June 25th

God, thanks for a busy and exhausting day fixing up a fence. Thanks also for Tom and his hard work and good friendship. Thanks also to Collin, Anna and David for pitching in, and Lois and Rena's moral support.
Help me get all the things done around the house that need doing so that we can make it more and more like the home we really want.
 

June 24th

God, it was a good day today, a day where I got to flex my creative muscles a little bit and do something a little different. I pray that my work and creativity for communion will help folks get a better sense of its depth and meaning. I also pray that the kids helping out will have a good experience and feel a sense of ownership in the worship.

Thanks also for David and Anna and their friends. Help me be a good dad to them so that they will be as happy with me as I am with them.

June 23rd

Thanks, God, for another good day, and for all the ways you take care of me. I especially thank you for sending us Darryl, and the gifts he brings to St. James

God, as you continue to work through me, help me support Darryl and to stay out of his way when he needs it.

help me also work on my own music, and truly know what I am to do next. I'm discouraged and uncertain of how to proceed. Let me know, please.

June 22nd

God, thanks for a chance to get together with some folks, to hear some good news, to offer some support in a scary time, and to generally feel needed and appreciated.
Thanks also for my friends beyond church and the relationships that help keep me whole.
Help me to be a blessing to the folks you place in my life, just as they are often a blessing for me.

June 21st

Lord, thanks for a long but productive meeting. Thanks also for the folks in the Presbytery that are more than just co-workers. As we come together to make some hard decisions guide us so that we can accomplish what you need of us. Help us serve our communities in a way that meets their needs while honouring Jesus.

June 20th

God, it's been a quiet day of rest and reflection. I'm frustrated trying to get my CD together. Am I missing something? Please help me understand if it's your will, or if I'm just thinking wishfully about what I want to do, and not what you need me to do.

June 19th

God, what a great day of worship and an excellent start to Darryl's ministry with us.
I pray your continuous blessings on him as a figures out what it means to be a music director in a Christian setting, and as he works out his relationship with me and others within the church.
Bless me as well as your servant and as the leader of St. James. And bless St. James with an openness to new folks and the heart to actually go out and make disciples that are willing to bow before Jesus.

June 19th: First and Best

Cars are often designed by committees over a long period of time. Sometimes the results are stunning. Usually they’re pretty boring. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was a stunning beauty (at least to some eyes) that was the result of just one designer working at his own pace. Without interference from a committee or management, David North created an amazing looking car that broke the mold of huge, shapeless boxes that were the norm for American cars built in the ‘60s.
When interviewed about the design process, North commented about the freedom his team had in the design, and the fact that without corporate interference, his first vision for the car was also the last. To emphasize his point, he stated: “Sometimes the first idea is the best idea and if you fool with it you lose it.”
Read that statement again slowly and let it sink in: “Sometimes the first idea is the best idea and if you fool with it you lose it.” When I heard him say it I couldn’t help but smile and nod stupidly in agreement. Thank goodness no one was around to see me. It’s a brilliant notion, really. It’s not about change or progress, it’s about a thought, an idea, that is so perfect at its inception that tinkering is nothing less than destructive. It’s about that flash of brilliance, that Aha! Moment, that needs no further adjustment. It’s all about getting it right the first time and leaving it at that.
Take a look at the wonders of the universe we call home. It’s amazing, beautiful, brilliant and couldn’t be more perfect. What’s even more amazing that creation is the fact that God took just 6 days to create everything out of nothing, and He did it alone. He had no committee to help him. There was no planning board, no review committee, no bureau of standards and minimum requirements, no management team, no advisors, nothing but God’s single genius.
God didn’t get involved with design studies, market surveys, soft openings, test audiences or opinion polls. 6 days, 6 unique stages and that’s all it took to create everything there was, is and ever shall be. As David North put it, “Sometimes the first idea is the best idea and if you fool with it you lose it.” The way things look to me, there is no arguing that God’s idea for the universe we call home was absolutely the best idea.
Even we humans, in concept, were a great idea, the best idea of all. Sadly, God’s great decision to let us fool with His creation caused a certain amount of loss. Clearly, many of our ideas are not the best ones, and we’ve managed to make something of a mess of things. To paraphrase David North, we fooled with it and we lost it. Nevertheless, the potential is there. We are part of God’s first, best idea. If only we could stop fooling with it we would see just how great an idea it really was in the first place.

June 18th

Loving God, I thank you for the beautiful, sunny day and the chance to work outside for a while. I also thank you for a couple of hours of solitude while the kids are away for the day and Lois is at a conference. Bless her as she explores new avenues in her life, and bless my moments of solitude so that I might better recharge and be equipped to be a family man.

June 17th

Thanks God, for a good day at work and for a pleasant time with Anna in the evening. Bless her with continued joy and originality as she seeks her own identity and makes her own way.
Bless David, as well, as he too figures out who he is and where he's headed. Finally, bless me as their father, so that I might be a loving and caring as you are to me.