Mission Scribbles and Scratches

June 2024 marks the last month of my first year serving with LAMP! Just like the year past, June was full of fun times with friends and opportunities to travel. I started the month with a quick visit with the good people at Grace Lutheran Church in Drumheller. They invited me to come and speak about LAMP during their Sunday morning worship service. Aside from some minor technical problems (Powerpoint, I'm looking at you!!!), things went well. It was also really fun to stay with old friends Brad and Sharlinda T. Great to catch up with them after several years apart! Here's some pictures of the church, Brad and Sharlinda, the very unique hills around Drumheller, and the river that runs through it. From Drumheller, I drove back to Edmonton to catch a plane to Winnipeg. At the airport, I saw this wonderful balloon art cheering on the Oilers, our local NHL hockey team. Most of June was filled with some very exciting playoff hockey as the Oilers went all the way to the final game of ...

May 2024 was an interesting month with some happy times and some sad times. First, the happy times included events like the annual Sabbath Conference hosted here in Edmonton. This event, which caters to professional church workers like DPS workers and church volunteers, was hosted this year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton. The event featured pastor and school principal Mark Dressler presenting on trends with children, youth and young adults today as well as LCC Synod President Tim Teuscher as Bible study leader. Attendees at Sabbath were able to join the seminary community (students, professors, support staff) for worship in the chapel, shared meals and snack times, and shared devotion times together. The technology and facilities at the seminary also allowed for some attendees to join us online. It was a good to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones as well. I was able present a brief presentation about the work of LAMP to those in attendance. Here are some photo...

 April 2024 was a busy one with lots of time with family, friends, and colleagues! Here are some highlights... April got started with my 55th birthday. I was happy to celebrate with my wife Lynne as we enjoyed Brazilian BBQ and the Broadway show "Hairspray", being presented at our local Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Great food and great music!! I was also happy to celebrate with my nephew and birthday "twin" Cooper...good times! Later that week, I hopped on a plane and headed down to Nashville for the Nashville Songwriters Tin Pan South Songwriting Seminar. I've been a volunteer with our local NSAI chapter for many years now and it was good to get back to the seminar after five years away. The event was hosted at the campus of Belmont University in Nashville and the event was excellent as always. Here's some pictures from the Seminar. NSAI exists to encourage songwriters of all levels (from amateur to professional) to continue to polish and develop th...