Mission Scribbles and Scratches

 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...

 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 ...

February began with a chance for me to meet with some of the LAMP team leaders and team members who work with some of the communities that I am responsible for. It was good to see some familiar faces at the online meeting and hear about their plans for the upcoming summer. As a LAMP staff, we are excited to see the new VBS curriculum from Group Publishing called "True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World" ( VBS - Vacation Bible School 2025 Themes | True North | Group ). We are thinking that the kids and youth in our northern Canadian communities might really enjoy this theme.  Later that week, I got the chance to attend the Edmonton Circuit Conference in St. Albert. Pastor James Avery from Bethel in Sherwood Park led the discussion topic on the church and politics. We had a very lively and thoughtful conversation on this challenging and timely study. I was able to enjoy lunch out with my mom and her husband Clay before heading home to pack and prepare for my trip to Winnipeg...

 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...