Henri Nouwen is one of my favourite writers. This quote is from "The Genesee Diary" which I am reading for Spritiual Formation this semester. It speaks more to this idea of being created for relationship, the I/Thou component of being human which is this theme God has laid on my heart.

This morning, during his weekly conference, John Eudes made a remark about the relationship between solitude and intimacy that touched me deeply. He said, “Without solitude there can be no real people. The more you discover what a person is, and experience that a human relationship requires in order to remain profound, fruitful and a source of growth and development, the more you discover you are alone – and that the measure of your solitude is the measure of your capacity for communion. The measure of your awareness of God’s transcendent call to each person is the measure of your capacity for intimacy with others. If you do not realize that the persons to whom you are relating are called to an eternal transcendent relationship that transcends everything else, how can you relate intimately to another at his centre from your centre?”

Enslaved cosumers - as I drove home from our Christmas morning service I was thinking how the stores just closed down last evening. They will be open at 8am tomorrow and everyone will be busting down the doors for those great deals they just might miss, for those things none of them needs, after all they just got a truckload of stuff this morning. Society is enslaved and and we don't even know it. Wealthy people think they have it made but if they were to have to live a "normal" middle class life they wouldn't know how to buy socks. And yet we keep pursuing more. I was sad for them. All I could think of was "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free". Oh, to share the liberation with them but they don't even know they need it.

"I know a person or God only in so much as the difference the encounter with that person has made in me."

One of my professors stated this in class this semester and hit me again as I was studying for the exam I am about to blow. What do you think? I've got my thoughts. I'd like to hear yours.

"She wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7b - I was challenged by this on Sunday. This past couple weeks have been so busy, class, term papers, shopping, ministry... I had been out late at a youth event the last 2 nights I hadn't prepared for Sunday service as I could have; I was tired, not thought through. It was just thrown into the mix of a busy schedule. There was no room for Jesus in my inn during this advent season. How about you? Any vacancy?

In the last 2 weeks I have been volunteering at a local high school. The school is developing a new horticulture program. It’ll be in full swing next semester. What an opportunity for a youth pastor who wants to get into the local schools and meet teens. The principal has welcomed me with open arms to come and go as I am able, to fill any number of roles. With my past education and work experience she has even gone so far as to say she could hire me to teach the class.

So, even while I was exploring other areas of education and employment God was equipping me. I gained exposure to people from different faiths and denominations. Opportunities came my way to equip me as a worship leader as well. So when people ask if those years were a waste of time. I have and will continue to answer, “No”.

We hear how God has promised to give us what we need when he calls us to a task. Profoundly this has been affirmed in the last 2 months. I couldn’t be in a better place. Truly, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8a)

Airo means to "lift up", "to bear". This insight comes from "Secrets of The Vine" by Wilkinson. This is a great little book about John 15, I am the vine, you are the branches. My God doesn't turn his back on me the moment I stumble; he doesn't cut me off. He does, however, carry me in his hand and seek to restore me. Man, this makes my heart melt and motivates me as I interact with kids everyday. And it also helps me understand why I get so frustrated when I see Christian institutions who are so quick to crucify and condemn rather than heal and restore. And do you know why he does this? "This is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:8) He wants us to be nurtured, to grow and bear fruit, not be thrown away to wither and die.