Meandering Moose

Have You Created a “To Whom” list?

We all have a “to do” list. You know, finish one task or job and by that time two, three or ten more items have been added to your list. Some by you, some by family or work or… I decided a long time ago that I am going to die with a to do list.

A new idea I picked up at a genealogy conference, is to create a “to whom” list in addition to my “to do” list. Who can I connect with today and how can I be a blessing to them? Find a way to be generous, kind, friendly, helpful, supportive, caring and empathetic.

Here are some suggestions for the whom on your “to whom” list:

A friend you haven’t seen or talked to in a while
A single mom
Seniors who are shut ins
Someone who has had a medical procedure, a new baby or been sick
If you need more people for your list, consider the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 where Jesus defines who our neighbour is.

And some ideas for what you can do for those on the “to whom” list:

Send a card, email, text, phone call or other message of encouragement.
Deliver them a ready to eat meal. Don’t forget dessert.
Take them out for coffee, tea or a meal
Pray for them and tell them you did
Drop off a prepaid gas or grocery card
Shovel a driveway or mow a lawn
Rake their yard in the fall
Practice the “one another passages” with the people around you.

No need to delay. Start your “to whom” list today.

Leaning into God

There once was an old deacon who always prayed, “Lord, prop us up on our leanin’ side.”

After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

He answered, “Well sir, you see, it’s like this… I got an old barn out back. It’s been there a long time. It’s withstood a lot of weather. It’s gone through a lot of storms, and it’s stood for many years. It’s still standing, but one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn’t fall.

“Then I got to thinking ’bout that and how much I was like that old barn. I been around a long time, I’ve withstood a lot of life’s storms, I’ve withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I’ve withstood a lot of hard times, and I’m still standing, too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leanin’ side, ’cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning, at times.”

BUT, how do I lean into God?

I’m reminded of two old songs with some great truth. The first is Put Your Hand In The Hand by Anne Murray and the second is He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands by Laurie London. I know that He’s got you and me in His hands. Knowing that God has the ability to calm the sea, raise the dead, turn water into wine and heal the sick and so much more, then I know he can handle what is going on in my life.

Faithfulness is an unfailing loyalty that is repeatedly demonstrated.

Even during the difficult times we must learn to trust in God. Never doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light!

Charles Spurgeon said, “I would sooner walk in the dark & hold hard to a promise of God, than to trust in the light of the brightest day that ever dawned”.

1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead. My Utmost for His Highest

Consider too the many hymns and songs about God’s faithfulness.

Great is Thy faithfulness. Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, William M. Runyan
Do It Again. Mack Brock, Travis Cottrell.
Yes And Amen. Chris Tomlin, Jesus Culture, Chris McClarney, Housefires.
Great Things. Citipointe Worship.
Faithfulness. Hillsong Worship.
Never Once. Matt Redman.
Faithful. Chris Tomlin.
Which song or hymn would you add?

Characteristics of Faithfulness

Loyalty
Trustworthiness
Steadfast Love
Patience
Commitment

From God’s perspective:

One of My names is Wonderful Counselor. I understand you far, far better than you understand yourself. So, come to Me with your problems and insecurities, seeking My counsel. In the Light of My loving Presence you can see yourself as you really are: radiantly lovely in My brilliant righteousness. Though My righteousness is perfect, you will continue to struggle with imperfections — yours and others’ — as long as you live in this world. Still, your standing with Me is secure. Nothing in all creation can separate you from My Love! **

A good counselor helps you recognize truth and live according to it. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. So be open and honest when you bring Me your concerns. Also, fill your mind and heart with My Word, which contains absolute truth. **

A wonderful counselor is not only extremely good at helping people but also able to inspire delight or pleasure. Delight yourself in Me, beloved, and I will give you the desires of your heart. **

Consider the following Bible verses; Isaiah 9:6; Romans 8:38–39; John 18:37; Psalm 37:4

Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee!

** Excerpt from and used with permission from Jesus Always, copyright by Sarah Young.

Always Faithful

Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for “Always Faithful,” or “Always Loyal”. It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps to God, Country & Corps. An eternal and collective commitment to the success of battles, the progress of the USA, and the steadfast loyalty to the fellow Marines they fight alongside.

“Semper Fi” (as it’s yelled, cheered, or used as a greeting) is not just a motto for the Marines; it’s a way of life and it embodies the Marine Corps’ forever commitment to both their fellow Marines and the United States.

Faithfulness is much more than a Marine Corp cheer or greeting, it is one of the greatest characteristics of our God. Consider the following verses. Whenever He makes a promise He keeps it. We see this theme over and over again throughout the Bible and each new story is just as amazing as the last. God was faithful then and He is faithful now.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Psalm 33:4 For the Word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Psalms 119:90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Romans 8: 38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” Lamentations 3:22-23. Every morning God’s love, compassion and faithfulness arrives to comfort and guide us. He is faithful and always on time!

Genesis 24:26-27 “The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Psalm 25:8-10 “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”

Psalm 26:1-3 “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.”

Psalm 31:3-5 “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”

Psalm 33:4 “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.”

Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore He (Jesus) had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Lean in to our faithful God!!

A New Fresh Start

2021 was another year for the history books. And not one I’m sure any of us wants to repeat it. I’m sure most of us thought we would leave most of the mask wearing and plexiglass behind. Fortunately, we did get a vaccine, but new variants continue to put so much to the test.

Every January 1st we get a new start in a new year. A time to reset our lives, routines, habits and practices, to make improvements and changes.

Interestingly, when God sent the nations of Judah and Israel into captivity in Babylon, He was sending them back to the original home of Abraham (Ur of the Chaldeans). When they left to go back to Israel they were going back for a new start. Calling them back to Himself. Perhaps 2022 will be that for us.

But January 1st isn’t the only time we can get a fresh start. Every time we come to go for forgiveness we get a new start. Hopefully we choose not to continue on with our sinful ways. 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 others, and there are many more decisions that you haven’t even realized yet.

Here is one resolution I shoot for now, “be it resolved, to be a better person on December 31, 2022 than I am today through prayer, Bible study and service to my fellow man.”

What will 2022 hold for you?

A New Christmas Tradition

This year we added a new Christmas tradition at our Greenfield extended family Christmas party. A hot chocolate bar. Feel free to add your own, but here are the ingredients we used:

Hot chocolate powder (Costco size)
Coffee
Cinnamon sticks
Candy canes
Choc chips: milk choc, mint, white, butterscotch
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Whipped cream
Maraschino cherries
Mini-marshmallows
Toffee bits
Oreo crumbs
Icy squares
Flavoured syrups: choc, mint, caramel, French vanilla
Sprinkles
Chopped peanuts
Crushed peppermints
Cookies: shortbread, sugar cookies, Tim Tams
Bailey’s (if you like)

We also used it for our small group potluck and family Christmas. Put your own spin on it and enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!! & Happy New Year!!

Christmas Cookie Calorie Rules

This seems straight forward. This is not original to me. Christmas cookies have no calories if consumed in the following ways.

If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie-free.
If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.
If a friend comes over while you’re making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calories free (see rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.
Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.
Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.
Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five – one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!
Cookies eaten while watching a Christmas show or movie have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.
As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes caloric leakage.
Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!
Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories.

Enjoy some Christmas cookies this week.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Never Stop Dating Your Spouse

Never stop dating your spouse!

This advice was given to Elaine and I as a young married couple (wish we could remember who). And we have done our best to keep it going and model it to our kids & others. It turns out that people were watching for our social media posts every Tuesday. We even inspired a few couples to start something similar.

When our kids were young and I worked at Muskoka Woods, it was easy to get one of the rec staff to come watch the girls (any chance to get off property and raid my fridge I think).

There have been interruptions in the plan, like in 2017 when I was suffering more from post concussion syndrome, but, if you get off track, start again the next week.

Date day has been a weekly plan for a long time (Tuesdays on my day off for many years). The point is to carve out space in our schedules to spend time together and make new memories, just the two of us. One day your kids will be all grown up and only come for a day or the weekend and Christmas of course.

These moments of connection allow us to refocus and remember why we love each other. It creates the time and space to fully enjoy and appreciate one another, even amidst the busyness of regular life. Here are some of the date days activities we have done:

Visit a Zoo
Hikes in Algonquin Park and many other parks & trails
Go see our grandkids (always a favourite!)
Camping at Mikisew Provincial Park, often with friends
Island Queen boat cruise
Chasing waterfalls around Ontario
Dinner and a movie (and it usually involves a trip to Costco)
A local festival (butter tart, apple, Scottish, etc.)
A Farmer’s Market or three
Black Creek Pioneer Village
South Simcoe Steam train
Performance theatre
Toronto Island & the Old Spaghetti Factory
CNE
Go-carting
Or overnight trips like
- Niagara Falls for a weekend
- A concert & stay in Ottawa
- St. Jacobs Market and area
- Or to see a Blue Jays game in Toronto (dinner and maybe an overnight of course)

Have fun with it and enjoy some more time with your spouse!!!

Introducing Meandering Moose

Welcome to my new website where I will be blogging, telling stories and sharing ideas. In the past, my blogs have been a mix of summer camp and personal interest stories and articles. I have carried many of those here to this new website. I started blogging as a way to build up the SEO for the Camp Widjiitiwin website. I started writing occasionally then moved it up to weekly. I grew to like it a lot. I also had some guest bloggers. Now that I’m no longer there I will continue to blog my own ideas and stories. I’m mostly doing this for my own benefit, but if I can also benefit others, that’s great.

I lost my job at MBC/Widjiitiwin the first week of October. I have been filling my time with projects at home, volunteering and helping people out with their projects as well. A couple of the tasks got done from a 20 year old to do list. Building a Murphy bed for my grandson Liam has taken a lot of time and brain power. Creativity takes work.

Waiting has never been my strong suite, but I am learning to wait and look for what God has for me next. So far I have absolutely no idea what that might be.

Welcome to Meandering Moose.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Mike/Moose

Moose’s Adoption Journey

World Adoption Day is November 9th. Check out http://www.worldadoptionday.org for more information.

This year was an exciting one on my adoption journey to find my birth families.

My sister Jill came from Texas to visit us in Muskoka. For many that wouldn’t be an unusual thing, though it maybe in Covid times. For me it is. Some of you will remember that I was adopted and grew up with 3 brothers.

Just about two years ago after lot of research and a big push from Nicole (who emailed my brother Sam with the news he had a brother in Ontario), I reached out to my birth family. The first weekend of October 2021 was the first time Jill and I met in person. I still have to meet Sam. Covid has messed with our plans a few times. It was SO great to meet and get to know each other better. Elaine says she understands me a lot better now that she sees where some of my traits come from.

On my Purvis side (my birth father’s name was Hugh), I have discovered his family and my Purvis/McDonald Scottish lineage (76%) with the help of a second cousin who helped me track down my birth father’s family. I have talked with my birth father’s widow, a first cousin, and an aunt and uncle. I’ve been learning about him and hearing stories. Then just a couple months ago in September, we had a Zoom meeting of a 15 from a cousins group where we share DNA, common ancestors and family genealogy information.

What. A. Ride! it has been.

Time to Say Goodbye

It is a sad time for me (Moose). I am saying goodbye to two ministries and a group of people I have come to love and respect. I have packed up my office at MBC, collected a few things from Widji and locked the purple gate for my last time.

The decision has been made not to open Widji next summer. The plan is to focus on the Ignite Partnership program with a task force working on the details of what that will look like starting again in 2023. As a result, Heyoo and I are no longer employed at Muskoka Bible Centre/Camp Widjiitiwin.

There are SO many people I need to thank. Campers who became SALTers, SALTers who became staff, staff who became leadership and many who have become friends. Thank you for standing with me through the tough times, the changes and new ideas, especially the ones that didn’t quite work. Thank you for being One Team. Thanks you for giving all you have for the kingdom ministry of Widjiitiwin. Thanks especially to the many who have served on my leadership teams over the years. I also need to thank the many camp pastors who have given of themselves to be at Widji to minister to the campers and staff and to me. You have been God’s messengers and His ambassadors with us.

In the fall of 2007 when I took on the role of director at Camp Widjiitiwin, it was as a fixer to get things going again and regain campers to camp. Summer 2008 was my first summer at Widji. Our mission came from 2 Corinthians 5:20, Camp Widjiitiwin exists to be an ambassador for Christ to children and youth through compelling camp community experiences; focused on demonstrating the gospel message through teaching God’s Word, positive relationships and creative interactions.

In 2009 we ran the first Ignite camp in partnership with Toronto Police, 42 Division with PC Mark Gray. To be honest, neither of us really knew what we were doing that first summer, but ministry happened, lives were changed and we grew as people.

Since then it has grown to five partners including, James Street North Baptist Church in Hamilton in 2012, Church of the City in Guelph in 2014, Capstone Community Bible Church in Etobicoke in 2015 and Ephraim’s Place (Awaken) in North York in 2016. The program has gone from 30 campers to 300 campers per year with a total of 2073 campers over the 11 years the program ran before Covid shut us down.

Camp Widjiitiwin – the way camp was meant to be… relational, central, natural, reaching out, a loving community focused on Christ. It’s like coming home! It’s my camp!

Goodbye friends,

Moose