If you could live at any time in history, when would it be? There are two time periods I am interested in.

First is the wild west. I’m thinking late 1800’s. I love the stage coaches, horses, steam trains, trail rides and cattle drives. I’ve had a love of western stories especially Louis L’Amour since early in high school. Naturally, I have the boots, hat, spurs and even a six gun. When we do a western theme at camp, I think it’s mostly for me. I like that in the old movies, it’s easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys by their hats. My hat is black. Not sure what that says about me. I have to admit though, I wouldn’t be too excited about the lack of indoor plumbing. 😉

My second choice would be medieval times. I have been a fan of King Arthur for many years and love the idea of kings, knights, princesses, armour and of course, swords. I have three swords of my own and nay camp theme is a good reason to get another one. I also like the leadership lessons we can learn from the Round Table like collaboration, working beside each other, having synergy and a Code of Chivalry. 

When in history would you want to live?

Bill Engvall has made a very funny comedy show about handing out signs to stupid people. Essentially stating the obvious things they missed. You can look that up for yourself. 

What I have in mind is a different. My daughter and son-in-law have some signs in their house. One of my favourite signs they have says, “All Because Two People Fell In Love“. It’s from a Brad Paisley country song where the chorus says,

There ain’t nothin’ not affected
When two hearts get connected
All that is, will be, or ever was
Every single choice we make
Every breath we get to take
Is all because two people fell in love. 

Elaine and I recently were at the St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market and at one booth, Dublin Mercantile, we saw a lot of signs. Here are a few of my favourites:

• Sorry for what I said when I was hungry
• Worry ends where faith begins
• My tools, my rules
• You will forever be my always
• Love like there’s no tomorrow
• Families are forever
• Grandkids spoiled here

But of all the signs we saw, my most favourite was, “Your first breath, took ours away“. This was true for the births of each of our three girls and of course our granddaughter Olivia! We are eagerly awaiting the same reaction when our next grandchild is born this May. 

What would or does your favourite sign say?

Why does Adam throw Eve under the bus in the garden of Eden? Okay, so there wasn’t an actual bus, but picture this!

God creates the world, then He creates man, then He creates woman out of man, by taking a rib. So Adam has a lot of knowledge about the garden of Eden, which he teaches Eve. All about the animals, fish, birds and of course the trees in the garden. Then when they are tempted by the snake, he watches as Eve eats first and waits to see if she might die. Then he east some and the rest is history, we have the fall and sin enters into the world. 

Throughout much of history, Eve has been blamed for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and causing Adam & Eve to be kicked out of the garden. This has been used to justify a lot of things against women. Certainly Eve bears responsibility for eating the fruit. She knew just as well as Adam that God had forbidden it. But who’s fault was the “fall” really?

Look closer at Genesis 3: 6-12. Adam was standing right next to Eve. At any point he could have stepped in and said, “you know Serpent, that’s not really what God said.” He could have even said, “Eve, I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s ask God next time we see him.”

Almost anything Adam would have done would have been better than what he did. Which was nothing.
Adam stood by and watched. He gave up all the authority God had given him and simply sat by.

Adam knew all along what was at stake. But it was easier for him to sit by. Oh, and for the record, at Adam’s first chance to tell the truth to God, he threw Eve under the bus. How differently things would have turned out if Adam had said, “God, this is my fault, I didn’t do anything. I knew better. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

It is easy to be come discouraged.

The following little story illustrates a wisdom tidbit which simply put is: Don’t let the devil discourage you. Remember what God told Joshua, be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:6-9

Once upon a time it was announced that the devil was going out of business and would sell all his equipment to those who were willing to pay the price.

On the big day of the sale, all his tools were attractively displayed. There was Envy, Jealousy, Hatred, Malice, Deceit, Sensuality, Pride, Idolatry, and other implements of evil on display. Each of the tools was marked with its own price tag.

Over in the corner by itself was a harmless-looking, wedge-shaped tool very much worn down, but still it bore a higher price than any of the others. Someone asked the devil what it was, and he answered, “That is Discouragement.” The next question came quickly: “And why is it priced so high even though it is plain to see that it is more worn than these others?”

“Because,” replied the devil, “it is more useful to me than all these others. I can pry open and get into a man’s heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tool. Once I get inside, I can use him in whatever way suits me best. It is worn well because I use it on everybody I can, and few people even know it belongs to me.”

This tool was priced so high that no one could buy it, and to this day it has never been sold. It still belongs to the devil, and he still uses it on mankind. (Author Unknown)

A friend of mine recently used this phrase. I like my coffee black in a large mug with a big three finger sized handle. You get the idea that coffee flows right trough us. So does the rest of our food, but I will leave that thought right there (unless you’re a grade 8 boy). 

My mom used to say she spent too many hours making meals for us to just eat dinner in 87 seconds. Time goes by TOO fast. We don’t really have the time we think we do. We need to focus on what is most important. Family first. 

One of my new favourite songs is Time by Dean Brody. Check out the lyrics below. 

A gang of kids on their peddle bikes
In a dusty town, way to ride
To the general store for popeye cigarettes
Class of ’99
Yeah we lived, laughed, loved and cried
Took for granted that those days would never end
Living like that yearbook picture wouldn’t fade
And some standing right beside me, I might never see again

[Chorus]
The trouble is
You think you have time
You think tomorrows always coming down the line
And then one day
You wake up and you find
The trouble is you thought you had time

Student hire and a fancy job
Big old house, two car garage
He works hard for his wife and his son
An empty seat at t-ball games
Just a sacrifice he’ll make
Make it up, next weekend comes along
Years go by and that day comes too soon
That boy goes off to college, he stands in his empty room

The trouble is
You think you have time
You think tomorrows always coming down the line
And then one day
You wake up and you find
The trouble is you thought you had time

Shotgun shells and a tackle box
On the floorboard of a truck
Morning sun burning fog off a lake
Teenage girl and her grandad
He takes her fishing but he feels bad
She can’t take her eyes off that Facebook page
But someday soon, who knows how long
She’ll look up from that phone and he’ll be gone

The trouble is
You think you have time
You think tomorrows always coming down the line
And then one day
You wake up and you find
The trouble is you thought you had time
The trouble is you thought you had time

It’s okay to be polite!! Really! In fact, it’s more than okay. It should be expected!

Hold a door, let someone go ahead in traffic, go into the proper lane when turning, don’t cut people off, say please and thank you and sorry.
Say excuse when you have to walk in front of someone and acknowledge people when they say excuse me. Check out the words from Tim McGraw’s song Humble and Kind below. 

Its okay to be polite, after all we’re Canadian, eh!! 😉 

Tim McGraw’s “Humble And Kind”

You know there’s a light that glows by the front door
Don’t forget the key’s under the mat
When childhood stars shine,
Always stay humble and kind

Go to church ’cause your mamma says to
Visit grandpa every chance that you can
It won’t be wasted time
Always stay humble and kind

Hold the door, say “please”, say “thank you”
Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie
I know you got mountains to climb
But always stay humble and kind
When the dreams you’re dreamin’ come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride
But always stay humble and kind

Don’t expect a free ride from no one
Don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why:
Bitterness keeps you from flyin’
Always stay humble and kind

Know the difference between sleeping with someone
And sleeping with someone you love
“I love you” ain’t no pick-up line
So always stay humble and kind

Hold the door, say “please”, say “thank you”
Don’t steal, don’t cheat, and don’t lie
I know you got mountains to climb
But always stay humble and kind
When those dreams you’re dreamin’ come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride
But always stay humble and kind

When it’s hot, eat a root beer popsicle
Shut off the AC and roll the windows down
Let that summer sun shine
Always stay humble and kind

Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you’re going don’t forget turn back around
And help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind

When our girls were young, they would treat us to dinner at Upendi, it was their very own made up restaurant. These were our dates when the girls were little. They took so much pride in making the time special for us. I wish I could remember whether the food was good or what we even had to eat. I know we thoroughly enjoyed the time with each other and with the girls. 

I didn’t know then that Nicole “borrowed” it from the Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. There was a song that mentions the word upendi. It is sung by Rafiki as he encourages Kovu and Kiara to fall in love. The word is very similar to the Swahili word upendo, meaning love.

Thank you girls, I love you.

Dad

New Years resolutions?!?! Did you make some? WHY??

I stopped making new New Year’s resolutions years ago. Did I want to do better, be better, be happier? Of course. 

This may be a better option that I borrowed this from my pastor. “Resolved, to be a better person on December 31, 2017 than I am today through prayer, Bible study, and service to my fellow man.”

But it’s not automatic and I think that is where most of us fail. The problem with the Christian life sometimes is that it is SO daily. We have to take up our cross daily. We have to decide daily to live in obedience with Him. 

These decisions include, but are not limited to what your character will be, what your attitude will be, your work ethic, your personality, how deep will your spiritual walk be, who will be your friends, what are your guiding life principles, how will you treat the people around you, how will you deal with conflict or disappointment or failure, how will you represent yourself to other, and there are many more decisions that you haven’t even realized yet.

Some of these decisions you will have to make every day this summer. Many will be hard or require you to work at them. Most will take discipline. Some will cost you in time, friends or activities you cannot do.

The Apostle Paul reminds us, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14)

The themes for 2017 are: Destination Greece, Nintendo & The Round Table

Destination Greece

Follow the pathway though the labyrinth to Greece camp. You’ll experience a mix of ancient and modern Greek traditions, food and games. Enter through the bold columns into the Longhouse for some famous Greek recipes like souvlaki, gyros & Pantespani. Choose and armour your best gladiator for the games, search for ancient civilizations, join in the Olympic style competitions.

Nintendo

Mario and other characters from the Nintendo world need your help! Wii have a fantastic adventure planned where you will have to super smash Donkey Kong and his team of villains in time to save the Princess so Excite Bike your way to Marioland in the final fantasy of the summer and join in the fun and games!

The Round Table

Here ye! Here ye! Knights and princesses of the great land of Britain! All the most noble and stout of heart, all the most gentle and spritely of spirit are invited – nay, implored! – to make way to join King Arthur at The Round Table! From feasts to fiery dragons, from peasants to princesses – shine your armour, feather your fans and adventure with us through the Middle Ages! Chivalry – Rivalry – Revelry

How many Widji logos did you find in our themes picture at the top?