Nova Scotia - Week 8: What on Earth are we here for?

Tide Rolling In

It has been while since I put words to paper or should I say electrons to screens. I am experiencing writers block or lack of inspiration about what I should write about. The highlights of this week include, learning about toilets with macerating pumps, working in the basement, experiencing yet another snow fall, business stuff, receiving a few more resumes` and taking another Sunday drive along the Bay of Fundy, most of which I have written about in one way or another except for the macerating toilet, but I will pass on that one.

Boats at High Tide

So what on earth are we here for? A big question which is the first theme in the book: The Purpose Driven Life and has been some fodder for some conversations I have had with Sweis. So what on earth are we here for? What gives you purpose? The right answer of course is to give God glory, but the tough question what does that look like in our daily activities like the ones listed above. Do I spend the money to buy a macerating pump so we can have a bathroom downstairs or not? Does one way give God glory and the other not; an argument can be made either way. In the past a lot of thought wasn’t given to this question, most people worked for survival – to get ahead, but today it has become a question which many men wrestle with. If you read Ecclesiastes, you realize this is not a new question, in fact it is the most basic question which philosophers have wrestled with for millenniums. 

Let Your Light Shine

We have just restarted the “purpose” book in a small group and with my memory it is all new to me. So I won’t try to answer the question, but leave it for fodder for thought at this point. But before I sign out, I do have one piece of news. Mary Ann has signed up for the Relay for Life (cancer fundraiser) with a team from our church. She is need of sponsors – any takers? Our emails are still the same! - HJK

Nova Scotia - Week 7: Lessons from Spider Solitaire

A couple of days ago was Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent. Last year for lent I gave up playing Spider Solitaire – the best computer game ever – especially for those who lack the ability to play games that require coordination. Now for most people, giving up solitaire doesn’t seem like much, but for someone as proficient as myself, it was a big deal, (I know, I need to get out more). But since I am the subject, I have learned a lot from Spider Solitaire.

Spider Solitaire is a lot those hand held games that were around when I was a kid. The game in which you had to slide the pieces to their original position to create a picture. In order to move one piece you have to rearrange all the pieces that are in the way. Like that game the goal of Spider Solitaire is to arrange the cards from king to ace.

Now for the lessons: 1^st , there is always more than one way to achieve the results. Often it so easy to get stuck on one idea – one way of doing something, that we get blinded to other ways.  2^nd , Think about what you are doing, sometimes the most obvious move is not the best move in the long run, but if unsure, do the most obvious move first and work toward the more difficult moves next.  When we focus on what we know often the rest falls into place. 3^rd , If you run stuck, take a break and come back to it later. When you step away from a problem and come back to it, it is amazing how, with a fresh perspective, you see solutions you never seen before.

Now I play Spider Solitaire to finish the game. The joy is finding a way to complete the task no matter how many moves it takes. The great thing about Spider Solitaire is that it has “Control- Z” which is the “undo” button.  So if I run stuck I can go back as far as I want and try again. In most situations in life we don’t have “undo” button, we can’t just undo our choices or paths, erase the consequences and start over. Except where it counts the most – with God. In many sense Jesus is our “control-Z”, he has undone all the ways we mess-up (as we learned tonight at small-groups) and then become the telos – the end purpose of our lives.

Now who would have thought you could get so much out of a simple computer game, so for lent this year instead of giving up Spider Solitaire, I think will play more! - HJK   

Nova Scotia - Week 7: Arjen

Henk John  Arjen Kuipers, that`s my full name. I am named after my dad and his two closest brothers; closest in age and when he was young, in relationship too. I always had mixed feeling with my name. in one sense, although Henk John is a common double name in Holland (Hendrik-Jan), it is anything but, in Canada. When I introduce myself, rarely do people pick up both names the first time, and outside the Dutch community, Arjen is even more rare. On the other hand, I also considered it honor to be named after my dad and his two closest brothers – a huge honor which means more the older I get.

I never met dad`s younger brother Jan; he died of cancer at a young age; before he was 50 I believe. On Sunday, I learned that Arjen passed away too. I have only met Arjen once, all I remember is that he was a happy man who loved to laugh. Dad and him were very close, which makes the distance between Alberta and Nova Scotia that much harder. Dad shared with me that in Arjen`s final hours of life he was given a glimpse of heaven, after which he woke up, said goodbye to his wife and kids and then fell asleep one final time – a huge comfort to those who love him.  

Dad, may God’s love surround you this week and give you comfort as he did to Arjen’s family, I miss you. - HJAK

P.S.: Thank you for my name

Nova Scotia - Week 7: Bay of Fundy

Another day, another week and so it goes. After church today we had Sweis and Caroline over, along with their girls Shannon and Leslie. They are always enjoyable to spend time with and all our girls have a lot of fun together. It has become Mary Ann and my Sunday routine to go explore the Fundy coast line – in the car of course – we haven’t changed that much. Each week we check out a different road which leads to a another harbor – today was Hulls Harbor.

Most of these places have quaint shops or restaurants which are closed-up for the winter, but look worth coming back to during the summer. Regardless, the views are awesome; the bay, the waves pounding the shoreline, the frozen falls along the cliffs, but the thing which the Bay of Fundy so famous for, is the hardest to appreciate – its tides. Today, the tide was low, but unless we stay or come back in six hours, we can’t appreciate its affect. If we watch for 15-20 minutes the difference is hardly noticeable. Life is often like that; whether it be at work or doing a big project, sometimes progress is impossible to tell from day to day. In times like these it is good practise to take a step back to observe change over a longer period of time; the view may surprise you.

This can be true in our faith life as well, often it easy to get down on one’s self because change seems non-existent, but over time God does shape each one of us, and the change which we feel is non-existent is real and overtime, significant. Remember, “He who began a good work in you, will carry it to completion.”  

Take care and have a good week - HJK    

Nova Scotia - Week 6: Step by Step

The morning after we returned from our road trip, we were awaken to 8 inches of freshly fallen snow. The kids considered this a waste, since it was a Sunday morning resulting in no school closures. The next day the snow continued to fall making the driveway a challenge to pass thru, but the busses still came, (they only cancel when they think it is going to snow, not when it actually is).

More power -arh, arh

Now this snow may all seem like a negative, but it wasn’t. First the fresh fallen snow is beautiful here in the Valley and often it melts in a few days. Second, it was the little push I needed to finally look at that skid steer that I have been eyeing on Kijiji for the last two months. So on Wednesday Sweis and I took the trip to Halifax to check it out, (Mary Ann wasn’t ready for another road-trip yet). On the trip we discussed and fixed all the social and spiritual ills of the Annapolis Valley – we wish – but the conversation was great. The way back took a little longer because we were pulling my new toy.

Dressed to Dance!

Tonight was a good night, both of the girls were busy. Maddy went with the Ubels to New Minas (the shopping district for the Valley) to go shopping, eat at “Timmies” and see a movie.  Jaymie, (get this) went to a school dance with a friend – so cool. So Mary Ann and I went out for supper to this little restaurant that we wanted to check out. Normally, none of these things would hardly be worth mentioning, but when you uproot your life, things like these are awesome; they are steps in a journey that make a house a home, a village a community.

As we look back from week to week, we see God’s hand in this journey. So many of these things are answers to specific prayers. There are times when I pray without really expecting God to come thru, (I am sure we all do that); but there has been times recently that I have prayed with boldness – stepping out in faith – and he has blessed us amazingly.  Praise God! - HJK

P.S - As you can see, i found another camera 

Nova Scotia - Week 6 - Road Trip

Road trip – not that we needed another road trip; nonetheless, on Friday we loaded the van and headed north to our neighboring province of New Brunswick. It was a good excursion. We went on the invitation of Laura, our recreation director and her friend Liz, another key person in our rec. program who attend St Thomas University in Fredericton.  It was so good for us to hear the passion they have for our campground. This passion was so evident as they shared some of their concerns about last year, and their ideas for this coming year. It was encouraging for us to be a part of a conversation about the future of the campground with two people who have so much experience and who share our hopes and dreams for it.

From Fredericton we drove further north to Woodstock where we were hosted by the couple who own the Jellystone campground there. After taking us out for supper, they gave us quick tour of their store. We settled into the only available room in the Best Western for the night. The next morning we were given a tour of the campground, me and the girls on snowshoes, while Mary Ann and our hosts walked on the hard pack. It was good to see the potential of a well-run campground, to learn from their experiences and to be part of an organization which people are so willing to help.

Then just before noon it was time to begin the long ride home – a six hour drive if we push it; with a wet snow rain mix falling, questionable wipers, and the threat of the sleet turning into snow, I pushed it.  After 3 hours driving and a few scary passes on the slush covered fast lane, we were back in Nova Scotia, and another hour we had made it to Truro. But instead of keeping the pace we stopped for a break at McDonald’s and a not-so-quick stop at Staples – which was fun but used a valuable hour of daylight.

Lost Robin in the snow

Now it was MaryAnn turn to drive and my turn to relax – something Mary Ann wasn’t able to do when I was driving. As I was reading the newspaper the fog settled in and daylight gave way to dusk, and dusk to darkness. In Nova Scotia darkness is dark. The sky isn’t big and open, the roads are dark, wet, narrow and curvy. So after an hour of this, I took over again. Over the next ½ hour, thru the darkness and fog, I could see only one thing – the tail lights of the vehicle ahead of me and I wasn’t going to lose it, but then it turned off and I had to catch up to the next vehicle. This process repeated itself a number of times till we finally made it home.

Unbeknownst to me this last hour caused Mary Ann a huge amount of stress – terror – it think was the word she used.  Not that there wasn’t reason for it, but the idea that she didn’t trust my driving bugged me. This got me thinking, how often do the circumstances in our lives cause us to freak out. I wonder how that makes God feel? I wonder if God is insulted when we don’t trust him? He is in control over everything, including our lives, yet so often we live stressed out lives; probably not the best choice. - HJK

Nova Scotia - Week 5: Drywalling

I have acquired a new skill. Not that I necessarily wanted to, nor that I particularly enjoy it, but nonetheless I have acquired it – the art of dry-walling. The art of hanging stinkin’ heavy sheets of gypsum onto a wall, taping them together with rolls of paper and layers of mud. After the mud dries, sand some off and then put more mud on, then repeat the process a number of times. Then, when you think it looks good and smooth take a light and shine it at all different angles to reveal how lousy a job you really did. Then sand again till all the imperfections are gone, or in my case, till the tape reappears and restart at step one.  

As you can see, I have not perfected this art yet, but I am learning. As I was shining the light on the drywall to reveal all the imperfections it reminded me of the obvious analogy of how the light of God reveals my imperfections, even though I may be feeling pretty good about myself; it’s an analogy I heard often before and should be considered. However, I wonder how often I am shining the light on own imperfections? How often do I (we) dwell on our own deficiencies forgetting God’s grace and his promises? If this describes you, I invite you to read Psalm 103 and see how far God has removed all our imperfections. Remember only God’s work can make you perfect so quit focusing on the crap and live in the freedom he has given. – HJK

P.S. I dropped my little camera and sold my good one to Ashley, so no pictures for now. 

Nova Scotia: 1st month anniversary – Change, Change, Change

Change – it’s part of life, without it life would become stale. In fact, change is necessity for life, it is evidence of life itself. Things are always changing; however, as you live each day change is often invisible, but if you look back over a year or more change is always evident. Sometimes change is just natural, other times change a choice, and still others times change is forced upon you by circumstances or choices beyond ones control, (my kids know all about this kind of change). Yet, people come and go into our lives all the time. Chances are there are new people that have come into our life that were not part of your circles last year, and the opposite is probably true too - people have left.  

But when you’re the one that uproots, when you’re the new one in a circle, when you’re the newcomer or outsider coming into to a school, a church, or a ______ (you fill in the blank)  change is not subtle or discreet; rather, it is like a freight train at Wolf Creek, an everyday occurrence that needs to be dealt with. Sometimes it is easy and barely noticeable, other times it loud and annoying; yet it is still  part of life The choice is how to react to all this change.

Our natural reaction is to avoid change or to with draw to the familiar, but what happens when that is not an option. I have no real answer, but the last two days (not a coincidence I believe) my devotions have led me to Psalm 139 and Isaiah 43. Both passages explicitly describe how God is in control. That none of this change, if fact nothing at all, catches God off guard and just as important he is always there with thru whatever change you’re going thru.  

Blessing to all - HJK

Nova Scotia:- End of Week 4 - Skype

It's heavier then it looks

 Exactly a month from the day we left Lacombe, our stuff arrived on a truck – all 15,000 lbs of stuff. Honestly, I am glad it didn’t come right away. It gave us a chance to make room for it all and still we are short of space. As we unloaded I kept asking: “What else can still be on there? I am sure we must have it all by now?” But we still couldn’t see the end of the trailer! It is amazing how use to not having things a person can get, but once it all comes back it is kind of nice. You forget the small joys like sliding out of bed in the morning as opposed to rolling onto the floor. The house is looking  more like ours than ever before, which is quite something considering the silver kitchen cupboards.

Its lighter then it looks

I installed a d/w and slide-in range today, made me think a lot of working with my younger brother, Mark – the best appliance installer in Central Alberta, (he had a great teacherJ) - miss you Mark.  

Jaymie went to a friend’s birthday party today; small steps that make a big difference to making a place a home. Maddy’s bedroom progresses slowly thru the drywall stage, Sweis the Pastor/Drywaller has been a great help with this. Keep Maddy in your mind and prayers as she begin school on Monday.

Ashley visited us this week, it was great. Not in reality, but virtually. We “skyped” with her. It was kind of nice to hear her and Maddy laughing together as Maddy gave her a visual tour of the house. Technology is an amazing thing, sometimes we hear Jaymie in her bedroom “face-timing” with her friend Shane in BC. I wonder what prayer would look like if we could “skpye” or “facetime” with God? How much different would my prayers be? Would they be less self-focused and more God focused; more serious and less light-hearted or more frivolous and less serious? Would God share what is concerning him today, or are his concerns the same today as they were 2000 years ago when his son walked the dust in Palestine? For me, too often prayer seems like a one-sided conversion. I think I would like to “skype” with God, but it would probably burnout my screen, so I guess prayer will have to do.

Good Night - HJK           

Nova Scotia -Week 4 - Balloons

 Yaaaaay Maddy’s home!!!

Maddy wiring her bedroom

It is good to have Maddy with us – another child back in the proverbial nest. After a day adjusting for a missed night of sleep she has enjoyed her first few days in Nova Scotia;  not having to go to school for this whole week hasn’t hurt either. Together we have focused on her new priority – building her bedroom. The walls were framed before she arrived, since then she has installed the wiring, the insulation, poly, and today we hung the drywall together. It’s amazing how motivating having one’s own room can be.

For Maddy’s arrival we decorated the house, along with all the decorations we bought two yellow ‘happy face” balloons filled with helium attached to long straws. These balloons have become a source of entertainment and intrigue in our household. Jaymie shortened one of the straws so the balloon floats around freely. This one seems to have acquired a personality of its own. It loves to hide. We find it everywhere, once we even found it in the shower. Yesterday Maddy put them both by the table before they left, A few hours later they came home and it could not be found - anywhere. We searched every room, every closet and could find it. All together over a half hour was spent looking for this dumb balloon – we were dumbfounded. Conspiracy theories were developing in our heads, before one final sweep of the house turned it up –hiding in our bedroom beside the fireplace.

Faith can be like that. Like a balloon – filled so full that it carries you around, but yet  hidden from everyone else. Don’t let this be your story, if God is doing something in your life [Breakforth] – share it, let others know! Your story may impact others for an eternity - HJK   

P.S. - the moving truck arrives tomorrow!!