Mission Scribbles and Scratches

 After a busy and fun-filled Christmas season, our family shifted into birthday celebration mode. My wife Lynne had a fun day with birthday breakfast at Cora's (with me, our son Matthew and his family, and her brother Dennis) followed by a fun trip to West Edmonton Mall to visit the pirate ship and the penguins there. We then headed out to decorate some pottery before saying goodbye to Matt and Bailey and their boys. Lynne, Dennis, and I enjoyed some tasty Chinese food for supper before heading home to relax. Here are some fun photos...we sure love our birthday girl!!! I came down with a fairly bad cold as January continued and that made it necessary to spend a bit of time at home resting and trying to get better. At least I didn't have to be sick over Christmas!! I had a chance to help with a panel for a class at Concordia Lutheran Seminary as we talked with some current diaconal students in the program about being church workers. It was good to meet the students and good to h...

December 2024 started with some fun time in Nashville with my wife Lynne. I talked about this last month so I'll just say we had some good flights home and headed back to work and normal life after some good times away. I managed to make it to the dentist (no cavities!!) and Lynne took me to a concert featuring the current members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Lynne's dad is an accomplished musician who played stand up bass in these kinds of bands for many years so this music has a special place in her heart. The concert was really good!! These days at home were also filled with preparations for my next and final trip for work for 2024. I flew to Winnipeg, Manitoba and from there I flew north to the city of Thompson. There was a crazy snowstorm in Edmonton on the day I flew out and lots more crazy snow in Winnipeg that same day. The airplanes managed to leave mostly on time and they got me where I was going...even with all the snow. I was thankful that my rental truck was read...

 November 2024 began with my wife and I looking at some properties in Nanaimo, BC. We are thinking about moving and we wanted to see what things look like in that area. My wife flew home that first Saturday and I headed over to Parksville, BC, the same day to attend and help out with some anniversary celebrations for Our Saviour Lutheran Church. The congregation has been there for fifty years and they decided to celebrate this anniversary with a dinner and a special worship service. On Saturday night, we gathered at a local hall for a wonderful dinner. Following the meal, there was a special program. I presented a short concert as part of that program. It was fun to get up and sing some of  my songs for people there. It was also fun to see the current pastor of OLSC (my brother-in-law Steve Chambers) and his wife Brenda. Fun times! Here's some pictures... The next day we gathered at the church for a special anniversary service. Several of the former pastors were there and it w...

The month of October for me, as I hope to illustrate, could easily be sponsored by the letter "C". Let's get started!! (my thanks to my friend Gwen for this idea!) C onferences - As I mentioned in last month's blog, October started with the chance to attend the BC Church Workers Conference in Sorrento, BC. Nathan, my fellow LAMP missionary, and I were able to address the conference during a panel focused on various ministries and missions in Lutheran Church - Canada. What a good time!! The good times and good connections continued at the Alberta Church Workers Conference hosted at the Providence Retreat Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The featured speaker was Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller from Texas...he spoke to us about spiritual warfare and the Christian life. We also enjoyed a presentation from Lutheran Bible Translators missionary Pastor Michael Kuhn. He talked to us about his work in particular and also the work of LBT in general. The organizers were also kind enough to g...