Journaling through Lent

This year, instead of giving up something for Lent, I decided to add teaching a 4-week course at Columbia Bible College on Journaling for Personal and Spiritual Growth. Like any other spiritual discipline, teaching this course took commitment and a regular investment of time, it put me in a place where God could work in a new way in my life, encouraged me to relate to God in a deeper way.

These four weeks have been a wonderful blessing:
- I've had the opportunity to reflect in a more disciplined way about spiritual discipline in general and journaling in particular
- I've experienced renewal in my own journaling practice - I've journaled more than usual in the last four weeks
- I've been prompted to explore new journaling techniques and resources, especially on-line resources that I was vaguely familiar with but never looked at closely before
- I've broadened my reading in the area of spiritual discipline and journaling
- in teaching, I found I also learned a lot and was encouraged by the small group of six participants. God is growing them and me!

Yet for all these blessings, I also feel a sense of relief that these four weeks are over--like savouring that first piece of chocolate after giving it up for Lent, or finally listening to music in the car after observing a Lenten discipline of silence. I'll miss teaching next week, but I'm also thankful that I'm not in the midst of preparing for another class! Instead, I look forward to gathering together as a church for a time of communion and remembering again the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus in the Lord's Supper.

Mar 26, 2010 at 6:40 PM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post

Chocolate Carrot Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ok, this is not really the most appropriate thing to be making during Lent, so for those of you who gave up chocolate or sugar or desserts during these weeks, my apologies and you'll just have to wait until Easter!

But I was scheduled to bring dessert for our deacon lunch meeting last Sunday, and I had this great recipe I've been wanting to try--a pretty easy recipe and quick to put together, and Gary says he thinks it's even better than my heavenly chocolate cheesecake :-)

Chocolate Carrot Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Stir together in a bowl:  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

In a large bowl:  beat 3 eggs, and gradually blend in 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup packed Demerara sugar.  Add 3/4 cup vegetable oil and 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted.  Stir in 3 cups grated carrots.  Add flour mixture from the other bowl and mix.

Pour batter into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  Bake at 325 deg F (160 deg C) for 35-40 minutes or until done.  Let cool

Icing:  mix 1/4 lb cream cheese with 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips melted and 1 cup icing sugar.  Spread over cooled cake.

- adapted from a Canadian Living recipe - the original had raisins and a pinch of allspice (which I didn't want to buy just for this recipe) and regular brown sugar (which I usually substitute Demerara) and twice as much icing (which I cut down in part since I only had 1 cup of icing sugar and in part because I don't care for a lot of icing - but in the end I thought it would be easier to ice and look nicer with the larger amount!)

Mar 19, 2010 at 8:53 AM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post

Sibling Rivalry?

Last Sunday's sermon on sibling rivalry got some interesting responses: I could see some nudging the person next to them on certain points; others told me stories about their own brothers and/or sisters after the service; some parents had questions about what it means to treat their kids equally since siblings have their own individual personalities and preferences, and treating them all the same isn't always fair either because the impact on each may be very different.

There are always more questions and more material than there is time for in a single sermon! That's why no sermon is ever really over when the sermon is over--instead, we need to mull things over, and talk about them, and do our own reading and research, and pray, and live things out, and allow God to continue to speak to us and guide us.

A few things that I had in my notes but that didn't quite fit in my sermon on Sunday:

- siblings impact one another and help to shape the kind of people we will be in adulthood

- gender, birth order, and the ages and number of children affect sibling relationships

- a healthy parent-child relationship can help to foster healthy relationships among siblings

- sibling rivalry needs good conflict resolution skills - respect; listening; sharing; positive communication instead of insults, yelling or hitting.  Start early to teach children how to settle disputes.   

Mar 17, 2010 at 6:19 PM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post

How to Grow a Pastor

Recently I was asked to be part of the Mennonite Church Canada Strategic Plan Task Force for Pastoral Leadership Development - or more informally as I've begun to think of it, the How to Grow a Pastor Task Force.

What kind of training do pastors need?  Is there a difference between training and education?  What is currently being provided by our schools, and what else do we need from them?  What is the role of the denomination, area conferences, and congregations?  How do we train pastors for multicultural congregations?  For congregations with different church structures?

We had our first "meeting" on Thursday morning--a conference call that brought together Task Force members across the country and both sides of the border.  As with most other denominational meetings, we began with greeting one another, with Scripture, with prayer, but it feels very different doing that over the phone than in person!  And since we couldn't see one another, as we began the discussion, we needed to say each time who was talking.  So it was a different kind of meeting, but a good start to our work, and I'm looking forward to working together . . . .

Mar 12, 2010 at 3:06 PM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post

SonForce

"Son" meaning Jesus and "Force" for the unique energy that children have--put them together and what does that mean? A fun-filled Sunday school time in our church gym!

Last Sunday (March 7) was our first SonForce, which is one of the many new initiatives of this year's Education Committee (Glenda, Allen, Lenora, and yours truly since we're still in need of an Education Committee chair - so please consider volunteering and/or put that on your prayer list if you haven't already!).  For this first time, SonForce was mainly a fun, high energy time with lots of different games.  Next time we hope to plan it around the Exodus from Egypt.  So watch for SonForce - coming soon on May 30!

If you're interested, here are a few more details:

- this is a great opportunity to bring kids of different ages together - they learn to cooperate and help one another in a different way than remaining in their own separate age groupings

- this adds variety for all the children and is especially helpful for those who find it difficult to be in a classroom setting

- character formation and Christian nurture can happen not only in the classroom but also through active learning in the gym

- this relieves some of the pressure on individual Sunday school teachers, most of whom are parents with many demands on their time and energy 

- we hope SonForce would encourage our kids to love coming to Sunday school and invite their friends

- so far, we're planning SonForce whenever there's a 5th Sunday in a Sunday school month, so for the rest of 2010, that means May 30 and Oct. 31

Questions? Comments?  We'd love to hear from you!

Mar 11, 2010 at 1:51 PM

Permalink

Comments (1)

Hyacinths to feed the soul

One of the joys of springtime and living in our new-to-us townhouse is discovering new plants growing in our garden.  A few weeks ago, I noticed some new growth just outside our front door that I thought were hyacinths.  Seeing them reminded me of a poem I came across years ago, that I wrote in my journal at the time and have remembered ever since:

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

Today I see that what I thought were hyacinths have turned out to be bluebells--not quite the same as hyacinths, but close enough that they remind me all the same to nourish both body and soul, more than that even to risk one's "slender store" to "feed thy soul."  There are things more important than bread, more important than physical safety.  What an appropriate reminder for Lent.      
 

Mar 5, 2010 at 5:33 PM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post

Prayer for Lent

As I was praying today at our Prayer Wall in the foyer, I thought of sharing one of the prayers that was posted there anonymously.  It seems especially suitable for this season of Lent as we remember all that Jesus sacrificed:  

Lord, help me to give up those things that I depend on more than you.  Free me from things that are not good for me and stand in the way of my relationship with you. 

Mar 3, 2010 at 12:06 PM

Permalink

Be the first to comment on this post