Mmm... well, I'm feeling upbeat today; the past couple of weeks have been quite encouraging and hopeful at church! This morning's message by Dr. George Durance at our lay leaders' "retreat" emphasized the importance of rest as a spiritual discipline -- and how hard it is to do when our churches' culture is so often focused on "DO" rather than "BE". Dr. Durance mentioned seven different ways in which people of different personalities can rest. Two of the ones I remembered are "relational rest" and "contemplative rest". After the seminar a bunch of LIGHT folks (and a couple of us non-LIGHT young adults) went out for sushi and had rather enjoyable conversations on everything from euthanasia to Ginny's cat-that-wasn't-her-cat. I found it to be wonderful "relational rest" for a Saturday afternoon!
With three hours left to kill before my dinner appointment, I took a stroll around Station Square until I found myself here on a lonely park bench nearby the Burnaby Public Library. In quiet contemplative rest I simply sat and watched these cute little Mandarin-speaking kids play in the snow. One five-year-old boy was just walking around eating random chunks of snow! So cute... I also had an encouraging chat with a random brother in Christ who stopped by, Lowell from Willingdon church. Lowell had felt a calling to evangelism a year ago, and has been approaching random strangers to share the gospel with them!
In the chill of the slanting winter sun, as I prayed, my heart was quieted by the knowledge of God's love. My prayer once again to God is that He prepare and equip me to be the very most Godly and devoted husband and father that I can be, according to His calling and His incomparable power working within me.