Music...

Yo-Yo Ma

Just came home from a great evening at the Rawlinson Centre. And no, we didn't have Yo-Yo Ma playing but the group that did entertain us was most excellent.

The Saskatoon Strings and Saskatoon Youth Orchestra teamed up with our very own P.A. Strings Orchestra who, in turn, accompanied a massed P.A. Choir.

So very good.

My friends, Linea, Joanne and Fiona were part of the production too.

I love music like that. It made me want to join a choir.....or something.

And then a few of us enjoyed a good tea time (and dessert!!) afterwards at Humpty's.

Husband was glad he came! Except next time, I will look after the tickets. He had them in his pocket and he announced "Row M", Seats 24 and 25. O.K. Row M was the very last row on the main floor but anywhere you sit, the acoustics are so good that it all sounds great. So that was fine. Row M it was.

We went for a bit of spirits during intermission. Upon looking casually once more at our tickets, turns out we were supposed to be in Row G.....NOT Row M. Good thing someone didn't come and tell us to move when we first went in...it could have been more than a little humiliating. (I could envision a huge fist fight breaking out over those seats....."No, WE have Row M, 24 and 25"....."well, I'm sorry but WE have those seats".....no you don't!!!......yes we do!!!! ......WHAM....SOCK......POW........#!%^&*)+ ..............as husband pulls out tickets showing Row G, 24 and 25.......as ushers escort us out of the building........).

Following intermission, we slinked back down in Row M, where our coats rested. There was no one on either side of us, so we had a bit more elbow room. But, when we glanced down to Row G, yep, there were our seats sitting all empty and looking quite forlorn.

Next time we'll ask for Row M...........and sit in Row G. Ya just gotta' have a bit of fun now and then.

Same...only different.

With ice....
Without ice.....

Before birds....

After birds....

Same pictures. Only different.

Funny how one 'little' event can change the whole picture.

The sun melts the ice and people come and swim....but the same lake is there.

The birds seek food and the perfection of snow is messed up....but the same bird feeder is there.

Like us.

The Son melts our heart and we become different people.....but the same body is there.

God's Spirit seeks to make us better people and we begin to be transformed...but the same soul is there.

It just takes a little melt down and a bit of reshaping.....I think I'm ready.

The big picture...

My friend and I had a pretty in-depth discussion the other morning at prayer time. We were asking God some significant questions.

Why is a good pastor friend of hers very ill? He has so much to offer. He has small children and a wife.

Why does God allow these things to happen.

People, good people, live exemplary lives, love God, love their fellow man....and yet they are afflicted.

Why do we have to endure our children rebelling and wandering away only to find themselves in very difficult circumstances. We raised them with good morals. We treated them well and respected them. Why is this happening to them?

Why is God allowing our church to enter into a season of......not even sure what to call it. There is so much to do here in our city. Why are we complacent. Why is God not bringing a pastor more quickly? Why do we compare our church to other churches? Why do we become jealous and envious? Why are some amongst us divisive?

Why, why, why.

We came to the conclusion that it is good to talk to God about these things. They are important to us and to those involved. They are important to God too. He wants our input and questions and the more we talk to God about the things that concern us......the more he changes us as individuals.....ME.

He may not even change the circumstances or people we asked him about, but in that process of communicating it all to him, I am changed. I see him more clearly. I grow in my faith. I also begin to see the errors of my own finite thinking and self-righteous attitudes and reasonings and I am humbled.

No, it's not about anyone else. Just me. I will continue on asking God, reasoning with Him and talking to Him.

We will continue to meet together to pray, she and I. It's the very least and the very most we can do.

Yes, the Father does know best.

We also remembered that it is God who sees the entirety of any situation. We see only one part..... the part that involves us. But God sees it from the beginning to the end, where any situation needs to go, and who needs to be involved and all the kinds of things that we mere mortals can never see....but God knows how it should be and so he works his purposes out....through us.

We prayed together, she and I. After all, that is the stuff Christians are made of...........

Our school girls...

Brittney and Shannon...shopping....

Regina Campus

Regina Campus

Our daughter and her daughter, both going to school. One to Campbell Collegiate the other to University of Regina.

They make a beautiful pair, don't you think. Their ways are quite similar too.

They both make us proud, in all they do and all they are.

School can be stressful, at the best of times. Raising children AND going to university plus looking after a home is a ton of hard work.

It is good that the man of their house can come to their rescue the two weeks when he's home from the mines.

It's a difficult road they have chosen but I think a wise one.

May God watch over them on their journey through teen years and post-secondary education years and years with husband/dad home only half the time. Be their everything God.....oh, and thanks.

What does that song remind you of??

As the snow drifted softly outside the dimly lit home, inside the "old lovers" sat beside one another on the couch, listening to www.galaxie.ca No fireplace. No cats.

With their fingers intertwined, feet resting on the large foot stool, songs for lovers wafted gently over the hushed tones of the living room......"Mona Lisa" played by Henry Mancini, various themes from old movies, songs by the Carpenters and Natalie Cole (daughter of Nat King Cole).

One of them would say...."what movie does that song "Alfie" remind you of?"

The other would reply...."uhhhhh, not sure...what???.....well, I think the movie 'Arthur'!"

The one would then say, laughing loudly and fairly spoiling the romantic moment, "The song "Alfie" reminds you of the movie "Arthur"???!!! Now THAT'S very funny!!"

The other would ask, "What was the movie "Alfie" about anyway....I forget!"

The one would reply, "Remember with Michael Cain, the English bloke who acts like a real ladies man, gets his girlfriend pregnant, wants her to have an abortion but she keeps the baby. He leaves her and she marries another and takes his child, a son, with her. At the end Alfie realizes what he has missed in life....a girl who loved him and a son."

And on and on it went.

It was a good evening. Quiet. Sweet. Gentle. Life-giving. A date....but not a date.

That's all I will tell you. The rest of the evening well, what do old lovers do anyway?.:-)

On Golden Pond....

(click on pics)

I watched some of that movie after supper tonight. It reminded me again of our family times at the lake, of the moments of quiet and peace, of the hope of catching "the big one", of boat rides and conversations, and times too, of mis/non-communication, where we think one person is thinking one thing, but they're thinking something totally different.

I think I'm a poor communicator. There are times when I want to say something but I find that the words just don't come. I think more than I speak and that can be bad. A course in school for this kind of thing would be really helpful. "How to Say What you Think and not Sound Like a Tool".

On Golden Pond is a story of a family, wanting to love, wanting inwardly to say the things their hearts are feeling but find it difficult. It shows how something as simple as "fishing" can pave the way for meaningful conversation and how one little measure of encouragement can turn the tide of a relationship.

I love that movie. I cry every time I watch it. It's so human and I think not unlike my own family....perhaps even your family at times. We try to be vulnerable and open but there are times when we don't succeed. Our hearts stay closed.

I think when we are faced with our own mortality, we really don't have much to lose. We bumble our way through our "I love you's" or our "I'm sorry's" and even our "Please forgive me's" because at the end of it all, it is important that those thoughts and feelings be expressed...before it's too late.

That movie reminded me of all of that.........relationship. What life is all about.

How to live...

This morning "pastor" Marc, spoke about living life by holding on to the things we 'posess' very lightly............living life not tied to physical things.

No matter how many times I hear that, I have to again get my head around it and remember that all I possess doesn't belong to me anyway. All I have acquired, bought and paid for has come from the Father's generous hand. Everything.

Nothing I possess is of greater value than any relationship I have....with anyone. Things are things. They gather dust. Their value goes up and down. They fall apart, get broken and become worthless..........but people and our relationships with them, go on to eternity. Not sure how that will happen but I know it will. I guess the essence of what he was saying this morning was that life is short and we need to make the best of it while we still have time. The world and everything in it will one day be gone, so it's best not to put all our energy into those 'things' that take us away from relationships with others....including our families.

Here is a portion of the passage Marc preached on this morning from I Corinthians 7:29-31

"Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away."

Good things to be reminded of as we live life.

Meetings....

On the whole, our church Annual Meeting was very good. Decisions were made. People were thanked and others encouraged. Finances were discussed and voting took place.

The "theme" for lack of a better word, for the upcoming year will be "renewal". That's funny. I've been thinking about that very thing for quite a while now.

We would like individuals to head towards renewal. You know, the kind of thing I was mentioning a few posts back. How I need renewing, being made over into something totally new.

I know there will be some people who won't "get it" and will go on their merry way, talking, acting and thinking like they always have, and not letting God's spirit into theirs for various reasons.

But there will be some people who understand what "renewal" is all about and will seek God out to hear what needs to be said to them and know it is not only for their good but the good of the whole Body.

Those are the people who understood what Marc was talking about today in his devotional - about putting others first, not always getting their own way, speaking out of love for one another and not speaking because they want a place for others to hear them.

Those are the people who will want what is best for everyone, not for themselves only; they will hurt when others hurt and they will know of the lordship of Christ, the head of the church.

Those are the ones who will realize the importance of unity in the Body as well as the importance of trusting in the people they have elected as Church Council.

Yes. It will be a year of learning and a year to renew our fainting spirits.

I pray for this renewal to take place in me. May God let it be so.

Sneak peek.....

I think it's cold enough, with a windchill veering off to minus 41C tonight, to think about things to come.

Lets think melting snow, and ice turning to mush on the lakes and beautiful blossoms adorning apple trees and green grass and green leaves.

Well, that was enough of that.

Keep warm my friends. Shall I be so bold as to say, it'll be cold enough to freeze the you-know-whatsits off brass monkeys.....so the saying goes. I've never really seen it happen so, you know, it might all be a myth.

Anyway, keep all your digits warm....or other exposed parts.

Leadership...

That word sometimes terrifies me.

It conjurs up things like organizational skills, using that skill for others - not lording over others, using good judgement and common sense, to be a servant to all, having an idea as to where you are taking others, being wise and humble, allowing others to have their "say", being an example, keeping an eye on things and thinking ahead. A couple of these things I'm not bad at, but all the other qualities, I am sorely lacking and I become fearful.

The Annual Meeting of our church is this Saturday. I've been nominated to become a member of Council, the team that takes on a leadership role and moves the church hopefully, forward. It's a difficult time in the life of our church in that we are presently without a pastor. The year ahead will be challenging and it will be exciting too, as we transition perhaps into a new phase at Gateway.

I feel totally inadequate. I know I don't have all the qualities that are needed to take up this role and so I shake with thoughts of all my insecurities. There are words from Scripture that we need to take seriously not only as members of a church leadership team, but members of Gateway, the Body of Christ. They come from Ephesians 4:1-6 where the Apostle Paul is telling those in Ephesus how they are to live their lives in the Name of Christ. This is what he says in a letter to them while he himself is imprisoned:

- from The Message:

"In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness."

This is the call to us, as the Body of Christ, the Church. To work together as one. To be one - in unity and love.

Oh God....help me, and all of us, in our attempt at being You in this world....as one body. And lead me God, and in your leading, teach me how to lead. I need to learn. Amen.

A little mid-winter respite.

(click on pics)

It's been good. Those plus temperatures have put people in a better frame of mind, I think.

A week from this Sunday we'll be into February.

See. I do wish winter away, as I've posted before.

I post these pictures today just so we can appreciate January's beauty....well, as good as I can present it.

But the pictures above, taken on very cold January days will be refreshing to see come mid-July.

As an aside, just so you know, I'm at home and have been coughing and hacking and spewing up all manner of grizzly fare.

We have a Branch Meeting tomorrow at work. Don't know if I should be on display like that (like I was yesterday). The 75 or so folks that have come to hear what will be presented, most likely won't appreciate me emptying my lungs above the din.

The antibiotics should kick in soon, I'm hoping. Until then, enjoy winter and thank God with me that we live in a land where we have heat and food and no bombs falling.

ta ta.........

Congratulations Mr. President.!!!

January 20, 2009.

A memorable day as Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Memorable because he is the very first African-American to hold this position.

It's been a long haul since Martin Luther King, Jr.

I salute President Obama......not because he is worthy of any great praise, not because he is now, as some would say, a savior of the world, not because he seems like a very fine fellow.....no.

I salute him because anyone who is willing to hold this office, shows that he is willing to take on the burdens of his country, he is willing to see major changes and he is willing to be an example as to what needs to be done to recover their floundering country. I trust his willingness will be proven in his deeds.

May God protect, defend and preserve him by the power of the Holy Spirit and may that Spirit go deep and dwell within this man as he holds office. May God keep him humble and righteous, putting the needs of others before himself. May the lure and temptation of power and wealth be kept from him and instead, may he find his strength and sense of power only in You.

Amen.

Luke and Mr. Obama...

This big boy had his tonsils/adenoids out on the Inaugural Eve of the first black President of the United States of America, January 19, 2009.

Perhaps Luke's mommy and daddy will tell him the story when he gets older of all the celebrations happening in North America as the U.S. prepares to swear in their new President, Barack Obama.

Both Mr. Obama and John F. Kennedy will share their ceremonial inaugural day - January 20 - Kennedy in 1961 - the year Mr. Obama was born.

So, little Luke will be able to say, when they play re-runs of the Presidential swearing in ceremony 50 years from now, "that January 20, 2009 was the day I was recovering from my tonsil surgery."

Quite momentous.

It is for me too actually....this is also the day my mom died....January 19, 1989....

May God watch over and take hold of the United States of America....and may He especially heal little Luke's throat and ears very quickly.

And now for some cough medicine....'nite.....

Re-new....

After a few of us were complaining about our ailments this morning at church a friend stated: "Well, I intend to outlive my body!" chuckle....chuckle....chuckle And I think she meant it!

When we realize that these bodies we have been given will be with us to the end of this life and when it becomes evident that no, we won't be getting a new body to work with any time soon, it makes us think about what we would/could do to RE-NEW these old worn out ones.

Renew....making something new AGAIN. Take off the old varnish, the old paint, the old wall paper, sand down to the real wood underneath, which was there at the beginning....and simply starting over....making it new....AGAIN.

We can't do that with our bodies. Oh, we can take off 50 pounds, tone up those flabby arms and bellies, exercise our hearts by walking, running, swimming etc., get face lifts, liposuction and diet pills. We can even get new hearts, lungs, legs and nose jobs. We're still left with our old bodies. Maybe in a bit better shape, but we can never be like we were in our youth. We're stuck with what we've been given. ughhhhh

Our spirits are different from our bodies. It's something that can be made new again. Work needs to be done though, you know, the sanding down of our anger and hostility, the scraping away our pride and self-righteousness, the peeling off our jealousy and arrogance, those things that need cleaning and refining and polishing. When we find that the only thing that can make our spirits new again is God, that's when we can begin the renewing. Only then.

I'm desiring to be re-new-ed. I want God to come into me and make my spirit new again. I need him to enter in those places that need sweeping and chiseling and some extra mopping.

Spirit clean-up is hard work. I find it's tiring work. It's tiring because some days I don't see any sign of improvement. Things I've been working on for months, dare I say years, are still visible and I look as dull and ugly as I did the day I started my "home improvement". I need to continue to remember Who it is that is doing the renewing. Our desire for change, His desire and mine, need to mesh to get the job done.

Psalm 51:10 says: "God, create a pure heart in me. Give me a new spirit that is faithful to you."

Ya. That about sums it up. I'm going now to get the paint remover....

Dry and prickly spirits...

This is what my throat feels like.....a wooly cactus. Dry. Prickly. And downright wooly.

Another cough is upon me. Not as bad as some I've had. But still, it sets you back a peg.

Thinking again on Mr. Wooly up there, I think that is kind of like our spirits when we are far away from God. We go for months without water....Living Water. We become parched, dried up and not very productive. Without the Spirit's living water we aren't much use. Sometimes we don't even recognize our need for water. We just go about living and wondering why we feel so..........lacking....or.......unfulfilled.

Christ is the Living Water. He comes to us when our spirits faint and pours it on us like the first rain of spring. What does it take to recognize our need for the Living Water.

Not sure.

Some things happen to us that are difficult and when we are faced to turn and look at ourselves in the mirror we see brokenness, sadness and pain when instead, it could be joy and peace and contentment.

We pride ourselves on being independent from anyone or anything. It's our pride that can take our joy away and in that pride we remain independent........ when what we really need is to be dependent on God, which of course, is when we experience his joy and peace and contentment. It's quite a delimna.

I'm off to bed but before I go, I'm taking some Benelyn to soothe this dry and prickly throat.

May Jesus be the Benelyn in your life this night.... the soother and comforter of dry spirits.

Look....

I shall simply remain silent.............

Structures....

We have some pretty significant structures in our fair city. Bridges. Churches. Historical buildings. New buildings. City Hall....as seen through the early morning reflections of the Forest Centre Building.

It's really fun being able to capture some of these on camera. I think I would love to visit other places so I could do more with my handy dandy Olympus. I think I got the bug of taking pictures many, many years ago when we were standing at the foot of the Seattle Space Needle. I remember lying down on my back and pointing the camera straight up and caught the outer round edges at the top and the enormous steel girders holding it all in place. I'll have to try and find that one. After that, I found great pleasure in finding the soul of a building in its architecture. What manner of person would come up with a specific design and why? How would that design meet the needs of the people who would enter it and use it and care for it. How would that structure give meaning and purpose to those who used it - just by how it was built?

Interesting to think on.....

It's a good thing husband is good at navigating and doesn't mind me telling him where to go, so to speak. I think he has quite a bit of patience with me actually, when I ask him to stop here and go there, just so I can get my camera clicking.

Perhaps one day we will see more than the soul of Prince Albert...perhaps somewhere like London U.K., New York, SanFrancisco, Moscow, Budapest..........Saskatoon, Regina, Wakaw, Northside.......I must be realistic too! Besides, any place where there are people , there are buildings with "souls".

Maybe I'll begin to pray that one day I'll be able to do some serious photography.....I think I'd like it.

Inside....outside....and a fight with the elements...

(You can click on the pictures....any time you like.)

Walls make all the difference. I think you will agree.

I work in an office where, if you don't look outside, you could visualize yourself being in the tropics. Plants are blooming or waiting to bloom, and you can almost smell the musty aroma of rain, as it drenches the parched ground.

Setting your eyes to the outside of the building however, you are thrust into a totally different mentality - one of harshness and crispness and cutting cold. Minus 35 to be exact.

The air hovers in crystals and smothers trees and steel girders alike. No mercy. Life outside the walls is caught in frost's encompassing death grip, with no hope of letting go. But it's beauty is enticing me to follow.......and I do. Mitts off, I begin my bare-fingered fight with the elements.

Click....a sunset is captured. I won.....this time.

A "no fun" night...

And I felt like a silly goose.......

Leaving for a meeting in the dark - 7 p.m. - taking your humongous 4X4, driving the speed limit down 22nd Street and in the darkness you notice cars driven up on snow piles by the side of the road, some cars stuck, some parked and unable to turn around....and you find yourself in the middle of over 2 feet of water. You try and slow down somewhat but S-P-L-A-S-H.....and you don't dare slow down any more as traction is becoming extremely difficult so you plow your way through a water main break situation.

Oh, did I mention.....the temperature is nearing minus 30C.......

I manage to get through but other vehicles are not so fortunate.

Get to meeting....but wondering all the while if the truck will freeze up before I get home!!??

Grab honkin' big minute book bag, and since I don't drive this truck all too often, I have to be thinking about where this and that is on the dash board and all that stuff.....and begin to eventually descend.

Not thinking about the outside of the vehicle too much, I take a looooong step down from this brawny half ton and place my foot on the running board and........

Foot slips off running board and down goes me with back landing on running board and hind end in a pile of ice.

I guess the running board was icy!!!

Have over two hour meeting in hard chair.

Come home.

After explaining to husband my ordeals he enthusiastically states:

"You mean you didn't think that the running board would have ice on it!!!???"

He's in my baaaaaaad books.....and I've got a soooooooore back.

The art of pouring cement.....

These two fine young men are in the business of concrete. Cement, that is. Readying the houses for concrete. Making forms. Pouring cement. Removing forms. Next job...and so on.

Matthew and Greg. Buddies through school....graduating together. Bible College together. Both living now in Winnipeg.

Now the two are pouring cement for the same company....in an effort to raise some much needed cash.

Hard labor is good for body, mind and soul....not sure about the spirit.

So, Mother (that's me) phones son (that's Matt), and the following conversation ensues:

Mother: Hi Dear. How's the first concrete day?

Son: Oh, pretty good.

Mother: There's a wind chill for Winnipeg. Did you dress warmly?

Son: Oh sure.

Mother: Were your feet warm?

Son: Yes.

Mother: Do you have steel toed boots?

Son: Yep. A hundred dollar boots.

Mother: Did you wear a toque? Ears are the first to get frostbite.

Son: Uh-huh...

Mother: What about your hands? You know how cold your hands get.

Son: Ya, pretty much warm. They got a little cold after I got my gloves wet though.

Mother: You should carry an extra pair of gloves, don't you think?

Son: Probably.

Mother: Do you have to work when it's really cold out? They really shouldn't allow that.

Son: No, not if it's really cold.

Mother: Well, I'm glad about that.

Son: Ya, me too!

Mother: Are you working on a guitar right now? (as great music is heard over the phone)

Son: ........(more great music being played)

Mother: Well, that's how I'll be able to hear you play your guitar from now on....when you're repairing them.

Son: .......(more twangs and all kinds of musical miracles are played with great gusto and passion)

Mother: Just give me a call next time you're fixing another one of those things. I do love to hear you play.

Son: ......chuckle.....sure.

Mother: Well, sounds like you've had a hard, busy day doing concrete things and now you're repairing guitars all evening. You probably need some rest.

Son: I'm nearly finished the guitar now (followed by a loud peel of stringed vibrato!!!)

Mother: How was Kim's first day back at school?

Son: She had one lab today but she's in for a huge workload in that class. She's fine though.

Mother: I hope she will do fine in it.

Son: Oh, I think she will.

Mother: I'd better leave you to your repair work dear. I love you, dear.... and say hi to Kim.

Son: I love you too. I will.

Mother: 'Nite.

Son: 'Nite.

I wonder if all mother's are as "interested" in their children's comings and goings as I am?

Probably.:-)

Now, to phone daughter......they're having a snow storm in Regina.........

Relationship...

Somehow, I can't get past this "relationship" thing with God. It is infusing me....can I say that??? It's constantly on my mind and in my thoughts.

We talked about it tonight at our "book reading gathering". Over and over again we brought up the subject of how important relationship with God is. We can't make it a one time thing, a one time decision to love him and then leave it at that. We can't say we know God and simply stop. It's up to us as to how we are going to keep that relationship growing.

It's the same when we get married. We say our "I do's" but we don't leave it there. If we did, we would have simply a relationship of just that - of saying our vows, in words only. It takes us getting to know each other and developing that relationship, really working at it that keeps it growing and evolving into something better, something more beautiful and more real and true.

So, in the same way, in order to keep on with our relationship with God, it takes work and dedication and an acting out of what we have initially said to Him - our vows, as it were. In the beginning we said we would follow Him and love Him and do what needed to be done to grow our relationship with Him.

If we all kept growing in our relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, we would be where we are supposed to be in our faith and in our walk with Him. Sometimes we falter, and stumble and actually stop, but it's up to us to continue on in that walk. We must make the choice to go ahead.

I pray for my (our) relationship with Christ to grow and become something beautiful and pleasing and fruitful...like a seed changing into a beautiful plant, complete with fruit, fruit that will last.

Health...

As we at Gateway, end our "Week of Prayer", I have had ample time to consider what exactly constitutes the health of a church? I think it's many things.

Loving - putting the other person before myself.

Having someone care about me even when I'm unlovable, do stupid things, speak rudely and when I'm a total jackass.

Have people take enough interest in me to set me back on a good path, if I've wandered off, even if it means swallowing a bucket of pride in the process. I need a reality check at times!! We all do. But if I find myself in the middle of a mess, I need to be accountable for my mess to those I have hurt and those I love and repent of it.

Also, prayer comes in handy... (tongue in cheek). Actually prayer is the main ingredient here.

When I talk to God about the people I love and care for and the things that concern me, that is what shows that I have a relationship with Him. If I didn't believe that, it would be like talking to a gum wrapper and lives wouldn't change or grow. There is something in relationship with God, that makes true relationship with others possible. He started it. He created us. He wanted to know us and for us to know him, and in that relationship, trust is built and we begin to know and be known.

So, when a church comes together, with whatever gifts they have been given by God, and these gifts are used to help and encourage and care for and love each other in honest and true relationship, that is where we can begin to be fruitful and healthy. I say begin, because it doesn't stop there. A whole world outside the church walls waits for us to care for them and provide for their needs and offer them hope.

We've got a good grasp of health within the church.

Now we must expand our horizons. I wonder what our next steps will be to bring health to a very needy world.

Just keep us in good health God.....physical AND spiritual.