Psalm 5:1-3

Give ear to my words, O LORD,

consider my sighing.

Listen to my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation.

peace.

facebook party

Tonight we are having a facebook party! I'm throwing my own birthday party to get acquainted with some new friends from Halifax. These are folks that reached out to us via facebook, before we even arrived, so we are pretty excited to get to know them in person! Everything here is new and exciting. Today's weather is perfect, and tonight will be a great night to share about our passion and vision for the poor in Nova Scotia.

Happy Birthday to me!

Hope Springs Eternal

Some people never change! But CAN they change? Throughout the years, I've met folks who believe that some people CAN'T change. They have even gone so far as to say that a death by their own hand would be preferable to clinging to some kind of fairy tale hopefulness.

Well, my theme for this new mission plant is HOPE! I have witnessed the complete transformation of many of these so-called unchangeable lives. And it IS a sight to behold!

Take my friend, Nicholas, who's life was so down in the dumps with a video game addiction, that he wouldn't even get up to go to the bathroom. And now, a new man, he owns a home and has a great job!

Never give up hope! Hope means, "confident expectation." There is a Bible verse that says, "Hope that is seen is not hope." That means, we need to look at a man or woman, with all their battle wounds, and trust that healing is possible.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

Haligonian Welcome

Today Ken and I were invited to Circle of Chairs, a monthly meeting of sharing and prayer for Halifax homeless. This multi-faith group meets at the All Nations Christian Reformed Church, and is headed by our "first Halifax friend" and founding board member, Elna Siebring.

This church has graciously agreed to be an "office" address for us, as we completed paperwork for our society incorporation and federal charitable status.

It was great to meet some of the folks that are in the skid row churches, and to laugh as we shared good stories about our friends on the streets.

It was also a wonderful Haligonian welcome! Part of the culture of Nova Scotia, and what makes them so adept at tourism, is their natural friendliness and ease of conversation.

While there were various viewpoints and philosophies of ministry shared, two commonalities existed:

1. Love God.
2. Love your neighbour.

Turn off the TV!

LIVE the LIFE you've IMAGINED!

A friend of mine quoted this as her facebook status the other day, and it got me thinking.

Most of us get stuck in a rut.

One of my favourite sayings is,

Behave your way to success!

To change our mindset, we have to force our behaviour.

Positive life change and lasting lifestyle change only happens when our actions line up with our words.

Modern day mystics would have you convinced that mindlessly quoting a mantra will cause permanent change in the area where you are not living your best life.

Reality is that it is hard work! Let's say your addicted to soap operas, and you feel they are a waste of time, and not exemplifying the life you want your kids to live. How do you quit?

Yes, you can quote Philippians 4:8 until the cows come home!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

But there's one more think you must do! TURN OFF THE TV!!

Living in Limbo Land

It was fun to Hotwire and Priceline our way across Canada this summer, but after three weeks on the road, it's nice to be settled.

If you call 5 weeks in one place settled.

My sister, arriving home after many years of ministry in Germany, facebooked me after reading one of my blog posts:

We have been homeless for a few weeks without a car or phone, but had family and friends. All things we take for granted. Thank you for caring about the homeless.

I can relate! Obstacles in homelessness, even when you can stay with family or in hotels, can be somewhat daunting and draining.

Imagine your life if you had no home, no job, no savings, and no family.

Now imagine that this was your best friend. What would you do for her? Would you not go out of your way and experience some discomfort, in order to offer her a helping hand and HOPE?

I have hundreds of friends in this boat, and it is my privilege to be displaced for a short time, in order to find a home and HOPE for them!

Have you ever lived a period of your life in limbo? What were the circumstances? How did you cope?

Please Hear What I'm Not Saying

Please Hear What I'm Not Saying
Charles Finn, 1966

Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.

I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me,

within as well as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.

My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,
and I know it.
That is, if it's followed by acceptance,
if it's followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself,
from my own self-built prison walls,
from the barriers I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me
of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to, I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance,
will not be followed by love.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.

So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,
with a facade of assurance without
and a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I idly chatter to you in the suave tones of surface talk.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.

I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings--
very small wings,
very feeble wings,
but wings!

With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator--
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to.
Please choose to.

Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach to me
the blinder I may strike back.
It's irrational, but despite what the books say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.