It’s Been Awhile!
It’s finally time for me to get back in the swing of things….in an interesting few months – let me give you a brief rundown:
January 6th….After a great morning at Church I arrived home to receive the message that my faher had passed away earlier that morning. It really didn’t come as a shock I was more disappointed/angry that none of his children were informed that he was diagnosed with a rare frm of cancer two weeks earlier.
My siblings made their way out to Vancouer for his official funeral (which was pretty much a joke). those in attendance were basically my three sisters, one brother, his wife and her daughter plus a few people they probably dragged in off the street. From what I ws told it was simply a formality. Noone was there that really knew him and the pastor who officiated the funeral didn’t even know the proper names of my family members.
In hearing this we knew we had to have a memorial service for him in Calgary…so that’s exactly what we did. Monday January 21st we held a celebration of life serice for my father at Centre Street Church. It ws great – our entire family was represented. My sister spoke and we had a many of the grandchildren share through stories readings and song.
It was a difficult month but as I look back I’m so thankful for the support of family and friends. It’s never easy to lose a loved one (especially due to certain circumstances), but i am confident he is in a better place!
February:
I took on a new role at Centre Street. We came out here in 2006 with the idea of would begin the new role of Life group pastor for guys from grade 6-12. It didn’t take too long to figure out that we were becoming to specialized and when that happens in a church often people and families start slipping through the cracks.
At the begiining of this school year we made the transition to grade pastor for each grade. It started off well but silos were easily built and often there was a real lack of team structure. To make a long story short my boss believed it would be best for the youth ministry if we had two individuals who would lead both the junior and senior high teams. I was given the responsibility of being that team leader for the junior high team. It’s been alot of added responsibility but I am definitly enjoying the new challenges.
March:
It might have been the new pressures at work or still dealing with the death of my dad…whatever it was I fell off the wagon at the beginning of the month. I lost all forms of discipline – I couldn’t concentrate or stay focused on anything, I started eating crap – I lost motivation to do pretty much anything.
I lived like this for a few weeks and then finally came to the reality I had to get myself out of the toilet before somebody flushed it! It was then I had an epiphany – I needed to get back in shape – spiritually, emotionally and physically.
- Spiritually – I had been dry for awhile…so I got myself back in to the Word….prayed for divine appointments and I started to journal again.
- Emotionally – I began the process of re-attaching to people. Family, friends, co-workers…even people in the grocery and video store
- Physically – I was entering dangerous territory…how else can you describe 300lbs! I ws starting to feel it everywhere! My back hurt, my knees were killing me, I would get winded walking up the stairs. Then I came across a few God-sends. The first thing was a internet site called spark people. For me it has been a great way to keep track of what I’m putting in my body and I’ve also been able to set some great goals for my fitness levels. The second thing ws an infomercial – if you can believe it! I’m the king of skepticism… so for me to believe that a product like Turbo Jam could actually motivate me to lose some pounds ws a huge leap.
But four weeks later I’m down 25lbs…and feeling great!!
So where do things go from here? There is something really therapeutic about spilling your guts on a blog or in a book. This blog has become another wagon I know I need to jump back on. It’s a great way to keep my family and friends connected to what’s going on in my life and in my head. So to that end I bid you a great weekend – and I look forward to staying connected with all those who read this from time to time!
See you on Monday!
G <><<
