November update

Hey everybody,

It has been over a month since my last post, so it’s about time for an update.

I have had a busy month, but a totally enjoyable one. At the end of October, we had a Halloween youth event. It was cool; I was an “identity crisis”, a last minute idea that worked. The beginning of November brought snow (only a little bit) for the first time this winter (the first time it actually stayed on the ground for more than an hour). I watched the CFL division semi-finals with some youth, and hung out with some friends later that night. We also had youth that weekend, and being the long weekend (7-11), it was a great weekend. On the Monday I went to Kevins surprise birthday, and then Tuesday I saw Madagascar 2 and went to the Flames-Leafs game. Madagascar 2 was funny, just as good as the first, and the Flames game was fun, as the Flames won and it was a good atmosphere.

Time continued to fly by, with something significant each day, and assignments due all the time. One of my best buds from Capernwray, Tyler, came up from Colorado to visit his girlfriend for the week. So on Wednesday I hung out with Brendan, Tyler, and Daralynne, it was so awesome to see them again. On the next weekend I went to the West final – Stamps vs. Lions. I got tickets off a guy on a flames message board the day of the game and took a friend. The atmosphere at the Stamps game was awesome, the fans were into it, it was sold out, it was just as good an atmosphere as the two grey cup games I’ve been to, and it was plus 10, which is great for November football. Stamps won of course and went on to win the Grey cup.

On Sunday the 16th there was a young adults lunch, which was good. I also saw the new bond movie that weekend (the 15th) with Shawn and Mike. Quantum of Solace was a great movie, not sure if it was as good as the first, but it was really good. On Monday I went and saw Wall-E with Carlton, Nathan, Matthias, Caleb and Justin in the cheap seats. It was better than I expected, I enjoyed it. I also went and saw Role models on Thursday with Shawn, Travis and Mike, it was a funny movie.

On Friday the 21st we had our small group night; it was a fun time of just hanging out. That Sunday was the Grey cup – Stamps vs. Allouettes. After spending much of Saturday watching pregame for it, I was totally pumped for the game and believed my Stamps would win. Our small group watched it at my house, and then had our study after the game. It was great to see the Stamps win, not the most entertaining game, but it was good nonetheless. GO STAMPS. Wednesday I had wings with the guys as usual and we went to Nicks after. Yesterday I hung out with Jake, Caleb and Matthias; we went for dinner then bowling.

I am still playing soccer on Tuesdays, which has been fun even though we are not that good. We
have our last game this Tuesday. School has been hectic, so many assignments, group meetings and some studying mixed in. I am glad the semester is almost over; I need to do really well on my Finance and Marketing finals so that I don’t have to take them over. Those two classes are way too heavy, I feel like they cram two classes into one. Finance is annoying because it feels like he expects us to learn the textbook then he can review the notes in class. He is still teaching us, but it feels like there is way more material to cover than he has time for, so he skims through it all too fast. Oh well, it’s almost over. One week of classes left. I had two presentations yesterday, they went well. I actually am starting to see the end of it, as there are only two assignments left.
Of course I have also been busy keeping up with friends and the youth and working. At work, they gave me my own office for a few weeks! I was pretty happy to get an office, even if I probably shouldn’t have one (I work 10 hours a week). I’ll take it. It sounds like Nexen is going to extend my contract until the end of April, which is good news.

Christmas is coming up in less than a month. I was talking to one of my friends the other day, we were agreeing that it is too much about gifts, though he takes it farther and just dreads Christmas. While I don’t enjoy the stress of figuring out what to get people, and what I want, the season is a good time. Christmas is a time to spend with family, a time to relax and enjoy life, a time to celebrate and to remember why we have this season. Jesus was the ultimate gift from God to us; he was even brought gifts from strangers when he was born. Anyways Christmas has become so much about consumerism. While it’s nice to receive something, sometimes we spend a ton of money on something the person won’t really use or may randomly buy for themselves before receiving. The problem I often find is: what do I want/need? With the ease of just going and getting something, if I want something, I often go buy it. If I know what I want in October, I don’t want to wait until December to get it if I don’t know if anyone is getting it for me. Maybe that sounds bad, but it’s true, for things that aren’t expensive. For things that are expensive, like a stereo, we may ask for it or do some research, but it’s not cheap to buy a bunch of people expensive things like that, and not everyone needs something like that. When I was a kid, I wanted things like Lego or a movie, if I wanted those things right now I would just go get one. On the expensive side, would I like a car for Christmas, sure, but that is way too expensive for a Christmas gift and I already have one. I guess that’s why it’s nice to surprise people, if you have an idea of what they would enjoy, then that is good. Not to say Christmas or gift giving is bad. It certainly is nice to give someone a something they wanted and see their face light up, or to receive something you never really thought of asking for, or that you wanted for a while but never went out and bought. It’s not about what you receive though, it’s being generous towards others, like God was to us, we didn’t have to do anything for him, he gave us Jesus and through him redemption, love and grace.

I am still reading that book “the story we find ourselves in. I haven’t read it as much as I would like to but I am almost through it. The book has been quite enjoyable, after Jesus the author goes on to talk about community and the church. Then he discusses heaven and time and that sort of thing. He paints a picture of Gods judgement of us. Judgement means having things accurately appraised by God, to be in God’s presence means to be fully seen and known as who we really are. Judgement doesn’t mean condemnation; it means perfect assessment by God. We can’t avoid it. You can imagine God saying to someone – Well done! You have lived well! You helped the story advance toward my creative dreams. You fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed in the lonely, visited the prisoners, and shared your bread with the poor. Wherever you went, you contributed love and peace, generosity and truth, courage and sacrifice, self-control and justice, faithfulness and kindness. You enriched the story, enhanced its beauty and drama and nobility. You have become someone good and beautiful and true. Your unique creative contributions will never be forgotten, and even the smallest act of kindness will be eternally celebrated, rewarded. After naming and forgiving your many faults, and failures, I see so much substance to your character, so much to cherish, so much of value, and it will now be set free, given a new beginning in my new creation. You have an eternal place in my story! You have been harvested from this creation, and now you will enter into the joy of the new creation!

Our story doesn’t end; it opens into another story, a new beginning, a resurrection, not a reincarnation. On the other hand, this is the story he gives if we don’t do so well.

God might say, sadly, your contributions have been neutral or negative. You have added more pain and selfishness, more dishonesty and coldness, more greed and disharmony and clutter into the story. I tried in every way possible to get through to you, but you wouldn’t respond to my grace. Even if I forgive and forget all bad things you have done, is there enough of your character left for you to continue existing in my creation and would you even like living with me in the story you have avoided, minimized, resisted, or subverted all your life what have you become you’ve made money and enjoyed luxuries and seemed like a great success to some of you fellow characters as you pursued your own dreams and desired, but in terms of my dreams and desires, you had your chance to become a good and unforgettable character in my story, and you wasted it. You’ve squandered the time and space you were given. I fell regret about what you could have been, what you could have done, what you could have become, but didn’t. I wish you had given me more to work with, but you haven’t. Your story has been a tragedy of waste and missed opportunities. (McLaren)

The obvious question is what happens to the second person. Maybe we shouldn’t focus on that. We should focus on the first person, what we (or at least I) want to be.
Another story is told of how God is like a parent letting a kid go but is also at the other end and the kid is running to him, God is where we are from and where we are going to, and we influence how long it takes to get back to him.

Anyways there you have it, a little peek at the book.
Not sure what else to say here. Christmas plans are to go to Utah to visit my mom and step-dad and ski for a week. I am looking forward to it. Exam week starts the 8th and I will be done on the 16th.

That was a super long post!

Thanks for reading as usual

Adam


ref:
McLaren, Brian, pg 233. The Story We Find Ourselves in. 2003.