I am a highly attractive person

Yes, its true. I am a highly attractive person. Ever since I was a little boy I have had this curse. I would easily be singled out from a group of others for special attention because of it. It really has been a curse to me.

I am a mosquito magnet.

WebMD recently had an article about how some people are especially attractive to mosquitoes.. and I know that is me.

“One in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes,” reports Jerry Butler, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Florida. WebMD: Are You a Mosquito Magnet?

They haven’t figured out why yet, but somewhere there are people in lab coats working on it. To them, I say: Thank you! Keep up the good work!

All my life I could be in a crowd or with just one other person and they would look quizzically at me as I do my masochistic mosquito calisthenics.. arms and legs flailing about, repeatedly hitting myself. I would dread the days dad would ask me to help him outside in the garden. He would work away peacefully while I fought the little dragons. I was never much help to dad on such days as I rarely accomplished more than spreading bug guts and my own blood all over my body. He would wonder what my problem was as he didn’t have any around him at all, but if I pointed it out to him dad would notice the swarm of mosquitoes around me, each waiting for a landing strip to clear.

Hmm.. here’s something that never occurred to me before.. maybe that is why he took me along.. as bait.

To make it worse, I am allergic to the little monsters. It was more severe when I was younger, but even now I can swell up pretty good. As a kids I would frequently go about the summer looking like a full body case of the mumps.. big welts up and down my arms and legs, on my face..

Once I took a mosquito bite above my right eye and one below my left eye at the same time. Result: blind kid. Both eyes were swollen completely shut. After a couple days mom took me to a hospital where some tricky nurse stabbed my butt with a needle. About 18 hours later I woke up, able to see but rather upset that I had slept through Saturday morning cartoons.

Me at four years old with mosquito bites around my eyes.

Thankfully the allergy has abated some in my.. ahem… adult life. But I can still receive a large welt that will slowly go down to an itchy spot that can last for weeks.

I used to think that mosquitoes were like cats.. they could come into a room of 10 people and instinctively know the one person in the room that was allergic to them, and then try to curl up on that person’s lap. Now I know that there is something special about me, the double blessing of being attractive to mosquitoes AND being allergic to them.

I sometimes wonder if I would have turned out very different without this allergy. As a kid I loved to wander through the woods, but sometimes it just wasn’t worth going outside. Perhaps I would have turned into some kind of extreme outdoorsman, Maybe my current geekdom is the result of those annoying little bugs.

Water Gun Warrior

This Water Gun Warrior is a dangerous one.

Brandishing her weapon she has no fear of being shot or who may be hit in a crossfire, and has been known to shoot indiscriminately at civilians in supposedly safe zones.. brazenly uncaring about collateral damage.

A determined adversary, she laughs at incoming fire, shooting back only if she wants to, sometimes refusing even to defend herself!

The Water Gun Warrior rarely retreats, preferring instead to stand her ground until her adversaries run out of ammunition.

She will mercilessly follow her own “wet earth” policy.. soaking anything that stands in her way.

Her unpredictability is legendary.. You must always be prepared for a sudden counter attack.

So vicious and water-thirsty is this gun totting toddler, she has even been known to turn the gun on herself.

If you see the Water Gun Warrior, consider her armed and dangerous. And get an umbrella.

Just look at the rainbow

Rainbows

“Isn’t the rainbow beautiful!” The storm had just passed and Jim and Rick were outside under the brightest and most colourful rainbow ever.

“It sure is, Jim. Just look at that blue! It’s so… blue,” said Rick.

“Yeah.. and then the greens and reds.. Wow. The rainbow is just so big and bright and beautiful.. I want to touch it.”

“Sure, it is a nice blue.”

“Eh? Yeah, there is some blue, but there is so much more! Just look at it.. The rainbow is.. majestic,” Jim said in awe.

After some thought Rick said, “Hmm.. it’s ok. It is just blue to me.”

Taking his eyes off the rainbow, Jim is surprised to see that Rick is facing the opposite direction from the rainbow. “Rick, are you even looking at the same thing I am?”

When Rick turns towards his voice Jim is surprised to see that he is wearing a blindfold.

“Yeah, the blue rainbow.”

“Rick, take the blindfold off and stop fooling around. This is so amazing.. you gotta see it!”

“Oh, I see it. It’s blue. That is my favorite colour.”

“No no no… It.. it has blue, but there is so much more to the rainbow! Just look at it..” Jim says as his voice trails off when he returns his gaze to the rainbow.

“Mmm.. blue…”

“Seriously Rick.. are you just making this up? It is so much more beautiful than just blue.”

“But I like blue!” Rick said.

“What?! It doesn’t matter what your favorite colour is.. The rainbow has many colours. It’s amazing!”

“Jim, I know you have your ideas about what a rainbow looks like, but trust me, it’s blue.”

“How can you say that! It is right here for you to plainly see if you would just take the blindfold off.”

“Ok, Jim, I can tell you are getting upset. I’m happy with my blue rainbow. We are just going to have to agree to disagree about this rainbow.”

“Argh!” said Jim in exasperation.

_______

Sometimes I feel like Jim when talking to people about God.

God has revealed himself to us so clearly in His Word, the Bible. Yet so many people have their own made up god that has their favourite characteristics, with all their hopes for now and eternity based on nothing more substantial their own vague opinion.

If they would only take off the blindfold and see the full spectrum of God..

Ministry Update :: July 22 2007

Naomi and I have been back in Owen Sound for almost two weeks now, trying to catch up on things after a three week absence. My time now is devoted to preparing for the start of the new school year (which is approaching quickly) and cleaning up some unfinished projects. At home Naomi has begun the process of packing our belongings as we prepare to move to Alberta this Fall. Much of our stuff will sit in storage for a bit until we can find more permanent housing, so that has to be taken into consideration when sorting things to pack.

While in the Maritimes we were able to visit with a number of supporters and churches and update them on our upcoming move and change of ministry to GoodSeed. Over four Sundays we shared our new ministry with five churches. Many people we talked to were unaware of what GoodSeed is, and we were very encouraged with the positive responses once it was explained. After the services many people stopped by our display to purchase books to give to family or friends, telling us about how they were excited about these Gospel resources and how they could use them. Another encouragement for us was that several people mentioned that they would begin financially supporting us or be increasing their current support. We rejoice in seeing how the Lord continues to provide.

We have a few pictures up on our site ( www.troyandnaomi.com ) of our time down East.

Troy & Naomi

Ellie at a very special park

We wanted to take Ellie to a very special park while we were back in Sackville. It is a park dedicated to a man who would have loved Ellie had they ever had a chance to meet.. Unfortunately they never did, having missed each other on this earth by about four years. Nonetheless, we took Ellie to a place named for her grandfather, the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park.

The park is a kids play area located in downtown Sackville, New Brunswick, and features many kids rides, swings, and two play sets.


The plaque reads:

The Bill Johnstone Memorial Park
Bill Johnstone
January 30, 1949 – January 14, 2001
This park is dedicated to the memory of Bill Johnstone, a life-long resident of Sackville. Bill attended school, married and raised his children here. He worked at his family grocery store and eventually took over the business from his father. Bill operated the store for twenty-six years.

Bill was known for his sense of humor, generosity, strong commitment to family, religious beliefs and his constant desire to help others. A strong supporter of Sackville’s youth, he not only contributed to many organizations and special events but often worked quietly behind the scenes.

Bill touched the lives of every resident of this area in one way or another in a positive manner, and because of him our community is a better place to live.

Thank you, Bill.

I plan to continue taking my kids there to play whenever we are in Sackville. Next year Adelaine will be old enough to get on a few of the playground sets, and someday they will be old enough to understand the significance of what this park means to me.