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June 2025: "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

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(As you read my post for this month, you'll hear me talk about how my plans did not work out like I thought they would. I don't want to compare my minor scheduling problems and changes with the very upsetting and disorienting experiences of so many of our northern friends as they have had to deal with the huge number of forest fires this season. I've stayed at hotels where many of the northern Manitoba evacuees were staying...so glad that these families could be in a safe place. It also helped put my very minor problems in perspective!) If June 2025 had a basic theme for me, it was that my best plans do not always work out. This doesn't mean that the month turned out badly...it just means that sometimes life goes in different directions than I had hoped and it is important to stay nimble. I began the month with an academic conference in Toronto. I presented a paper at the annual meeting for the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR) in Toronto at George Brown...
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May 2025: Conferences, Cold, Calgary, Celebration of Life, Changing Addresses, Convocation, and Cleaning

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May 2025 is a month brought to you by the letter "C" (as per Sesame Street, a favourite show both now and when I was younger). Let's begin... C is for C onferences: I had the chance to spend time with pastors and other church leaders from the North American Lutheran Church in Canmore at the end of April and the beginning of May. See last month's blog for more details about this. I also attended the Sabbath Conference in Edmonton with other LCC deacons and volunteers at the end of May. It was good to hear the presentations and catch up with everyone. Here's a photo of our crew at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton (they were kind enough to host us) and some photos of our fun times trying to throw some axes. I also had the opportunity to attend the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion in Toronto later in the month of May. I presented a paper based on some of my current research and also enjoyed many sessions with the other presen...
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April 2025: Buying and Selling and Connecting and Grieving (with hope) and Celebrating

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 April 2025 will be a special month for me and my wife Lynne for many years to come. It started with my 56th birthday (yay!) and it continued with some exciting developments. On April 8 we signed the final papers for our new home in Abbotsford, BC and on April 10 I picked up the keys. Here's a picture of that moment... Later in the month, we got the good news that we had an offer on our current home in Sherwood Park. Conditions were cleared on April 28 and we'll hand over the keys to this place at the end of May. We've lived in this home since spring 2004...it's the longest I've ever lived anywhere. We'll miss this home with all its great memories and moments. Here's a picture of Lynne and I celebrating! Here's another picture with our wonderful real estate agent and good friend Tim. He's been an important part of a team of people who have helped us with this move so far. Great stuff!! So now we are focused on getting the new place painted and gettin...
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March 2025: Snow, snow, snow...and some other fun news!

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 If I had to pick one theme for March 2025, it would be snow. There's been a lot of snow both at home in Alberta and also in the other places I visited in Saskatchewan and Manitoba this month. Sometimes spring weather arrives in March in Canada...and other times not so much.  My month started with a graduate student conference at the University of Alberta (see last month for more details). Following the conference, I was able to work from home for a few weeks. I appreciated being able to attend the Ash Wednesday service at our home church...I always find Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent to be a meaningful time. I also enjoyed attending the Edmonton circuit conference with other LCC pastors and church workers and visiting with some old church worker friends over coffee at other times. Good to stay in touch! Later in the month, I headed out to Saskatchewan to visit some LAMP communities. My trip started with a quick visit to Warman, SK to visit with Pastor Randy and Darlene ...
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