Winter Blues

I have the winter blues.  It has been sunny and warm for weeks.  It’s more like April and May around here than February.  Many people may be happy with that, but I’m a skier.  I like lots of new snow up in the mountains not sunny, warm days.  The weatherman says this horrible, sunny, warm weather is finally about to change, and not a day too soon. Hopefully we will get some nice, cold rain down here in the valley so there will be lots of new snow up in the mountains.  At least the Olympic spectators in Vancouver are happy and dry.  Their having lots of fun in the streets of Vancouver.

Isn’t it amazing how discontent we can become when things don’t go exactly the way we want them to go.  The same often holds true with our relationship with God.  When our life isn’t the way we want it to be we often blame God.  We usually don’t pause to consider that He may be using the circumstances we don’t like in order to work on our character.  In order to do something great in our life.  Do we really trust that Jesus wants the very best for us and is working in our lives to help us become the people He wants us to be?

Olympic Fever

We Canadians are known as people who have a rather quiet type of nationalism.  We love our country, think it is the best one in the world, but don't go around shouting about it.  We're not flag wavers or screamers.  At least not until now.  Somehow the Vancouver Olympics have transformed our nation into one of fanatical Canadian patriots.  People are running down streets with Canadian flags.  At Olympic events they spontaneously break out singing "Oh Canada."  Somehow the Vancouver Olympics have galvanized us, united us, in a way I have never before seen.  You know what?  I like it.  I love our country and maybe we need to get a bit more emotional about being Canadians.  We do have a great country .

A lot of Christians are the same with regards their faith.  We love Jesus, but in a quiet sort of way.  Maybe we need to take a lesson from what is happening at the Olympics and begin to wave our Christian flag a bit more proudly, to declare our faith in Jesus a bit more loudly, to take a stand.  I think that maybe that is what our life in Jesus is all about.

Back to Work

We were on vacation last week, no e-mail, cell phone off, just skiing, boarding and hot tubs.  Just Sandra and I. No interruptions, no outside world.  Wonderful.  We were at Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia and had a great time.  The only downer was that this immense mountain had no new snow so everything was hard packed.  We spent most of our time looking for the best snow skiing the steeps in the trees; black and double black runs under sunny, blue skies.  It had been so long since it snowed that even in the trees there were moguls, but it was fun.  After a week of it we are almost bump skiers!  Now we’re home and back to work.  Oh . .  the work!  How can so much e-mail accumulate in so little time?  A week of pure fun, now we pay for it with lots of hard work catching up on things.  That’s life.  I’m glad I don’t have to face it alone, but know that Jesus is with me every step of every day (and every turn as I ski).

Ups and Downs

I love to drive, find it quite relaxing. During the last couple of weeks we drove to San Diego, California and back without a mishap, without any problems, with easy driving and mainly good weather. We arrived home yesterday.  It was a great trip. This morning I left the house at 6:50 am to drive to Manning Park Resort where I teach skiing on Fridays.  I wasn’t five minutes from the house, just on to the freeway, when a big rock appeared out of the darkness and hit my windshield.  BANG.  In the dark I couldn’t see anything, but as the sun began to rise I could see a nice, big set of rings on my windshield where the rock hit.  We drove over 5,000 trouble free kilometres to California and back, but I couldn’t get 5 kilometres from our home!  It’s just life.  Bad things happen, good things happen.  Life happens.  And where was Jesus, my Saviour through all this?  Right with me, all the time, every moment, looking after me.  He said He’d do that.