Lessons learned.

This weekend we went to Ponoka for the wedding of Caitlin and Mark two very cool people. All the way down there Erika and I were complaining because the service was on Friday night and the party was on Saturday night. Way too spread out in our manner of thinking plus that means you have to take off all of Friday just to make it in time for the service if you live out of town. Very inconvenient. Then of course if you live in Ponoka or around there (especially the bride and groom) there is the entire day of prolonged anticipation, how crazy is that!! Anyway so we finally got there and the wedding was awesome I love evening services they just seem so much cooler in the dark and with all the candles and such. We did learn a very valuable lesson, NO receiving line!!! There is one exit in that place and to get out it you had to go through the receiving line that means the people at the back of the church have to wait over and hour just to leave and say like half a sentence of gibberish to the bride and groom they will never remember anyway. However in the middle of that line up I had the chance to catch up with a few people I hadn’t seen forever so that was awesome, and though we were not able to stay the next day for the big party we did have coffee and juice downstairs and have even more cach up time by the time we left it was one of the swellest evenings ever and I learned another valuable lesson. Don’t complain about weddings. If you want to support the bride and groom do your best to be there (send fond regrets if you just can’t) relax and have fun, no matter how inconveniently you feel put out. They are just trying to celebrate the best way they know how and really want everyone to have a good time. They are not trying to make it difficult. They don’t always make the best decisions but hey they did their best. For all our complaining the wedding was awesome and if we had been able to stay it would have just been incredible. They are just such fun and relaxing people. Anyway here’s to Caitlin and Mark!! All the best!!
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Some day ... maybe.

“The problem with peace…” So that’s about the extent of my sermon for this week so far. So obviously with about half an hour of “appropriate” time to work on it I decide to blog. “Appropriate” is the time I have assigned to my official work days (Tuesday-Friday 9-5) I often work earlier and latter but that is unofficial, as well as Saturdays when I touch up my message/write it (this week though I will be in Ponoka or Edmonton). Sundays of course I work as well but that is kinda gong showish as I never know what to count as work and what to count as fun and what to count as just good ol’ worship.
Quote for the day, I ran into an old high school friend that thought it was hilarious that I was a pastor. Apparently I did not put out that vibe in high school. Anyway after laughing in my face he asked in all seriousness; “So when pastors get all wise and discerning and stuff?” . Good question, It’s going to be a long night better get to work. Love ya kids
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So What's My Damage!!???

Seriously what is my damage!!!??? The other night Erika and I were looking at where we want to go for our Honeymoon. Her parents are letting us use their time-share for a week so we were perusing the book of places we could go. We were debating going to some place exotic or at least warm or just going somewhere in Canada we could drive to like Vancouver or the mountains. We decided the most practical thing would be to shoot for Fairmont and save our money to pay off debt and save for a bigger trip to Mongolia or something possibly the next year. I was a little disappointed though and asked “But what are we going to do???” I could not wrap my mind around just sitting around for a week and doing nothing. This kinda perplexed Erika. Then suddenly on my way home it dawned on me how incredibly awesome it would be to have an entire week to do absolutely nothing!! Sit around hang out with Erika, read watch TV go for walks eat,a nd just be together I seriously can not remember the last time I had just nothing to do. No one to visit no bible study’s to prepare no sermons to write no kids to call no events to plan for. Even when I take vacation it’s always going here to visit this person then there to visit this persona and I try to cram as many things into one week as possible. Don’t get me wrong I am not a work-a-holic I do take days off and such, my life is not a crazy hectic mess. But an entire week to just chill out!!!?? How awesome is that!!! I’m pretty stoked. I cant believe I was actually resistant to this idea. Anyway kids Love you lots.
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Does this seem right?

Does this make sense to anyone!!!?? The following quote is from the woman I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with;
"Always try to do things in chronological, alphabetical or numerical order; it's less confusing that way" the Great Gouda. That quote pretty much is me in a nutshell. – Erika –
My “filing system” the bed of my truck.
Love ya kids
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Christmas Cheeseball... not the good kind either...

So apparently I am a big cheese ball. Thanks to jonny I can no longer survive a Christmas season without watching “It’s a wonderful life” at least three times, along with many other Christmas classics including “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” (the original of course, that new crap is just that) “A Christmas Carol”, the original and the Muppets version, and also “Scroodged” (which should fall into the travesty column with the new Grinch movie, but Bill Murray just never ceased to amuse me for some odd reason) .
So A couple nights ago we popped it in (It’s a Wonderful Life) and it was everything I knew it would be! Unfortunately those old classics also strip me of every semblance of self-control, and personal pride, so I wear my emotional rollercoaster on my face like some teenage girl watching the latest super lame chick-flick. This of course made Erika very amused and me very embarrassed but what can I do? I am who I am. This also makes me supper excited for my other favorite cheese-ball Christmas delights, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, especially the going and getting it part I have a weird addiction to the smell of a fresh cut pine tree, in the wild it is best but when they lop off the trunk in some parking lot it is almost as good, Christmas carols everywhere you go even the super cheesy retail store versions, though nothing beats good ol’ Louis Armstrong. But My favorite part is the Dolsky Christmas, cards, laughing (not just laughing but becoming giddy with laughter with Sarah and Dave while our parents and in-laws look at us like we are retarded and wonder what they got themselves into) Cards, food, more laughing more food more cards some more food, reading, Christmas stockings that are stuffed beyond any sort of recognizable stocking shape, more food, more cards, and more laughing. The Crappy part is the Erika will be away in Mexico so we will not be able to share it with her, but next year she is in for a definite treat. I’m also pretty stoked about hanging with her family for Christmas. It’s a nightmare trying to juggle both families so that we get quality time with both but I think we will manage and will just double up on all the fun.
The weird part this year is that since we have such a small church just about everyone is going to be away. So not only do we not have a church to decorate and have a candle-light service in, but no parishioners to do it with. The few of us who are left will probably join with the Lutheran church in Sexsmith, so here is to new traditions as well. Its going to be just as great I’m sure, even if its in a different way.
Anyway kids love ya lots.
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Ministerial

So ministerial. Good times! It’s always interesting when you get a bunch of pastors in one room, especially when they are all form different denominations and backgrounds. Everybody is just so busy and you need to mention just how busy you are at least four times in any given conversation. Plus when you are used to your words having a particular weight in any given meeting or function you tend to have a certain mater of fact way of speaking. But mainly its fun because in a good group everyone starts putting their guard down and suddenly there is this sudden burst of sociability. Its like everyone can relate to what the other person is talking about and the comradery is really fun. Just don’t expect them to agree on the best way to have a community communion service at Easter time.

Worst ever!!!

So two things first I am the worst Pastor ever! This guy that I apparently went to school with just came into my office aka. Esquires and we had a good long chat but for the life of me I could not remember who he was his name how I know him or anything (that’s not the bad part that happens tome all the time and I just got used to it I guess). Anyway he swore a lot which is not all that odd for Grande Prairie then he found out I was a pastor. The swearing didn’t slow down any he just apologized every time he did it which was kinda annoying obviously you’re not actually sorry if you keep doing it and either way I’m not really offended so just give it up. Then he started making excuses for why he did not go to church again not really that necessary for my peace of mind anyway we talked about his life and such turns out he is a very hurting young man and very angry at God. But then I just kinda tuned out I was suddenly very concerned with what I was going to be preaching on this Sunday and for a good five minutes was just totally missing form the conversation when I “came too” he was visibly upset and just kinda asked “does that make me a bad person?”. Great! I have no idea! I don’t even know what he just said! So I did the best I could “No dude! Obviously your upset about this so it shows you’re at least conscious of what’s going on. You want my advise? Talk to God about it. He already knows what’s going on anyway so you don’t have to worry about pretending, just be honest and lay it out there. At the very least you will know someone is listening.”
Then I told him to read psalm 22. I really hope that was the Holy Spirit talking through me and not just me talking out my butt. But we’ll see.

The other thing I am the worst blogger ever I don’t know how to make links and such so you should just go to my friend Avey’s blog ( http://agirlcalledgravey.blogspot.com/ ) and check out the video she has posted there it really is freakin’ hilarious. I burst out laughing in the middle of esquires. Scared people half to death around me.
Anyway. Love ya guys
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It should not be such a small world after all...

Its funny how our view of the word changes. Today I saw a kid walking up the hill towards my old elementary school with a bag of what I assume is candy from the local corner store. I was momentarily teleported back to the feeling I had in making the same journey countless times in my oh so innocent youth. I was on my way to get a doughnut and coffee loaded with sugar from TH’s so I can’t say my choice of breakfast is all that much more healthy after all these years, but I realized my view of my childhood home is now framed by a black and brown strip of road squeezed between mounting snow piles. I can not remember with absolute clarity how my world appeared to me in my former years, but it seems to me it used to have much wider horizons even if it occupied a much smaller square footage.
It frightens me to think that other areas of my world seem to be shrinking too, not just my immediate surroundings. I love being the Pastor of a church plant because I really do believe the future is so incredibly wide open. But even as I say that I realize I so often limit myself and my church by my own experience. Sometimes I feel somehow unable to peer over the snow banks of the paths I am so familiar with traveling.
I am going to go check out a site called creative worship. Another Pastor recommended it to me as a means to finding a new worship styles that will still feel safe to staunch old Lutherans yet still stretch them in new directions and put us on the road to renewing our sense of worship.
We’ll see how it goes. Love ya kids!
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Funny

Ok shortest blog ever you like completely random nonsesensical humor? (do you like it more or less than redundant questions?) go to www.askaninja.com . Funny stuff! (warning guys will probably find this much funnier than the ladies will).
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Adventure for today...

Adventure for the day; Pulled up to my “other” office (esquires). Saw some lumpy old dog wandering across the street and almost get run over. So i pet him a bit read his tag and call the owner who automatically knew he would be outside Subway (Subway is beside Esquires). He seemed pretty happy to just sit there smelling subway, and really who can blame him so i went in to get my caramel and coffee fix. I am sitting there working on my message and one of the girls comes up and says “sorry sir but there are no dogs allowed in here”. I guess i must have given her one of those completely blank and yet very confused stares, and what could i say? “Ok?” then she pointed at the ground just behind me and to the right, “isn’t that your dog?” well sure enough that lumpy old dog had followed me in and plunked down beside me. Which explained the funky smell that i thought was coming from the bathroom since i was sitting right beside it as there were no other spots available. Anyway she thought that was pretty funny and led him outside and gave him a couple of yesterday’s biscuits. The owners should find that pretty funny latter on tonight. But oh well not my problem i called them again there is my civic duty. They should put a better fence up.
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Life as a pastor...

Oh my goodness dave is actually passing me in blogs either that means I am a huge slacker or much less a nerd, i would like to think the latter.
My life as a pastor is both much more and much less busy than I had anticipated. being that this new church is so much tinnier the number of “official” coffee’s is much less plus i am not working with any other youth leaders or pastors so i don’t get together with those folks. But I do have a lot of bumping into people i sorta know or used to know and end up catching up then talking about where I am now and often end up talking about spiritual matters. Of course they are not talking to “Pastor Tim” they are just talking to “that Tim guy they know”. This suits me just fine I dig talking about God with people, no matter what context. I do get antsy though to really get meaty with the church plant though. i mean I love preaching on sundays and confirmation is actually fun and seems the kids are into it too. We even have a bit of a youth group going. But it seems like I have been researching Church planting forever and have all these idea’s and musings of what we could do and where God could be leading us but the actual process of discerning the next step and taking it seems so painstakingly slow. w e are just now getting into some vision planning, and we are about to start a bible study i hope to move into the realm of leadership planning and training. t just seems like we are going so slow. i know these things take time bla..bla...bla... patience!? not so much one of my stronger virtues! But oh well thats life i’m settling in and looking forward to what God is doing and what the future holds even if it does seem so far away.
Life with Erika is stupendous. We are fiddling around with renovations to get her house ready to be our love nest. That too I just want to bite into but we have to wait for the electrician and time of course. We started with marriage counseling, thats pretty cool, we’ve talked about allot of this stuff already but to have to articulate it for someone else kinda puts new perspectives on things and helps us to realize there are some things we need to dig into a bit more. And of course the wedding there is not a ton going on but there is always some little detail to mull over and such. Mostly though tis just allot of fun to hang out and go through life together. Marriage looks like it is going to be a very interesting blast.
anyway kids hope that’ll hold ya for a little bit. love ya.
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My other brother Dave..

Oh don’t you just hate it when this happens. So I’m sitting here thinking about Sarah’s wedding while I am supposed to be finishing the message for tomorrow and it dawns on me I now have an other brother dave. Perhaps a few of you are too cool to have watched Bob Newheart, but in this show there was a guy who used to say “Hi my name is Larry this is my brother Daryl and my other brother Daryl.” Well I missed my perfect opportunity to say “Hi my name is Tim this my brother Dave and this is my other brother Dave” Ok lame i suppose, but the old folks would have got a kick out of it and really those are the laughs you need to aim for at such functions.
Anyway Sarah and Dave’s wedding was quite spectacular, all warm and fuzzy and generally allot of fun. Not that i was expecting a whole lot different. I was just thinking it may be a little more formal you know. Anyway so now i guess the pressure is on for us to have a fun wedding too. I’m sure we are up to the task. Yesterday we booked the hall, Five-Mile Hall to be exact. not quite as fancy as some of the hotels we looked at but with some decorations it think it will be allot more us, and hopefully a little more homey feeling. I already started looking up some sweet wedding tunes nothing like a little billy idol. anyway I should get back to work now but any suggestions let them fly. peace kids
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To school again...

Do you ever get nostalgic for those old days? Ok, so that’s a retarded question. Everyone gets nostalgic from time to time. This week with all the kiddies going back to school, I had a throwback to that feeling I used to get walking to school in the crisp pre autumn air. It was weird, with the smell of the dew and the leaves just starting to change I had that feeling down deep in the gut that used to remind me I was off for another year of the unknown, but soon to be taught. It is kinda a mix of disappointment in a summer gone, a little nervousness to see classmates and find out where you lie in the pecking order, I guess excitement would be in there too just because it is a start of something new.
I even remembered the smell of the high school the first day of classes. It was always odd, I had my locker somewhere between the cafeteria and the shop wing so it was a mix of engine oil, sawdust, pancakes, and hash-browns, not to mention the musk of a thousand or more high school students.
I never really liked school I mean I survived and I had some good times in there in between. But for the most part I just remember not really knowing where I belonged. I was known for being a Christian but was too Lutheran to hang out with the “Bible bashers” (Good folk just a little too hyper for my tastes). I played football for a year but was never really hard core. One of the big regrets of those years was quitting, but when your heart is not in it what can you do? I was too unsure of myself to be in the cool crowd (though I realize that may sound like an oxymoron to some), And I was not dorky enough to be an outcast. I had friends but they had their own groups where they belonged. I would just kinda float.
German and English class were places I could be myself, though they were my best and worst class by a margin of sixty percent or so. I just loved to debate, In German we would talk bout just about everything with just a smidgen of German in there as well. Which probably explains the lower of my marks. In English we expressed as many thoughts but actually got grades for doing it effectively in a language I could understand so that helped. My favorite time though was hanging out in the library during spare ten to fifteen of us seniors would take over the middle island of desks and “study” it was an odd mix if just about every social group there was in the high school from the artsy-fartsy, the pot head, the jock, she who belonged to those prone to being more scantily clad, the musician, and everything in-between plus me. No one really belonged so everyone was welcome, I felt right at home.
Anyway I was just thinking of those days again. Lest we forget you know… (and yes I do think it is just as important to remember what kids go through on a day to day basis, as it is to remember those who have fallen in war. If we are not concerned about the quality of life, spiritual, and emotional well being of the future generations, why did those great men and women have to die to preserve this way of life in the first place?)
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So yeah all this talk about the macs being so much easier to post pictures with and such not so much but here are a few more.
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So guess what? Tim is getting married!!! Astounding I know!! i asked Erika to marry me on Tuesday and she actually said yes. I was and am quite happy. I planned a nice little picnic down at O’ Brian park, fried up some shrimp, put together a salad got some drinks had it all setting on ice. I called Erika just as she was getting off work and asked if she had eaten yet. She said “yes”... Nuts! (apparently she was starving so she ate supper early). We went down to O’ Brian anyway. She kept on asking me if I was alright, like I was acting weird or something seeing as how I was about to ask the most important question in my life. Anyway I smoothly dodged the prodding by implying she was the one acting weird, what can I say I’m a charmer. Anyway so we walked down to to the river I ate our supper with Erika sitting beside me on driftwood on the beach. Anyway she was starting to get weirded out by my acting weird so we walked a little further down the river sat on a log dangling our feet in the water and i popped the question. Suddenly it all made sense the questions about rings, her dad taking off to town to have coffee with “someone”, the shrimp dinner (she loves shrimp I’m not so hot on it), me apparently acting weird. So March 3rd anyone? I would love to say we are just having a nice little wedding but each of her parents have like twenty siblings symptoms of being mennonite I guess. So looks like small is a little out of the question. Anyway it’s nice to have Sarah’s wedding to focus on right now so we can kinda put stuff on the back burner and let it simmer for a bit. Anyway that’s my news. Love you all. peace
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Consider me Mac-ified

Well consider me cool what can I say? I got my brand new mac laptop on thursday and it is glorious. Of course i am still learning how to use it but oh well such is life. i am really excited to see what this baby can do and for the price the church paid for it it had better be able to a whole lot. Last few days I have been downloading music and pod-casts like crazy i need more ears for all this stuff. plus the photo stuff is awesome i have not even begun to see how this sucker will make blogging easier It’s supposed to but we will see. I started out writing my message for this week on here but fortunately remembered before i got too far that I did not a have a printer hooked up and as i am usually making last minute adjustments on saturday night that may not work out so well. been playing with the presentation software too looks like I will have to figure out how to work powerpoint into my message presentations too could be pretty sweet. anyway good times mann good times. plus it feels so good to be free from the shackles of dial-up and be flying free in the world of wireless high speed. Anyway kids thought you should know. love ya! peace
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A spade is a spade...

So this week I am talking about sin in the message. I know sin in a Lutheran church? Don’t I mean grace? No I mean sin. Not really sure how this is going to pan out. But whatever, we’ll see where God takes it. The problem is when you get ready for something like this you wind up taking a couple steps back and examining your own life and all that it contains. I would say taking a good long hard look but really it only takes a glancing sweep to realize there is not a whole lot there to be proud of. The last thing I want to do is sound like a hypocrite. I know my life is messed up, I know no one is perfect that is why Jesus came in the first place. I also know that if you ignore sin, or try to manage it by categorizing this sin as worse than that sin, and this sin a barley a misdemeanor you either become incredibly legalistic, or go to the other extreme. As my Grandma would put it; so open-minded that everything falls out. So it’s important to call a spade a spade and get on with our lives, and yet not get too hung up on this that it drives a wedge between us and those arround us, though to some extent that is unavoidable. Hmmm looks like I got some more thinking and praying to do on this one.
Anyway I know how some people (who are my sister) get annoyed with theological discourse on the blogosphear, but this is my life what can I say, well this and hanging out with Erika, at night at least. Who would have thought having your girlfriend in the same city as you could be so great!? We went to the two towers movie last night kinda intense kinda crazy. We felt a little bad because we seemed like the only ones not crying by the end of it but. Oh well at least we’re on the same page. Anyway guys love you lots. Peace
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Giddly like a little school girl!!

I am a very happy boy! I got myself a computer yesterday. Ok well I used someone else’s credit card and the church is actually the one paying for it but whatever I am the one who gets to receive it then use it all the time. It was a little nerve racking I always freak out a little spending other peoples money especially in such large amounts. But such is life. Anyway now I feel like a kid at Christmas waiting for it to get here just seems like time is dragging by. Sure it has only been one day but it was one very long day. Actually I was looking at Office space for me and possibly the church though the rooms big enough to really do anything in or have meetings are pretty expensive not to mention not wheel chair accessible. And when one of your committee members is in a wheel chair that’s kinda important. Anyway makes me excited thinking about having my own office again, not having to share with the photocopier and office supplies.
Got a meeting tonight with the organizing committee. It should be pretty good when you are just starting out nothing is a given so this meeting could either be really short or insanely long. Pray for us if you get the chance could be some big decisions made tonight. Or else we may just chicken out and leave them for another night but whatever. I’m confident God will make happen what needs to happen.
Peace kids.
Tim<><

So working from home has some advantages, for one the commute is short. Also soon as the cobwebs are out you can get right to work, even in the middle of breakfast. If you sleep in a bit no one really notices. You don’t have to worry about Tim Hortons, or thermo-mugs, or anything like that, just put a big ol’ pot on and your good for the day. There are some negatives too though. Like the biggest one; you never really know when you are "done work", there is not a lot of separation between work and the rest of your life. As a Pastor this gets bad enough but when you have no office to leave pressing cares they don’t just follow you home they follow you around at home. Ah! But such is life. Actually this past week and a half has been great the future just seems so wide open like a big blank slate it is great. Living with Mom and Dad has been very cool. I am still very much looking forward to having my own place but I really appreciate having a place to crash in the mean time. Anyway that’s my life; not very exciting I know, but oh well. Love you guys. Peace.
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Pardon?????

Wow! It’s a world of blogger slackers out there today! But hey who am I to talk? So Erika lives with two other girls and is thinking about a third. This could be danger. It already is danger. I mean they are super great girls and all they just all tend to be a little on the loud side. I know most of you who have met Erika would not guess this but she is kinda a loud person from time to time (I Know I can bee too so I am not judging), Her roomies are just as loud if not louder so this makes for a deafening house some days. The funny thing is that both the other girls boyfriends are both very quiet people. I am not a quiet person I know but in that situation I defiantly am. Anyway that’s my story for today. No point, but whatever. Love you guys.
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Biker Bible Bearer.

So today I ran into a guy who looked like he could make a living off of biting heads off rattle snakes and smashing beer bottles over peoples heads. He was dressed like the toughest biker I have ever seen wearing a clerical collar and had tattoos up and down his arms that seemed rather inappropriate for display in church or another place that was not a downtown biker bar for that matter. But you read right, he was wearing a clerical collar. Turns out he is in fact a reformed biker and is now a pastor in a downtown church in Toronto he is in GP visiting his niece and nephew. You just never know whom you will get to know in the check out stand at Home Depot. Someday I will be that cool of an uncle. Though perhaps avoiding flaming sculls and scantily clad women permanently gracing my limbs. Which leads me to another quick update. A couple things I forgot to mention on the last one (I kinda figured it was already a doosy so I cut myself off) I am going to be an Uncle!! Probably not news to most of you who read this blog but whatever. Jen is looking so cute with the little baby growing inside her. And the baby is just incredible to see on the ultrasound how pumped am I!!! (Ok I know that sounds selfish but this is my blog so back off. Check out Dave and Jenn’s blogs if you want to hear about their excitement) Also I’m note sure if I had mentioned this before or not but I am also very pumped that Dave Kruger will soon be a permanent addition to our family. Good times good times! Even if this does mean I have to wear purple. Anyway kids Take it easy. Love Ya
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I'm Back Baby!!!!

I’m back baby!!! I’m big, bold, beautiful, bald, and blogging! I’m Back!!! Ok not so much on the bald thing but whatever. Boy Oh Boy does this feel good!! One more way to subject myself to this world!
Ok so quick re-cap for all those Tim fans out there. Our hero has been out of communiqué for just a little while and this is what has happened; He got himself a Girlfriend (Ok This is kinda old news, but there are still some of us out there reeling form this concept) A wonderful young Mennonite girl, fun, a little crazy, loves God, amazingly beautiful, what more could a guy ask for? Ok then he goes on down to Kamloops for a weekend and comes back with a call to be a pastor in a new church plant in good ol’ GP!! Ok kinda crazy! pretty excited, insanely nervous but hey such is life. If God calls he will provide the means so… Here I stand, I can do no other. Then Mr. Tim goes off to another country for a couple weeks. Mexico was outlandishly amazing!!! We took a little mission trip on down to Juarez Mexico right across the border from El Paso TX. WOW man what an experience I must admit I did not expect much more than a big headache. After all it was four flights and a four hour van drive right through the middle of the desert with twelve youth... Well "youth" most of them should have been able to plan their own mission trip and here I am taking them on a trip pretty much designed for high school students not collage and career students, even if they were very young C&C students.
Anyway God threw me right back on my kiester. Did he ever move in a powerful way. The first three days of the trip were training and God spoke so powerfully to each and every person! like lives were transformed! I have seen my share of big high weekends where people get all moved by God, feel on cloud nine then come on home and pack it away in the closet till the next time to act super spiritual comes along, but in the mean time life continues as normal. Oh no there was none of that! Ok maybe a little of that but much more than that was the way that God really shook up some lives. The outreach for the next week was evidence of that. People who would normally hardly talk about their faith were kneeling with people and praying with them to accept Jesus. There were testimonies after testimony how God spoke to them and not like "Jesus Spoke to me and showed me how pretty a daisy is", but really spoke into their lives. People were saved Man that was Huge!!!!
Anyway even the age thing was no big deal there was a lot less nose wiping sort of deal and a lot more encouragement and allowing them to step up to the plate and beyond allowing them to become the leaders and help each other it was really cool!
Anyway so yeah Mexico was great!
Then I was back in Canada and took some holidays for a week, saw some friends did some camping hung out at home a little. Then it was back in Ponoka for one more week of sad good-byes and setting up the garage sale, also known as the gong show sale. We bought ourselves a brand new tarp for the huge tent that we use for this event, the other one was pretty full of holes and leaked a lot. The new one worked fantastic it held all the water off the tables that was until all the water that collected on the tarp (as there wer no holes to let it out) after one huge shower crushed the inch and a half piping that made up the frame work and the whole thing came crashing down on all our wonderful merchandise. Apparently God did bless our holy tent and sent us it for a purpose. Anyway so our three days of work were not wasted we shed off the tent people just starts showing up way before the advertised time for the sale to start and we sold off a lot of junk the next day we made another make-shift tent and all was well.
Yesterday was the big day. A few more tearful good-byes at the church. I am going to miss Ponoka like crazy. Before going there I had all but lost faith in the church. I knew there were still good people but figured the church in the west at least had turned into some sort of clubhouse mentality that was really of no use to God or to me. So I was going to go work with the Youth pray that God would use me to show them a bigger world and a more meaningful faith, but I was going to stay away from as much "churchiness" as possible. And he did use me mostly in ways I was oblivious too which was probably why it worked so well. But He sure used them to show me his church is alive and well, And that you really can tell his people by their love. Love for others (even foolish young youth pastors who have almost no organizational skills, but their learning), and most importantly Love for Jesus. If not for Trinity In Ponoka I really don’t think I would have continued on in ministry. But that’s all God’s plan so Who am I to speculate on that.
So Yeah that after noon we packed up the truck. Ok I really am the luckiest guy ion the world. Not only did Erika come on down with a truck to pack all my stuff in but while I was running around moving tarps and collapsed tents she packed up my apartment almost single-handedly. Then cleaned it too and you do not need to know me well to figure out my cleaning habits are not exactly hospital standard. I mean I did vacuum and wipe down the counters from time to time but the place was pretty gross by the time she got to the back corners and such. Anyway what a wonderful girl.
So Now I am back In GP living with the Parents till I can find a place for myself. GP either the rent is more than I make in a year or there is a waiting list just as long. This town is nuts!! But I have faith something will come up. Anyway I guess I should go for now I know this was a doosy and good for you who were able to stick it out to the bitter end I should be able to keep up to more regular updates so hopefully the average will not be this crazy. Love you guys, have fun in all things.
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Bye For Now....

Hey guys unfortunately I will no longer have Internet access on a daily basis so it looks like I will be signing off for the time being at least, not that you will be missing much as I have been a huge blog slacker but whatever. I miss you all lots. I will still be checking my e-mail almost every day though so keep it touch that way (it’s a long story). Take it easy kids. Love ya
Tim<><

My day.

So I had an exciting day, First I got a registered letter notice in the mail so I had to walk on over to the post office. I decided today would be a walking day, I try to have at least a couple a week just to keep myself in somewhat respectable shape and also to keep the old car costs down (not that it helps much). Anyway so on the way there I was trying to figure out what it could be first I was like maybe it is insurance again. Maybe it is a supiena to appear in court and testify against a mob boss then spend the next few years in whiteness protection. Or maybe I won some sort of lottery. After the mob boss one, that was my favorite just because I could picture myself going all Curt Rustle like in Big Trouble in Little China and bringing down the mob, not to mention several kung-fu priests and some sort of black magical being. Anyway turns out it was just my new passport which was pretty cool too.
Then on the way to work I was jiving along with my head-phones and noticed these bunch of kids outside the school doing high jump and they were all starring at me so I was kinda weirded out and I stared right back wondering what they were staring at. Then I caught a reflection of myself in a window. I realized they were starring at the big guy with wind blown hair that looked more like a bad afro, that was staring at them, and apparently talking to himself, while listening to headphones (though I know that I was actually jiving along and not talking to myself). Anyway bad situation to be caught in while walking around Ponoka.
Anyway after that I got to work and found my office full of bickering old women. Apparently they were under the impression that someone ought to be doing something about the soil sinking around the church (we had just replaced the seal around the foundation so there was soil piled up around the church). They figured someone needs to get over here right away to do something about this before the entire church is swallowed in some sort of freak vacuum. I tried to explain that settling was kinda normal and in a few months once all has calmed down they can get back to their flower planting and landscaping and such (more like they can get their husbands back to that but whatever). Anyway since I am just a lowly youth worker and have no idea about such things (where as they are obviously experts) they decided to call over the contractor form our church anyway he said the same thing and they liked it. Whatever!
My after noon was relatively calm usual youth worker stuff hung out at the high school giving away Ice cream went to a movie (Davinci Code so it was considered research and prep for when the kids see it). Then I gave blood right after supper, good times except that after I got up I tripped on a fold of the tarp that covered the gym floor so I was instantly surrounded by nurses who were convinced I was about to keel over and die and would not believe I had simply tripped. Oh well more cookies for me.
Anyway that’s my day. Peace Kids hope you learn.
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My life just got better...

May long weekend is a crazy time. Every one goes everywhere it’s nuts. Highway two was absolutely insane on Monday night it was like bumper to bumper traffic all going a good ten klicks under the speed limit of course, which is even more infuriating where you are already late. So much for Alberta’s Autobahn.
But enough senseless rambling about weekend traffic patters. I have much more exciting things to talk about. Erika came down for the weekend, which was just beyond awesome. Erika is the girl I mentioned a few entries ago. We have been talking on the phone for a few months. We met for coffee In GP a little while ago which was the first time we had met in the flesh. I was worried this weekend was going to be kinda weird you know. I mean talking on the phone is one thing, or even having coffee once. Hanging out for an entire weekend is something else. I was like; What if I totally built up this false image of her? or What if I am totally not what she expects? What if she doesn’t like me? Bla Bla Bla!! Turns out all these worries were completely unfounded it was great. She was great! It was a little bit weird at first, but weird is kinda normal on any first significant encounter and it went away pretty quick. It was totally natural we talked and hung out watched the Hockey game. (Now how could you not be nuts about a girl who wants to grab a beer and watch the game?) We hit up Ikea, we even went out to a park to fly a kite (I know totally cheesy and cliché but it was still a lot of fun. After the kite flying came "the talk". Oh the dreaded talk, awkward, don’t want to lay all your cards on the table, what if? All that stuff all over again but I went for broke and it paid off (Ok I didn’t exactly "go for broke" but it sounds better than saying we stumbled through the conversation with minimal embarrassment) turns out she is as crazy about me as I am about her. The rest of the weekend was cloud nine we hung out with Dave and Jen some, I met her parents (they were already in Edmonton anyway). We went to church and she met the church folk. It was too awesome. Monday night toatlay sucked of course, as she left I realized I was going to be missing her like crazy now. It just did not seem fair. But God has a plan one way or the other so here we are and we take it as it comes. Anyway that’s my life. Keep it real.
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This is She!

Personal Note

Hey Jenn mind your own damn business! Sorry that’s Jenn Dodd not Jen Dolsky. Apparently Erika’s creepy Friends are spying on me.
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Whew!!

Hey kids
So I am mostly recovered from my weekend. For those who may not know (probably everyone) this weekend was grad weekend which meant it was also dry grad weekend. The weeks prelude to the weekend was super random and super busy. Between the three youth pastors who were working on this thing someone has really got to develop an effective list habit (hey bobby want to move to Ponoka and be our secretary? We don’t pay much but we are super disorganized). It seemed like every half hour one of us would suddenly remember something else we had to do then we would have to try and fit it into our schedule. Running here pick up that run there drop off this have a meeting, what a ruckus. By the time Friday came around I was ready for the event to just happen but Jerel and I were off to Edmonton to pick up party rentals and such. We got Casino games (it was a casino night, yeah we don’t want them to drink but we are more than happy to support their gambling addiction), and a hot tub not to mention a ton of food and prizes. Our favorite purchase was we bought three professional poker sets with 1000 chips each and they were the high class ones too no cheap plastic for us. We ended up giving away two of them and the third one, which is somewhat incomplete, the three of us will play for, should be a good night. Friday night was the cap and gown thing so I had a few kids to drop in on and wish congrats plus I was fed everywhere I went which was an added bonus. The ceremony itself was as to be expected long boring and the gym was absolutely cooking. I ditched out early to catch the end of the game and boy was I glad I did, what a game! Saturday was a big day, I was up till four in the morning the night before typing out the rules for all the games on an easy to use pamphlet. The idea was to sleep in on Saturday so that Saturday night I would not fall asleep in the middle of the party. I was up and running by nine AM. The whole day was just a blur but somehow we converted the tacky old community center into a high class casino complete with inflatable boxing ring. We bought more prizes, got food, set up sound and lights, there were lots of helper s too, the volunteers were amazing, but it was still a whole day event by Ten that night was still teaching the dealers how to play their perspectives games as kids came strolling in. Who knew that Baptists really do not play cards I always thought that was one of those old school myth things, anyway at least four of them were nicely corrupted that night. The night was an overall success we gave out over four thousand dollars in prizes including an awesome stereo, iPods, Car stereos, TV, mini fridge’s, and a lap top computer, plus lots and lots more. Every Grad walked away with an awesome prize. The only slight downfall was the kids seemed to tucker out pretty quick I guess the casino games did not keep them active enough the energy drained pretty quick but there were still fifty or so kids till the very end. We shut her down at five thirty in the morning and after clean up and all I poured myself into bed around nine. I slept through both my alarms that were supposed to wake me up for church an hour later but I’m pretty sure every one would understand. Sunday was sleep all Tuesday then Monday was trying to force myself awake so I could actually sleep that night. So back to normal which just seems so slow. Oh well I’m sure I’ll find my groove again. Anyway that’s my week, good times! Peace kids take it easy.
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Slow it down a second.

I’ve been watching a TV series a buddy lent me. It’s called "Dead Like Me", ever hear of it? It’s about this girl who is killed by a toilet seat from a Russian space station that fell out of the sky. She becomes a grim reaper and is saddled with the responsibility of collecting souls from people just before they bite it from weird accidents and such like hers. The weirdest part about it is how not so weird the whole show is. She still has to hold down a day job and hangs out with a group of friends who also happen to be reapers. But the whole show revolves around how extraordinary what we consider normal life is and how normal what we consider the extraordinary is. Obviously this show has put me in a very odd state of mind. After watching a show mundane things in life like smoking a cigar and enjoying a cup of coffee see like exceptional experiences. And rather looming problems like a week from hell or major bills due with no cash in sight seem very inconsequential. I don’t imagine this would be a healthy state of mind to remain in for extended periods of time but in the short term it does help to put some perspective on things. Anyway I will pay my bills and survive this week one step at a time. Then I will thank God for that minor miracle and move on with my life. Tomorrow though holds something special. I have been barred from the office or any other place of work under strict orders from pastor Dave and his wife. I think some lazing around in the sun is in order, just as long as I can keep my mind as far away from work as my body is supposed to be. Anyway catch ya latter kids.
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My week

Hey all!
Bobby’s wedding was pretty cool. A little weird this was the first CLBI wedding that I have been to that I did not know a ton of people. Kirstin and her bau Murry were of course there but they were MCs so Ana and I ended up sitting at a table full of strangers. It was good thought the people we were staying with work on Native Education programming so it was pretty interesting and kinda up my ally. My allergies also picked this weekend to go into high gear, so for the past six days I have been popping pills flushing my eyes with drops and I am still sneezing and blowing my nose every two seconds and my eyes more closely resemble radishes. The weird thing is we just got a truck load of 201 hanging flower baskets they are all stashed away downstairs but that is the only place I can actually breath and escape the nagging desire to use coat hangers on my eyes. Weird.
Confirmation is this Sunday. On eof the six countermands decided that she is not entirely ready to stand in front of the church and declare that she does in fact believe in Jesus. This I think is a good thing, because option B would be to stand up there and lie and that really doing no one a favor no matter how her father feels about it. I think with giving her permission to say no and accept her decision but still want to meet with her and walk with her though this she feels a little more accepted by the church. She does not seem so threatened that we just want to shape her and mold her into our version of who we think she should be. I hope she does see that God has a plan for her and that who she is is who God desires her to be but in a relationship with him.
I drove myslef crazy spending hours in the Christian book store looking for some sort of appropriate book to give the other five. I felt this pressure like this was going to be the only Christian book they may ever come in contact with and they are in grade eight so if by chance they do even want to crack the binding it had better be a gooder. I realize this is retarded so I took great comfort in the advise that Ana gave me; that It’s ok of they are not into it now. Some day they may just may be in a rough spot and out of the blue pull down the book they got in confirmation and God will be the one speaking to them not the words so I just have to go with my gut. Well more or less that’s what she said anyway I may have added my own interpretation but whatever.
Anyway kids hope all is well in your perspective corners of the world. Peace
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Just can't catch a break, story of my life.

So here we are kids. I have been talking to this totally awesome girl from GP. She is funny, feisty, ( I apologize in advance for the cheesy alliteration that is about to take place, it just sorta happened) faith filled, fun, End even though she is sorta a freak it's in a good way. It really awesome talking with her, she is super real and fun at the same time. But Like I said she is in GP. Sure God has a sense of humor it just seems to be a little cruel right now. The GP thing is not a deal breaker by any means it just makes things kinda hard… and slow. Slow is probably a good thing takes time to get to know someone and the more talkin’ you do the better, so they say anyway. But there is only so much you can get to know on the phone. Does she have crazy road rage? What is it like to just chill out and not necessarily have to talk all night? We did have coffee and it was pretty sweet. And I did find out she handles very embarrassing situations with grace. It s just frustrating is all. I know, I know, "have patience" bla bla bla!!! Patience is for sissies!! I want some action… ok not "action" so get your minds out of the gutter already. Anyway it’s midnight or almost anyway, and it’s been a long day I’m gona go find sleep. As my friends TFK would put it "Peace kid, hope you learn!"
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Fantastic!!!

Sorry for the late update guys, and huge thanks to everyone who prayed. Speaking at the school was awesome! It was a Christian school in Red Deer so I was speaking for chapel. Coming into he school was pretty sweet. It had the big city school yard deal going on, all cement with clusters of kids here and there some playing basket ball, some jumping rope, the tough kids off to the corner smoking with a stern teacher walking towards them, it was pretty funny. I was nervous like crazy. I felt God was leading me to talk about how the Easter Story applies to our lives everyday not just at Easter. So I brought out the Hermit Crabs (props to Sarah). They were a huge hit, the kids loved them. I talked about how hermit crabs bury themselves for a few days, shed their old skin and come up all shiny and pink. Related that to Jesus Obviously, then told them how he does the same for them, by taking their old skin (sin) away and giving them now lives in him. I had a picture of Johnny and said how Jesus is like our best friend and knows us better than any one and even though he knows all the evil thoughts in our head he loves us none the less and offers us that forgiveness. The final thing was Jenga I related how putting your trust in something other than Jesus is makes your life unstable because only Jesus can know you completely and offer complete love and forgiveness. Other things will let you down and allow for chunks to be removed from your heart and sense of self until you have a precariously tipsy tower that can crumble easily. Because He knows us so well and assured us of love and forgiveness He can help us to hold that tower strong if we put all our trust in Him. Anyway that is a lame summary, obviously it was the Holy Spirit speaking because it went awesome the kids were attentive I had a few kids come up and talk afterwards it was awesome. The younger kids were in love with the Crabs and I visited a couple classes afterward to let them hold them and all that kind a thing. It was so great. Praise be to God. Thanks for praying guys! I am off to our bottle-drive now, tons o’ fun! Actually it is pretty fun the kids are great to hang with we always have a good time. So anyway till next time kids!
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Maybe pray again?

Pray for me please guys, I am speaking at a school in Red Deer today (Thursday) at 9:00AM. I just found out that there are going to be like six hundred kids there (Thats alot of kids!). Anyway pray that I speak Jesus message well and that I do not choke on my words, or stutter lots, but that the kids hear about how much He loves them and what that means in their lives. Thanks yo! Peace
Tim<><

He Has Risen Indeed!!!

Easter was good, but I am somewhat happy it is over. Like Christmas it just gets too busy around here, we get so preoccupied with programming that it is hard to take time to kick back and reflect. Marina said that in Mongolia Easter is just another day, no one really pays attention. In some ways that would be nice you know, to have no hype and circumstance. I really do love the Good Friday service and Easter Sunday service. My favorite thing to do all year is to greet people with "He has risen indeed!" What can I say I am kinda a Lutheran dork. Anyway the weekend turned out fine. The youth put on Easter Sunday breakfast for the church. Just a continental deal, lots of fruit, buns, colored eggs and such. I know it doesn’t sound like it but that was a lot of work. Some ladies on Sunday were asking us if we were cooking pancakes and such. That would have been a gong show, doable for sure, but what a mess.
Sunday afternoon the Dolsky Clan got together at Granny’s. Good times! It was a little weird at first seems like that side of the family doesn’t really know how to talk to each other. But after supper the coffee and cards came out and we had a grand ol’ time. That’s Dolskys for you; get our bellies full, give us some caffeine and set us around a card table we’ll have a good time with anybody.
I should really get back to work (yes I am working on a Monday, I am not pleased with myself either). I am speaking at a Christian elementary school on Wednesday. I have nothing prepared, but I am feeling led to talk about Who we are in Jesus. How are you supposed to make that applicable and still interesting to young kids? I really just need to sit down and get into it but just can’t seem to get the groove on you know. Maybe I just need to come back tonight at midnight and do it the old fashioned way as an all-nighter. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway kids, that’s me for now. Take it easy.
Peace
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The end of a busy week.

I am taking a break from work now. Hopefully anyway, there are a few loose ends to tie up from the weekend and more things to get done are popping up all the time but I will do my best to stay away from the church and other work related areas for a day or so anyway.
I prepared the message for church today and I think went really well. I was actually rather calm about the whole thing, and because I tried to make it as conversational as possible (as opposed to delivering the doctrinal dissertation that can sometimes crop up during the preliminary preparation times) I was not too worried about making sure I got all the big words out right.
I was visiting my brother Dave tonight who is in the middle of preparing a big paper on blessings and curses and prosperity and such for a seminary Old Testament class. It was pretty intense. Sometimes I really feel inadequate in a Pastor role because I do not have a lot of book learning so if I were to ever write a paper like that I would probably embarrass myself. I do not even know what APA format means. I feel like if I am going to be interpreting scripture and helping people to see and hear God I should really have a more refined knowledge of His book. But at the same time I know that God has lead me into this ministry for a reason, and that he is going to use my talents, personality quirks, and different experiences to speak his word effectively. I can get hung up on formal titles and the want for impressive papers on the wall but God usually uses heart knowledge, humble words, and a willing spirit, just as effectively whether the vessel has book learning or not. I guess I just have to trust in His plan and forget my pride.
The rest of the service was awesome. The choir came in with the Sunday school waving the palm branches and singing, it was pretty cool. The kids were definitely more concerned about whacking each other and swinging the palms as violently as possible than with making sure they were singing the right song, which definitely helped us from taking ourselves too seriously, but it was still a very powerful time of worship. My favorite part was that I was sitting beside a two year old who is very enamored with his new ability to make his voice heard whether he is actually speaking words or not, and he was very enthusiastic about "singing" along. I probably made as much sense as he did since I was laughing more than I was singing but between to the two of us we definitely made a joyful noise to the Lord.
Palm Sunday starts off my three most favorite services of the year with Good Friday and Easter Sunday to follow. I just love the range of emotion and brutal honesty that always seems to come from these services. I think a lot of the year we try and make sure we "have things right" but this time of year we are brought face to face with why we have church at all.
I think tomorrow I will go and try to find some fun trails to wander around in. Apparently there is something like Saskatoon Island (a cool park with lots of trails through the bush, for all those non-GP residents) somewhere around here, though I think the average Ponoka resident has a different idea of what "bush" is than I do, even if Saskatoon Island is not exactly extreme bush to begin with.
Oh yeah! Battle of the bands went awesome. God really did some cool stuff. Friday was a bit of a crazy stress ball. But we got all the volunteers to pull it off nicely and with as little gong show as possible. Tons of kids showed up, we sold just about every last ticket. The Battle bands were really amazing it was hard to pick a winner. Steriotrap (the headline band) was awesome, even if they did not show up until half an hour before the event only adding to the pre-game stress attack. All in all it was way beyond a successful event God is awesome!
Take it easy guys.
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Please pray

We (collective youth people in Ponoka) are putting on a battle of the bands. Everything is going swell but we really need to get a lot of kids coming out tonight. So please pray for a great show, that everyone would have a blast, that kids would be reached and that all the little details just fall into place. This is not an evangelism night per say, but everything we do we do to the glory of God and we are hoping to open some doors. Doors open (not the type of doors I was just talking about) at six thirty concert at seven thirty hope to be done around midnight. Right now I am just freaking out a little but it is all good!
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Update...

Well I’m a slacker, Get used to it! So what’s new? I met a pretty cool girl. She’s a friend of a friend which is sometimes weird but for the most part no big deal. The thing is she lives in Grande Prairie, a fine town no doubt, but kinda a jaunt to drive. One of these people who gives a lot of information about themselves that some people may see as too much but it sure cracks me up. So that’s a bit of an adventure.
I also got three new hermit crabs from my sister for my birthday. Those guys are loads of fun! It always concerns me though being in charge of living creatures. I know as a youth leader I should really be used to that, and crabs should really be no big deal. But I really do not hold the balance of life or death for most of my kids which considering the circumstances is probably a good thing.
My job is still great! We have a ton of events coming up the most pressing is a Battle of the bands we are holding this Friday. We are hoping for three hundred kids but ticket sales are not going overly fantastic so we are praying for a ton of kids to buy tickets at the door Friday night. We have faith but it is still a little stressful. Not to mention we are still short on volunteers so if anyone is going to be around Ponoka Friday night and wants to lend a hand give us a shout hey.
We are also planning dry grad for the comp here as well. It’s somewhat unfortunate that if falls to the youth workers to do this but such is life I suppose. I take great pride in the fact I think we are probably the only church in Ponoka that really has no problem with alcohol for the most part (there may be one or two others I’m not entirely sure). Yet safe grad seems quite ridicules. I mean in GP it was bad enough that they shipped us off to some field to get plastered its amazing that no one drinks themselves to death. But in Ponoka they actually provide the alcohol then put no limit on it, it’s absolutely crazy! But anyway Dry Grad looks fantastic, going with a Casino theme this year. There will be games and activities coming out the wazzoo it should be fantastic.
Anyway that’s it for now I know it is not much of an update but I am tired I will write more latter.
Peace kids!
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Dummy me

I read this this morning. I thought it was funny.
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly... Christian scholarship is the churches prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh priceless scholarship what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
Soren Kierkegaard; "Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kirkegaard"
Of course by posting this I realize I become the biggest hypocrite. I seem to imply that I do understand the words of the New Testament in their entirety, which I don’t, nor do I believe I ever could, and then I also seem to claim that I adhere to them, which I most obviously fall painfully short of. But I am reading this book "Irresistible Revolutionary" Shane Claiborn which is where I got the quote from in the first place (I know I did not notarize my quote properly or whatever you are supposed to do, Oh well). It’s not a new message it is actually pretty old. He talks about… well ok I am only maybe a fifth of the way through it so I’m not entirely sure what his actual message is, I’m not sure he even has one. But he tells lots of stories about really getting down and dirty to show love to other people. He talks about sleeping with the homeless on the street or in abandon church buildings. He went to Calcutta and worked with Mother Teresa and the Sisters Of Mercy, hung out with Lepers and generally did stuff most of us think is nice but would never actually do ourselves. He describes this stuff in the light of his own search for authentic Christianity not as a means of making us that don’t feel guilty. I don’t think anyone I or anyone I really know is disingenuous about their faith nor do most of them believe in a faith without works. But I have been a Chritian my whole life and I am still always searching for, and am at the same time incredibly fearful of, and shy away from, a faith that really sets me on fire. I know all of my excuses for not doing this stuff, safety, finical, lack of opportunity/experience which are all rubbish. And I realize dreaming about this stuff because you read it in a book is also very foolish. I guess I am just struggling to understand why I idealize these things and have no gonads to move on them. Its frustrating really, I feel like a fraud teaching kids discipleship when I really don’t follow the path that Jesus walked myself. I know a lot about the path, I admire it, I teach about it, but I don’t walk it, then I thank God for his grace and keep on dreaming. This sucks. And what does it help to write about it? I don’t know. It just makes me feel like an even bigger dummy.
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Happens every time

So funny thing; In my previous post "Mrs. Right" I told you guys about this internet dating service I signed up on. It still feels kinda lame to say "Internet dating" but I’m getting over it. So turns out I get matched up with this girl from Grande Prairie, then as if that were not a coincidence enough she happens to be friends with one of my good friends totally bizarre. Anyway so now I am hooked I have been learning about this girl slowly though this "guided communication" that they have. First it was answer five multiple-choice questions about yourself (like you can really get to know someone through multiple choice). Then we sent each other these ten must have’s and can’t stand’s. Ten things that someone you would consider dating must have or do, and ten things that if they do they are on the outs. A little more personal I guess but it still seems a little clinical. Now we are exchanging short answer questions, three questions that we actually made up ourselves and can give answers back in our own words. Now all this seems a little weird to me still but this girl seems pretty cool so I am totally curious. I just get hooked on these things so easily oh well maybe this will be one of those times that it turns out to be a really good thing we’ll just have to see.
Oh yeah as for me thinking this profile did not really suit me so well; I sent it off to a few people who know me pretty good and they all said that it was pretty accurate. Goes to show what I know, even about myself. Anyway guys take it easy.
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Confirmation of Madness...

My confirmation class is still driving me nuts. Half the class is there that really want to be there and enjoy learning about discipleship and such even if they do tend to give me pretty pat answers. The other half decidedly does not want to be there and are generally jerks. Not bad people, I don’t dislike them, actually I find them quite entertaining, but when you are talking about what it means to be Christian to people who decidedly do not want to be Christians it makes it a little rough. At first I told them that if they did not want to be there they should not be there. But then I changed my mind and said even if they do not subscribe to what it is that the church believes or to what I am teaching it is still good to come and learn anyway. "It’s important to know what exactly it is that you are disagreeing with" was how I put it… or I hope I put it that way anyway. But I maintained that if by the end of the year they still disagreed, it’s probably best that they do not get confirmed. I said I would be happy to talk to any parents that have a problem with that. The funny thing is that any parents that would have a problem with that hardly come to church if at all and are not passionate about it enough to talk to me about it but will talk about it behind my back maybe even to the council. Well at least this should get rid of some boredom for the next little bit. Peace guys.
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Happy Happy Birthday To Me!!!!

Guess what? I am now officially 25. I’m not sure if I was ever unofficially 25 but now I do not need to worry about that because here I am. The thing I loved most about my birthday this year was that a lot of people remembered and called and such and generally just gave me lots-a-love. Made me all warm and fuzzy inside it was great. I don’t like to think of myself as someone who needs attention but apparently I am, to some degree at least. The ironic part was that I was in Jasper so I was not able to receive any of those calls but they were much appreciated none the less. Another really cool thing was I got pancakes and Ice cream. I don’t normally like pancakes but the people I was on the ski trip with made me some, and then put this awesome ice cream on top. I tells ya it was heavenly, it was like this cookie dough ice cream with brownie chunks in it, absolutely amazing. Then with the warm pancakes I could have just died. This is the second year in a row I got breakfast for my birthday I like this tradition. Breakfast is defiantly way up there for my favorite way to spend my time. Anyway thanks to all you that remembered and if you are one of those that didn’t I am not offended because I probably forgot yours too, sorry. Peace guys
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Mrs.Right

So I just finished an online dating survey. I don’t know why I filled it out. Just seemed like the thing to do at the time. I was looking through the church e-mail and the secretary had apparently filled one out for her daughter, so she was getting some responses. I went to check it out and ended up doing the quiz more out of curiosity than anything. Well now I am apparently a member. I was looking through my profile and it seemed a little off. Not horribly wrong just kinda accentuated the parts about me being very out going and the life of the party and such. Which seemed to me to be a bit of an overstatement. The biggest one was; "You have a natural, outgoing style that some have labeled as the "natural salesperson." You are generally likable, talkative and socially assertive. Your primary intent is convincing or persuading people." Since when was my "primary intent" so convince and persuade. And I do not ever remember being referred to as a "natural salesperson". Oh well maybe Mrs. Right is waiting right around the corner. We shall see.
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Been another long while.

I know! I know! I am a horrible person because I have not bloged for like two weeks blah blah blah…
Well I figured I should get on it since I am just sitting here with nothing to do waiting for kids to arrive for our games night, and hey this beats pacing the floor. What a week dude I feel like have been run over by a steam roller and it is not even close to being finished. I won’t bore you with trivial details mostly just because if I put it down on paper (or screen as it may be) it just looks so insignificant and like I didn’t actually do a whole lot and I have really no right to complain. So You will just have to trust me that I was busy… well not so much busy just a lot on my mind and a lot of stress. Ha!! "Stress" I used to laugh at the word now look at me quiver. The thing is I just don’t think I, or ninety percent of people in Canada for that matter, really need to be stressed out at all. We just put ourselves under it to seem like we matter or have important lives. It’s like the more stress we have the more productive we are and therefor the more valuable we are.
I am not trying to belittle anyone’s life, or how they feel by any means. Really what is the worst that would happen if something didn’t go right for me? Maybe a couple disappointed kids, that would kinda stink but I could make it up to them. And even when things do go wrong there is almost always a way to retrieve them and still have a great night.
Say everything goes horribly wrong and our mission trip does not go to Mexico. Now I hardly think that "not going to Mexico" is really going to be the end of the world. I hate to a dramatist but, George in the Middle East who has an American base on one side and on one side and some radical group on the other now he has stress. He has a bad day and his house gets blown up. If he is lucky he and his family will not be in it at the time.
I just think we get so busy with stupid things that we need to take a step back eat pancakes with peanut butter and syrup and have a good strong cup of coffee. I did that this afternoon it was great. The best part was sitting in my office afterwards with the sun shining in the window, feeling full, with the glorious sweetness still lingering on my pallet, now that was great.
Well if any of this makes sense great! If not well looks like you were not missing much
Peace
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PS. It is now a quarter after and the kids still have not shown up. Serves me right for trying to do it on a Friday again, I should know better.

Bahh!! Lovebug!!

So I just checked out the blog world and it would seem that many people tend to agree with me that valentines-day is ridicules. Of course that is the blog world, so how many of them are lonely lonely nerds bitter at the world who has passed them by? Well not me I’m just bitter at a world I passed by. (I have no idea what that means).
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Crazy Continued!!

So I was listening to Thousand Foot Crutch in my car. There is a line in one of the songs that goes "Can’t understand my chemistry, laugh if that makes me ordinary." So you know how a song or even just one line gets stuck in your head and you even find yourself mumbling under your breath. Well this was me, except I was walking through Supperstore kinda half singing under my breath then, as cued by the lyrics I laughed out loud. This was not under my breath however no this was a good hearty mocking laugh "Ha! Ha! Ha!!!". Scared the crap out of this nice young mother right across the tomatoes from me. So as means of explaining my bizarre behavior I said, "oh sorry. I was just singing along with the song." Like everyone could hear what was going on in my head. In true Ponoka style she gave the polite smile and nodded her head, to her credit she did not run or even back away as if she were scared to have her back to me but carried on her way seemingly non-pulsed. I’m not sure if she was just used to this behavior living in Ponoka surrounded by crazies, or if she realized that once in Ponoka even the non crazies act a little odd, or she simply accepted the fact that there was music in the air and agreed with me that it was a fine time to laugh, as she was herself crazy. Any way you slice, Tim does not come out looking very cool.
Peace kids
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Were the trouble began.

Hey hey!!!
Ok so I have got to become more flagrant. My life is seriously missing some good ol’ fashion controversy. I had my six month review today (something I totally forgot about until I just happened to stop by my office in between appointments, by pure luck I was right on time, plus it made me look like I was a busy boy which is a good thing). I am good with personal interaction and people feel they can talk to me, I am firmly rooted in my relationship with Jesus, but I have horrible organization skills and my communication could use some tweaking as well. Wow what a shocker!! Anyone who has known me for five minutes would have come up with these same conclusions. I guess in that circumstance it is good to be predictable, helps from getting blindsided. I just think some things could use some mixing up. Bible study for instance, get some blood pumping, get them to think for a bit instead of just swallowing whatever their told. I know it is kinda just the age for that but still give me a challenge you know.
Anyway maybe I just wanted to use the word flagrant as well who knows. Keep it real.
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Breakforth and Multiply!!!!

So Breakforth was fantastic. Not FANTASTIC!!!! But still pretty cool. I got to sit in on all of Peter Wagners sessions on Spiritual Gifts, very cool. If you do not know who Peter Wagner is well you are just missing out. Imagine the dearest old man you can think of fill him with really great knowledge and yes I did say dearest but there is just simply no other way to describe him. I learned a ton. And guess what! My Spiritual Gifts are leadership, teaching, and knowledge, very cool and the greatest part is that they really have nothing to do with me but what God does through me which is even better or like down right amazing. I know it is not really a definitive science or anything but its really cool to get a glimpse into where God is leading me in my life and all that jazz.
The main speakers were really great as well, well most of them anyway, one guy was a little rough to say the least but God did some very cool stuff though his talk anyway. KP Yohansen was one of my favorites. He talked about getting back to the basics in ministry and really focusing on Jesus, a pretty simple message but one you can never hear too much. And I mean the guy is so interesting and fun to listen too kinda like an East Indian Albert Einstein minus the boring math junk. Of corse the worship was super as well Darrel Evans, Tim Hughs, nad of course Kutless (if anyone is asking "cut-what??!!" you just gotta pick up their worship album, very nice) I don’t want to sound like it was all cool just because there were a bunch of big names there but if you have ever heard or seen these guys you know they are all all about Jesus and He is well… beyond amazing!!
And the cool thing is I don’t feel like I just had this mountain top experience that I’m gonna come crashing down from (no matter what this blog sounds like) it was very down to earth, exciting, but very real.
Plus I got'ta hang out with a really great friend of mine Justina and her very cool friend Kim all weekend and that was super too.
Man do I sound like a blubbering idiot or what? But such is life, it was cool.
Take it easy guys
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Whats the Point?

I had Bible study last night. I’ve been pretty sick lately so I didn’t really have time to prepare anything, I figured we would watch a couple Christian comedian DVD’s. The first one I will admit was not all that great it wasn’t absolutely horrible but was defiantly lacking. The biggest problem was though that as soon as the kids heard it was a "Christian comedian" they immediately decided it could not possibly be funny "only Adults find stuff like that funny". Unfortunately the opening act did not sway their opinion. The second one though was really funny, it was just a bunch of clips form different comedians and every one cracked me up, and despite their best intentions even elicited a few laughs from the three guys who in particular were against such a variety. The one clip in particular was really hilarious with these three guys on stage doing improve. Everyone was cracking up until on a wide shot one of the kids exclaimed "Hey!! They’re in a church" well then it was just not so funny. They said it was because they just weren’t funny but the kids were laughing before they realized it was in a church but thought it was lame afterwards. I tried to get some sort of discussion going but it would only revert to family guy clips. Maybe it is our fault. Maybe we have ingrained this idea of church that is like oil and water with the rest of life as kids see it. Maybe it is a culture that has waged war against the idea of accountability and an ultimate morality. Perhaps it has chosen the church and God as it’s primary target with such success that even Church kids see it as stuffy and out of date without using their own experience and wisdom to discern the truth. I myself have declared something’s less exciting because it is "churchy". It angers me and frustrates me, that "church" has become synonymous with "boring". Yet this still excites me the name of Christ provokes reactions far from boring. You talk to someone about Jesus and even if they do not heed you or try to shut you out his name still gets a reaction. People get angry, scared, or defensive, or else better yet feel hope and the fire of faith ignited in their hearts, but they do not get bored. Perhaps that was the problem, it was too churchy and not enough Jesus.
But this problem still remains; we allow our preconceived perceptions dictate our opinions before we allow ourselves to experience something for what it is. If it is Churchy it is boring if it is nerdy we can’t enjoy it, if it won’t explode than really what the point. If it rambles on and gets further and further away from any sort of point it must be a blog.
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Goob ay ...

Today I am just tuckered right out. On Sunday I "brought the message" which apparently is completely different from doing or giving the sermon, According to pastor Dave anyway, and well Who am I to argue. Then I "brought the message" at Rimoka, the local retirement village and soap opera. And in the evening I brought the message at the community Chapel service at The champion center, sort of a halfway house for men from the psychiatric hospital. Though all of that I must have shook at least five hundred hands, it’s a wonder I even have skin left. Someone or a few of them must have had some sort of virus. Now I feel like I am swimming though a bowl of Jell-O, every movement is labored and every sound I make is missing at least one vowel or consonant and what is coming in my ears is a mix of Swedish Chef Gibberish and really bad jazz music. I knew the risks before going into ministry and I am not looking back now, but I think investing in some good hand sanitizer is in order.
Peace kids
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The Little Evil Srawberry

I think Canadian Tire is bad. I know that is not an entirely deep and profound thought but I need to warn anyone who considers taking their car to Canadian Tire not to do it. My car recently decided to die while in the parking lot of a Canadian Tire. I tried to get the thing going myself but to no avail. And in fact actually kinda bunged it up worse that when I started. I had AMA I could have had it towed anywhere but instead figured; "what the hey as long as I am here". Well they did "fix" it they gave me a new fuel pump and it worked for a grand total of two days. This morning I go to start my car and the exact same thing is happening that they had apparently fixed a couple days ago, it won’t start. So they messed it up or never even got the problem in the first place, and still charged me four hundred and fifty bucks. Now I am in Ponoka and the Canadian tire is in Red Deer I am not about to pay someone else to fix what they originally messed up. So to AMA it was and down to Red Deer. Sucks to be me. (Well ok not in the whole grand scheme of things but with this particular issue it is not what I would call pleasant) Anyway I will keep you posted but be warned of the mark of the evil strawberry.
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My life

Well It has been a while I know but Life is just not all that interesting for me what can I say. I think we need to move Ponoka on closer to Edmonton or Calgary. Don’t get me wrong I love Ponoka it is nice and small People say hi to you. Any time you go anywhere you are bound to run into someone you know. This is just super. But unfortunately everyone I know is somewhat older than me or has a job where they go to bed at like 9:00 at night, or have kids to put to bed or any other such nonsense. That’s when I am normally getting off work! It just does not jive. So to find someone to hang out with I would have to drive two hours to Calgary or an hour over to Camrose or an hour to Edmonton and by that time these other people are probably all in the process of winding down themselves. Not to mention the whole gas and making me broke thing. How lame is that. Life is just not fair I tells ya. But then again who ever said it was. And there are a lot worse problems to have I know, but such is life.
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Off To War!!!!

Hey kids, Well here I be, safe and un-scathed. New Years was great, a little less eventful than the last one but since the last one involved my car’s engine being completely encapsulated in ice I think less eventful may not be entirely so bad. And I am glad to say I am one of the very few people I know who came through without ending up engaged or shipped off unawares to join the French Foreign Legion. Ok so I don’t know anyone who inadvertently or advertently for that matter, joined the French Foreign Legion but a number of my friends not to mention my little sister did get engaged. Personally I would have gone with the legion but hey we are not here to judge.
So now there will be another family wedding. Not too bad I enjoy a good party. Though I doubt that I will be in the wedding party, I will most likely be forced to stand and smile for pictures. I don’t know what it is about pictures but they just drive me batty. The average family snap around the dinner table or with friends is no big deal and can be fun, but there is just something about standing around having a billion pictures taken pose after pose that just drives me crazy. I know I have issues but who doesn’t. Anyway congratulations Sarah and Dave, Bobby and Tim (not "The Greatest Tim" but he still seems pretty swell), Ryan and Kristy, Jon and Donna, (told you there were a lot!!!) Hope you like cacti
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