Sunday, July 31, 2016

Meadow Lake: Day 2

Another day...another hike.  This time not as long, and not as scenic, but still great.

I slept well, mostly.  The sleeping pad I bought (to put underneath my sleeping bag) last summer is an inch thicker, and it works - I slept much better than I usually do when I go camping.

Good morning picture:


Campsite:


Hiking pictures:



Marco and company headed up the food department.  Is there anything better than grilled food?



In the evening things got a bit heated.  We started taking about the 2 topics everybody says you shouldn't talk about - politics and religion.

Energy and the environment.
Capitalism.
Faith in the public square.

Such great topics, worthy of discernment and discussion indeed.  Add a glass or two of wine, and you have all the ingredients necessary for an ... argument.

But it's necessary to have these "arguments" every now and again - iron sharpens iron.

I get a little bit tired of the argument that Christians are "blind sheep".  That argument may have held in the past, but today, Christians are anything but blind sheep.  We actually get a fuller education than the secular world offers, because simply speaking, we are taught both, the sciences and religion.  Secularists are blind in only paying attention to the empirical world.  They believe a priori that there's no need in studying faith-related matters, and are therefore completely ignorant of them.  So who's really blind here?


Saturday, July 30, 2016

Camping @ Meadow Lake

I'm camping in Meadow Lake with Eric, Marco, Dorotea, and John for the long weekend.

Today we went on a 17km hike - it was perfect weather: slightly overcast, warm, and a breeze to keep the bugs away.

Good company, mostly.  Sometimes I get annoyed by people, more than I should...





Saturday, July 09, 2016

A Friend ... Sticks Closer Than A Brother

Friendship is a precious thing, a gift from God.  And James (among other people) is just that, a gift.

"He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty." - Job 6:14

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." - Proverbs 17:17

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." - John 15:15

"Peace be to you.  The friends greet you.  Greet the friends, each by name." - I John 1:15



He's been here for the past few days, attending a conference from his denomination.

While here, we've had some good conversations, mostly about theology.  Oh to have friends nearby with whom I could discuss these themes more regularly...

It's been interesting seeing him struggle with the issues of the days being discussed at the conference. He fears for the future of the church.

And yet, we need not fear, we need only to be faithful:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." - Matthew 16:18

Monday, July 04, 2016

Sunday, July 03, 2016

The Land Of Milk And Honey

So here is our latest family portrait.


The guy at the front right is not part of our family, he's Derek's friend.  I know I'm supposed to be gracious towards others, but my gosh, some people's kids...

The family is changing.  Tanis is pregnant.  The kids are no longer kids - except for one, they're all teens now.  Mom and dad are aging, slowly, and extremely gracefully.

I need to make this trip part of my annual routine.  Family.  The Okanagan.  Smoothies.  Lakes.  Wine.  Sun and heat.  BBQ.  Pool.  Ice cream.  And after this year...tennis.

Ted and I played tennis again yesterday.  I feel like I'm rediscovering an old Love.

Ted and I also talked about buying a family property in Penticton.  It would serve as an annual vacation spot, and possibly, a future home for me!


Friday, July 01, 2016

Adrenaline

This afternoon Ted asked me if I wanted to play some tennis.  I said "No, I haven't played in years, I'm out of shape, plus I've got some lingering injuries."

Thirty minutes later we're out lakeside, on the court, hitting the ball going back and forth, and back and forth.

Hitting our hearts out.
Adrenaline.
The sweat.
Side-to-side shuffling.
That feeling, when you hit the ball right in the sweet spot.
The exhaustion afterwards.

It was almost a spiritual experience.