The Bunk Wars are over!

Okay, Todd Gale, John McConnell and myself had a few months long "Bunk Wars" going on at LIFE 100.3. We would post pictures of what was in out bunks (these little cubbie like things) and get people to vote on them in the end. 

It started off with this...

to which I said okay, fine, I'm gonna respond to this thought...

It continued on from there with things like...

 

 

Todd's Voyager ... 

vs my Enterprise collection... 

to our last battle...

 

vs 

Lots of fun for sure... and yes, John McConnell joined us too...

Thanks so much for the memories! Still not really sure who won... but it was all in good fun!

The Angus tornado from someone who lives there...

I thought for this BLOG it would be appropriate for me to cover the tornado that went through my neighbourhood. We live just a couple of blocks away from where it touched down. After it passed I went and checked on friends from the church who live only a few houses away from the site. What a scene...

The good news is things are being rebuilt, but sad that the night it hit, some people looted the scene. So sad. Our church, Pinewoods Chapel, has been a place other churches have contacted to see what can be done to help. Businesses have stepped up to help out too. Scary to think how just a slight shift in the wind and it could have been our block. The amazing thing, the God thing here, is that no one died in this. Hundreds of homes affected, but no one died! Only slight injuries. While working part time in the mornings at Angus Morrison E.S., I saw first hand in some of the kids I worked with how this event affected their behaviour. Counselors were brought in to talk to any student who needed it. 

We have prayed as a family first thanking God for protecting our home, but then also to pray for those affected by this event. As someone who lives not far from where it went down, it was interesting to see the media that came for a few days, but now they're gone. The memory of this event will not be forgotten by my boys and my wife and I. 

Summer stress

I know what that title sounds like, summer stress? Isn't summer supposed to be when you relax? Really? How many people pack as much into their summers as possible so that at the end of their vacation they say they need a vacation? Or how about this? Those that are out of a job for the summer and can't collect EI because they were only part time or on a supply list during the school year? Here's the thing. I love summer. I love the heat, the more relaxed clothes like shorts and sandals, I like the relaxed feeling it usually brings with it. but this summer also brings some stress that I am dealing with - lack of full time work, the part time work I do have will shrink, there is no foreseeable sense of employment on the horizon. I have been a pastor for the last almost 6 years now, and have been between ministries in a church capacity since the end of September. I have spoke at times for LIFE, filled in for leading worship at churches, spoke at youth, and of course continued my pastoral ministry of Ask The Pastor every week. 

This is the heart of a pastor... that I struggle with the future as much as anyone else. I have pastoral friends who I talk to and who pray for me and I have done fasting at times to hear God's voice when all I see is a fog spiritually. The message I have right now is "Trust me. Stay the course. Trust me." And yes, even for a guy who has been in the thick of ministry in a church and on the radio when I minister to those who call into the ATP programme or call in during the week for counsel - I can still struggle. 

Proverbs 3:5,6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

So am I trusting Go? Am I submitting to His will? Am I trusting especially when I don't have a clue? That is the challenge for all of us. Pray for me as I pray for you...

Pastor Andrew