Blogust & Everything After

Upcoming Sermon Series a bit "out of the box"

2010-04-10T00:50:00.006+08:00

I guess the term "out of the box" is what most people use to describe something a bit risky or out of the ordinary. I'm taking a chance with our new sermon series at The Pearl. I've title it "Church Ink: Stories on Skin", it's going to be a walk through the tattoos of our church members...mostly me but a few others as well. Of course not just any tattoos but ones with Christian significance. I've wanted to do this for some time now. I continue to add to my tattoo collection and many of them represent Christian themes in my life. I know that this series will be a stretch for some as the subject of tattoos can still be a bit controversial. Then again when have I been known to stay away from the controversial. We all express our faith in different ways...many people wear chains, crosses, t-shirts, wristbands etc. to declare their allegiance to the world and some of us do it with our ink. Each week the plan is to use the imagery to springboard a sermon topic. It's a great chance to also get creative exploring the connections of art and pop culture with the world of Christian faith. I'm excited by this risk and look forward to sharing my story of faith through the pictures I carry with me everyday.

Check out the poster I made:

Twas The Night Before Christmas (Remix)

2009-12-21T05:46:00.002+08:00

I reworked this classic poem and shared it at our Christmas service last night:
Twas the night before Christmas and all through Taipei,
Every office was stirring, it’s still a work day.

The stockings were hung in markets with care,
In hope that the cops were neither here nor there,

The children were nestled at their buxibans 補習班, (English cram schools)
With visions of phonics, for the nus 女 and the nans 男, (nu=girl, nan=boy)

Mama 媽媽 in the lobby and dad on the scoot,
It was time to go home to unwrap the loot,

When out in the lane arose such a noise,
No big deal just the garbage truck boys,

Away to the window a building blocking my sight,
Drizzling rain, no snow on this night.

This poem is usually about a man and his sleigh,
But as we know that isn’t really the point of this day.

Reindeer are cute, especially Rudolph,
But if that is your focus than you’re a little bit off.

This story is a baby lying in a manger,
With shepherds, and wisemen who were but strangers.

God did a great thing to show us his love,
He sent us his son from heaven above.

It’s nice to get gifts, on this we agree,
The greatest gift of all is for you and for me

We deserve nothing because of our sin,
But God’s gift of Grace let’s us all in,

Let us reflect in this season on Jesus as king,
As we eat candy canes and listen to Bing

He may have no beard and no jelly belly,
And the barn where he lay was probably smelly

But the earth was changed on that special day,
That is why we celebrate even today.

So decorate with Santas, say your HO, HO, HOS
But don’t forget the real gift, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Diet Pop

2009-10-29T13:27:00.005+08:00

One of the things that they don't really do here in Taiwan is diet pop. They have Diet Coke & Coke Zero but no diet flavors and Pepsi doesn't offer any diet products. I love drinking pop, always have and probably always will but a few years ago I did start to come to terms with it's negative effects on my waistline. I started to look into the calorie contents of food/drink and surprise surprise pop & beer were bad for me. Ever since then I basically only drink diet pop...i know some of you will have the inclination to share your thoughts on the negative health effects of diet pop but don't bother commenting on that, for me it's about the extra weight. I'll take Splenda/Aspertame over straight sugar any day.

So...when i'm in N.America I love drinking diet pop especially Diet Dr.Pepper and Diet Root Beer. During our annual summer vacation in Saskatchewan there is always a supply of diet pop wherever you find me. On a similar note I'm also a fan of some of these new lite beers at home, like Bud Lite Lime. I'm in trouble if they come up with Sleeman's Honey Brown Lite. I like these diet pops so much that the last few times we've returned to Taiwan I've packed up our suitcases with a couple dozen cans. Some would say, and have said, that it's a crazy use of luggage weight but I see it as a very valuable import. On my recent trip to Atlanta I came across an amazing drink that I could probably drink through I.V. for the rest of my life (alternating with bags of Starbucks coffee of course)...CHERRY COKE ZERO. I had a sample at the World of Coke Museum and made sure to pick one up every time we were near a convenient store. I managed to bring back a 12 pack of cans. They lasted for two weeks, and were good to the last drop each time....however, the sad day has come. Last night I drank the last one. :( Who knows how long it'll be until my next batch of diet pop but i'll remember all the good times Cherry Coke Zero and I had.

The Last Can

Website update (update)

2009-09-04T02:41:00.001+08:00

I was informed that the videos weren't working...I've made the adjustments and they are now up and running.

Website update

2009-09-03T18:13:00.002+08:00

If you aren't reading this on our website it's time for you to check it out. I've linked all of our family blogs there and there are photos and videos galore.

I've spent some time in the last couple days updating some stuff. So check out the photos page and the videos page. The videos have some golden moments with the kids. I also made some superficial changes, our blog headers are all new and pretty.

Here's the link: http://web.me.com/chrismckenzie/themckenzies/Home.html

Dreading next week

2009-08-09T02:36:00.003+08:00

If you've talked to me in the last couple months you've no doubt heard me talk about the struggles of having two kids. I don't know how people raise more than two kids, it's been so stressful, tiring, frustrating. I love both of my kids and they still melt my heart daily but it's no easy task. I have an incredible wife who has allowed me to have a lot of free time this summer as she has taken on much of the day to day parenting. She goes back to work this upcoming Monday and so begins my return to at home parenting. I'm petrified. With one kid it was a difficult but manageable role...Gemma and I would usually sleep in a bit, watch some TV, eat breakfast, do one activity or outing then Nevada would come home for lunch, we would nap for almost two hours after lunch and then kill off one more hour with a snack and activity. It was a busy day but worked out well. Gemma now is a lot busier and needs much more stimulation which is exhausting and now there's a second one with a routine of his own and very different needs. I have complete respect and admiration for at home parents who do this job with their whole heart and whole energy. When I began in the role of stay at home parent my focus was to make up for where my father failed. Growing up without a dad has had it's effects on my life and I wanted a chance to out-do him as well as right the ship moving forward. I believe i started strong but almost 3 years in I'm struggling. I've also gained an appreciate for my role in the workplace and have had a change of heart, I now want to be able to work hard at my job and provide for my family. This is not the reality of our situation here in Taiwan. I work at a small church that pays me what it can but it isn't head of household kind of money. So with that being said I maintain one foot in the door at home and one in the workplace. We have had wonderful friends who have babysat for me in the past years so that I could get away from the house to work or to destress a little. This year we're trying something new by hiring our friend Annabelle to babysit consistently 4 afternoons a week. She's an amazing woman who has a gift with little kids. Gemma loves her and has so much fun when they are together. I know she will do a good job. I'm still parenting in the mornings and one full day a week. Please pray for me as I'm totally overwhelmed and feel like I won't make it. I want to be a great dad for my kids but somedays I just don't feel like I can do it.

Communication gap

2009-07-26T11:49:00.003+08:00

Well, we're back in Taiwan after 6 weeks in Canada and it feels great. This is home for now and as everyone knows if feels good to be at home. Vacations are great but it's tough to live out of a suitcase for too long.

Today I shaved off my summer beard. It's a sad thing as I like to have a beard but my beard just doesn't come in that great and makes me look older and fatter. Not to mention the heat of having a squirrel's worth of hair on your face. The next step was to get a haircut. I had grown my hair all summer and was looking forward to growing it out a bit longer. However it needed a trim because it was bushy and shapeless. So I went to my normal place, Yellow Ted, where they give me decent haircuts for a good price. I sat down and gave my usual instructions, "I want it a little shorter here and here, and leave this part long". This is the extent of my haircut Chinese. For the most part it usually works out...today was not like that. The first couple passes of the scissors through my hair took off a whole lot more than I expected. And before I knew it it was too late. She cut and cut and buzzed and buzzed...and all of a sudden I basically had a mohawk. Now I dig a unique haircut as much as anyone, in fact I've been known to experiment a lot with my hair but as a grown up with a public role i can't mess around too much. It's not the best move to look like a punk teenager. Luckily my hair grows quickly and this hairdo will see recovery in about a month but for now I'm looking a little funny. This is yet another reason why I need to bone up on my Chinese skills. God has been speaking to me about my life here in Taiwan. If I'm going to be here, living here as my home, I need to work at immersing myself more. Eat the food, speak the language etc. It's ok to be an outsider with a genuine interest in the place but to be effective and really connect with people here I need to jump in with both feet. My hope is to work on my Chinese and take some bolder steps in connecting with the community around me. It'll be tough but the rewards will be worth it. God is faithful.

Vision...

2009-07-09T13:49:00.002+08:00

As a church leader I've been bombarded with questions about VISION. What is the vision for your church? What is your vision for ministry? I've struggled a bit to answer these questions and I realize that it's probably because I've always maintained a broad, generic, generalized vision of wanted to see people come to Christ, join the church and be strengthened in their faith. These are all fair goals but sort of explain the general vision of all churches. Most people want to know where I'm going in ministry (what is my goal?) and where is the church (the Pearl) going. So I bought a book to help learn about this whole topic: Visioneering, by Andy Stanley. I'm only two chapters in but it's been helpful so far. One of the things that has simplified the whole thing is the idea that one's vision comes out of having a burden for a certain group of people or certain issue. He says that most of us see something and want it to be different. We see how it could be and want to take action to change it. That's where our vision begins. I have some strong indicators of what it is I care about and how I want to see it changed but as I work through what my vision for ministry is it leads me to another question. As a pastor/church leader is my personal burden the one that is supposed to shape the vision of the church I'm leading or am I supposed to have a personal vision and a different corporate vision to unleash? I guess the reason I'm working through this question is that in the fall our church needs to clarify it's vision/focus/goal and I'm not sure if, as the leader, I'm supposed to explain my passion and have others join in or is it more of a democratic process where we try to find a vision that captivates the majority of the congregation. Does our church follow my vision lead or do we come up with a group vision. It's obviously easier to just say "here's my vision, this is what WE are going to be about at the Pearl." That way the goal is set immediately and we can begin to work at it together. The other way can be a major challenge. We all know of scenarios where coming up with consensus decisions is a real pain. Too many cooks in the kitchen, if you will. And then there is the issue of my personal vision not co-inciding with the consensus ideas. What then?

You're thoughts on personal/corporate vision would be appreciated? Leave a comment...(and if you can't leave a comment...some people have expressed difficulties...please email me your thoughts chrismckenzie@thepearlintaipei.com)

I need to blog...

2009-06-26T14:34:00.002+08:00

I used to view blogging as an outlet for things on my mind and felt like it was a safe place to share knowing that the core of my readers were close and supportive. Through the years though I've scaled back, to the point that many of you are probably surprised that I'm actually writing a post right now. I think that as live goes on I get more guarded about sharing too openly, seems to be too much flack that can be taken. I hate that feeling. The feeling that if I say what's really on my mind people won't like me or respect me. So I'm going to do my best to revert back to my old ways of honesty and openness. I hope you will appreciate that and join in the conversation of my life.

Great night!

2009-05-02T03:04:00.002+08:00

Back in the day in Saskatoon I was involved with a group called the Worship Freehouse. It was a collective of Christians that met to explore doing community/worship/church in a different way. Something that I really enjoyed were the theological discussions had over a cold pint at the Black Duck. It was an excellent casual environment to share life with each other.

With that in mind I decided to start something similar at the Pearl. We call it, quite simply, Theology Pub. Since we are an international non-denominational church it's a great place to discuss our different upbringings and viewpoints. One of my goals is to bring us on to a similar page, so that the unity in our community can strengthen. As we share around the table I believe we all learn something and come closer to understanding each others viewpoint. The goal is not to come up with solid answers or discover who's right but moreso to open the channels of communication that sometimes stay blocked and limit our ability to develop relationships.

Tonight we had the best Theology Pub yet. There were about 10 people there representing many different backgrounds and streams of thought. We debated about the Charismatic Spiritual Gifts and their place in the church. Some personal stories were shared, some Bible passages explored and there were some heated moments. I left feeling encouraged that everyone was given a chance to share and that we all have a new spin on things that needs to be chewed on. It's such an amazing thing to see so much diversity in one room coming together in the name of God and building relationship through an unorthodox church activity.

The body of Christ embodied in the church is a concept I'm in love with and look forward to many more nights of arms fighting with legs and eyes trying to be ears all in the name of working it out together to be a functioning body.

My happy place

2009-04-20T01:33:00.002+08:00

Although I’m a loyal Starbucks customer sometimes I step out of my comfort zone to explore the local coffee scene. We live in a university neighborhood and despite what you may think about Taiwan there is a very vibrant cafe culture here in Taipei. There are coffee shops everywhere and although some of them miss the mark there are others that stand out as hidden gems.

Today was a tiring day and I spent a lot of time nodding off and eventually crashed after supper for a couple of hours. But with work to do I’ve headed out on the town to find a little corner to seclude myself and focus in on work. My first stop was Cafe Giulano. It’s a great little spot with sort of a Parisienne style. Fancy floral furniture and very old worldly. Most importantly my recent favorite coffee drink...sambuca coffee. It a delightful mix of espresso & sambuca topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Mmmmm...It was a great treat. Unfortunately I got there at 10:30 and they closed at 11 so my stay was brief. Well worth it though for the drink. Funny story side note: While I was sitting on the patio this lady came up with her dog in tow. This isn’t uncommon in Taiwan for people to have their dogs at cafes or even restaurants...especially places with outdoor seating. She leaned her head into the cafe to make her order. Her dog remained outside connected to the leash. While the lady was interested in what liquids would enter her body the dog had other ideas. Before you could even make sense of it the dog started peeing right on the patio and directly on to a fan that was set up on the floor. It was right next to my table and I sat that with a “did that just happen?” look on my face. I shared a goofy grin with some people at another table who witnessed what had happened. What a strange situation...oh well...c’est la vie!

After the first coffee shop closed down I was still intent on doing some work and wanted a chill spot to sit down. I skateboarded around the neighborhood to see of any other places were still open. Luckily enough one of my other favs was open until 1 am. So here I am sitting in the cleverly named “Cafe Espresso”. It has the best atmosphere. Tables with comfy antique style chairs. Each table is dimly lit with a light fixture that drops from the ceiling and sits just a foot and a half off the table. Very intimate feeling. They have classic jazz playing with that record player sound and an ecclectic decor that includes antique cabinets filled with collections of old mugs and glasses. They have a big coffee roaster on display as well as burlap coffee sacks spread around the room. The whole vibe is just relaxing and perfect for achieving that feeling of sacred space away from the busy world. It's times like these that I have no complaints about life. The struggles are forgotten, the stresses are melted away and I can't help but be happy.

Where is your happy place? If you haven't found one yet, keep looking cuz once you find it your soul will thank you.

Visitors galore

2009-04-10T04:08:00.002+08:00

So Nevada, Gemma, Guinness and I have been fortunate to have my mom here for an extended visit. All in all she'll be here for a month. She came to hang out with us and to help with the adjustment of adding another little one to our family. She's been a great help, doing dishes, washing clothes, cooking the odd meal and of course cuddling/changing Guinness. She's also shopped a lot and we've all benefitted from some of those purchases. Although her and I don't always get along it's fun to have her here to joke with and banter with. Hopefully she'll make this a regular trip in the next couple years.

In other news, Nate (Nevada's brother) just booked his ticket to come here. Mom leaves on April 17 and Nate gets here on the 29th. It'll be his first time over here so it'll be really fun to show him around and help him to get his first taste of Chinese Asia. It'll be a different type visit than my mom, a little more touristy so that will be fun. I love giving people a taste of our life here and helping them to see the beauty that can be found on our island. It'll also be fun to have the kids spend some time with their uncle. I know he's not really used to hanging out with little kids but they'll grow on him. I'll make sure he gets enough adult time to blow off some steam. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but it's been awesome getting to know Nate in the last couple of years. I've never had siblings and the more we hang out the more I get a sense of what it's like to have a brother.

New McKenzie Website

2009-04-06T04:54:00.001+08:00

New website address: http://web.me.com/chrismckenzie/themckenzies

With the arrival of Guinness (our new son) I realized that we would need a new blog for the little guy. I also started thinking of you the readers (potential readers) and how bothersome it would be to jump back and forth between 4 blogs and a Flickr site. So what I've done is created a website that hosts all four of our McKenzie blogs and that gives us an opportunity to share so much more....like photos and videos. I'm using a hosting service that tends to be a bit slow loading, so I apologize for that, but I hope you'll enjoy the new look. Please remember to "bookmark" this page or save it in your "favorites".

From now on rather than going to our individual blogs just head to our one main website and everything you need is there.

Practice post

2009-03-23T04:33:00.003+08:00

trying to create a new site and checking how it works with blogger

Dearly Beloved...

2008-12-31T21:42:00.004+08:00

(original drafted on Dec.31/08)
Some friends from the Pearl got in touch with me today with a challenging proposition. They are getting married here in Tapei on Jan 10th and they would like me to be the officiant/pastor at their ceremony. The groom's childhood friend, who is a pastor, backed out at the last minute and they need someone to do the ceremony. They've been off and on members of the Pearl and I totally want to help them and support them on their big day. It's quite last minute and I'm freaking out but I know that it's the right thing to do. This will be my first wedding gig so despite the nerves it's an encouragement as I move into my ministry calling.

So I sat down with the couple to discuss the wedding plan. In my mind we were meeting just to discuss some of the "pastoral" details of the wedding, such as what vows to use, sermon style and ideas and rehearsal/ceremony times. But to my surprise they had no plans at all in place. They had no music/musicians, no readings/readers, not many ideas about personalized ceremony structure....wow! So not only was I speaking on stage but i was also wedding planning. AAHHH! I think it was the short notice that freaked me out. To explain a little...the wife is Taiwanese and here they don't do wedding ceremonies (since they aren't Christian as a culture), here they have a family get together that officializes the union and then they have a big banquet to celebrate. In general, in western culture, the wife plans the wedding but in this case the wife didn't know what a wedding entailed. With Nevada's help and some great internet resources we sculpted a nice traditional wedding that ended up going smoothly and totally meeting the couple's expectations.

It was an unnerving but amazing experience. I felt like I took a step in the right direction as far as being a "real" pastor. God really came through in giving me a calmness and a confidence to stand up there and deliver. It's a rewarding thing to see two great people joined in marriage especially in this world that seems to be less and less interested in the value of a lifetime commitment before God. It was also a good growing experience to put together a wedding sermon. Of course I've heard many and am familiar with some of the standard wedding Bible verses but I wanted to come up with something a little bit unique. I'm sure that doesn't surprise many of you that I wanted to be different. So here's what I did...I put together a little gift box of four items. The purpose for the box was that I wanted to leave the couple with something tangible they could reflect on in the future. I feel like people are so frazzled on stage at their weddings that they don't really take in the sermon. They listen and appreciate it but the whole experience is a bit of a blur. The four items I included were: a Cross, a piece of Rope, a stuffed toy Heart, and a bottle of Glue. The Cross represented sacrifice, referencing Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice. Marriage, of course, needed each person to sacrifice and serve like Christ. The Rope representing the cord of three strands from Ecclesiastes. This was to remind the couple that they needed to have God involved in their marriage for strength. The Heart to represent romance and fun. I read from Song of Songs (Soloman) about passionate love and encouraged them to keep the spark alive. And the Glue was to re-enforce the idea of commitment. They are now stuck together for life (not in a bad way) but in a blessed union, two become one sort of way. I thought it was creative and unique. Mostly I hope that they can pull out that box every couple of years and remember what the lesson on marriage was and re-evaluate where they are at from time to time.

I hope to be a able to officiate many more weddings in the future and see many people commit to a life together under God. Another first for me in a year of firsts in my life as a pastor...
(pics will follow soon)

Fatherhood

2008-12-10T23:39:00.004+08:00

(Originally written on Dec.10/08)
Something fairly heavy has been on my mind in the last few months and I was reminded of it with something Nevada said. As I was hugging Gemma and laughing with her Nevada said "Can you believe your dad missed out on this?". (maybe not exact words but something like that) My father wasn't the man he needed to be when I was a baby/infant and although I don't know all of the details what I do know is that he ceased to be a part of my life when I was 2. Ever since I got married and started thinking about a future with children I knew i had to be different and do it differently than I experienced. In my mind a big thing I could do is make a commitment to being with my child, loving on my child. Although it's still not the standard, I wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. It seemed the best way to "be there" for my child. I've been lucky to have a wife that has been willing to support that. I've really enjoyed growing up with Gemma and spending time with her. Sometimes it hasn't been fun or easy but every time I get a hug, a kiss or a giggle I can't imagine doing it any other way. With only two years as a dad under my belt I'm a changed man and can't wait for a lifetime with my little one(s).

With that in mind my ideas and heart have been adjusting. I think my original idea (of being a stay at home dad) was a bit based on emotional parenting. I am a touchy-feely kind of guy and missed out on having that kind of dad so I wanted to be that for Gemma. I don't regret it but I'm moving into a new stage of my fatherhood values. I've never been ignorant to the provider role but chose the emotional provider role over the practical/financial provider role. Nearing 30 years old and with a second child on the way I'm trying to make that adjustment to figuring out how to take care of the future of my family. As a person pursuing my calling in ministry I will never be wealthy but I want to always do my best with what I've got to provide for my family. The next year may bring some big changes in our life as a family but with some aches and pains my hope is that we will move into a stage that is both rewarding and secure. I believe God has us firmly in his grasp and as long as we seek hard after what He wants for us we will be taken care of. I am positive that God is calling me to step up into my role as a man and not just a young man.

Bittersweet Decision

2008-12-04T23:56:00.004+08:00

I guess this is a bit of an official announcement...we have signed on for another 2 years in Taiwan. We've been mulling over this decision almost every day since we returned to Taiwan from our summer vacation. More than any time in the last four years we were very conflicted. We've both been missing home....people, comfort, lifestyle etc. But it came down to a matter of faith. Taiwan is where God wants us and has big things in store for us. I know some people who read this won't understand but as Christians we don't just follow our own desires, we make choices based on what God wants and where He wants to use us. Our life is good here. We have a place to live, we have food to eat and we have wonderful people around us. It just isn't the typical life that most of us (in Saskatchewan) envision living. At this stage Taiwan is where our lives make sense. Nevada and I both enjoy our jobs and have potential to learn and grow in our professions, our callings. We are able to take good care of Gemma (good medical system, benefits through Nevada's work) and there are so many people here that love on her. These things will also be true with the new baby. Our church is awesome and has been a major blessing. Not to mention some of the frivolous things in life that we enjoy here: travel opportunities, tropical climate, international big city culture, fun exercise (basketball whenever I want it, biking for transportation and enjoyment), chance to learn Chinese etc, etc.

My heart does break when I think of missing out on life with certain people. We both miss our families a lot. It's been so sad for me that we haven't had Christmas together in 4 years and that our daughter only gets to see her grandparents/great grandparents briefly each year. For me, I miss Tom...my best friend. I feel that we get more and more disconnected as time goes by and that kills me. I hate that I don't get to see his daughter growing up and that our new families don't get to spend time together. Lastly, I miss our old church family at Lakeview. There are a lot of people there that i value and have lost touch with. A lot of people to learn from and grow with that I may never bond with again. I think that in the end one of the tough things we have to do as adults is make the best decisions for ourselves and our families and this comes with a cost. This disconnect with our "home" city and the people we've left behind is the biggest cost for us.

We do envision a time when we'll make a return to Canada. We both feel strongly that I need to finish a Bible college/seminary program in order to fully reach my potential as a pastor and that will bring us home so i can be a student at Briercrest. We're just not sure when that will be and how that will happen. Please pray that we will make the right decision in regards to how to complete those studies and pray that somehow the finances for that will be in place when the time comes.

I could probably write pages and pages on this decision but this post sums it up nicely. If you are a reader from "back home" please keep in touch with us and we will do our best to stay connected with you as well.

Gemma's 2nd Birthday

2008-12-02T03:07:00.001+08:00

This weekend we celebrated Gemma's birthday with two parties. Feel free to check out the pics on Facebook and Flickr.

Who is this guy?

2008-12-02T03:06:00.000+08:00

There’s this guy that I see from time to time at Starbucks and every time I see him it makes me think. He’s quite ragged looking, disheveled perhaps but has this look of innocence on his face. He sits with his coffee and an old IBM thinkpad. He’s always working on computer code, or that’s what it looks like to me. The black screen with the text based commands, kind of MS DOS like. In the chairs around him and on the floor are his many bags, 3 or 4 at last count. I’m not sure what’s in those bags but all indications based on his appearance point to the possibility that his entire life may be in those bags. I don’t have much, if any, real life experience with homeless people but he fits the stereotype. The thing that intrigues me is this, if he is homeless or going through a rough patch what is doing with a laptop and drinking Starbucks? I’m all for people having equal opportunities to the various perks of life it just seems like such juxtaposition. That also makes me think that maybe money is not the issue but maybe it’s something else. In moments of realizations like that my heart wells up. I want to know more and try to connect with him. (Unfortunately the language barrier holds me back) I want to hear his heart and walk with him through whatever it is that’s bothering him. I haven’t mentioned his feet yet. To be honest, the first time I really took notice of this guy was because of his feet. He doesn’t wear shoes and his feet are calloused, cracked and there are various scabs going up his ankles. It’s all a very weird package but I’m intrigued. The famous cliche of “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” runs through my mind. I suppose in this case I would have to walk a mile in his feet. Where has he been? Why doesn’t he wear shoes? What’s in those bags? What’s his heart? What’s his Starbucks drink of choice? For now, all i can do is wonder and pray.

Chilling in the mountains

2008-11-26T23:36:00.007+08:00

I'm beat and need to get to bed but have to share these two pics cuz they are making me smile from ear to ear.(BTW, i just finished uploading those and a bunch more pics on my Flickr and Facebook...check 'em out.)

By the way...

2008-11-20T00:34:00.004+08:00

I guess it's worth noting that I reached a blog milestone a few posts back. My post on Nov.1 was my 700th post. You may not believe it with my lack of blogging lately but it's true. It took about 5 years to do but it makes my pursuit of 1000 seem a lot closer. I feel like setting a goal of reaching 1000 posts before my 30th birthday in August. Let's do it...stay tuned as i pick up my blog production. I hope someone has stuck around to listen to my ramblings...if that's you, thanks for reading.

Baby#2

2008-11-20T00:34:00.001+08:00

A month ago our doctor tried so hard to identify the sex of our baby and although he made an educated guess it wasn’t clear. Needless to say we were excited to hear what it would be. The answer was clear when Nevada went to see the doctor last Monday....It’s a BOY!

I thought I would be more excited because I’m a man and men are supposed to want boys. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted a boy but after living two years with a great little girl it’s hard to say that there’s a preference. I could’ve had another little Gemma and it would have been just as precious. I think it’s just nice to have a balance and get to experiences the joys and pains of both genders growing up. I am looking forward to doing some of the cliche male bonding things: playing football, going fishing, smoking cigars, going to a Rider game etc. But more and more I’m understanding how those things can just as easily be done with girls, girls who are interested in those things of course, but that there aren’t many things these days that we regard as exclusive to specific gender. I don’t want to be a parent that boxes my child in to something they’re supposed to do or not supposed to do based on their gender. I just want us to enjoy quality time together and what we do is not what’s important. All that being said...I hope my little boy is a baller like no other. I can’t wait to coach him and watch him star in some big games. And we’ll see if God has us in Saskatoon when high school rolls around cuz I’ll always want my kid to play for Holy Cross.....green white dynamite!

Movies

2008-11-20T00:33:00.000+08:00

I don’t get to much chance to watch movies these days. With the busyness of life and Gemma controlling the TV a lot there just aren’t many opportunities. However a couple weeks ago i carved out some time to watch a couple flicks. The first one I watched on the Nov.1 as a part of my annual Halloween scary movie watching. The show was called “23” starring Jim Carrey. It was an interesting show about a man becoming obsessed with the number 23. He’s reading a book about a character who becomes obsessed with the number 23 and eventually becomes a killer as the craziness eats him alive. Just to clarify it’s not necessarily the number itself but how things such as dates and addresses correspond with the number 23 or sometimes the 23rd thing like word on a page, page in a book, house on the block etc. Without boring you with too many details I want to say that it was a good film that explored the idea of life imitating art imitating life. I have a weird fascination with thriller type movies and this one fit the bill. It blurred the line of reality and fantasy and brought it together in a great finish. It is scary to think that this happens to real people, many people allow some of the distractions of life to eat at their state of mind until it takes over and they lose themselves entirely.

The other movie I saw was “Once”. It’s a film set in Ireland about two people who are struggling to get through life and happen to meet as they are both working on the streets of Dublin. The guy is a singer songwriter busker and the woman has odd jobs throughout the show. Their whole connection is based on their passion for music but they come to develop a friendship as they learn more about each other. They are both broken and clinging to past relationships and this allows them to write and perform some beautiful songs with raw emotion and intense lyrics. Throughout the movie they draw closer and closer and the movie taunts us with the impending romance. The music laces everything together as it allows them to explore emotions and moments of honesty. Near the end the finally take the big step of recording their music. The studio scenes are brilliant and the music is amazing. With musical success now inevitable the only thing left is to solidify the romance but this is the kicker...they don’t end up getting together. They both go back to the old partner and their connection becomes just a fond memory. Hated that ending but what can you do, that’s real life...it doesn’t always tie up in a nice bow. Despite the ending being a let down I really enjoyed the movie. I would recommend it to indie movie fans and anyone who loves raw passionate folk singing (ie: Damien Rice). I’m always a sucker for an Irish made movie, I try to see any movie that comes out and has an Irish connection. After the movie I looked up the names of the actors only to find that they are actually both famous musicians, it did look like they were really playing and singing in the movie. I jumped on iTunes and bought the soundtrack right away. I’ve been listening to it constantly for a few weeks now...great stuff!

Pics of our house

2008-11-01T17:12:00.002+08:00

Some people (mostly our parents) have asked for pics of our new place. We moved into a new apartment just before summer holidays after being evicted from our last place. The owner of our last place decided she wanted to sell the apartment rather than renting it out. Our new place has grown on us and is in a great building. It's fairly new and many of our friends live in the same complex. Click HERE to see the photos on Flickr.

Another Typhoon

2008-09-28T16:50:00.002+08:00

Yet another typhoon is pounding our little island. This time it's Typhoon Jangmi, it's still a couple hours away from official landfall and it's quite hairy outside. Tree branches, umbrellas, signs and other various objects flying around and of course the torrential rain. It's a dangerous thing for the coastal areas of Taiwan so please remember them in prayer today if you think of it. For us in the city it's more of an inconvenience than anything. In my old age and introvertness I've come to love these days. I get to stay in, read books, watch tv, drink coffee, take a nap and spend some time computing. I also get to spend some good family time with my girls...we play, color, eat together etc. We're also waiting on possible news about tomorrow being a day off for Nevada. She hasn't had a typhoon day in a couple years so it would be nice for her to get an extra day off and I know a husband and daughter who wouldn't mind having her around.

Suckingham

2008-09-03T15:55:00.001+08:00

Many of our friends take part in a Masters of Education program that runs classes every couple of months at Nevada’s school. The program is put on by a university in the States called Framingham. It’s a great opportunity for them but it sort of wrecks our social scene. Every 2 1/2 months they have two weeks of intensive class, 4 nights a week and all day Saturday. So our friends are busy, unavailable and often tired. This week has been the first session of this year and it sucks. That’s why we call it Suckingham. It’s only been two days and I already miss these friends. Our friend Adrienne, specifically, tends to eat dinner with us at least once a week and also is great with Gemma, often willing to babysit or at least entertain while we do some house work. I can’t wait until they are all finished and have those degrees. They’ll be smarter, more employable, and best of all they’ll be available to be our friends again....boo hoo.

Starbucks=Model UN

2008-09-03T15:52:00.000+08:00

In high school there was this club that would meet called the Model UN (United Nations). Students would assume the roles of world representatives and get together to have a debate/discussion based on world issues. I never participated, cuz it wasn’t a cool thing to do, but I always wanted to as I have always had an interest in other cultures. Today while I was sitting at Starbucks I had a fun cross-cultural experience that made me think of the excitement of different cultures working together. These two young girls approached me timidly and asked “Where are you from?” I answered “Canada” and they seemed happy with that answer. They were looking for someone they could communicate with. We stumbled through poor English communication, then they asked if I could speak French. We tried French for a minute but my mind diverts to Chinese way too much so my French is mush these days. Then the one girl asked if I could speak Chinese. I said, “a little”. So then we began communicating in Chinese. How weird? An Italian and a Canadian having conversation in English, French & Chinese??? They were having troubles sorting out their internet situation. They are here for a 5 month study term and wanted to know how they could have internet use while they were here. I explained that they could get pay-as-you-go wireless that is available at many places around Taipei. They understood this but there was a problem. Most places they could access this service are open during Taiwan business hours, this was inconvenient as they wanted to communicate with Italy and needed to account for the time difference. They don’t have a landline therefore can’t get connected with the phone company. I could tell they were frustrated and I felt bad for them. It sucks to be in a strange place and not be able to get such a normal thing figured out. I bought them a coffee just to brighten their day. We then figured out that they could purchase a 3G USB receiver on a pay-as-you-go plan from a cellphone company. They were reluctant to buy into this cuz they would have to pay a lot for the USB thingy. We did some quick research online to see if they would be able to use this USB receiver back in Italy when they were done here. To their surprise it was a globally supported product so despite the high pricetag they decided it was the best option. I don’t get a chance to help people out much in public because of the language barrier so it was nice to be of some help. And the longer I stay here the more I have a heart for those who get frustrated while walking through the hoops of this new culture.

NBA Legends in Taiwan

2008-09-02T01:18:00.003+08:00

The other night Nevada and I were fortunate enough to get our hands on some free tickets to an NBA event that was happening here in Taipei. We went with some friends of ours from school to watch some retired NBA players play a Legends Game with some retired Taiwanese pros and some current Taiwanese pros. I was excited to see the two main guys, Scottie Pippen and Clyde Drexler. These guys were stars in their era and as a bonus Glen Rice, NBA champion with Lakers, was also there. There were a lot of people there and the hype was big but I gotta be honest the game was a let down. They looked old and most times fairly disinterested. They shot a lot of lazy three-pointers and didn't even shoot them very well. There was very little running, in fact very little jogging...it was a walking pace. It wasn't all bad though. The mascot from the Golden State Warriors was there doing trampoline dunks, that was cool. And the NY Knicks dance team was there...I was a good restrained Christian when they came out but the highlight for me was watching the Taiwanese men ogle these women with big grins on their faces. This older guy a few seats away kept looking my way with this nod and wink type face...the dancing was definitely a highlight for him. Another funny thing was the halftime show. This Taiwanese R&B singer came out and blatantly lip-synced two songs. It was like watching a bad kung-fu movie where the dialogue doesn't mesh with the mouths. Overall, despite the poor basketball, it was fun night. We always enjoy a night on the town and especially when we get to share it with our good friends.

Silence & Solitude pt.1

2008-08-27T15:01:00.003+08:00

This month at church we're doing a series on Spiritual Disciplines. This upcoming week I'm speaking on silence and solitude. I'm a product of the busiest generation ever so these two things are pretty much foreign to me. I have become more introverted and reclusive the older I get but that is not the spiritual discipline of solitude. I've decided that this week I need to set some time aside to actually attempt to find silence and solitude if I'm to preach about it on Sunday. So here I am, about to attempt my first 20 min session. I'm at the church office which is a quiet space and there is no one else here. Usually in these times I may pray or read or listen to music/podcasts but I'm going to disconnect and simply sit in silence. I want to allow God some space to speak to me, sooth me, assure me of his presence and I also want to challenge myself to remain disciplined. It's easy to give up and say "it's boring" or "I don't hear God" or "what's the point I have more productive things to do" but I need to commit to this time so that I too can be learning with the congregation. As a leader I also want to be an example, a pace setter if you will. I'll come back to this space and let you know how my session went. I plan to attempt a 30 min session and a 40 min session before Sunday as well. Those will be very challenging but I'm hopeful that dedicated time spent with God will be worth it.

Update: In an attempt to get rid of as much noise as possible I didn't turn the AC on in the room I was in. That was probably a mistake as midway through my time in the hot humid prayer room I'm sure I dozed off a little. I also think 20 min was too short. I set that goal not knowing if it would be tough or not. Before I knew it my watch beeped. I was able to pray for several people. I was able to confess some sins and ask for God's guidance about some of the sin in my life. One of the strange things was after having my eyes closed for a minute or two I saw some things that I truly believe were attempted distractions from the devil. Satan was trying to use my quietness and focus to focus on the wrong things. I can't say I enjoyed that but I did enjoy the challenge of working through that and knowing that it was not from God. I'll let you know how my next couple S & S times go...

Back in Action

2008-08-16T16:49:00.003+08:00

When I take long breaks from blogging I like to come back with a new design to denote a new time in my blogging career. I've heard a few grumblings that people have been wondering what happened to my blogging. To be honest I've reached that point in my life where I don't actually have that much free time sitting at a computer. I'm busting my butt to complete 40+ pages of essay for my distance learning class that's due in 2 weeks, I work several hours a week for the church, I'm taking care of Gemma for much of the daytime, I have a marriage to maintain and of course there are the other norms of life...eating, sleeping, cleaning, going to the bathroom, exercising etc. This is no complaining session on my life cuz a confession that blogging has slowed and will be slower due to the other priorities in my life. That being said, I will continue on because I enjoy having a place to release my writing energies. I like to share my thoughts, stories and life with you all...whoever that is. And I like when i dialogue begins in the comments or in emails I receive from readers (friends/family).

Summer holidays are officially over. We are back in Taiwan and Nevada and I are back at work. I guess I should do a brief recap of summer highlights:
-watched a lot of HGTV
-my side of the family had a bigger than ever Happy Everything Day
-we also had the biggest ever McKenzie Family Camping Weekend
-Nevada was the speaker for a week of summer camp, Gemma and I tagged along
-no new tattoos
-spent some time in discussion with Lakeview Church about a possible partnership with the Pearl (pray that this will work out)
-I spent a couple days in Caronport. Hoping to someday finish a M.A.Theology program from Briercrest.
-connected with a lot of good people...I don't want to list in case I forget some
-BIG BUMMER OF THE SUMMER: Gemma was hospitalized with septicimia. Spent 4 days in isolation at Regina General Hospital. No Canadian insurance so a big bill is coming our way. Hopefully our Morrison Academy insurance takes care of it. Important thing is that Gemma got better and is back to her healthy lively self.
-Got bumped up to business class on the flight back to Taiwan. First time ever...it's a nice ride but I would never pay the extra for it.
-That's all I can remember for now...

Latest news...
-Going to Hawaii in October. Our church is affiliated with a Chinese American ministry called CKM (Christ's Kingdom Ministries) and they are paying for Lydia and I to go to the annual conference.
-It's been HOT in Taiwan. Over 35 almost every single day since I've been back.
-had a good birthday. two parties, lots of people and some cool gifts. One more year til I'm 30.

BIG NEWS!!!

That's right...baby #2 is on the way. We did the home test two weeks ago and went to the doctor a week ago. It's official! We saw the heart beat in the peanut shaped fuzzy blurry thing. It's due late March....yippee!

Congratulations Celtics!

2008-06-18T12:03:00.002+08:00

I'm a big time Laker fan and tonight we got kicked but ultimately I'm a big time basketball fan and this year the best basketball team was the Celtics. As I watched the Lakers season I was happy to see the success but I never felt we were dominant or entitled and the same held true in these finals. I made no big claims about the Lakers winning because I could see that they were up against a very good team filled with talent and heart. I'm happy to see Garnett and Pierce get a ring, they have represented an old school mentality of working hard and sticking with a team through thick and thin...and although Garnett was finally moved he was a great soldier for the T-wolves. I'm not so fussed about Ray Allen but good for him...as a three-point shooter I couldn't help but appreciate his game tonight and the way he's shot in this series, he has a sweet stroke and I know that awesome feeling that comes with being in the zone.

So how about the Lakers? I do feel Kobe turned a corner this year and became a better leader and teammate, that should help the team going forward. I'm excited for next year because we have a talented starter making his way back from injury...Andrew Bynum. He was showing flashes of greatness before his injury and if he comes back healthy there's no reason he can't do it again. I think some players were exposed in these finals and they may be dealt in the off-season...Odom just can't get it done against the big dogs, he can't bang with the bigs and he can't shoot with the smalls, Radmonovic needs to go. The 2 or 3 threes he makes a game are not worth the crappy defense, frequent fouls and space cadet behavior. Lastly, I think Phil Jackson has lost his edge. I think he relaxed way too much and didn't seem to have much input in bringing a focused team to the court. I don't think he needs to go but he needs to re-evaluate how he gets the job done. I know people want to talk about Gasol's softness and how Garnett punked him but I do feel he's playing out of position and that a move back to the PF beside Bynum will really help him. He'll never be a great defender but the other parts of his game show great talent and will have an impact. It would be somewhat amazing but not so surprising...I think we might see a Boston/L.A. final again next year. I don't see anyone that looks better on paper in either conference next year.

This is the saddest sports day for me each year cuz now we go through the offseason months of no basketball and a whole lot of media babble. I love watching NBA basketball and the waiting kills me, especially when it's baseball season on TV...BORING. This year is one of those ok years when we have Olympic basketball to watch. I'll enjoy watching Kobe take out his finals frustration on the world...I think team USA is untouchable so it'll be a fun fight for the Bronze.

Summertime and the living is freezing

2008-06-11T01:03:00.002+08:00

I'm waking up to a "freezing" cold 15 degrees celsius on my first day of summer holidays in Saskatoon. We left Taiwan and it was 33 degrees so you can imagine it's a bit of a shock to the system. I haven't blogged in ages but I think during the summer I should have the motivation and the time. May was crazy: end of the school year, church, men's retreat, moving, going away parties, mothers day, birthdays, packing etc. so I wasn't able to make blogging a priority...but I'm back.

I'll be home for 6 weeks (until July 22) so if you want to visit give me a call at my mom's 477-2550. Nevada & Gemma will be here a bit longer, until Aug 4.

Yesterday was the big travel home day. 27 hours, 3 flights, many hours sleeping on airport floors but all in all it was super successful. Gemma was awesome, cried for a grand total of 10 mins on the big flight, slept straight through the other two. She had a lot of fun playing in all of the airport kiddielands and she really digs the moving sidewalks. She also got to meet a bit of a celebrity . We were sitting down for lunch in San Francisco airport and I noticed this fairly familiar face walking by. I said (to Nevada) but looking straight at the guy and pointing "That's Gordie from Big Sugar!". He acknowledged me, said hi and kept walking. I saw him sitting with his family so I didn't want to bother him so I let it go. Later on when we were at the kiddie play place guess who strolls up? I still didn't want to bug him but then Gemma wandered over toward him and was playing just by his feet. I motioned to Nevada to get the camera and I ran over to make some small talk. blah, blah, blah...here's a picture of me, Gem and Gordie.

Moving

2008-05-02T02:43:00.002+08:00

The owner of our apartment informed the school manager that he wants to sell our apartment when our lease runs out in June. That, of course, means that we will have to move. It's a bit of a downer for us because we've moved a lot in the last 5 years and were really happy about our latest place and we were also starting to feel nice and settled in. The school manager (Paul) is now frantically trying to find us a new place. It's a tough thing to do as rent in Taipei is crazy expensive and there isn't always an abundance of listings that meet the Morrison Academy budget and living standards. Our big requests for the new place are: a full sized bathtub, 4 bedrooms if possible (we're hoping to have another baby sometime...no news yet), close to the school (within 5 blocks, an elevator and room for a full size oven. If we get most of those things the move will be a success. Please pray for Paul and his search and pray for our family as stress mounts during moving and especially since it'll be during the busy end of school year time. I'll keep you updated when we get some news.

Hummus

2008-05-02T02:42:00.001+08:00

I wish I wouldn't have been so opinionated about food when I was younger. I looked at some foods and just thought "gross" or "weird" and some stuff I didn't like cuz it was full of vegetables. I used to pass things up just cuz because of the way they looked or the way that people described them. Nowadays I'm open to all sorts of new foods. (sure I can still be picky about what I like but I'll try almost anything once) This thought came to me today as I was wolfing down some tortillas filled with hummus and veggies. They were delicious and if I wouldn't have been so picky when I was younger I could've eaten so many delicious things in my life. Maybe I wouldn't turned out different physically if I would've allowed myself to take some of those food chances earlier on. All I know is that I'm loving some of the new foods in my diet and surprisingly many of them are fruits and veg. (Still rank meat and cheese at the top of my list but I'm learning balance)

The Broken Foot Saga

2008-04-26T18:31:00.002+08:00

When I went home in Jan/Feb the trip started with a bang. About 4 hours after I landed I went out to play basketball with my friend Tom. All was going well until the end of the night when I landed on another guys foot. Something didn't feel right. The next day it was confirmed that it was broken and into a cast it went. So I was on crutches and in a cast for a few weeks. I finally ditched the crutches after about 3 or 4 weeks. That left me with the cast. The cast was supposed to be on my foot for 6-8 weeks (but most of the time 8 weeks). I left it on and at the 6.5 week point I went to get an x-ray. The news was not what I wanted to hear, the doctor recommended I stay in the cast until the 9 week mark. The problem was that Tom was coming to visit me in Taiwan and we had plans to go to the beach. It's hard to lay around in sand and swim in the ocean with a cast on. So I made the decision to cut the cast off myself. I used a Swiss Army Knife a-la MacGyver...it actually came off with relative ease. I hobbled around with Tom during his visit and slowly but surely my foot seemed to get a little better. Soon after Tom left I got more and more confident with walking and a couple of weeks ago I even started playing basketball again. I was limited in what I could do but it all seemed to be getting better. This past Tuesday I went harder at basketball and I felt it afterwards. I came home and my foot was throbbing and it was not good. In fact the pain stayed for the next couple of days. So I broke down and went to the hospital. The doctor took one look at the x-ray and said that I shouldn't be doing much on my foot. He said it was about 80% healed and that I should try to stay off it for one more month at least. Boo hoo! I want to play basketball so badly, especially with the NBA playoffs on, I get so pumped. Alas, I'm forced to sit around for a few more weeks.

The worst part isn't being away from basketball or the small pain here and there it's the effects on my body due to the lack of exercise. I've put on about 7 or 8 lbs during this broken foot time. That's no good fro someone trying to go in the "losing weight" direction. I made a commitment to myself today to get back in the gym and try doing some exercises that don't require foot strength. I went in tonight and worked on the rowing machine and then did some upper body dumbbell stuff. I just need to do something to fight off the fat and the laziness. Please pray for me as I try to stay in shape during this time.

Daniel

2008-04-24T00:03:00.003+08:00

We've been working through the Book of Daniel at church for the last month. It's the first time as a preacher that I've preached through a book of the Bible instead of preaching on specific topics. It's been an adjustment and in parts it's gone well and other times I've been confused and struggling to mix in the historical info and commentator analysis with the practical application stuff. But ultimately it's been a good stretching and a great learning curve. I'm developing that passion for the life-changing truth of the Text that was lacking for me before. I always liked hearing from the Word but it was mostly just verses from here and there thrown together but when you start to read the stories thoroughly the truth really starts to come out.

As far as things from Daniel that have stuck out to me:
-King Neb's advisors, magicians, enchanters etc never seem to be able to come through They hold these positions of wisdom but yet when answers are needed they know nothing. Who are the voices of wisdom that we listen to that aren't from God? How many magicians, enchanters, advisors are we listening to that don't really know what they're talking about.
-Daniel and his friends make the choice to follow God every time no matter the potential cost. That blows my mind and challenges me big time. I can't even seem to make many of the little decisions in God's direction because I get afraid of the costs. So much to learn.
-I'm once again drawn to the issue of prophecy. So much of the Bible is filled with books by prophets (such as Daniel) and stories of the impact of prophets. My conservative-evangelical-non-charismatic church upbringing never once talked about prophecy. My current church tries to get a little bit of a grasp on it but it's still in the background. Where does prophecy fit in? How can we sort of ignore it in a present day context given it's major impact in Bible history? Just something running through my mind...

NBA Playoffs

2008-04-21T02:37:00.003+08:00

It's been a long time since I've posted about basketball. I realize many of you don't care so I've avoided the topic but it truly a big thing on my mind this week as the playoffs are underway. My Lakers squeezed into the #1 spot in the west which is awesome, homecourt advantage until the NBA finals if they keep winning. My Eastern favs, the Raptors, are the #6 seed but have the best chance of the lower seeds to upset. It should be a fun spring. So here are my picks...some sentimental and some that are all about business.

Western First Round:

Lakers vs. Nuggets: Lakers in 6. The Nuggets are full of talent and scoring. They can be a threat every night but they lack the defense necessary in the playoffs and the also lack the maturity required to really hack the stress of the playoffs. For the Lakers...Gasol has never won in the playoffs so he's got a chip on his shoulder and Kobe is foaming at the mouth to make a statement that he has the team that can win. With Phil Jackson orchestrating the team and a deeper bench this year the Lakers will make it out of the first round for sure.

Hornets vs. Mavericks: Somebody in 7. I like to think the experience and the talent of the Mavericks will be enough to upset the Hornets. Dirk, J.Kidd, J.Howard, and J.Terry should have what it takes to stifle the first playoff run of the new kids on the block. But Chris Paul, D.West, T.Chandler and Peja are no slouches so it will be a battle. I picked the Mavs up until now but after the Hornets won game 1 I'm struggling to stick to that....I will though...Mavs in 7.

Spurs vs. Suns: Spurs in 7. Spurs are old, but so good and so experienced. I don't like them and I don't want them to win but the more I follow them the more I can't pick against them. Phoenix has the talent but they just seem to lack the mental toughness to get over this hurdle. The Suns picked up Shaq to deal with the inside play of the Spurs but I just don't think that him and Amare can stay out of foul trouble. The Spurs will keep attacking until those guys are out and then the Suns just don't have the depth to compete. It'll be tight, it'll be exciting, it'll be dirty but the Spurs will probably grind it out.

Jazz vs. Rockets: Jazz in 4. No Yao. T-Mac is not enough. Jazz are the real deal.

Eastern First Round:

Celtics vs. Hawks: Boston in 5. Atlanta has some talent so they should be able to pull off one in their own building but it will just be for sentiment sake. Boston is an amazing team that will have no troubles. Garnett, Pierce and Allen are hungry and they won't have much competition until later.

Pistons vs. Sixers: Detroit in 5. Same as above.

Magic vs. Raptors: Orlando in 6. I have picked Toronto in most of my conversations with people but mostly because I like to support the Canadian team. They are talented but they've picked a bad time to be on a but of a skid. They are not playing good team ball, there a few conflicts and finally that finesse Euro-style just won't get it done in the playoffs. They will win a game or two in this series but Orlando is just playing better.

Lebron vs. Wizards: Lebron in 6. The Wizards are no doubt the more talented team. They are deeper and more capable. BUT...they've gone and pissed off the wrong guy. Lebron will single-handedly make sure that the Cavs come out on top. I don't think he can will the Cavs too far into the playoffs this year but in this series he can. If the Wiz would've kept their mouths shut in the media they probably would've won in a team vs. team series but they made it personal. There are two guys in the league that you don't call out...Kobe and Lebron, they can go 1 on 5 for most minutes of every game and if they get a little help from their teams, it's over.

I'll make my second round pics when this round is over.

Music's Brilliant Moments

2008-04-11T16:44:00.006+08:00

I'm a big music fan. Ever since I was young I began collecting music...first it was cassettes, I believe my first tape was Tom Cochrane's Mad Mad World, then CD's came and I started with some little known hip-hop that I bought at a second hand music shop in Fort Collins Colorado to listen to on my brand new Discman, these days I'm into the whole iPod/iTunes/MP3 thing, it's such a convenient way to get music, I'm not sure what my first purchase on iTunes was but I do know I've added to my Counting Crows, Dave Matthews and John Mayer collections through iTunes (I've also purchased a few tunes that I don't publicize often "Be Our Guest", "A Teenager in Love" and a few Van Halen tracks). So what is this post really about?

I was blown away this week by a certain moment on American Idol and it made me think about music and how I am often impacted by just a few seconds in a song. Most people buy music to enjoy a song or a whole album but I can be enticed by just the slightest burst of musical genius in a song. If you don't watch American Idol that's understandable, it can be cheesy and overdone but there are some amazing talents and this year is no exception. The frontrunner in many eyes is David Archuleta, a 17 yr old from Utah. He's got this innocent voice that is able to open up and blow you away from time to time. This week he sang Angels by Robbie Williams. The majority of it stayed in the good category but the last 10 seconds was AMAZING. I'll try to find a way to get the clip on my blog but if you YouTube it you can see for yourself. He played the piano and just as the end came he pulled away from the piano and just went nuts with his voice to end the song. I'm kind of an emotional guy and this moment choked me up. It was so good...dare I say perfect. I tend to get really choked up when I see someone who is doing exactly what they were meant to do. There are moments that you see a supernatural gifting totally hit the mark...it's like when Michael Jordan hit the game winner against Utah, or when Robin Williams and Matt Damon act out the hug scene in Good Will Hunting, or when great preachers like Mark Driscoll or Dean Angell deliver a message that delivers God's truth right to the soul...these moments are priceless. I watched David Archuleta sing that 10 seconds about 20 times and it blew me away every time.

These musical moments of brilliance for me are found both in musical notes or lyrics. (Artist, Album, Song)

1) Counting Crows-Across The Wire-Round Here-5:43-6:27
This moment brings a calm and peaceful moment that just takes me over. Especially at 6:12, there are 4 notes played on the piano that just make my world go still and take me to a place of reflection.

2) Damien Rice-O-Blower's Daughter-:55-1:35
The haunting cello accompaniment soothes my soul.

3) Joni Mitchell-Blue-River-Opening/Closing piano bit
It gives a beautiful bluesy pop edge to a little Christmas diddy. I love Christmas so that part gets me there but the edge echoes the song and the sadness of losing that magical innocence of the Christmas season. I think we can all relate to the loss of the purity that once existed in several areas of our lives.

Lyric Moments
1) John Mayer- Inside Wants Out (EP)-Comfortable
"I loved you, gray sweatpants, no make-up so perfect"
It's about loving someone at their most raw. Loving them for who they are and not needing the bells and whistles to make them beautiful to you.

2) Counting Crows-Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings-When I Dream of Michelangelo
"It seems so close as he reaches out his hand, but we are never quite as close as we are led to understand."
This song includes imagery provided by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting of God reaching out to touch Adam. Although I'm Christian and believe that we can touch God and have a relationship with Him this line intrigues me deeply. Lead singer, Adam Duritz, takes a different look at this painting approaching it as though Adam is reaching out to God but can't actually connect. Many people in the world think that this is true and the pursuit of God is all in vain. It's sad that so many struggle to find something bigger than themselves but fall short, this leads to some sense of hopelessness and sometimes meaninglessness. It encourages me to keep teaching about our God who does want to make that contact.

* I could list dozens of Counting Crows lyric moments but this is the one that is fresh in my mind as it is on their newest album that I am spending time taking in*

3) Dixie Chicks-Taking the Long Way-Not Ready To Make Nice
"Forgive, sounds good, Forget, I don't think I could. They say time heals everything but I'm still waiting."
I think this is something we all deal with. We've all struggled, we've all been hurt and even though we come to place of forgiveness it's hard to forget. I think there are issues that shape us and sometimes that means we reflect on them daily because they are a part of our story. So many people in the world are hurting and if we forget what causes these hurts then there's a chance we will do those things again/repeat those cycles.

Lastly...songs that get me everytime, musical moments as a whole
1)Van Morrison-Moondance
2) Alicia Keys & Adam Levine-Wild Horses
3) Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
4) Dave Matthews Band-Crash Into Me

If you want, leave a comment about some musical moments that touch your soul.

Tom in Taiwan

2008-04-01T18:52:00.012+08:00

The past week has been packed with activities and to be honest there were days I didn't even sit down at a computer. I'm finally at a computer with a few free minutes.

It was so awesome to have Tom here. We've lived in Taiwan off and on for 4.5 years and the person I miss the most from back home is Tom. I was able to see Tom about 6 weeks ago when I made a surprise visit home to Saskatoon so this trip was less about the thrill of seeing Tom and more about the chance to show Tom around my new country and my new life. We spent the week with Bob, Tom's brother, who also lives here. It was a super fun time filled with good food, sight-seeing, beautiful weather and a lot of male-bonding. Here are a few pics that outline the highlights of the trip. (click on my Flickr link on the right to see all of the great pics from Tom's visit)

1) We ate well. Bob and I did our best to take Tom around to all of our fav places.

2) Saw some famous sites.

3) Hung out with some great people.

4) And discovered some of the quirkiness of Taiwan.

Holidays and Church Work

2008-03-20T00:57:00.002+08:00

In the Western world we celebrate Christian holidays...People get time off work, families congregate, food is eaten and fun is had. The new trend in my life is that holiday days are major work days for me and are quite stressful. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and it's what I feel I'm supposed to be doing but there is this weird dynamic that brings stress when everyone around me is in a time of relaxation and fun. I'm busy preparing for Easter Sunday at the Pearl, getting my sermon ready. Without giving much away let's just say the focus will be on how the people involved at the time reacted to the resurrection. I'm also trying to think of a creative element to add to the service. There are often new people at church for Christmas and Easter so it's good to give them something extra...although I'm learning more and more that all you really need is some good truth from the Word and God will do the rest. I have a new found respect for people that have been pastors for many years, it means they've missed out on restful Christmases and Easters for years...I also have an appreciation for their families who have to celebrate on alternative days or celebrate with a stressed out Dad/Mom. I hope that most of you are getting your vacation selves ready and that you have a great Easter. My holiday will start Monday.

I can't ignore the fact that although I'm a bit stressed I'm also VERY EXCITED...not only do I get to celebrate the most important part of my faith this weekend but I get to do it with my best friend Tom. He arrives Saturday night and will be attending our church on Sunday night. It'll be special.

Uneventful St.Paddy's Day

2008-03-18T09:46:00.002+08:00

St.Patrick's Day came and went yesterday without much fanfare...for me at least. The only real mention of it was when Nevada pinched me at lunch time and said "You're not wearing any green." Normally St.Patrick's day isn't a super special holiday but it is a day that I like to set aside some time to think about my experience in Ireland and, since turning 19, it's been a night set aside to hang out with friends over a Guiness or cheap green beer. This year it basically slipped my mind that it was March 17, as you can imagine Irish Catholic based holidays are not big in Chinese culture, so there wasn't much to warn me. Also, I'm off alcohol for lent so I've made it a point not to focus on making plans to go for drinks. Truth be told though, I can't wait to have my next frothy Guiness.....mmmm...a meal in glass. There's always next year...

Feeling the sting of Lakeview's latest news

2008-03-11T00:24:00.004+08:00

(So I said I was back in a big way and then disappeared for a couple weeks. I was in Seattle for a busy conference week and then I came home and was in bed sick for a week. Being sick meant that getting on a computer was at the bottom of the list of priorities.)

News travels fast in these days of the internet. The senior pastor of my Saskatoon church, Dean Angell, has resigned. He's been in that position for approx 15 years so it's sort of a big deal. I was one of the many people that was a student in Dean's youth ministry days and will always be appreciative for his efforts in molding my faith at that stage of life. After that he moved into the adult pastor role where he was influencial in growing Lakeview church and casting a big vision that has put Lakeview on the church map so to speak. Although his departure is a scary thing I can't really say it's a surprise or necessarily a bad thing. Most pastors don't last much more than 5 years so we were blessed to have Dean doing his thing for so long. Perhaps his time had run it's course and both he and Lakeview needed a bit of a fresh start. Dean's been a long time Willow Creek type guy and I believe that our church is now at a stage where the WC style and approach has been played out. It's time for Lakeview to forge it's own identity with some originality and a Saskatoon specific approach. We have a gifted staff and leadership that now has a chance to spend time with God and come up with some new dynamic ways to do ministry in Saskatoon. I think one of the downfalls of having such a gifted/outspoken/public leader like Dean is that he becomes the focus for a lot of people and that's a dangerous thing. I hope that the people of Lakeview use this chance to break away from the habit of being so one-leader captivated and discover what it is to trust the many leaders of Lakeview whilst keeping the main focus on God and the person of Jesus Christ. For Dean, I think this is a great opportunity to start again with the new found maturity from his recent health break. He's a great leader and an amazing communicator...he'll be able to spark a church that's on the verge of big things but doesn't know how to do that. I have no doubt that the Angell family with succeed wherever they go and will always have a warm welcome waiting for them back in Saskatoon.

The major issue with this big news is the mourning period at Lakeview. Some people are upset, some are scared, some are confused, some are shaken, etc. This time will be tough and also very telling. The hope is that the community can rally together as they mourn and then move on. I will be praying that not too many people will leave and that no big division/bitterness will fester. I will uphold the leadership of Lakeview in my prayers as they have big decisions ahead. I will also keep Dean and the Angells in prayer as they seek God's new direction for their family.

What do Kobe, a Venti coffee of the day and the Bible have in common?

2008-02-24T07:02:00.004+08:00

Today is an exciting day. I''m just a couple hours away from getting on an airplane to Seattle. In mid-December I was surfing the net looking for a conference I could attend. I have a strong desire to get better in my role at church and work on some of my weak spots. In this case I found a conference called "Resurgence: Text and Context" being hosted by Mars Hill Church in Seattle. The conference is about developing stronger Biblical preaching skills, how to stay true to the "text" (Bible) while being relevant in the "context" (current culture). I was able to get some financing from an organization our church is aligned with and now I'm off. I'm really looking forward to learning from big name guys like Mark Driscoll and John PIper. (I know that some people don't like them but I'll do my best to discern the good and leave behind the bad)

This is also my first time in Seattle so it'll be nice to experience one of the nicest cities in America and one that many have suggested I'll love. I knew this trip was meant to be when I cross referenced the dates with the Sonics games that were on found that on one of our free nights the Lakers are in town. That's right, I'm going to Sunday night's Lakers/Sonics game!!! I haven't been to a live game since I was 11 years old doing the Disneyland tour with my mom. Also, Seattle is the home of Starbucks. For those of you that don't know I've taking a major liking to the dark-roast coffee giant of the world in the last few years. I will get a chance to visit the store where the whole thing started....I'm so excited. It should be a wonderful trip. I'll try to post while I'm there, maybe get some pics or vids on the blog.

(p.s. if you haven't signed the reader census below please do)

Struggling with Beliefism

2008-02-20T16:29:00.002+08:00

I've been reading through my two seminary class textbooks which deal with spiritual formation and something has bubbled to the surface that is really challenging the way I live out my Christianity. I'm not sure that Beliefism is a real word or the right word and without quoting exact passages from my books I think it's been tossed around. Anyways, it means that our faith life is simply lived out as a belief system. Many Christians don't live live much differently or seek to act as Christ acted they are comfortable to just have their beliefs and say that's who they are. For the majority of my life that describes me. I've been at a plateau for quite some time where I've happily just announced that I believe in God and in Jesus but with very little real life follow through. The more I learn about spiritual disciplines and drawing closer to a life shared with Christ I realize the action of a Christian is paramount to a faith life that is "alive and thriving". It may seem like an elementary comparison but I can't simply state that "I believe that I can play basketball well and that I'm a good three point shooter." I have to actually get on the court, practice and then make it happen for it to be true and real. I can see now why so many non-Christians don't really understand what's so special about God and his Kingdom. They don't really see it in action. They see a lot of posers talking the talk but lacking the walk to go with it. That's not to say that Christians are doing bad things or anti-Christian things but they are simply hovering in a safe place of "believing a life of faith" rather than "living a life of faith". As I've moved up in church leadership I'm becoming more aware of the necessity to match my talk with my walk. Believe me, I can't get it all right and I will always fall short but there's something to be said about the pursuit of living out what I say I believe. I challenge you to chew on this thought as well: what do you say you believe? and does that show in the way you do life?

p.s. if you haven't signed in to the Reader Census below please do. I want to know who's reading this thing these days.

Reader census

2008-02-18T15:15:00.002+08:00

I've done this periodically over the years and I'm doing it again. I want to know if anyone is checking in on this blog anymore. So please leave a comment to say you're out there and if you want feel free to let me know what you want to hear about. I have many interests and I dabble in so many things so if there is something you want me to focus a post or two on feel free to offer some suggestions.

Out of Commission

2008-02-18T14:31:00.002+08:00

As you, the readers, know I broke my foot a couple weeks ago. I'm not too bummed about getting injured. When you play sports it's a risk you take and things happen. I am however getting bummed about the lack of exercise and activity in my life. I've worked hard in the last few years on losing weight and keeping in shape so this down time has not simply been a physical down time but an emotional down time. I can feel my body getting flabbier by the day and I wouldn't be surprised if I've gained 5 pounds already. For most people they don't focus so much on their bodies but for me it's always been a major issue. Almost every hour of everyday I think about how I look in my clothes or how I look in a mirror. I want to clarify that it's not a vain thing. I sort of just want to look normal so that my weight is not a focus of peoples' attention. I hope to someday reach a "normal weight", whatever that is. My goal is 200 lbs, which may seem like a lot to some of you but since I was pushing 300 at one point it would be a special level for me to reach. I don't think I've been 200 lbs since I was in grade 9.

I am already starting to think about my return to fitness in 8 weeks or so. I plan to really go hard in the gym and on the court. Many people my age/my generation are big into these triathlon/ironman/marathon/adventure race type pursuits and I think I might challenge myself to do something like that as well. Assuming I'm weighing in at roughly 235 at the end of this broken foot thing I hope to get down to 220 by the summer time and then next school year I will fight for my goal of 200.

Don't Call It A Comeback, I've Been Here For Years

2008-02-16T23:08:00.002+08:00

I know the blogging has slowed in the last few months. I've been a busy guy and have also become afraid of being candid online. I used to enjoy sharing some of my real thoughts but lately I'm scared of who might read and then read into what I've said. I don't want this to be a place of conflict but rather a safe place to let some stuff out. For my own sanity I will try to return to that state of openness.

Surprise!

2008-02-01T11:47:00.000+08:00

This week has been a crazy ride. On the weekend I talked to my mom on the phone and I sensed that she was a little lonely so, with the support of my wife, I quickly planned a trip home. I arranged a ticket on Tuesday and flew home Wednesday. It was a full 24 hour travel day...Taipei-Tokyo (6 hr wait), Tokyo-Vancouver (5 hour wait), Vancouver-Saskatoon. I arrived at 6:00. My best friend Tom was there to pick me up with his wife Erin and their baby girl Maria (who I hadn't yet met). We headed toward the exit and then came the big step of walking out into the freezing Saskatchewan cold. It was cold but my body seemed to jump back into its Sask roots. It's cold but still livable. Tom dropped me off at home, I rang the doorbell a few times and then made my way in. Mom was coming toward the door and completely thought that I was someone else. Once she realized it was me she was pleasantly surprised. (only Tom, my Grandma and my in-laws knew I was coming) We hugged and it was very emotional. We spent the evening having dinner and catching up....ok, I fell asleep on the couch for a bit. At 9:30 Tom picked me up so I could go to his basketball practice with him. We played for two hours at our old high school and it was super fun. Well...it was super fun until the last five minutes. I landed on someone's foot and my foot rolled over. Now usually this means an ankle injury for me, in this case my ankle felt fine so I was happy. However my foot was still killing me. I hobbled to the side, changed and hobbled to the car. When I woke up this morning I couldn't even walk to the bathroom. Blah, blah, blah...I have a broken foot and I'll be in a cast for 8 weeks. So that sucks but overall it's good to be here with my mom.

Proud Prairie Boy

2008-01-18T15:14:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting in a cafe in Taipei, Taiwan. Thousands of miles from my home in the Canadian prairies. But yet the stereo is playing something that feels familiar and comforting, Neil Young. I'm not a huge Neil Young fan but I have been developing an appreciation for his music in recent months. It just hit me though that his country-folk-rock developed on the prairies (ok, Winnipeg, Manitoba) transcends cultures and languages and remains important music. They could be playing any music from anywhere, and one might think they would be playing Chinese language rock or folk but no, they're playing Neil Young. A boy from the prairies, or should I say a rock-folk superstar from the prairies. (I do wish he had roots in Sask rather than Manitoba but it's close enough when you're dealing with an international scale)

Free Time

2008-01-18T13:19:00.000+08:00

My wife has given me a huge gift this week. She arranged for me to have a couple afternoons off from my daddy job. I'm behind in my correspondence class and also have some church work that needs to get done so she decided I needed some extra work time. I'm not sure a lot of people get excited about finding more time to "work" but in this case it's been a breath of fresh air. Gemma's a great baby and I love staying at home with her but my stress level gets out of control when I know I'm falling further and further behind in my class and job. There's a girl from church who has been coming on Tuesday afternoons to babysit and she's offered to come on Thursdays as well. I think it'll be a perfect arrangement...those extra couple of hours of work time in a week really take some of the pressure off. I've also regained a bit of my adult independence during these afternoons off. I've got to check out some local coffee shops, enjoy a cool vibe, hear some new music and do some thinking...and now blogging. Moving forward I think these work times away from home are key. I love my wife and the ways she tries to help me be the best I can be.

Where in the world is Thomas SanDiego?!?!

2008-01-09T21:50:00.000+08:00

My best friend Tom finally booked a ticket to come visit me (and his bro Bob) in Taiwan. I'm so excited. I love to share my life here with friends from back home. Asia can be a weird place for people to visit and tough to really take in without knowledge of the local environment and some of the language so I take great joy in showing people around. As an only child in a single-mother household I've grown up with quite a small family unit. Tom is like family to me...I guess like a brother so this visit is very special.

I'm blessed to have friends that have had the means to travel the world. Of my wedding party men Tom is the last to make it to Taiwan but it's amazing that in the 4 years I've lived over here all 4 have come to visit (Ted even lived here). With the ease of travel these days it's truly becoming a small world. I won't downplay the cost of travel but if one places a priority on seeing the world and seeing friends/family around the world it can totally be done without breaking the bank. That's also something I've learned while living overseas, life/money is about priorities and for some people new vehicles are a priority, for some it's investments, for others it's a cabin etc...it's all about what you value and we all make our choices. Traveling around the world is a choice I've made and you can do it to if you want to.

Tired of lying around

2008-01-05T15:08:00.000+08:00

It's been a tough start to the New Year for me. Ever since returning from Cebu I've been sick. It's sort of a flu, cold, food poisoning type sick. I guess it's good that I've been sick with Nevada home on vacation. She's been doing a fabulous job of taking care of Gemma while I rotate between sleeping on the couch and in the bed. I'm ready to be back on my feet though.

I've been a bit lazy in the past few months. I've been in a bad staying up late habit and trying to survive through the days with Gemma. I've also stayed away from the gym due to business and injuries. But it's time for a change back to the sort of fit-and-more-health-conscious guy I've been for the last couple of years. I've recently looked at a few pics of myself from a few years back. I was a BIG dude. It was a strange time for me and for some reason I let myself go. I've worked hard in the last couple of years to regain control of my body. And even though I've probably put on a couple pounds lately I'm still proud of where I am compared to before. That being said it's a challenge I must keep facing. So I guess this post is a bit of a New Year's resolution. I want to get back into the gym, I want to get back into the habit of eating fruits and veg and I want to sleep like a normal person.

Back from the beach

2008-01-01T17:08:00.000+08:00

We went on brief 4 day getaway to the Philippine island of Cebu. Check out the slideshow below or click on my Flickr link to see all the pics.

Thoughts during this pre-Christmas week

2007-12-19T01:02:00.000+08:00

1) I really wanted to come home for Christmas this year. Ultimately it's just too expensive to come home for a week or two when we come home for 2 months every year. I wanted to spend time with family...I haven't had Christmas at my Grandparents for a long time, I wanted to have a white Christmas...I miss snow so badly, I wanted to be at Lakeview for the Christmas festivities...the music is always so awesome, I wanted to meet Maria...my best friend Tom's baby, I wanted to possibly stick around for BRIT. Oh well, it's not happening so it's time to move on but I will miss being home for the holidays.

2) Christmas as a church staff member is a bit stressful. For most people Christmas church is a highlight and is always enjoyed by all...so the pressure of developing a great service is even greater. I've tried to spice up the service with some extra music and movie clips for a bit of fun...I'm also speaking and hope that I can deliver some truth that will touch people and teach people. I'm excited but stressed.

3) Wedding on Christmas Day. This year we have some friends in Taiwan getting married on Christmas Day. I'll be honest that the whole idea bugs me. I value Christmas as a family day and a chance to relax and enjoy a day that is set aside for the purpose of reflecting on the birth of Christ. That being said, the wedding is happening and we're going. I will turn my frown upside down because I love this couple and they are a important part of our church family.

4) Eggnog. Last year I was unable to find eggnog at any of the usual foreign food hotspots and attempted to make some homemade stuff...it was gross and I don't think I'll try again. Good news, this year Costco has it. It's cheap and it tastes good. I've personally drank 2L in the past couple weeks and I have 4L in my fridge to share over the next few days of festivities. I like eggnog, it makes things a little more Christmasy.

5) Went ice skating today with the grade 9 students from Bethany. There aren't too many opportunities for me to be the best skater in a group of 30 people so I jumped at the chance. In Canada I would be regarded as a fairly week skater and if you tried to throw me into a hockey scenario I'm even worse but in Taiwan, with students who haven't ever skated, I become a star. I can confidently skate in a circle around the rink, I can do crossovers to make my turns and I can switch from forward skating to backward skating. I tried to help some of the first-time skaters and in my head it made me laugh that I was the "expert". It was another activity that made things feel a bit more wintery in this country with no snow, no real ice and temperatures above 20 C this week.

6) Gemma's 2nd Christmas. Gemma's been digging the decorated house and has been grooving to Christmas music. I can't wait to open presents with her. She doesn't get the whole gift opening thing but it'll be a great chance to see a smile on her face when she plays with some new toys. Even though last year was her official first Christmas I feel like this is the first one she's engaged in. We haven't started any family traditions and I don't think we need to this year but I'm looking forward to making Christmas memories with Gemma and Nevada in the future.

7) Last thing...we;re going on a little vacation to the Philippines. When you can't find snow nearby you might as well find a nice beach. There was a crazy sale on flights so we're off with our friends Ali and Adrienne to explore and relax. Nevada is excited about cheap massages and I can't wait to swim, have a nice cool beverage and maybe join in some local pick up basketball games. (it's the most loved sport in the Philippines).

Just like mom

2007-12-10T01:51:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged and I'm not going to attempt to try and recap my life. Needless to say I've been busy...work has been demanding and Gemma always needs me. Life is good; just busy.

But when I took these pictures today I knew they had to be posted. We finally started decorating today and apparently it took a toll on my ladies. Gemma crashed in the afternoon and I kept mom up a little late tonight.

We were trying to get Gemma to pose with the bobble Jesus in the afternoon but she was having none of it. She just ket trying to bite the bottom of it. So when they got home tonight and she was fast asleep I decided to pose her with it. Then later on Nevada fell asleep so I posed her with it as well. So funny that all these pictures happened all in the same day.

Grey Cup 07!

2007-11-19T14:29:00.000+08:00

Here come the Riders

Riders (halftime)

2007-11-19T07:05:00.000+08:00

Go Riders!!!

Podcast virgins no longer

2007-11-15T04:42:00.000+08:00

This week my wife has taken a big leap into the tech world...well at least a big leap for her. She's started to listen to podcasts. I've been listening to them for awhile now but she's never shown an interest. I guess she was looking for a supplement to her Bible reading devotional time and stumbled upon a sermon podcast when the iPod stereo was on shuffle. The last two nights she's done her daily cleaning with an iPod in her ears listening to Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I love tech and I get excited when other people discover the joys of it's uses. In fact earlier this week I also helped another friend get into podcasts. He has an old Apple iBook, which is a great machine, and all he does with it is listen to music and look at ESPN.com...his words. I told him that he could listen to certain ESPN shows as podcasts. He's really excited to have PTI (Pardon the Interruption) back in his life. I also scored him to some podcast sermons to jumpstart his Christian quiet times. If you too are a podcast virgin I encourage you to take a look at the huge selection of podcasts in iTunes, they are free and can be a great source of informative, entertaining, thought provoking and inspiring content to add to your daily life.

New look

2007-11-15T04:39:00.000+08:00

I've really been wanting to post lately but the ideas in my head are way too scattered so instead I chose to redesign the blog. I do this from time to time. I was redoing Nevada's blog after redoing Gemma's last week and I decided it might as well be a family affair. Hope you dig it...I need to give credit where credit is due. I didn't take the picture you see at the top. My friend Andy did...he's a pretty good photographer.

Missing Home

2007-10-31T01:56:00.000+08:00

I'm gonna be honest, feeling a little homesick this week.

I need a hug

2007-10-29T01:51:00.000+08:00

I'm one of those people that likes physical affection...and I don't mean that in a sexual sense. I like to be hugged, I like to high five, I like hand shakes etc. My family was always a family that showed affection through physical touch. My mom and I hug and kiss, my grandma kisses me, my grandpa hugs. We have great friends over here in Taiwan...through the school and our church...but they don't seem to be much into touch. My soul is really missing that. In my psyche the physical distance translates into a emotional distance, I don't feel as connected to people if I don't have that. I always get hugs and kisses from Nevada and Gemma but I also need that in friendships. That may seem weird to some of you but I know some of you get it. Even at church back home there are people always ready to give me a big hug, I specifically think of Gloria...that lady can hug. So as I continue to wait for more huggage I encourage you to hug someone this week...it'll make their day.

The week of the Office

2007-10-25T00:43:00.000+08:00

This week is dedicated to organizing my offices. Yesterday my co-worker Lydia and I headed out on a furniture buying tour of Taipei. We started in the second hand furniture/appliance neighborhood of town to buy a fridge, some couches and office chairs. Then, in the afternoon, it was off to one of my favorite places...Ikea. We spent 3 hours lost in the budget design maze as we decided, second guessed and decided again on furnishings for our new Ministry Center/Office. Our stuff arrives tomorrow and I'll be spending a few hours assembling with joy as the excitement builds as our church reaches a new level. At home we've also been working on my office. It's been in shambles since the summer and is not much of a positive working environment. My wonderful wife surprised me with a bunch of new office organizing things..like a magazine rack, a pencil jar, a stationary organizer thingy. With my job, my class and my hobbies I spend a lot of time in my office so this new found cleanliness and organization should make things go a lot smoother. Next up getting our tornado stricken bedroom back into shape...

Lighten the mood

2007-10-18T01:46:00.000+08:00

My last two posts have been a little heavy and I feel like I need to chill out a little and share some happy thoughts.

1) The Pearl has an office. The Pearl is the church I work at. We've always just rented Sunday service space and worked out of our homes but now we have a home base. We felt the need to take a step in a more professional direction as well as find a place for various ministries to use. So far it's been painted but has absolutely no furniture in it. That means I get to do something else I love to do...shop and decorate. With the hours I've invested in watching decorating television I feel like I'm bursting to get this place looking fabulous. I'll take some pics once we get it set up.

2) Gemma can walk now. She still prefers to crawl and her walking is still very wobbly but we are so proud of her baby steps. If the right person baits her with a toy or some hug worthy arms she'll get brave and make the dash. She also does it sometimes without even realizing it. She'll be leaning on something like the coffee table and decide she needs to get to the chair...with a few hesitant steps she makes it across the room without even thinking about it. When you try to get her to do it again she always drops to her butt and crawls.

3) The NBA season is less than two weeks away. I love basketball and the summer can be a long drought. This summer was a but easier with the tournament of the Americas being on but nothing beats NBA ball. For those of you that follow though you'll know that my team (The Lakers) is having a fair bit of controversy. Kobe Bryant has voiced displeasure with the team and sort of wants out. Considering he's probably the best player in the league that's a bad thing. If we keep him he could purposely dog it like Vince Carter did for the Raptors. I hope somehow we can make some moves... and make em quick so that Kobe is pleased and we can move on. If not it could be time for a new generation in Lakerland...which usually means a couple bad seasons. As long as we can get back to being a strong playoff team I'll be happy and with the rich tradition and deep pockets I believe we'll get there.

4) I got a new iPod. A year and a bit ago I dropped my iPod at the gym and it broke. I immediately started an ipod piggy bank. By about April I had saved enough to get a new ipod but I didn't want to buy an old model. I've been the victim of buying technology right before it's updated and it's not a good feeling. So this time I made a promise that I wouldn't buy until ipods were updated. With all the travel during the summer it was tough without music (and video)...I'm a guy who has headphones practically glued to his ears. I waited and waited and got close to breaking down several times. Finally in Sept Apple announced new ipods. They announced ipod Classics...which are an updated version of the video ipod and they announced iPod Touch which is a touch screen ipod with music, photo, video and wireless internet capability. The Touch is amazing technology but comes with the downside of small storage capacity...when they start making them with more storage I'll be a buyer. For now the right purchase for me was an 80 G iPod Classic. It's my first video capable iPod and it's pretty awesome. I just love having my portable media back up and running and I'm glad I waited for this update. It feels good to have something that "new" rather than being the sucker who bought at the end of a cycle.

Personal Faith

2007-10-15T01:49:00.000+08:00

Tonight at church we had a guest speaker. One of our congregation member's father who is a missionary in China. He talked about the exciting things going on in the Christian community in China and he pointed out the continuing struggle they have as they try to spread the word with the pressure of the communist party breathing down their necks. Something he said really got me thinking though...he said that the official government stance is that you are free to choose to have faith in anything (any religion, any god) in your heart but not outloud. It's so twisted how they say you have a freedom to choose and to believe but you can't do anything about it. It would be so frustrating and defeating to whole heartedly pursue God within but be unable to do things like public prayer, musical worship, Bible study etc. It also makes me think of this idea of our belief systems being different inwardly and outwardly. I have a friend who has recently stopped believing in the Christian faith after years of basically faking it. She didn't really believe on the inside but outwardly professed a faith. How many people are like that? How many Christians are like that? As you know by my recent post I've feeling a bit pessimistic lately and having trouble believing in the genuiness of people around me and this is just another step in that direction. I worry that in the church there are a lot of fakers. I wish people could just be more real...I wish that we supported people enough in our churches and made them feel comfortable enough that they could express their real feelings even it it means they admit to struggling with their faith. The church often doesn't want to deal with the bad so we gloss over it and don't bring it up. But I think that people's faith would be stronger and better developed if they were allowed to doubt and challenge as they explored finding the Truth. I suppose there are probably a few people in my life that are the other way, seeking God on the inside while keeping a distance from Christianity on the outside...but they seem to be in the minority. This post is not meant to be another bitter release but more of a challenge for all of us to face the reality of the incongruence between our inner selves and outer selves. I think that the Chinese government knows that if you can separate peoples inner and outer then it's really hard to be completely sold out to a belief so for those of us in a society that doesn't have these strict rules, let's start to bring those parts of ourselves closer together as a new unified, more authentic self.

Babbling about my shaken spirit

2007-10-03T23:55:00.000+08:00

There is a season of weirdness going on in my extended Christian community and it's really becoming a bit of a challenge for me not to dwell on the downers that I keeping hearing about. And by season I mean the last 6 months or so. This biggest blow to my senses happened a month and a bit ago at my home church. A couple of staff members resigned for certain moral failure issues. For obvious reasons I won't get into the second-hand details that I've heard. These are people I've worked alongside, people I respected, people who I was learning from, people who were where I wanted to be etc. And then sin got the best of them. I'm not naive when it comes it the reality of sin but when people in these positions of authority and respect fail it's so shocking. It's hard to have faith in people when even the best can't stay on their game. It makes living the so-called Christian life seem impossible. I'm also left without a mentor and a guide. One of these people was (what I thought) my biggest supporter in my current ministry role. He was supposed to be there for me and now I can't trust him to mentor me as he is in a state of faith repair.(not to mention I can't get in touch with him) I feel lost and abandoned as I move ahead in my ministry position.

Another situation is the one that took place in our church here in Taiwan. The pastor and church planter of our church burnt out and became depressed and incapable of pastoring our church. Maybe I am some strange source of bad and leaders around me go down. I don't know. He was another guy that was supposed to mentor me and became incapable of doing so. I'm running out of options and it's taking its toll as I'm trying to lead myself. This just gets me going in circles and I don't actually learn or get better.

Even my pastor back in Canada had to take a stress leave. He's always been a suck-it-up kind of guy and I realize that isn't always the most healthy attitude but in some ways it was inspiring. He took some time off to get healthy and that's good but it's hard to maintain hope that one can successfully get through a career in ministry with all the damage being seen around me.

A church friend of mine who I grew up with has recently left the ministry after about 5 years of pastoring and although I don't know the story of what happened the news still shakes me. He seemed so content and on his way to a fulfilling life as a pastor and church family man. For some reason it went bad and he wanted out. I don't get it. I thought the church and the Christian community was supposed to be a place of joy, love and life to the fullest. All I've seen recently is scandal, depression, tiredness and bitterness.

Is it something that's going wrong in these faith communities or is it something bigger than that. I don't often challenge God and his ways but I'm starting to wonder what he's up to in these lives and in my life for that matter. When does the joy come? When does the peace settle in? I'm in a place of spiritual turbulence and I need a safe place to land.

I also wonder when congregations will realize they are partially at fault. Why are these leaders getting tired? depressed? hurt? Are expectations too high for pastors? Are we putting too much pressure on them? Why can't churches be communities that support leaders and give them realistic goals/tasks? Those of us that are called to ministry can't help but press on and try to do the work but it would be so much healthier if the community around us would rally around and move forward as a unit rather than as individual players looking out for their own interests. None of this (the Christian life) is about us and doing to fulfill ourselves...it's about doing for God and doing for other people, the two golden rules. That includes looking out for the safety and well being of our pastors/leaders even if the program must suffer.

There's more in my head where this came from...I'll be back soon with some more thoughts.

Pics Galore

2007-09-26T02:19:00.000+08:00

I've been a little slow on the posting lately but I did manage to find the time to upload a ton of pics on my Flickr. Click on the link and go check'em out: New Photos

In case you're unfamiliar with Flickr, you can look through all my new pics or browse by groupings called Sets which you'll find on the right of my Flickr page.

BBQing

2007-09-18T15:14:00.000+08:00

It's not normal to have a BBQ here in Taiwan. As you can imagine apartment living isn't the most conducive for family grilling time. We were in Costco earlier this year and saw these great Kingsford charcoal BBQs and knew it was a must-have purchase. We've only used it a few times but it rocks our world everytime. It's always a strange time coming back from Canada where we barbeque every second night in the summer to Taiwan where they only BBQ at Korean restaurants and once a year at home. Speaking of the once-a-year thing, next Tuesday is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival here and I'm not sure why but that is the one day of the year when everyone barbeques. They buy these disposable grills, a bag of charcoal and some fire starters and they have family BBQs that last from supper time until the wee hours of the morning. It's a lot of fun and I love walking around the neighborhood smelling that BBQ flavor in the air. This year I've been invited by a local guy I play basketball with to join his family for a Moon Festival BBQ...I'll take some pics for you to see but for now check out the pics of the scrumptious steak dinner we had this week.

Late night loner

2007-09-12T00:10:00.000+08:00

Sunday night was one of those nights where the nocturnal me was out in full force. For those of you that don't know, the Rugby World cup started last week, and my mission Sunday night was to go watch Ireland play. Ever since I lived in Ireland I've been a fan of Irish rugby. So Sunday nights after church I like to relax and just chill out. When you work at a church Sundays can be busy and draining. The plan on Sunday was to scooter over to the Brass Monkey (local sports pub) after church to see the Canada/Wales game at 8pm and then stick around until 2 am to watch Ireland/Namibia. Due to my long winded (1 hr 10 min) sermon I ate into my Canada watching time. Instead I arrived by about 9:45 to see the South Africa game. The place was packed with S.Africans and a few other rugby fans. Immediately after the game everyone cleared out. I was left sitting all alone with one other table of people, who could care less about rugby as they were focused on depleting the bars' many bottles of alcohol. I assumed people would show up for the Scottish match, but they didn't. I began to get a bit weirded out wondering if I would be the only one left behind to watch the Ireland match. I sat alone...snacking and trying to hold off on buying expensive bar drinks. 10 mins to kick-off...there were no other Irish fans. Strange. Without going into too much detail, there is this guy here named Barry who is Irish and is the Ireland super-fan and resident leprechaun. Even he wasn't there.....yet. Finally Barry came strolling in with his wife and soon after his other Irish buddy showed up. So the 4 of us sat there and watched an unimpressive win by Ireland. Overall it was a good night as it allowed me to get some mental rest and just space out.

On my way home, at 4:30 am, I passed a 24 hour grocery store. I thought to myself, "That's odd yet convenient for some people". It peeked my interest though, so I slammed on the brakes about a block past the store and turned around. I thought, "I'm up, I have the scooter, my family needs a few things so I'll give this late night shopping a try." It was like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. There was no one there, not even any staff. I grabbed a cart and made my way through the store. I was there for almost a half-hour and didn't see anyone. As I made my way to the checkout this worker appeared out of nowhere to ring me through. It was a nice peaceful shopping trip and I may just try it again...although putting away groceries at 5:30 am was stretching my nocturnal endurance.

Date Night

2007-09-01T16:55:00.000+08:00

On Thursday my wife and I had the privilege of going out on a date together. We love our baby but being parents has taken a toll on our marriage and our development as husband and wife has slowed. We're getting to the point after 9 months that we need to start finding time for ourselves and trusting our little one with some very capable babysitters. Nevada planned this week's date. I had mentioned a few times over the past year that I wanted to check out the skating rink so that's what she planned for us. It wasn't as romantic as skating at Rockefeller Center but it was still special. It was nice just to be goofy and relax a little. We cruised around doing lap after lap and trying out new tricks. Unfortunately Nevada had a nasty wipe out and we had to cut the date short so that we could go get her arm checked out at the hospital. We also found out that Gemma cried the whole night for Adrienne and Ali. The date night thing is a work in progress but I love my wife and I can't wait for our next special outing.

Scooter tune-up

2007-08-27T16:36:00.000+08:00

As you can expect there are days that I love Taiwan and days I don't. Today was one of the days that I loved Taiwan. I rolled my broken scooter a couple blocks to the nearest scooter repair place. In my pititful Chinese I told the guy that "my scooter has lots of problems". I bought this scooter last year for $300 from a foreigner who left for Canada. I never did get an oil change and it had problems starting from the minute I got it. I left it parked outside our apartment during summer holidays and when I got back it didn't start. Long story short, the guy put on a new tire, replaced the battery, gave me new brake pads and changed the oil for a grand total of $65. In Canada the labor alone would've probably cost me $100. Cheap transportation, today's reason to love Taiwan.

Daddy's little girl

2007-08-19T16:17:00.000+08:00

During the summer Gemma was glued to mommy. They went everywhere together and did everything together. So much so that I got scared about the inevitable return to the stay-home-dad role and how Gemma was going to react. Praise God that she has been awesome this past week. As long as Gemma wakes up and sees that I'm the only one around she remains a happy little girl. Our routine has been wake up, play for an hour, go back to sleep for an hour, get up, play and eat, then nap again. That brings us to noon when mommy comes home for a midday feed. Daddy gets a little break and then we start the afternoon. That usually means play until 1:30 then have another nap. Then play until mommy gets home at 3:15. So far it's a lot of napping but I think that has a lot to do with adjusting to the time zone. In the next few months we'll try to add more and more outings. Trips to the park, the grocery store, Starbucks, the zoo etc. Not to mention hanging out in the new parts of Nevada's school...the library has wonderful new carpet that Gemma would love to walk around on. I can't wait until she can walk and talk and then we can really become buddies.

Bigger and better

2007-08-13T10:36:00.000+08:00

There was a huge change in Taiwan this summer. Something that crept up and surprised me. Taiwan Starbucks now has the Venti size. Grande has always been the biggest sized cup available here but alas western consumerism has pushed the Taiwan market once again. I myself have gotten used to the Grande cup and will continue to avoid the instant bladder burst that comes from downing a Venti coffee-of-the-day. I may convinced on those nights when I have assignments to finish for my seminary class but until then the smaller cup is for me.

On the road again

2007-08-08T00:45:00.000+08:00

I know at some point I've used that title before but it seems applicable every time I travel somewhere. I've been in L.A. for the past 5 days. My co-worker Lydia and I have been here to participate in the first annual CKM conference. CKM is an organization started by a Taiwanese American who has a heart to reach Chinese communities around the world. Dan, the former pastor at our church, began a relationship with CKM a couple years ago through a personal connection. They've supported our church financially and through prayer support so it was nice to meet some of the people....but... The conference was indeed a challenge for me. I was the only white guy in a room full of 50 Chinese people. All of the sessions were in Chinese, with very little translation. Although I don't mind pushing myself I did skip a few sessions just because my brain was tired of trying to understand what was going on. The other challenge was that their ministry style is much more Holy Spirit focused...some would say charismatic. I don't have any problems theologically with the influence of the Holy Spirit, it's just something I didn't grow up with and it definitely pushes my comfort zone. I sat back a lot and just tried to humble myself and learn to understand that we all worship in a different way. God's people are a diverse bunch and we need to support each other even it it weirds us out personally.

The highlight of the weekend was when Lydia and I were ordained. In CKM there are two levels of ordination Minister and Pastor. I still don't understand the difference. I wasn't able to ask for clarification because of the language barrier but I got the sense that it came down to level of experience and possibly education. I'm not too worried about the terminology all I know is that I have been trusted to lead in the church and now have the right to do wedding, visit the sick, visit prisons etc. It''s another positive step in the right direction.

Reading week

2007-07-17T05:23:00.000+08:00

I've been chipping away at 3 books this summer, none of which are fiction like I had hoped but as long as I keep reading I'm o.k. with that. I'm making a commitment to read at least 30 pages a day this week. That may not seem like a lot to some of you but it's enough for me. The one book I've been investing in the most is "Unlikely Destinations:the lonely planet story". My uncle, aunt and cousins gave me a Chapters gift card and I bought this book on a whim. It's about the life, travels and business story of the couple who started the Lonely Planet travel books. I'm a sucker for biographies and this one is no different. In the last couple of years I've been really into business bios...people that start with nothing and end up as trendsetting millionaires. I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit so these books really excite me.

Another book I've been reading is "They Like Jesus But Not The Church" by Dan Kimball. It's been interesting so far. I guess I don't find it that shocking though to hear that people are offended by the church and don't want to be connected to local churches. That seems like a huge generational shift that I've been hearing about first hand for a while. I'm not to far into this book so I don't want to review it that much. I will tell you this little story though. When I bought this book my wife Nevada said "I don't get it everyone in our church loves the church". I giggled and said, "that's the whole point. it's not about the 50 people that attend our church in Taipei. It's about the 2.5 million that don't." and she said "oh...I get it". I believe being involved in a chuch community is valuable for people who follow Jesus and so I'm always trying to learn how to make church a better place or how to bring the church to the people.

The other book I'm reading (or about to start reading) is "Searching For God Knows What" by Donald Miller. I've read two other Miller books and they were awesome so I'm hoping this one will be good as well.

Story Time

2007-07-06T05:20:00.000+08:00

This Sunday I have the privilege of speaking to the people of Lakeview Church out at Pike Lake. A lot of people are still under the impression that Nevada and I teach English in Taiwan but that hasn't been the story for a while. It'll be nice to be able to share about the ministry I'm involved in at the Pearl. I'm on a good personal journey of discovering what the "adult" me is like and how I want to be personally and professionally. Outside of the stressful moments I feel so happy working at a church and trying to enhance peoples' worship experience. The church is a place where I can see myself for a long time. It has become apparent to me though that there doesn't seem to be a lot of respect for church workers. People treat it like a play time job. One thing that a friend Corwin and I were discussing is that some people don't feel church workers/missionaries should be paid like everyone else. There seems to be this assumption that we should live off of less. That argument is for another post but I'll let you think over how you feel about that. Corwin told me what one lady said to him and it put it all in perspective, "If my pastor can't drive the same kind of car as me then I'm the one with the money problem." That was a rant that just came out. Wasn't planning on talking about that. If you're in the Saskatoon area this Sunday come out to Pike Lake, enjoy the beach and BBQ and come see me speak.

The other speaking arrangement I have is back at my church in Taipei. I'm doing a DVD sermon that is scheduled to be shown on Sunday July 22nd. This is the first time I've tried to record a talk. I've done little video skits but never a sermon. I'm thinking of sitting on a lawn chair in the middle of the prairie field just sharing a story or two. We'll see...wish me luck. And pray that all the tech stuff works properly.

Holiday Part 2

2007-07-03T06:21:00.000+08:00

So today was moving day. We've moved from Baba's house (my mom) in Saskatoon to Grandpa and Grandma's house (Nevada's dad and girlfriend) in Martensville. We have a few days planned but we're still available to hang-out. If you want to get ahold of me call 931-2691 or drop me an email.

Wedding Anniversaries

2007-06-25T14:04:00.000+08:00

These weekend my family celebrated two wedding annivesaries. The big one was my grandparents 50th. In this generation you barely hear of marriages that last 10 years so 50 is an amazing achievment. Here's a picture of the lovely couple:

Nevada and I also celebrated our anniversary...6 years! This is probably the most special year so far as we've added to our duo and become a trio. Nevada is awesome and I'm so glad she stuck with me as I've slowly gone through a refining process over the last few years. (I'm not fully there yet but on my way) She's been nothing but encouraging and supportive as she spurs me on to the greatness that she sees in me. I can't remember life without Nevada and I never want to be without her again. She's the stabilizing force in my life and I love her to bits. Here's a pic of our little family:

New look and now a new post

2007-06-22T18:27:00.000+08:00

I got bored and tweaked the blog again. I hope you like it. The art in the header is the wall of the pizza restaurant we went to in Chicago. I thought that was cool. Since getting back from Chicago it's been busy. I had my first father's day. It was fun! I got to hang out with my little girl and just relax. The only downer was that my mom's basement flooded that day. Saskatoon got an unusual amount of rain and unfortunately a downstairs window was open just a sliver. We managed to control the water but the musty smell of dead rotting carcasses is still wafting around the house. The other highlight of my week has been hanging out with Tom. He's my bestest friend and we hung out 3 nights this week. We also smoked our pipes a lot which is a bonding past-time that always gives us time to chat. Last night we watched "The Last King of Scotland" and we gave it two thumbs up. Receiving two thumbs down, in fact two thumbs lopped off and used as novelty ice cubes was the horrible show I saw tonight "Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer". I went out with Paul, Rob and Roger and was at the mercy of Paul's taste. It was brutal...don't ever see it...you will never get those two hours of your life back. Tomorrow morning the whirlwind vacation continues. We're off to Regina for our annual Everything Day Weekend. My family has created a holiday that allows us to celebrate the days we missed by living overseas all year. It's a lot of fun and a great excuse for our fam to bond. I'm super looking forward to the Rider game tomorrow, although I know they'll find someway to break my heart.

In Chicago

2007-06-15T02:12:00.000+08:00

I was in the right place at the right time when a spot came available to accompany some people from Lakeview to the Willow Creek Arts conference. I've had a love hate relationship with Willow Creek for a while. In some ways it's led the way in North American church but it's been at the forefront of "church in a box". I mostly wanted to be at this conference to see some of the speakers they brought in from the outside: Brian McLaren, Donald Miller and Erwin McManus. So far the highlight of the conference has been the networking. Sitting down and talking to people and sharing our church stories. I've met some interesting guys...a church planter from kentucky, a janitor/set designer from Georgia, a tattooed guy from NYC who gave me a tattoo shop card, a guy from Illinois who is in the same small church scenario. Donald Miller's talk last night was also impacting. He basically talked about how our lives should reflect the good qualities of a story or an epic film. If it's not the case we should work to find passion in chasing after living out an amazing story. I feel like being here is allowing me to focus a lot of mental energy on evaluating my leadership ability and figuring out what to work on and how to get better. I'm also trying to get organized and plan ahead for the fall/winter season at the Pearl. God is slowly clarifying the vision and direction for the Pearl. It's funny...I sit in these sessions and the key points of the talks don't always resonate with me but this environment does seem to stimulate my church mind and free me up to spend time thinking and writing things down. Writing feels good...this blog feels good...time to get back to my coffee and my notebook (paper notebook).

Up Late

2007-06-06T16:21:00.000+08:00

A few cups of coffee and some upside down hours has me up at 2:30 am. I used to feel in the zone at this hour of the day but with my new life as a father I haven't been so much into the late nights. The time zone change will wear off soon and I'll be on a normal Saskatchewan schedule.

We made it home safe and sound Monday night. I have to say that it was the worst travel day ever. Not because of the baby but the flight route and total travel hours. It was a 28 hour day with very little sleep. I will book earlier next time to ensure we can get the most direct route. We've been home for a day now...visited with all the new grandparents, hungout with Tom and Erin and tonight even saw the hard to find Ted. It's been good so far. The big thing on this week's schedule is my 10 year High School Reunion. I'm MCing the program and I'm nervous, I used to be funny and outgoing but these days I'm a more introverted and not so spontaneously funny. You could say I've mellowed out (or grown up). It should be fun though to be in a room full of so many people that represent such great memories. I'll update soon as I wind down and start having some more interesting thoughts rather than just life updates.

On our way

2007-06-04T08:48:00.000+08:00

I'm writing from a free internet stand in the Taipei airport. We're about to get this marathon day started. Our travel route is less than desirable but when you fly cheap you take what you can get. Our route: Taipei-Tokyo-Vancouver-Edmonton-Saskatoon. This is also Gemma's first international travel day so it'll be a new adventure. She's not much of a crier so we should be o.k. but she isn't much of a sit still type either. I just hope we can all get a few hours of sleep or it's going to be a rough week of recovery. We'll see you soon and look forward to showing off our Gemma. Gotta go...they're calling for us to board.

Flights confirmed

2007-05-30T11:57:00.000+08:00

Let the official excitement begin. We had some problems with flights we thought we had booked. I emailed our travel agent to ask about our tickets and she said we had never confirmed a flight. So for the past week we've been scrambling to get our flights figured out. It's been a stresser but now it's all good. We'll be arriving June 4 at 7:53 pm and we'll be staying until Aug 8. Start clearing some time in your schedules we're anxious to do some hardcore visting.

My Little Girl

2007-05-28T14:39:00.001+08:00

I had to put this pic up. It's one of the best yet. I hope you enjoy her cuteness as much as I do.

Originally uploaded by chestermckenzie

Good news/ Bad news

2007-05-19T17:00:00.001+08:00

If you're in Canada you had some good news today. The dollar hit a 30 year high. You can all go shopping crazy and I'm sure traffic to Minot, North Dakota and Billings, Montana will be busy, busy, busy. This does give me some sense of pride in Canada, that our economy is doing well. The bad news side of this is that we are making Taiwan Dollars and when the Canadian dollar gets better we make less money. That means our summer holiday savings has been on a slow slide and is now worth a lot less. I guess trips around the province may have just become trips around the city. Instead of the lake we're heading to the swimming pool. And so on...either way we'll be home in two weeks and are ready for some Saskatoon fun.

I sometimes forget

2007-05-13T02:24:00.000+08:00

In the hustle and bustle of the church world some of the simplest things can be forgotten. I was reminded and inspired this week as I listened to an MP3 sermon from home. Lee Barbour, a wise wise man of the word, began his sermon by telling about a preacher in Northern Ireland who always started his sermon Bible passage readings with, "THIS IS GOD'S WORD AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS TO US AND WE LOVE IT". Something about the truth in that statement chokes me up. I've listened to the clip of Lee saying that about 10 times now and it lights a fire in my heart. I've never been the most faithful Bible reader/studier but when you here a simple yet powerful statement like that you can't help but remember how special the Bible is. I'm going to use that quote when I preach tomorrow and I hope the passages I share really soak in to the congregation.

Why do I always revert to safe church

2007-05-09T23:26:00.000+08:00

I've been trying to learn about church through books and podcasts. There is a lot of info out there and its really hitting me in a strange way. Most of latest voices are talking about doing church in such a different way than I'm used to. There are some who say that we don't need church at all, we just need to live out Christ in our communities and let the message seap out. There are some who say that a church should focus on the global rather than the individual. There are some who talk about experiental sharing instead of lecture (sermon) type learning. It's all a whirlwind of ideas that I like to take in and learn from. The thing that bothers me most is I see the church I serve in as having a huge potential to impact Taipei but we're stuck in a traditional box that isn't moving us forward. And I am very much in the blame circle for that. We place a lot of emphasis on the Sunday service which maintains the two key elements of Worship (music) and Sermon. Even when we add creative content it is far from radical. I think we cater too much to the christian crowd and don't do enough outward looking. I was listening to Brian McLaren on my iPod tonight and he said something that resonated with me. He said that we've sort of changed the verse "for God so loved the world" to " for God so loved me (the individual)". That's so true, we spend so much time in church looking after ourselves and catering service to the regular attenders that we've forgotten that the message of the gospel is for the world. It's so much bigger than just "us". Church needs to be for "them". I don't know what that means for our church and I don't know how to implement such a shift but I need to strive to change some of that thinking. It's that safe place of Worship and Sermon that I need to get out of and we need to seek a new mentality that has people looking to live out the gospel all week and not just look for a Sunday fix. This church leading task is so exciting but also super challenging. It's an enormous pressure when you're dealing with something so powerful and important (the gospel). I know that God has given me some responsibility and I want to live that out. This church will bring God to the people of Taipei...I just don't know what that's going to look like.

Can't wait to read

2007-05-04T11:38:00.000+08:00

Summer vacation is coming soon, the last day of school for Nevada is 4 weeks away. Then we flight out on Monday June 4. I'm starting to get excited and one of the things I'm most excited to do is read. I haven't had much time to read since Gemma came along but with the swarming family and a plethora of babysitters this summer I'm sure I'll have a few extra hours in the week. I sometimes try to sit out on our deck and get a few pages done but the truth of that progress is that I've been reading the same book since Christmas and I'm only 100 pages in. I've always been in a rut reading mostly Christian books...let me explain. These books are good, some really good but as a former English student I miss reading fiction. I want to feel the depth of the characters, appreciate the intricate word choice, be surprised by a twisting plot and learn about humanity through the eyes of typewriter pianists. I need some suggestions for fiction to read, if you have any. And if anyone has a copy of something I could borrow in the summer that too would be wonderful as there is no point buying a book you can read for free. Who knows maybe I'll even finish this book I've been working on for 6 months.

Suns 4 Lakers 1

2007-05-03T13:24:00.000+08:00

All basketball people knew that the Lakers were seriously outmatched in this series and although I thought it could go 6 games I didn't think we had much of a chance to win the series. The Suns played great ball. They have amazing talent, everyone on the floor is a threat at all times. I wish I could say the same about the Lakers. And much credit must go to Canadian Steve Nash...2 time MVP and dominant floor leader. I enjoyed watching this season, as I do every season but the injuries mounted, the attitudes became apparent and our lack of talent was exposed. I'm excited to see what moves we make in the offseason because clearly our current personnel cannot get it done in this league. There have been so many rumors: a Kevin Garnett deal, a Chauncey Billups pickup, a Jason Kidd trade, a Shaquille O'Neal reunion (ok I made that one up) etc. I hope we come out more competitive next year and I hope we can at least advance to the second round next year.

Other playoff thoughts:
-The Warriors will beat the Mavs and then give their second round opponent a lot of trouble. They are so exciting and a littel scary with characters like Stephen Jackson, you never know when he'll bringa gun to the stadium or have a stripper on the bench.
-The Raptors are in trouble. Their inexperience is apparent and Chris Bosh has dissapeared (not a good sign of leader or all-star). Our Euro players are awesome and we will be good for a few years. I'm not sure we can win game 6 in New Jersey but I think Bosh will re-appear and do his best to get us back to TO. I hate seeing the Raps lose but I super hate that we're losing to Vince Carter.
-The Heat are old and they stunk this year.
-Bulls can beat the Pistons and the Cavs...I think they'll be the Eastern Conference Champs.
-Cavs would've lost to a healthy Washington.
-Spurs proved me wrong and now I see an amazing series between them and the Suns. Two different styles, whoever influences the tempo will win. I am bored by Spurs basketball so I hope to see the Suns win. How fun would a Suns/Warriors series be?!?!?!

Taiwan Workers

2007-05-02T14:30:00.000+08:00

I've never had laborers do work for me back in Canada so I'm not sure how it is but here it's something else. They do decent work and get the job done but the process is a little disheartening. Our neighbor below has been complaining about our loud air conditioners and so our landlady sent some guys over to put in some new AC units. Today was the day. They showed up 30 mins late. Then they loaded our living room and deck with tools and parts paying no attention to the hardwood floor surface or the nice furniture around them. Then they went to work. The ripped out the old AC units, drilled holes to mount new ones, ran some tubes/hoses from the inside to the outside and they replaced the hole in the wall from the old one with plastic board and some silicon. The whole time touching the walls and our furniture (slipped covered couch) with their grubby (dirty and greasy) hands. They fnally finished three hours later leaving a pile of garbage on the deck, some cigarette butts, a dirty couch, floors covered in cement dust (from the holes in the wall) and a re-arranged set of furniture. In the end we have one heck of a mess but we have new AC and hopefully a happy neighbor downstairs....although I doubt it, he's one of those guys.

Life Change: Part 2

2007-04-23T12:57:00.000+08:00

I realize the ambiguity of the first Life Change post left some of you scrambling for answers. We got a few calls from home wondering what the heck was going on. I want to first answer some of the basics:1) we are still coming home this summer, 2) there is no baby number two in the works, 3) we are all fine and healthy. So what is the big news you ask, and why the big secret. The news is that my boss/co-worker Dan has come to a point where he will be leaving our church to return home to the States. It's been a shocker around here and has become the talk of the town in our church circle. This is especially big news in my life as I am one of two staff members remaining that will essentially take over the church, with the help of our volunteer leadership team of course. I have sort of stepped up to be the "pastor" of this church. Before getting into semantics of the word pastor and the implications of the title...I want to clarify that I am not ordained but I use the word loosely as one who leads a church or church community. For those of you that don't know, I've felt a call to ministry since my teen years and ever since have been dabbling with different ministry jobs and volunteer positions. As I've grown into adulthood (college degree, marriage, parent) I've been trying harder to clarify direction in my life and specifically in regards to career. This opportunity has now been placed in my hands, I believe by God, to give me a kick start on my career path and life calling. I posted a couple weeks ago about my desire to work on some Bible education and in the summer I plan to register at Briercrest in a program that will help to further my development in this area. I think I have a decent grasp of the word and have been working very hard to clean up my own life so that it reflects my faith but extra education is necessary going forward and I'm really excited. The reason it had to stay secret was that the news had not yet been announced to the congregation and I know there are some church people who find their way to my blog from time to time. If you are a Christian please pray for our church and for me in this time of transition...pray that we can come together as a family and continue to be a church that brings Jesus to the city fo Taipei.

Worst day of the year

2007-04-21T17:06:00.000+08:00

What was mostly a great Friday ended up being the worst day of our last two in Taiwan. The baby and I had a calm and controlled day together. We got up early and met a friend for breakfast. Came home had lunch. Had an afternoon nap and then headed out to do some shopping. Mommy joined us after work and we sat in the park and ate ice cream. It was just a nice relaxing family time. The next stop was one of our favorite stores...this little import shop with lots of cheap American brand names and real sizes. We both found some good deals. Nevada found these super duper denim capris that looked great on her. The excitement kept on rolling as I found out I was able to fit into size 36 shorts. (44 to 36 in just under 2 years.) Maybe 34 next summer...wohoo! We made sure to get Gemma, we bought our stuff and then went home.

At home we relaxed in front of the TV and as we got ready to go to dinner that's when it all hit. My murse (man purse) was no where to be found. Uh Oh! We turned the house upside down looking for it, no luck. I immediately went back to the 3 stores we had been at and asked if they had seen. No one had seen anything....or so they say. Luckily my wallet, phone and keys had been in my pocket but the murse contained other valuables. We are now without our video camera and our digital camera. It's been a devasting 24 hours as we scramble to think about how we're going to replace these things. We've been trying so hard to be good adults and manage our money responsibly but for now that hasn't included a savings. As missionaries we're not exactly rolling in cash so we may be without for a while. The sad part is that we have a baby and want to keep recording all of her infant achievements. Life can throw you some curve balls sometimes and this one has really struck us out. The good news is that since Gemma's been around we have never forgotten her or dropped her or lost her.......but we have lost a diaper bag and now a bag with cameras. Hopefully in the next couple months of parenting we'll be able to learn how to keep track of Gemma and the rest of our stuff.

Life change

2007-04-19T15:15:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Something really big has been happening in the past 10 days and it has to remain a secret so I've been holding back from writing. It's something that's taken over a lot of my mental energy and emotional energy. I would say it's an exciting change but comes with added responsibilities and some permanence in my life direction. I'll be able to share more openly in a couple of days so bare with me. It will more than likely open up a new blog passion in me as I will have a lot to process and work through.

End of the NBA season

2007-04-19T14:10:00.000+08:00

Today was the last day of the NBA regular season and here are my random thoughts:
-The Lakers whimpered into the playoffs in the 7th seed and will probably get easily dismissed by the Suns. It's an unfortunate reality of a #2 vs #7 series. That being said I do think any team with Kobe Bryant, the best player on the planet, can always surprise people. (you may not like Kobe but there is no denying his basketball ability and his superheroness for the Lakers) The Lakers have dealt with a lot of injuries this year but when healthy they were a good team so look for a 6 game series...Kobe is bound to win one on talent alone and the Lakers as a team should be able to put together one solid team game.

-Another team in my heart, as a Canadian, is the Raptors. They have been the surprise of the league this year but with the first pick in last year's draft, an all-star player, several veteran additions and the best GM in the biz I don't understand how they surprised people. They have looked really good this year. They're scoring a lot, winning tight games, beating good teams and doing it all with confidence. Tonight their first round opponent was decided and in a suprising twist the Raps will face their arch-nemesis Vince "I tanked it and left on bad terms in a terrible trade that held back the Raps for a couple seasons" Carter and the NJ Nets. We wanted to take on the injury damaged Washington Wizards who would have cowered in the corner but instead we have to face a team with a hungry and unfortunately playing reall well Vince Carter, a hall-o-fame point guard Jason Kidd and an athletic freak Richard Jefferson. It's gonna be tough but exciting...should be one of the best series in the first round...I'll go with Raps in 7. Bosh sealing in in front of the hometown Air Canada Centre crowd with Vince walking off the court disgusted and defeated.

-Pedictions: Denver might upset the Spurs...Melo, Iverson, Camby and Nene will give San Antonio all they can handle. I'm going to say Denver in 6. Houston will beat the Jazz and may threaten in the second round as well. Yao is the best big in the game and Tmac is healthy for once. Although I could live without Jeff Van Gundy on the tv screen. I also think the GS Warriors could upset Dallas. They won the season series 3-0 and their coach Don Nelson used to run the Mavs so he knows how to beat them. I'm going to let Dallas survive 4-3. In the east...Detroit will sweep the Magic. Cavs will smoke the Wiz. The big series will be the Bulls/Heat...up and coming Bulls vs old veteran defending champs Heat...the Bulls went out and got Ben Wallace who hasn't been that great but he's the right man to swing this series...with the help of a hobbling Dwayne Wade and a last minute injured James Posey the Bulls will knock off the Heat. The Heat will need to overhaul their geriatric crew in this off season as Fatty Walker, Gary Payton, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Jason Williams just won't be able to get it done anymore.

Championship: I can't make the call but I see a Suns/Mavs West Final and a Pistons/Bulls East Final

Happy Easter!

2007-04-11T03:19:00.000+08:00

I just had to have a pic of my little Easter baby.

(check the Flickr site for the rest of these great pics)

Back to School

2007-04-10T01:54:00.000+08:00

As I look to further my future in ministry we (Nevada and I) have decided that I need to get some Bible education. I'm in the process now of deciding what I can take through distance learning and what my goal is. Do I simply want to learn or should I be aiming to get some sort of credential (BA, AA, Diploma). I'm really excited to get back into the books and challenge my mind again. I always knew that I'd be a student again, I love to learn. Any advice from you fellow ministry folks out there...which school? what program? etc.

Our Church in online

2007-04-03T09:24:00.000+08:00

This past week and a half I've been working hard with a guy named Victor on our church website. He's a graphic designer that goes to our church. He's put in hours and hoursof work for months and months with me piggy-backing offering suggestions and a meager amount of web coding ability. We finally went online this past weekend. We like to say that it's a beta version (as we're still working out some kinks) but it's pretty much done. Go check it out, make sure to click the STAFF link so you can see yours truly.

The Pearl In Taipei

Even my closet is losing weight

2007-03-29T02:42:00.000+08:00

I did something yesterday that has been in the works for a while; I threw out most of my fat clothes. I'm no skinny guy these days but I have dropped enough that some clothes just don't fit anymore. I had a few XXXL things kicking around as well as some XXL that weren't me anymore. One big thing is that in the waist I've gone from a 42/44 to a 38 and on the way to 36. So some old jeans and shorts were not necessary anymore. Altogether I threw out about 30 pieces of clothing. (I should clarify. I didn't throw them out in the garbage. I put them in a local government drop off bin so they can be enjoyed by someone who needs them.) There were a few reasons I got rid of this stuff but one of the biggest is that it's an encouragement to keep it off. I don't want to go back to being that other me. I want to stay active and I think I really do like fruits and vegetables. Ultimately I don't want to have a heart-attack by 40 so I need to keep at it.

Those were the days

2007-03-27T23:09:00.000+08:00

This week has been a lot of fun. Nevada's cousin Ashton is visiting with a friend from back home. I've been doing my best to tour them around. It's fun to help people enjoy Taiwan. I realize that it's not really a tourist hot spot but there is a lot to offere here. They've been so excited to see all the different sites (temples, monuments, markets, Taipei 101 etc.) and they've been especially enamored with the street food. They both say they've eaten more in the last 5 days in Taiwan than they have in a month in Thailand.

It's been a trip down memory lane being with these young guys. They travel like I used to travel: eating food from convenience stores, not taking many pictures, drinking the cheapest beer, speaking in loud English, not booking ahead etc. It can be a fun way to travel but I believe that now that I'm a family I don't think I'll be doing much of that kind of travelling anymore....although I have been talking to Nevada in the past year about getting away for a solo backpacking trip. We get 2 months off every summer and have pretty much committed to going back to Saskatoon. This is great for Nevada but for me I get a little bored just hanging around the old stomping grounds (love the people get bored of the place). Instead of 8 weeks in Canada I might do 6 weeks and then 2 weeks somewhere else. It's not the best financial move for us right now so it'll have to wait but maybe next summer.

"Do you have a pen?"

2007-03-21T11:57:00.001+08:00

The other day I was scootering to church and I saw a police officer walking up to a work truck with his pad of paper in hand. The truck was parked on the sidewalk so the guy was presumbly getting a ticket for that. The cop started talking to the guy with a stern look on his face...all of a sudden he did the writing motion, indicating "Do you have a pen?". And I think the guy handed over a pen. I drove away and giggled to myself. Can you believe that? A cop issuing you a ticket and you have to provide the pen, it's like providing your own noose for a hanging or giving the gunmen bullets for your own firing squad. Only in Taiwan...

Scatterbrained

2007-03-21T11:56:00.000+08:00

I've been wanting to sit down and blog for a few days now but I can't seem to figure what I want to focus my post on. So instead I think I'll do a bit of a point form look at so many things that are whirled around in my mind.

Basketball
-My Lakers have been in a stinky rut thanks to a bunch of injuries->Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Kwame Brown and the dummy of all dummies Valdimir Radmanovic (hurt himself snowboarding during the season. Out 2 months).
-The two longest loosing streak of Phil Jackson's career, 6 games and then 7 games. Like I said STINKY!
-Lamar and Luke got back to work though and we've won two in a row.
-Kobe's going nuts this week-> 65 pts vs. Portland, 50 pts vs. Minnesota...I see a few more 50s in the next couple weeks. He's in the zone.

Church
-Being a part of a church plant can be a challenge but it's also so rewarding. It's a continual struggle for me to leave my mega-church upbringing on the shelf and look at things on a smaller more personal level. I'm learning that the grass roots church may not be as flashy and professionally put together but it has a certain amount of heart missing in the Wal-Mart churches of North America.
-I'm at a stage in my leadership where it's time to step up so I've offered to preach once a month. If you know me you know that I love being on stage. I've always got a rush from the interaction with a crowd and having the spotlight on me. This time it's a bit different though. It's less about me getting attention and more about me trying to use the gifts God has given me. Our pastor has been feeling overworked and a bit bummed out recently. He loves working with people and spending time with them. One of the things taking away his energy is preparing for sermons every week. That's another reason I've stepped up. I want to give him a little more time to concentrate on building relationship within our community. I've shyed (spelling?) away from preaching for a few years because my life was not always in line with what I was preaching about. I didn't feel right being a hippocrate. But lately I've been working harder to walk-the-walk. In no way do I have all my stuff together but I know that I'm trying and that's a big difference. This weekend I'll be preaching on Psalm 23 with the focus on Rest.
-I've been praying about my future in ministry and an exciting idea has come to the surface. My home church in Saskatoon is rich in resources and has a heart for the city but our location and demographic is very upscale. I would love to be a part of a Lakeview Church backed church plant in inner city Saskatoon or in another part of Saskatchewan. Maybe Lakeview needs to plant a church in P.A. or even further north. I guess we'll see what God has in store.

Gemma
-she's starting to sleep more...midnight to 9 am. Shorter naps in the day but a better sleep overall for Nevada and I.
-She's really learning things. It's so fun to watch her lately as she's able to grab things. She'll grab anything within her reach. And those objects will most often end up in her mouth.
-update: not sure what's wrong with her but she's been crying and screaming a lot for daddy in the last few days. I could use some prayer for patience and endurance.

Random thoughts
-Nevada's cousin Ashton is coming to visit us this week. He's been on a world backbacking adventure for awhile and decided to stop by. He's in Thailand right now but will be flying here tomorrow. Should be fun although he picked a busy week to visit...oh well, he can explore on his own which can sometimes be just as fun.
-I'm planning to get a new tattoo this summer. I'm so excited, it's been a few years since I've been poked by that needle. It's been fun to think of designs and styles. I even bought artsy supplies: sketch book, pencil, eraser, pencil crayons and markers. I'm not a big drawer but it is a neat oulet when one has a chance to sit and do it.
-It's the time of the year when we make our summer travel plans. We don't have our tickets booked yet but it looks like we'll be spending a lot of time at home this summer. It works out to about 8 or 9 weeks. We're so excited and I know some people at home are pretty excited to spend some time with Gemma. I'll be looking for some part-time jobs here and there so if you know of any work let me know.