Ministry Update :: Back to School

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A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of auditing a course on Spiritual Leadership at Millar College of the Bible in rural Saskatchewan. One of my coworkers is fulfilling his fourth year internship there, and he was able to arrange for three others and myself to sit in on the course. What a blessing it was to us! As part of the course work, we were required to read Oswald Sander’s classic, “Spiritual Leadership”. If you haven’t had a chance to read this, then I would encourage you to pick up a copy. This, along with the other readings, papers to write, and classroom teaching and discussions was a very rewarding and challenging time. Together, we were all encouraged in the work God has called us to and challenged in our own lives as leaders in our families and ministry. We also really enjoyed our time of fellowship with the staff and students, all of whom were very welcoming to us.

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Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:25-28

Behold the Dragon!

Meet Harriette Ozzy Opal, the Bearded Dragon. This is Adelaine’s new pet lizard. It loves to eat crickets, meal worms, and fruit and vegetables. Bearded Dragons are native to Australia, so they like it hot and dry.

Adelaine has had this little critter for about a month and has shown herself to be a very responsible owner, even doing the less pleasant jobs of cleaning the cage and looking after the crickets.

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Adelaine likes to hold and stroke Harriette, and let it cling to her shoulder as she walks around. The dragon also likes to sit on the back of the couch and look out the window.

New pet - bearded dragon

New pet – bearded dragon

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Bearded dragons are apparently one of the best reptiles for pets as they are friendly and not skittish, do not mind being held and easy to care for. Harriette could live for 15-20 years (!) and get as big as 45-60 cm, or 18-24 inches.

Of course, feeding time is always fun.

Adelaine’s Birthday # 10

 

As part of our family tradition, we went for a Family Birthday Adventure together. Our mistake was going on a day where Calgary was so busy. Our first stop was the WinterSport, the Olympic park where we were going to go downhill tubing, but the facility was sooooo busy that they had stopped selling tickets. So off to our next event which was seeing the movie, Secret Life of Pets. After that we went to an indoor entertainment place where the kids tried the climbing wall (Adelaine made it to the top) and laser tag, where the boys handily won. After supper we went to the Airdrie Festival of Lights and had a good time sliding around on the ice and enjoying the lights.

 

We also had a meal with grandpa, grandma and Uncle Drew to celebrate her birthday…

 

… and after many months of her asking, we got her a pet lizard, Harriette Ozzy Opal, the bearded dragon.

New pet - bearded dragon

New pet – bearded dragon

 

Astronuts

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I had a good time outside last night with the kids showing them some of the wonders of God’s creation. Ellie has really gotten into astronomy, Adelaine is currently studying it in school, and Ethan thinks it is really neat. Before the kids came out, I happened to see a bright meteor bolide streak across the sky and break up!
Adelaine worked on identifying constellations that she is reading about at school. We also used my 19 year old dobsonian telescope, and a small telescope and large aperture binoculars I was given a few years ago to view:
– Albirio, a double star where one is blue and the other is red,
– the double star cluster in Perseus,
– the Pleiades (aka The Seven Sisters, or, as the Japanese call it Subaru [check out the car logo])
– the Andromeda Galaxy.
With that short little observing list, they have seen more stars than most people alive today and throughout all human history!