Skip to main content

Life, Love and Trampolines


I am an impetuous person. So far in my life I have held 4 career-type jobs and I am 34. I like to start new things, but I have a hard time finishing them (notice the last post is in March!). I am someone who likes change, but I am never satisfied with it.

We are on vacation and visiting my brother in Sexsmith, Alberta (you've heard of a goldsmith and a blacksmith...these guys work on something else here). They have a trampoline, this morning I noticed Nicky (my wife) lying on the trampoline soaking up the sun and I went and lay down beside her. We talked about life and love, and I really enjoyed the conversation.

I said, "I could live in a small town like this," and we went on to discuss my need for change and new challenges. The ensuing conversation challenged me to consider something that I have been learning over the last few months. I need to learn to be faithful in the things that I do, not to always look for something new, I need to be content in the life that I currently lead, not to always look for the greener grass on the other side. The former leads to loyalty, faithful friends, strong relationships. The latter could lead to something great as well, but I never want to sacrifice the former. I am making a change, a new commitment (old habits die hard) to the old things in my life...

A we were sort of wrapping up our conversation, our 3 year old Owen came running out of the house, yelling, "I'M GOING TO BOUNCE YOU GUYS!" and proceeded to jump all around us. A great game of tag, tickling, bouncing and laughing ensued between Nicky, Owen and I...I love the things that stay the same in my life!

Comments

Increasing... said…
great post and a great challenge! our society is fixated on everything new - committing to things 'old' is a real discipline...
Anonymous said…
i had this picture in my head of him just bouncing you and Nicky off of the trampoline in horror that he actually did it.

Popular posts from this blog

Should I Bring Jesus to the Poor?

I met this young lady who works for an inner city organization that works with children. She has been working there for 10 years. She said one thing in particular that really struck me. She said, "I used to think that when I came to the inner city to work with these kids that I would bring Jesus to them, but when I got here and started working with them, I started to realize that Jesus was already here." It struck me because I think that we middle class people (not just Christians) think that we should go into the inner-city and "rescue" people from their situation. We often feel as though we have all the answers and they have everything wrong. Is it possible that it is the other way around? Is it possible that people who live on the streets...those who don't worry about tomorrow, those who are not obsessed with money or material possessions actually have something to teach us? I think so. So in response to the question, "Should I bring Jesus to the po...

Does it Surprise us When Homeless People do Something Good?

There was a story that caught my attention a little while back in my city. At first I was happy about the story because it isn't often that homeless people are painted in a positive light. Here is an excerpt from the story: Faron Hall, 44, was given a medal of valour by Mayor Sam Katz at a ceremony not far from the riverbank where Hall often sleeps. Hall saw a boy fall into the river last weekend and dove into the chilly, fast-moving water to pull him ashore. Now the man who has been homeless for about seven years has become the talk of the town. I was excited to see that people would see that homeless people have heart, courage and respect for their fellow man. However, when I saw the same thing on the national news a few days later, as the story seemed to take off around the country I began to wonder...is it really that surprising to us? Is it so shocking that people who live on the street care about people? In the time I have spent around homeless people that is the thing t...

My Work Against Homelessness

I have been thinking quite a lot about homelessness (over the last two years especially) and have come to all kinds of conclusions about myself and the things that I (and the church) need to do in order to help people who are in that situation. I have been involved in a few organizations who work with homeless people and met with many people to discuss what I/we should be doing to help. I finally discovered something very important that I can do right now. I am reading t his book called Bent Hope which is a really interesting read. The author is a Youth Worker who works with young people who live on the streets in Toronto. He walks the streets and hangs out with them and helps when he can. He basically just tells the stories of his encounters with people and talks a little bit about what he has learned from them. I am loving it! So, I know what I am supposed to do to help homelessness. In his book, pretty much everyone he encounters he mentions how they come from a family situa...