books. I've had her since she was 6 weeks old and she'll be turning 12 in November. I may get teased, but I did miss her over my two year period in college and I love having her back. Some may think she's evil (I can actually think of 6 people who may think that), but she's my baby.

Well, there we go a mismatched, non-thematic blog but it's a bit about what's going on right now. Some of these topics I've discussed before in one way or another, but hey, life is occasionally repetitive for me :).

Sermon Series

So here I am in my first appointment and I'm slowly getting the hang of things here and getting used to living in Fernie (and trying to figure out what this community choir's all about and if I can join). One of the things to get used to and adjust for my schedule is this preaching thing. I am privileged to bring a sermon forward every week and I pray constantly that my words be what God wants me to say.

A challenge with sermons can be what to preach on and in my summer assignment last year I enjoyed the preaching calendar and this year I'm trying out the legendary "sermon series". This is a series of sermons with a connecting theme - book of the Bible, focus, etc...My first crack at this is an idea I had last year and that's Golden Boys of the Bible. I wanted something that wouldn't be difficult to follow if you missed a week as people are away frequently in the summer, but something that still fits the theme concept.

The Golden Boys of the Bible looks at those heroes of the faith such as Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and David. These are only a few of the heroes of course but these are the ones I'm looking at. The overarching theme of this is that God is faithful to people - to people who screw up, who don't always do what their told and sometimes flat out do wrong stuff, but God is always faithful. It's a lot of fun as a series actually and I'm really enjoying a chance to look through these amazing stories and to be reminded just how much God does (have I mentioned I love the Old Testament).

Anyway this is one of many series I have cooking. I also have Sermon on the Mount, why we celebrate (pentecost, the sacrifice etc...), Old Testament Law (not all of them), books of the Bible and others. Now these won't go from series to series to series or anything but they are those series I pray about to hopefully see when is the right time to preach them. My questions is this - what are your views on series and what series do you think of?

Something new about trains

You know, I lived in Winnipeg for the past two years and spent a considerable amount of time watching trains, waiting for them to clear (especially with one particular sessionmate...you know who you are lol) and looking for ways to avoid them. However, it wasn't until I moved here to Fernie that I realized how often a train blows their horn. I just didn't hear it that much in Winnipeg, or maybe it didn't blow that much in Winnipeg.

In Fernie it's a different matter though and I hear it many times throughout the day. It hasn't really bothered me although I already know to watch my timing in church so I am prepared to pause when it passes through. I learned, when querying why it blows here, that the train conductor's blow the horn/whistle as a warning and safety precaution to try to prevent collisions with vehicles, people etc...

Admittedly it's very possible that it'll drive me nuts from time to time as I spend more days listening to it but on the whole I think it's a great sound, and even though it's not distinctive to the mountains it does strike me as fitting for this mountain community. As is the picture it creates winding down the tracks here.

What a breathtaking community - including the train whistle.

Journey & Arrival

Well, I've arrived safe and sound in Fernie after a wonderful drive through Manitoba and Alberta as well as touching into B.C. where I am now located. It was a great experience and a nice opportunity for me to simply chill out and enjoy our beautiful country. Romans 3 sticks with me a lot as I think of Paul writing that God is obvious to us because of what we see every single day. I know that for me personally I was so staggered by the creation that is here and knowing that it represents only a small portion of the beauty around the world. I thank God for the beauty that I was able to experience on my drive and for the beauty that surrounds me here in the rocky mountains so that I am always able to be reminded of His presence.

It's been almost a week since I have arrived in Fernie and how the time has flown. It's been a time of getting to know each other and the corps and I am still very excited about my first appointment. It's busy of course but that is to be expected and I like being on the go. The weather here is amazing even as I sit here and listen to the rain pattering outside.

My installation service was last week and was a lot of fun and very lively. It has been a couple of weeks of firsts and I know I have even more ahead of me. One thing that isn't a first is knowing that God is and will be there every step of the way.

Commissioning Weekend

Well, the weekend is over and I am still stunned that this was my commissioning weekend. There are too many thoughts and emotions surrounding this weekend for me to articulate clearly but suffice it to say it was an excellent one.

Every time I see myself in red trim (for officer's) I am surprised and wonder what's going on ;). It doesn't seem quite real yet and probably won't for awhile. This weekend was beautifully put together and a delight to participate in.

I was and am very blessed by those family and friends who were there to support me as well as the family and friends of my session mates who came for them as well. It is very moving to see that visible sign of support and know that it is a mere representation of all those who could not attend.

I am now off for some vacation before starting my appointment and am very excited to see a whole bunch of people. For those here this weekend who I didn't get to see - I'm sorry to have missed you and thanks for coming. For those who took pictures I hope I can see them as I didn't get a chance to take many :).

So to conclude this out for today....WHAT A WEEKEND!