randoms...

Owen sits beside me trying to come up with a speech he was supposed to have written and delivered sometime last week. And I'm monitoring the progress to make sure it gets done once and for all. So far we've started four different topics. I have to sit by him to make sure he works. While I do so, I wonder if he will ever be able to keep a job. I actually just told him that if he ever wants to live outside of our house and make a living on his own, it will require him to do such distasteful things as making speeches and holding down a job - perhaps even simultaneously. He thinks he will quit school at age 16 and join a famous rock band.
Yeah, okay.

So, some random thoughts..

to entertain you.. or to waste time..

not sure which. :)

This is my niece, Haily. She is almost a year old. I am really missing watching her grow up! I was supposed to be a labor coach for her birth last year, but it didn't work out - it was quite sad about that. I think karen should have her birthday party when we're in Winnipeg at Easter. She finally sent some pics over, and both O and I are more convinced than ever that she looks like our grandpa, Pepere Legault. In a very cute and feminine way !! And she walks - Ever since 10 months, toddling around - so cute. I actually took a video of it a couple of weeks ago. And she is so happy. As a newborn, she had this beautiful serenity about her. I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows up and whether this peacefulness stays with her.

• Jess and I are facilitating an adult Sunday School class about spiritual maturity. She has blogged about it already and pretty much captured all that I'd have said. Check her post out here. I was also dwelling on the way that spiritual growth happens as our dependence (on God) increases, while other growth usually emphasizes independence increasing. (think of children becoming adolescents becoming young adults -- or think of apprentices becoming craftspersons; they're increasingly self reliant and that is the evidence of growth.) The other think I've been thinking on is speaking the truth in love. That was the passage we focused on a bit this past Sunday; Ephesians 4. I did a little reading on these verses, where the Jesus Followers in Ephesus are told to grow up. One commentator used the word 'truthing' to describe speaking the truth in love. He said its so much more than a few words emerging from the mouth of one person to another.. he said that speaking the truth in love is more like a truth-FULL existence where integrity and authenticity are of importance to all in community. Where avoidance or fear have no place and LOVE is the real emphasis in all interactions and relationships. Where people can receive and deliver all manner of lovingly said words without defense or arrogance. I liked that verb - TRUTHING.

• Paul W. blogged about church - emphasizing the revelation of God in community that happens when we gather. I agree with that in principle, but I'm not sure how much corporate revelation I've actually experienced. My experience is that I gain insight from any message or teaching - it needn't be in church. Usually though, I do learn something from the speaker or pastor in church - is my personal learning revelation because others are present in the room? Or is community revelation more like what happens once the ideas can get unpacked with others in discussion- with family over lunch after church, with small group meeting later in the week.? I'm interested in this corporate revelation idea. Reading from the Scripture, dramas - these are all opportunities for divine things to be revealed, but we're each internalizing and processing on our own ... and probably differently from eachother. I wonder whether an emphasis on the prophetic is required to really grasp this idea of corporate revelation. I haven't been to that many services where this is given space, perhaps thats why I'm asking questions... (at the winnipeg centre vineyard in january, there was this invitation to come forward at the end of the service to learn more about prophecy and prophetic gifts. I was excited to learn more, but then the pastor said that they had run out of time and would have that group time the following week. I was sad!)
• People are praying for our family - we know this and are so, so, so grateful. Thank you. We are humbled by your care for us. I know its a random thanks, but many friends check out this blog and we just want you to know how appreciated you are.
• O and I are almost done the speech. And we've shared a fruit and nut bar. .. or as he calls it fruity nuts. My son makes me laugh. Actually tonight, he was speaking in his I'm-from-India voice and he made me spew tea (a london fog, actually) back into the cup (instead of choking on it while laughing). He is quite a funny boy. As I've typed this blog, he has given me some blogging advice - essentially that i should stop writing about unfunny crap like what I usually write about and focus only on humorous content. I think he should have a blog... I'd read it!

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing ... Mark Twain